Reviews by 7^th Heaven Joy

The episode opens with Eric in a hospital room telling someone in bed that everything will be alright.

Eric's parents are in town after a long vacation they had taken. Eric has been nervous all summer over this as he's scared about what reaction his dad might have when he learns that Eric's younger sister Julie is now married and pregnant. Unknown to him though, Ruthie blabbed it to the Colonel already and Eric's dad decides not to say anything, seeming to find it humorous that Eric is trying to hide this from him. Meanwhile, Matt decides it's finally time to move out and he and friend John Hamilton decide to find an apartment they can share as roommates. Simon, with his new haircut (short and spiky) is very upset over Matt moving out while Mary and Lucy both fight over Matt's new room. The room situation is resolved that Mary and Lucy will both move into the attic and share the room, Ruthie will then move into Mary and Lucy's old room, and the twins will now move from Eric and Annie's room into their own room where Ruthie use to be. The entire episode gives rising action to Eric's sudden heart attack towards the end of the show when he and Annie are outside with his parents, Julie, and Julie's husband Dr. Hank Hastings. Eric's is surprised at how well his parents seem to be taking the news about their daughter. As they all laugh, Hank turns around to see Eric with his hand on his heart and his skin turning a gray color. When Eric falls to the ground, Hank rushes to help since he's a doctor as the others gather around to help.

At the end, we learn that the man we saw Eric talking to at the beginning in the hospital, was himself. Eric was visioning himself sitting in the chair next to his hospital bed as he has done so many times for other people in the hospital. Annie and Eric's parents come in to visit and the prognosis is good, Eric just has a mild heart attack and will be fine with some modifications to his diet. That evening at home, the kids all gather on Eric and Annie's bed to support and encourage each other through this tough time. Annie joins them and then lets them talk to their dad on the phone.

Eric was home from the hospital and high on life. His renewed enthusiasm for life only irritated his family as he was oblivious to the struggles all of them were facing. Mary got a low grade in geometry and rather than bothering Eric, Annie tried to help but didn't understand it either as the two cried it out. Simon was upset that Matt was undermining his authority at home since Simon now saw himself as the man of the house since Matt was gone and Eric was recovering from a heart attack. Ruthie only got annoyed at Simon's bossiness. When Mrs. Beaker kept poking her nose around the Camden's, Annie finally let her in to help them out and she was able to help Mary understand geometry. Lucy befriended some outcasts and found that she enjoyed working with Habitat for Humanity.

Eric started counseling again for the first time since his heart attack which made Annie nervous. The couple he counseled was engaged, but when Eric opposed to the man's dominance over the girl, the couple decided that they didn't want Eric to counsel or marry them. The guy's mom showed up later at Eric's house and introduced herself. She called and got the young lady engaged to her son to show up at the Camden's. There, she announced that she wouldn't be getting married. The guy's mom also announced that she was going to get a divorce.

When Matt learned that Shana was meeting with her dad and hoping to be a part of his life, he didn't support it. He tried to get his dad involved and Eric informed him that Shana's dad checked out okay. When Shana asked her dad for some help going to college, he refused, and she realized that he wasn't the dad she hoped he could be.

When Annie was out driving, she saw Lucy in a protest walk, protesting the way women were being treated in Afghanistan. Annie took an active interest in the subject and brought along Mary and Ruthie to join in the protest. On Sunday, Eric let Annie deliver the sermon and she talked about what was going on in Afghanistan with the Taliban's ruthless rule over women.

Simon was bummed out that he was the only boy in home economics. He tried to get his parents to give him a note to transfer to wood shop, but they wouldn't let him. Annie finally gave in and let him transfer though. Ruthie was playing football, but telling her family that she was playing soccer. Mary found out first and promised to keep it a secret from Annie, but told Lucy. Annie then found out and used it to play a trick on Mary.

Eric and Ruthie went out to look for a new vehicle and while there, took a joy ride in a red convertible. When the deacons of the church saw Eric driving it and also found out that they were doing some remodeling at the house, the jumped to the assumption that the Camden's had plenty of money and decided not to give Eric an annual raise. When Ruthie rode her bike down to the church, she informed them what really happened and that they did not own the red car and that Annie and Mary and Lucy were building a bathroom in the attic which didn't cost much money. The church agreed to give Eric his annual raise. Ruthie finally decided on an environmentally safe automobile. Meanwhile, Matt became really annoyed with his job at the hospital when he found out that his roommate John got a better job at the hospital. A patient accidentally overheard Matt complaining and Matt shared why he didn't like his job with the patient. The patient encouraged Matt to ask for a better job. Matt went to his boss to find out that the patient had sent her a letter to try and help Matt out. His boss was upset that Matt was telling patients that he didn't like his job and Matt refrained from asking for a better job. When Matt complained to John about what happened, the patient overheard and went to talk with Matt's boss. The patient went in for surgery and when he woke up, he discovered that Matt had taken his advice to climb a tree. Matt was sitting in the tree outside the patient's window and told the patient that he decided what he wanted to be when he grew up. He wanted to be a doctor. Meanwhile, Simon found out that a girl at school liked him when his best friend Jim handed him a notebook the girl left on the bus with his name scribbled all in it. Deena encouraged Simon to be her friend and he tried that, but at his age, felt it was complicated to distinguish the difference between a girl who was a friend and a girlfriend.

Mary got home with a cut lip from catching a basketball with her mouth. She discussed with her parents the acceptance speech that she was suppose to work on for winning a special basketball award. She hoped that since she and Corrie were sharing the award that perhaps she could give the speech. Lucy came in and asked for help because she didn't want to work in the attendance office because she didn't want to give up her study hall to do it. Her parents refused to help her. As Eric and Annie left the room with the twins, they found Simon and his friend Lee in the hall. Simon asked if Lee could stay for dinner and Annie told him just to call his mom which he informed them that his mom died when he was a baby. Simon bragged that Lee's dad (Jeff Patterson) was a private investigator who worked with the local police and the FBI. At school, Matt agreed to tutor a guy and after he left, Shana informed Matt that the guy cheats.

Ruthie ran to her mom and asked for $29.99 to buy walkie talkies that she saw on TV, but Annie wouldn't give it to her. Later she asked Eric who said she should try to earn the money. At school, Simon invited Lee over to his house again that evening and Lee told him that his dad use to work for NASA. Meanwhile, Lucy faced a good looking guy (Tyler) in the attendance office who wanted a hall pass and didn't have a valid excuse. Meanwhile, a friend of Mary's told her that Corrie had a baby when she was 14. Corrie overheard the conversation and ran out as Mary chased after her. Matt tried to tutor the guy, and he gave money to Matt to bribe him to help him cheat. At home, Eric talked to Sgt. Michaels who said that the police department didn't hire outside help. He also told that the only Jeff Patterson he knew was arrested by the police.

Matt went to class and saw the guy he tried to tutor cheat on the exam. Meanwhile, Mary went to Corrie's house and met her daughter Bernadette and talked to Corrie about it. What Corrie said was the hardest was having her friends talk about her behind her back. At home, Lucy answered the door to find Tyler who asked to take her to the fall fling dance and Lucy agreed before he kissed her on the cheek. As Matt and Shana left the exam, the professor pulled Matt aside to tell him that some of the students thought that he and a couple other students were cheating. Lee came over and accidentally dropped his backpack and some stuff, including a baggie of marijuana which Eric found as Annie looked on and Simon came down.

Later in Simon's room, Lee told Simon that the pot belonged to his dad, but told Simon he couldn't tell anyone. Matt walked into the kitchen and told his parents the situation with his class. Sgt. Michaels came by and told Eric that Lee's dad had been arrested for possession and was released on probation. He said that Lee's mother was alive and had given up custody of him when he was five. He said that Lee and his dad moved in with Lee's grandmother who has two jobs. Matt saw the guys who cheated at the pool hall and confronted them. The guy who Matt had tried to tutor said that his dad was talking to the professor and would get him out of having to retake the mid-term and made fun of Matt.

At home, Tyler called and asked Lucy to give him access to the school's main computer by getting him the password. Annie talked to Simon and Simon told her that Lee said the marijuana was his dad's. Meanwhile, Eric and Sgt. Michaels took Lee home where they talked to his grandmother. Lee's dad came in and was condescending towards his son and told Sgt. Michaels to leave them alone. At home, Lucy told Mary about Tyler and Mary told her what she already knew. Corrie called and then Mary found Annie and told her that they wouldn't give the award to Corrie because they found out she had a baby and they didn't want to endorse teen pregnancy. Mary said that she didn't want the award either then. Eric opened the back door to find Lee who said he ran away and told Eric that he lied the night before and that the marijuana really belonged to his dad. Eric then called and talked to Sgt. Michaels.

