Oh. Oh.
Not funny.
I can't find my book bag.
- Where did you last see it? - I don't remember.
- Did you leave it in the living room? - No.
- Did you look? - I like it better when you look.
- Where's my blue shirt? - Uh, did you try the closet?
- Yeah. - Try the living room.
Just trying to help.
I put it in the hamper yesterday.
Okay, well, that's where it probably still is,
because I didn't get a chance to do the laundry yesterday.
What were you doing all day?
I've got a few other things to take care of.
The phone is not complicated.
You pick it up, you dial, you're connected.
- Why don't men get this? - You're preaching to the converted.
Mom, why do you think Brad and Robbie haven't called us?
- Can I get back to you on that one? - Sure, fine, it's just my life.
- What's for breakfast? - Whatever you can find.
I highly recommend the Frosted Flakes.
Don't you usually make breakfast?
You take the cereal, you make the toast,
you go get the orange juice. It's not rocket science.
I was halfway to church when I saw Ruthie's book bag on my back seat.
I found my book bag.
Why was it on the back seat of my car?
I must have put it there so I'd be ready to go to school in the morning.
Uh-uh, uh-uh. You're not gonna wear that dirty shirt.
I have to. Deena's wearing her blue shirt today and she wants us to match.
You should wear a dress, then you'd really match.
No fair, I didn't know we could have cookies for breakfast.
Why are they--? Right.
Why are you eating cookies?
Does anybody know where Shana is? I need to find her.
Mom, a little help, please.
All right. That's it.
I need a time out.
Did everybody hear me?
Mommy is taking a time out.
Ah!
Down.
Down you go. Here we go. Down. Good boy.
Yes. Okay.
ERIC: There you go.
Mommy love you.
I mean, you understand, don't you? I'm just completely fried.
The two new babies, your heart attack,
my dad's Alzheimer's, it's just all too much.
I just need to get away for a couple of days and recharge my batteries.
- Where will you go? - I don't know.
I thought the beach, a place I used to go with my parents.
Beach, yeah, well, it's winter.
Great, it'll be deserted.
You know I love you all, I just need to sleep
and not worry about anyone but myself for 48 hours.
I love you. If this is what you need, go.
- The kids and I will be fine. - Okay.
You know, you should take Happy.
That way you can be by yourself, but you won't be alone.
That's a great idea.
Don't Brad or Robbie know what torture this is?
Well, at least you get to see Brad, he goes to school here.
I get to see him, so do hundreds of other girls.
No matter how many times I see him in the hall,
he still said he'd call and he hasn't.
Okay, if we haven't heard from Brad and Robbie by tonight,
- let's call them. - Agreed.
With Mom out of town, this is a perfect weekend to go out.
- We are not wasting this. - No.
Now, Mary and Lucy are waiting for boys to call,
so when they get home try not to tie up the line.
But I don't want them to go out with boys.
Okay.
- Okay, I'll try not to tie up the phone. - Thank you.
I thought you had to work today.
I took the weekend off so I could help you pack for New York.
I've been calling you since 6:00 this morning.
I'm sorry, I left early to get boxes and stuff.
- I would've helped you. - Well, you still can.
But I wanted to help you this morning.
Yes, but the morning is gone.
Is it you just like doing stuff and the crack of dawn
or are you still interested in helping me?
What can I do?
Matt's saying goodbye to Shana this weekend,
so you probably won't see him till Sunday morning
after her plane takes off.
When he does come over he's gonna pretend that he thinks
a long-distance relationship with Shana can work.
So try not to crush his dream.
And call him, because whether he acts like it or not,
he's going to be down in the dumps.
Don't crush him, but call him. Got it.
I can't believe you didn't wear your blue shirt.
Mom didn't do the laundry.
You know, if you really cared about me,
cared about our relationship,
you would have washed the shirt yourself
instead of waiting until this morning and expecting your mom to do it.
Look, I said I was sorry.
You're 13, you can wash your own clothes.
