Annie told Eric that she had already enrolled in a college class so she could earn teaching credentials in early childhood education.  Eric got upset because of it and was also upset that Mary wasn't going to school.  He figured out later that he was mostly upset about Mary.

Lucy started her senior year of High School and was excited that Andrew Nayloss would be back from Europe.  However, she found out from other kids at school that Andrew was not coming home.  Andrew showed up at Lucy's house that night and told her that when he found out that Lucy had been dating so many guys over the summer, that he got angry and got a girl in Paris pregnant and was going back.  Simon his freshman year of High School and was not excited about it because Nigel was in a different school district and Deena was in a different state.  At school, Simon saw his friend Jim who invited Simon to go to a cheerleaders that evening.  Eric caught Simon with a backpack full of toilet paper, but allowed Simon to go.  Simon and Jim later showed up at the Camden's house with Sgt. Michaels.  Ruthie started fourth grade to find she had been stuck in class with the same teacher she had the year before who called her stupid.  Later, Ruthie got the chance to speak to her class and stood on her teacher's desk to preach about kids rights.

Matt came home and confessed to Eric that he and Heather had planned to elope last May, but she backed out at the last minute.  He had been upset with her ever since.  Later that night, Annie tried to break up with Matt for Heather and Matt realized it.  The two of them finally talked and broke up.

Mary didn't like that she couldn't borrow a car to go to her new job at the pool hall.  She was so impressed with her first day tips that she went out and bought a very expensive car to her parents disappointment.

90.Help

Matt got a D on his organic chemistry test and blamed everyone he could think of except himself as an excuse so he wouldn't have to admit he didn't understand the material.  Matt finally went to the professor and asked for help and admitted to John that he was blaming others for his own lack of understanding.

Annie had her first big test and got an A.  Eric really picked up and helped around the house.  Eric and Annie got a note from Ruthie's principal for them to come in to a meeting.  Eric went to find out that Ruthie had tested off the charts in a basic skills test, meaning she was extremely intelligent.  The principal felt she would do better at Eleanor Roosevelt private school for girls.  Ruthie didn't want to go, but after a visit to the school, she decided she did want to go.  Ruthie was able to go on a full scholarship so her family didn't have to pay.

Lucy was nominated for homecoming queen and loved High School. Simon however was tardy on his first day of school because he got confused in the hallways and hated high school.  In an effort to help Simon out, she let Simon help her with her campaign to become homecoming queen and that helped boost his social status.  Lucy found out that he promised an underclassman girl that Lucy would go to her party.  Lucy was informed by a friend that if she went to the party, she would lose the votes of the upperclassmen.  Lucy agreed to go to the party anyway because she loved her brother more.

Mary was fired from the pool hall.  She lied at first and didn't let her family know she'd been fired.  The Colonel showed up at the house and no one knew why at first, but learned that it was about Mary.  When the Colonel took Mary to the pool hall to get some food, Mary admitted that she'd been fired, but lied about the reasons.  Mary thought the Colonel was offering to help her by giving her money to pay her debts, but he refused to give her money.  His offer to help was to help her through school, but she turned him down flat, getting angry that he wouldn't give her money.  On the phone, Mary literally screamed at someone warning her what would happen if she didn't make her payments on time.

91.Busted

Lucy brought home a bunch of college catalogs so she could apply for early acceptance and Eric was very happy.  Lucy invited over a guy, Mike, she met in the counselor's office at school named Mike so they could go over catalogs together.  Mike made an offer to show Lucy how to fill out college applications in a way that maximized the possibility of acceptance in return for her being his date for every major event for the rest of their senior year.  Lucy wasn't so sure because they didn't know each other and had never been on a date, but finally agreed.

Mary's lost her job from Pete's Pizza, but is still hanging out with Frankie and Johnny.  She spent all day at their trailer and while there, she saw Frankie smoke marijuana.  After Mary got home, Lucy could smell smoke on her.  Mary changed the subject by telling Lucy that her new friend Mike Pierce use to be in her grade but missed a year of school because he was in a hospital because he tried to kill himself.  Eric got a phone call from a police officer later that night telling him that Frankie and Johnny had been arrested for possession of marijuana.  Eric talked to Mary later and Mary lied that her new friends didn't smoke pot.  When Eric confronted her with the truth, Mary told him that she saw Frankie smoke it that evening and that she didn't immediately leave, but that she didn't smoke any with her.  Eric went and helped them out.  He met Mike at the door on the way out and Mike told him that he had tried to kill himself and after Eric left, Mike talked to Lucy about it.