At school, Matt and the other guy were both called into their classroom. The guy's dad came in and took Matt's side. At school, Lucy turned Tyler down flat because he was using her. Matt came to the school and found Eric and told him that he was okay. The whole family went in to the award ceremony. When Mary went up to accept the award, she turned and gave it to Corrie.

Mary earned the money by getting it from Simon by getting Lucy to mow the yard for Simon by getting Mary to loan her new pink sweater to Lucy by getting Annie to loan her earrings to Mary. However, when Mary didn't want the earrings after all and Lucy didn't need the sweater so she wouldn't mow the lawn, Simon wouldn't give her the money. Back at the Camden's home, Lee's dad showed up to talk to Eric and Sgt. Michaels with Lee and his grandmother sitting nearby. Lee and his grandmother pleaded with Jeff and the grandmother set down rules for him. Jeff finally admitted that he needed help.

Ruthie went to check the mail and found an orange tabby kitten which she snuck into the house. Lucy got her drivers license in the mail and it had a terrible picture. Eric had a check-up and everything looked good. Pregnant Julie showed up on the Camden's porch and told Eric and Annie that she was leaving her husband. Eric left to talk to Hank, Andrew called and asked Lucy to pick him up on a date which she got approved to take the car, and Mary got approved to take the kids in the mini van to get dinner, but realized that Eric had taken the mini van. Julie gave Mary the keys to her car. Mary and Simon went to get Ruthie, but she said she wanted to stay and watch the twins when in truth she wanted to stay with her new kitten.

Lucy picked up Andrew and got the third degree from his dad. Then on the date, he acted rudely, making her pay, expecting her to open doors for him, and that sort of thing. Eric finally found Hank at the hospital who was just as unreasonable as Julie. Eric decided to hang around the hospital with Hank while Annie spent time with Julie. While Mary and Simon ate dinner at the pool hall, a 15 year old girl from Mary's school hit on Simon. Eric took Hank out to eat to talk more about the situation and Matt joined them. Mary got suspicious when Ruthie had the door shut with Happy scratching the door outside.

Annie realized that Julie was going into labor and tried to page Eric or Hank at the hospital, since Eric forgot his pager, but they were gone. And since there were no vehicles at the house, Annie couldn't drive them. Deena and her dad walked into the pool hall when Simon was helping the 15 year old shoot her pool stick. Lucy took Andrew home and he gave her a great kiss as her parents walked out. Andrew asked if she was free the following week and she said no. Mary and Simon rushed home after answering a phone call, but it was too late for Annie to rush her to the hospital.

At the restaurant, Matt rushed in to tell Eric and Hank that Julie was at the house having her baby. Julie was in Eric and Annie's bed, wanting Hank. A moment later Hank and Eric rushed in and Julie asked for Hank to leave. He sat down to talk to her as Annie literally had to shove Eric out the door. The doorbell rang and a neighbor with her son Billy came looking for their kitten and Ruthie had to give the kitten back. Billy's mom gave Ruthie $20. In Eric and Annie's bed, still waiting for the ambulance, Julie gave birth to a baby girl who they named Erica.

Matt and John were annoyed by the new neighbor's loud music. Matt was annoyed because no one had gone to the store to get food or laundry detergent. When he couldn't find clean work clothes, he sprayed furniture polish on them which everyone noticed. Matt began to think about moving back home and told his parents, John, and Shana. John asked Matt to give him some notice when he was done thinking about moving out.

At basketball practice, Mary and her team watched the coach lock them out of the gym until they raised their grades. Mary told her family after they saw it on TV. After that, Matt found Mary in her room and gave her a lecture and she kicked him out. Mary found out that the league rules state that students must have a 2.0 GPA or higher to play, which the team players met. Eric and Annie joined Mary and the other players with their parents for a meeting with the coach, athletic director, and principal. Mary got upset that her dad spoke up in favor of the coach's decision since the coach had given the team pre warning and Mary blew it. At home, Simon overheard part of a phone call of Mary's where Mary said something was a bit extreme. Simon knew it meant something, but he and Ruthie ran out to go to Guys Night Out at Matt's and didn't say anything to their parents. That night, Mary and her friends trashed the gym and were caught and arrested by the police.

Lucy served on the student court at school. Eric gave Lucy some advice as to how she should approach being on court. Lucy told Rod and Shelby the truth about why the basketball team had been locked out and made them promise not to tell but as soon as Lucy left, they started to tell people.

When Annie and Ruthie went to pick up Simon from school, they and the school principal saw him show the fingers. At home, Annie told Eric about it and said "your son" and Simon took that to mean that Annie didn't want him to be his son anymore and got very upset. In a meeting with the principal, the principal put Simon on a three day suspension from school which Eric and Annie both voiced their opposition to the principal about the issue. Simon was surprised when he heard his mom call him her son. When they got into the van, Eric got out to let Annie and Simon talk about it and make up.

Ruthie, after seeing Simon's gesture, wanted to understand more of what it meant to be a guy and started doing gross stuff to the dismay of Annie and the rest of the Camden's.

Eric and Annie bailed Mary out of jail and Sgt. Michaels informed them that they were going to need a lawyer. That night, Mary confessed to Lucy that she helped trash the school gym and was in serious trouble. Simon and Ruthie felt they were somehow to blame for Mary's mistake because they knew she was planning something, but didn't know what, and never said anything. They went roaming around town to different churches of different denominations and religions for answers before finally confronting their parents who had found out about their little venture already. Eric and Annie got a lawyer to come to the house who got them in touch with a probation officer for a diversion program. Mary was approved and got community service, however, she lost her basketball scholarship to college. Matt planned to move home, but decided to stay at the apartment with John in the end after realizing he wasn't needed at home. Together, they went to their neighbor's apartment to talk to them about their loud music. The episode ended in student court where Mary and her guilty teammates faced the consequences for their actions and Lucy gave a moving speech. The girls were not expelled and ended up helping to clean up the gym.

Ruthie got a call from two of her friends on three way calling. They told her that if they all wanted to stay friends, she would have to get it too. The reason they called was to tell Ruthie that Sarah couldn't follow them around anymore because she was uncool. And they were afraid that Sarah would make them look uncool. Matt brought Shana over to do laundry, but Shana was really uncomfortable with doing her laundry with Matt. Mary and Lucy overheard some of Matt and Shana's conversation in the kitchen and jumped to the wrong conclusions. Simon was very sad after reading a book required for school that talked about people in the world starving.

Shana showed up at Matt's apartment to hand him a shirt she said was his that got mixed in his laundry. Shana told him that she thought they should slow down and see other people. At school, Ruthie's two new friends were totally rude to Sarah. They told Sarah she wasn't a girl but a bird. At school, Lucy overheard a couple of girls talking bad about the girls basketball team. Lucy confronted them and they apologized because they didn't know her sister was on the basketball team. They invited Lucy to their party but she couldn't bring Mary. Lucy turned down the invitation.

Eric invited a lady to his office at church who left a check for $20,000 under his office door the night before. She told Eric that the money was reperation money from the government because as a child, her and her family were put in an interment camp even though her brother was fighting for the U.S. in the war. She said that when they got out, her dad was a broken man and her mom had to work hard to support the family, but both parents died before the reperation money came. She didn't want the money because she considered it blood money. Back home, Ruthie found her dad in his office who decided to tell her about interment camps. While they were talking, Annie walked in and said Ruthie's teacher called and said that her and her friends made a little girl at school cry. Annie tried to reason with her and tell her to apologize, but Ruthie refused and walked out.

Annie found Matt in the kitchen who told her that he and Shana had a fight. Lucy walked in to get a snack and made a comment about leaving because their conversation would probably be too intimate for her. Matt got angry and blew up at his sister. Lucy put the snack down and stormed upstairs. Lucy cried as she told Mary how Matt has never yelled at her like that before. Mary told Lucy that she wasn't the only one who knew what it felt like to be left out. Mary went downstairs and Matt gave her a message for Lucy, but Mary told him she wasn't his messenger. Matt then made a rude comment to Mary that hurt her feelings. At school, Mary apologized to Lucy for what she had said to her. When Mary realized that Lucy was considering going to a party with some girls who were trying to exclude Mary and the other basketball players, she got upset. At Ruthie's school, she told Sarah she was sorry, but nothing more. Sarah thought Ruthie would want to be her friend, but Ruthie said Sarah wouldn't want to be her friend.

