"(Who's the father?" ") He's a barman." "And a draft resistor" "So you're all shacked up, are you?" "You're hurting me." "He's very premature so his lungs are underdeveloped, but he's breathing on his own." "Every Friday she goes out in that hat and coat." " All made up." " Where to?" "Dunno." "You're the doctor that delivered my baby." "My baby died." "I think Annie's baby might be alive." "Hey." "Be careful." "You're playing with people's lives here." "Your boss lost a baby." "I know that." "Yeah, but look at the date" "It was only 3 weeks before Annie had her baby, and now he's got another one." "(Cover of The Staple Singers' "Heavy Makes You Happy (Sha-Na-Boom Boom)" plays)" "(RICK SINGS) # Oh, whoa" "♪ Good gosh a mighty now" "♪ Sha-na-boom-boom yeah" "RICK: # Say it, y'all" "♪ Sha-na-boom-boom yeah" "♪ Tell 'em all, tell 'em all tell 'em all, tell 'em all now" "♪ Sha-na-boom-boom yeah" "♪ Well, well ♪ Sha-na-na-na-boom-boom... ♪" "A copy of McNaughton's adoption order dated one month before Annie's cooling-off period expired." "All the proof we need to nail the bastard." "I'm just doing this so Annie gets her baby back." "When are you going to tell her?" "RICK: # Right there all the time" "♪ Heavy makes you happy ♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah" "♪ I just gotta say ♪ Mmm, mmm" "♪ I don't want no heavy ♪ No, no, no" "♪ Sha-na-boom-boom yeah" "♪ And tell 'em all you're" "♪ Sha-na-boom-boom yeah... ♪" "(APPLAUSE)" "ANNIE:" "Rick sent my demo to Festival Records and we're flying to Melbourne tomorrow to meet the record company." "We're flying!" "(LAUGHS)" "It's all happening so fast!" "I know." "It's crazy." "When's your exam?" "Um, day after tomorrow." "And if you pass you'll be a doctor." "Yeah." "Wow, a woman doctor." "That's great." "I feel like the gods are smiling down on both of us." "Annie..." "I have to go." "I'm meeting up with Rick." "Oh." "OK, great." "See you soon." "Sorry." "("Love Child" theme plays)" "SONG: # Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh" "♪ Ahh" "♪ You think that I don't feel love" "♪ What I feel for you is real love" "♪ In others' eyes I see reflected" "♪ A hurt, scorned, rejected" "♪ Love child" "♪ Never meant to be" "♪ A love child... ♪" "It's called a persistent ductus arteriosus, and basically it's a connection between the large blood vessels that come from the heart." "Now, normally this connection closes up at birth." "In premmie babies sometimes they can stay open and cause breathing problems." "Now, in your son's case that connection is still quite large." "How large?" "Large enough to require surgery." "You have to open up his chest?" "Yes." "But he's so tiny." "How could he survive surgery like that?" "If it were my child, I'd want the operation." "When?" "When he's stronger." "Probably a couple of weeks." "No." "I don't." "No." "Well, as a member of the armed services, your husband would, Mrs Ryan." "And that would cover both you and the baby, if he will agree." "Hello!" "Oh, that baby of yours looks ready to meet the world." "It might look like a baby to you, sister, but it's actually my breakfast." "Well, I would like to take a look at you and your breakfast, please." "I can't." "Not now." "I feel like you've been avoiding me." "I have." "Is that workable?" "Time will tell." "I'm scheduling the Ryan baby for open heart surgery in two weeks." "That soon?" "Mmm." "Johnny and Shirley aware of the risks?" "They know that if the child doesn't have the operation, he could die." "Are we alright?" "Of course." "Trying to forget what happened between us?" "I wish I could." "I'm sorry." "What for?" "I need to stay here a bit longer." "Just until I can get things organised." "You're still planning to live with your boyfriend in a dosshouse?" "It's an apartment." "Children need security and consistency even more than they need love." "But I'm sick of telling you that." "It's time you