Simon took Matt up on his free offer to drive Simon on a date.  Simon made a quick date with a Spelling Bee champ from school named Marsha.  However, Simon got annoyed when Marsha took total interest in Matt and not him.  When Simon and Marsha came out of the movie, they saw Matt and Marsha invited Matt with them to get pizza.  Simon tried to keep Matt away, but Marsha insisted and Matt agreed.  Simon walked Marsha to the door and he was ready to walk back to the car, but she stopped him and kissed him.  However, as she kissed him, she turned so she could see Matt's reaction.  Afterwards, Matt suggested they go to the promenade to pick up chicks.  Simon agreed and by doing so, disobeyed his mom.  Marsha later called the Camden's house and talked to Eric and asked to talked to Matt and Eric informed her that he lived on his own.  She then asked for Matt's phone number and Eric told her that Matt didn't give them his phone number but that he would give him hers.  She said it was listed and he asked what time they dropped her off.  When Simon got home, he held out a piece of paper and told Eric that he got a phone number.  Eric took the paper and ate it and told him that Annie had told him not to hang out with Matt to pick up chicks.

Ruthie secretly wrote in a diary that she kept well hidden.  She was writing in it for school.  She snuck around the house and wrote down things about other family members.  Lucy later informed Eric and Annie that Ruthie was keeping a diary and that she had watched them having sex and wrote about it.  Annie took the page out and told Ruthie that it was not funny, but Ruthie kept saying it was funny.  Annie then came across Matt and Simon in the hall and Matt informed her that all the kids had seen them at some point in their lives.

Eric and Annie watched a movie together when the rest of the kids didn't want to do a family movie night.

93.Blind

Friday Night:
Matt saw a girl in the library, Kim, who seemed asked if he had dated Heather and then ignored him.

Ruthie asked if she could have her two best friends spend the night.  Rachel from her new school and Sarah from her old school.  Annie agreed when Lucy volunteered to take responsibility for them.

Julie called Annie who handed the phone to Mary who asked Aunt Julie to baby-sit Eric the next day while Hank and Julie were moving Hank's office.  Julie was hesitant because of Mary's recent behavior, but finally agreed.

Saturday:
Ruthie informed Annie and Lucy that her two friends would also be spending the entire day over which Lucy didn't like.  Eric and Annie were thrilled at Lucy's taking over so they could have the whole day to themselves.  Lucy asked Simon to help her, but he said he wouldn't.  When Rachel and Sarah arrived, they hated each other.  Lucy got fed up with the two girls fighting with each other and sent both of them home that evening before the actual sleep over.

Simon was determined to change his image from nice-looking to tough looking.  Simon cut the sleeves off of one of his good church shirts and Lucy told him it was a bad idea because mom would make him pay for it.  Simon's friend talked him in to going out with him and Simon got his ear pierced.  Simon got home and Lucy lectured him for going out without anyone knowing.  She freaked when she saw the earring.  Ruthie laughed at it and said he looked like a girl.  Eric and Annie told him he had to take it out and he was upset about it but said fine.  Eric and Annie asked Lucy if she was available the next weekend and she said that she needed to get a boyfriend.

Frankie called Mary at home and asked her to baby-sit her daughter Mercy.  Mary told her that she couldn't because she was baby-sitting for her aunt and uncle and they wouldn't like it.  Frankie told Mary to lie, but Mary refused.  Mary arrived at the Hastings home and was drilled over what to do in any situation.  They told Mary that they'd go out for dinner and wouldn't be back until 9-10 that night.  Frankie came over and asked Mary in person to baby-sit for her.  She said that she thought Johnny was cheating on her and needed one hour, two max, to follow him and find out.  Mary agreed and was surprised that Frankie had left Mercy alone in the car.  Mary got annoyed that everyone kept calling to check up on her.  When going through Mercy's bag, she found a beer bottle.  She then fretted over drinking it or not after she opened it.  Later as Hank and Julie were at the restaurant waiting to order, they tried to call Mary only to find that the phone was off the hook.  They decided to leave right then to go home.  Hank and Julie came home to find two babies left unattended with the phone off the hook as well as an empty beer bottle.  Mary rushed downstairs when she heard them.  Mary told them that Frankie drank the beer.  They sent Mary home and she asked them not to tell her parents.  Mary went to Frankie and Johnny's and hung out, even though Eric told them to stay away from Mary.

When Eric and Annie were out, they saw Johnny with another woman and Johnny was suppose to be in drug and alcohol counseling at that moment with Frankie as terms of their agreement for getting out of jail.  They followed him around and finally followed him into the pool hall.  Annie wanted Eric to just go over and talk to them so they could stop following them around, but Eric said that wasn't his way of doing things.  Eric finally went over and talked to Johnny when Annie stepped out of the room.  As they talked, Frankie came in and saw the girl that Johnny ushered out.  The two got into a big argument and started  yelling at each other.  When Johnny grabbed Frankie's shirt, Eric jumped in the middle to make him let go of her and Johnny hit Eric in the face.  Annie rushed to Eric to see if he was okay and the pool hall manager asked Eric if he wanted him to call the police.  Eric said no and Eric ended up talking with Johnny while Annie talked with Frankie.  Frankie and Johnny apologized to each other and decided to tell Eric and Annie exactly what they wanted to hear.  Eric and Annie knew though that they were telling them what they wanted to hear.  Eric asked them to stay away from Mary.