At home, Matt told Annie a little more about his problem with Shana. Annie said she would try to talk to Shana. At the church, Eric had a meeting with a Japanese man of importance to help the woman he had talked to. At home, Annie and Shana talked as they folded laundry. Shana told Annie that she had seen therapists and Matt hadn't, and she was afraid to air her dirty laundry about her life to Matt. She also said she was uncomfortable about doing physical laundry with Matt. Matt took the man over to the woman's house but she wouldn't talk to him.

At home, Lucy and Matt apologized and she told them that she would have to be practically married to a guy to let him see her dirty laundry. It hit Matt and he ran off to talk to Shana. Eric got home and said hi to Annie and Simon before running back up. Matt met Shana with kisses and they sat down as Shana told Matt about her life. At home, Ruthie called Sarah and really apologized and wanted to be her friend. Sarah had conference calling and tried calling her two friends, but they hung up. Ruthie didn't care and decided to stay friends with Sarah. Matt went home to apologize too Mary. Then Mary apologized to Lucy.

Eric was finally able to get the woman to talk with the man. She was greatly encouraged by the man and he asked to take her to dinner.

Eric received a phone call from someone at NYU who called to ask about Shana since she had listed Eric as a reference. The man told Eric that they were going to offer Shana immediate transfer in January. Shana got the call and asked Eric not to tell Matt, but to let her tell him, but she was afraid to. Matt realized something was wrong with Shana and when he realized that she had been talking to Eric, he asked Eric what the talked about. Eric told him that he couldn't say and that he should talk to Shana. Matt did and Shana told him and Matt got angry. The next morning Matt went home and asked Annie if she had known that Shana got accepted and she said that she knew. Matt got angrier and stormed out. That evening he angrily confronted his dad about his giving a good reference for Shana. Matt finally cooled down and talked to Shana and said he would support her going to NYU.

Mary met Robbie Palmer doing community service. Eric saw the two of them together and was concerned. Mary told Lucy about Robbie and told her not to tell their parents. The next morning Eric confronted Mary about it and Mary told him about Robbie. At school, Mary blamed Lucy for telling, but Lucy said she didn't tell. Mary then assumed their dad must have seen her with Robbie. Robbie came by the house to talk to Eric and Annie and ask permission to call Mary. Mary asked about it and Eric said that he and Annie needed time to think about it. The next evening Mary came home and complained to Lucy because their parents had gotten Robbie transferred to another project. She got more upset because Lucy sided with their parents. Mary confronted her parents who explained that community service was her punishment and that she was there to serve community, not to server herself. They also told her that after the first phase of her service, if she got a good review, that they would let Robbie call her. She was content with it.

Simon asked his teacher if she could give him some extra credit for turning his paper in early, but she told him that she didn't give extra credit for that. But she told him he could help the visual arts guys paint a mural after school for extra credit. Simon did and he soon learned that the four guys there liked to huff spray paint fumes. They threatened to make his life miserable if he told and Simon got worried when one boy got a bloody nose. But when the boy (Pete) said that it was normal, Simon figured it wasn't a big deal. At home, he told his mom that he was going to quick working with the art guys because he didn't fit in. Annie strongly encouraged him to stay with it though not pursuing the real reason why Simon didn't want to go. Simon reluctantly agreed to stick with it. The next day Eric drove Simon to school and the teacher came up to the van to say that Pete had collapsed and had a bloody nose and trouble breathing. She said that Pete's mom took him to the hospital. She asked Simon if he knew anything. Simon saw the three other guys looking at him and he said that he didn't. Eric then took Simon to the hospital and they saw Pete's mom. She was angry at Simon because Pete told her that it was Simon who gave him the spray paint. Simon talked to Pete when he woke up and told him to tell the truth, but he said he couldn't get the other guys in trouble. Later at home, Annie apologized for pushing Simon to stay with the group. Eric came in and told them that Pete confessed the truth to his mom and that Simon wouldn't look bad to the other three guys.

Ruthie had an art project at school. She made molds of the noses of everyone in her family and turned it into a sculpture. She won a blue ribbon to the surprise of her parents.

Ginger showed up at the Camden's house and told Eric and Annie that she didn't know where Charles was. She gave them the news that she had been afraid to tell them since the diagnosis - that Charles was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Eric called Sgt. Michaels to keep a lookout for Charles. Charles called the next day and talked about where he's been and where he is. Charles finally showed up and Annie talked to him alone. She told him that Ginger told them about the Alzheimer's. Charles replied that Ginger was diagnosed with it and Annie believed him. Later, Eric talked to Annie because Ginger was really upset. Annie said that she had confronted Ginger that she was the one with Alzheimer's, not Charles. Eric said that he had just spent five minutes with Charles and that there was definitely something wrong, but Annie refused to listen to him, believing that Ginger, not her dad, had Alzheimer's.

Ruthie was scared about Y2K because of all the horror stories she had heard about what might happen from a classmate named Ben. She talked with it about Simon, then Mary, then Ginger, and finally got Grandpa Charles to help her with a project of learning to cook over an open fire. They started a fire on the barbecue and Ruthie went in the house to get some food. As she was inside, Charles saw one of the kids bikes and walked away from the barbecue as he remembered when he taught Annie to ride a bike. The whole family rushed outside at the smell of smoke to find a huge fire on the grill. Eric brought out the fire extinguisher to put it out. Annie went to her dad a few feet away and he didn't know anything about the fire.

Back in the house, Eric talked to Ruthie about the fire and why she helped to start it and she talked about her fear of Y2K. Eric told her about the radio program "War of the Worlds" and she got the idea. Annie confronted her dad that she had Alzheimer's and he yelled at her that he didn't. Eric came down and asked Annie how her dad was and she said in denial like she had been. Later, Annie and Ginger had a serious talk about Charles' condition. Ginger said that the hardest thing was getting Charles to accept the fact. Charles overheard the conversation and heard about how scared his wife was and he came in and talked with them and faced up to the truth. Eric took Ruthie to her friend Ben's house to talk with Ben and his parents, but it was clear that Ben's paranoia came from his parents. Eric and Annie went with Charles and Ginger to see a doctor who was a gerontologist. She helped by telling them a little bit more about what to expect with Alzheimer's. She also provided them with pamphlets of information. Back at home, Annie and Charles looked through a family photo album.

Shana was going away to New York for the weekend. Simon was excited because he was going to spend the weekend with Matt at his apartment - he had really missed spending time with Matt since he moved out. However, because Matt was so depressed about Shana that Simon was miserable. Shana called and Matt got upset because she said she found an apartment to live in with a bunch of guys. Simon finally called Eric to come pick him up and take him home. Simon left as John came in, John then decided that Matt needed some tough love. On the ride home, Eric gave Simon a lecture that change is a part of life. The next morning, Matt showed up and apologized to Simon. John showed up and said that he invited Nigel and the four of them were going to have a new tradition - Big Brother, Little Brother Day. ; The four of them were going to a Crawford Basketball game.

Eric and Annie told Mary that she passed her 30 day evaluation for community service. As a result, they would let Robbie call her. Mary asked for permission to go on a date with Robbie, but they said no. Later, Eric told her she could invite Robbie over to the house so they could get to know him better too and after awhile, they would reconsider the dating issue. Mary called Robbie and told him that they couldn't go out, but could see each other if he came over to her house. Robbie didn't think it would work because he believed that her parents would never look at him as anything other than trouble. He told her that she didn't want to come over to her house. Matt asked Mary if Robbie was coming over and she said no. He asked why and she accused him of not caring why, that he got what he wanted - her and Robbie not together. Eric informed her that wasn't true or he would have never allowed Robbie over in the first place. When Eric went to the store to get milk, he found Robbie working there and asked him to come to the house the next day. Robbie came over the next day to Mary's surprise. He said that he had a long talk with Eric the night before and he agreed to come over. Mary asked if that meant they were back together and Robbie kissed her.

Lucy was excited because Brad Landers wanted to take her out for helping him in math class. Brad was above the A list of guys at school, the only problem was that she had already made a commitment to install toilets for Habitat for Humanity when he asked her out for. She told the other girls involved with the project that she couldn't make it because something just came up. They said that it wasn't a problem and that they would cover for it. On the date, Brad said that he's had a crush on her since the 9th grade. When the other girls saw her on a date in the pool hall, they all got angry at her for blowing of the project for a guy. After telling her dad she apologized, but he told her to apologize to them, not him. She called one of them and apologized and the girl told Lucy that if she was going to be a part of Habitat, she would have to be serious about it. Lucy called Brad and he invited her to the movies the next afternoon. Lucy apologized, but told her she had prior commitments and couldn't see him anymore.

