(electric whirling)
- Hey, Scott, why don't you try and get some sleep?
You might not get any birthday cake when you get home.
- But I'm five, I have to have birthday cake.
- Of course, you only turn five once, buddy.
- Let me help you, Daddy. - Scotty, sit down!
[ tires squealing ]
[ metal crunching ]
[ screaming ]
[ distant car horn ]
[ "The First Noel" plays on radio ]
- Are you sure?
I have to go.
Hi, sweetie, good morning.
Give me a hug.
Are you hungry?
- You kidding? I'm starving.
- Okay.
Why don't you hop on up on that chair
and we'll get you fixed up in no time, okay, sweetie?
- Okay. - Love you.
[ sighs ]
Hey, buddy.
[ music stops ]
Hey, let's put this out.
What's that?
Here you go.
- Thank you, Daddy.
- Oh, don't thank me, Mommy did all the heavy lifting.
- Thank you, Mommy.
- You're welcome, sweetie.
Did I ever thank you
for giving me that part-time job doing your books?
- About a thousand times.
- Well, I quit.
- Why, what happened?
- I have been up all morning trying to find
what I thought was my $3,000 mistake, Scott.
- Hm.
- That's all you have to say?
[ clears throat ]
Sorry?
- We have the money.
Why didn't you just take it out of our personal account?
Why won't you talk to me about this?
Do you need anything, sweetie?
- No, I'm good.
- So I made a last withdrawal. No--no more payments.
- Are you giving up on it?
- Um--no, uh--I--
He found her.
- What?
- Yeah, he's delivering the information later today.
- How does that make you feel?
Are you gonna try to contact her, Scott?
- I don't know, Karen.
- Scott, you've been consumed with trying
to find your biological mother for a year now.
Help me understand.
- How can I help you understand when I don't even understand?
Hey, buddy, look at this.
- For me?
But Daddy, my birthday's not until tomorrow.
- Oh, that's not a birthday gift,
that's a "Just Because I Love You" gift.
- Would it be okay if I call it a birthday gift?
- You know, do Daddy a favor and just open it, okay?
Yeah, come on.
[ both growling ]
What is it?
- It's just like the one you drive!
Look, Mom!
- Yeah, pretty cool, honey.
So cool, huh? Look at that.
You make it so hard to stay mad.
- So does that mean you won't quit?
- I'll think about it. - Think about it?
- I'll think about it.
All right, boys, these bananas are going bad.
- Mm. - I need your help.
- Mm-mmm. - Here you go, here you go.
- I hate bananas. They're too mushy.
- They're good for you, sweetie. - Ick.
- You wanna set a positive example?
- I'm with him.
[ laughs ]
- Mushy--mushy, mushy, mushy--
- Are you serious, guys? - Bananas are mushy.
- Come on, they're so harmless.
- Eww! - Gross!
- I love bananas! - Mommy, that's gross!
- Morning, Eddie. How's the Wick job coming?
- What a sweet ride that one is.
It'll be ready by the end of the day.
- I'm--I'm expecting a package.
Let me--let me know when it arrives.
- Yeah, you want me to sign for it?
- No, I--I need to see the guy. - Okay.
You run ahead without me, okay?
You tell Emily I'll be there in a minute.
And don't ask her for any candy!
- Look at you, you're getting so big.
- I know, it won't be much longer.
Jer, I said no candy.
- No, you said don't ask for any candy.
Emily just gave it to me.
- Well, that's just a technicality.
- Oh, I'm sorry.
- No, no, no, you're fine, really.
Just because Jeremy and I spend Christmas in hiding
doesn't mean others have to as well.
- The holidays are just so depressing around here.
- They're 10 times worse at home.
Emily, I have married the Grinch.
- The Grinch, eh?
- Everyone knows the holidays are hard for Scott.
We try to understand.
- Thank you.
Now can you keep an eye on Jeremy?
I have to get some work done.
- Sure, no problem. - Thank you.
- You're welcome.
- But no candy, mister.
- Okay, Mommy.
- Come here.
Don't tell your mom, she'll kill me.
- Sorry, those are the breaks, buddy.
- Your information can't be right.
- I'm good at my job.
- What am I supposed to do with this?
- It's your call, pal.
- Hey, wait--this is it?
- What do you want me to do?
You gotta understand, Scott,
she's living in an assisted living facility
that her parents created for her.
Scott, they gave you up for a reason.
So think of it this way: Now you know the reason.
- I--I honestly don't know what to do.
- Well, just keep one thing in mind:
your grandfather's very influential,
and your grandmother's the one calling all the shots now.
- What about my biological father?
- He died right after you were born.
Anything else?
- No, we're...we're done.
I'm...I'm done. - All right.
- So that's what $3,000 looks like?
[ sighs ]
- Aren't you going to open it?
[ distant laughing ]
- No, I got work to do.
[ Christmas music playing ]
- Guys! Get to work!
I'm not paying you to hang around.
And shut that damn music off!
[ music stops ]
[ knocking ]
- Scott, everything okay in there?
- Yeah, I just need a minute.
- Jeremy convinced me to order pizza.
- Yeah, that sounds good.
- Okay. We'll see you down there?
- Yeah.
[ Jeremy laughing ]
- Yeah... Boy, you're good...mm.
- Hm.
- This is funny.
[ sighs ]
- You ready for bed?
- Yeah. - Yeah?
Well, did you have a good day?
- Yep! - Yep?
Well, every day I get to spend with you...
- [giggles] - ...is a good day.
Good night, buddy.
- Daddy? - Yeah?
- Thank you for the birth...
Uh, I mean, thank you for the...
Hm, uh, what do you call it again?
- A "Just Because I Love You" gift.
- Yeah, that.
Daddy, why don't you like birthdays?
- You know, that's a tough one, buddy.
- That's okay.
I think the "I Love You" gift is better anyways.
- Me, too.
- Daddy? - Yeah?
- I won't like birthdays either, if you don't want me to.
