One week after returning from Minnesota, Samantha felt overwhelmed by sadness over leaving Xavier while he was still recovering and by ongoing family stress. She invited Jeneva to her room for wine, then staggered the arrivals of their father and Tristan to ensure everyone attended a surprise family meeting. Initial tension surfaced as Tristan arrived and Jeneva bristled, but curiosity kept them in the room.

Samantha announced she had received a remote job offer from Frito-Lay with better pay and benefits than Murkle’s. She then said that if she took the job, the family should consider moving Lisa into a memory care facility, noting the cost would be less than hiring full-time in-home help for day and night shifts. When asked what they wanted for Lisa in an ideal world, Jeneva, Tristan, and their father each said they wanted Lisa to stay at home.

Pointing out that their lack of cooperation made home care untenable, Samantha confronted each of them: Tristan stayed up late yet never offered to cover the night shift so their father could sleep; their father failed to communicate his breaking point and kept important matters (like Grandma) to himself; and Jeneva needed to let things go. Samantha described the burnout and isolation of full-time caregiving and said Lisa would not have wanted them to lose one another or their well-being to keep her at home.

Samantha proposed a solution: she would decline the Frito-Lay job and continue as Lisa’s primary caregiver if the others covered her share of rent and her loan payment, while she picked up freelance work for remaining expenses. She insisted this only made sense if everyone recommitted to working together, and that they reassess monthly because the arrangement might not be sustainable long term.

Tristan cautiously voiced discomfort with their father “fucking around,” opening a calm discussion. Their father explained that love changes with life’s seasons; he would always love Lisa and was not replacing her, but needed something in his life beyond caregiving. He emphasized there was no “bad guy.” This moved the siblings, who expressed that they had believed in their parents’ true love. Jeneva and Tristan apologized, and their father admitted he should have handled the situation with Grandma differently, while Jeneva acknowledged her generalized anger and apologized for putting blame on him.

They agreed that “everything sucks” and recognized the need to ease each other’s burdens and make happy memories again. Samantha suggested ordering pizza, checking on Lisa, and then working through the logistics of their new plan. Their father told them he loved them, and Samantha reassured him they knew.