Matt talked to John about what happened at the library.  He thought Heather must have said something to the girl.  Matt went out and got Kim's phone number by telling the head librarian that Kim had his book that he needed back.  He called and she was upset because her number was unlisted for a reason.  She told him to leave him alone and hung up, but Matt didn't give up.  Matt went over to the apartment and Kim's brother met him at the door.  He said that Kim had asked him to come over and told Matt that Kim was blind.  He let Matt in to talk to Kim.  Kim explained to him about her eye disease RP.  She thought Matt was into women with disabilities which is why he seemed interested in her.  They agreed to be casual acquaintances.

94.Broke

Mary's problems were causing tensions around the Camden house.  Eric and Annie were fighting which made the kids uncomfortable and nervous.

Lucy answered the phone and a lady asked for Mary.  Lucy told her that Mary wasn't there and the lady asked who she was.  Lucy asked who was calling and the lady answered, "I asked first."  Lucy hung up and when the phone rang again, didn't answer it.  Simon came in and told Lucy it was for her and the lady called her Mary.  Lucy informed her that she was Mary's sister Lucy, but the lady wouldn't believe her.  She asked Lucy, calling her Mary, why she wouldn't pay her credit card bill.  Lucy finally hung up on her again when the lady wouldn't be convinced that she wasn't Mary.  When Mary finally got home, Lucy told her about it and told Mary to pay her bill.  Mary said okay and asked Lucy to loan her fifty bucks.  Lucy said no and Mary reacted like a total jerk to her.  She then asked Simon for fifty bucks who told her no.  The phone rang and Lucy gave Mary the phone, telling her it was the collection agency.  Mary tossed it back and Lucy gave it back, telling her to take care of it.  Mary hung up before taking the call.  Ruthie then got her attention and told her that she could give Mary her $20 in birthday money.  Mary took the money.  Lucy, Simon, and Ruthie didn't know what to do, so they called Matt.  He came over and they met.  Later, the collection lady called and Matt pretended to be her attorney.  After the call, Ruthie came up with the idea to use Sam and David's savings fund to pay Mary's bill.

While her siblings all worried over Mary's situation, Mary blew her money at the movie theater.  Mary got home and they gave her the money from the piggy banks.  When Annie paid off her credit debt, she allowed them to raise her credit line which raised her interest rates while lowering her monthly payments.  At the car place, she signed up to have her loan extended.  It would lower monthly payments, but make her pay more in the long run.  After leaving the car insurance place, she saw a help wanted sign in a window and went in and got hired.  A lady then walked in and told him he couldn't hire anybody and would have to call Mary and tell her that.  When Mary got home, she told them that she got a new job and that everything was going to change for her.  After getting to her room, Mary got a phone call telling her that the position had already been filled.  Lucy asked who was on the phone and Mary said that it was a wrong number.

At the police station, Sgt. Michaels told everyone that they were going to set up road blocks for possible drunk drivers.  After he was done, one officer went up and talked to Sgt. Michaels about when he pulled over Mary Camden.  Sgt. Michaels later found Eric and told him about what the officer told him.  They ate at Pete's Pizza and the owner told Eric about why he fired  him.  He also told them that Mary, Frankie, and Johnny had all lied to him about staying away from each other.  Eric later was at Julie's house and Julie told him about the baby-sitting incident.

At their apartment, John expressed to Matt that he was upset with Mary because she tried to borrow a significant amount of money from him which he didn't loan her.  He also saw her a couple nights before at the promenade with a couple of people who were drinking beer and smoking.  Matt thanked John for telling him.

At the market, Annie saw an insurance agent from her church who told her that Mary was driving without insurance.  Annie stopped at the pool hall later and found out that Mary had lied about quitting, but was actually fired.  Annie stopped at the hospital in search of Eric and found Hank.  He took her to his office and told them about Mary's trouble when she baby-sat for them.

95.Bye

Eric and Annie were on a mission to find out where Mary got the money to pay her debts.  They questioned everyone they can think of, including the kids.  The kids lied about it to their parents, claiming that they didn't know, even going so far as an elaborate cover up to the truth.  However, Eric and Annie were on to the fact that their kids knew more than they were telling and the kids found out.  Eric and Annie invited Rev. Hamilton and his wife over for the evening and while they were there, Annie and Patricia walked into the twins room to find Ruthie filling the twins piggy banks with rice.  The Hamilton's showed themselves out as Ruthie tried to cover up the truth by taking the blame on herself, before Matt finally let it out and Lucy and Simon were there as well.  They finally admitted that they all conspired with Mary to take the twins savings of $500 to pay Mary's debts.  Eric and Annie had a meeting with them and waited for Mary to come home. Mary had been gone a lot, claiming to be out looking for a job, but throughout the episode, we saw her at the movie theater, seeing the same film over and over again.