- No, no, no, no. I... I don't want that.
You know, Granny and Papa are gonna come over tomorrow
and make your day extra-special.
I want you to have fun.
- Daddy, can you join me and Mommy for Christmas this year?
- Um, we'll...
We'll see, okay?
- I want a tree, like my friends.
- You know, you...you've got a tree at Granny and Papa's.
- It's not the same.
- We'll talk about this later, okay?
- You always say that.
- You know, you... you need to go to bed.
- Emily gave it to me.
I'm sorry, Daddy. Please don't get mad.
- Mad about what?
- That. It's Christmas candy, Daddy.
- I can never get mad at you, buddy.
Now hang on to this for later, okay?
- Okay.
- Good night. I love you.
- If you haven't purchased your Christmas tree this year,
you may wanna think artificial.
- Local vendors are having a hard time meeting the demand,
which is causing tree costs to soar this holiday season.
- Scott, are you gonna come to bed?
- I can't sleep.
I'm sorry, did I wake you?
- No, my bladder wakes me every couple of hours.
Since we're both up, do you think we could talk?
- Karen, not right now.
- Don't shut me out. I'm trying to understand.
- Didn't you find any answers in that?
- Some, but it raised more questions.
Scott, you've kept secrets.
You've lied about your birthday.
According to this report,
it says your birthday's on Christmas Eve.
It's Jeremy's fifth birthday.
Is that what's stirring things up for you?
Scott, please tell me about your fifth birthday.
- There, that was my...
My fifth Christmas.
I, uh...I spent the day
before in the ER.
That's when I learned about my adoptive parents.
Everything you need to know is in that box.
- Scott?
- I never told you, but I was...
I was put into a group home.
And then I bounced around
in foster care.
- Why didn't another family take you?
- I was defective.
I was filled with anger.
Nobody wants a kid like that.
- We're gonna get through this, okay? Together.
- You know, I...
I blamed my biological mother
for every bad thing that happened to me.
It was...it was so...
it was so much easier to just blame her.
- Mm.
Good morning.
- Hey.
I...I didn't wanna wake you.
- Are you gonna be at the shop late tonight?
- Please cover me with Jeremy and your parents.
- Can I make a suggestion, Scott?
Your grandmother's only an hour away from here.
Why don't you try and connect with her and your mother today?
- I don't... I don't think so.
- It might help.
- It's not gonna change anything.
- Aren't you a little bit curious?
- I got all the information I need.
- Is there something you're not telling me?
- I... I have to run.
I love you.
[ sighs ]
[ knocking ]
- You got a second, boss?
- Yeah, come in.
- Me and the boys, we chipped in
and we got Jeremy a little something,
a little present for him.
- Oh, you guys didn't have to do that.
- Ah.
- What is it?
- Don't know.
I gave the money to my wife, and she did the rest, you know?
I'm sure it's something nice, though.
- Yeah, I'm sure it is.
Thank the guys.
I'm gonna step out and get some coffee.
I'll be back.
- I've got things covered if you wanna go
have some fun with your son.
- No...no, he...he has the whole day mapped out with his...
with his grandparents... Karen's parents.
- Yeah.
- I'll be back. I'll be back in an hour.
- All right.
- ¶ Good tidings we bring to you and your kin ¶
¶ We wish you a Merry Christmas and a happy new year ¶
¶ We wish you a Merry Christmas ¶
¶ And a happy new year ¶
- If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them.
- Um... excuse me?
- About Erica. You were staring.
- Oh...um, I'm sorry.
I...
I was just thinking about my son.
He...he's five, and she looks like she's about the same age.
- Yes, she just turned five about two months ago.
I'm convinced you have questions.
- I mean, I don't mean to be rude.
- I understand that people are curious,
but I just prefer that they be open and up-front about it.
Didn't your mother ever teach you it wasn't nice to stare?
- Yeah...yeah.
Well, you have a beautiful daughter.
Just like her mother.
- Well, I'd love to take credit for that, but Erica's adopted.
- Um...did you know?
- Do you mean did we know that she had Down's syndrome?
Yes, we did.
My husband and I wanted to adopt a child
that we thought others might not want.
I'm sorry...I touched a nerve?
- Uh, no...
Uh, well, yes. I don't--
Excuse me, um...
- Hey, Ricky Wordsworth, how you doing?
- Good. - Good.
Hey, Melana.
Chad, hello.
Glad to have you guys back.
Hey, Carol, did you have a good visit?
- My visit was fine.
- That's great. Well, welcome back, Carol.
Nice to see you again. - Nice to see you, too.
- Yeah.
All right, why don't you go catch up with the rest,
all right? - Okay, thank you.
- All right, yeah. See you later.
- I can't do this.
[ engine starts ]
- Granny and Papa are here! - Yay!
- And look at all the gifts they got for me!
- Ooh! - Wow, are those all for you?
- Have you been a good boy? - I tried.
- Daddy, will you keep him occupied?
I'm not quite ready yet.
- Well, let me give you a hand. - Thanks, Mom.
- Look what Daddy got me.
- Ooh, wow, how nice.
And where is Daddy?
- Don, don't start.
So how's Scott?
Things getting better?
- Well, he's opened up.
He's even found his biological mother.
- Wow, that's huge.
- Yeah, but he's not telling me something, Mom.
All right, birthday boy, you ready?
Here we go.
- Wow. - Ooh!
- Your favorite.
- All right... go on, make a wish.
- Yay! - Yay!
- What'd you wish for, honey?
- I wish Dad likes birthdays.
Oh yeah, and Christmas too.
- Yeah, me too, sweetie. Me too.
Mom, gimme a minute.
- What a pretty cake, huh? - Hey, what's in here?
- Karen, honey? You okay?
- I'm trying to be understanding with Scott, Mom.
I'm just worried about Jeremy.
- Jeremy is going to be fine. He is.
Honey, you just have to be a little more patient.
Give Scott a chance to turn this all around.
