05x12 - Both Things Can Be True

[bunniefuu]

[door opens]

Hey, man.

Hey.

Hey, so I got the hot chocolate.

Uh-huh.

I got the corn syrup for the candied apples.

And I bought every box of string lights they had at the hardware store.

That’s my guy.

Hey, do me a favor and look at this.

I mean, did I get these letters even?

Yeah. You spelled “carnival” wrong.

I…

[laughs] I’m kidding. No. No, it looks great, man.

Great’s not good enough, Miguel.

I need this proposal to be perfect.

Jack, you are recreating your first date with Rebecca in her apartment. It’s exactly the kind of romantic gesture that makes other guys hate you.

Come on. Other guys don’t hate me.

Yeah, they do.

Anyways, did, uh, you ever end up getting ahold of Rebecca’s dad?

No. Never called me back. Finally spelled it out to his secretary this morning. “Hey, Darcy, it’s Jack Pearson calling again. Could please let Mr. Malone know the guy he hates is planning on asking his daughter to marry him tonight and just wants his blessing?”

Never called me back.

Probably thinks I’m still just a drunken kid who can’t hit a golf ball to save his life.

Well, you can’t hit a golf ball.

Hey, you know what?

[laughs]

You can’t hit a golf ball.

♪ ♪

“It’s official” your engagement is national news.

Mm.

And your wedding is going to make headlines, too, because I pulled some strings and locked in the Villas at Solstice Cove.

Manny say what?

That just came out. I can’t control it sometimes.

There’s nothing I can do about it.

This is what we wanted. This is our first choice.

Yeah. Yeah.

It’s great, yeah?

What? What’s wrong?

No. No, no, nothing.

It’s just, um, I-I didn’t think we’d be able to book it.

Oh.

You know, it’s-it’s perfect.

It’s big and beautiful and airy.

Yeah.

A dream pandemic venue.

[VANESSA] Mm.

Mrs. Manny say what?

There she is.

[laughs]

[KEVIN] All right.

[both laugh]

You know, I’ve never been invited to a wedding.

Crashed one once.

Came across this outdoor barbecue.

Biggest heap of mac and cheese you ever saw.

That bride was pissed.

[laughing]

Speaking of invites, I need guest lists and wedding party names, like, yesterday.

Yeah, no. It’s-it’s not gonna be a big list. It’ll be small.

We’re keeping it intimate. You know, just the closest family and friends is all.

[MADISON] Yeah, the only person in my wedding party will be Kevin’s sister Kate.

I asked her yesterday. We screamed, we cried, we sang “We Are Family” by Sister Sledge.

It was… it was beautiful.

And you, Kevin?

Oh, right. Uh, well, my best man will obviously be my brother.

And when I ask him, I’m sure it will be equally beautiful.

You haven’t talked to him yet?

I mean, I, you know, I-I want to…

No. I just… I want to make sure I say it the right way.

You should just ask him.

Yeah, I will.

‘Cause you guys are in a good place now.

Yeah, yeah. No, I will.

I just, you know, I will.

Okay, let’s talk rehearsal dinner.

Who’s hosting?

That would be my mom and her husband Miguel.

Mm.

They just got back to L.A. yesterday, both fully vaccinated.

Miguel, huh?

You know, he’s the guy who’s, uh, banging my brother’s wife, right?

Well, I call her “Mom,” but-but yeah.

Um, I think he prefers “Rebecca’s husband for over a decade,” but-but yeah, that Miguel.

You know, um, I’d like to help out with the rehearsal dinner, whatever the hell that is.

Oh.

Are you… are you serious?

Yeah. Why not? Any schmuck who’s read a menu can pick out food for dinner, right?

Yeah. I guess so. Okay, I’ll tell Miguel. He’ll be thrilled.

Thank you.

Good.

Fabulous. And I need the guest list ASAP.

And you’ll please call your brother?

[MADISON] Mm.

I need his suit size. What’s his name?

Uh, Randall Pearson.

I can’t believe they went with “Mevin” over “Kadison.”

Let me see.

I can’t believe Bruno Mars still picks up his dry cleaning like the rest of us. Holy cow.

[laughs]

Hey.

Mm.

It’s a big day today, baby.

Group therapy.

All right, remember, it’s your first day.

You know, just ease into it.

Mm-hmm.

You know, let other people talk.

I will try, Beth. I will.

