JOSIE AND GARY'S APARTMENT-NIGHT

JOSIE and GARY walk in the door, only to be greeted by SHARLENE. She grins at them sheepishly from the couch.

SHARLENE
John called me from the hospital, so I thought I'd drop by some food for you guys. Spaghetti's in the fridge.

She watches them expectantly.

JOSIE
You were too impatient to wait for me to call, weren't you?

SHARLENE
(shrugging)
Guilty. Come on. Spill.

JOSIE
He's ours, Mama. We bring him home in the morning!

She and Josie squeal happily, hugging each other. Sharlene holds Josie's face between her hands.

SHARLENE
Oh, baby....I knew this would happen for you. All the heartache...it's ending right here.

GARY
We're not out of the woods yet. Hayley can still change her mind after the baby's home with us.

JOSIE
(forcefully)
She won't. I know she won't.

SHARLENE
Well, you two should probably get some sleep. You're going to have a little one keeping you up soon.

JOSIE
I can't sleep! We have much too much to do. We don't even have anywhere for him to sleep. No necessities...we gave away all of the baby things after Gary, Jr...

SHARLENE
Well, you aren't going to take care of that this late. Tell you what. You guys go to bed. Get up tomorrow, go to the hospital, sign the papers, and bring your son home. Let me take care of the rest. And I don't want to hear another word about it.

JOSIE
(laughing)
Okay. I AM pretty tired. I guess we can get everything straight tomorrow.

GARY
(Taking her arm)
Come on. Let's get some sleep. We're going to be knee deep in poop tomorrow.

JOSIE
(laughing)
What a lovely visual.

Josie sees Sharlene to the door.

JOSIE (cont'd)
Drive safe, Mama.

They hug and Sharlene leaves. Josie and Gary go to the bedroom.

CUT TO:

CASS AND LILA'S/NIGHT

LILA'S face is a mask of anger, most of it directed towards REGINALD.

LILA
I can't believe any of this. None of it. I don't believe that you wouldn't tell me about my mother, Carl, and I can't believe that you...YOU (indicates Reginald)...you MONSTER could be my father!

REGINALD
You don't have to believe it. It's true.

AMANDA
(putting a hand on Lila's shoulder)
Lila...I have information to show you back at the house...as soon as we're out of here---

REGINALD
And what makes you think that YOU'RE getting out of here, Amanda?

AMANDA
(glaring at him)
Oh, please, Reginald...you don't scare me. You may be holding a gun, but I'm not afraid of you.

REGINALD
What a brave, brave girl you are...your father taught you that, I'm sure. Tell me, dear, what was it like to have to accept the man who hated your father into his home?

AMANDA
Shut up, Reginald. You don't know a damn thing about it.

REGINALD
I know that you most likely still entertain such hatred in your heart for this man...and if you like, I can help you concentrate that hatred into helping you put him away.

CARL
Reginald...this charade should end here. Now. I mean this.

REGINALD
But the party's just beginning---

As they speak, the front door opens and Cass walks in. As Reginald takes his eyes off of Carl for a split second to look towards the door, Carl jumps him, grabbing the gun from his hands. As he's pinned to the ground, Lila grabs a lamp and smashes it over Reginald's head. He passes out. Carl and Amanda both look at Lila increduously.

LILA
(shrugging)
It always works in the movies.

Cass enters the scene, looking stunned. When he sees Reginald, Carl steps between them.

CARL
Yes, it is who you think it is. But before you're given any details, you might want to phone the police.

Cass reaches for his cell phone, silently, as Lila rushes over to him. He hugs her as he dials.

CUT TO:

CORY MANSION/SAME NIGHT

RACHEL, JAKE, and VICKY stand by MATT, who's still on the phone. He hangs up and faces them.

MATT
They've got an eye out for them. That's about all they can do.

RACHEL
Why can't they do more?

MATT
It's not like they'll answer a page, Mom. They're doing their best. Hi, Jake, Vicky.

JAKE
Hi, Matt. Look, has anyone thought to actually GO to the airport, or the train station?

MATT
We haven't had a chance...it's only been a little while since we even realized they were gone. None of us have seen Alli since early evening...when was the last time you saw Sean?

VICKY
We....we sort of yelled at him earlier.

MATT
About what?

VICKY
(sighing)
We...actually, Steven and Kirkland....found a bag of pot in Sean's room. And we confronted Sean about it, he got angry, we got angry, there was a lot of yelling, and we grounded him.

RACHEL
Oh, no...and he probably called Alli. She's been feeling a little left behind the past few months---

JAKE
You know what, I don't care what their excuses are for taking off. They're still teenagers. Sean is still living under our roof, and Alli under yours. They're not adults yet.

RACHEL
And as much as I agree with that sentiment, Jake, it's not going to help us much now.

VICKY
All right. Jake and I will go to the train station and the airport to see if we can find them.

MATT
I'll go to the bus station. Mom, you wait here for the police. We'll all check in in an hour, okay?

Rachel nods as Matt, Jake, and Vicky leave. She wanders over to the coffee table, picking up a picture of Alli.

RACHEL
(to herself)
Come on, Alli...don't have gotten far, kid.

FADE OUT