Annie got fed up with everyone coming to her with every little problem that they could deal with themselves one morning at breakfast. She finally said to everyone she needed a time out and stormed out of the kitchen. She later explained to Eric that with the two new babies, his heart attack and her dad's Alzheimer's, she just needed to get away for a couple of days. She said she was going to go to the beach where she use to go with her parents. Eric suggested she take Happy with her and she agreed. At the angel, Annie broke down crying and met a lady named Hattie. Hattie was able to comfort Annie and give her some much needed guidance, advice and friendship.

Matt helped Shana pack for New York. Annie pre-warned Eric not to shatter his dream that the long-distance relationship thing would really work but to give him a call later to encourage him. He had a really hard time letting her go. He made it a little romantic by showing up at her door like the first night when he delivered food from the Dairy Shack. They said good-bye the night before she left.

Mary and Lucy were upset because Robbie and Brad hadn't called them. Annie pre-warned Eric not to tie up the phone. While waiting for the boys to call, Andrew Nayloss (who Mary called the "girly man") called to ask Lucy out on a date. But Lucy said she couldn't because her mom was gone and she had to watch the twins. Mary asked her why she didn't just tell Andrew the truth and Lucy said she might want to go out with him if Brad never called. Brad finally called on Saturday and took her out. There she saw Andrew who was upset that she didn't call him to go out and followed them into the movie theater. After the movie, Andrew kissed her then left. Brad came out from the restroom and Lucy asked him to kiss her. He did and she felt no chemistry between them. He asked to come over the next day and she said that they needed some time apart.

Deena wanted Simon to wear his blue shirt to school because she was wearing hers and she wanted them to match, but Annie hadn't done laundry so Simon wore something else. When Simon got to school, Deena was mad at him for not wearing his blue shirt. She told him that if he had really cared about her and their relationship, he would have washed his shirt himself the night before. Annie pre-warned Eric that Deena and Simon were entering some new phase in their relationship that she didn't know what, but she smelled trouble. The phone was off the hook for much of Saturday and Deena showed up in the evening and said she'd been trying to call all day. Simon was rude to her, not even interested. Simon called later that night and apologized and promised to wear his blue shirt on Monday.

At school, Ruthie pulled a boy's hair and said he cried like a girl. When the principal asked her to apologize to him, she refused and asked to be expelled. Annie pre-warned Eric that Ruthie would try to get out of school to go with Annie so he should be expecting a call from her school. Ruthie was mad at her mom for leaving, but seemed to get over it eventually.

Matt was depressed because Shana didn't call when it was her turn to. John invited two girls who were new to their apartment building to dinner with him and John. Matt didn't want to because he wasn't interested in any other girls. Shana finally called and Matt yelled at her for not calling. John fixed dinner and was annoyed with Matt's bad attitude. The two girls came over and Matt broke down crying. John got annoyed because Matt had both girls all over him in sympathy as he talked about his long distance relationship with Shana. Annoyed, John pulled Matt out into the hall to tell him to leave. While out there, Shana called and one of the girls answered and asked if it was Shana and if she was looking for Matt. When Matt got on, Shana was a little jealous as she asked about who it was that answered. After the girls left, Matt tried to call Shana but she wasn't there.

Mary and Robbie really wanted to go on a real date together and not just hang around the Camden house, so they came up with a plan. Eric and Annie agreed to let Robbie and Mary go out on a double date with Lucy and Robbie's brother Rick. Lucy didn't really want to go. When Mary wasn't around, Lucy called Rick to talk to him about the situation. Rick told her that he already had a girlfriend and that he told her that him and Lucy going out was just a pluetonic thing. Lucy agreed to that. When Rick and Lucy met, they were instantly attracted to each other. Robbie and Mary started making out in the theater before the movie began and Rick and Lucy got sick of seeing them and left the movie to sit outside and talk. There they decided to start kissing and Eric saw them sitting there making out in the crowded area.

When Robbie came out of the theater, he saw that Lucy's hair was all messed up from making out with Rick. He pulled Rick aside to ask why he had made out with Lucy when he was just being pluetonic. When Mary came out, she tried to hint to Lucy to go freshen up, but wouldn't outright tell Lucy how she looked so Lucy was ready to go home. As the four of them got home, they could smell cigarette smoke. They all said goodnight before the girls went in their house. When the girls got in, Eric and Annie rushed into the kitchen to talk to their daughters. Eric pointedly went to what Lucy had been doing that night and Lucy got angry because he had been spying on her. Then Mary got mad because she knew Eric wasn't there to spy on Lucy but on her. Mary got mad because they would never trust her no matter what she did and then stormed upstairs. Lucy then yelled at them that they had no reason not to trust her. Then Annie spoke up that Lucy had already created a bad rep for herself with them because it wasn't the first time she'd been caught making out in public with a guy she had just met. She was spared a more lengthy lectured when her parents smelled the smoke. That night in bed, Mary and Lucy talked about how they didn't like not being trusted. Lucy said that she didn't like how Rick cheated on his girlfriend. Mary admitted that she didn't trust Robbie, but didn't know why. At Robbie's house, when he and Rick got home, Robbie's girlfriend showed up and told her he had just been out with Rick and no one else.

Simon and Nigel decided to buy cigarettes as their class project to report on how easy it is for kids to buy cigarettes. Simon and Nigel came home as Annie was fixing dinner and she sensed that something wasn't right. Eric walked in and she told Eric to find out. As Eric went upstairs, he saw Simon and Nigel with cigarettes and heard Simon say, "I can't believe we pulled it off." Eric told Annie about it and Annie said that they were probably only thinking about smoking and not actually smoking, though she wished that Eric has busted them when he found them. Eric was sure that the boys were planning on trying the cigarettes. Simon and Nigel came in for dinner and Simon asked why they were eating in the kitchen. When Eric said it was more intimate in the kitchen that it would give them a chance to talk, the kids assumed that someone was in trouble. Eric's pointed questions at dinner made Ruthie feel guilty and she confessed to breaking her mom's china box two months earlier. When Ruthie realized that they weren't after her to confess, she realized that they didn't know about the china box but now she would get punished for it. Later, Simon said to Nigel that he didn't feel right about their choice for a project. He said that their parents would never let them continue the assignment if they found out about it.

Nigel began to pressure Simon into them trying to smoke the cigarettes so they could write a paper on what got them to try smoking and how awful it is. Simon didn't want to get into trouble but Nigel pointed out that they already were in trouble. Simon wasn't sure because they might like it and become addicted. Nigel's reasoning was that that would be an A+ guarantee, especially if they had to start wearing a patch or chewing the gum. Nigel thought that it could even lead to them testifying in Congress. Simon still said that they couldn't on the grounds that it was wrong. Just as Simon and Nigel lit a match in the garage, Annie walked in. They quickly put it out and hid until Annie left. Simon and Nigel came in from the garage and Eric asked them where they had been and Annie said that she had sent them to the garage to take something out for her. Eric got angry because he thought that her sending them to the garage was an invitation to light up, but Annie stood by her son, believing that he had a good reason for having the cigarettes. As a result from being caught, Simon wanted to smoke all the more even though he knew it was wrong. Eric and Annie finally caught them smoking and Simon explained that they hadn't told them because he and Nigel were afraid they would disapprove of the project if they found out. Eric pointed out how illegal what they did was and that they would have a $75 fine and 30 hours of community service if they had been caught buying cigarettes. Annie asked how smoking the cigarettes fit in and they gave their explanation. Eric said that if they had turned in that assignment that they could have made themselves open to being prosecuted. Nigel suggested that they could involve Sgt. Michaels and be a part of a sting but Eric pointed out that it didn't work that way.

Ruthie had a science experiment in a paper sack all tied up in the fridge. She charged people one dollar to find out what was in it. Eric's curiosity got the best of him so he paid Ruthie a dollar to find out what it was and then paid her another dollar so she could tell her mom. Nigel was the next to pay Ruthie a dollar. She then asked Simon if he wanted to know but Simon said that Nigel would tell him, but Nigel said he wouldn't. Simon left walked out without knowing. Later, Simon finally felt pressured enough to pay Ruthie a dollar to hear what it was. She said that she was making alchemy - turning ordincary stuff into gold. She had straw in the bag and her gold was the money she'd earned from people who wanted to find out what the project was.

