ADULT_ETHAN ADULT_JACOB ADULT_WESLEY ALMEDA CHARLES_TREMBLAY DRYSDALE DR_LAWRENCE DR_WACHTER ETHAN_KRISTINE_NATALIA_WESLEY FEMALE_REPORTER GLENN_BECK HOTEL_CROWD JACOB JENNIFER JENNIFER_MICHAEL JT KRISTINE MALE_PRODUCER MALE_REPORTER MARY MICHAEL NATALIA NEWS_BROADCAST OFFICE_CROWD RANDI_BURCH SCHOOL_CROWD VALIKA WESLEY FEMALE REPORTER And following up on a bizarre story we broke earlier today, local mother and author Kristine Barnett tonight is out on bond after being arrested this morning. KRISTINE It was that same day, 2019, I was in hell and all I wanted was to get back to my boys. FEMALE REPORTER Barnett faces eight counts of felony neglect for abandoning her adoptive daughter. HOTEL CROWD FEMALE REPORTER Prosecutors say Barnett and her then husband adopted Natalia Grace, who has a rare form of dwarfism, in 2010, then left her to fend for herself in an apartment just two years later before fleeing to Canada. MALE REPORTER Spectators at this morning's Indiana Science and Education Convention were shocked... ADULT JACOB Mom, Mom. Mom, are you okay? KRISTINE Sorry it took so long, guys. Who wants pizza? MALE REPORTER A memoir about parenting. You can say it's probably not a... KRISTINE Why are you watching these lies? Turn that off. ADULT JACOB Where's the remote. ADULT ETHAN Uh, I don't know. MALE REPORTER If convicted, Barnett faces up to 75 years in prison. KRISTINE You know, it's probably good that you watched that. None of it's true, but it's helpful to know what you're up against. ADULT JACOB How did they find enough evidence to arrest you, if none of it's true? KRISTINE Jake, your dad. You guys know he'd do anything to punish me. ADULT WESLEY Is Dad gonna get arrested too? KRISTINE No. Sure he took a deal. Come and eat. FEMALE REPORTER ...going back as far as 2011. MALE REPORTER Spectators at this morning's Indiana Science and Education Convention were shocked to hear that their key speaker was taken away in handcuffs. MICHAEL Oh my God. She looks awful. FEMALE REPORTER She has a memoir The Spark... MICHAEL She must be hating this. JENNIFER This is so surreal. MICHAEL That's crazy. Mm, hang on one second. FEMALE REPORTER The new prosecutor tells us she abandoned her daughter. NEWS BROADCAST MICHAEL What's up my guy? Yeah, we're just, uh, watching the, uh, arrest footage of-of Kristine right now. Well done, my friend. DRYSDALE Um, yeah. So Mike, there's no easy way to say this. MICHAEL Say what? DRYSDALE Prosecutors have filed felony charges against you. MICHAEL Wait-- Wait, what? Wait, what-- Um, what-what charges? DRYSDALE Same as Kristine. MICHAEL Wait, Detective Drysdale. Wait, wait, wait. I don't... I don't understand. Hold on, hold on, hold on. I've been cooperating, okay? I-I answered all your questions for-for-for weeks and I thought we agreed. I mean, we did, right. It was her, not me, that did all the really bad stuff. JENNIFER Are you okay, hon ? MICHAEL Uh, y-y-yeah. Yes, one second. DRYSDALE Mike, listen, you told me yourself, you're not innocent. MICHAEL Yeah, I was just-- I thought we were friends, man, I thought you understood. DRYSDALE There just has to be some form of justice. MICHAEL Fuck you. DR LAWRENCE All right, Natalia, why don't you just pick out a lollipop with Nurse Shannon, okay? I'm gonna talk to your folks for a few minutes. NATALIA Be my guest. DR LAWRENCE Okay. KRISTINE See you soon, sweetie. KRISTINE This was 2010, I just discovered Natalia's hair. MICHAEL Alright, come here. I got ya. NATALIA MICHAEL I love you. NATALIA I love you, Daddy. MICHAEL See you soon. OFFICE CROWD KRISTINE What do you say, Steve? No way, she's seven, right? DR LAWRENCE Well, it would be unusual to see pubic hair on a girl's so young. I mean, I've never seen it. MICHAEL Okay fine, but she is seven. We have her birth certificate. KRISTINE But what if we didn't? What would you guess her age was, medically speaking? DR LAWRENCE Puberty is a range. H-Has she had her period? MICHAEL S-S-Steve, come on, she's a kid. Just this morning she was asking me if peanuts are a type of rock. KRISTINE We don't know that she hasn't. But I'm not sure she'd tell us if she had. DR LAWRENCE Well, you know, I suppose I should refer you to an endocrinologist, check the hormone levels. MICHAEL