- Mom, we've spent a small fortune
trying to find his biological family.
Now he just wants to forget about the whole thing.
- What do you mean, forget about it?
- It's not the time right now.
- Okay. All right.
You calm down. I'll go cut the cake.
- Okay.
[ sighs ]
- Hey, I'm sorry I put you through this.
- I'm fine.
I'm just worried about Jeremy.
- Yeah, me too.
- Mommy, come on, birthday boy is ready to open his gifts.
[ sighs ]
- All right.
All right, birthday boy.
Thanks for coming.
- Okay, sweetheart.
Do you feel better now?
- Yeah, I feel like I can have a conversation with Scott.
- Yeah, a conversation with scotch, yes.
- Stop it! You're not helping. - Dad.
- Come on. Come on.
Where did you park?
- ¶ She gave up... ¶
¶ When she was too far... ¶
- You're up early.
- Oh, hey.
Hey, I have a lot on my mind.
- I'll go wake up Jeremy.
- No, let him sleep in.
We...we need to talk.
- Okay.
- I took your advice
and went and saw my mother yesterday.
- You did?
- Uh...I didn't actually speak with them,
but I kinda saw them at a distance.
I made a decision, and I...
You know, I'm done with it.
I'm planning to shred these later today,
and I just need to move forward.
- Scott, after all of that time and all of that money?
- I know.
You know, there are circumstances that were not
shared with these documents.
- Right, I knew you weren't telling me something.
Right.
- Um...it's my decision.
- Did you start without me?
- Hey, buddy.
Um, no, we just were letting you sleep in.
Here, I have a plate for you right here.
Cool, huh?
Guess what?
- What?
- I took today off to take you to a hockey game.
- Cool.
- Mommy can join, if she wants.
- Yeah, Mommy, come on.
- Thanks, but I think I'm gonna take a Mommy day.
- What...what are you doing?
- What, I'm gonna go get changed.
- I...I mean, where are you...
what are you doing with those?
- I have to stop by the shop. I was gonna shred them for you.
- Okay.
How's that orange juice, good?
- Yeah. - Yeah?
[ crowd cheering, organ playing ]
[ referee whistles ]
[ sighs ]
[ folk music plays ]
[ chattering ]
- Hello, can I help you?
- Yes, I'm looking for Carol.
- Which Carol...client Carol or staff Carol?
- Staff Carol. This was the only address I had.
- That could be client Carol.
She actually lives here.
- Um...well, no, I'm looking for Carol Harris,
the daughter of the founders.
I assume she works here?
- No, you've assumed wrong.
Carol Harris is client Carol.
She's...oh, she's right over there, next to those bells.
Oh, all volunteers have to fill out some paperwork.
I'll go get some. Oh, feel free to say hello.
[ exhales ]
[ phone dings ]
[ phone vibrating ]
- Hi.
- Carol, you really did a nice job.
- Thank you. - You're so sweet.
- You're sweet, too.
- Hello. - Hello.
Come sit down.
- Thank you.
I'm Karen.
- I'm Carol. - Hi, Carol.
What are you doing?
- Polishing bells.
- Oh, that looks like a lot of work.
- Tiring work. - I see.
- I wish I got paid for it.
- You're funny. - You're funnier.
I like to perform too.
- Perform?
- The bell choir. - I see.
- Are you gonna have a baby?
- That's right, I'm going to have a baby.
- Yeah. - Yeah.
- I'm not supposed to say this.
- What aren't you supposed to tell me?
- I had a baby once.
- You had a baby once?
- You believe me, don't you?
- Yeah. Yeah.
- It's a Christmas baby. I love him.
I wish I could see him again.
- Yeah.
- That's why I like the bells.
[ crying ]
- I made you cry.
- You didn't make me cry.
- It wasn't me?
- No, it wasn't you.
Will you excuse me? I'm so sorry.
- That's okay.
[ gasping, exhaling ]
- Oh, is... is everything okay?
- Yes, yes, I had a lovely visit with Carol.
- But you're leaving now. - Yes.
- But you just got here.
- You know, I was just here trying
to trace some family roots.
- Family roots?
Are you related to Carol?
- No, not really.
It's a little complicated.
You know, I shouldn't have come.
- Well, perhaps you should talk to Carol's mother, Helen Harris.
- No, thank you.
- Does this mean that you won't be needing these?
We're always looking for reliable volunteers.
And if you're part of Carol's family, all the better.
- You know, I'll think about it.
- Do you have a business card?
I'll add you to the mailing list.
- That's okay.
- Our handbell and chime choir
performs the entire month of December for the holidays.
Carol is one of our best performers.
This has always been a very difficult time of year for her.
- Why is that?
- [ sighs ]
We all have things in our past.
- Right.
You know, maybe it'll be okay for you
to put me on that mailing list.
- Great, and perhaps you could make it
to one of the choir's performances.
- Yeah, that's my husband's business card.
- Johnson Family Autobody and Paint...hmm.
- You can use that address to my name, Karen Johnson.
- Karen Johnson. - Mm-hmm.
- I'm Lillian, the manager here. - Nice to meet you.
- And if you do decide to volunteer,
I promise I won't make you clean toilets.
- Okay.
- You know, Carol doesn't have any family that visits.
So if you could come again, it would be nice.
- We'll see.
- Right. What's your husband's name?
- Scott.
- Scott. Scott Johnson, that's a nice name.
- Yeah.
You've been very kind.
- I hope to see you again.
- Maybe. Bye.
- Bye.
[ crying ]
- Stop.
I made you cry...why?
- It wasn't you.
- Will you visit me again?
- I don't know. I don't know.
- I miss you.
[ sighs ]
- I wanna be with you.
- Okay. Um...
- You wanna have lunch?
- Lunch? Um...
- Come on, let's eat.
- Where?
- Here.
- Over there?
Okay, take me, take me. - I'll take you.
- Um, okay.
Well, this is delicious.
Where did you learn to cook?