The Glen Oak Community church welcomed a new family to the congregation - the Carver's. They left the service early because their son Bobby had an outburst problem. They explained to Eric and Annie that it was due to his ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder). However, Eric got some advice from another member of the church who informed him that Bobby actually had Tourette's Syndrome, not ADD. Eric had a hard time convincing the family to have Bobby tested, but they did and Bobby was able to get better treatment.

Matt was struggling with something Shana had said to him on the phone the week before and now he was avoiding her phone calls. He finally picked up the phone and talked with her and he told her he wanted a break from her. Matt talked to Annie about it later. Shana called Matt and apologized, but Matt hung up and greeted Heather at the door.

Mary was mad at Simon because he called her "big butt." Lucy gave Simon a hint later as to why Mary was mad at him, but left it for him to figure out. At school, Mary watched her friends make fun of people. When one person heard them teasing her, Mary later walked up to talk to her and told Mary that by sitting by and doing nothing, it was just as bad as if she did it. Mary finally apologized to the girl and invited her to a party.

Ruthie confided in Lucy that her teacher called her stupid at school. Lucy then sought Mary for advice who told Lucy to tell mom though Ruthie asked her not to. Lucy finally told Annie which made Ruthie mad. Annie approached the teacher and they got into an argument which led to getting the principal involved. When Annie got home, she told Eric about it and how the teacher also called her stupid. Annie comforted Ruthie and Ruthie told her that her teacher called other kids stupid as well. Annie called other parents and they all approached the teacher about it.

Ruthie wasn't excited about the twins first birthday and got more upset when she knew Lucy was making a big present for them when she never had made a big present for her. Ruthie was suppose to come up with a present for her brothers, but gave them raw eggs which Annie took away before they could grab them. What Lucy ended up making was a playhouse that she gave to Ruthie, despite Ruthie's extreme rudeness to her little brothers. Lucy also pleased her mom in her maturity towards what she wanted out of a relationship.

Deena was upset that Simon had given her a love bite that wouldn't go away so she gave him one back. Both of them tried hiding it under turtlenecks until they went away which made everyone suspicious, especially since Simon didn't own any turtlenecks and had to wear Lucy's. Deena's parents found out first and punished her by sending her to the twins birthday party without a turtleneck on. They showed them to Eric and Annie at the twins birthday party. Eric and Annie then took Simon to the kitchen to talk to him about it. After they left, Deena came in and Simon finally told her that he loved her. Eric and Annie listened in and agreed to still punish him.

Matt saw Heather at the hospital and was happy to see her and took her back to the apartment to find out that Shana had been calling. She told him that she was transferring to the local university. When Shana called the Camden's house to talk to Matt, she got Mary who told her that Matt left. When Shana asked Mary if Matt was seeing anyone else, Mary told her that Matt was just hanging out with Heather as friends. When Matt and Heather were out getting cappachino's, they saw Robbie with another woman who he claimed was his brothers girlfriend, but they could tell she wasn't. Robbie called Mary first to give his version of it before Matt got a chance. After Robbie hung up, he told the girl he was with that he called his mom. When Matt got through, Mary told him that she told Shana about Heather. Matt finally talked to Shana on the phone and they broke up. Afterwards, Heather came by and asked to talk to Matt alone. She asked Matt not to tell Shana she was back but he told her they just broke up. After she left, Matt tried to call Shana, but she wasn't there since she had just left on a date with Brett.

Robbie called Annie and asked to take Mary out on a special date for Valentine's Day to a special coffee house to meet his parents. She agreed, not realizing that he was lying to her. Robbie then called Mary and said he wanted to come to the twins birthday. After arriving for the party, Robbie told her that her parents would let him take her out for the night and that they trusted both of them. When Mary found out that Robbie had lied to her and her parents and taken her to a cheap motel where his parents met on their first valentine's day together to make love even though they were both married to other people at the time. When Mary realized what he expected, she hit him. When she got home she was crying and found her parents in the kitchen as she told them what had happened.

The episode ended with Ruthie giving the twins her baby blanket which she had turned into two blankets.

Eric got a letter from a kid named anonymously who asked Eric to pray for him. Eric encouraged the kids to start praying. None of the kids wanted to hear it, but Eric managed to finally get Annie to listen to it when they were in bed that evening. It was addressed to "Man who works for God." Eric hoped that he could find this family so he could help them. Eric talked to Sgt. Michaels who got a list of families who had a child suffer a violent death. Eric used it to start knocking on doors to see if he could find the family, but he couldn't find the kid who wrote the letter. When he got home, he told Annie about his bad luck and she suggested that maybe he wasn't suppose to find the family. Sgt. Michaels finally called Eric with the kids information. The kid who wrote Eric was named Jonathan. Eric talked to him, but the kid said that he didn't sign his name because he wrote to people who worked for God all over the world to pray for him. He didn't think there was anything Eric could do, but that God could help him, that's why he needed people to pray for him. Eric decided to use the experience as the basis for his sermon on Sunday and asked people to pray for all the kids of the world for the reason Jonathan had stated to him - for all the kids who have suffered from violence.

John Hamilton decided to pray to God for a woman to have dinner with. After that, Matt decided to pray for the same thing for himself. The next day, they were together when they met a girl. They both fell for her and each thought that she was interested in him. They both went to dinner at her house and it became clear to Matt that she was more interested in John.

Despite Mary's problem with Robbie taking her to a cheap motel, she wanted him back and wanted to make things right with him. The rest of her family thought it was a bad idea and thought that Robbie was a really bad guy. She decided to pray for God to bring Robbie back to her and in good with the family. When Lucy said to her that mom and dad were probably praying the opposite and Mary went down and yelled at Eric about it. Mary kept praying and finally decided she would stop because she didn't think it was doing so good. Lucy talked to her about it and found something about Robbie she would pray for. Then Eric and Annie came in and Mary asked them to pray for Robbie to become good and they said they would try.

Lucy tried to raise her siblings spirits by getting them out of the house. She asked Mary and then Simon to go with her to take the twins out to help mom out. They both were too depressed and turned her down. She asked Ruthie, but she didn't want to either. She decided to take the twins out herself. While out, she had several people look down upon her because they thought she was a teenage mother. It put Lucy in a totally terrible mood. Lucy asked Mary to pray for all the teenage mothers out there.

Simon decided to pray to get in good again with Deena's family after giving her a love bite. Mary asked her why she didn't just call Deena and Simon said that her parents said he couldn't until they said he could. Later, Simon prayed for God to teach him right from wrong and to stop him before he did something stupid. Simon finally decided to call and apologize to Deena's father, though he didn't realize how late it was. He decided to let Deena talk to Simon on the phone.

Ruthie took Eric's advice to start praying to pray to God for a pony. She believed that if she got a pony, then God heard her prayer and if not, then he didn't hear her. Annie finally asked Ruthie why she wanted a pony and she told her that she needed the pony. She said she needed it because she needed the feeling of being carried somewhere, like the feeling of being carried by angels when she came earth which she claimed to remember. Annie wanted to give Ruthie this dream and arranged for her to ride a horse on Sunday morning during church.

MORAL TO THE STORY: Sometimes praying is the best thing we can do. To let God fight and work where us humans can't.

Annie got a phone call from Sarah's mom saying that Ruthie had cut Sarah's hair. Annie got upset at Ruthie, but Ruthie couldn't understand why because she thought she was helping Sarah out. Annie sent Ruthie to her room until she could understood why what she did was wrong. Ruthie protested for several reasons including that she was suppose to see Mrs. Hinkle in the afternoon. Annie told her that she would just have to tell Mrs. Hinkle she couldn't make it. Annie got more upset when Ruthie came home from going to Mrs. Hinkle's to tell her in person that she couldn't come over. Ruthie said that she didn't have Mrs. Hinkle's phone number so she had to tell her in person and when she realized it was a mistake, she ran up to her room. While in her room, Ruthie got Mary to come in to tell her she was going crazy and that she had done nothing wrong. Ruthie said that she was just like Mary because she had a bad rep like Mary and once you have a bad rep, you get punished for things that aren't bad. Annie came in and saw Mary there and told Ruthie she couldn't talk and have visitors. Later when running from Lucy, Mary hid in Ruthie's room and asked Ruthie why she was wearing a hat. She said that if she did unto others she should do unto herself that way she'd be off the hook. Lucy came in and saw Ruthie and both were speechless. Annie came in and found Mary and Lucy and asked why they were in there, then saw Ruthie. Horrified, she asked Ruthie if she cut her hair. She said she thought about it, but didn't because she thought she'd have to be crazy. When seeing Annie's face, she suddenly realized why what she had done was so wrong. Mary and Lucy left and Annie stayed to talk to Ruthie. Ruthie was willing to let Sarah cut her hair, but when Annie called Sarah's mom, Sarah's mom didn't believe that two wrongs made a right. Ruthie was relieved.