What? Uh... thank you, no. Kris, we haven't met our deductible yet. KRISTINE Oh, you just got a promotion. DR LAWRENCE Oh, hey. Wow, congrats, Mike. MICHAEL Uh, thanks. Yeah, and-- DR LAWRENCE Look at you. MICHAEL Yeah, it's a-- it's a technicality. It's o-on paper. Anyway, I just don't wanna subject Natalia to any more appointments than are necessary. She hates going to the doctor. You know, present company included. No offense, Stevie. DR LAWRENCE None taken. But guys, that is something that you really need to work through with her. I'm not an orthopedist and, uh, I haven't seen any imaging, but just judging from a physical exam, I can see that she needs surgery on her club feet and possibly hip surgery. Frankly, surgical intervention has been long overdue. MICHAEL They told us she had a-a clean bill of health. They made us pay seven grand for a bunch of surgeries she'd already had. DR LAWRENCE Who made you pay seven grand? MICHAEL U-Uh, the adoption agency, First Path. DR LAWRENCE As far as I can see, she hasn't had any surgeries. KRISTINE How do you know that? DR LAWRENCE There would be scars. KRISTINE Right. Mike, I have to tell you something. MICHAEL Okay. KRISTINE There's a lawsuit against First Path. MICHAEL What? What kind of lawsuit? KRISTINE Class action. They got caught doing some awful things, promising the same child to multiple families, some trafficking potentially, and changing ages on birth certificates. MICHAEL How long have you known about this? KRISTINE Just a few days. MICHAEL Why didn't you tell me? Kris, this is important. DR LAWRENCE Guys, uh, you need a minute? Do you need a moment to-- MICHAEL Yes, please. KRISTINE No, no. Stay. Stay. It's your office. MICHAEL Kris. KRISTINE I know. I know. I should have told you and I'm sorry, but I was trying to protect you because I thought you'd be upset about the idea of possibly losing Natalia. MICHAEL Upset? Of course, I'd be upset. She's our daughter and I love her. KRISTINE Yes, and I do too. But Mike, if First Path lied about the surgeries, what else have they lied about? I mean, her behavior as a seven-year-old is one thing, but if she's actually older than what they've said, then that gets very dangerous. MICHAEL Kr-Kris, I think you are really overreacting here. KRISTINE The attacks, dismembering Ethan's stuffy. MICHAEL A stuffed animal. These are things kids do. Steve. KRISTINE But what if she isn't a kid? Steve, something is off. I feel it. I-I, I know it. We have to figure this out. DR LAWRENCE Kris, one of my deepest regrets in my 30 years of practicing medicine was not listening to you about Jacob. You insisted that something was off, that there was more to the story. And I ignored your instincts; I think we all did. Well, I won't do it again. I'll get you some referrals. KRISTINE So, he sent us to every possible specialist under the sun: orthopedist, endocrinologist, neuropsychologist, the dentist. We've had to get a second Filofax just to keep track of her doctor visits. KRISTINE Natalia, I'm not in the mood for this today. Let's go. KRISTINE But the frustrating thing is, while the doctors all agree she needs a lot of surgeries, the kind of dwarfism she has is incredibly rare. One doctor told us she's not just one in a million, she's one in two million. So the usual ways they determine age don't work. NATALIA KRISTINE Now is it possible she's really just seven-years-old? Sure. But her skull is the size of a fully formed adult. She has adult teeth, there are signs of puberty. KRISTINE And after three months of poking and prodding, her behavior is worse than ever, she terrorizes my boys. ETHAN KRISTINE NATALIA WESLEY KRISTINE In my work, I have dealt with all kinds of kids with so many different needs. And I have tried my entire arsenal with Natalia: praising, redirecting, timeouts, time-ins, nature walks, meditation, and nothing works. KRISTINE Because the way you manage behavioral issues in a seven-year-old is a heck of a lot different from how you deal with a 15-year-old. MICHAEL Mm. RANDI BURCH That must be frustrating for you. KRISTINE Yeah, it is frustrating. RANDI BURCH Mm-hmm. KRISTINE So, Dr. Birch, how old do you think she is? Cognitively, developmentally? RANDI BURCH Well, you are right to be asking about