- TV dinners.
- Do you wanna talk to me about your little boy?
- He was so beautiful.
- Yeah?
- I miss my baby boy.
I wanna keep him.
I wanna show you something.
- Okay.
[ grunts ]
- You're strong.
- I am strong.
- Dirty laundry?
- It's not dirty laundry. - Oh.
- It's not dirty laundry.
- Oh, you're hiding something.
That's smart.
Oh!
- That's my drawings.
- What is this?
- That's me. That's my friend.
- And...and what about that one?
- Oh, yeah.
- You like Christmas?
- I love Christmas.
- What's your favorite thing to do at Christmastime?
- Christmastime, when you put the wreath
with the Christmas tree...
- Yeah.
- ...and make ornaments. - And do you sing?
- Yeah. - Yeah?
- That's why I like the bells.
- Well, maybe one day he'll be watching you.
- Yeah.
- Who's this?
- That's my baby boy.
[ crying ]
I miss him.
- Is that you in the hospital with him?
- He's my Christmas baby.
I wanna keep him, but Mama made me do it.
- Your mama? - She won't let me do it.
He...he...
- That's okay.
- And I want him to hear it.
- It's okay, it's okay.
It's okay. It's okay. It's okay.
- Carol?
- I have to put them away. - Yeah. Okay.
You hide that.
- I don't want her to see these.
- Okay. I'll go distract her, okay?
Okay. Oh...
I'll distract her.
- I picked up some groceries for you.
- Hi.
- Who are you?
- I'm Karen, a new friend of Carol's.
- Carol doesn't have any friends, except at the center.
- Well, I'm a volunteer.
- I've never seen you before.
- It's my first day.
- Have you filled out the paperwork?
- Well, no, actually, they're right here.
- It's your first day, you've not filled out any paperwork,
and I find you alone in my daughter's apartment?
I ask you again, who are you?
- Carol?
- Hi, Carol. - Hi.
- Who's this?
- That's my friend. - Yeah.
- Carol, would you go and put these
groceries away for me, please?
Thank you.
- I have to go.
- I'd like you to fill out that paperwork before you go.
- I don't have time.
- A young, pregnant woman visited Carol this morning.
- Yes, her name was Karen.
- Do you know anything else about her?
- No, not really.
- Well then how is it that I find her in Carol's apartment?
- You did? - Yes.
- Huh. I had no idea.
I'm sorry.
I thought she left.
Carol must have taken her back there on her own.
- If you can't provide proper supervision,
then I'll find someone who can.
- I have been with Carol a long time.
I provide the appropriate supervision, Helen.
- I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Listen to me, listen.
Did she say anything?
Did she give you any additional information?
- Well...
She did say that she was tracing family roots.
- Really? - Mm-hmm.
- Yeah.
- Well, do you think that...
- I don't know. I...I don't know.
I don't know. I don't know what to think.
I didn't wanna ask.
- Oh... - Yeah.
- Well...
- I know.
But...
Okay. She gave me this.
[ gasps ]
- What?
What is it?
Hey, Helen.
Helen.
- Oh, Mommy must not be home.
- Mommy! - Hi, sweetie.
Mm.
- Hey, Jer...do you wanna take this to the kitchen?
Me and Mommy are gonna be right there.
- Careful, sweetie.
- We have take-out.
I'm...I'm sorry.
I should have told you.
- Are you mad at me?
- No, I can never be mad at you.
Well, maybe a little.
- Mm.
- We need to be able to talk about this stuff, Scott.
- Well, right now, let's eat.
I'm starving,
and I'm sure you are too.
- Yes, I'm starving.
Of course I'm starving, I'm always starving.
- Hey, what do you mean, you had lunch with her?
- You know what the highlight was, hmm?
- Hm?
- It was the picture that she showed me
of you and her at the hospital
when you were a little baby, Scott.
There isn't a day that goes by
that she doesn't think about you.
- I don't know how I could have
any kind of relationship with her.
- Why not? She's the sweetest person I've ever met.
Plus she desperately wants to meet you someday.
- I don't think that can happen.
You know, we need to put all this behind us
and just move forward.
- I actually wanna visit her again.
- What? Why?
- Because she's family, Scott.
Plus I think it would be good for Jeremy
to meet his grandmother someday.
And you... you need to make peace with the past.
- You know, it's like...
- Come visit with me.
- Yeah, I...
I have an early morning.
I need...I need to get some rest.
- Just think about it, Scott.
You wanna take a couple more bites for me?
Yeah, come on.
- You, uh... You should have woke me.
- After the way you were tossing and turning last night,
I thought you could use a little sleep.
- Mm. - Daddy, guess what?
- What?
- I get to spend the day with Granny and Papa.
- What? Oh, man, with Mommy?
- Actually, Mommy has other things to do.
- What...what kinda things?
- Mm.
- Karen, please.
- You have a good day, sweetie.
- I will, Mommy.
- I have to do this. We'll talk later, okay?
- Is Mommy okay?
- I think so, buddy.
- Okay, so when we start again,
we're gonna start at "Jingle Bells," okay?
Carol, we're in the middle of a rehearsal.
Carol?
When we perform in public,
you can't rush into the crowd to give your big hugs
to audience members.
Carol?
Your friend can pull up a chair and join us.
[ giggles ]
- Bells up.
[ plays "Jingle Bells" ]
- Karen.
I wasn't sure if we would see you again.
- Hi, Lillian. I wasn't sure either.
I got my paperwork filled out.
- Oh. Well, that's a good place to start.
What do you want to accomplish?
- I wanna help.
- Mm.
You know, I have to mention
that you caused a bit of trouble yesterday.
Volunteers are not typically allowed
in our residents' apartments.
- I am so sorry. I understand completely.
- Mm. Well, I'm gonna check your references.
Then we can talk about what areas
you might be able to help in.
- I actually was wondering if I could start
one-on-one with Carol.
- Well, we'll see.
- Okay. - Yeah.
