it's okay, honeys you're doing great! the doctor hands the scissors, now slick with gore, to the nurse. h e takes a suction. catheter and disappears behind-the curtain again. the nurse - presses a button on a vacuum pump and the machine begins to hum. kate tightly closes her eyes.
nice one, champ! - daniel pumps his arm and runs inside. john walks up the drive, carrying a bouquet of flowers. he hands max the ball and lifts her up to the basket. max happily puts the ball-through'the hoop.
all right! ginme five! she smiles and gives him a high-five as he carries her inside.
drapes look'nice.
just love you. he kisses her as she takes them. some of her gloomy mood melts.
will you stop worrying about what everybody else thinks?
you're never going to lose us. i promise you. i just wish.  have you thought any more about adopting?
that's not true. the kids understand. they just know you're not happy.
even if it can-'t be'biologically ours.
then what are we talking about this -for? let's do it.
that's not why we'd be doing. it. we wanted a child a year ago and we still want one, now.
no, 'we can't. but we can take the' place we made for her in our hearts and our home and give it to a child who needs a family.
i'm-an architect at a firm in the city. the lawyer turns to kate. kate hesitates.
we've'alread y waited a.long time. :we'd lake a child as:quickly as possible.
we've already signed up for special- needs-'adoption classes. trust me, we're ready for anything.
hi there.
are these , paintings all yours?
very much. they're remarkable. -
john. it's nice to meet you. she smiles and demurely offers her hand, giggling as he takes it. she blushes, then turns back to her painting. it's a half- finished jungle scene with a smiling lion crouched beneath a tree.
so what's this one going to bo?
she's smiling.
well, i hope she finds them.
where did you learn how to do this?
- well, that's very responsible of you, but i'll- bet the sisters could find something else for you. to wear.
your dress is. very pretty. i'm ,just saying. you could -probably go outside if you really wanted to.
there's nothing wrong with different.
hey, i'd like you to meet someone. - . esther, this is my wife, kate. kate smiles and offers her hand, but instead of shaking it, esther lovingly presses it to her cheek.
she painted these all by herself.
you've got a real talent on your hands here.
sorry, i've got that stuck in my head now.
i wish you co'uld've heard the things. she was saying before you c&me in. i jatow adults who aren't that mature.
it just blows may mind, a kid could go through as much-as she must have and still turn out like that.
no, of course not. i just hope she. gets the right break. i wouldn't trade our littl'e' girl for the world. you )maw that. rate gives him an adoring look and squeezes his hand.
the birth family is claiming her body. they're planning a private service. he looks to kate for a reaction, but she has none. he continues:
sister abigail thinks she might have been playing something called "the choking game." it's a kind of schoolyard dare. you try to get a rush by having someone choke you until you almost pass out. there have been cases where kids have tried it alone and accidentally hanged themselves. a beat. kate's voice is distant, as;
we can have our awn-service. i think .it's important that we -
so let's not. let's adopt.bather. this brings kate back to reality. she eyes him coolly.
-until what? i don't want to waste .a nother year of our lives wishing for something that we.can't-have. . i want us to feel like a family again. kate regards him for a beat, conflicted. then:
i think we can handle that.
she told me they make fun of her.
then what are you basing this on? sister abigail hesitates. deciding how much to say.
like what?
she latched. right onto you. we're probably the best chance she has at a. normal life. esther looks up from her work and waves at them. they wave back.
hi, mont. thanks for watching them. esther, this is grandma doris.
don't be rude.
okay, come on. but just for tonight. esther and max excitedly clamber into the bed and snuggle between them. kate and john share amused looks.-
see you later.
i guess i can be late today. i can take them to school and you can pick them up.