But I am an orator.

[laughs]

I orate.

How you doing?

Mm.

You feeling okay about Tess having Alex over for the first time?

Oh, hell yeah, I feel okay!

Look, I got sodas chilling in the fridge, two dozen homemade jalapeño poppers locked and loaded.

I mean, I just want them to feel like they are totally welcome here.

You’re practicing Alex’s gender pronouns right now, aren’t you?

Hell yeah. You know Tess is mean when you get those wrong.

I do.

Ooh, you could always call on me for backup.

My non-binary pronoun use is impeccable.

Ooh.

[RANDALL] Mm.

Huh.

Looks like J.Lo drinks Frappuccino, just like me.

Yeah. Just like J.Lo.

[TOBY] Look at this. Your Uncle Kevin and future Aunt Madison on the cover of a magazine.

And, wow. Look at that rock.

Can you say “herniated disc”?

Okay.

Oh. Wow.

[laughs]

Turns out, I’m hot for teacher.

Yeah.

I’m nervous.

Kate, a job where you help blind youth discover their inner musician is tailor-made for you.

Thank you for being such a trooper on this whole transition.

Oh, I-I appreciate the euphemism, but I prefer, uh, “forced early retirement without benefits.”

Not funny.

I’m kidding. I’m kidding.

I actually really enjoy all of this extra time with our insanely cute children before I move on to the next thing.

Which I think is gonna be soon, because, not to brag, but in the tech world, I’m kind of a catch.

You’re a catch in any world.

[TOBY] Mm.

All right.

I love you. I love you.

I miss you already.

Text me updates about the kids, please.

♪ I want to rock! ♪

No.

No. Yeah.

[grunts]

[Jack sighs]

Wow.

Yeah.

This place is really coming together.

Oh, hey.

Yeah? Hey, you know what?

We should start a side hustle throwing indoor carnivals.

[laughs] Maybe.

Hey, so, okay, when are we gonna start, uh, practicing the proposal?

Oh, I don’t need to practice. I… I got it all right here.

What? Jack.

Yeah.

You can’t just propose to someone like Rebecca without practicing first.

You want to practice?

Yeah.

All right, we’ll practice.

This is gonna be like an episode of I Love Lucy.

Okay. Come on, let’s go.

Um…

Rebecca…

Wait. Do you have the ring?

You want to prac… you want me to practice with the ring?

Yeah, Jack. It’s your main prop.

Okay.

Okay. Um…

Rebecca…

Wait.

What?

Aren’t you gonna get down on one knee?

You want the whole thing.

This is serious, Jack.

Okay.

[Jack laughs]

Uh, um, Rebecca?

Yes, Jack.

Our first date was a disaster.

I could barely afford the tickets for the carnival.

And when it started to rain, I was afraid to spend my last two bucks on an umbrella.

Jack, she was there. Come on. Let’s just get to the meat and potatoes of this.

Okay, yeah, yeah, got it. I…

Yeah, the meat…

Okay, okay, no, no, no.

I got it. I got it. I got it. Okay.

Bec, for reasons I will never know, at the end of the night, you kissed me.

And I decided right in that moment that I would spend the rest of my life making sure you never had to stand in the rain again.

So what do you say?

Rebecca, will…? Wait.

Hold-hold on a second.

What’s happening now?

Uh… it’s a key thing.

Key to it. [laughs]

Rebecca Malone,

will you stand under this umbrella with me?

[laughs]

Yes.

Mm.

Okay.

So, what do you think?

Hmm.

“Hmm” what?

The ring feels kind of stuck.

What? What do you mean, the ring is stuck?

It’s-it’s stuck.

The ring is… What do you mean, the ring is…?

Ow! Oh, it’s pinching.

Okay…

Just stop moving!

Why did you make me use the real thing, huh?

Why did you put it all the way on there?

I didn’t know you had a huge knuckle.

S… You can stop right there. Ow!

Okay.

You know what? This actually happened on I Love Lucy.

Did it?

Yeah.

Here. Just keep… keep it elevated.

Keep it elevated.

What’s that gonna do?

Blood drains!

It was a very good proposal, Jack.

I would have said yes.

All right. So, Madison and the babies are at the park with Toby, which is great, ’cause it gives us a couple hours to wedding-plan without being crapped on or spit up on.

Well, I hope your fiancée works that out before you marry her.