- Hi, it's Lillian.
Karen Johnson is back.
- Do you have the paperwork?
All right, let's start with her address.
Give that to me, please.
- It is 600 Bender Lane.
- Okay.
Now what I want you to do is go out and discretely
find her car and write down her license number.
- All right, and what now?
- Put her on as a volunteer, but keep a close watch on her.
- Okay.
- Good work, everyone. Good job, let's clean up.
- You're all set. - Great.
- You know, there are many clients here
who could really use the time you're offering.
- Well, you know, I'd like to start with Carol,
and then see how it goes.
- I think she'd like that.
She could use some assistance with her handwriting.
- Great.
- Okay, the rules are you work here in the center.
There's no visiting in your apartment,
Remember, we had that talk.
- Yeah, yeah.
- Excuse me?
- I'm sorry.
- That's better.
All right. Take this.
- Great. - Self-explanatory.
Have fun.
- Thank you. - Yes, ma'am.
- Okay, it says, "Think of as many names of fruit,
and write down as many as you can think of."
Oh, you have nice handwriting.
- Thank you. - You're welcome.
How about bananas? - Ew.
- Of course you don't.
I love bananas.
- I'm bored.
- Oh, um...
will Lillian check your work?
- Yes.
- Okay, well, let's write one more down.
You know, I have an idea.
- Hm?
- How about we write a letter?
- Yeah. - Yeah?
Okay.
Let's put this over here for now.
Who would you like to write a letter to?
- My son.
- Are you sure?
Okay. - This is for him.
- Okay. Let's start.
- "My son is..."
- What would you like to say to your son?
What would you like to say to your baby boy?
- I play the bells. - You play...
- Bells at church.
- And what do you dream of?
- I dream of going to Vegas.
"I dream of you."
"I dream of you watching."
- Yeah. Him.
- I want him to come home.
- Yeah, you do.
He's gonna come home, yeah.
- Hey, buddy,
can you do your daddy a favor
and go upstairs and start getting ready for bed?
I'll be there in a minute.
- But it's early.
- Do as Daddy says, okay? Come on.
What do you think you're doing?
I need you to let go.
- I can't, Scott. I'm a mother.
If Jeremy was taken from me at birth,
I can only imagine the unbearable pain
that would cause.
- That's not my fault.
- And nobody said that.
You know, I...
I just can't understand.
You spent all of this time
trying to find your biological mother,
and now you just wanna forget about it.
- Because I can't hate her anymore for it.
- Scott...
Morning. - Morning.
- Morning, sweetie. - Good morning.
- This is a letter written from Carol to you.
I think you should read it. It might help you.
- Who's Carol?
- Oh, well, she's a new friend of Mommy's, sweetie.
[ knocking ]
- You know, I gotta... I gotta get that.
Hi, can I help you?
- You must be Scott.
- Oh, this is a surprise.
- Hello, Mrs. Johnson.
- Do you personally visit all new volunteers?
- No.
May I come in?
- Please.
- Who is that?
- Helen Harris, your biological grandmother.
- Okay. Here's some tea for you.
- Thank you.
- You're welcome.
- I think it's best if we put everything out in the open.
- I take it you know who we are.
- I do. I do.
And I'm sure you have many reasons
for seeking my daughter out.
- Oh, I don't think it's that uncommon
for an adopted child to seek out
his or her own biological parents.
- I suppose not, but it's not lost on me that
it's you visiting my daughter, not your husband.
- I understand your concern for Carol's wellbeing, I do.
- Well, that's exactly why I'm here.
I want you to stop visiting her.
It's just too disruptive to her life.
- No, it's not.
- Well, it...
it will be if she finds out who your husband is.
- Well, you're wrong. This is what Carol wants.
- Karen, please.
- Oh, really?
You've had two visits with my daughter.
Suddenly you're an expert on her life?
- Well, she misses her son.
That's not difficult to understand.
She thinks about him every day.
- I think it's just better if the past remains the past.
- There isn't a day that goes by
that she doesn't not wanna see Scott.
- Well, that's not going to happen.
- I think if we work together, we can make it happen.
- I know what's best for my daughter.
- You're wrong.
- I think we should honor her wishes.
No, not now. Karen, put it away.
- I have to do this.
I helped Carol at the center with her handwriting.
And this is a letter she wrote to Scott.
"I miss you every day.
"I play bells at church every Christmas Eve.
"I dream that you are watching.
"I want you to come home to me.
"Please don't be mad at my mommy for making you go away.
I hated her for doing that."
- Oh, that's enough.
- "I stopped talking to her for a very long time,
I hated her so much."
- That's enough. That's just enough.
- "I forgive her now."
[ sighs ]
- That was just an awful time.
I made so many mistakes,
I know that. But I...
I can't go through that again,
and I don't want to put her through that again.
- Karen and I will respect your wishes.
Neither of us will go to the center or visit Carol again.
- Thank you.
It truly... truly is for the best.
- Really?
- Well, hello.
- Hello.
- What's your name? - Jeremy.
- Carol used to draw like that.
- She still does.
- Mrs. Johnson, I know you mean no harm,
but please, I hope you respect my wishes.
- Hey, buddy, what are you...what are you drawing?
- My family.
That's Mommy, me,
Granny, Papa...
- And who's that, sweetie?
- That's Daddy.
- Come on, Jeremy, let's go put your jacket on.
Come on, sweetie.
- You made the right decision.
- Hey, I'm gonna head into the office,
get the files ready for your end.
- Oh, I'll see you there.
- I don't agree with your decision,
but I understand that it's yours to make.
- Thank you.
- I was just trying to help.
- I know, and I love you all the more for it.
I'll see you there.
[ sighs ]
- Yeah, we'll be wrapped tomorrow, ready for inspection.
Yeah, mm-hmm, okay.
Well, you are welcome.
- I need a break from filing.
I just wanted to see if you wanted me to shred this for you.
- Let's hang on to this for a little while longer.
