Juno Page #28

The nurse turns and addresses an unseen spectator.

NURSE:

Would you like to meet your son?

Pull back to reveal she's speaking to VANESSA, who stands,

paralyzed, several feet away.

VANESSA:

I have a son?

NURSE:

(amused)

You are the adoptive mother?

VANESSA:

I have a son.

NURSE:

Healthy kid, too. Didn't waste any

time getting out.

Vanessa reaches out for the baby and gingerly accepts him in

her eyes. She spends a few moments just looking at him.

She feels someone watching her, then looks up to see a Bren

leaning against the doorway.

Vanessa blinks away her tears self-consciously.

VANESSA:

How do I look?

BREN:

(gently)

Like a mom. Scared shitless.

Vanessa laughs.

INT. HOSPITAL - BIRTHING SUITE - DAY

Juno is curled up on her bed in the birthing room. The birth

is obviously over; there's that air of stillness and

accomplishment, a task completed. The doctors have cleared

out. Mac sits in a chair next to the bed, looking like he's

not sure what to say.

He holds up a deck of Playing cards as if to initiate a game,

but Juno gently pushes his hand away. Their eyes meet. His

expression is helpless, hers is utterly drained.

MAC:

Someday, you'll be back here, honey.

On your terms.

Juno nods and swallows.

Over Mac's shoulder, a silhouette appears in the doorway.

It's Bleeker in his track uniform.

Juno sees him and bursts into sudden, ragged sobs. Mac glances

at her, alarmed. Paulie moves toward the bed. Mac clears his

throat, gets up and leaves the room.

Paulie climbs onto the hospital bed and carefully puts his

arm around Juno. She leans into him, letting herself go for

the first time in months.

INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - BIRTHING SUITE - EVENING

Juno lies on the bed. She looks rested and relaxed compared

to her earlier crying jag, but her face is still pink and

swollen. Bleeker is curled up next to her, still in his track

uniform and spikes.

JUNO (V.O.)

Bleeker decided he didn't want to

see the baby. Neither did I, really.

He didn't feel like ours.

INT. HOSPITAL - MATERNITY WARD - EVENING

We see Vanessa leaning over the bassinet, unable to take her

eyes off the baby, touching it's hair reverently.

JUNO (V.O.)

I think he was always hers.

INT. LORING HOUSE - NURSERY - DAY

The nursery is perfectly decorated in Vanessa's immaculate

taste. Nothing looks as though it's been touched. We see the

antique ROCKING CHAIR sitting empty.

JUNO (V.O.)

It ended with a chair.

We pan past the wall Vanessa had said "needed something."

There's a framed note on the wall. It looks like it was

handwritten on the back of a Jiffy Lube bill. We see that it

says:
"Vanessa -- If you're still in, I'm still in. Juno."

We move to the door and get a view of Vanessa's bedroom. We

see her lying in bed with a burp cloth draped over her

shoulder, feeding the baby. For the first time ever, Vanessa

looks disorganized, unshowered -- and incredibly happy. There

are formula bottles on the bedside table and a bassinet pushed

close to the bed. Obviously, she hasn't been away from the

baby for a single moment.

The baby reaches up and grabs Vanessa's thumb. Vanessa glows

with an expression of pure bliss.

EXT. MACGUFF HOUSE - DAY

It's a sparkling summer afternoon. Juno wheels her bicycle

out of the detached garage. She waves goodbye to Bren, who

is playing in the yard with two WEIMARANERS. She looks almost

as happy with her dogs as VANESSA looked with her baby.

EXT. SUBURBAN STREETS - DAY

Juno rides her bike aggressively down the street. Her guitar

is slung over her shoulder in a gig bag. She's obviously not

pregnant anymore. She looks happy, but older.

JUNO (V.O.)

As boyfriends go, Paulie Bleeker is

totally boss. He is the cheese to my

macaroni. I know people are supposed

to fall in love before they reproduce,

but normalcy's not really our style.

As she tears recklessly down the street on her bikes, she

passes the Dancing Elk TRACK TEAM, still running in

outrageously skimpy shorts and bandanas.

Juno RIDES up to a garage where Bleeker is sitting, tuning

his guitar.

EXT. BLEEKER HOUSE - DAY

Juno bikes up to find Bleeker sitting on the stoop. She smiles

and takes out her guitar. She sits across from Bleeker and

pulls the pick out of the strings.

JUNO:

Ready?

Bleeker nods.

Juno begins strumming her guitar and playing "Anyone Else

But You," by the Moldy Peaches. Bleeker joins in. At first

their playing is discordant, but suddenly it works.

BLEEKER:

You're a part time lover and a

fulltime friend. The monkey on your

back is the latest trend. I don't

see what anyone can see, in anyone

else but you.

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