01x10 - A Hope and a Future

[bunniefuu]

Previously on "Signed, Sealed, Delivered"...

Shane: Are you actually writing your will?

No.

Times such as this provide one with a certain clarity.

Shane: You forgot this.

[♪♪♪]

Ladies first.

[♪♪♪]

Woman singing in church: ♪ When other helpers fail ♪
♪ and comforts flee ♪
♪ help of the helpless ♪

I love you, my sweet boy.

♪ oh, abide with me ♪
♪ Who like thyself ♪
♪ my guide and stay can be? ♪

♪ Through clouds and sunshine ♪
♪ lord, abide with me ♪
♪ Send me love every day ♪
♪ and send me on my way ♪
♪ deliver me just deliver me ♪

Oh, that's a beautiful sign, Ms. McInerney.

I had no idea how much artistic ability you have.

Oh, well, thank you.

I was an art history major in college.

With a minor in philosophy.

Philosophy? Really?

Yes, really.

It may surprise you, Oliver O'Toole, but I have a wealth of life history, not a detail of which you asked me about when we were locked in a bank vault for four hours last Friday.

Yes, well...

I had a lot on my mind.

I suppose we both did.

[Door opens]

Hurry! She's coming!

♪ So, hail Miss Special Deliv'ry ♪
♪ The holy grail of first-class mail ♪
♪ Miss Special Deliv'ry! ♪
♪ That's you! ♪

You guys.

That is so sweet!

You are royalty now!

The holy grail of first-class mail!

Certified and registered!

This is a glorious day, Rita.
We are so very proud of you.

Thank you so much!

But... I mean, I don't want to be treated any differently now.

It's back to business as usual.

Oh.

Rita: Look what they found at terminal annex.

Looks like they forgot they had it.

[Coughing]

Well, what do you think have, Norman?

Oh, it...

I think it's a box of lost dead letters!

Is that different from dead lost letters?

Oh, yeah.

And by these postmarks, I'd say...

They're all at least 10 years old!

Rita, would you like to do the honors?

Really?

Thank you.

Oh. Oh, we have two envelopes stuck together by... something... unpleasant.

Ew.

The first reads to homeowner, you may have already won... "

The second one reads... this is a glorious day! Norman!

A piggybacking nifts!

Nifts? What?

I've worked here six months, and, half the time, I swear, I still don't know what you guys are talking about.

There are only two words written on this envelope.

"Pastor Thomas."

This is most likely a personal note that somehow got mailed, but it was never intended for the system.

N.I.F.T.S... Nifts! I get it!

So, it's written on some sort of bulletin.

"Job counseling, prenatal class, food and clothing distribution... "

It appears to be a shelter of some sort... perhaps a women's shelter.

I'll run a check for a "pastor Thomas," cross referencing "shelters."

"Dear pastor Thomas you don't know me but I've heard you're a good man and that's why I'm asking for your help I don't know what else to do. My sweet Joshua has a heart condition and needs medical care I can't give him Please, pastor Thomas get him the help he needs so he can have a hope and a future And tell him how much I love him I can only pray that, one day he will be able to find it in his heart to forgive me for what I've done."

[Flips page over]

And there's no signature here.

I wonder if Joshua's okay, if he got the help he needed.

Oliver: Whoever wrote this makes mention of "a hope and a future."

I believe that's reference to a scripture.

"'For I know I have plans for you,' declares the Lord... "

"'Plans to prosper you, 'not harm you, to give you a hope and a future!'"

Jeremiah 29:11!

Okay, I have a few possibilities here.

There's one for a Hope Center, but it closed down about 10 years ago.

Oliver, what was the last part of that scripture again?

"Plans to give you a hope and a future."

Look, you see that?

It's the verse etched onto a plaque at the Hope Center Women's Shelter, run by a pastor William Thomas of All Saints and Angels Church.

I bet... that was it.

Oliver: So based upon those postmarks, Joshua has got to be at least 10 years old now.

Shane: It must have been hard for her to leave him there.

Well, maybe she came back.