found out for yourself." "My baby needs an operation." "I want to be close to him." "Your boyfriend's apartment is walking distance, isn't it?" "It's not a hotel, Shirley." "You can leave today." "(Bobbie Gentry's "Seasons Come, Season Go" plays)" "SONG: # Dogwood blossoms float against the ice-encrusted creek bank" "♪ A tender blade of new green grass" "♪ Is bravely pushing upward through the melting snow" "♪ The spring breathes ruffles through my hair" "♪ And whispers softly everywhere" "♪ Telling secrets in my eyes" "♪ Search the countryside for your hello" "♪ The seasons come" "♪ The seasons go" "♪ Lightning darts among the pines" "♪ Caught in a summer rainstorm" "♪ Soaking wet, I look upon" "♪ The new-ploughed earth with rivulets between each row" "♪ I almost feel you next to me" "♪ And it stirs a memory" "♪ That hangs suspended with a sigh" "♪ And gently weaves its way... ♪" "Tell me this is going to work." "We'll be right as rain." "♪ The seasons come... ♪" "Welcome home, baby." "♪ The seasons go" "♪ See the grain lay scattered in a trail that leads to nowhere" "♪ The rustling leaves beneath my feet swirl in a... ♪" "So it's a minidress, it's all white, and it has ostrich feathers around the neck." "And you wear it with vinyl white boots to the thigh." "And that's what you want to get married in?" "Yeah." "What's wrong with that?" "Nothing, unless you want to end up looking like a cheese in a deli shop window." "Are you coming to help us, Martha?" "I don't do laundry anymore." "Oh." "Well, la-di-da." "There she goes again." "Oh, she chucked Shirley out." "Really?" "Do you think she's gotten meaner lately?" "Meaner and sneakier." "Maybe she has a boyfriend." "A blind one." "(SNIGGERS)" "Big Philou." "What are you offering?" "3 to 1." "Best I can do." "What about Rain Lover?" "Well, he won the Cup last year, so I doubt he can do it again." "I like the name." "It's your money." "I'm feeling lucky." "Hope you are." "You should come to the track with me sometime." "I'd like that." "My nan could pick a winner." "Hope I'm not so old I remind you of your nan." "(LAUGHS) No, you've got all your teeth for a start." "Grandpa knocked all hers out." "She never got 'em replaced." "Reckoned she wasn't giving him any excuses to have another go." "Well, time I wasn't here." "Yeah." "Good luck." "Hi, I'm Viv." "So you're an illegal bookie?" "She lays bets with an SP bookie." "A bloke called Chris." "That's where she goes." "So she's a gambler?" "She's been laying bets for months." "He asked me to go bagman." "Bagman?" "I don't like the sound of that." "No, it's good." "I collect all the bets from the hospital for tomorrow's race, then we take the money to him and he gives us a cut." "Us?" "I thought he asked you." "You've got full access to the hospital, Martha." "It's not like you do anything else." "Who's gonna trust a pregnant black girl with their money?" "It's the Melbourne Cup." "Greed beats colour every time." "Patricia, your adoption consent forms." "(CLEARS THROAT)" "Got a hot tip for the Melbourne Cup, matron?" "I don't bet." ""In your dreams."" "(GIRLS GIGGLE)" "Patricia, you are not capable of caring for a child and your parents will never accept you home if you leave here with it." "So, I'll present these forms to you again soon enough." "Back to work." "Hey." "I need to get a job." "I can do shiftwork." "No, no, you have to get to the hospital to feed Ben, OK?" "That's your job - to make him fat." "How are we gonna pay for everything if I don't work?" "I'll take some extra shifts." "It won't be enough." "What about Ben's operation?" "It'll cost a fortune." "I'll work something out." "I should talk to Colin." "No." "I could just ask." "No." "This isn't about us." "I told you, I will figure something out." "(GIRL SOBS)" "Martha?" "Oh, move over." "I've read the protocols." "When the baby comes, I don't want a sheet over my head." "No." "I wanna see what