12x04 - Vanishing Twin

[bunniefuu]

[HORSE WHINNIES]

- [HORSE WHINNIES]
- [WAILING IN DISTANCE]

[MUFFLED WAILING]

Has anyone heard the baby cry?

Not a soul, and Her Majesty
has forbidden anyone to enter.

Then who delivered the infant?

Her Majesty did.

- [ALL GASP]
- [WAILING CONTINUES]

Your Grace.

Her Majesty, the Queen, is not
presently accepting visitors.

I am not a visitor. I am her sister.

[DOOR OPENS]

Your Highness?

It is Elizabeth.

[BABY CRYING]

Congratulations, Sister.

[QUEEN CRYING]

[ELIZABETH] Your firstborn.

And an heir to the throne at last.

[QUEEN GROANING]

May I see the child?

[GROANING INTENSIFIES]

Mary.

- [MARY GROANING]
- [BABY CRYING]

- [MARY] Stay back...
- Please.

- ... I beg of you.
- Is it a boy, Sister?

It is a monster.

[WHISPERED CHANTING IN LATIN]

- ♪ Hush-a-bye baby, baby not mine ♪
- [CHANTING CONTINUES]

[MARY] ♪ My woeful wail ♪

Who else is in here, Sister?

[MARY] ♪ Do you pity never? ♪

♪ Hush-a-bye baby, baby not mine ♪

- ♪ A year ago I was snatched forever ♪
- [CHANTING INTENSIFIES]

It is time, Mary.

♪ Hush-a-bye baby, baby not mine ♪

Is this how you speak to your queen?

[MARY] ♪ A year ago... ♪

She is not our queen.

♪ ... I was snatched forever ♪

[ELIZABETH] Who...

Who are you?

You do not need to know...

yet.

Your time will come.

[MARY CRIES]

[BABY CRYING]

Oh, a happy baby.

He is very happy.

He has waited over
, years to be born.

[MARY] Please.

Please do not take him.

You made us a promise.

[PERSON ] A promise you cannot break.

The most fruitful reign in
England's history in exchange...

For him... for him.

Sister, you promised your child?

[WAILS]

You will too.

I will never promise my
child to anyone for anything.

Then you shall be barren.

- [SCREAMS]
- [BABY CRYING]

♪ Hush-a-bye baby, baby not mine ♪

♪ My woeful wail ♪

- [MUMBLING]
- Sister, the baby.

Leave.

Leave. Leave!

Leave me! Leave!

- Leave! Leave me. Leave me. Leave! Leave!
- [ELIZABETH GROANS]

- [WAILS]
- [ELIZABETH PANTING]

♪ Hush-a-bye baby ♪

♪ Baby not mine ♪

[DEX WHISPERING] Anna. Anna. Anna.

What are you doing out here?

Why did you lie to me?

[DEX] What?

- You thought you wouldn't get caught?
- Get caught doing what?

- Sweetheart, you're scaring me.
- I saw you and her.

- Who?
- [BREATHES DEEPLY] Sonia, the artist.

I saw you guys together in town.

[SIGHS] I told you

we're doing a pop-up of her
show at that gallery here.

[STAMMERS, BREATHING HEAVILY]

Hey. Hey, hey. Hey,
hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.

Hey. It's okay.

- It's okay.
- [BREATHES HEAVILY]

Kamal and I saw her in town.

Who?

- [CRYING] Ms. Preecher.
- Ms. Preecher?

I think she's the one who's
been hacking into my calendar app.

- So I changed the passw...
- Hey. Hey, Anna. Don't talk to her.

- What if she knows something?
- Cora said she's a psycho freak

who's always at the office
spewing conspiracy theories.

Remember?

You weren't there
when Cora told me that.

She told us both that

when we were checking
out after our ultrasound.

Honey, it's okay.

You had just heard
the baby's heartbeat.

It was a lot.

I wanna go back to Dr. Hill
tomorrow just to make sure.

Dex, I felt something.

Of course.

[SIGHS] We can go after
your meeting with Siobhan.

I'll come with you.

Bedtime?

I just need a minute.

[NICOLETTE] Miss Alcott.

Are you bleeding again?

Nicolette.

What are you doing here so late?

I'm usually here all day.

Sorry, what are you holding?

[STAMMERING] It's,
um... a... a dead animal.

But I'm not sure if
it's... if it's dead, so...

Oh, my God.

I'm an animal lover,
so seeing if I can...

nurse it back to life.

It doesn't appear to be moving.

Go home to your own baby, Nicolette.

[SIGHS]

[SHUSHING]

["ROCK-A-BYE, BABY" PLAYING]

- [CLATTERS]
- [INHALES]

[MEOWS]

[CAT MEWLS]

- [MUSIC STOPS]
- [EXHALES]

[CHANTING IN LATIN IN DISTANCE]

[CHANTING INTENSIFIES]

[CHANTING STOPS]

Hey, pretty.