I wonder where he is now.

Maybe he was adopted.

Well, if Joshua was adopted, it was most likely a closed adoption due to the circumstances of the case, which would've been considered abandonment.

That means the records would've been sealed in order to prevent the biological mother from gathering information and trying to reinsert herself into the child's life.

That's oddly specific, Norman.

Well, that's what happened to me.

You were adopted, Norman?

Well, actually, I was a foster child for a long time, until my forever family found me when I was eight.

I actually met Norman's parents at the postal picnic.

They're very nice and they won in the three-legged race and the egg toss.

We trained really hard for those.

But your birth family?
Do you know who they are?

The only thing I know is that they found me wandering around the National Western Stock Show.

I'd crawled into a paddock of champion herefords.

Started a stampede.

I've tried and tried to remember something else from that day, but I can't.

So when I turned 16, my parents encouraged me to sign up for the National Adoption Registry.

And did anything come of it?

Well, not right away, but about a year ago, I...

I got this.

Norman, you...

You haven't opened this.

Oh! Yeah.

It's just...

I have been...

You weren't ready.

That's okay.

I thought I was, but then when I got this, I started to wonder if...

Maybe whoever is in there...

Maybe they still don't want me.

Norman, whoever is in there...

Did respond to you.

That's encouraging.

That's very encouraging.

Shane: It's okay.

You will open it when you're ready.

Will you?

I would be honored.

Well, Norman, it appears you have a grandmother.

And she would very much like to meet you.

Shane: You see?

She wants to meet you!

Yes? Hello?

Is this Mrs. Ardis Parker-Pennington-Paine?

Shane: "A hope and a future."

So what did she sound like?

It was hard to tell with all the chanting, or singing.

It might have been screaming.
It was tribal anyways.

Where is she?

Papua, new Guinea, but she's going to take the next flight to Denver.

Oh.

Oliver: Hi there.

We're trying to find a pastor William Thomas.

We're from the U.S. post office.

We just wanted to talk to him about a letter.

I'm Jim Thomas.

My dad passed away 15 years ago.

Oh, I'm sorry.

How can I help you?

Well, we tracked a wayward letter to this church.

Did your father ever happen to mention an infant named Joshua who might have been left here?

You know, I was there.

I was the one who found him.

Let's see, I was about six years old, so, that would make it 32 years ago.

We, um, we heard that child services got his heart issues addressed and that he wound up at a local adoption agency, but nothing after that.

Do you happen to remember the name of the adoption agency?

I might have their card back in the office.

Great.

Right this way.

Do you think that she thinks about him?

Yes, Norman.

I believe she thinks about him.

Every day.

Yeah.

I think he thinks about her every day, too.

Ms. McInerney, we need a happy ending here.

I know.

So the lawyer for the adoption agency is going to contact Joshua, giving him our number.

After that, it's up to him.

Yeah.

[Door opens]

What if she doesn't like me?

That's impossible.

Norman.

Just be yourself.

You'll be fine.

Woman: Norman?

Norman?

Norman! I know you're in here, darling.

Oh, sweetheart.

It is I!

It's me!

It's your grandmother!

Oh, please, please, please, everybody, sit down.

Take a seat.

Please, sit down.

Oh, all except you, my darling.

Sweet thing, let me look at you.

Look at that chiseled jaw, that aquiline nose, those eyes like an eagle...

You're not Norman, are you?

That's Norman.

Precious!

I have dreamed of this day ever since I learned of your existence, while I was meditating on the peak of Machu Picchu.

Hello, Ms. Parker-Pennington-Paine.

It's very nice to meet you.

Oh, birds of paradise.

Norman, how did you know?

Oh, and, darling, you must call me "Ardis."

Ardis. Okay...

No!

Call me "Yaya."

Yaya...

No. Call me...

"Baba!"

No! No.

How about... "Grandma"?

"Grandma!"

Well, that couldn't be more perfect.

"Grandma!" Yes!

It was staring us right in the face, just like... Well, hello there!