[laughs]

All right, first order of business is, uh, I got to email Randall and ask him to be my best man.

Email him? Really?

Doesn’t that seem a little impersonal?

Just-just call him.

Yeah. You know, I-I thought… I… I want to get the words right, you know? Mm…

[door opens]

Hey, guys.

Have no fear. M.C. Rivas is here.

[KEVIN] Nice.

Hey, Miguel, Uncle Nicky’s excited to dive into rehearsal dinner planning with you, so just ignore me.

Nicky, I am thrilled to have you aboard the planning committee.

Dinner.

I’m thinking small plates.

Really?

Won’t that be hard to fit the food on?

Oh, uh, no. The…

So, the plates– they’re not really small.

Uh, it’s basically a bunch of appetizers that add up to a full meal.

And that way, people can help themselves to as much as they want.

Well, you’re no stranger to helping yourself to whatever you want.

What was that?

Hmm? What about pigs in a blanket?

I do love pigs in a blanket, but I was thinking salmon crostini, bacon-wrapped dates and…

[Italian accent]: bruschetta.

Hey, kid.

Hey! Kid!

Huh?

Do you want small, fancy food or regular-sized, good food?

[chuckles]

Hey, I… You know, it’s up to you guys.

So, I don’t think we need anything crusty.

Cr… Uh, crus… It’s not crusty.

[NICKY] No.

[MIGUEL] It’s crostini. It’s…

[NICKY] You know, it doesn’t sound good at all.

[MIGUEL] It’s got salm… Look, let me show you a picture of it.

Maybe you’ll-you’ll get it a little. S-See how…

[KATE] Oh. Hi!

Hey, uh, can I help you with that?

No. It’s fine. I’m, uh, already done.

You know, I like to get here an hour early, settle in.

I see you’re more of a… “minute to spare” type of person.

Sorry.

I just… It was hard for me to tear myself away from my kids this morning, but I’m sure it’ll get easier.

Right? And I’m really excited to be working with you.

This job is a dream, and I still cannot believe

I got it. [chuckles]

Yeah.

All right! Good morning, drummers.

Good morning, good morning.

[drumming]

Mom, do you know the difference between agender and bi-gender?

Bethany, Alex is a teenager, not the gender police. Relax.

And yes, I do.

I’m a woman of the times.

[doorbell rings]

[TESS] Hey.

[ALEX] Hi.

[TESS] Mom, Mama C, this is Alex.

Hi.

Uh, it’s so nice to meet you guys.

Great to meet you, Alex. Popper?

Ooh, yes, please.

Uh, we’ll eat them upstairs.

We need to go study.

All right.

I hope they leave us some poppers.

[JASE] Welcome, everyone. Welcome, welcome.

So, for those of you who do not know me, I’m Jase.

And I just want to say this up front: this is a transracial adoptee support group.

This is not the Harry Potter Alliance.

Last month there was a little mix-up, and we had a bunch of very disappointed dudes with wands.

[all laugh]

Nothing wrong with that.

So, we’ve got, uh, two new additions today, right?

Uh, yeah.

Uh, Randall Pearson.

Thrilled to be here.

Uh, Andrew Levin. Nice to meet you all.

So, which one of you want to plunge in into the deep end and tell us about yourselves?

Uh, okay. Sure.

Um… I mean, if you don’t mind?

No, please. Go for it.

Uh… [chuckles softly]

Where do I start? Um, I grew up in Newton, Massachusetts.

Super white, upper-middle-class, Jewish parents.

It was actually shortly after my bar mitzvah that my depression started.

Something about staring out at all those faces.

A whole congregation of people that looked nothing like me.

It shook me.

Anyway, I’ve gotten it mostly under control, but… I have this need to keep proving myself that never goes away.

So, here I am.

Thank you for sharing, Andrew.

The mailman was the first Black man I saw in our neighborhood.

And I used to think, “Is that him? Is that my real father?”

At night, I would pray for my birth mother to find me.

But then my adopted mom would come tuck me in, and…

You know, I would feel so guilty.

Randall.

Anything you want to share, man?

I’m good. I just, uh…

Would it be all right if I just kept listening for a while?

[JASE] Absolutely, man.

Absolutely.

Maybe if we grease it, you know, like when a bolt gets stuck?

Oh, that’s a good idea.

Right?

Yeah.

You know, this is not how I imagined my day going.