my baby looks like." "I want to know that he's OK." "I'm so scared, Pattie." "I know." "It's OK, shh." "It's OK." "..circulation and blood pressure..." "figures are at 100..." "Brain function, liver... (CONTINUES INDISTINCTLY)" "General malformation - cleft palate." "(GROANS)" "Oh, Annie." "Hello, Joan." "Hi, Martha." "Got a hot tip for the Melbourne Cup." "Viv reckons Rain Lover's a dead cert." "I'm not really a betting person, sorry." "So, uh, how long's this exam go for?" "A few hours." "A few hours?" "Mmm." "What if my baby comes while you're in there?" "There will be other midwives." "I don't want other midwives." "I want you to do it." "I don't want what happened to Annie to happen to me." "You're the only person here I can trust." "Well, I'll do my very best." "MAN:" "Gentlemen, the exam starts in five minutes." "You're the only woman here!" "Good luck." "The exam will take 60 minutes..." "Joanie." "Dad!" "What are you doing here?" "Ah, couldn't let you face this on your own." "One of the proudest days of my life." "Dad, I can't focus, and I've done something really terrible." "Well, whatever it is, it can wait." "Can I help you, sir?" "I'm Colin Ryan, Shirley's husband." "I need to speak to her." "Where could I find her?" "What are you doing here?" "I just came to give you these." "What?" "Papers for the divorce." "You need to sign them." "I need your help, Colin." "My baby's really sick." "He needs an operation." "I'm sorry." "The doctor said your hospital insurance would cover some of the costs." "You're a piece of work, Shirley." "I need as many shifts as you can give me, Marty." "Back to back." "I don't care." "I'll do what I can, mate." "Yeah, well, I appreciate that." "Cops." "Cops." "Any idea where we'd find John Lowry?" "MARTY:" "Ah, he never turned up for his shift yesterday." "Do you know where he lives?" "Why, who's looking?" "The army." "Do you know John Lowry, mate?" "Oi, stop!" "Stop right there!" "You have to come." "There's a bus to Melbourne..." "What about Ben?" "We can get him tonight." "No, he's not well enough." "There are hospitals down there." "No, Johnny!" "You're making this up as you go along." "You, me, a sick baby, no money, the government after us." "How's that gonna work?" "I can't leave without you." "Oh, wake up!" "It's the only way you're gonna stay out of prison." "You're not going to be able to hide for long looking like that." "You need to look like an army man, not a draft resistor." "(Thunderclap Newman's "Something In The Air" plays)" "SONG: # Call out the instigators" "♪ Because there's something in the air" "♪ We've got to get together sooner or later" "♪ Because the revolution's here" "♪ And you know it's right" "♪ And you know that it's right" "♪ We have got to get it together" "♪ We have got to get it together now... ♪" "I think I did quite well." "(CHUCKLES) So, why aren't you smiling?" "I slept with a married man." "Not so proud of me now, are you?" "Is it over?" "Yes." "Well, you just put it behind you and you move on." "It won't be easy." "I work with him." "He's a doctor." "And I just found out..." "He's involved in illegal private adoptions." "Well, how senior is he?" "Very." "And if I tell the board what I know, it could ruin his career." "What about your career, hmm?" "For God's sake, you're on the brink of being one of the only female obstetricians in the country." "You work out what's important, Joanie." "Annie!" "Oh, you are just the person I want to hug." "Oh!" "How was it?" "How did it go?" "Melbourne was brilliant." "Love Melbourne." "Listen, I really need to talk to you about something." "I got a recording contract, Joan." "What?" "I'm going to be a fully paid professional singer, with a contract." "Congratulations!" "But listen, um..." "I need a signature from a justice of the peace for my passport application." "We're going to London." "When will you be back?" "Never." "Think about it