04x07 - A Farewell to Nick

[bunniefuu]

[♪♪♪]

♪ There's a time for love
And a time for livin' ♪

♪ So take a chance
And face the wind ♪

♪ An open road and
A road that's hidden ♪

♪ A brand-new life
Around the bend ♪

♪ Nights are long
But you might awaken ♪

♪ To a brand-new life ♪

♪ Brand-new life ♪

♪ A brand-new life
Around the bend ♪

Oh, yeah!

It sounds like
a tropical paradise.

It's 85 degrees,
and the water temperature's 82?

I don't believe it.
Hold on.

Mona, I don't
mean to pry,

but what
are you doing?

Stealing food.

Who says marketing
is a chore?

Hi. What?

You're gonna
send me a ticket

to go to Fort Lauderdale
for the weekend?

Ah! Ask him if he's got
a friend who likes redheads.

It's Grandpa Nick,
calling from Florida.

Oh. Hi, Nick!

Yeah, yeah. It's Mona.

Oh, Grandpa, do I have to?

Okay. He says,
"Kissy, kissy. Muah, Muah."

Oh, good old Nick.
Still blowing hot air, heh.

No, Grandpa,
I'd love to come see you,

but I have to talk it over
with Dad.

No, he wouldn't believe that
I'm going on a field trip

to a convent.

[SCOFFS]

Okay. I'll call you later.
I love you too.

Tell him ta-ta
and smoochy-woochy.

No way.

Okay. Bye.

[GIGGLING]
Oh! Oh!

Oh, a weekend
in Fort Lauderdale, whoo!

This calls for a major mall run.
You wanna help me shop?

You're on.
And help me pack?

You're on.
And convince Dad to let me go?

You're on your own.

Oh. I gotcha.

You do that one more time,

and you are in big trouble.

I'm shaking.

[LAUGHS]

Dad, you know, there's
a three-day weekend coming up,

and I've always felt holidays
should be spent with family--

You know,
sharing the holiday spirit,

giving thanks,
worshipping together.

Sam, it's Columbus Day.

Yeah, but, uh, Columbus
was Italian, you know,

and I believe that
all good Italians

should spend the holidays
with relatives.

Even if they have to go

all the way to Fort Lauderdale
to do it.

Aha. So that's what
this is all about, huh?

Hey, not for nothing,
but my idea of a holiday

does not include
Grandpa Nick.

Good,
'cause he didn't include you.

All right, well, let me
tell you something else.

You are not
going alone.

Oh, Dad, but he's already
paid for my ticket.

Come on. He'll take her around
show her the sights.

What, Nick Milano's lifestyles
of the poor and sleazy?

Dad,
you're not being fair.

Nick has really settled down
in the last year.

He hasn't been indicted
for anything.

He's probably under
an assumed name.

Nick may have his faults,

but he'd never let
anything happen to Sam.

Dad, I'm not a little girl
anymore.

Please, please, please,
please, please, please.

Up periscope.

Beep, beep, beep!

[WHISPERS]
Oh, Jonathan!

Fire torpedo to F1.

Hit!
All right,

another torpedo to F1.
Jonathan,

you already sunk
my battleship.

I know.
Now I'm going for the survivors.

Well, that's
my little bad seed.

Well, Samantha's
on her way.

Right about now,
she should be enjoying

her complimentary beverage
and her honey-roasted peanuts.

You see?
Everything went fine.

Now I hope you did not

make a spectacle of yourself
at the departure gate?

Who, me? What,
are you kidding me, Mona?

I'm not one of those
overprotective fathers.

I gave her
a little kiss, a hug,

then I checked
the pilot's breath. Ugh!

Yeah. You know what, though.
I miss her already.

Ah, it's good
for you.

Every once in a while,

parents need a break
from their kids.

I took 1958.

Really? I didn't notice.

[TELEPHONE RINGS]

Bower residence. Yeah.

Hey, Bambi,
how are you doing?

Hey, it's Nick's girlfriend.

Hey, Bambi,
I'm glad you called.

Samantha got off fine.
In fact, are you ready?

Her plane's gonna land on time,
heh. Yeah, go figure, heh.

Heh. What--?

What? You're putting her
on the 4:00 flight back? Why?

Well, is there
something wrong?

I mean, is Nick
in trouble again?

What?

Tony...

...what's wrong?

Is Nick in trouble?

Uh, no.
Nick's not in trouble.

He's dead.