You must be Norman's girlfriend, and aren't you lovely!

Oh, I...

Um, no!

Well, yes, she's a lovely person, but no, she's not my girlfriend.

She's Rita.

She has a photographic memory and she's Miss Special Delivery.

Rita... Rita. Rita!

You're fancy. Okay.

And this is Miss Shane McInerney.

Well, hello there.

Hi.

And this is my boss, Mr. Oliver O'Toole.

It is an honor.

Your grandson is a very special person.

Of course, he is!

He's a Parker-Pennington-Paine!

No, no. Actually, he's just a Paine.

But right now, you are going to walk me to my hotel, and, tomorrow, after a little beauty sleep and a nice warm glass of yak milk, our life together begins.

What should we do?

What ever you want, precious!

Oh, wow. Well, there's the miniature houses in Tiny Town, and the face on the bar-room floor at Central City, and Buffalo Bill's grave on Lookout Mountain, and, of course, there's the Rocky Flats Toxic Waste Park... we probably shouldn't spend too much time there, but it does have a really nice view of Pike's Peak.

Why don't we make a list?

Okay!

Did you see how happy Norman seemed?

Aren't they just perfect together?

Birds of a feather.

[Cell phone chimes]

Oh!

It's Joshua.

He'd like to set up a meeting for tomorrow.

Excellent.

Well, we are reuniting families right and left this week.

Woman over P.A.: Dr. Benson to Oncology.

Dr. Benson to Oncology.

I'm Joshua Davis, and you folks must be from the post office, with the letter.

Yes. We had to open it in order to locate you, doctor.

I apologize for that intrusion.

I appreciate you stopping by, but that letter means nothing.

I have a mother... the one who loved me, not the one that threw me away.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have surgery at 10:00.

Tour guide: Trapped miners survived by drinking the natural artesian water that drips through these tunnels.

When I was 10, I liked to pretend I was Indiana Jones, exploring the Temple of Doom.

One time, I got stuck in old man Morgan's cellar down the street.

Nobody knew where I was.

It was so dark and I was so scared.

I yelled and I screamed, but nobody could hear me.

Oh, sweetheart...

When I finally gave up, I laid down on the ground, and that's when I saw it... a sliver of light.

I hadn't noticed it before.

That's when I knew everything was gonna be okay.

But way down here in the dark... you're not scared anymore?

No.

I like coming down here.

It reminds me that, no matter how dark it gets, light will always find a way in.

If only your mother could see you now.

Rita, do you know where there's a pair of tweezers?

I can't seem to find mine.

Oh, I think Norman has a pair on his desk.

Wait, why do you need tweezers?

Long story.

Long sliver.

Rita, I think Norman has a present for you!

Really?

You should open it.

He probably just...

Forgot.

Forgot what?

Uh...

To give it to you.

Rita, did Oliver say when he might be back from his meeting?

Oh, it's gonna be awhile.

They want to re-stripe the parking lot.

Rumor has it, they're going diagonal.

Um, would you mind checking Norman's desk again?

I probably missed them.

Okay.

So are you going to open it?

You know what, if Norman wanted me to open it, he would've given it to me himself.

He'll share it with me when he's ready.

Right.

Oliver!

How did the parking debates go?

They are spirited but civil.

Everyone seems to be respecting each other's...

Space.

[Chuckles nervously]

Funny... space.

[♪♪♪]

Tour guide: In 1904, five miners were trapped in this next tunnel.

Grandma?

Hmm?

Who were my mother and father?

Norman, I'm sorry, but I never knew your father.

But, oh, your mother...

Judith, God bless her, she was something else.

Full of life, stunning.

Brilliant...

She sounds sparkly.

She was ablaze in sparkle.

Was?

Well, a sparkle can only sparkle so much before it burns itself up.

You still sparkle.

And so do you, precious.

But with your mother, it was different.

In spite of all her radiance, there was a restlessness about her.

Something bad happened to her, didn't it?

It was a few years ago.

I blame myself.

If only... If only I'd been around more.

If only I'd seen the path that she was on.