When Mary finally came home, Matt, Lucy, Simon, and Ruthie, mostly in tears, shared their feelings and thoughts with Mary.  Eric and Annie finally dismissed the other kids so they could get down to business with Mary.  Eric and Annie informed Mary then that they had made the decision to send her to Buffalo to live with the Colonel and Ruth.  They informed Mary that she was flying out that night and that two suitcases were waiting for her in her room so she could pack.  She got very upset and refused to say good-bye to any of her brothers or sisters.  At the airport, she made it clear that she blamed her dad solely for this decision.  Once she boarded the plane, Eric finally broke down crying as Annie sought to comfort him.

96.Gossip

The episode opened in church on Sunday morning where as Eric preached, many people in the congregation told terrible, untrue rumors about Mary.  After church, Eric and Annie talk about Mary in his church office and overhear a couple ladies walk by, gossiping.  Outside church, Matt meets a woman in a wedding dress who asked directions to St. Monica's Church.  As Lucy and Ruthie served drinks inside the church, they had to face two teenagers who were talking about the gossip and wanted to know the truth, but Lucy didn't want to talk about it.  Meanwhile, Simon's friend told him that he could use Mary's "bad girl" reputation to get the girls and got him set up with the Murphy twins (played by Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen).

At home, Annie told Eric that she was going out with Robin (an old boyfriend).  Eric was against it, but Annie went anyway.  Lucy's boyfriend Mike came over to study and told her that she could make up a rumor to diverge people's attention from gossiping about Mary.  Lucy decided not to, but Ruthie who overheard the conversation decided to try it and spread all sorts of untrue rumors to her school principal about her family.  She said that Lucy had a lot of disabilities, Simon was mute,  that Matt lived in his car and had been in jail, that Eric lost his job and they don't have any money and her mom is an alcoholic.  Matt re-met the woman in a wedding dress in the pool hall and decided he was going to marry her, but she left before he got her name.

One of the gossiping church members, Mrs. Beaker, brought her niece who was a family counselor to the Camden house, thinking Eric and Annie might want someone to talk to about Mary.  Lucy struggled with Mike being her boyfriend because of all the gossip that went around about him since he had tried to kill himself.  She broke off their date for the dance.  Simon and his friend managed to get a date with the Murphy sisters.  They planned to meet each other at the promenade since the girls dad wouldn't let them go out except with groups.  Simon was surprised that they weren't going to meet up with a group, but that the twins had tricked their dad.  The girls ended up causing all sorts of trouble for Simon as he watched them shop-lift, took the blame for one of the girls pinching someone, snuck into a movie with them, and ran off before paying the check at a restaurant.  Sgt. Michaels finally caught up with them.

When  Eric went out to Baskin & Robbins for ice cream, Ruthie's principal confronted him about what Ruthie had told her.  Mrs. Beaker and her niece walked in the pool hall to find Annie sitting at a table with another man.  They got a table and called more ladies from the church who joined them.  They had more to gossip when they saw Eric walk in with Ruthie's principal.  The principal sat down with Robin while Eric and Annie went off to talk about Ruthie.  As they talked, Eric spotted the ladies from church all staring at them.  Eric, fed up with them, went over and told them that they were dating other people, Annie - her ex-boyfriend and Eric - Ruthie's principal.  He told them the truth about Mary going to his parents because of financial trouble and that they were just using that up as a cover-up story.  Later, Mrs. Beaker went to Eric and apologized.  An employee at the pool hall called Matt to tell him the woman's name and where and when she wanted to meet him.  She wasn't there, but when he got home he found her in his apartment with John.  John left and they spent the night doing nothing but kissing.

Sgt. Michaels beeped Eric because he had Simon at the promenade and they left to go there.  They then went to the school dance where they found Ruthie and confronted her on her lying.  After confronting her, they decided to stay and Eric and Annie danced with each other.

97.Tunes

Matt got a note from Heather that she wanted to meet with him and he was anxious about it.  He thought Heather wanted him back and he didn't want to start a relationship with her again.  Matt found Simon hanging out on a sidewalk with a bad group of guys from his school listening to bad rap.  He tried to take Simon home, but Simon refused and told Matt that it wasn't his business who his friends were and what music he listened to.  Back at his apartment, Eric showed up to give Matt some pants that Annie bought for him.  There Matt told Eric about the letter from Heather and hinted that Simon's new friends from school and choice of music could be trouble.