age. If she were over 18, her behavior would suggest antisocial personality disorder, colloquially known as sociopathy. KRISTINE You're saying she's a sociopath? RANDI BURCH If she's 18 maybe. But in a child, particularly one with Natalia's background, her behavior suggests RAD, reactive attachment disorder. Now it's rare, but we do sometimes see this in children who were abandoned in infancy or spent formative years in institutional orphanages. MICHAEL Mm. RANDI BURCH And the behaviors correspond with what you described: anger, dishonesty, aggression, sometimes violence towards pets and siblings. KRISTINE So how do you suggest we deal with her behavior? Are there facilities or rehab centers for children like this? MICHAEL No, no, no. H-Hold on. Wait, we're-- we're not gonna put her away. That's-- RANDI BURCH No. There is no need to rush to that. There are proven protocols that do wonders with these cases. You treat her like an infant. KRISTINE I'm sorry, what? RANDI BURCH It's called reattachment therapy. Now imagine this. In those early days of development, she did not learn how to attach to her mother, to depend on her. MICHAEL Because the mother was gone. RANDI BURCH Exactly. Now it will take time, but you can actually rewire her mind. MICHAEL Interesting. RANDI BURCH Teach her that love is safe, that she can depend on you. KRISTINE She already depends on us. MICHAEL Not like this. Now it may seem unusual, but for this to work, you have to fully commit, carry her, cradle her get a crib, feed her every meal yourself. Bottle feeding is best, but you can spoon feed her. KRISTINE I'm-- I'm so sorry. So you're saying in a few years, we can diagnose her as a sociopath, but until then we should feed her a bottle. ALMEDA Oh, for crying out loud. You know his mama dropped him on his head, right? KRISTINE For the hundredth time, Mom, that's a joke Michael made in 1997 when he took a wrong turn on his way to the Mentone Egg Festival. ALMEDA Well, you're entitled to your own spin, I suppose. But then what good explanation do you have for why he's in there feeding a grown child a baby bottle. KRISTINE Let s 'em feel useful for a minute or two. ALMEDA What in Jiminy? KRISTINE Ever since that Star article, families have been calling me to consult on their kids. So I'm making a website and this thing lets you put a song on the splash page. KRISTINE Do you like this one? ALMEDA Well, it's one way to put lipstick on a pig, I suppose. KRISTINE What's that supposed to mean? ALMEDA You know, I'm not an expert in childcare, but I'm happy to come by and help. I do have some experience, you may recall, that you were a holy terror at her age. KRISTINE We don't know her age, Mom. That's the whole thing. ALMEDA At her size then. Point is, might be best to get your own family in line before you try and build a business. KRISTINE I have to go, Mom. Michael needs some help. ALMEDA Isn't that the truth? Well, you know where to find me if you need me. MICHAEL Okay, open up the hanger. Coming in for a landing. NATALIA No, it's gross. MICHAEL Well, it-- I'm-- Mommy and I are just trying to show you that love can feel safe, honey. How about-- Will you let me hold you then? And I'll feed you a little milk, okay? Just a little bit. Just a-- NATALIA No, no, no. MICHAEL Would you at least just try like a-a-a-a little bit of these apples? I mean, they're so yummy in your tummy baby. NATALIA I'm not a baby. KRISTINE Natalia, go take a walk around the block. And calm down. MICHAEL It's fine. You know, this is all part of it. Dr. Birch said it would take some time, so... KRISTINE Well, Michael, the only useful thing that woman said is that sociopathy starts at 18. We need to find out how old she is. MICHAEL So my wife tells me this thing, she's like, "You make the impossible possible every day." MICHAEL When someone tells me no, "I say watch out, I'm gonna prove you yes." JT Uh-huh. MICHAEL Mm-hmm. So listen, I know things have been not looking good here, you know, but-but look at Best Buy, their stock's still cruising. You wanna know why? JT Why? MICHAEL Lower prices. Mass merchandising. JT Michael, listen. MICHAEL No, no, no, no, listen. This is not the time to give up. This is an opportunity. It's-- It's a time to think about