like this, Pattie." "The lower the odds, the lower the payout, but the higher the chance of you winning the bet." "So do you think that Matron has a gambling problem?" "'Cause she'd have to be pretty desperate to sneak into a pub to do it." "Betting on horses away from the track is illegal, Pattie." "That's why she sneaks." "Oh, my." "Hey." "Almost all bets are on Big Philou." "He's the favourite, right?" "Yep." "So if he doesn't win there's gonna be plenty of pissed-off doctors and nurses." "Great for us, though." "Whoa!" "MARTHA:" "For you, maybe." "I don't want a pissed-off doctor delivering my baby." "MAN ON TV:" "Great interest in the Melbourne Cup this year." "20 on 11 in 4, and 20 on 3 in 5." "Alright, mate." "Bye-bye." "Most of the bets are on the favourite." "It'll be fine." "I'll hedge this at the track." "No worries." "You're good for this, right?" "'Cause I've taken bets from a lot of people who'll be cranky if they don't get paid." "Well, let's hope the favourite doesn't win, then." "Thank you." "Scoot, now." "Christopher Vesty, you're under arrest for illegal betting in a licensed premises." "Me?" "(SIGHS AND LAUGHS)" "I'm gonna close my eyes now and pretend I never saw you." "Should we try him on the breast?" "That's alright." "Now, if you rub his cheek here, like this, that's the rooting reflex." "Oh, look at you." "You're a pro." "Wait till Johnny sees you two." "Johnny's gone." "He's left you and the baby?" "The police were after him." "It was always gonna happen sooner or later." "I just can't believe it's happening now, with all this going on." "You put the police onto Johnny." "No." "You're a liar." "Shirley, I didn't do that." "You're so full of hate and pain and misery, you can't stand the idea that I might be happy." "Shirley, please." "I wish they'd killed you in Vietnam." "How's your breathing?" "Is it any easier?" "Why?" "Your baby's dropped." "It just means it's engaged in the pelvic cavity, so it's not pressing up against your diaphragm anymore." "I want you to do one thing for me, alright?" "Stop reading these medical textbooks that were written when dinosaurs walked the earth." "You are healthy and you are strong, and your baby is healthy and strong." "But I'll never know for sure, because I'll never get to see it." "I know what happened to Annie." "Have you changed your mind about adopting it out?" "No." "I just want to hold it." "Make sure it's OK." "Well, I'll do everything in my power to make that happen." "Really?" "Yes." "Don't you lie to me." "I'm not." "Everyone lied to Annie." "(SOMBRE MUSIC)" "ANNIE:" "It's open." "Rick said it's gonna be really cold in London, so I was thinking this one." "What do you think?" "Annie..." "I could probably just buy one there." "Annie, listen to me." "Your baby's alive." "So Matron was lying when she said the baby was dead?" "I believe so, yes." "How long have you known?" "A couple of weeks." "And you're only telling me now." "I didn't know you were going overseas." "I can get her back?" "I hope so." "But it...it's not simple." "You have to prove first that you're legally entitled." "Do you know where she is?" "I have some idea about where she may be..." "Is she in a good home?" "Is she..." "Is she being cared for?" "Yes." "(LAUGHS)" "There's some paperwork for me to sign?" "You are full of surprises, Matron." "How's that, constable?" "Well, I just can't figure out why you would go surety for a crim like Chris Vesty." "My good deed for the day." "Yeah, but why'd he call you?" "Perhaps he knows I'm a good bet." "I think this belongs to one of yours." "I know those officers." "I know." "I'm sorry." "They took all my dough, so it was either you or the cell." "How will you pay out on the bets you've taken?" "Oh, well, that depends on which horse comes in first." "Rank outsider might come in." "Might be a timely warning to get out of the business." "Try something more legal." "No, don't