In a record store, one of Simon's friend called Lucy a really bad name and slapped her on the rear.  Lucy saw the guy with Simon outside the store and confronted him about it, but Simon saw nothing wrong with what his friend Norton did to her.  Annie walked up to them on the street and Norton rudely approached her, but she scared him off.

At church, Robbie brought Cheryl into meet Eric and told him that they wanted to get married.  Back home, Simon and Annie talked to Eric about Simon's friend Norton who harassed Lucy and harassed and threatened Annie.  Annie left and Eric had a serious talk with Simon, but didn't get through to his son.  Afterwards, Annie talked to Eric about Robbie's engagement to Cheryl.  Eric left to talk with them and Lucy and Ruthie asked Annie for permission to go to the concert which she granted.  John had an argument with a doctor at the hospital over a CD he wanted John to play.  John was able to get the doctor to accept his point of view.  After the doctor walked away, a girl named Priscilla Carter walked up to meet him and invited him for coffee in the cafeteria.

Annie found Matt with Simon in Simon's room and Simon said that Matt came to pick him up.  Simon pleaded with Annie to let Matt take Simon to confront Norton before she stormed off to confront him and his mom.  Annie reluctantly agreed and noticed Matt was wearing the new pants she bought him.  Matt brought up the letter he got from Heather.  While talking with Robbie and Cheryl, he learned that Robbie's mom had just taken off and Robbie was living with Cheryl.  Eric asked if the reason they wanted to get married was because they were living together.  Robbie admitted that they were going to have a baby.

Lucy called for Ruthie to go to the concert and Ruthie came downstairs dressed procatively like the band members of the concert they were going to.  Eric and Annie walked in and refused to let her leave like that and Ruthie refused to change.  Annie stood her ground and Ruthie rushed upstairs.  At Matt's apartment, Matt and Simon talked about the issues involved with the kind of music Simon was listening to while they waited for Simon to show up.  At home, Lucy went up to Ruthie's room and told her they could still make the concert.  She still refused to change and Annie walked in to talk with her girls and was able to get through to Ruthie.  Back at the apartment, John showed up smiling and told them that he just came from a date with Miss Right who he believed would be his future bride.  Matt told John that Simon's friend Norton was coming over and John said that he forgot to tell Matt that Heather was coming over.  They all quickly rushed downstairs and outside where they saw the guys surrounding Heather who had Norton pinned with his arm behind his back.  She let go of Norton and Simon tackled him to the ground.  A woman cop showed up and arrested Norton.

At home, Cheryl showed up to talk to Eric alone.  She told him that she wasn't pregnant, but didn't tell Robbie because she was afraid he wouldn't marry her if he found out she wasn't.  Matt finally talked with Heather who told him that she was dating someone.  Outside the apartment, John had a heart to heart with Simon until Annie showed up to pick Simon up.  Simon got in the car and before they took off, Simon apologized.  Back home, Eric had a heart to heart with Robbie in the back yard.  They were interupted by Lucy and Ruthie who were getting back from going out to a hamburger drive-in.

98.Suprize!

Eric stopped on the street to listen to a woman playing guitar and singing for money.  We he leaned over to drop money in her guitar case, he saw Robbie sitting in an alley doing homework.  Eric was going to leave him, but then took him to get something to eat.  They had a talk and Eric invited him home with him to the surprise of the whole family, especially Annie when Eric brought Robbie in when Annie was wearing lingerie.  When Robbie was in the kitchen, he saw Lucy come down in her underwear.  Eric talked over it with Annie and she agreed to let Robbie stay the night.  Eric took Robbie to a homeless shelter, but didn't like what he saw, so he took Robbie back home to let him live with them.  Robbie took Ruthie's room and Ruthie moved up to the attic with Lucy.

Simon was mysteriously talking on the phone to some girl all through the episode.  At the end of the episode, she came by the house to pick up Simon for a date and Eric was surprised that she was older than Simon and drove there.

Matt was annoyed by John and Priscilla's kissing and so Matt went back to his parents house and was upset to find Robbie.  He finally went back to his apartment to see John propose marriage to Priscilla.

Lucy's friend Mike got accepted to college and Lucy hadn't heard anything for herself.  Mike came over to tell Lucy and Lucy got jealous when she assumed Mike had been out on a date with someone else.  Later Lucy got her letter in the mail, but was too nervous to open it.  She felt that she needed to apologize to Mike for being rude and went over to his house.  There she met Mike's mom who suffered from major depression.

99.Home

Mary's in Buffalo and Robbie's living with the Camden's after Eric found him homeless.  Mary assumes that Lucy is dating Robbie and calls Matt at his apartment to ask.  Matt has no clue and mentions to Mary that Robbie (her ex-boyfriend whom she still likes) is living there.  Matt's roommate John Hamilton pleads with Matt after he hangs up to stay for the evening to meet his girlfriend's parents.  Matt, who doesn't want to meet them, sticks with his decision to go home for the night.