Hey.

I still can't believe
Nick is gone.

Just think, checking out
at the racetrack,

with a fistful of
winning tickets in one hand

and cheese nachos in the other.

Knowing Nick, that's how
he would have wanted to go.

Uh-uh.
That was his second choice.

Oh, Mona.

Did Nick go
to heaven or hell?

Oh, I'm sure
he went to heaven, honey.

[CHUCKLES]

Why do people
have to die anyway?

Well, sweetheart,
because, um...

...death is just part of
the natural scheme of things.

It's just something
you have to learn to accept.

There's a time to live
and there's a time to die.

And a time for every
purpose under heaven.

[SARCASTICALLY]
Turn, turn, turn.

Ahem, Jonathan...

sometimes I don't think
of death as an end,

but more like a beginning,

with a door opening to
a whole new world.

It could be
very exciting.

[CHUCKLES]

[NORMALLY]
Oh, uh...

Uh, death,
uh, well, let's see...

I don't know, Jonathan,
I mean, like, uh, death,

death is like
a baseball game, you know...

You know, you, you play hard,
and sometimes you strike out.

Sometimes, you hit a home run
with the bases loaded.

In Nick's case,
sometimes you get caught

fouling the ball, heh.
But, uh,

But you give it all you got,
you know, and then,

at the end of
the ninth inning.

you pick up your glove and you,
you head for the old dugout.

So, Sweetheart,

do you understand
what we're saying

about why people
have to die?

Yeah. You guys
don't know, either.

[ALL CHUCKLE]

Pretty smart kid.
Yeah.
Mm.

Well, listen, I gotta go.

I wanna be at the gate

the minute
Sam steps off that plane.

This is not going to be easy
for her.

She was crazy about Nick.

Yeah.
[DOOR SLAMS]

SAMANTHA:
Anyone home?

Sam?

Hi, guys.
What's for dinner?

Sam, what are you doing here?

Your plane doesn't land
for another hour.

Well, the 4:00 flight
got delayed till 5,

but the 3:00 flight left
at 4, so I got on that one.

Oh.

Well, uh, did Bambi tell you
why she was sending you home?

Yeah. Grandpa's dead.

Sam, I'm so sorry.

I know
it must hurt.

Yeah! Tell me about it.

I was really looking forward
to this weekend.

Now I'm stuck
with a new bathing suit,

and no tan lines.

Hey, wait a minute, honey.

Are you saying that's
all you're upset about?

No. I had to watch
Howard the Duck on the plane,

both ways.

Sam, what about
your grandfather?

Oh, well,
Bambi was really shook up,

you know,
crying and everything.

I just had to tell her, look,
people live, people die.

Oh, sweetheart,
come here.

Dad, don't.

There's no reason to get mushy.

Let me know when dinner's
ready, okay? I'm starved.

[♪♪♪]

Hi.
Hi, Angela.

What's all this?

This is Nick's estate. It came
express mail this morning.

His entire estate
came in this envelope?

Yeah. Nick never owned
more than he could grab

for a quick getaway,
know what I mean?

I've been trying to figure out

how come
we didn't get along,

and I-- I can't do it.
I--

I don't know, I guess
I was always on his case,

but then again, he didn't care
too much for me either.

Hey, look. These are
his favorite loaded dice.

Hey, look...seven.
Heh, heh!

He had them bronzed.

A Tony Micelli
baseball card.

What?

Must have really meant
something to him.

Yeah, because it has
absolutely no resale value.

Hey, look at this, look at this.
Here's Nick holding Sam

when she came home
from the hospital.

Oh, isn't that sweet?
They're both bald.

Oh!

I'm sure
she'd love to have this.

I don't know, Angelino.

Samantha's
still making out like--

Like Nick's dying
was no big deal.

Well, I know.

People go through stages
in dealing with grief.

She just isn't at the point
where she's ready to open up.

Yeah, well,
that's not healthy.

You know, because
she's Italian, heh, heh.

And us Italians,
we gotta express ourselves,

otherwise our--
Our insides get all clogged up.

It's ugly.

Hi.
Hi.

Hi, sweetheart.
Hey, where you been?

Just walking around.

Yeah?
I'll tell you what.

How about
we sh**t some hoops?

One-on-one?

Horse?
I'll spot you an H.

No, thanks.

All right, all right.
This calls for drastic measures.

We go to the mall,
you see an outfit,

I buy it.
No questions asked, huh?