things in a whole new way, okay? JT Look, man. You know this; it's over. I'm gonna need you and your team to vacate by the end of the day, okay? Great. KRISTINE "What to do, adoption scam, fake age." "How to know international birth certificate real." KRISTINE Kristine Barnett. Mm-hmm. KRISTINE Oh, we'd be honored. We could do it here tomorrow. Sure, no, no, yes. Thank you! Thank you for helping us get our little story out there. Okay, we'll see you soon. Woo! KRISTINE " You're everything I wish I could be Did you ever know... that you're my hero Did you ever know you're my he--" SCHOOL CROWD DR WACHTER You okay there, Ms. Barnett? KRISTINE DR WACHTER. Yes, just waiting for Natalia. DR WACHTER Well, speaking of your little nugget, she's doing better. Yeah, fewer incidents. But frankly, I'm a wee bit concern, she's not really making friends her own age. KRISTINE Her own age? DR WACHTER Seems she prefers eating lunch with the teachers, and well, they've expressed needing a little break from Natalia. So I thought maybe we could rope her brothers in to play with her a little bit at lunch. Anyway, we'll get there together. All right, happy Friday. VALIKA Kristine. Hi, honey, you okay? KRISTINE Hi. Yes. VALIKA Okay. KRISTINE All good stuff. Got a call this morning? VALIKA Yeah. KRISTINE Channel 11 wants to do an on-camera interview. VALIKA Look at you, Oprah. KRISTINE VALIKA Oh, I can't wait to tell everyone I knew you when. What are you gonna wear? KRISTINE Geez, I haven't even given it a thought. They gave me zero notice. It's tomorrow in my living room. NATALIA Miss Val. VALIKA Natalia. Hi, sweet girl. Hey, did you hear the big news? Your mom is gonna be on TV. NATALIA Why would anyone put her on TV? VALIKA Um-- KRISTINE It's okay, sweetie. Val's excited enough for both of you. VALIKA I sure am. Hey, you know what? Why don't you come over tonight and see if I have anything you could wear for the interview. I could order some pie, get some Prosecco open. Let Michael have the kids for a night. You deserve it. MICHAEL I just really loved this place. I didn't think we were gonna close. I thought somebody would buy it or I don't know. We were the top selling store in the state. I don't know. I'm just not the kind of person who gives up on things they love. JENNIFER Oh, it's okay. Uh, d-- answer it. MICHAEL No, no, no. It's okay. JENNIFER You know what I think you should do? I think you should bring her here tonight before you have to hand the keys back over and just do that nasty all over the sales room floor. MICHAEL I can't. JENNIFER Come on, I mean, why not make it a day you remember as something other than your last one here. MICHAEL I can't-- I can't bring her here. MICHAEL I haven't told her the store's closing yet. JENNIFER Michael. MICHAEL I know, I know, I know. JENNIFER Whoa, dude, it's been like three months. Oh! You are so lucky she hasn't seen it on the news. MICHAEL She doesn't really watch the news. And... I just don't wanna disappoint her, you know? JENNIFER I get it. But take it from me, the fastest way to disappoint your wife is to lie to her. MICHAEL Your ex. JENNIFER Don't tell this kid, but his dad is an ass-wipe dick for brains. JENNIFER MICHAEL JENNIFER And also a liar. MICHAEL Hmm. I think that's what I'm worried about. I'm-- Me being outta work, it's just more, um, proof that Kristine deserves better than me. JENNIFER Oh, friend. MICHAEL Sorry. JENNIFER Hey. MICHAEL JENNIFER Go home and bring her some flowers and tell her the truth. MICHAEL JENNIFER I promise it'll all be okay. KRISTINE I just wanna know the truth. NATALIA KRISTINE I was cleaning your room today, closet, the floor. How did all those socks end up covered in blood? NATALIA I don't know. What a question. KRISTINE Well, did he cut yourself or get a bloody nose? Or maybe you're having your period? You know what that is right? When you bleed down there? Girls usually get them when they're older. I got mine when I was 13. MICHAEL I know, I know. But it's, it's gonna be okay because I'm gonna get a new job. You know, I'm gonna update my resum , gonna, uh, get on LinkedIn, hit the-- hit the pavement. We've-- We've been through worse, you know? KRISTINE When I got mine, my mother told me it was God's way of showing his