Mary calls Ruthie and bribes her to give her information about Robbie and Lucy.  Ruthie confirms to Mary that Robbie and Lucy aren't dating and Ruthie makes it obvious that she likes Robbie.  After hanging up, Ruthie asks Robbie if he's going out with Lucy and he tells her no.  Ruthie then goes and asks Lucy who also confirms that they are not a couple and strongly tells Ruthie that there is no way that she'd ever go out with Robbie.  Ruthie is pleased and Lucy suspects that Ruthie has a reason for asking that she's not telling.

Eric presses Robbie to help out around the house and Robbie really pulls through and helps out a lot.  Annie begins to feel upset that she's no longer needed because Robbie and her kids are all taking care of everything.  Eric suspects that she feels this way because Ginger is completely taking care of Annie's dad and Annie wants to help take care of him.  Annie pleads with Eric to get Robbie a job so he can move out because she wants to feel needed.  Eric tells her he's working on it and he is, but it's Saturday and he can't get as much done.

Eric and Annie both are upset that Mary hasn't been calling them and feels more left out when they learn that Matt and Ruthie have both talked to her on the phone.  Eric decides to use Robbie to call her and Robbie is finally able to convince Mary that he and Lucy are not dating.  Mary doesn't mind that Robbie's living there which was the fear of Eric and Annie.  Robbie tells Mary she should call her dad.

Matt ends up going to Heather's house where she's with her new boyfriend.  Matt makes himself welcome when it's obvious he's not, but Heather plays a good hostess to him.  When John shows up to beg Matt to come meet his girlfriend's parents, Heather's boyfriend makes up a story that the girlfriend is the daughter of the owner of Carter's Sheets and is very wealthy.  Matt jumps at the opportunity then for a good meal and leaves.

Robbie and Simon go out for pizza so that Robbie could gain financial advice from Simon.  He tells Simon that he already has a job working at a day care which goes along with his major for early childhood development, the same major as Annie.  Robbie tells Simon that he loves kids and wants to work with them.  He tells Simon about his idea for using all his money so far on airline tickets for a day.

Matt shows up late to his apartment and apologizes to John for missing his girlfriends parents.  John, depressed, tells Matt how he blew it with her parents which all started because of the lie that was told about what her parents did.  Her parents were rich, but did not manufacture sheets.  As a result of their disapproval of him, they cut their daughter off totally financially.  She ended up showing up at the apartment to move in with John.  John confirms that he doesn't believe in pre-marital relations, but her parents have forced this.  John kicks Matt out.

Robbie and Simon come home and Simon hurries upstairs leaving Robbie alone in the kitchen with Eric and Annie.  Robbie tells them about his job which pleases them.  He then tells them that he bought plane tickets for Annie, David, and Sam to fly down to be with Annie's dad for a day.  He realized Annie needed to be needed and didn't want to leave the twins behind.  Annie thanks him and tells him he doesn't have to rush out to find his own place.  Mary calls and talks to Eric who is glad to finally hear from her.  She then asks to talk to Annie.  Matt shows up and tells his parents that he's moving back in, but his parents walk off smiling, not caring that he's coming back home or his reasons.

Upstairs, Ruthie spies Robbie reading the love letter she left for him on the pillow.  Ruthie priorly had a talk with Lucy and Lucy talked Ruthie out of pursuing the romance.  Ruthie rushes in and in an attempt to cover herself and tells Robbie that it's Lucy's handwriting.  Robbie, sighing, tells Ruthie that he should talk to Lucy (obviously starting to think that the rumor about them dating was because she liked him).  Lucy walks in at that moment and Ruthie runs out.  Robbie, shaking his head, says they need to talk.  Lucy, totally confused finally figures it out after a few seconds when realizing he's under the impression that she wrote the love note with only three words on it, "I love you."  Realizing that's the impression he's getting, she can't get the words out that Ruthie wrote it, but runs out of the room with the sense of the thought "I'm gonna kill her!" being felt

100.One hundred

Lucy is back in Glen Oak, living with her family after breaking it off with Jeremy, but we don't know the details.  All we know is that she went to New York with Jeremy to go to school at a Seminary and now she's home and is very upset.  Robbie is depressed because he no longer has Mary as she went back to New York with Wilson.  In New York, Mary and Wilson have been talking about marriage, but haven't decided.  The Colonel suggested to Mary that she look to a career in public service since she wasn't going to school and if she married Wilson and something happened to him, she would be responsible for Billy.  Mary decided to become a police officer, but everyone was against the idea.  She then started wondering about other possible ideas such as fire fighting.  Back in Glen Oak, Simon had a total attitude problem and demanded to be treated like a man.  So Eric decided that Simon should be responsible for waking himself up on time in the morning for school and paying for his own meals and so on.  Simon also wanted to get his learner's permit but Eric told him he had to wait.  When Eric found out that Simon was hitchhiking, Eric put off Simon getting his permit even farther as punishment.  Annie was also highly emotional as she was going through menopause.  Eric was stressed out about everything but the doctor told him his heart was good, but perhaps he should seek some help before his blood pressure raised again.  Ruthie went through the entire episode talking about changes and Matt was laid off from the hospital and was out looking for a new job.  Eric disapproved of depressed Lucy and depressed Robbie being so close since they weren't really brother and sister.