Eric was on jury duty to determine if a man was guilty or not guilty of murdering a police officer. At the beginning, 11 people voted not guilty and Eric voted guilty. Because all 12 did not vote the same way, they had to stay longer to talk and debate over the evidence. Eric argued with them all day as he slowly got each one to vote guilty.

Since John had a bunch of friends over to watch a basketball game and Eric wouldn't be at the church, Matt went home to get the keys to the church from Annie so he could work on his paper in the quietness of Eric's office. At the church, Matt spilled coffee on his pants so he took his pants off and wore his dad's preaching robe. During the course of the evening Matt kept distracting himself with everything from pretending his pencils were drum sticks to playing the organ. While playing "Chopsticks" on the organ, Lou, a church deacon, came in and asked Matt what he was doing there. He came because a neighbor heard the organ music and was worried. Matt said he had been using his dad's computer to write a statistics paper. Lou stuck around and helped tutor Matt so he would understand statistics.

Mary and Lucy asked Annie for permission to go down to the promenade for a cappucino, but Annie said no because she didn't want them to drink it and knew there was a bigger reason. Upstairs, Mary told Annie that Lucy hoped to run into her old boyfriend and Lucy slapped Mary's arm then told Annie it was Andrew Nayloss she hoped to see. Then Lucy said that Mary hoped to see Robbie and Mary slapped Lucy hard in the eye on accident, but it caused Lucy a lot of pain and gave her a black eye. Mary felt bad and wanted to make it up to Lucy. She offered to call Andrew Nayloss for her and set him and Lucy up, but Lucy refused. Mary then asked Lucy to call Robbie for her and she said no. Mary went to get Lucy some tea and when she came back, she told Lucy that she had called Andrew but talked to Andrew's dad instead because Andrew was gone. Mary said he said that Andrew had a girlfriend he was going out with who he really didn't like but Andrew's parents liked because they figured that meant they wouldn't be making out all the time. And he said that making out led to sex and that Andrew wasn't ready for sex. As a result, Lucy called to tell Andrew's dad that she wasn't ready for it either and came to realize that Mary never called him thus it made Lucy look like a big fool. Lucy chased Mary around the house because of it and later they talked about it. Lucy then told Mary that she called Robbie and that Robbie wasn't home so she left a message. Mary made Lucy repeat to her the exact message. Mary said she was going to clobber Lucy if she called him and Lucy asked why and she said because she realized that Robbie was a bad guy.

Simon was in good again with Deena's parents and they allowed for Deena to come over. Simon asked Annie for permission to have Deena over and Annie was reluctant but finally gave in. Simon and Deena played the board game "Life" at the kitchen table. Simon and Deena got into an argument because she put his blue peg in the back of her car instead of the front next to hers. Later, Simon wanted to end the game early and Deena didn't. This led into a big argument where Deena explained that she was still very angry at him for biting her. Simon apologized and she said that that was the first time he ever apologized directly to her. Deena finally said it might be nobody's fault but her own and that she was guilty.

The episode began with Mary dreaming she was playing with the L.A. Lakers. When she woke up, she got a phone call from the High School girls basketball coach to bring some sweats and show up after school. Mary assumed that her dream was prophetic and that he was going to suggest her to a scout for the WNBA. In fact, when she showed up after school, he was taking her to help prepare some girls to play for the Special Olympics. She made friends with a girl named Molly who told Mary that her dad was a scout for the WNBA. Mary then assumed once again that she had been set up to be viewed by a scout. At her dad's suggestion, Molly apologized for misleading Mary and Mary explained that Molly didn't mislead her. Her dad told Mary that he didn't think she was WNBA material yet, but should play some college ball. He had asked for Mary because his daughter had been a fan of Mary since she watched Mary play Varsity Basketball.

Matt decided that he should move to New York to be with Shana. To raise money, he went through his parents basement (yes the Camden's have a basement) for stuff to sell. He hoped to make $200 and ended up with $20. John tried to talk him out of the idea and eventually Matt decided he should stay in Glen Oak and focus on college.

Lucy hurt her mom's feelings when Annie overheard her say that she didn't want to be "just mom." Simon hurt Eric's feelings when he said that he didn't want to be a minister. Eric took his implication to be that ministry was ridiculous. Annie tried to get Lucy to understand there was much more to her and Lucy ended up wanting to be her mom. Eric and Simon spent half a day together after Eric got Simon out of school early and Simon got his dad to start questioning if he was ever suppose to go into the ministry. At Annie's suggestion and advice, Simon went to talk to his dad. He explained to Eric that being a ministry was a ridiculous idea for him because he wasn't patient enough to work with people. But it was the right kind of job for Eric.

Ruthie had a dream about being the Queen of England and believed whole heartedly that she would one day become the queen. Annie taped a biography of the queen off of TV and when Ruthie watched all the videos, she decided that she didn't want to be the Queen of England.

Friday.

A teenage girl shows up at Eric's office, very timid, and decides to leave without talking to Eric. She tells him that she might be by tomorrow to talk with him.

Eric concerned for her, goes home and explains the scenario to Annie. They then decide they need to have better communication with their kids.

Mary, Lucy, Simon, and Ruthie come home from school and Eric, Annie, and the twins meet them in the kitchen. Eric and Annie ask the kids how their day was. The kids all get suspicious and run away. Upstairs they discuss that someone must be in trouble. Downstairs Eric and Annie conclude that the kids must be up to something because of their suspicious behavior.

Matt, who now works as a quarterly at the Hospital, is in the Hospital cafeteria during lunch when Hank Hastings walks in and tells Matt he needs to talk to him. Hank's beeper goes off and he leaves. Matt goes to Hank's office to talk to him and sees a nurse. They discuss Matt's status with Shana and his prior desire to move to New York - which Matt says he doesn't plan to move - and she leaves to tell Hank that Matt is there waiting. Julie walks in and sees Matt and gets upset that Hank wanted to talk to him instead of her. She knows Hank's been keeping something from her. She storms out.

Ruthie sees Eric out on the street talking to Sgt. Michaels in his car. She then goes to tell Simon and together they go upstairs to tell Mary and Lucy. Mary doesn't want any part of it because she knows she didn't do anything and wants to have a quiet weekend. Lucy, Simon, and Ruthie pressure Mary to confront their parents about what is going on. Mary caves in and the four of them go and find Eric and Annie out on the lawn. Eric tells them that he and Annie thought that the kids were up to something because of their behavior and the kids reply that they thought one of them must be in trouble because Eric and Annie never ask them how their day was unless someone's in trouble. Eric explains that he talked to Annie and they both agreed that there should be better communication which is why they had asked the kids how their day was. Relieved, Lucy, Simon, and Ruthie all tell their parents that they would love to tell them all about their day. Mary, now acting suspicious, tells everyone that because of all the trouble she's been in this year, her parent's already know everything about her. Eric and Annie agree, but Eric still feels suspicious.

Hank shows up at Matt and John's apartment telling them that thanks to Matt telling Julie that he wanted to talk to him, Julie kicked him out. Matt and John are less than thrilled to have Matt's uncle staying with them but Hank whips out his credit card and orders dinner for the three of them.

Annie listens to Simon's story about a classmate of his named Luke who got the whole class to give a new substitute teacher a lot of problems. Annie is less than thrilled about Simon's behavior but Simon doesn't understand why and tries to re-explain the story again. Annie later starts to talk with Lucy and Lucy tells Annie that she and Mary thinks that Simon pretends to be Luke. Mary walks in when Annie and Lucy are discussing Lucy's involvement with Habitat For Humanity and one girl's name who Lucy works with is mentioned. Mary mentions the girl and Lucy informs Mary that she knows this girl a lot better than Mary. Mary shrugs and walks away and Lucy comes to the conclusion that the secret Mary's been keeping from her all evening concerns that girl. Lucy dismisses herself quickly and runs after Mary. Mary refuses to discuss the situation and won't play the guessing game with Lucy.