- I think that's a really good idea.
I do know where you keep that key.
- Yeah, I think I need to find a new hiding spot.
- You ready to go home?
- Mm, no, it's gonna be a late night.
You head home.
Don't wait up.
- All right. - Mm.
- No, Granny. - Oh, okay.
So did you invite Scott to join us?
- I told him where we were going to be.
It has to be his choice, Mom.
- Well, maybe he'll stop by later.
- Don't count on it.
- Dad, please.
Jeremy, why are you only allowing us
to use the red and gold ornaments, sweetie?
- I have a plan for the yellow ones.
Papa, Daddy won't come
because he's thinking about doing a tree at home.
- Oh, he is, is he?
- Don, don't start.
- Sweetie, why do you say that?
- Because I asked him, and he said that he'd think about it.
- Don't count on it.
- Papa, now would be a really great time
for you to go and make us all some hot chocolate.
- Okay, I'll get right on it.
- Jeremy, come here, sweetie.
Is that why you're not letting us use all of the ornaments?
- Mm-hmm, I'm hoping Granny and Papa
would let us borrow the others for home.
- And what if Daddy doesn't get a Christmas tree?
- That's okay. - Is it?
- I love Daddy, and I know Christmas makes him sad.
- Sweetie.
- Jeremy.
Aw.
- Oh, she's sure got a lot of practice with her handwriting.
[ door opens, closes ]
- Why don't you run upstairs and get ready for bed?
Yeah?
- Hi, Daddy. Bye, Daddy.
- You okay?
You sure? - Yeah.
I, uh...
I'm just...
sitting down to read these.
- I'll put Jeremy to bed, okay?
- Thank you.
- Mm.
- Hey. - Mm.
Mm. You okay?
- I think so.
- Do you wanna talk?
- Not now, but I will.
Just give me a little time.
- Okay, will do.
- Mm. - Good night, Scott.
- Mm, good night, Karen.
- All right, guys, so what we're gonna do
is we are going to take these candy canes, and we are gonna...
- Carol? - Yeah?
- You usually like decorating the tree.
- Where is she?
- Who?
- Karen Johnson.
- Sometimes it's hard to understand
why people come and go from our lives.
- Because it's Christmastime.
- Mm.
Is there anything I can do to help?
- Please call her.
- Well, I...I really can't do that.
- Would you be in the dog house?
- Ruff, ruff.
Are you ready for your performance tomorrow?
- Yes, I'll do my best.
- Good.
Hey, would you like to help me in the office today?
- I'd love to.
- I am so behind in my filing.
Hey, will you help me alphabetize
these volunteer folders?
- Yes, I can.
- Oh...well, look here.
Here is Karen's volunteer file.
- Can I look at it?
- Well, it's confidential.
You know what that means, right?
- I can't tell anybody what it says.
- And you shouldn't tell anyone that you saw what it says.
- You mean my mama?
- You got me.
- I won't tell her, I promise.
She's so pretty.
What are these?
- It's her personal information...
her address and phone number.
What are you thinking?
- I wanna call her.
- Oh, well, I suppose you would need a phone for that.
- There's a phone right here.
- Carol, I have to step away. Will you wait here for me?
- Yeah.
- Uh, you'll be all alone for a bit.
- Okay.
- Wait a minute, show me something.
- Sure, anything in particular?
- What are the three numbers?
- Oh, okay, well, this one is her work,
this one's her home number... - Mm-hmm.
- ...and this one is her mobile.
- What number should I call her?
- Well, I would use her mobile.
- That one there.
- That one there, her mobile.
[ busy signal ] - Oh!
- Oh, Carol, the funny thing about our office phones is
that you have to dial 9 to get an outside line, yep.
- That's confidential, right?
- It soitenly is...ruff, ruff.
[ giggling ]
[ knocking ]
- Oh, hey, what... what are you doing here?
- I'm here to get caught up. - Mm.
- Jeremy's with my parents.
He's making cookies today.
- I'm sure your mom likes that.
- Actually, he's with my dad. He's the baker, sweetie.
Mom gets stuck putting lights up outside.
- Do you miss doing that?
- What?
- You know, decorating at home for Christmas?
- It's nice going to my mom's, but it's not the same.
- I'm sorry.
- Hey, it saves me tons of time on the clean-up end,
plus I don't miss putting everything away, so...
- You know...
Jeremy asked me for a Christmas tree this year.
- I know, he told me.
Maybe you start by joining us
at my parents' this year, hm?
- Your dad would have a heart attack.
- Yeah, he would.
[ mobile ringing ]
- Oh.
- Uh, everything... - I should take this.
- Yeah, you okay?
- Yeah, everything's fine. Can you pick up Jeremy today?
- Yeah, sure. - Great.
Carol?
- Karen, is that you?
- Yes, it's me. How did you get this number?
- I have my ways.
Will you visit? I thought we were friends.
- [ sighs ] I'm sorry.
I'm still your friend
- I miss you.
Will you visit with me?
- I don't think I can come back to the center.
- Come to my performance at the church.
- I'll think about it...
No promises, okay?
- I have to go.
I'd love to see you.
- Bye.
- I wanna decorate the tree.
- Ah, you're back in the holiday spirit?
- Yep, all good.
- If there's anything you'd like to talk about, let me know.
- I love you, Lillian.
- I love you, Carol. Go join the others.
[ sighs ]
I hope I'm doing the right thing.
[ sighs ]
[ radio playing Christmas music ]
[ doorbell ]
- Karen?
Okay.
- Ooh, Scott, hi!
I was expecting Karen.
- Uh...can I come in?
- Yeah, sure, come on in. - Okay.
Hey, can I...can I look at your Christmas tree?
Jeremy told me all about it.
- Of course, yeah, come on in.
- I...I'm...I'm no expert on Christmas trees,
but this has got to be the saddest tree I've ever seen.
- Yeah, you'll have to speak to Jeremy about that.
He wanted to save all the nicer decorations
for something special.