worry about me." "Been doing this since I was a squirt." "You'll need to pay those bets, including mine." "(SIGHS) Oh, I don't know." "Might skip town first." "You can't do that." "Look, I'll pay you back, no worries." "Well, what about everyone else?" "That's business." "Winners and losers." "I don't like that sort of business." "Well, then don't bet." "I want to make one thing very clear." "If you think you can hoodwink me in order to take advantage of my girls, then you're very mistaken." "Hey!" "Viv came to me." "I don't want anything to do with your bloody girls, or you, you crazy cow." "(PANTS)" "MATRON:" "Martha?" "Baby's coming." "How many people want to adopt an Aboriginal baby?" "Not many." "(WAILS)" "Come on, keep walking." "(MOANS) Good girl." "It'll help move things along." "You mean you haven't found a family for it yet?" "It's not up to me." "I want to choose." "Concentrate on your breathing." "You have to let me." "Please?" "(GASPS) You having your baby?" "Oh, Martha!" "Must have been those curried sausages I had last night." "Bloody Clive of India!" "I knew he had a hand in this." "Back to work, girls." "Fancy making Martha walk." "This is a sensation - the favourite, Big Philou, has been scratched from this year's Melbourne Cup." "Oh, shit!" "What is it?" "The favourite's been scratched from the race." "Everyone's gonna want their money back." "Ohh." "(MARTHA MOANS)" "Where is she?" "She said she'd be here!" "Shh." "It's not long now." "We're crowning." "Oh, you took your time!" "Right, Martha, I'm here now." "Breathe through it." "Try to breathe through it, darling." "Now, if you want to take your foot and pop it up against my shoulder, you can push against me." "Susie, you do the same." "Leg up on her shoulder." "OK, Martha, looks like" "How was the exam?" "It was fine." "Now I want you to push as if you're pushing down into your bottom, OK?" "Deep breaths, big push." "Big push!" "(SCREAMS)" "This isn't a baby, it's a bloody pumpkin!" "They're racing in the Melbourne Cup." "Alsop was the first out on the inside." "(PUNTERS SHOUT)" "Sir Kinsman, Debhel Boy a little wider out and then came Hamua." "Nausori up on the... (MOANS) You're doing great, Martha." "The head's out." "OK, sheet up, please." "No!" "I said no." "I can do this." "Yes, you can." "You already are." "(PUNTERS SHOUT)" "Deep breaths, big push." "(MOANS) Big push." "Come on, Rain Lover!" "(MOANS)" "(BABY CRIES)" "Can I hold him?" "JOAN:" "Um..." "I'll, uh..." "I'll take it from here." "Is he alright?" "He's perfect." "(BABY CRIES)" "I did alright, didn't I?" "PATRICK:" "You were bloody brilliant." "Let's, uh..." "Let's give her a minute." "It's OK." "Hello!" "Lucky he looks like me." "He's very cute." "Are you alright?" "Yeah." "Thank you." "It was an honour." "I haven't got $1,000." "Oh, there must be some way you can pay this off, or come to some sort of arrangement." "Have you heard from Johnny?" "I feel like I'm standing on the edge of a cliff and one tiny gust of wind will push me over the edge." "I've stuffed up my life, Joan." "No." "No, you did what you had to do, and you have a man who loves you." "Don't know when I'll see him again." "But you will." "You will." "Sooner or later you will." "It was only because Colin went away to Vietnam that I even met Johnny." "You ever feel like life's playing a cruel trick on you?" "More and more, every day." "You'll be OK." "Come here." "It's gonna be fine." "Well, they don't call it the kangaroo hop for nothing." "The first stop is Kuala Lumpur." "Where's that?" "Uh, Malaysia." "We get to sing in Malaysian." "Then it's Calcutta, Tehran," "Athens, Brussels." "How many miles is that?" "Uh, thousands. (LAUGHS)" "And then, 32 hours later," "London, where we head straight to Carnaby Street so you can shop for frocks." "Then it's hello Advision Studios." "Are you excited?" "(WHISPERS) I can't go." "I need to stay here." "I have