The girl who showed up at Eric's office is sitting on a bench at night, bundled in many clothes. A young man approaches her and says hi and she screams at him to leave her alone. Sgt. Michaels who is right nearby hears the screams and comes running out. The young man informs Sgt. Michaels that he didn't do anything and walks away. Sgt. Michaels recognizes the girl from the verbal description Eric gave him earlier that day. Michael's checks out the girls ID and gives Eric a call. Eric receives the call as he's listening to Ruthie's long talk about a girl in her school who stinks and he's grateful for the break in their conversation. Mary listens in to the phone call until Eric, who can tell someone is listening in, tells whoever is on to hang up. Mary hangs up and tells Lucy that it was for dad. She then goes downstairs and bumps into Eric and Annie in the hall. Mary tells Eric that she was the one who told the girl to go talk to Eric and Lucy knows nothing about it. She tells Eric that she knows why the girl went to go see him, but she can't tell him. Eric respects Mary's decision not to tell.

Saturday.

Matt wakes up and John tells him that he has to get rid of Hank. Hank comes out of the bathroom and says he's going to work and is going to teach that day so he won't be back until 3. After Hank leaves, Julie calls and she urges Matt to find out what Hank knows. Matt says okay and leaves. Right after he leaves, Julie calls again and John asks her to tell him what's going on.

Annie confronts Simon about Luke and tells him that Mary and Lucy think that he's really Luke in his stories. She then rushes off to answer the door, leaving Simon standing there looking perplexed. Annie answers the door to find Ruthie's stinky friend. The friend hands Annie a sack of meat and follows Ruthie upstairs. Simon goes into Mary and Lucy's room and asks them why they told Annie that they thought he was Luke. Mary says that Lucy thought that, not her. Mary re-emphasizes that she wants no part in any of this - "I'm in Switzerland" - and Lucy gripes to Annie for telling Simon what she said as Annie walks into the room. Annie apologizes, telling Lucy that she didn't know it was a secret. Mary storms out of the room, not wanting to be a part. She comes back in seconds later, asking what the smell is. Annie tells her that it's Ruthie's friend. Frustrated, Mary storms out again.

Eric has gone to his office, despite it being Saturday, hoping the girl would show up. She does and he invites her in, now knowing her name and who she is. She sits down and finally confesses to Eric that she feels dirty from being molested last Christmas by her mother's boyfriend. She and her mom already filed a lawsuit against the man who had lied to them about his real name, and she was receiving help already from counselors and therapists. She came to Eric because she wants to talk about what happened with her mom, but her mom doesn't want to be involved.

Annie is feeding the twins when Ruthie and her friend walk in. Ruthie explains to her mom that her friend stinks because she lives with her grandma and she has mothballs and other old smelling stuff. Ruthie's friend then tells Annie that her parent's aren't very good people and that she's grateful to be able to live with her grandma. They leave and Simon walks in and tells his mom that Luke is a real person and then brings Luke (the class clown) in. Annie who is laughing from the reason why Ruthie's friend stinks laughs even harder at Simon's funny friend. Simon and Luke give each other a strange look and leave. When Ruthie and her friend come back through, Annie asks about the meat and the friend tells her that they live across from a meat store and the guy is dating her grandma.

Matt finds Hank, Julie, and Erica in the Hospital cafeteria. He tells Hank he looked all over campus for him and Hank explains that he teaches at the Hospital. Matt sees Erica and picks her up. Hank tells Julie and Eric that the secret he's been keeping is that he's a Jew and that his family doesn't yet know that he didn't marry a Jewish girl. Matt, not wanting to be involved, starts walking for the door. After a few steps, he realizes that he's still holding his baby cousin and takes her back and puts her in her seat before leaving.

At home, Simon and Luke shoot hoops outside. Luke tells Simon that the reason he's so funny all the time is because he has a deaf brother and that was his way of entertaining him. After that, it just stuck to be funny. Simon tells Luke that his brother's ex-girlfriend was deaf and both boys would like to learn sign language. In their room, Mary walks in and tells Lucy that she's taking her out for pizza with money that Annie gave them. Lucy's suspicious and asks Mary what she wants to talk to her about. Mary doesn't want to say but finally gives in and tells Lucy that she just wants to show her some appreciation for being such a wonderful sister. Lucy jumps up and throws her arms around her sister. She asks what they're going to talk about now that she knows and Mary gives her a look to which Lucy replies, "Boys!"

The girls mom comes to Eric's office and Eric facilitates as mother and daughter do most of the talking. The daughter tells her mom how she feels and that she wants her two older brothers to know what happened to her. Her mom isn't sure she can tell her sons about the molestation, but finally agrees to take that first step and go to counseling and therapy with her daughter. She stands up to hug her daughter and tells her daughter that it wasn't her fault, as the girl blames herself for what her mom's ex-boyfriend did to her. Eric also assures the girl that it wasn't her fault.

Eric was excited after receiving a phone call from a local newspaper who wanted to do a feature story on the Camden family. The article would be in the family section of Sunday's paper. He first told Matt on the phone who wasn't excited about it, but said he would talk to the reporter if that's what his dad wanted. He then told the other kids when they got home from school and none of them wanted to do it. Annie went to talk to them and told them that they were going to do it. She told them to think beforehand about what they would say. They did and all told each other what not to say about them. But when finally interviewed, they told about themselves what they told everyone else not to say. Mary told all about her troubles with the law and community service. Lucy talked all about her boyfriends. Simon talked about getting in trouble and school and trying smoking. Ruthie talked about her Aunt Julie. After receiving a phone call from Ruthie's teacher, they talked to Ruthie and found out that she told the reporter about Aunt Julie. They then talked to the rest of the kids and found out what they talked about. Eric later went over to Matt's apartment to find out that Matt told the reporter that he had to get out of the house to be a man and that he entertains many women friends. The reporter, Sam Robbins, let Eric have a first look at the article which was highly scandelous. Eric said he didn't want it to be printed and Sam totally understood and said it wouldn't be printed.

The story was printed anyway and the Camden family didn't know why everyone seemed to be staring at them when they walked into church. Sam Robbins came in and went to the front of the sanctuary to hand Eric the paper to look at. Eric then handed it to Annie who passed it down the aisle for her kids to look at. Eric addressed it to the congregation and said what they read was pretty much true. He then said he was going to go hug his family as a special guest singer, Contemporary Christian Music artist Sandi Patty, sang his favorite hymn, "I'll Fly Away."

At work, a new employee named Elizabeth kept spreading lies about Matt around to people. Things like he was unstable, had an anger problem, and did drugs. She also spread some rumors around about John. When she saw John give Matt some money that Annie gave John to give to Matt, Elizabeth started spreading lies that John was a drug dealer. John saw a local politician on tv misquoting some lines from famous African-American people and got upset. When Elizabeth lied to Matt's boss about Matt, she called Annie and voiced some concerns and asked Annie to talk to Matt. Annie did, but no one told Matt what was going on. When John saw the politician on a tv at the hospital, he started yelling at the tv and security escorted him out and he was fired because of the accusation he did drugs. When Matt was called into his bosses office, he was finally able to get things straight and got John rehired.

At school, Ruthie was given an assignment to share a short story about her family. The winner out of the class of the best story would receive a five dollar cash reward. Ruthie's friend Chrissy couldn't think of any story about her family so she asked Ruthie what she was going to talk about. Ruthie shared about the story about her Aunt Julie. In class, Chrissy volunteered to tell her story before Ruthie got to and she stole Ruthie's story, changing a few details. Chrissy won the prize and when Ruthie tried to take the money from her, the teacher called Ruthie's mom which led to the parents unveiling what their kids said to Sam Robbins. Ruthie later approached Chrissy on the playground to tell the truth and give back the five dollars so it could be given to someone who deserved it.

Matt saw Heather at church and talked with her a little after church before going off to meet Shana at her new apartment where she would be staying over the summer. Matt took Shana to the pool hall for lunch and was tired that Shana kept talking about one of her roommates, Brett. Then suddenly Brett showed up and said he got a job in Glen Oak for the summer though he was initially going to work in New York. When Shana got back to her apartment, Brett was waiting outside her door for her. She told him that it was over between them as she had told him the day she left. Brett replied that it would never be over. She tried to get rid of him, but he wouldn't leave. Matt got home and complained about Brett to John. John informed Matt that he wasn't jealous of Brett because she wasn't in love with Shana anymore. John told him that he was still in love with Heather.

Heather later showed up at Matt and John's apartment. There, Heather said to Matt that she was in love with him. John took that as his que to leave. Matt was taken by surprise and Heather told him to have fun at the movies with Shana before she left. At the movies, Shana told Matt that she really wanted to try and make their relationship work. The next morning, Matt showed up at Heather's house. Heather's mom answered the door and told him not to hurt her daughter. Matt said that he wouldn't because he loved her. Heather came to the door and Matt told her that he loved her and that he made the decision to break up with Shana. She said that it was good because she loved him too and that he would have to break up with Shana for good so that it would be really over if they were to have a relationship.