Yeah.

[chuckles]

[knock on door]

Hey, I thought you said that Rebecca wasn’t gonna be home for two hours.

It’s not Rebecca. I mean, this is her house.

She’d just walk in.

Mr. Malone.

Good to see you.

[MIGUEL] So, I was thinking that after the cocktail hour, I will give my toast.

Wait. You’re-you’re gonna give a toast?

Of course. Yeah, I’m-I’m hosting.

No, we’re cohosting.

Oh, really? Uh, how much money are you kicking in to pay for cohosting this dinner?

[sighs] I’m sorry.

It’s just that all day, you have been sh**ting down pretty much every idea that I’ve had, and it’s just starting to wear down on me.

No, no, it’s kind of like the way you wore down my brother’s wife to get her to marry you.

Excuse me?

Nicky, what the hell, man?

Oh, forget it.

No. I don’t want to forget it.

Go ahead.

We’re both grown men.

Say what you’re gonna say.

It just doesn’t sit with me, you know?

I mean, my brother cuts me out of his life and replaces me with you, and then you come along, and you swoop in, and you marry his wife.

“Swooped in”?

I married Rebecca 13 years after Jack d*ed.

And if you’re wondering whether or not I spend a few minutes every day wondering what Jack might think about that, well, then, the answer is yes.

I do.

There’s only one person that I owe an explanation to, and that is the one person that I can never give one to.

I certainly don’t owe one to you.

[mouths]

[kids laugh, scream]

[MADISON] So, I have been to every park in a five-mile radius, and this one is the best.

[kids chattering]

Aw, man, Patrick isn’t here.

He’s my favorite of the stay-at-home dads.

That’s too bad.

How’s wedding planning going?

Oh, fine.

She said, staring sadly off into the distance.

[chuckles softly]

Just so you know, Madison, I promise, whatever you say on the playground stays on the playground, as the saying goes.

Ugh. It’s stupid. It’s just, um…

We picked a venue.

It’s beautiful.

But, um, between us, it’s not where I want to get married.

Hmm. What did Kevin say?

Ah, you haven’t told him. Okay.

Sometimes I have a hard time saying what I want.

Especially with, um… men.

Mm-hmm.

Also women.

A little bit with children.

I think I’m having a… I’m having a harder time with this whole “stay-at-home dad” thing.

Much harder than I’m letting on to Kate.

The thing is, I l… I loved my job.

And I loved getting dressed up for it.

I loved making coffee to take to it.

I loved doing it. You know, and I love my kids, but if I’m being honest…

[sighs]

Hey.

What you say at the playground stays at the playground.

I love my kids, but I don’t love spending ten hours a day with them.

Mm.

I didn’t mean that.

I didn’t mean that.

I totally meant that.

The couple of days that I’ve done it, time has moved very, very slowly.

[breathes deeply]

Do you think I’m terrible?

No.

No, I-I think you’re honest.

Yeah.

Honest.

Here at the Las Vegas of playgrounds.

You should talk to her.

You should talk to Kevin.

Puff?

Please.

Want one of these?

[JACK] No.

[TOBY] Want a cheese puff?

[shakes puffs]

[phone vibrating]

[JACK] No. No.

[TOBY] No? Can I eat all of them?

Hey. So, my next class starts in about two minutes.

[sighs] Listen, I’m sure that everything is fine and I’m just being crazy, but can you please just… just text me back, let me know that you guys are okay?

Okay.

Okay, I love you. Bye.

[PHILIP] Nice of you to join us.

[KATE] Sorry.

I… I don’t need an apology. I need you to be present.

[phone vibrates]

[KATE] I’m sorry.

This is really important. Just one sec.

[crying]

What’s wrong?

Nothing. Nothing.

It’s just, I told my husband to text me to make sure that the kids were okay, and he hadn’t, and then… I mean, he did.

Sorry, has s… has something happened?

No. No, they’re fine.

They’refine.

I am a total mess.

Um, it’s just I haven’t been away from both of them for this long.

[exhales]

Kate, there were a lot of applicants for this job, and you were not at the top of my list.

I mean, you have no teaching experience, and you don’t have a degree in anything even adjacent to music.

But Dr. Salzman loves your energy, so here we are.

I get it.

You love your kids.

But if that means that you can’t be present for my students, this isn’t gonna work.

It’s awful quiet up there.