When I was a foster child, I used to think, "what if I didn't cry so much?

What if I was smarter or cuter?"

Or "what if I hadn't started that stampede at the rodeo?"

But then, one of my foster dads said to me... he said, "you're a good boy, Norman, "and the choices your mother made were about her, not you."

And that's when I knew... there wasn't anything I could have done.

The only person who could've helped my mom was... my mom.

Norman, you are very smart.

And you're very cute.

And I'm only sorry that we've lost all these years together, but I want you to know that the moment I knew...

I found out that I had a grandson...

I never stopped searching for you.

Thank you.

[♪♪♪]

Grandma?

Mm-hmm?

Do you want to see my very favorite place?

I'll bet it has something to do with that lovely Rita.

Yeah!

My favorite place is my desk in the D.L.O.

It's right across from Rita's.

She seems very special.

Oh, she has more courage than anyone I know.

She won the Colorado Miss Special Delivery pageant, and if she wins the nationals, she'll get to travel the world.

The whole world.

I'm sure you'll miss her if that happens.

Norman, you should tell her.

Life is too short to leave anything important unsaid.

You'll regret it the rest of your life.

Darling, why did you suddenly decide to meet me?

Well, we're working on a case that reminded me of...

Well, me.

We found a letter for a baby... well, it's for a baby from a lady... well, at least I hope it's a lady...

[Door crashes open]

Norman, you're back!

But where's your grandmother?

She's in overnight delivery.

We had a very big day.

Hello.

Oh, my gosh!

Mrs. Parker-Pennington-Paine!
What happened?

I think it was the absence of air in that last cave we were in.

Let me get you some water.

Oh, thank you.

You are so lovely.

I'll bet you never hear that enough, huh?

Oh, well... A girl never really can.

Here you go.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Uh...

Rita.

This is... um...

Here.

I think you're going to be the best Miss Special Delivery ever.

Oh! Oh, Norman! It's... it's beautiful.

What is it?

A stuffed crab!

Well, they...

They ran out of South Pacific tree lobsters.

It's so you never forget how brave and unsquashable you are.

Norman, thank you!

It's perfect.

Norman, quietly: Mm-hmm.

When I was scared at the local branch competition, Norman told me how things that have a hard exoskeleton... well, they can't be squashed.

He always knows exactly what to say.

Well, nothing says "I love you" like crabs.

Oh!

Mrs. Parker-Pennington-Paine, are you going somewhere?

Darling, if you're not going somewhere, you're going nowhere!

So, what was Joshua like?
How did it go with the letter?

He was a bit, understandably, overwhelmed.

He wasn't quite sure how to react.

But he wants to find her, right?

No.

Not really, Norman.

I'm sorry. I know this case was important to you.

Yeah.

But if it sets your mind at ease, he is successful.

He's a doctor.

Really?

He's a cardio-thoracic fellow at Denver Mercy.

So he had a heart condition and now he's a surgeon that fixes other people's hearts.

That's cool.

Oh! I've seen his face before.

He coaches the girls' soccer team that won the state championship last year.

I saw his picture in the "High School Sports Gazette."

The article was "when cheerleaders att*ck".

Rita, that is very impressive.

She remembers everything, that's wonderful.

Rita, are you sure that you're...

Yeah, right there! That's him!

Oliver: But that's not Joshua, that's...

Shane: Matt Jacobs.

They're twins?

Ardis: Excuse me.

Could you all just move aside?

Norman: Hang on.

Oh!

Oh, my goodness.

He's cute!

And there are two of them.

You know, Joshua didn't want to meet his mother, but...

Oh! Maybe he'd want to meet his brother!

Wouldn't that be something?

Matt Jacobs.

1013 Prospect Drive, Wheatridge.

Hold on.

We must thoughtfully weigh how Matt may react to a revelation such as this.

He's a load of laughs, isn't he?

Oliver, you always say that delivering the truth is what we do, no matter when it arrives.

It's nice to know some of the things I say make an impression upon you, Ms. McInerney...