love for us. That our bodies had a special purpose. That even though they come with mess and pain, periods are their own kind of blessing. Well, I know, I never believed any of that either. But Natalia, you can't use socks. It's-- It's disgusting. When we get home, I can show you how to use a tampon. NATALIA No, I don't need you to. KRISTINE So you've used one before? It's okay that you have, you just-- you need to tell me the truth. NATALIA No, leave me alone. KRISTINE When did you get your period? Oh! Natalia! Natalia! WESLEY Mom! KRISTINE MICHAEL What happened? WESLEY Mom! MICHAEL What happened? What happened? NATALIA Daddy, that was so scary. MICHAEL Okay, okay. It's okay sweetheart. KRISTINE Natalia, you could have killed someone. MICHAEL What happened? KRISTINE She put her hands over my eyes when I was driving. And I-I-I hit the brake, but I thought it was you. MICHAEL Okay. No, the kids are okay. Everything's okay. Natalia, what were you thinking? You can't do things like that, sweetheart, you can't. NATALIA No. I'm sorry, Daddy, I didn't mean to. Mommy was just being so mean to me. You're the only one who understands me. MICHAEL All right. KRISTINE I'm going to Val's and I'm taking the boys. You can stay here and feed her a baby bottle. MICHAEL It's okay, sweetie. It's okay. VALIKA You know that there is a movie about exactly this, right. KRISTINE What movie? VALIKA It came out last year, it was called, Orphan. Don't judge me, but I loved it. But it's about this little girl who gets adopted and at first she's very sweet and then she starts getting violent. And then she's, you know, threatening the family with knives. And, I mean, I even think there was something with a car. KRISTINE What do the parents do? VALIKA They die. Well, the dad dies. But wait, I haven't even told you the worst part. It turns out she's not a kid at all. She's got dwarfism. She is an adult; a sociopathic serial killer. KRISTINE Oh, Lordy. VALIKA Oh, sweetie, sweetie. No, no, no, no. No, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. Don't listen to me, okay? It's just a stupid movie; it is not your life. KRISTINE Except, it's pretty darn close. VALIKA Well... KRISTINE Worst part is Michael doesn't see any of it. VALIKA Of course not. Men never see what we see. KRISTINE They're too afraid to see it. VALIKA But you're not. You're gonna figure this out. That needs a scarf. Oh, you know what? One of my girlfriends told me about this therapist who works with teenagers. Apparently he's ex-military. Her teenager was very troubled. And oh, she says he's unorthodox, but apparently he saved her kid. KRISTINE Where is he? VALIKA Well, it's all online. You just take videos of your kid and then, I don't know, you send them to him and he gives you feedback. I mean, I'll send you his information. It's "Tough Loving Your Teenager" or something like that. The pink looks divine on you. KRISTINE Maybe something a little less soft. VALIKA Okay. Yeah, dress for the woman you wanna be. KRISTINE I count my blessings every day that I get to be Jacob's mama. CHARLES TREMBLAY He's lucky too. You know, one of the things that really struck me about this story is just the power of a mother's intuition. CHARLES TREMBLAY You didn't listen to any of the doctors who told you Jacob would never speak again? KRISTINE No, I didn't. CHARLES TREMBLAY Where did that come from? That idea that, "I'm going to reject the opinions of these experts. I'm his mother, and I'm not afraid to do this my way." KRISTINE Some people would call me stubborn. CHARLES TREMBLAY KRISTINE But I'm just a person who trusts my instincts. If you don't follow your own truth, who are you? CHARLES TREMBLAY I can just imagine the conversation you had with your husband, "Sweetie, I don't care what the professionals are saying. I think they're wrong. And you know what? I have a different plan." KRISTINE CHARLES TREMBLAY How did that go? KRISTINE It did not go well. But what was I gonna do? Everybody had given up hope on finding answers for Jacob. But one thing to know about me, Kristine Barnett, I don't like not having answers. CHARLES TREMBLAY Are-- Are you okay there, Kristine? KRISTINE Huh? CHARLES TREMBLAY Are you okay? KRISTINE Yes, yes. CHARLES TREMBLAY A-Are you