Don't you care enough about me to wash your own clothes?
And Simon and Deena are entering into a new phase in their relationship.
I'm not exactly sure what it is, but I smell trouble.
They're 13.
Right, trouble.
Ruthie, are you ready to apologise to Doug?
What did I do that was so wrong?
You pulled his hair and told him he cried like a girl.
He does cry like a girl.
So you're not gonna apologise?
Maybe you should just expel me.
Could you hurry it up, I've got someplace to be.
Ruthie's gonna try to go away with me,
so you can expect a call from the school soon.
Sam and David will be up in an about an hour.
I sorted the laundry. All you have to do is put it in the washer.
We've got plenty of food, diapers and formula.
- Did I leave anything out? - Let's see. Stay off the phone.
- Yeah. - Except to call Matt,
to lie and say that long-distance relationships work.
And watch Simon closely
because he's about to mutate into a fully evolved teenager.
And Ruthie-- Well, Ruthie's Ruthie.
What about your sermon for Sunday?
Between two weddings, an almost wedding and a funeral,
I haven't had time to do it, but I'll wing it. I'm good on my feet.
I'll call you when I get there.
[PHONE RINGING]
Hello? Ruthie did what?
I forgot Happy.
Come on, girl. Come on.
Come on.
- Is everything okay? - Everything's fine.
Good.
This is unbelievable.
Should we call them?
No. Calling reeks of desperation.
What is wrong with Robbie?
I guess most people would ask what is wrong with them, not the guy.
Your way's much healthier.
[PHONE RINGS]
Hello?
- It's Andrew Nayloss. - The girly man?
No, Andrew, I can't go out.
My mom's out of town and I have to stay home and watch the house.
I mean, the twins.
I've gotta go, bye.
Why didn't you just tell Andrew the truth?
Why lead him on?
Because I might wanna go out with him again if Brad doesn't call.
I'm really rubbing off on you, aren't I?
[PHONE RINGS]
- Hello? ANNIE: Hi.
Hey, Mom.
ANNIE: I miss you too. MARY: Sorry.
It's okay, I won't keep you. I know you're waiting for phone calls.
Just tell Dad that I got to the motel okay and that I'll call him later.
Okay.
- Bye. - Bye.
Who was that on the phone? Was it Mom?
Go tell Dad she got to the motel and she'll call him later.
Why didn't you let me talk to her?
- She's gonna call back. - No fair. I'm telling Dad.
Yes, that's what we want you to do, tell Dad.
SIMON: Get off the phone. Deena could call.
Oh, yeah, you need to know what to wear to bed tonight, right?
[LAUGHS]
- That's not funny. MARY: Yes, it is.
What's all the yelling about?
I'm waiting for Deena to call.
Your wife called.
Is everything okay with Deena?
- We had a fight. - Oh.
She thinks I'm not committed
because I didn't wear my blue shirt today.
Oh.
- "Oh," what? - Just "oh."
Thanks for the support.
We'll miss them tomorrow.
But tonight... Tonight we sleep.
So the campus at NYU isn't like a regular campus,
you know, everything in one place.
It's not like Crawford. The buildings are all over the city.
Isn't that cool?
Oh, and my academic adviser got me a job
working in the med lab at NYU Hospital. I am so psyched.
I can love New York and still hate being there without you.
What are we doing?
I just wanna be close to you, that's all.
How close?
This close.
You're eating and that's what's important, right?
[PHONE RINGS]
- Hello? ANNIE: Hi, it's me.
I can't believe I got to the phone before Mary and Lucy.
- It's early. - So, how are you doing?
Great. I miss you guys, but I'm great.
How are the boys?
Well, Sam is wearing a pancake as a hat,
but I got everything under control.
- Where's Ruthie? - She's in the bath.
As soon as she comes down I'll have her call you back.
Okay. Did Robbie call Mary?
- No. - Did she call him?
I-- I don't know, I'm busy running the house to keep track of phone calls.