Alright, although delivering the truth this late in the day is never a good idea.

We will deliver it in the morning.

In the meantime, Norman, would you mind removing your grandmother from the overnight delivery bin?

Yes.

Hey. Can I help you?

Hi, Mr. Jacobs.

We're from the U.S. post office.

We're here inquiring about a lost letter.

You guys make house calls?

Must be one heck of a letter.

We believe it is.

I'm not quite sure how to appropriately ask, so I'm just going to ask.

Since your adoption, have you kept in touch with your biological mother?

Since my adoption?

You guys sure you have the right person?

Well, we have a letter we believe is written by your mother.

Oh, well, that's easy.

She lives with us. She's just inside. Come on in.

Thank you.

Yes.

I wrote this.

Then...

It's true?

Yes.

I have a twin and you never told me?

Honey, I was so ashamed.

Now...

It all makes sense.

That feeling of always being...

Incomplete.

Excuse me.

Matt...

I was 19 and scared.

How was I going to pay for all of those surgeries?

Then I had to find someone who could...

Give him a hope and a future.

Whispers: Yeah.

Ms. Jacobs...

We've met your son.

Joshua?

Is he okay? Where is he?

We're not authorized to give you that information, but I can tell you that he is healthy and living a very successful life as a cardiologist.

Then God has answered my prayers.

Just not all of them.

Not yet.

You know, it's funny, delivering a letter to the right person at the right time is just so...

Satisfying.

Well, yeah.

I'm sure it's not very exciting to somebody as sophisticated as you...

But it is!

The work you all do is so important.

I mean, you change people's lives every day.

I don't do that.

Well, you've changed Norman's life.

And Norman has changed mine. [Gasps, clears throat]

[Gasps]

Ardis?

Mrs. Parker-Pennington-Paine, are you okay?

Can we get you something?

A bourbon!

Shane and rita: Bourbon!

No ice.

Shane: Yes, we're here with her grandson...

How is she?

Where is she?

Shane's trying to figure it out right now.

I can't find her and lose her all in two days, Oliver.

Mr. Dorman?

Yes?

Are you her next of kin?

Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Goodbye.

[Knocking on door]

Enter!

Mrs. Parker-Pennington-Paine?

Oliver!

You seem... well?

It was just a teeny little att*ck on the heart.

Well, how good of you to come!

We're all here, actually.

Norman's out in the hall.

I came in first as something of a scout.

He was...

Afraid.

It's only because he loves you.

Well, no man wants to lose a woman he loves, even if it is a crazy, old grandmother.

I don't believe you're crazy.

Honey, I'm nuttier than a fruitcake.

Runs in the family.

You know, Oliver, you could do with a little crazy yourself.

Yes. That is certainly a provocative thought.

But I confess, I wouldn't know where to begin.

Well, you begin by doing the thing that scares you the most.

What you have to do is face up to the scary, and the rest is easy.

[Knocking]

Come in, Norman.

Hi, darling!

You're okay?

Oh, honey, I'm fine.

I don't want you to worry.

I will leave you two alone.

I look forward to your recovery.

[Chuckles]

Oh, wow.

Word travels fast.

It's like you're royalty.

Darling, I am!

I'm the honorary queen of a biami village!

Oh, I'm not familiar with that tribe.

Well, it's new.

It's very progressive.

It's kind of like living in a human rainbow!

You have royal blood coursing through your veins, Norman.

I have always thought that.

Good.

Because every good monarch should take very good care of their people.

Which people?

Guess who my heart doctor is!

Hmm?

[Clears throat]

So, Mrs. Parker-Pennington-Paine.

Oh, doc, please. Call me Ardis.

And this is my grandson, Norman.

Wow. You look just like...

Funny how things happen, huh, isn't it?

I mean, yesterday, Norman had never heard of you and today, you're looking up his grandmother's aorta.

Timing is everything, huh?

Well, we found some significant blockage in two vessels leading to your heart, so we're going to need to take you up in about, oh, half an hour and clear that up.

You mean surgery?