sure? You need a break? KRISTINE No. I, um, I think we should just talk more about Jacob. Wouldn't you like to hear more about Jacob? Isn't that what everybody would like? CHARLES TREMBLAY Uh, of course. Um... KRISTINE Michael, it's me. I've been trying to call you, where are you? KRISTINE Call me back. It's very, very important. It's about Natalia. Call me back. JACOB I-- I don't wanna do any more TV interviews. KRISTINE Oh, bud, don't say that. We were on a roll until I got distracted. And they said they'd edit that part out, no one will ever know. JACOB It's not about that. KRISTINE Okay. Well, what's it about then? JACOB I don't like when you talk about yourself like that. KRISTINE Oh, well, how do I talk about myself? JACOB I don't know. Your voice gets different. You just don't seem like yourself. KRISTINE Oh, of course, baby. KRISTINE We don't have to do any more TV if that's what you need. MICHAEL You called that second strike. NATALIA MICHAEL You know that if you get three strikes in a row, you know what they call it. NATALIA I don't know. What? MICHAEL A turkey. Isn't that weird? NATALIA A turkey? MICHAEL Yeah. NATALIA Why a turkey? MICHAEL NATALIA That's so weird. I like turkey, though. MICHAEL Hey, babe, how'd it go? KRISTINE I found what you left me in the living room. NATALIA KRISTINE You think this is funny? Go ahead, tell Daddy what you did today. Go ahead, tell him about the tampon. MICHAEL Uh, it's okay, sweetie. Y-You can tell me anything. NATALIA Well, I have a period and I've been hiding it. MICHAEL Okay. Um, for how long? NATALIA I don't know. Mommy said it, ask her. MICHAEL I'm sorry. Um, I'm a little lost, sweetheart. Are you hiding your period? Or does Mommy just think so? NATALIA I don't know. I don't know what's going on. KRISTINE Oh, for crying out loud, she knows exactly what's going on. She's been hiding her period and putting socks in her underwear. I found a pile of bloody socks yesterday. MICHAEL What? KRISTINE And I confronted her about it. And to punish me, she made me crash the car. But apparently that wasn't enough because today she tried to sabotage my interview by leaving a bloody tampon on the set, which almost ruined the entire day, which is exactly what she wanted. Children don't know how to manipulate like this, Michael. She's got you wrapped around her finger. And you don't see it, but I do. And she's punishing me for seeing it. How long have you had your period? You are not seven-years-old, admit it. MICHAEL Kris, can we-- Let's maybe give her some space. KRISTINE You need to tell me the truth right now. How old are you? KRISTINE I'm not pretending she's a little girl anymore. Things need to change. KRISTINE Everything your father and I provide you with is a privilege. Moving forward, if you wish to receive privileges, you will have to earn them with good behavior and consistent completion of chores. Every day, you'll be responsible for a new set of chores. Today is cleaning the kitchen. You may now be dismissed. I said you may now be dismissed. Go get up against that wall. NATALIA What? KRISTINE We also have a new system of punishment in place that escalates every time you disobey. KRISTINE This is level one. I am asking you politely to stand with your nose against the wall and think about your choices. NATALIA I am not scared of you, you know. But Daddy is. He didn't tell you she lost his job, did he? KRISTINE You do not wanna see what this website says about lying, Natalia. NATALIA Michael is the one who's lying. His store closed. He's known for months. KRISTINE Natalia, go take a walk around the block. NATALIA KRISTINE Doggone it, Michael. MICHAEL Dad's home. Got a little mail for you here, Kris. Also something from Homeland Security, what's that all about? NATALIA I'm ready to clean now. KRISTINE KRISTINE Okay, go. MICHAEL Hey, what's up with the letter? Kris. KRISTINE We can talk about it later. MICHAEL I don't understand. KRISTINE No way. MICHAEL Okay, what? What is going on? KRISTINE Glenn Beck's producer saw me and Jacob's interview last week and wants us to go to New York to be on the show. JACOB Mom! No, you promised. NATALIA Dad, will you help me? MICHAEL Yes, I'm coming. KRISTINE No, no, bud, we won't go. It's just flattering is