Bo is a Daddy-Nora Learns the Truth

April 9, 2003

Gabrielle: This is a different D.N.A. report than the original one that you saw that told you that you weren't Matthew's father. This was made after that.

Bo: Then -- ahem -- it's true that Matthew's my son?

Gabrielle: I'm so sorry I didn't tell you the truth as soon as I knew. But I was so afraid that it would change things for us. And I still am.

*~*

Nora: So Al's mom came over and read you a letter from daddy and then took one of my letters with her when she left?

Matthew: Mm-hmm.

Nora: Why?

Matthew: I don't know.

Nora: Right, ok. Right, right. All right. I'll ask her. Ok. Ooh, ok. There's Marianne pulling up. Come here. When we get home, I want you to build a big, big tower. And when I get home, I'm going to help you knock it down.

Matthew: Ok.

Nora: Ok. Demolition derby.

*~*

Gabrielle: Bo -- is there anything -- anything I could do?

[Knock on door]

Nora: I'm sorry. I know it's late, but I need to see Gabrielle.

Gabrielle: Hello, Nora.

Nora: Matthew told me that you went into my house and read Matthew one of Sam's letters. Is that true?

Gabrielle: Yes.

Nora: How did you get into my house?

Gabrielle: I waited outside till you left. And then I went through your front door. I -- I'm leaving now.

Nora: No, you need to give me an explanation. I deserve an explanation.

Bo: Let her go, let her go.

Nora: Bo, I'm sorry. I know you love her, but she went into my house.

Bo: I know. She already told me before you got here.

Nora: Don't defend her, please. She had no business going into my mail and reading one of sam's letters to my son.

Bo: He asked her to. But is he ok? Did he get upset about it?

Nora: No. But he could easily have. Bo, he's just been through so much. He's just a little boy -- a little boy who just lost his father.

Bo: No. He didn't.

Nora: What are you talking about?

Bo: Matthew's my son.

*~*

Bo: Sam wrote us each a letter, and I never got to read mine and I haven't read yours.

Nora: "Dear Nora, before I write anything else, I want to tell you the sole motivation for what I did was love."

Sam: "My love for you. I've loved you most of my life, Nora. And even when all hope of any future for us died, my love for you continued to live through Matthew. I have loved that little boy since before he was born, and I will love him even after I die. I always believed he was my son."

Nora: "Even when Bo and I sat up all night making sure no one tampered with the D.N.A. Results, I was sure it would confirm the earlier test and prove Matthew was mine. And it seemed to. It wasn't until a year later I found out the results may have been wrong. I had been working on a negligence suit and discovered the D.N.A. lab we used had been compromised for a period of time due to a technician's error. I checked the date. It was the week when we had our D.N.A. test run. I couldn't believe it at first. I didn't want to. But I had the test run again. This time, the results came out in favor of Bo. I even had Bo's earlier sample tested to be sure. There was no doubt. Bo was Matthew's father."

Sam: I tried to find the right words to say to Matthew, how to explain it to him. When I came home, he ran up to me and he gave me a drawing he'd made of the two of us. I enclosed it so you'd understand. And when he gave this to me, he told me how much he loved me, his daddy. I know I was wrong, but I don't regret a single day Matthew and I had together. Again, I'm sorry. All my love to you and Matthew."

Nora: "Sam."

*~*

Bo: You ok?

Nora: How could he do this? How could he do this to me -- Sam, of all people? I have been lied to so many times in my life about my life, and Sam was the one person I could count on to be honest with me. And my god, he's had us living the biggest lie of all for years!

Bo: But it's not like he knew about it all along.

Nora: He knew about it long enough. He should've told me. He should've told me the minute he found out that Matthew was your son. Your son. Your son. God, I can't believe -- I can't believe it. He should've -- he should've told me. He should've told me. He should've told you. You're his father! You had a right to know!

Bo: But maybe he was thinking more about Matthew and what this would do to him.

Nora: And how long did he think he could keep this secret?

Bo: To his grave.

Nora: Which he did. And if he hadn't died, we never would've known. You would never have known. How could he keep that from you? You already lost one son.

Bo: I can almost understand.

Nora: What?

Bo: You're right when I lost drew -- well, you know what I was like. It's the worst thing that any parent could ever go through. And I guess Sam figured that he couldn't handle going through it.

Nora: It was wrong. You can try to justify it, you can try to understand it --

Bo: Yeah, but we can't change it. And getting angry about it -- that's not going to fix it. So we're going to have to deal with what happened, figure out what we're going to do about it.

*~*

Nora: What are we supposed to do? I don't know what we're supposed to do. I don't even know what we're supposed to think. I don't know what I'm supposed to think -- I'm so angry. I'm sorry. I can't help it. I am. It's bad enough that Sam lied to me. He lied to Matthew. God. I mean, I know -- I know Matthew loves him. His daddy. Oh, Bo. This is a mess.

Bo: I know. I know.

Nora: Aren't you angry?

Bo: It's surreal. And I've been here before. But, see, it's not about me, it's not about you, and it's not about Sam. This is all about a little boy who has just lost his father. It's not his biological father, but it's the man that -- that had been his dad.

Nora: What are you saying? Hmm? We should just let it rest? We should pretend that nothing happened, that we never read this letter? We should never let Matthew know that you're his father?

*~*

Nora: Can you let it go, honestly?

Bo: No. Matthew's -- I want him in my life because he's my son. I never thought I'd hear myself say that again.

Nora: Well, you should be a part of his life. I want you to be a part of his life.

Bo: But he's just -- he's dealing with a lot right now.

Nora: Yeah. And to find out Sam's not his daddy --

Bo: I don't think we should tell him right away.

Nora: You don't mind?

Bo: I've got time, so I'll just give it a rest.

Nora: Thank you. I got to go. Matthew's waiting. I promised him I'd knock down a tower. I'm really sorry, Bo, for all the lost time.

Bo: Me, too.