“Dibley Revisited”, Episode 3 – Kate Needs Gerry’s Help

After a week long visit by Kate in Geraldine’s home, the two sisters are warming up to each other—a bit.  But Geraldine still doesn’t know why her sister has made contact with her after all of this time.  Geraldine feels that Kate has a ‘reason’—perhaps an ulterior motive--for her coming to visit Geraldine now, Geraldine tells Harry in some pillow talk one night.  That week Kate continues to see and be courted by David Horton.  Kate likes David.  Kate tells Geraldine that she thinks David is fun.  Geraldine now knows that her sister Kate is seriously disturbed.   Though her dear friend, Geraldine views David Horton as one of the most self important men she has ever known who drives her crazy sometimes with his intractable nature.  Geraldine says this even though her best friend Alice, could probably be clinically diagnosed.  And Geraldine hopes that David won’t be disappointed when, she presumes, Kate dumps him and leaves town--Kate’s usual MO with men as Geraldine remembers it.

At the end of the week, the village will have a blood drive on Saturday morning that Geraldine encourages everyone to participate in.  But, Kate demures, saying that they probably don’t want her blood and making other excuses.  Besides, Kate says that she has to travel back to London on Friday and probably won’t be back in Dibley until Saturday afternoon.  This infuriates Geraldine because she is the one who organized the blood drive.  And Geraldine feels that if she can’t get her own sister to donate her blood, how can Geraldine convince anyone else to donate their blood?  Once again, Harry calms and soothes Geraldine’s ego.  And the blood drive turns out to be a resounding success with almost everyone in the village donating blood.  Even the boys—David, Hugo, Owen, Jim, and Frank—all give their blood.  And there are some amusing comments that each of them makes about “helping those in need” (David), “doing the kind thing” (Hugo), “giving others some of his ‘essence’ “ (Owen), “no no no no no excuse not to give blood” (Jim), and adding a new chapter in his meticulous diary of annual volumes about his life (Frank).  But, not to be outdone, Alice gamely says that she’s happy to “spill a little blood so that others might live”.  Although, since Alice is still pregnant with Geraldine and Harry’s child, she is excused from donating blood.

***

It is now late Saturday afternoon—after the blood drive is over--and Geraldine and Harry are sitting around their living room cuddling and talking again about possibly adopting a child if for some reason their surrogate pregnancy with Alice doesn’t work out.  There are lots of kids who need families.  They do a little web surfing to find out more about adoption and whom they should contact.  It seems to Geraldine that her wish of them having a child might come true after all.  And Geraldine and Harry will make great parents.  Geraldine and Harry just don’t realize that their wish to adopt a child will become poignantly true for them all too soon.

There is a knock on their front door and Harry gets up to answer it.  When he opens their front door, Harry sees a mother and her small daughter.  Geraldine calls out to them, asking that if it is Kate her errant sister.   Geraldine doesn’t get to finish her sentence because Harry shushes her firmly.  Harry lets the mother and child into the living room while leaving the child’s suitcase in the foyer.  Geraldine turns and looks over the back of the couch to see who is at their front door and is she astonished to find her sister Kate holding what looks to be about a 4 or 5 year old girl in her arms.  To Geraldine’s shock, Kate introduces the little girl to her Aunt Gerry—whom Kate has told her daughter about many times.  Then Kate tells Geraldine that this is her 4.5 year old daughter, Dina (7) right].  Geraldine smiles in recognition—because Dina was the name that a very young Kate called Geraldine—since Kate couldn’t pronounce her name Geraldine. 

Little Dina smiles at her new found Aunt Gerry and wriggles out of her Mummy’s arms and skips right over to her Aunt Gerry and says hello in a sweetly charming way that only little girls can.  Then the little girl spontaneously hugs her Aunt Gerry and asks her “Are you the priestess of happiness Mummy always talks about?”  The little girl chatters away like a magpie as she cuddles in her Aunt Gerry’s arms--charming the clerical collar right off of the vicar.  Dina tells her Aunt Gerry that she is almost 4.5 years old and that she’ll get to celebrate her half birthday on June 25th—so she gets two days of presents each year since she was born on Christmas Day.  Dina also says that she wants to grow up and be a priestess like her Aunt Gerry so she can help people like her Mummy told her Aunt Gerry does.  

Geraldine is stunned, but her heart melts with hugging and talking with the little girl—her niece Dina who is named after her.  Kate sits down on the couch on the other side of Dina watching her daughter interact with her sister Geraldine.  Then Dina clasps her Mummy’s hand and then Dina clasps her Aunt Gerry’s hand and says while swinging their hands in hers “We’re the Granger girls”.  Both Kate and Geraldine give each other small smiles in shared remembrance of their carefree childhood.  Harry asks “Will Dina also be staying for a visit, too?”  Kate pauses and asks Harry if he wouldn’t mind taking Dina outside to play on the swing set at the church next door so that she and Geraldine can talk.  He nods his head knowingly as he walks the little girl outside.  Harry realizes that the two sisters--the original Granger Girls—have a lot to talk about. 