112.Teased

Simon witnessed another student (Nick) at school being teased and he stood up for him.  After the guy being teased and the teasers all left, Simon saw a teacher walk out into the hall who had heard the whole thing and did nothing.  Robbie caught Ruthie sneaking his cookies and came up with a nickname for her, "Snookie."  Lucy came in and Ruthie begged her to tell why she broke up with Jeremy but wouldn't say.  Ruthie asked Robbie who said he wouldn't tell her because she couldn't be trusted.

Eric received a phone call from an old friend from High School, a woman nicknamed Bird.  She told Eric to call her back so they could see each other and Annie told Eric to invite Bird over for dinner.  After Annie left his church office, a couple came in where the guy only had one arm.  He told Eric that his prosthetic arm was stolen  from some guys at work who thought it was funny and wanted Eric's help.   At Matt's new job, one of his co-workers saw him kissing his girlfriend and nicknamed him "Hot Lips."  Cheryl drove on in Matt's car and found Simon walking on the sidewalk and offered him a ride.  She could tell something  was wrong, but Simon wouldn't tell her what.  Mary talked to Lucy on the phone and told Lucy she was going to be a firefighter.  As she told this to Lucy, her candle caught the curtain on fire.

Eric introduced Bird to his family at dinner that evening and Annie was not enthusiastic about Eric's good looking, old friend.  Matt came in and introduced himself to Bird and told her that she could call her Hot Lips because he was being called that at work, clearly not happy about it.  From talking about it, it came up that Cheryl was driving Matt's car and Matt told them that she was going to school which made Robbie laugh out loud.  Simon suddenly got very upset about teasing and name calling and stormed out.  Eric followed him upstairs and got interrupted by the phone ringing.  It was for Simon and he gave the phone to Simon, saying he wanted to talk with Simon later.  Simon talked to Nick on the phone who thanked Simon for standing up for him.  He also told Simon that he was planning to bring a gun to school and blow the teasers away.  Eric talked to Simon later, but Simon wouldn't tell Eric the real reason why he was upset, and Eric knew he wasn't telling him everything.  After Eric left, Simon called Sgt. Michaels to tell him about Nick.

Wilson called Mary to say goodnight and she told him about the fire she started which caused the fire department to come.  Wilson urged Mary to use humor in her interview with the guy from the fire department when she went for an initial job interview the next day.  Eric overheard Robbie talking on the phone to Cheryl about her going to school.  As they were laying in bed, Ruthie tried to get Lucy to tell her what happened in New York between her and Jeremy.  Lucy got upset with Ruthie's attitude and calling her "Lady Liberty" and told Ruthie that her nickname should be "Sneaky" not "Snookie" and that Robbie's nickname was just a nice way to tell Ruthie she was sneaky.  Ruthie got upset at that and cried.

As they laid in bed, Eric confessed that he got his feelings hurt earlier when Annie said he had a weak heart.  Annie immediately got upset and cried.  Simon went down and told Robbie he needed the phone, so Robbie hung up and went upstairs.  Simon called Sgt. Michaels who said he went to Nick's house and from everything he saw, Nick didn't have any signs of being a shooter.  However, he told Simon that he did the right thing and believed the kid could be capable of shooting someone.  Sgt. Michaels urged Simon to talk to Eric.  Simon didn't want to do that because the last time Simon involved Eric in a gun crisis, Eric got shot.  But he finally agreed to do as Sgt. Michaels suggested and to talk to his dad.

The next morning, Ruthie advertised she was coming into the kitchen.  Robbie tried to talk to her, but she ignored him, so he left.  Ruthie told Annie that she was upset because Robbie really thought she was sneaky.  Eric met a guy from the same workplace as the guy who lost his arm and Eric gave him a serious talk about teasing and really seemed to get through to the guy.  Simon overheard Eric's speech and instead of going in to talk to Eric, he left.  Annie caught Lucy in the hall and asked her to tell her about what happened in New York, but Lucy wouldn't tell her.  Matt picked up Cheryl and she told Matt that he was insensitive but didn't want to talk with him about it right then.  At school, Nick talked to Simon about the cop who came over.  Nick said he was just joking and wasn't going to really kill them, however Simon didn't believe him.