- Would a tree at our house be considered something special?
Jeremy seems to have this all worked out.
We wouldn't wanna disappoint him, would we?
- Are you saying what I think you're saying?
- I don't know, what do you...
what do you think I'm saying?
- That you wanna borrow our Christmas decorations.
- I promise to get our own decorations next year.
- I think we can manage that.
I do.
Jeremy?
Jeremy, your dad's here.
They're all boxed up and ready to go.
Don, get the boxes ready.
Oh, and come here.
Jeremy? Don?
Don? Don!
- Hi, Daddy! - Hey, buddy.
Hey, did you have a good day?
- Every day that I get to spend with you is a good day.
- Aw, me too, buddy.
Hey, guess what?
I got a surprise for you... come here, look, look.
- Oh, boy, for me?
- Mm-hmm, for us, for you
and me and Mommy.
- I'll have you know you made me lose a bet.
- Oh, I'm sorry about that.
- Don't be, I'm not.
- I always win.
- Let me help you get these out to the truck.
- You ready? Come on!
- Scott, honey, I'm home.
- Surprise! - Surprise!
I knew he wouldn't say no!
- It's beautiful, sweetie.
You guys did a great job.
What if I wanted to help, huh?
- You could decorate the table.
- Okay.
- And you could decorate the Christmas lights tomorrow.
- Yeah. - Oh.
- See, no problem, you can handle the lights outside.
- Only if you do all the cooking the rest of the week.
- Uh, I'll do the lights.
- Jer convinced me to order pizza.
- Mm, good, why don't you two get cleaned up,
and I'll take care of the rest.
- Oh, yeah?
Yeah, come here. Come here. Come here!
Where you going, huh?
- You have a crab! - What?
- Here, come on, buddy.
I'm not gonna be at the office today.
- Yeah? I won't be in much either.
- Oh.
- Yeah, errands.
- Errands? Errands.
- Do you need me to take Jeremy to your parents'?
- No, I'll keep him with me, make a day out of it.
- Okay, good. I'll...
- Did you want me to do something for you,
run some errands? - No, I'm good.
I just...I have some errands I have to do for myself.
- Great, we'll both be doing errands.
- What's an "errand?"
- Ask your mother.
- What's an "errand?"
- You say "bye" to your dad? - Bye, Daddy!
- Bye! - Hi, Mommy!
- Hi, hi, son.
[ bell choir playing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" ]
- Hi, there. - Hello.
- Are you here to see the bell choir?
- Yeah.
- I see them every year.
I never miss them, although I've lost count how many.
- Who knew the Harris choir had a groupie?
- I simply love these kids.
- Kids?
- Well, I still think of them that way.
I volunteered for years, and I watched them grow up.
I was just a kid myself.
- So you must know a lot about them.
- I suppose. They're like family.
- Can you...can you tell me about her right there?
- That's Carol,
or as I like to refer to her, Carol of the bells.
- That has a nice ring to it.
- Well, Carol pours her heart into these performances.
She's always sizing up the crowd.
Look at her now.
- Excuse me, I... I...thank you.
[ applause ]
- What are you doing here?
This is a surprise.
- We're on the mailing list.
[ choir performing "Silent Night" ]
- Right.
- Is...is she okay?
- I don't know.
She knows who you are.
Yeah.
[ applause ]
- Oh, Carol, you need to stay--
- I know...
- Oh, I know...you need to stay with the others, honey, okay?
- Okay.
- Great, all right, we'll talk about this later.
- Hi. - Hi.
- It's true, isn't it?
- Is...is what true?
- You're Carol's son, aren't you?
- How'd you know?
- I had my suspicions
the day your wife showed up at the center.
- Please understand, we mean no harm.
- It's...it's my job to give Carol the best life possible.
- I understand, and we'll... we'll be going.
- No, I can't think of a more wonderful way
to give Carol a better life
than to help her reunite with her son.
- Couldn't you lose your job?
- I'm not worried about that.
Mrs. Harris owes me.
I was very close with your father.
Do you know his name?
- No.
- His name was Lonnie Michaels.
- Can you tell us more about his father?
- He was...he was a young man, so full of life.
He suffered brain damage due to an accident.
His life was forever changed.
- I'm sorry to hear that.
- But then he met Carol,
your mother, in a group home,
and his spark for living returned.
And Carol became the love of his life.
- What...what happened to him?
- He was devastated
when Mrs. Harris took you and Carol away.
He simply could not go on living.
- We're so sorry.
That must have been so difficult for Carol.
- It was a very difficult time for all of us.
Since then, I have dedicated my life to Carol.
Mrs. Harris and I don't always see eye-to-eye, but we...
- Please, continue...
You what?
- We're connected.
You see, like Carol,
I dreamed of the day
that you would come back.
- What...what are you saying?
- Lonnie Michaels...
your father, was my son.
You, Scott, you're my grandson.
You're all that I have left of him.
- Don't cry.
[ sobbing ]
- You performed very well today.
- I had to, he was there.
- Who was there?
- My son.
- Yes.
His name is Scott.
- I have to find him.
Will you help me?
- Well, that's up to you now.
I'll help, but you have to tell your mother what you want.
Hey, we can go over there in the morning.
- Yes, I'd like to see her.
I've got work to do.
- Oh, what type of work?
- You'll see.
- Well, I can't wait.
- I can't wait, too.
[ knocking ]
- What are you two doing here? - You'll see.
- Dirty laundry?
Did the machines break down at the center?
- Nope. - It's not dirty laundry.
- I see.
- It's my most prized possession.
- I will be going, because you can do this.
- No, please stay.
- Okay.
- Mother.
I made gifts for him every year, mostly drawings.
- Drawings of who?
- That's my son at 10 years old.
- Oh...you're not going anywhere.
- Carol, why are you doing this?
- He came to my performance yesterday.
- You know that's not possible.
- But it is, I saw him.
- If you had anything to do with this, I swear I will...
