On the morning Christine is due to report to prison, she insists the family treat the day as normally as possible. Justin, Alex, and Sarah eat the French toast Christine makes while trying to ignore what is happening, and Christine hides her tears at the sink. In the middle of breakfast, Emma texts Justin to check on him, which sharpens the contrast between his growing feelings for her and the crisis unfolding at home.

Justin reflects on their arrangement and admits to himself that Emma is no longer part of a game to him. He wants a real chance with her and hopes she will stay in Minnesota, but because their deal depends on a kiss, he decides not to kiss her yet in order to stretch out their time together. At the same time, he recognizes that his mother leaving, his new responsibility for the children, and Emma's likely departure may make any future with Emma impossible.

When it is time for Christine to leave, she hugs each child goodbye. The hardest moment comes when she explains to Chelsea that she is going away and Justin will take care of her; Chelsea innocently asks whether Christine will return for her birthday, and the question breaks the rest of the family. After Chelsea runs off, Leigh and Justin walk Christine outside, where Christine apologizes and asks Justin to take good care of the children. Justin promises that he will and tells her she taught him how, which finally makes her break down before Leigh drives her away.

Once Christine is gone, Justin is overwhelmed not only by grief but by anger at everything that led to this point: his father's death, the failures around that accident, the missing nonprofit money, the sentence, and the timing. Sitting in the driveway, he concludes that he will probably lose Emma because he cannot ask her to join him in the wreckage of his family life and doubts he has anything to offer her now but hardship and responsibility.

As Justin sits outside feeling crushed by the weight of the house, the children, and his new duties, Benny and Brad arrive and quietly support him. Brad tells Justin he cannot avoid this pain and will have to go through it, with help. Then Brad and Benny reveal they have changed the plan: instead of separating Justin from the children during the move, they want Justin to take the kids to the Mall of America and Great Wolf Lodge for a few days while they move his things in, replace carpet, redo the bathroom, and prepare the house. Their intervention gives Justin practical help at the exact moment he feels most unable to carry everything alone.