- she could nave picked it up anywhere. bell, she probably heard it at school.
we'll talk to her about it tonight.
it was one dirty word. i don't think we need to call in the shrink just-yet.
iget it, i just- don ''t want to make a bigger deal out of it than it is.
i wouldn't worry about it. you're right, we don't know how she was raised, but we do know she's a good kid. if danny and max want to start acting.like her, that's fine with me.
brenda says you pushed her.
i swear, we-didn't bribe her to say that. .y:
she's lucky she didn't break her neck. sister abigail seems troubled by this.
that's right. you both are. as they head home, they see joyce 'patterson jogging toward them. a blonde with dark roots and an overdone boob job., wearing a skimpy sports bra and mini shorts. she waves to tem.
how're-you doing?
uh, yeah. maybe kate and i -could help you -out.
i didn't notice.
okay, just make sure you hold her hand.
it's okay. did you see where she went?
did you lie to us? what did i tell you about'holding her hand?
where would'esther have gotten pot?
fine, but i don't believe for a"second that she just did it for no reason.
so you've seen her haul off'and bite someone like an animal?
of course not!
she wanted me to help her move a chair.
because i knew how you'd reactl
how-long are you going to keep this hanging over me? it was ten years ago.
i'm sorry i didn't tell you-about it- x just feel like i've earned a little trust here.
i gave you a second chance.
so-you can keep bringing up my . mistakes over and over, but we're not even allowed to discuss yours?
you were a danger to our children. if i didn't want to. make this work, i could have left months ago and nobody would have blamed me.
you want to disrupt the adoption over this?!
she's just a kids -
wait a minute, you're not suggesting --
we can take her to doctor -browning. - kate suggested doing that weeks ago. but i don't want to send her away. not without at least some kind of proof. sister abigail.sighs, frustrated. kate turns to him:
esther and max? you saw them?
the treehouse is still locked.
you mean these keys here? he goes over tothe keepsake chest and opens it.  the key ring is there. he holds it up. daniel flusters.
you're not lying to get them in- trouble,.are you? '
i don't know what's got into you lately. just go to your room. daniel leaves, dejected.
thank god.
hey, i'm not a psychiatrist. and a lot of what she's saying makes sense. before she can respond, nate's cell phone rings. she turns away from john' and'answers it. he sighs and goes inside.
we'll help in any way we can. we at least owe her that much.
who is it?
jesus:: at kind of sick' monster carjacks a nun? kate glances up, sees esther crouched on the stairs, watching.  int. family room - day daniel sits in a big recliner, sullenly playing a video game shoot- em-op. kate is researching- on the internet. we get close shots of some of her google.results, inte ctfs with daniel blasting away at alien baddies, his face angry and intense: "character-disturbed children." -blame.-blame-blame "antisocial personality djsorder." pl f-blami- "c ren o kfll." esther enters holding max's handy leadin her around like a pet. max numbly follows. they walk up to daniel'in the recliner.
"extended period of bedwetting. speech pathology. abnormal eye contact." she doesn't have half of these.
save you showed this to doctor. bowiiing?
you're not going to therapy? when did you decide that?
i know you were. upset. but we have to at least consider the possibility that she's right about this.
that's not true. i'm just. worried about you, that's all. we can hire someone to help you with the kids if it's getting to be too much.
we're-not going to.keep taking her to doctors until you hear what you want to hear.
for all, her good intentions, sister abigail was not a trained psychologist. she'had certain suspicions about esther and they turned out to be wrong. why is can't you accept that?
all right.- see what you can find out.
you'll have to get ready early,
what's the matter?
why not?
you want-to play hooky? i can call in- sick and we'll go to -the zoo. what do you think? esther smiles through her tears.
and a monany, too. right? esther hesitates. john notices. she gives a sad shrug.
that's not true- mc=my loves 'you.
sweetheart, .you are just as much a part of this family- as danny. and max are. mommy doesn't love'you any less because you're adopted. do you understand? she nods, but doesn't look convinced. john thinks.
why don't you do something special for her? so she can see what a good girl you are. i'll bet she'd like that. esther's face brightens.
what the hell did you do to her?
it wasn't even her idea. i'm the one who told her she should try to do something nice for you. he leaves.
what in it, sweetheart?
but.it was just an.accident.
i know. it's not what you do on purpose that scares me. kate watches him go. . be turns away and takes max upstairs.