***

Geraldine is still in a state of shock and doesn’t know quite what to say about the revelation that Kate has a daughter--and that she has a niece.  After Harry walks Dina outside to play on the swing set at the church, Kate opens the conversation with her sister Gerry.  Kate explains that she couldn’t attend Gerry’s and Harry’s December 22nd wedding 4.5 years ago because she was on hospital bed rest due to having a difficult pregnancy.  And even then, Dina was born almost a month early—on Christmas Day 2006.  Since Kate had been in the hospital and only had bills mail forwarded to her, she hadn’t received Gerry’s invitation before the wedding. 

Then, with Dina being born prematurely and having to stay in the hospital for a month until her original delivery date—along with some other complications that both Dina and Kate had from the pregnancy—it was almost six months before Kate felt well enough that she could get her head above water.  You see, Kate didn’t have a partner.  Dina’s ‘dad’ was a sperm donor.  Dina had always wanted a child and at 35 years old 5.25 years ago, she hadn’t found that lasting love of a lifetime that Gerry has with Harry.  So, Kate tells Geraldine that she became pregnant with Dina through the wonders of technology.  But, by the time Dina was six months old and finally healthy, Kate thought that it was too late to tell her sister, Gerry, about Dina.

Geraldine quizzically—but not accusingly--asks her sister Kate why she waited so long to contact her and introduce her to Dina, and why Kate has now come forward?   Kate answers in a round about way.  As a successful lawyer—something that Geraldine also didn’t know—Kate has enough money to provide Dina with a very good standard of living.  Kate has most of the money set up in a trust for Dina.  Then Kate gets very quiet and she explains that she is running out of time.  Kate has a rare blood disorder that was discovered when Dina was two years old.  And though Kate has looked for treatments—and is on a bone marrow transplant list—they haven’t found a match and the doctor’s say that it is only a matter of time.  Geraldine is silent but now picks up her sister’s hand and holds onto it, with tears in her eyes. 

"You see," says Kate, “I need to find a loving home for Dina to have when I am gone.  And the only person I would ever think of entrusting my precious child Dina to is my beloved sister.  You, Gerry.”  Kate asks Geraldine if she and Harry will become Dina’s guardians—and in time, adopt her after Kate is gone.  The Granger Girls look at each other tenderly, cry together, and hug each other warmly as loving sisters do. 

To be continued with Episode 4

Image References for Episodes 1-3

(1)    web link for “Dibley Revisited” Wattpad Book Cover image is http://gratianads90.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/dibleyrevisitedcoverforwattpadrevaug1012gratianalovelace.jpg

(1a)  Background for the “Dibley Revisited” composite Logo was found at http://www.richardarmitagenet.com/images/gallery/VOD/album/VODPromo/album/slides/vod03.html 

(1b) Image of Richard Armitage portraying Harry Kennedy for the “Dibley Revisited” composite logo was found at http://www.richardarmitagenet.com/images/gallery/Richard/Promos/Recognisemag/slides/Recognise-3.html

(1c) Image of Dawn French portraying Vicar Geraldine Granger Kennedy for the “Dibley Revisited” logo was found at http://www.hellomagazine.com/celebrities-news-in-pics/07-07-2011/

(1d) Image of the sampled stone cross for the “Dibley Revisited” logo was found at http://media.jinni.com/tv/the-vicar-of-dibley/the-vicar-of-dibley-1.jpeg  photo by Ian Pleeth, 1994, BBC.

(2)  Jim Trott as portrayed by Trevor Peacock was found at http://images.wikia.com/vicarofdibley/images/e/ec/Jim_2.jpg

(3)  Alice Horton as portrayed by Emma Chambers was found at http://www.richardarmitagenet.com/images/gallery/VOD/album/VOD1/slides/vod1-015.html

(4)  Hugo Horton as portrayed by James Fleet was found at http://www.richardarmitagenet.com/images/gallery/VOD/album/VODPromo/album/slides/vod04.html

(5) Image of actress Ricki Lake representing Kate Granger was found at http://www.peoplequiz.com/images/bios/ricki-lake.jpg-11448.jpg

(6) David Horton as portrayed by Gary Waldhorn was found at http://www.richardarmitagenet.com/images/gallery/VOD/album/VOD2/slides/vod2-248.html

(7) Image of actress Hallie Eisenberg representing Dina was found at http://www.oocities.org/the_amazing_marieni/hallie1.jpg

http://gratianads90.wordpress.com/2012/02/12/dibley-revisited-a-season-of-new-b eginnings-ch-4-8-end-21212-gratiana-lovelace-post-127/

additional image of Dawn French (Geraldine) and Richard Armitage (Harry) embracing may be found at http://www.richardarmitagenet.com/images/gallery/VOD/album/VODPromo/album/slides/vod07.html

additional “The Granger Girls” composite image of Dawn French (Geraldine), Ricki Lake (Kate), and Hallie Eisenberg (Dina) may be found at http://gratianads90.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/the-grangergirlsdibleyrevisitedaug1012gratianalovelacebigger.jpg