Dad, if I wanna go shopping,
I can go by myself.

[WHISPERS]
It's okay.

Here, Sam.

What are those for?

You're supposed to give flowers
when somebody dies.

Thanks, but...

I don't know what good
they're gonna do to anybody.

I went through a lot
of trouble to get them.

All right. All right.

Who ripped the geraniums
out of my window box?

Uh-oh, um,
I'll put them back for you.

Hey,
how do you like that, huh?

Hot geraniums.
Nick would've loved it.

Hey, Sam, Sam, this stuff came
today from your grandfather.

Something here
I think you should see.

Dad, I've got things to do.

Sam, this is important.

It's from your grandfather.
I want you to hear it.

"I, Nick Milano,

"Leave this as
my last will and testament.

"First things first.

No funeral, and no tears.
Got it?"

Got it.

Yeah. "And if
you wanna remember me,

"you go to Bruno's restaurant

"And order
the spaghetti carbonara.

"It's full of cholesterol,

But what the hell,
you don't live forever." Heh.

[MONA CHUCKLES SOFTLY]

"I, uh, I wish
I had more to leave,

"but whatever I've got

goes to my beautiful
granddaughter Sambina.

Especially my love."

So what do you say,
Sam?

A little carbonara
over at Bruno's?

Would you just lay off?

I'm sick of hearing
about Grandpa.

Get it through your head.

He's gone!

I, uh... I can't
get through to her.

Hi.

Hi.

We thought
you'd be here.

I felt like
being alone.

Maybe I should've tried
the roof.

We would've
tracked you down.

Look, if you're gonna
try to talk me into

going to Bruno's
tomorrow night,

would you do it fast?
I'd like to get back to reading.

Ah...

Sears catalog, huh?



Oh!

Boy, those Nehru jackets
were sharp.

Sam...

I'm gonna
level with you.

We do want you to go
to Bruno's tomorrow night.

It's what
your grandfather wanted.

And it would be
good for you.

And your father,

and maybe Bruno could use
a little business.

Heh.

I'm not in the mood
for pasta, okay?

Sam...

I was your age
when my father died.

I know, and you hid
up in the attic too?

Or was it the closet?

No, it was
the basement.

And it wasn't Angela.
It was me.

You?
MONA: Mm-hm.

I just couldn't
handle it.

And I--
I just fell apart.

But I was very lucky...

because I had
someone to lean on.

Oh, Mother.
[CHUCKLES]

Well, it's true.

No, no.
Don't be silly.

You were the strong one.

You helped me through it.

Baby.
Oh, Mama.

Okay, okay, okay.
I'll go to Bruno's.

Just stop with
the sappy stuff, okay?

[CHUCKLES]

Thanks a lot.

Well, here we are.

Yeah.

You know, Sam,

this was your grandfather's
favorite restaurant.

He ate here every night,

except when the government
was paying for his meals, heh.

You know, Sam,

this is supposed to be
a celebration, you know.

So I mean...

You know, it's the way
Nick wanted us to say goodbye.

Why do you wanna
say goodbye to him?

You never
liked him much, anyway.

Hey, that's not fair.

Come on. I mean,

I didn't like some
of the things he did,

but he was your grandfather

and my father-in-law,
and I loved him...

in a weird kind of way.

And I thought you did too,
sweetheart.

Of course I loved him!

I loved him a lot!

Now, doesn't it feel better
to say it?

All right,
we'll have a nice dinner.

Good evening,
and welcome to Bruno's.

I am...Bruno.
[CHUCKLES]

I am...Tony, heh, heh.

And this is
my daughter...Samantha.

And there's gonna be two ladies
joining us...shortly, heh.

I heard you requested
Nick Milano's table.

Yeah, right near
the antipasto.

You're friends of Nick's?

No. We're relatives.

Wait a minute.

You're Sambina?

Yeah.

Ah, you are pretty.

This is one time
Nick didn't exaggerate.

Heh, well, I hope
there was one other time.

He says
your carbonara's the best.

And he's right!

So how is Nick, anyway?

He hasn't
been around.

He's dead.
That would explain it.

You're kiddin', right?

Ah, no, Bruno,
she's not.

[SPEAKS IN ITALIAN]

What happened?

He's dead, okay?

Just like
my other grandfather,

my grandmothers,
my mother...

everybody who ever meant
anything to me.

[WHISPERS]
Take it easy,
sweetheart.