to get my baby back." "I've been thinking a lot about this situation." "And, uh..." "I don't wanna see you or the baby in a bad way, Shirley." "I'd like to help, if you'll let me." "I can pay for the treatment." "Anything he needs." "But it has to be over between you and your boyfriend." "Oh." "Yes?" "I can come back." "No." "Stay." "Sit." "Are you alright?" "Why are you here?" "Um, I've done something really stupid and I'm not sure if I can fix it." "You sound surprised." "Oh, it's more stupid than usual." "Wouldn't have anything to do with this, would it?" "The police are well aware of your visits to an SP bookmaker, Vivian." "My visits?" "Mmm." "What about your visits?" "I've seen you, sneaking out of here to go and have a bet and make goo-goo eyes at your lying boyfriend." "He's not my boyfriend." "Well, you want him to be!" "Be quiet." "You hang around him because he makes you feel good, but he's only after you for your money." "Be quiet!" "You're just as big a slut as the rest of us!" "He's my son." "Your son?" "I was 17 when I was married." "His father was a soldier." "He was taken prisoner by the Japanese." "Then my mother got sick with cancer." "I couldn't do it on my own." "My neighbour, Nancy, helped me care for them." "Afterwards...she said she could raise Chris." "I didn't want to give him up, but..." "I had no-one." "When I heard Nancy had died, I went to the funeral." "Chris was there." "Is that why you went?" "So you could see him?" "Yes." "I ignored all the advice I give you girls." "How much does he owe you?" "Oh, I don't know." "Um, has he paid you?" "Get the book, bring it to me and we'll work it out." "OK." "Um, OK." "Matron, I'm so sorry for what I said." "You want me to pick anything up?" "Alright." "I'll see you soon." "You too." "Drink?" "Sure." "One for the good times." "Chin-chin." "I know Annie Carmichael's baby is alive." "And I know that you and your wife have her." "I'm sorry." "People think having children is their entitlement." "It's not, of course." "But it's only those who can't that really understand that." "You believed you were entitled to Annie's baby." "She relinquished her baby for adoption." "And you fast-tracked that process." "And then when she changed her mind, you let her think her baby was dead." "That wasn't me." "I didn't do that." "You allowed it to happen." "The baby needed parents, Joan." "Emotional and financial security." "And Annie couldn't provide that." "So why didn't you wait in line, like everybody else?" "(SIGHS) Because I'm not everyone else." "And that's the problem." "That's the problem." "People like you, you get to change the rules to suit yourselves." "Jesus, finding good homes for babies is what Stanton House does." "And it does it well." "Look, all I wanted was a family." "After our first baby died... ..Rose was a promise that things could be better." "So, why did you sleep with me?" "Martha." "Oh, hello, Matron." "A list of waiting adoptive parents." "This is strictly between you and me." "PATTIE:" "What if Matron catches us?" "VIV:" "She won't!" "Come on!" "The schoolteacher couple seem nice." "We just wanted to check on Martha, see if she was alright." "You're a good friend, Vivian." "What am I?" "Hello!" "Hi!" "Oh, you got me flowers!" "How'd you go?" "Oh, thank you." "Suppose you want all the gory details." "No, thanks." "Oh, no, thank you." "Too bad." "Imagine a pumpkin fitting through... (IMITATES EXPLOSION)" "(VIV AND PATTIE LAUGH)" "(Normie Rowe's "I Just Don't Understand" plays)" "SONG: # Well, you call me your baby" "♪ Oh, yeah" "♪ When you're holding my hand" "♪ Oh, how you can love me" "♪ I just don't understand" "♪ Well, you say that you need me" "♪ Like an ocean needs sand" "♪ But the way you mistreat me" "♪ I just don't understand" "♪ Well, you know that I love you" "♪ More than anyone can" "♪ But a one-sided love" "♪ I just don't understand" "♪ I just don't understand. ♪"