56 will 1. that's why she's here. something in his voice makes kate apprehensive. an uneasy beat.
kate, don't. john stands and takes something from inside the sideboard. ile : sets it on the coffee table between them.  qtr, s the wine bottl g she hid " he closet. kate is stricken. she looks at it like it was a poisonous spider.
the girls found it while they were playing in your. closet.
yes, esther found it. does that make a difference? is she lying? a beat. kate's silence-is answer enough.
but not this onie. again, no answer necessary.  kate looks defeated, tears welling.
i wanted you to come to me. that's why ,i didn't confront you with it last night. if max had gotten hurt this morning, it. would've been because i trusted you tell me if there was a problem.
l f ow do you expect me to believe that?
then why-not throw both bottles away?
that's not enough anymore.' i told you last time what i'd do if this'ever happened again. i'm trying to give you another chance.
i've heard enough. if it was just the two of us, that would be one thing. but i can't let you be in a position where you could hurt the kids.
kate, stop it. you're talking about an eight-year-old girl. and right now she's making a lot more sense than you are.
i'm sorry. maybe if you'd been honest with me from the start. but not now.
you either check into rehab this week or i leave and i take the kids with me. esther leans close and whispers into max's hearing aid:
i'll see you tomorrow. doris gets in her car. john looks conflicted.
can we see him? -
there has to be some other explanation. she didn't come from an insane asylum!
i don't know what to think anymore.
kate! stop it! rate looks ready to hit her again, but a nurse holds her back.
she was out here the whole time! dr. rajan rushes in, readying a syringe.
mom's driving us home. i think it's better if you stay here tonight. i don't want you around the kids like this. kate weakly grasps his hand, her voice a thready whisper:
what's wrong, sweetheart? -
me, tqo. esther enters and stands next to john at max's bedside.
what are you doing?
get down from there. that knife's too sharp for you to be playing with. esther climbs down from the chair and nonchalantly carries the cheese and cracker plate to the dining room, as-if he hadn't said anything. john follows her, dumbfounded.
what is this? -
you don't need makeup to be pretty. esther is touched. she gazes up at. him lovingly.
of course. why don't you go wash your face and we'll tuck you back into bed.
-all right. we'll have a little snack and then off -to bed. esther beams. john sits down, reluctantly humoring her. esther starts pouring sparkling water into the glasses.
little girls aren't allowed to drink wine.
why don't you sit down?
don't ever do that again.
of course, i love you. but not.  it's different than how i love mommy. you're my little girl.
who can't? you mean mommy?
esther, stop it! i mean it. this is wrong.
esther? are you-all right? she's not here. the light is on, but the room is empty. fish are still flapping around on the floor,-mouths. gasping. john gives the-broken aquarium an unnerved look.
esther, where are you? no answer. he turns off the light, about to look "elsewhere.  then stops. with the overhead light off, the room is lit only by the black light in either ' s broken aquar i u m, t 7uvali ma esther s p a n i tin ha a chap n s 's painted t = that they ook f een vri d er black h - - - john takes a closer look, turning the black light on and o ff. unde gal lights the painting he saw when he first met esther,- a mother lion and her sleeping cubs. .[inds black limos the cube are now dead and 'the mother's mouth .s dripping with blood. the paintings that looked like typical family portraits in normal light are now nightmarish visions of death and violence. in one, kate's eyes have been gouged out. in another, daniel's throat has been slashed. in the picture of the whole family, john- and esther look normal, but kate, daniel, and max are all decomposed corpses. john staggers back in shock. the telephone rings, startling him. the answering machine picks up. he hears kate.'svoice,