After the contentious custody battle, Frank & Mary go on with their lives as usual. But it isn't until an eventful night at Ferg's that Frank starts to wonder if maybe his life might be missing something. Now that his niece has a normal life, maybe...
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After the movers had finished unloading all of Joey's new appliances, Sheryl walked over to visit Jessie and Sam and Frank found himself on the most awkward double date in history. The four of them hung out in silence while Barry, Alice, and Joey watched Frank take out the old ugly light fixture in the kitchen.
Frank stood up on a step ladder and looked around what would soon be Joey and Sam's new home. The work that those Kincade women had managed to accomplish in such a short time was very impressive. It was amazing how big and bright the old house looked after a fresh coat of paint and some new window treatments.
Frank handed Joey the old ugly light fixture that he had promised to replace, while Alice held up a flashlight to give Frank enough light to focus on his tedious task. One would think that, after everything that had just happened with Joey, home repairs such as that wouldn't be on the forefront of a person's mind. But the truth was, Frank would rather do just about anything than talk about what had happened outside. Small talk about the house was a little easier than talking about his girlfriend's meltdown and Frank wanted to keep himself busy.
He knew that he was just postponing the inevitable and that he and Joey had a lot more to discuss. He had important questions that he needed answers to, but Frank didn't want an audience for that kind of conversation, nor did he want to pressure Joey to open up to him before she was ready. So tedious chores it was.
Maybe it wouldn't be that bad, Frank thought to himself. Joey was slowly starting to act more like herself and he wanted to keep it that way. But it was unsettling how she had first stared at the new fridge, stove, and dishwasher as if she were afraid to touch them. Barry had noticed her concern and had assured her that even though the fridge and dishwasher both had a few small dents in them that everything worked just fine.
But the cold look that she had given Barry when he managed to smooth out those aforementioned dents had sent a shiver up Frank's spine. It was almost as if she'd wanted them to remain imperfect in order to deserve them somehow. He hated that she still didn't feel worthy of people's kindness but made a mental note to never get on her bad side.
They all knew that there was a giant elephant in the room, but none of them had the guts to bring it up. Frank could tell that Joey had started to feel terrible for causing so much drama. Little did he know, she was actually about to clear the air and apologize to everyone for freaking out, but before she could open her mouth, they heard the front door open and slam shut.
"Barry Nelson! How dare you!" Jessie stomped over to Barry and pointed her finger just inches away from his face.
"Hello, ma'am." Barry stammered with his face turning red. Jessie was the closest thing that Alice had to a mother and he had been feeling the pressure to impress her, but obviously his master plan to save the day had failed and he was no closer to becoming the hero that he had hoped he'd be.