What happened with Simon and Deena?
- Oh, big fight. - About?
I don't remember.
- What about Matt? - Haven't heard from him.
But, hey, no news is good news, right?
- Hello? - I thought you were going to call him.
I was?
I mean I was and I will, right now,
right after I hang up the phone, okay. I love you.
I love you too.
[LINE RINGING]
MATT [ON RECORDING]: Hey, this is Matt.
JOHN: And John. MATT: Leave us a message
at the beep.
Hey.
What's up?
Oh, can you two clean the kitchen while I take the boys upstairs and--?
- Hose them down? - Whatever works.
Just for the record, cookies for breakfast make a lot less mess.
Clean.
I'm not calling Robbie.
I thought we agreed I would call Robbie for you
and you would call Brad for me.
Look, if calling them on Friday reeks of desperation,
then calling them on Saturday just plain reeks.
Face it, we're not going anywhere this weekend.
I will not surrender to defeat.
[PHONE RINGS]
Hello.
- It's Brad. - Yes.
- Hi. - You're not mad at me, are you?
Why would I be mad?
I told you I was gonna call and I didn't.
I don't remember you saying that.
- Who's on the phone? - Not Robbie.
Well, just stay off the phone, okay.
Are you still waiting for Deena to call?
Why don't you just call her?
That's what she's waiting for, for you to call.
That's all women do, we sit and we wait for our stupid boyfriends
to get a clue and pick up a phone.
Tell me, why is it that a guy will sit at home waiting for a girl to call
when he knows she's sitting at home waiting for him to call, huh?
I mean, why is that? Why? Tell me.
Are we still talking about me?
Men!
Where are you going? You were coming upstairs.
No, I wasn't.
Why is it women can never admit when they're wrong?
Beats me, lover boy.
All right. There we go. There we--
Yeah.
Okay, Sammy.
Sam.
Why can't women just admit when they're wrong?
I don't know.
But, if you help me get Sam and Dave dressed,
then we can talk about Deena.
No, thanks.
- I have a date with Brad. - Brad?
The adorable hunk I went out last week, Brad.
Oh, yeah, the hunky one.
Yeah, sorry. Wait, come back.
I'm interested in Brad, I wanna hear all about him.
We don't really care about Brad, do we?
No. No, we don't.
But we are interested in Lucy so...
- Did your wife call? - Yes, I'm sorry I forgot to tell you.
That's okay, I didn't wanna talk to your wife anyway.
Hey there.
All right, I'll just get the boys dressed and then we'll call Mommy.
Don't bother.
[PHONE RINGING]
- Hello? - Hello?
- Hey, it's me.
[GRUNTS]
[SIGHS]
- Hello? - I'm still here.
- How's the packing and moving? - Great.
I just wondered if you tried calling me this morning
because I got up really, really early and came over to Shana's to help her pack.
Pack stuff to move away.
You know, as a matter of fact, I did try to call.
Oh. Well, I got up really, really early
to, you know, help Shana, uh, you know, uh...
- Pack? - Yeah, pack.
Stop saying that. He's gonna know you slept over.
- Matt, are you still there? - Yeah, but I gotta go.
- And pack? - How'd you know?
- Pfft. Lucky guess. - Huh.
Well, I think I covered pretty well.
No. He wouldn't.
And even if he would, she wouldn't.
They wouldn't, would they?
Okay, clothes for everybody.
Could you watch the boys while I take a shower?
- Sure. - Does your chipper attitude
have something to do with your date tonight with Chad?
Yeah, it's Chad.
Hi. Okay.
So Dad said to watch you, not to clean up a mess.
So I say we run up to my room to play
and leave this winter wonderland for him to deal with.
All those in favour say aye.
The ayes have it.
All right, let's go.
Ugh.
Okay, ready?
I was gonna take a shower, but there are no clean towels.
There's clean wet towels on top of the dryer,
but there are no clean dry towels.
But then I thought, what the heck,
maybe I'll just take a shower without a towel.