Come here.

[ANNA CHUCKLES]

Did... Did you hear that
noise downstairs earlier?

[SIGHS]

[SIGHS]

Dex, I'm not making it up.

I'm sorry. I don't
mean to be an assh*le.

[SIGHS] I just...

[SIGHS] I just want a
normal night with my wife.

I want that too.

[DEX WOLF WHISTLES]

Looking good.

[CHEERS]

Dex?

[DEX] Yeah, babe?

Ready.

[DEREK] Oh, my God. Anna. Hi.

How are you feeling? Golden
Globe noms are so soon. Ooh.

- Hey, Derek.
- Good luck with the Ashleys.

[ELEVATOR BELL DINGS]

[SIOBHAN] Anna.

Meet the Ashleys.

- Hi, I'm Ashley.
- I'm Ashleigh.

She's E-I-G-H. I
spell it the normal way.

f*ck you, Ashley.

Ashley and Ashleigh are the top
crisis PR experts in the country.

Crisis PR? I mean, are you... are
you sure I need that? [CHUCKLES]

Is that a serious question?

Babe, your Q rating is in the toilet.

Like, lower than the toilet.

It's in the sewer system.

Like, it wishes it were
lingering in an outhouse.

The Golden Globe nominations
are right around the corner,

and we need to rehab your image ASAP.

I know that.

But I thought that's why
you got me the cover of Vogue.

Honey, one Voguecover
isn't gonna cut it.

These ladies have repped Demi
Lovato, Louis C.K., Will and Jada,

Alec and Hilaria, Paula Deen,
Vanessa Lachey and Meryl Streep.

What did Meryl do?

Exactly.

[SIGHS]

So what? I go on The View

- and peddle some story about...
- [LAUGHING]

- [ASHLEIGH LAUGHS]
- No, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

- I'm so sorry. I don't mean that to be rude.
- The View. Why?

The View d*ed years before
Barbara Walters. Let's be honest.

- You're going to make a reel.
- A reel.

A what?

Oh, no, no. Siobhan, I-I told you

I'm-I'm getting off
Instagram for my mental health.

Well, what's worse
for your mental health?

A harmless app or the
death of your dream?

[ASHLEY] We are going to
renew and revitalize your image

by creating your own personal
viral feminist anthem.

Okay, sorry. That just sounds,
you know, a little cringe.

- [ANNA CHUCKLES]
- [ASHLEIGH] Oh, really? Cringe?

[SIOBHAN] Anna, these ladies can

turn a sh*t sandwich
into a Fabergé egg.

[ASHLEIGH] We are going
to break the Internet

with your reel in which you take
back your image, your narrative,

- your body.
- [BOTH] Your body.

Can I think about it?

- Sure.
- You can think about anything you want.

You could think about hanging yourself.

That could do wonders for your image.

If you wanna be known as Anna Victoria

"Vomcott" for the rest of your life,

no one's stopping you.

But if you wanna be known as a
once-in-a-lifetime artist, an innovator,

a cultural weather vane, and
the definition of a moment...

[ASHLEY] You know where to find us.

Home sweet... sort of... home.

Uh, Kamal, we have a guest
room for you down here.

Well, it's an office that will
be turned into a nursery, but...

I can sleep anywhere. I'm easy.

[ANNA] What is that?

[KAMAL] The security
system my company installed.

After the intrusion.

[ANNA] Is it a camera?

A sensor.

[SCREAMS]

Anna, darling. [CHUCKLES]
You terrified me.

[SIGHS] Virginia, this is my house.

Well, I was hoping you'd be
just a bit happier to see me.

Oh, can you pass me that towel, dear?

[SIGHS] Mom.

Oh, Dex.

- Wow. Hi.
- [VIRGINIA] Aw.

Why didn't you tell us you
were coming? And who let you in?

[VIRGINIA] Doorman, darling.

I wanted to welcome you two back home.

But we're... we're
just here for the night.

What an awful time you've had of it.

I wanna do all I can to help.
What are mothers-in-law for?

Uh, thank you. That's sweet.

I need a moment alone with my son.

She seems very uptight, even for her.

- Mom.
- I'm sorry, darling.

I just want you to be happy.

I am.

No one knows better than I do

how hard it is to be the
balanced one in a marriage.

I don't see my marriage that way.

Well, good. Glad to hear it.

Maybe you two won't turn out like
your father and I did after all.

You don't know what
Anna's been through.

I'm sure it's terribly difficult
being a young, beautiful actress.

That's not all she is, Mom.

Don't you think it's sort of amazing

that someone whose job it is
to convey others' emotions

is so masterful at hiding her own?

You need to be gentler with her.

[SCOFFS] Oh!

She's not going to break.

She just had a miscarriage, Mom.