all. KRISTINE Natalia, what did you do? JACOB Mom, what are you doing? KRISTINE Did-- Did you put that in my coffee? NATALIA No. KRISTINE Did you try to poison me? JACOB What? NATALIA No! KRISTINE Smell it. NATALIA Stop it. KRISTINE Smell it. It smells like bleach! MICHAEL Kris, hey, hey, hey, hey! Kris, Kris, you can't yell at her like this. KRISTINE She tried to poison me, smell my coffee. She put cleaning spray in my coffee. MICHAEL What? NATALIA No, that isn't true. It was an accident. MICHAEL Natalia, did you put bleach and Mommy's coffee? NATALIA No, I was cleaning around the cup. I-I-I didn't do it, I promise. MICHAEL Okay, I-I-I wasn't here. I didn't see her do it. So, Jacob, did you see her put anything in? KRISTINE Do you wanna see what that paper is? MICHAEL O-Okay. KRISTINE It's her immigration papers. I applied for them online. MICHAEL Oh my God, you are obsessed. Okay, fine. Let's hear it. How old is Natalia? KRISTINE It says she's seven. MICHAEL Okay, she's-- KRISTINE But the photo on the paper isn't her. MICHAEL What? KRISTINE She stole someone's identity to impersonate a child. MICHAEL I-I don't know. I mean, maybe it's just a bad photocopy. KRISTINE Oh, for Pete's sake, Michael. MICHAEL I don't know, okay? I'm just saying what I see. I'm sorry. KRISTINE What do you think? NATALIA KRISTINE Does that look like you? NATALIA Daddy, Daddy-- I'm scared, Daddy. KRISTINE Is that you? MICHAEL Just take it easy. NATALIA I'm scared. Can you carry me to my room? KRISTINE Does it look like you? MICHAEL Kris, Kris, Kris, Kris. It's okay. KRISTINE This isn't her. KRISTINE We are two blocks from Central Park and Carnegie Hall. KRISTINE Wow, this looks like the type of place that has gold toilets, don't you think, Jakey? JACOB I don't care about golden toilets. You said no more interviews. KRISTINE Well, sometimes moms know best. MICHAEL Kris, please tell me we're not paying for this place. KRISTINE Don't worry about it, baby. You just got a big promotion. Okay, I'm off. MICHAEL Wait! What? Where are you going? KRISTINE Squeezing in a family consult. I'll see you at Glenn Beck at five. Oh, and grab my dress. I'll see you, Jakey. MARY Hi, can I help you? KRISTINE Hi. Sorry to pop in on you like this. I'm Kristine Barnett, Natalia Grace's new mom. I brought some Kringle. Oh, come on, please. MARY If you don't get off my porch right now, I'm calling the cops. KRISTINE Clearly this is fake. And your address is on it. So maybe I'm the one who needs to be calling the cops. MARY Fine. Five minutes. We can't talk here. KRISTINE Why can't we talk here? MARY MARY What do you want? KRISTINE Information, the truth. Nothing about Natalia makes sense. The adoption agency made us pay seven grand to your family for surgeries she never had. Do you know anything about that? MARY Did you pay it? KRISTINE Well, by the time I knew something was fishy, they had closed. MARY First Path closed? Oh Jesus. You know, well maybe you should ask Natalia about it. She's very smart. KRISTINE You think she's in on this? You think she's older? Is that why you gave her up? MARY If my husband knew that I was out here talking about her, this was supposed to be a closed adoption for a reason. KRISTINE But what was the reason? I'm begging you. She's destroying my life, my family, threatening my career. I'm here because of you. You put this on us. You owe me an explanation. MARY I-I never meant to hurt anyone. We just-- I had to protect my family. KRISTINE From what? KRISTINE KRISTINE It is so much worse than we thought. She's been playing us this whole entire time. KRISTINE She's in on it. MICHAEL In on what, exactly? KRISTINE With First Path, as a way to get her medical care paid for and to skim some money off the top. The mom said she knows exactly what she's doing. And she's an adult. MICHAEL She said that? KRISTINE Yeah. That she's made the whole thing up, it's an act. And get this, the birth date on Natalia's messed up paperwork is exactly the same birthdate as Mary's son. What are the odds? MICHAEL Uh, well, they're exactly one in 365. KRISTINE Don't get fresh with me. MICHAEL I'm not being fresh. I was just saying what-- KRISTINE Okay, what are we gonna do? MICHAEL What-- Um... KRISTINE What? Michael? MICHAEL I-I just-- I-I-I