Studying is an inherently quiet activity.

Where are Tess and Alex? I wanted to say hi.

Oh, they’re in her room.

For real?

How come they’re allowed to be in her room with the door closed, but Malik and I aren’t?

Wait, hold up, the door’s closed?

Mm-hmm.

Well, that is definitely not allowed.

I mean, I think…

Right?

You didn’t discuss ground rules with Tess?

I was very focused on the pronouns and the poppers.

But, um…

No, I think it’s only fair that Tess should have to follow the same rules as Deja, so…

I’m just… I’m just gonna go up and check on ’em.

Bethany?

Do tread lightly.

[knocking]

[TESS] [gasps] Mom!

What are you doing?

I can’t believe you just barged in here like that.

I didn’t barge in. I knocked.

And I would like for the two of you to please relocate to the couch downstairs, okay?

What? Why?

[ALEX] Hey, no.

It’s fine.

[sighs]

Okay. Fine.

[quietly] Sorry she’s such a psycho.

What did you call me?

I’m sorry.

You know what, Alex? I think maybe it’s time for you to go home so I can talk to my daughter about her rudeness.

Mom, please.

Hey, no. It’s okay.

I’ll see you soon.

Tess, it’s cool.

Bye.

That was mortifying.

Maybe you should have thought about that before you called me out my name.

Yeah, because that’s what you’re mad about.

What is that supposed to mean?

Nothing.

Tess?

I saw the look on your face when you opened the door.

When you saw me with them.

What look? I didn’t give a look.

Sure.

Oh. Come in.

[door creaks closed]

[JACK] This is, uh, this is my friend Miguel.

He, um…

Hey.

…he was helping me set up for a proposal tonight.

[Miguel chuckles softly]

Yeah, we had a little snafu with the ring.

Yeah.

Butter.

Uh, so it’s stuck.

Good luck with that.

Uh, look, Jack, I’m sorry it took me so long to get back to you today.

Um…

I was just gathering my thoughts or, as my wife would say, licking my wounds.

Look… we both know Rebecca’s already made up her mind about you, with or without my blessing.

So I will… do the best I can to be civil to you and to tolerate this marriage.

And I wanted to tell you that man-to-man.

I promised my wife I would.

[takes deep breath]: So… now I’ll let you get back to whatever this is.

No.

I’m sorry, sir, that’s just… that’s not good enough.

You know, Miguel, let’s just… Jack is not the kind of man that you “tolerate” being married to your daughter.

Jack is the kind of man that you thank your lucky stars that your daughter was lucky enough to meet, let alone marry.

Did you know that Jack and I met when he needed to buy a jacket just to get into your country club?

I-I had never seen anybody look so serious about anything.

I told him, “Just-just relax, it’s, it’s just a jacket,” but he said, “It’s not about the jacket, man.

“It’s about the girl.

“Everything that I do from this moment forward is gonna be about the girl.”

And he meant it.

It was about the girl when he worked his first construction job for free because the foreman couldn’t afford to hire him.

It was about the girl when he moved into a new apartment, a place Rebecca could be comfortable in.

And it was about the girl every time he ate cup of noodles because he was scrimping and saving just to buy the… ring stuck on my pinky finger right now.

That is the kind of man that your daughter is marrying.

And if you can’t find it within yourself to give him your blessing, well… [scoffs] that says a whole lot more about you than it does about him.

Do you have any dental floss?

Janet’s fingers turn into sausage when she has too much salt.

So… I know a trick to get that ring off.

Yeah, let me just go check and see if sh…

Hold that.

[sniffs]

[exhales]

[chuckles softly]

Is-is it gonna hurt?

Not much.

Great.

I’ve been thinking a lot about my ghost kingdom.

Oh, for the new people, “ghost kingdom” is a term that we use for a hypothetical world where adoptees imagine who their birth parents might be.

I used to imagine Rita Moreno was my mom.

[others chuckling]

She’s so funny.

I thought we must be related.

Of course, when I actually met my birth mother, she was nothing like Rita.

We didn’t have anything in common.

Or maybe we did.

It’s hard to tell.

I can’t speak Spanish, and she can’t speak English.

Lately, I’ve been letting myself feel something I think I’ve known deep down for my entire life.

I wish I’d never been adopted.

I made the mistake of telling my adopted family how I’ve been feeling.