God. I'm so sorry, darling.

- [DEX] Thank you.
- [SIGHS]

This probably isn't the
best time to tell you that...

[SIGHS] ... I need your help.

With what?

I'm suing your father.

I need you to testify on my behalf.

[GRUNTING]

[DR. HILL] Okay. Now,

are you, uh, feeling any nausea?

[ANNA] Yeah. But like I
said, I f... I felt something.

The feeling of movement.

[DR. HILL] Okay. Uh-huh. Right.

Any, uh, breast tenderness?

- Yeah, a little bit.
- [DR. HILL] Uh-huh.

Um, but it was mostly the...
the-the movement thing.

[DR. HILL] Uh, well, like
we said, that's, um...

you know, that's not possible.

- [FETAL HEARTBEAT THUMPING]
- [DR. HILL] Oh.

My God.

Uh, I, uh...

I almost never say this,
but I think I was wrong.

Your baby is very much alive.

- That is its heartbeat.
- [GIGGLES]

- What? Dex.
- [DR. HILL SIGHS]

[SOFTLY] Dex, I told you.

Our baby's okay.

- [CHUCKLES]
- [KISSES]

We're gonna have a family.

But how did this... how did this happen?

What about the bleeding? The...

And the missing heartbeat?

Oh, well, uh, it's... it's unusual,

but I-I think what
you've been experiencing

is something that we call,
uh, vanishing twin syndrome.

- [PAPER RUSTLES]
- [DR. HILL] Sorry.

- Vanishing twins?
- [DR. HILL] Yeah.

When a woman is pregnant with multiples,

and one of the embryos isn't viable,

that embryo is expelled while the...

So now you're saying I
was pregnant with twins?

- Yeah, it's possible.
- Why didn't you see that earlier?

It can be very difficult to determine

if a woman is pregnant with
multiples before weeks or so.

- But hey, this is good news.
- [GLOVES SNAP]

- [SIGHS] Yeah. [CHUCKLES]
- [DR. HILL CHUCKLES]

I'll have a copy of your
sonogram printed out for you,

and, uh, Cora will set
up your next appointment.

[DR. HILL CHUCKLES]

- Thank you.
- [DR. HILL] Yeah.

[DEX, ANNA CHUCKLE]

[SNIFFLES]

[KAMAL] Congratulations to you both.

[CAR CHIRPS, DOORS UNLOCK]

[BREATHES SHAKILY]

[KAMAL] Miss Alcott?

That woman. Dex, did you see her?

- Who, babe?
- That woman!

- Ms. Preecher?
- No. Nurse Ivy.

[PANTING]

[PANTING]

[DEX] I didn't see anything.

You sure it's the same
woman, babe? [PANTING]

Let's just get some dinner.

We have something to celebrate.

All right?

[CAR DOOR OPENS]

[PERSON PANTING, MOANING]

[PANTING, MOANING CONTINUES]

Incredibly, you come even
faster the more often we f*ck.

Well, that's your fault.
[CHUCKLES] You're amazing.

I know.

You remember our agreement, right?

[SIGHS] Never tell Anna about this.

- Good boy.
- But why, darling?

I love you.

- Ew. No, you don't.
- I do.

That's pathetic.

I mean, I'm using you,
and you're using me.

There's nothing wrong with
a little transactional sex.

Or transactional anything and
everything for that matter.

Same time Thursday?

You leaving so soon? [SIGHS]

Some of us actually have real jobs.

Oh, by the way,

I saw that interview
you did with GQ Online.

And when they asked you how you
came up with the plot of The Auteur,

and you said something
like, "It just came to me,"

you sound even f*cking
stupider than you already are.

- But I...
- Yeah, we know what happened, Hamish.

But no one else can. Got it?

Otherwise, I break your d*ck off.

- Got it.
- [DOOR OPENS, CLOSES]

[ANNA] It's my body.

[TOILET FLUSHES]

I'll vomit if I need to.

It's a way to expel poisons,

toxins that can k*ll and infect.

It's my body. I'll bleed if I need to.

It's called menstruation. Deal with it.

If men could do it, it would
be considered a sacrament.

Today, I say no more shame.
No more guilt. It's my body.

And to be clear, defecation
and gas are acts of nature.

Hold nothing in. Release
centuries of repression.

I know I finally am.

It's my body.

- [WATER SPLASHING]
- I'll make myself orgasm if I have to.

Men do it on average five times a week.

Women, five times a year.

It's my body.

I'll get an abortion if I need to.

- [REPORTERS CLAMORING]
- [REPORTER] Anna, over here.

Over here.

It's my body.
I'm an everyday woman who vomits,

menstruates, orgasms and defecates.

So, I'll say it again.

It's my body. I appreciate it.

I tend to it the way a gardener

lovingly tends to her dahlia.

It's my body, and we only get one.