We'll take good care of her.

I'm sure you will.

Now, don't you worry.

Now, you needed to see me about something?

Yes. Joshua, since you're taking such good care of my heart, would you indulge me a second and let me take care of yours?

You see, before you walked in, I'd made a phone call to somebody who I think you should meet.

Before I tell you who that is, I want to tell you a little story about three circus clowns... triplets, actually...

I met them on the Orient Express.

Now, the funny thing about these clowns is that they didn't know that they were triplets.

They didn't know each other.

So, then... Then, one night, at the American Cafe in Singapore, each one of them, separately, ordered the same drink.

Singapore slings... they ordered three slings... in Singapore...

Who turned out the lights?

What's happening?

It's just her I.V.

I started her pre-surgery sedative.

Are you ready to go, Mrs. Paine?

Wait!

Wait.

Grandma!

There you are, my sweet!

I'm on my way up to the summit.

Now, don't forget to pay the sherpas, okay?

Who did you call?

Grandma, what am I supposed to do?

Well, be good to your people, my little prince.

I'll expect a full report when I get back down from the mountain.

Be careful. I just found her.

Norman! Norman Dorman! Approach!

You are my sliver of light.

Okay.

Onward.

♪ Toot-toot-tootsie goodbye ♪
♪ Toot-toot-tootsie don't cry ♪

Watch for the mail!

Mr. Dorman?

Yes! Is she okay?

I think she'll be just fine.

Thank you.

My pleasure.

She's a remarkable woman.

Yeah, yeah.

I'm here to visit a patient.

Mrs. Parker-Pennington-Paine...

Matt?

Norman: Oh, boy.

Remember the triplets from Singapore?

Oliver: Would you look at him, sitting with those two.

He seems so... mature.

Shane: Our little guy is growing up.

Oh, I should go to the cafeteria, because Norman always likes pudding after a big day.

Yeah.

Do you think that they'll ever tell each other how they really feel?

Someday.

When the time is right.

True love cannot be held at bay forever, no matter how hard one fights it.

It must be very exhausting, always trying to find ways to say "I love you" without actually saying "I love you."

Oh, Shakespeare did it all the time.

Yeah. Yes.

Well, we can't all be poets, now, can we?

Did...

Did you read...

No.

Never.

Of course, I'm curious.

We both know that.

I saw it, sitting there in your desk, unsealed.

I was looking for tweezers.

The point is, is that I didn't open it.

Honestly, I'm just sorry that I ever looked up Holly's address in the first place, because...

Because...

Because until that moment when I saw her name and her street number, she was just a concept, the mysterious absent wife in Paris.

Now there's a real envelope in your pocket that could be delivered to a real person, who could really read the poem, or the letter, or the words that you've written to say...

"I miss you.

Come home."

Or to say...

"Goodbye."

But, as I said, I didn't read it.

And you haven't mailed it.

It's funny, remember the day we first met?

I had a letter that I was afraid to open.

And now you have a letter that you're afraid to mail.

I'm not afraid to mail this letter.

Then what are you afraid of?

Excuse me.

Ms. Jacobs.

Mr. O'Toole.

A message was left for me from your office...

Ardis, I think?

Yes. She is a specialist in difficult cases.

Ms. Jacobs: You were right.

Prayers get answered, just not all at once.

That's mom.

My sweet Joshua...

Grandma?

Oh... sweetheart.

Grandma, we did it.

Dr. Joshua found his other family.

I knew you could do it. I knew it.

But guess what?

I remembered the day that they found me at the rodeo.

There was a lady there, and she gave me a cowboy hat.

She put it on my head and gave me a kiss.

She was crying.

Did she sparkle?

Yes.

Oh, yes.

And I'm just...

I'm so glad that I got to share that with you.

Before I croaked?

Is that what you were afraid of, Norman?

Norman: The only thing that I'm afraid of...

Actually, you know, I don't think I'm afraid of anything today.

I'm actually feeling pretty...

Unsquashable?

Unsquashable.

[♪♪♪]

[♪♪♪]