Next it'll be...

[NORMALLY]
Me?

Please,
not in my restaurant, okay?

Samantha...

Are you...

You worried about
me dying?

Dad...

...everybody else does.

[VOICE BREAKING]
It is not fair.

I mean...

I loved Mom so much.

I loved Grandpa.

And I love you.

Oh! Okay...
All right, sweet--

Okay, sweetheart,
all right.

I know. I know.

I miss him so much.
Okay.

All right.
I know it hurts.

I know it hurts,
but listen to me.

Listen to me, you--

You can't use that
as an excuse

to stop loving people.

Because, you know,
when you stop loving people,

then you're not really
living anymore.

And Nick knew that.

He lived every minute,
no guarantees.

Even when things were bad.

I mean,
when he was locked up,

and when he lost your mom.

And he never stopped
loving people.

Especially you.

I can't believe I'm never
gonna see him again.

Yes, sweetheart,
but if you keep loving him,

then you keep
his memory alive.

Yeah?

Yeah.

[WHISPERS]
Okay.

Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey,

got any room here for
a couple of working girls?

[NORMALLY]
Yeah, sit down.

Just don't hog
the breadsticks.

Okay.
Hi, sweetheart.

Okay, everybody,
let's party.

All right!
Let's party.

A little house wine--

Ooh!
--on the house.

Ooh!
Thank you.

Nick's favorite month.
[LAUGHS]

And for Sambina,
a little house grape juice.

I think you're gonna find
it tastes a little complex,

but unpretentious.

Mmm,
excellent bouquet.

Aww!

And you won't need
these tonight.

I'm having the chef
prepare for you

a medley of Nick's
favorite dishes.

Oh! Well, we're gonna
be here a while.

[LAUGHS]
And a lot
fatter too.

Hey, come on. A toast.
Hey, cheers.

Excuse us.

Bruno told us
the bad news.

We were friends
of Nick's.

TONY: Oh.
Some of us closer than others.

Now, uh, I was closer
to Nick than anybody.

I was
his parole officer.

I was his investment broker.

Oh, you--
You mean his bookie?

You could call it that.
[TONY LAUGHS]

Well, this is Angela...

Hello.
Hi.
Hi.

...and Mona...
[ALL GREET]

and this is
my daughter, Samantha.

Ah, Sambina.
Sam...

Ah, he was always
talking about you.

I remember how proud he was

the day he got you
that beautiful stereo system.

He never gave it
to me.

Yeah. I, uh, made him
return it to the owner.

Oh, ha, ha!

Um...

So how'd Nick buy it.

He had a heart attack
at the racetrack.

That's the way he would've
wanted to go.
Heh, yeah.

Uh-uh. Second choice.

Knew him well, did you?

Oh, yeah!
Nick and I go way back.

How far back did you go?

Isn't this lovely?

All of Nick's friends
and relatives

gathered together
to honor his memory

Look what I found.

This belonged
to Nick.

I think he would
want you to have it.

Really? Gee, I--
I wonder what it could be.

It's Nick's tab.

"480 bucks!"
Oh, wow.

Nick was
a good customer.

He just wasn't
a paying customer.

You got me again,
Nick.

That's my grandpa.

Hey, hey, hey, Tony,
let me help out with that.

I mean, I made a lot
of money off of the guy.

Yeah, Bruno,
I'll chip in.

Well, then, let me see
what I've got.

Not nearly enough.

Hey, wait a minute.
Wait a minute.

Let me be a sport, huh.

After all,
I didn't send flowers.

All right.
Bruno!

[ALL CHEER]

Listen,
I'd like to propose a toast.

Dad...

can I do it?

Aw, of course, sweetheart.

To my grandfather,
Nick Milano...

...who I love very much...

...no matter what he did...

...and who I will always love.

Goodbye, Grandpa.

To Nick.

To Nick.
To Nick.
To Nick.

Come here, you.

♪ For he's
A jolly good fellow ♪

ALL:
♪ For he's
A jolly good fellow ♪

♪ For he's
A jolly good fellow ♪

♪ Which nobody can deny ♪

♪ Which nobody can deny ♪

♪ Which nobody can deny ♪

♪ For he's
A jolly good fellow ♪

♪ For he's
A jolly good fellow ♪

♪ For he's
A jolly good fellow ♪

♪ Which nobody can deny ♪

[♪♪♪]

[INAUDIBLE DIALOGUE]