Now's the time for our
generation to get it right.

No more shame over
sickness, sexual acts,

natural acts and rites of passage.

Am I right, ladies?

- Right!
- Oh, and about that recent viral moment

where I got sick onstage
accepting an award?

You made me feel bad, social media.

You made me cry.

Turned a lifetime-sought triumph
into a dark night of the soul.

But you know what?

No more tears because here's the truth.

I didn't get sick
because I drank too much

or ate too many carbs on Ozempic.

And if you're on Ozempic,
guess what? It's your body.

I got sick because I'm pregnant.

It's my body, and I'll get
pregnant when I want to, which is now.

It's National Women's Reproductive
Health and Sexual Awareness Month,

and I am celebrating all
we can do and all we can be.

It's my body!

[ASHLEIGH] I told you, Ashley.

I told you, Ashleigh.

The views are climbing.

[GASPS] Taylor Swift just reposted.

Oh, we are f*cking geniuses.

Mmm. Always. Forever.

How is Anna feeling? Still irritable?

[DEX] Mom.

She's pregnant.

[VIRGINIA] I don't
understand why every woman

feels the need to get pregnant.

There are other things
in life, you know.

Did you not wanna get pregnant with me?

We didn't have a choice in my day.

Abortions were butchery
until I was already married.

The idea of a married woman
getting an abortion was unheard of,

unless you were poor.

Well... [SIGHS]

... Anna really wants to be a mother.

Her mom d*ed when she
was only three weeks old.

She never got a chance to
have that special bond. So...

So now she wants to manufacture it
for herself before it's too late.

I wanna have a family too.

It's always about the next accessory.

Why a woman would choose a baby

over a collection of fine
German vibrators is beyond me.

Let's just get into it.

You don't want an espresso first?

Well, all right then.

Your father is, as we
know, a complicated man.

Of course, there was a time
in my life when I loved him.

But over the course of the
work I've done with Eugenia...

Eugenia is a quack.

She's a brilliant psychotherapist

who happens to be one
of the foremost experts

in recovered memories
of satanic ritual abuse.

That's why she's a quack, Mom.

We've been doing some very
deep work over the last year.

I haven't bothered you with it because

I wanted to respect your boundaries,

but the time has come when
I must reclaim my power.

Dad did not satanically abuse you.

I know it can't be easy to hear,

but your father spent years drugging me

and forcing untold hideous acts upon me,

the likes of which I
will likely never know.

What makes you think this?

- I don't think it. Darling, I lived it.
- And you just what?

Repressed this knowledge until you were

bored enough to want it to resurface?

I've always had membranous memories.

I assumed they were just nightmares.

Eugenia helped me to trust myself.

Jesus f*ck.

Jesus has nothing to do
with this, sweetheart.

Satan does.

[DOOR OPENS]

[PHONE BUZZING]

- [BUZZING CONTINUES]
- Thank you. [SIGHS]

I gotta take this.

- [DOOR OPENS, CLOSES]
- Hey, Sone.

[CLEARS THROAT]

[NICOLETTE] Congratulations, Mama.

- [ANNA GASPS]
- These came for you.

[BOTH CHUCKLE]

- Thank you.
- [SIGHS] Of course.

[GASPS] I loved your reel. So inspiring.

I kinda had a feeling.
[CHUCKLES] I can't explain it.

You know, I told myself,
"Nicolette, you are going crazy."

But I just knew you were pregnant.

[CHUCKLES] Are you hungry?

I-I seasoned some Japanese
Kobe cuts for you guys if you...

No, I'm... I'm okay. I'm
actually gonna lie down.

Of course. I'm so sorry. I just get so

excited when women are expecting.

You know, it feels like, um...

[CHUCKLES] I know this is
gonna sound corny, but...

I don't know. It
feels like a sisterhood.

[CHUCKLES]

- [ANNA INHALES DEEPLY]
- [CHUCKLES]

Well, I'll get out of your hair. And

congratulations once again, Miss Alcott.

Thank you.

Of course.

[CHUCKLES]

_

[SIGHS]

- [SIGHS]
- [SCRATCHING]

[SCRATCHING STOPS]

[SCRATCHING RESUMES]

[SCRATCHING CONTINUES]

[SCRATCHING STOPS]

[WHISPERED CHANTING IN LATIN]

[DOOR OPENS]

[CHANTING CONTINUES]

[CHANTING INTENSIFIES]

[CHANTING FADES]

[BUZZING IN DISTANCE]

[INSECTS BUZZING]

[PHONE BUZZES]

Best Performance in
a Motion Picture... Drama.

Sarah Wilson, The Ice Heart.

Tina Sanders, Watch Where You Stand.

Donna Nelson, Silent Echoes.

Babette Eno, Daddy, Do You Love Me.

Anna Victoria Alcott, The Auteur.