You know, kind of branch out,
think outside the box, as it were.
But when I turned on the shower,
apparently I'm the last one to find out that we have no hot water.
There's no hot water.
The water heater must be empty.
Well, maybe while I'm waiting for the water to heat up
we could all pitch in and do a little cleaning.
- I'm not in the mood. - Me either.
- Ditto. - Okay, we'll clean later.
Isn't this wonderful?
Sometimes you just have to get away and be by yourself.
So you can...
Cry.
Hello there.
- Hi. - Annie Camden?
Your husband called.
The front desk.
He called there looking for you when you didn't answer in your room.
- Is everything--? - Your husband emphasised
that it's not an emergency, he just wanted to say hello.
He wanted to put--
Was it Ruthie? --on the line.
Oh.
I guess I've been down here longer than I realised.
I'll walk back up to my room and call them.
I'm Hattie.
- Hi, Hattie. - Is everything okay?
I'm sorry, I'm fine.
I'm fine, I'm just a little tired.
Well, taking care of a husband and a little girl,
it will make you tired all right.
Actually, I have a husband and four boys and three girls.
Oh.
And a dog.
Then you must be exhausted.
Eric, my husband,
he just had a heart attack in September.
And, Mary,
she's my oldest daughter,
she got into some serious trouble in November.
And then I found out that my father has Alzheimer's.
I just don't know...
I don't know if I can keep it all together anymore.
Then don't.
Just let it all go, Annie.
That's right, let it all go.
Ooh. The teeny-tiny-shirt look is hot.
I need to go home and get clean clothes.
Later. Right now I don't wanna spend a minute apart from you.
If we don't quit doing this, I'm never gonna get packed.
And I am leaving tomorrow.
If you don't get packed, you don't have to go to New York.
Come on, help me pack.
Thanks.
Next time you open this you'll be in New York in your new apartment
with your new roommates.
I knew this was gonna happen.
We should've said goodbye this morning when everything was okay.
Sorry, I can't pretend to be happy that you're moving 3,000 miles away.
Maybe you should go home.
And change your clothes and your attitude.
This isn't easy for me. Don't make it any harder than it has to be.
Okay, I'll go home, but I'm coming back.
With a new attitude?
I'll do the best I can.
[MUSIC PLAYS ON TV]
You wanna try Mommy again?
I didn't wanna try the last time you asked or the time before that.
Stop being mad at Mom. She deserves to get away once in awhile.
If I have to stop being mad at Mom, you have to stop being mad at Robbie.
Maybe he deserves to get away from you.
- You haven't heard from Deena. - All right.
I can pick up the phone any time I want and call Deena, so there.
Why don't you do it and stop your whining?
- You know, I think--- - What?
I think I'll go to the kitchen.
You do realise we're gonna have to clean this place up eventually?
We can't let your Mom come home to a mess.
Can't we just clean it up tomorrow before she gets back?
Okay, sure. Why not?
I'm hungry too. What's to eat?
Um...
- Ice cream. - For lunch?
- It's good and good for you. - I like it when you're in charge.
I'll just have potato chips.
No need to take them out of the bag.
And I'll have peanut butter. No need to take it out of the jar.
Oh.
I guess I'll be right back.
And could you make it snappy? My tummy's making noises.
You're the one who said you wanted to be Mom this weekend.
Yeah.
Perfect.
[PHONE BEEPING]
- What are you watching? - I don't know,
but the chicken in the big purple hat just did something real bad.
- What are you eating? - Food.
Banana?
Did you get ahold of your family yet?
Apparently the phone was off the hook most of the day,
that's why I couldn't get through earlier.
I feel much better having talked to Eric and the kids.
They're fine.
Well, of course they're fine. They're your kids.
I felt so guilty just taking off, but I really needed to get away.
And now I realise that I felt guilty for nothing,
because they all sounded good, really good, you know,
happy, even Ruthie.
I wonder what they're all so happy about.
