For Ellen

Joby Taylor:
I thought that w-we're splitting everything. I get half the house. I get half the kid. Uh...

Fred Butler:
No, um... I mean, I thought... I thought you knew that that was a condition for the... for the fifty/fifty settlement on the house. You know, in return, you must give up legal custody of Ellen as...

Joby Taylor:
No.

Fred Butler:
...as her biological father.

Joby Taylor:
No. No, that's not what I thought it said in the document at all. The-the-the settlement is about getting my share of that house she's living in, which I legally own half of.

Fred Butler:
Well... Look... it says here that they never received any payment for the mortgage or that you sent child support.

Joby Taylor:
Well, you know, I tried to.

Fred Butler:
Um, well, I have some bad news... but/and good news. What would you like to hear first?

Joby Taylor:
Umm... bad news.

Fred Butler:
O-okay. So I spoke with Mr. Hamilton and explained your situation and what you want, and... he said no to your request.

Joby Taylor:
Okay.

Fred Butler:
There's more. He surmises that if you continue to drag this on, because, um... uh, you were supposed to sign today, and, uh... He said if you don't sign by tomorrow, they WILL take you to court.

Joby Taylor:
Okay, and that, uh... affects the settlement money, right?

Fred Butler:
Then there's no settlement deal.

Joby Taylor:
Okay, so what's the good news?

Fred Butler:
Well, um... my mom was wondering if you can come over for dinner.

Joby Taylor:
Listen, I swear to God I didn't want to go down this route, but here it goes: Remember when you didn't want Ellen but I did, and it was me who stopped you from aborting her? Did you forget that? Well, if you need a reminder, I still have the paperwork from the clinic in Chicago, and I'm not afraid to use it.

Joby Taylor:
What's wrong?

Ellen Taylor:
Why didn't you come see me before?