Robbie and his younger step-brother Ronald showed up at the Camden's church on Sunday morning which deeply upset Eric and Annie. After church, Robbie told Mary that the reason she hadn't heard from him in the past three months was because he was busy turning his life around. He told her he started going to church every Sunday, not just for God, but because church was such a big part of who Mary was. He thanked Mary because he was a better person because of her. Mary later drove to his house and welcomed him back into her life. At home, Eric received a phone call from Mary's guidance counselor who said he was calling because Eric didn't respond to the letter he sent home with Mary. Eric said that was because he never received the letter. The counselor told Eric that the letter contained a list of good junior colleges Mary might want to apply to for the following year. Eric said that Mary was going to Crawford in the Fall. The counselor told him that she lost her space when she didn't send in her acceptance forms and that she didn't fill out any financial aid or grant forms. Eric said that when he talked to her directly that she said she wasn't going to attend college in the fall.

When Mary got home, Eric and Annie met her inside the front door. She told them that she had some important information to tell them and that was that she and Robbie were back together and that he was changed. Eric then confronted her about why she hadn't turned in any college forms so she didn't have a college to go to in the Fall. Annie asked Mary to tell them that there was a big mistake. Mary said that there was no mistake, that she wasn't going to college. Later Eric and Annie confronted Mary again and Mary confessed to telling a lie by omission which Annie pointed out was still a lie. Mary said that she didn't know what she wanted to do with her life and didn't want to waste her parents money while she tried to figure it out. As Eric was taking out the trash, he saw Robbie coming towards the house. Eric blatantly accused Robbie that his "changed man" routine was a scam. Mary came out and told her dad that mom said they could go out for ice cream. Mary Robbie after Eric left that he was mad at her because she told them she wasn't going to college. He asked her why and she said because she wanted to spend more time with him.

On their date, Robbie told Mary that he was accepted to Crawford. He thought that while he went to school there, she could figure out what she wanted to do with her life. He told her that he would never lie to her again and she replied that she trusted him. As they walked away, Robbie's ex-girlfriend saw them; a girlfriend he had broken up with just one week before. Her friend told her that she should go tell him off in front of his new girlfriend, but she said she had a better idea. At home the next morning, Eric and Annie talked with Mary and said that they agreed with her decision on not going to school. However, they told her that if she wasn't going to college, she would have to start paying rent to live there beginning in September if she wanted to live there. Later, Cheryl went to Robbie and said that she was going to go to Mary and tell her everything so that afterwards, Mary would hate him. Mary came home after school and she told her parents that she was going to move in with Robbie as roommates. She was all excited, but her parents were not.

Lucy met Ronald after church and even though Andrew Nayloss tried to get in their way, she agreed to let Ronald call her. That afternoon Andrew was at the house to tell Lucy that they were right for each other, but she walked past him and into the house. That evening, Ronald came over to the house and sat on the couch in the living room with Lucy. Eric walked in on them when they were kissing. He interrupted them and Lucy introduced Ronald to her dad. Eric straight out told him that he didn't like Ronald's family. Ronald replied by telling Eric that he would never take Lucy to a motel. Eric left and they went back to kissing. At school the next day, Andrew approached Lucy to say that they were right together and that she and Ronald weren't right together.

Deena was suppose to show up at church, but she didn't. After church, Simon's friend Wade said that he had seen Deena the other night at a mall hugging an older looking guy. Simon said it was probably brother, but Wade said the hug didn't look like a brotherly kind of hug. Simon tried calling her at home, but her dad answered and said that she wasn't there. After her dad hung up, he told Deena that she really should tell Simon what was going on but she said she couldn't. Deena finally came over to the house and Simon let her in. She said she had to tell him something and didn't want to tell him over the phone. She told him that the guy she hugged at the mall was her cousin. She told him that she thought they should see other people. Before she left, she told him that it was over. He didn't understand, she wanted to be friends, but he wanted to be her boyfriend. She then left. That night, Simon called a girl from school, Cynthia, because she knew everything that went on in the 8th grade. He asked her to find out if Deena was seeing someone else. Cynthia called back later and told Simon that Deena was going out with someone else. She said it was some older boy from another school. After she hung up, she told Deena who was in her room that she should tell Simon the truth. At school, Simon approached Deena at her locker. He gave her an early birthday present, a promise ring, even though she said that she wanted to see other people. She wanted to give it back, but he wanted her to keep it. She said that she didn't want to break up and gave him back the ring and ran off, leaving Simon totally confused.

Bert saw Ruthie at church and said he was excited to be doing an assignment for school with her. After church he showed up at the Camden's house to work on it with her. While working on their project, Bert gave Ruthie a present - a glass cat. He then asked her to be his girlfriend and she asked him why she would do that and he said because he gave her the cat. Ruthie agreed to be his girlfriend if he did everything she said - namely if he kept bringing her presents. He agreed with her. That night after Bert had gone home, Ruthie told her mom that Bert would do anything she wanted for her. She said it was great, like having her own dog. Annie faced her daughter that Bert was not a dog and that she should treat him with more respect. At school, some of the kids started making fun of Ruthie because she was in love with Bert. She told them that she wasn't. When Bert walked in, she asked Bert what he'd been telling people. He said that he'd been telling people that she loved him because she was his girlfriend. She told him that she was only his girlfriend so he would do stuff for her. He turned away from her and started to cry. When he turned back around after she asked him what he was doing, everyone saw that he was crying. He then ran off and the kids who had been teasing her told her that she was in big trouble.

After having told her parents in the previous episode that she planned to move in with Robbie, Eric and Annie chased after her. Eric vocalized his opposition to it while Annie embraced her in making her own decisions, while not agreeing with it, which confused Mary and frustrated Eric. Lucy told Annie about her situation with Andrew and Ronald and got frustrated with Annie's response. Simon asked Eric for advice about Deena but he didn't understand the whole situation. Ruthie told Annie about her situation with Burt. Matt and John talked and John kept telling Matt to break up with Shana. Simon's friend Cynthia dropped by the house and told him the bad news that Deena was moving back east at the end of the week.

Burt's mom came by to talk with Annie about Burt and Ruthie and Annie suggested that they let the kids work it out on their own. Mary talked to Robbie on the phone about Cheryl's approaching her and Robbie told her that Cheryl was his ex-girlfriend. Mary then told him that she didn't tell her parents everything about them. She then told her parents that she was engaged which Eric blew up over while Annie congratulated her. Simon went to Deena's to confront her on the truth. Lucy and Ronald hung out at the pool hall where he informed her all about Mary's situation. Lucy decided to leave until she saw Andrew put his arm around another girl, and then decided to stay to make him jealous. Ruthie called Burt to talk with him and in a sense, played phone tag with him. Simon asked Eric to get Deena's mom a new job so they wouldn't have to move and then asked him to adopt Deena.

Mary sought out Annie to tell her the truth and Annie finally told Mary what she really thought. Cheryl called and Mary found out that Robbie had only broken up with her a week earlier. Eric talked with Deena's dad to find out he was in the process of divorcing his wife. His wife is moving back east not for a new job, but for a fresh start near her family and is taking Deena with her. He planned to follow them soon. Deena came in and Eric left so her dad could tell her the truth. Lucy came home late and told Annie that Ronald dumped her. Lucy then realized that she was the crazy ex-girlfriend and asked Annie for advice. Ruthie sought out Simon for advice about Burt as Eric went to Robbie's place to talk to him. When Matt came home, he found the chain locking the door. John told him he couldn't come in until he broke up with Shana. Lucy called Andrew's house and got his dad who lied for him. Matt finally knocked on Shana's door and as he waited, the neighbor called the police on him. When Shana answered, her shirt was on inside out, her hair messed up, and another guy (Brett) in the apartment which made Matt storm off. At home, Simon talked to Eric, telling him that Deena told him about her parents divorce. Annie found Mary outside and Mary explained how the whole engagement thing came to be.

When Shana and Brett left the apartment building, they found Matt outside. Matt told Brett to go away and he did and let Shana and Matt talk and they officially broke up. Burt came over and talked with Ruthie and they made up. They tried to kiss and missed to the relief of Eric and Annie. Matt and John talked the next morning and Matt told John to get his pants on, that they were leaving. Simon and Deena said good-bye to each other at school and Andrew and Lucy talked. They kissed in the school hall and got some looks from others. Mary gave the ring back to Robbie and told him that they weren't ready to get married. Heather asked Matt if they should have told their families, but Matt said no. John came to the car and they all went into the Oakwood Wedding Chapel.