More wine?
Get out of there.
[DOORBELL RINGS]
It's probably Lucy's date.
- Could someone please get that? - Yeah, you could.
- Thanks for nothing. - You're welcome.
I've been trying to call you all day.
Your phone's either been busy or no one's answered.
- What's going on? - Nothing.
So you've been doing nothing all day and you didn't even bother to call me?
Yeah.
[DOORBELL RINGS]
Don't come in. We're remodelling.
- I'm leaving. - Hey, wait, wait, wait a second.
- Dad. - Home by curfew.
Would you like to join us?
My dad is waiting in the car.
Oh.
Aren't you even going to walk me to the door?
It's three feet away.
Well, I'd better be getting home.
Aren't you going to eat with me?
I know you wanna be alone.
If the truth be told, I'm not sure what I want.
- Please stay. - You sure?
Well I've got no one to get home to, so I can stay as long as you like.
Good.
[CHATTERING]
- Hello, Lucy. - Hello.
Andrew, this is Brad.
So are you on a date?
Not that it's any of your business, but yes, I am.
Your Mom was out of town, you couldn't go out.
My Mom is out of town. I just changed my mind about going out.
- Then why didn't you call me? - I just didn't, okay?
How could you bring him here?
This is where we had our first date. It's sacred ground.
This isn't where we went to the movies.
Oh. Well, I'm still hurt.
- You ready to go in? - Wait for me.
You can't go in.
Perhaps you haven't heard, but the United States is a free country.
- I can do whatever I wanna do. - Fine. Go in, see if I care.
Oh, you'll care. You'll care.
- Well, how much do I owe you? - You don't owe me anything.
You're wrong.
I owe you everything.
If your father hadn't gotten me this apartment,
I wouldn't have ordered burgers from the Dairy Shack that night.
You wouldn't have delivered them.
And we wouldn't have gotten together and fallen in love.
- What? - Let's say goodbye now.
Right now, while everything is perfect.
What?
I don't have a couch for you to sleep on.
I don't care. I'll sleep on the floor
in the kitchen, or in the bathroom or anywhere.
I just can't just say goodbye yet.
Let's not do this to ourselves.
Let's say goodbye and tomorrow when I get to New York I'll call you.
- I can't. - Please.
Let's just end this on a happy note
so that there's hope for a happy future.
- I don't know if I can. - Do this for me, please.
Goodbye, Shana.
Goodbye, Matt.
Is everything okay?
Yeah, sure.
- How's everything with you? - Have you been drinking?
No.
You can't be sober and standing in this kitchen.
Yeah, well, you know, when your mother leaves,
I usually try to do everything she does, exactly the way she does it.
This time I just decided to let it all go.
Oh, you let it go with a vengeance.
I'm surprised to see you.
Isn't Shana leaving tomorrow?
And you spent last night with her, right?
You mean, last night, like all night long?
How did you know I spent the night, and why aren't you more upset?
Because once I figured out you'd spent the night with her,
I also figured you'd slept on the couch.
- How did you figure that out? - I'm superdad.
Look around, you're not superdad.
Okay, maybe I'm not super-clean dad,
but I'm super-smart dad.
You know Mom's gonna kill you.
- Yeah, I know. - Yeah.
[BOTH LAUGHING]
You know, I think that's the first time that I've talked about my mother
without bursting into tears.
That's good.
There will be a lot more of that as time goes by.
The pain will fade and leave joy in its place.
I've never admitted this to anyone,
but Eric's heart attack really scared me.
I mean, what if he had died?
But he didn't. It wasn't his time to go.
Now you're thinking about your father.
It's not his time to go either.
He's gonna live a long time.
And he'll continue to have a good life.
It's going to be fine, hon.
But how can death be fine?
Because it's part of life.
And as you get older, you'll see.
For everything there's a season. A time to be born,
and a time to die.
You're just right there in the middle of your life.
And sometimes you have to step away from it and look at yourself
to know that it'll all be okay.