I said, “I love you, but I wish I never knew you. Because if I could go back in time and choose, I’d choose to stay with my bipolar birth mom.”

Now half of them won’t talk to me.

[playing “I Could Have Danced All Night”]

[shyly] ♪ I’ll never know ♪

♪ What made it so exciting ♪

♪ Why all at once ♪

♪ My heart took flight. ♪

[playing stops]

Okay. Amelia, at the top of the song, it says “allegro.”

What does that mean?

Uh, brisk and lively.

Good. Yeah, well… let’s remember that and go again.

Can I just say one thing?

Real quick.

Sure.

So, Eliza, the woman who’s singing, she was basically told her entire life that she was worthless.

And now she’s finally realizing that she is smart and she is a badass.

[students chuckling]

[Kate chuckles]

I don’t know if I’m allowed to say that.

Sorry. But, on top of all that, she just finished dancing with her cranky but charming tutor for the first time, and-and it’s making her just feel so excited she could burst.

So it’s safe to say that when you’re singing the song, that you would feel all the things.

Okay. Got it.

Okay. W-Well, let’s… let’s go again.

[playing keyboard]

♪ I’ll never know ♪

♪ What made it so exciting ♪

♪ Why all at once ♪

♪ My heart took flight ♪

♪ I only know when he ♪

♪ Began to dance with me ♪

♪ I could have danced ♪

♪ Danced, danced… ♪

♪ All ♪

♪ Night. ♪

I did not tread lightly.

So I heard.

Tess said she saw a look on my face when I walked in on her and Alex, saw me reacting to them… being together.

Mm.

I don’t know what’s wrong with me.

When Tess first came out, I was totally fine.

And now I-I…

[sighs]

I think I’m having trouble letting go.

[stammers]

What are you letting go of?

She’s my firstborn daughter.

I had all these dreams about what it was gonna be like when she got older, you know? Like… she’d talk to me about the boys she liked or I’d help her get ready for dates.

One day, I would watch her walk down the aisle towards a man every bit as good as her father.

I thought I had let all that go, but I…

Well, it’s-it’s more than letting go.

You have to adjust.

It’s part of being a mother.

This is the part where you let go of what you thought would be and adjust to what is.

When you left dance, I thought that you would go into academics, like me.

I thought you would choose to stay in D.C. and be close, always.

See, that was my picture of your life.

But the real picture–

the woman you actually become, the things you actually want–

they’re just as beautiful.

It took me some time to see that.

[exhales]

Too much time, if you ask me.

So I hope that you will adjust quicker, Bethany.

Time is so precious.

You blink and your daughter’s grown and you’re holed up in her house, trying to make up for 20 years of not adjusting.

Okay.

Twins are finally in bed after a long day at the park.

Had to sing “Rock-a-bye Baby” to them about ten times.

[both chuckle softly]

It’s some bleak, bleak lyrics, but it works.

Least it’s not “Ring Around the Rosie.”

Yeah.

‘Cause that song is the stuff of nightmares.

[chuckles]

Oh, that song is just brutal, isn’t it?

Kevin…

Yeah?

I… I don’t think I want to get married at the Villas.

You don’t?

So, my father was a pretty… withholding man.

Emotionally, I mean.

And, um, he wasn’t around a lot when I was little.

Traveled a lot.

Mm.

So, my mother…

One day, she finally put her foot down.

You know, told him to… “Take us with you on one of your business trips. Make time for us, or else.”

He took us to Japan.

Which explains the Kabuki mask collection.

Yeah.

We spent a perfect day walking around the most beautiful garden I have ever seen.

My mom laughed a lot.

I remember my dad held both our hands, actually asked me questions about school.

We had a picnic under the cherry trees.

[both chuckle]

For one day… we were a family.

A few weeks later, they told me they were getting divorced.

I guess you would think that would have soured the trip in my mind, but… I have spent a lifetime chasing the happiness I felt in that garden.

So, there’s this garden that I really love.

It’s not as fancy as the Villas, but it’s outside, and it’s-it’s COVID-safe, and it has a lot of the same trees and flowers.

Yes.

Yeah, let’s get married there.

Just like that?

Just like that.

I mean, it sounds perfect.

[knock on door]

Come in.

Hey.

Hey.

Tess.

You will not call me names.

Not in front of anyone.

Not in private.

That is not the way we do things in this house.

Understood?

