tomorrow, you are going to marry her, and you need to get your act together before thenSigned, Sealed, Delivered: The Vows We Have Made · 2021 — Chapter 16 of 18 · 5'14" · B2
Charley Gets a Job and a Family, Explained: get your act together
A mother figure gives the groom one last push before the wedding, telling him he can lean on a family that already loves him: "Because love is a choice... and you're a choice I want to make." Meanwhile the DLO offers Charley a full-time job, a home and a family, until she goes into labor on the spot.
What happens
On the eve of the wedding, a mother tells the groom to get his act together and face the thing that scares him most, promising that love is a choice and that she wants to be the mother he deserves. Elsewhere, Norman and the team offer Charley a full-time job and a place to live as part of their family.
Listen for
get your act togetherIt takes a villageface up torumpus room
00:00 / 05:14Space play · ← → lines · R repeat
Now
Phrase of the scene
get your act together
振作起来；把自己的事理顺
谢恩的妈妈提醒奥利弗明天就要结婚，必须在这之前把心里的乱摊子整理好，别再靠吃喝压情绪。
You need to get your act together before the interview tomorrow.
Also in this scene
- It takes a village
养大一个孩子要靠一群人
- face up to
正视；勇敢面对（困难或恐惧）
- rumpus room
（美式住宅的）游戏室、家庭活动室
Everything marked in this scene
32 notes across 85 lines
elision
tomorrow, you are going to marry her, and you need to get your act together before theninstead of pushing it all down with shellfish and pinot noir.I don't know what to do.Well, you begin by doing the thing that scares you the most.Well, you begin by doing the thing that scares you the most.relative clause with that
Well, you begin by doing the thing that scares you the most.All you have to do is face up to the scary, and the rest is easy.All you have to do is face up to the scary, and the rest is easy.liaison
All you have to do is face up to the scary, and the rest is easy.But you don't have to do it alone.Because love is a choice...because clause
Because love is a choice...and you're a choice I want to make.I would like to become the mother you deserve.Serve God,We are very impressed with your work.Maybe you could give me a recommendation when I leave.Well, we talked to Oliver and Shane, and we would like to offer you a job in the DLO.because you don't think you can have both.Norman and I have talked it over,liaison
Norman and I have talked it over,what if hypothetical
What if you had a job and a home and a familythat would love to help you raise your little...We just bought a house, and we could turn the rumpus room into an apartment, rent-free.It takes a village.I don't know what to say.Yes, you've rejoined the full-time labor force.I've made all the calls for tomorrow.Your tux has arrived.I was just trying on my going-away dress.standing in the London Museum of Mail, reveling in the epic archives of the British Postal Service.Charley Gets a Job and a Family, explained
What's really going on
The chapter is about chosen family. One woman tells a nervous groom that he does not have to face the wedding alone, grounding it in a sentimental claim — "love is a choice... and you're a choice I want to make" — and then offering to become his mother. The office does the same for Charley: a job, a rent-free apartment, and a promise to help raise her baby, summed up in the proverb "It takes a village." Everyone here is rewriting the idea of kin by deciding to belong to each other. The comic turn is that Charley's answer is interrupted by real labor, so the emotional speech ends in the most literal kind of new beginning.
Theme
Family loveA mother and an office both expand their idea of family to include someone who needs one.
ParenthoodCharley is offered help to raise her baby, and a woman promises to become a mother to the groom.
Listen for
- get your act together — elision
- face up to — liaison
- talked it over — liaison
and you're a choice I want to make.The affectionate half of the line: she chooses him deliberately, not out of duty.
Because love is a choice...The argument that love is decided and kept, not merely felt.
Well, you begin by doing the thing that scares you the most.Practical advice for the frightened groom: start with the hardest step.
All you have to do is face up to the scary, and the rest is easy.The promise that once fear is faced, everything else follows more easily.
Questions about this scene
What does the mother tell the groom before the wedding?
She tells him to get his act together, face what scares him most, and trust that she loves him and wants to be the mother he deserves.
What does 'It takes a village' mean here?
It means raising a child needs a whole community, which is the case they make to Charley for joining their family.
What does the office offer Charley?
A full-time job at the DLO, plus an apartment in their new house, rent-free, and help raising her baby.
Why does Charley's answer get cut off?
She goes into labor in the middle of the conversation, so her reply turns into an announcement that the baby is coming.
Who is the woman offering to be a mother?
She is the mother of the bride, and she extends that role to the groom by promising to become the mother he deserves.
Signed, Sealed, Delivered: The Vows We Have Made · 18 chapters
All chapters →
Up next · Chapter 17get it out of my headOliver Faces His Fear of Forever
Chapter 1lose faith inInterviewing for the Dead Letter Office
Chapter 2trust the timingThe Best Man's Wedding Checklist
Chapter 3not everyone's cup of teaOliver's Mother Stays Four Days
Chapter 4track him downThe Team Reads a Dead Letter
Chapter 5skedaddleNorman Meets the Pregnant Temp
Chapter 6is in my bloodShane's Mother Visits the Office
Chapter 7a handfulOliver Agrees With His Mother
Chapter 8made for each otherThe Fire Station on the Envelope
Chapter 9put her up for adoptionTracing Fred Back to Owen
Chapter 10any means necessaryFinding Fred and the Wedding Canopy
Chapter 11mean the world toOliver Finds Fred the Stuffed Toy
Chapter 12never looked backOliver Leaves the Bear at the Altar
Chapter 13hard to come byShane's Mother Visits the Office
Chapter 14beaten the oddsNorman and Rita Consider Adoption
Chapter 15love at first sightShane's Mom Interrogates Oliver
Watching · Chapter 16get your act togetherCharley Gets a Job and a Family
Chapter 17get it out of my headOliver Faces His Fear of Forever
Chapter 18have a way ofOliver Gives Shane a Wedding WatchChapter 16 of 18 · about 6 min to go