see-- I see where you're coming from, I just-- I'm not totally convinced. KRISTINE I was sobbing my brains out on the drive back here. Because finally I have some answers. And somehow that still isn't enough for you. MICHAEL Honey, it just doesn't explain things for me. KRISTINE How can that be? MICHAEL I don't know, okay? I don't know. Maybe you can't explain love or-or-or lack of love, you know. Kris, when you grow up thinking that no one loves you, that maybe nobody's ever gonna love you, do you know what that does to a person? I don't think you really understand. KRISTINE Oh, Michael, are you still on that baby bottle quack? MICHAEL She made good points. KRISTINE Get real! MICHAEL Oh, how would you know? How would you know? You-- You're too terrified to even consider therapy. KRISTINE What's that supposed to mean? MICHAEL It means you had a horrific childhood too, okay? Your dad effed you up. But instead of trying to fix it or-or-or work through it, you just go around seeing ghosts everywhere, and-- KRISTINE I thought you said I was nothing like my dad. MICHAEL I didn't mean-- KRISTINE Do you remember the last time you told me I needed therapy? It was when all the doctors were saying that Jacob would never speak again. MICHAEL Oh my God, when are you going to leave that alone? This is not, at all, the same thing, Kris. KRISTINE You're right. It is not, at all, the same thing because it isn't Jacob's fault that he has autism. This is Natalia's fault. She's choosing to con us. You're choosing to believe her. You're choosing to let her break us apart. MICHAEL Oh my gosh. Y-You're the one who's been sneaking around behind my back. You're the one lying to me. KRISTINE Michael Barnett, you are shameless. MICHAEL What? KRISTINE You're big promotion. MICHAEL What about it? KRISTINE You've been lying to me for months. Natalia told me. MICHAEL She told you? KRISTINE She did. You live in denial. Denial about Jacob, about your job, about the fact that there's a sociopathic con artist making a fool of you. We are done talking about this. Here's what's gonna happen when we go home, we're gonna put her in a psychiatric hospital who can handle her problems. MICHAEL No, no, no. No, I'm not gonna let you do that, Kris. I'm-- Just hold on, let's take a breath, okay? What? What? This-- Honey, this is going too far, okay? Let-- What happened to the little girl we would save and-and would save us and-and we could dance with her at-at her wedding? Honey, this-- this is still our daughter, honey. KRISTINE Oh, Michael, she's not our daughter. MICHAEL Um, the thing is, though, the world thinks she is, Kristine. And you have been invited on national television to tell everybody that you, um, refused to give up on one disabled child. MICHAEL What's Glenn Beck gonna think when he finds out that you gave up on another one? KRISTINE Are you threatening me? KRISTINE That's where we are. KRISTINE Fine. I'm not paying for her surgeries. I don't want any of her classmates to get hurt so she can't go to school. MICHAEL Good. What's she gonna do all day? KRISTINE Well, you don't have a job, so that's great, you can take care of her. MICHAEL Mm-hmm. Gladly. KRISTINE You can make her meals. MICHAEL I'll do it better than you. KRISTINE Make sure she's clean. MICHAEL Mm-hmm. KRISTINE And don't take your eyes off her for a second. MICHAEL God, you are so paranoid. KRISTINE Because that girl is dangerous. MICHAEL She is not dangerous. KRISTINE No. I am not paranoid. You are in denial. MICHAEL You are sticking to this narrative. MALE PRODUCER Mrs. Barnett. KRISTINE That'll be on you. MICHAEL Hi. MALE PRODUCER Uh, I-I-I-I'm so sorry, but we're ready for you. KRISTINE Okay. We're coming. MICHAEL Be right there. GLENN BECK At times, life might feel a little hopeless. But no, my website, glennbeck.com, found a little bit of hope recently in a boy named Jacob Barnett. KRISTINE GLENN BECK He's a 13-year-old science prodigy, and he's renewing faith that the power of a person's mind can change the world. GLENN BECK He's here today with his parents, Kristine and Michael Barnett, who in raising this boy, have proven once again that a strong American family is the solution to all of our nation's ills. KRISTINE We're so happy to be here, Glen.