Understood.

But… you should be able to tell me how I make you feel.

If you saw anything on my face today when I saw you and Alex together on your bed, you need to know this.

It has nothing to do with how much I love you.

Actually, it has nothing to do with you at all.

Because you’re perfect.

Just the way you are.

And Alex seems pretty perfect just the way they are. [chuckles]

Is there anything else you want to say to me?

I know you’re trying.

I also know you don’t have to try with Annie.

Or Deja.

And it makes me sad.

Makes me wonder if we’ll ever be close again.

Oh, Tess, of course we will.

We areclose now.

We are, and we always will be.

Okay, Mom.

And then my speech helped Amelia soar.

I mean, Philip wouldn’t admit it, but we both know that she really soared.

Bam! Hell yeah, she did.

Nobody summarizes My Fair Lady like you, babe.

Thank you.

You okay? I’m sorry, I know I’ve been talking a mile a minute since I got home.

Uh, yeah.

No, I’m fine. I’m just really, really tired.

I do have some good photos from today. You want to see?

What? Holding out on me?

[gasps] Babe.

Look at him on a swing! Aw.

[sighs]

[phone vibrating]

Hello?

Oh, hey. Uh, hey, Miguel. It’s Nicky.

Oh. Uh… hey.

Uh… I j… I just want to apologize for the way I acted before.

Th-That was… That was my own stuff.

Had nothing to do with you.

Okay. Um…

Well, thank you.

Okay. Well, anyway, that’s it.

Um…

Sorry to bother you.

Good night.

He never replaced you, Nicky.

[YOUNG MIGUEL] All right.

Well, my work is done here.

It’s all on you now, my friend.

Hey, things go well tonight, you know, like, she says yes and everything…

[scoffs] She’s gonna…

…would you stand at the altar with me?

You know, maybe say a few words at the reception?

[MIGUEL] We both knew what he meant, but he just, uh… [chuckles]

He couldn’t say the words.

He, he couldn’t call me his best man because I think that somewhere deep down, he was saving that place for you.

You know, if you wanted to, we could do the rehearsal dinner toast together.

Oh, no, I-I don’t want to give a toast. I just… I just didn’t like the idea that you were gonna do it.

[laughs]

[“Without Your Love” by The Paper Kites playing]

♪ I can dance, I can shake♪

♪ I can move, and I can break♪

♪ Like a fire in the soul♪

♪ I can burn, I can grow♪

♪ I can come, I can go♪

♪ I can rock, and I can roll♪

♪ Down the road, start again…♪

[clears throat]

[RANDALL] Hey, Kev.

Saw your big news in the tabloids.

Yeah.

Thank God the five-o’clock shadow is quarantine chic, right?

Um…

So, so, Randall, the reason I’m calling is, uh… I’m calling to ask you to be my best man.

Absolutely.

Uh, I’d be honored.

[sighs] I’ve been putting this call off all day.

[chuckles] All week, if I’m being honest.

And it’s not because I thought you’d say no. It’s just…

When you stand up there next to me, I don’t want there to be anything between us.

And-and I know when the twins were born, you said it was a bad time to talk about our childhoods and, uh, how you felt growing up in our family…

Hey, Kev, I don’t want you to take this the wrong way, but I don’t think now is the right time to have this conversation, either.

It’s, uh, it’s been a day.

I agree. No, I-I don’t want to have that talk right now.

In fact, I don’t want to have it over the phone at all.

I was, um…

What if I come… What if I come out? What if I come see you?

You… Really?

Yeah, yeah. You know, I talked it over with Madison, and I got some free time. What if I come out?

You know, after we all get our sh*ts?

Yeah, brother.

That’s-that’s cool with me.

Well, all right, then. I’ll, you know… I’ll book a flight.

Okay.

Talk to you later.

♪ I can scream, I can fight ♪

♪ I can read, and I can write ♪

♪ I can love, I can leave ♪

♪ I can get down on my knees ♪

♪ I can go, I can stay ♪

♪ In the night or in the day… ♪

Manny say what?

♪ I can try… ♪

[chuckles softly]

♪ Without your love, without your love ♪

[door closes]

♪ And it ain’t nothing ♪

♪ Without your love, without your love ♪

♪ We ain’t nothing ♪

♪ Without your love, without your love ♪

♪ Nothing ♪

♪ Without your love, without your love. ♪