It really is going to be okay, isn't it? My life?
But that doesn't mean you didn't need a break.
You have to take care of yourself
or you'll never be able to take care of everyone else.
So here's to taking a break.
To taking a break.
I can't explain it.
I just like you better when Mom's not here.
So I hope you have a good night's sleep.
Sweet dreams, and if you need anything, don't be afraid to cry.
I'll come running. You'll see.
Good night.
- I-- - Shh.
- I heard what you said. - That's okay.
Maybe you like the boys today
because you don't feel so pressured to like them.
You're just free to like them.
Or even love them.
Oh, I love them. I just don't want people to know.
In the meantime, what movie are we watching tonight?
It's pretty late.
I thought since we've been asleep all day,
that we'd stay up all night.
Well, we're gonna have to. I have to write a sermon.
Great. That'll put us to sleep.
Hey.
Okay, so every room in the house does look the same.
Yeah, it's kind of a theme this weekend.
Has Robbie called?
Ow.
Thanks. It's been almost an hour since I thought of him.
Maybe Robbie's taking a break.
- But he could still call. - Yeah.
Wait a second, why aren't you with Shana?
We already said goodbye.
You're not driving her to the airport to say goodbye again?
Taking a break.
Saying goodbye is killing both of us.
I think things are gonna work out for you guys.
I think things are gonna work out for you and Robbie too.
- Thanks. - So is Lucy under the clothes?
You know, she could be.
- Yeah? - Yeah.
- Lucy. - Lucy.
Brad's in the restroom
and he's the jealous type, so maybe you should just run along.
Not that having you come on my date tonight hasn't been a blast.
It'll never work out with you and Brad.
What makes you such an expert on my love life?
There's no chemistry between you two.
[LAUGHS]
And there's chemistry between us?
My porch, our lips, remember?
I know you do.
Because I can't get that kiss out of my mind.
- You're crazy. - Really?
See you.
Wow.
- You ready to go? - Kiss me.
So maybe I can come over to your house tomorrow?
You know, I think we need to take a little break from each other.
DEENA: Why are you calling so late? - I miss you.
And I want to apologise for the blue shirt screw-up
and for not calling you all day.
Apology accepted.
Maybe I didn't call you because I just needed some time alone.
- Maybe. - I'll wear my blue shirt on Monday.
- Promise? - Swear.
- I'll call you after church tomorrow. - You're the best.
Thanks. I mean, you're the best too.
- Good night. - Good night.
- How was your date with Chad? - It's Brad.
It's okay, you can call him Chad if you want.
Thanks.
[PHONE RINGS]
- Hello? ANNIE: Hi.
- Hey, honey. - I miss you.
We miss you too.
- I'll let the kids say good night. - Okay.
Hey, good night, Mom. I love you.
Night, Mom.
Night, Mom. Love you too.
Sleep well.
Good night, Mommy.
Sweet dreams.
Yeah, I love you.
I miss you.
- Good night. - I love you too.
Good night.
[LAUGHING]
What?
You two make us sick.
ERIC: Hey, hey, hey.
MARY: Get him! Get him!
Thank you. Is Hattie around?
I'd like to say thanks and goodbye before I leave.
- Hattie who? - The older woman who works here.
I don't know a Hattie.
Come on, Happy.
Oh, thank goodness.
I thought I was going crazy.
The manager said he doesn't know you.
I thought I just dreamed you up
or that you weren't real or that you were an angel.
- Did you ask for Hattie? - Yes.
He doesn't know me by that name.
Hattie is a family nickname.
And I'm no angel. Just a friend.
But what about the phone message?
Oh.
The manager asked me to pass on the message from Eric
when he saw me headed to the beach.
He was too lazy to walk down here himself.
Yeah.
I thought you were an angel. You must think I'm really nuts.
No, I don't.
Because when you think about it, what's the difference?
Angels, friends, family,
they're all the same thing. Aren't they?
Yes.
Yes, they are.