- You'll what, fire me?
You can't do anything more to hurt me than you already have.
It's time to make this right.
- That's you.
See how happy I was?
I'll be that happy when I see him again.
- You can't control this.
- Lillian, I have a surprise for you.
I want you to have that.
[ gasps ]
- I'll treasure it forever.
Don't you worry, everything's going to be fine.
Let me go talk to her.
[ clears throat ]
- I was so convinced I was doing the right thing back then.
- Yeah, well, we can't change the past,
as much as I would like to.
What matters is what you do now.
I honestly don't know what to do.
- Well, that's easy.
You help Carol, your daughter, reunite with her son.
- How?
- Call him, invite him over for dinner, here.
Make it for tomorrow.
I'll take her back to the center and help her get ready.
- Will you join us?
- Yes, I would love to.
- Oh, thank you.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
- Yeah.
- Is everything okay?
- It... It's Helen Harris.
She's inviting us to dinner.
- What do you wanna do?
- Yeah, yeah, I'm still... I'm still here.
We'll be there.
Yeah, I'd like to bring our son, Jeremy, too.
Mm-hmm, I...well, I think it would be good to...
for him...well, good for him to meet his grandmother.
Okay, we'll see you then.
- Scott, wake up, it's time.
- Mm, no... - Come on.
- It's not morning yet.
- No, my parents are on the way to take care of Jeremy.
Come on, it's time.
- Oh! Oh! - Yeah. Yeah.
- Are you...are you okay? - Get your shoes on.
- I know, they're downstairs. - Okay.
- I'm...I'm good.
[ radio playing ]
- You're not Mommy and Daddy.
- Ooh, come here, sweetheart.
Oh...
Mommy and Daddy are at the hospital,
because your new little sister decided to arrive early.
- Sister?
- Mm-hmm, and she is so excited to meet you.
- She is? - Mm-hmm.
- Of course she is.
But you need to eat something first.
Are you hungry?
- You kidding? I'm starving!
- He's starving! That was made. Yeah, that was made here.
Here, Papa will do that. You start on that.
- Where are they?
He should be here by now.
- Oh, calm down.
You're making me nervous.
[ phone rings ] - Ooh.
Hello?
Oh, really?
Oh, congratulations, Scott.
And give Karen my best.
Christmas Eve?
Well...
Yes, of course, we'll be there.
Bye.
Well, Carol, I'm sorry,
but they're not gonna be able to be here tonight.
Karen had her baby earlier today.
- She did? - Mm-hmm.
- Oh, you'll just have to be patient
just a little while longer. - Yeah.
- That makes us great-grandmothers again.
- Oh, shut up.
- Did she have a boy or a girl?
- She had a little girl.
- Oh, a girl... Oh, how precious, a girl.
- It's a girl... I like that.
- Well, I guess we might as well just finish setting the table.
Good job with the napkins.
- Okay, so I'll be going now.
- Don't be silly.
You stay, you're family.
- Okay.
- Wow, that's real nice.
- Hey. - Hi.
- Real nice, huh, Jer?
You wanna say hi to your sister?
- Hello, baby sister.
- I think she likes you.
- I'm...I'm kinda nervous.
- Well, it is the first time we celebrate your birthday.
- It's...it's not that.
I...I don't even know what to tell...
like, to talk to her about, you know?
- You'll be fine.
- Yeah.
- Jer, I think it's time.
- I got something for you, Daddy.
- Oh, what is this?
- It's a "Just Because I Love You" gift!
- Hey, would it be okay if I called it a birthday gift?
- Yes, Daddy, I'd like that.
- Yeah?
Me too. - Me too.
- I fixed it.
- Oh!
It's perfect, buddy, oh.
It's perfect.
[ doorbell rings ]
[ chattering ]
- Hey, buddy.
- They're here.
- Hi.
Hey.
- Hi.
I'm...I'm Scott.
- I'm Carol of the bells.
- I am very glad to meet you, Carol of the bells.
- Nice to meet you too.
- This is your granddaughter.
- Can I hold her?
- We named her after her grandmother.
- After you. - After me?
- This is for you.
- Oh.
- It's from Carol. - It's for...it's for you.
- She worked very hard on it all week.
- Hey, do you wanna help me...
wanna help me get... - There he goes.
[ laughing ]
- Wow. - That's beautiful.
- I made this for you.
- Oh... - And her, too.
- Oh, thank you very much.
- I missed you.
- Oh.
- That looks like Jer here, Mom. - Is that him?
- Is everyone hungry?
- Yes. - Yes.
- Yeah, let's all go to the dining room, come on.
- Come on, you hungry, boy? - Are you hungry?
- Yeah? What about you, Mom?
- Let's go.
- Come on, buddy.
Merry Christmas. - Merry Christmas.
So what do you think of Christmas now?
- Hm...well,
I think it's growing on me.
- Really? - Yeah.
- ¶ December 1st there's a change I see ¶
¶ When the Christmas spirit turns its key ¶
¶ And the children listen to the stories past ¶
¶ And they hope and pray the moment will always last ¶
¶ Christmas seemed so simple then ¶
¶ The trees, the snow, the... ¶
¶ Mistletoe and colored lights ¶
¶ Candy cane and Santa's flights ¶
¶ This year there's just one thing on my list ¶
¶ I wanna have an old-fashioned Christmas ¶
¶ I want an old-fashioned Christmas ¶
¶ That's the first wish on my list ¶
¶ I wanna feel what was ¶
¶ Way back when ¶
¶ I wanna real tree, not plastic ¶
¶ Oh, the pine will smell fantastic ¶
¶ When we trim it all ¶
¶ on Christmas Eve ¶
¶ I want an old-fashioned Christmas ¶
¶ That's the first wish on my list ¶
¶ I wanna feel what was ¶
¶ Way back when ¶
¶ I want an old-fashioned Christmas ¶
¶ An old-fashioned Christmas ¶
¶ An old-fashioned Christmas this year ¶