At the church, Bird stopped by to talk with Eric.  She talked to him about how her dad had a clubbed foot and had teased her brother Ben about his clubbed foot.  Her dad thought it would help Ben take teasing at school, though Ben wasn't ever teased at school.  She told him that her brother had a son the year before born with the same foot problem and her dad couldn't handle the problem and made a joke about the baby.  Ben and his wife took the baby and left town and she hadn't seen them since and then her dad died and she had no family left.  Bird told Eric that she was seeking Eric for help in forgiving her father.  Eric told her that people don't have the power to forgive, but God has the power to forgive, and urged her to turn it over to God.  And by turning it over, she could let it go and move on.  Simon interrupted and told his dad it was a matter of life and death.

When Robbie got home, Annie told him why Ruthie was upset at him, explaining what Lucy had told her.  She told Robbie that Ruthie really liked him and he said that she loved him.  Annie got all weepy and embraced Robbie, telling him that they all loved him.  At work, Matt told a lady not to call him Hot Lips because it could be considered sexual harassment.  She asked Matt if it was and he said no, she smiled and went on.  Cheryl called Matt on the phone and told him that she was teased growing up by her mom and her mom's boyfriend and wanted to prove to herself that she wasn't stupid like she'd been teased.  Simon told her not to make school about proving anything, but to learn.  Robbie went up to talk to Ruthie and she walked out without saying a word.  Robbie asked Lucy about why she said what she said.  Robbie asked Lucy when she was going to tell the others and she wasn't sure she would.  He told her she should.  Annie came up to tell Robbie where Ruthie was and he left.  Lucy then told Annie it was because Jeremy's family all teased her and made fun of her.

Wilson called Mary and she told him that because of all the jokes she made to try and convince them she had a sense of humor, they turned her down, thinking she wasn't serious enough.  Robbie found Ruthie hiding in the living room and told her that he didn't think she was sneaky.  Robbie told her he thought of her as a little sister and Ruthie referred to Lucy as an idiot which Lucy overheard.  Lucy said she deserved it.  Eric brought Simon home and told Annie that Simon was speaking ot all the social studies classes at school the next day about changing the world.

The next day, Simon talked to the classes on the issue of teasing as Eric with Sgt. Michaels, other officers, and the school principal, took Nick to his locker where they found a gun.

113.sympathy

Simon boarded a bus and sat next to a girl he found attractive, Sally.  She asked if he wanted to go out sometime and he agreed.  He didn't realize until after she got up to leave the bus that she was very pregnant.  When asking advice from a guy at school, Simon realized that his parents had let sister Mary date an unwed father and could use that as a reason why they couldn't forbid him from dating Sally.  Simon next sought Robbie out for advice and Robbie told Simon that he was not going to go out with a pregnant girl.  At the clinic, Matt was talking with Sally when she told him she had a date that night with Simon.  Robbie and Simon came down to the kitchen arguing and Eric asked about the situation Matt kept calling to talk to Simon.  Simon finally went out on the date with her and when Annie found out, she got very upset with Eric.  When Simon was out, Robbie, Lucy, and Ruthie went out to spy on him.  As Simon and Sally were at the bus stop, Sally told Simon that she was pregnant with her third child.  When Matt got home, he asked Eric how he could let Simon go out with Sally.  Eric told Matt that he found out he was totally incompetent as a husband and father.  Robbie, Lucy, and Ruthie spotted Simon on a bus and yelled at him to get off at the next stop.  The four of them sat around at a bus stop and discussed the negative side to sympathy.

Annie agreed to letting Robbie have the room over the garage because he was the only one willing to pay rent, even though the room wasn't done yet.  Robbie stopped by the clinic where Matt was working and told him that he was going to pay for the room above the garage so he would be out of Matt's hair.  Matt told him that he wanted the room above the garage for privacy.  Robbie then agreed to pay the same amount and to give the room to Matt.  After talking to Ruthie, Lucy lowered herself by crying to try and get Robbie to give her the room, but Robbie refused and told her he already gave it to Matt.

Billy had a slight fever and Mary was eager to act like a mom and wife and take care of them.  Mary told Wilson that the Colonel made some phone calls and got her into the training sessions for the fire department.

Lucy was at the unemployment office and found a guy named Ray that she felt sorry for and brought him home for Annie to hire to finish the garage.  The guy was willing to do the work for even just a meal when Annie told him she couldn't afford to pay anyone.  Annie still didn't want the guy to work and he conned her into letting him just take a look.  As he was coming back down a ladder, he forced himself to fall and fake an injury.  Annie called Eric who got upset an Annie.  Lucy felt sorry for herself in her room for bringing Ray over and Ruthie was totally mean to her, trying to get her to move out of the house.  When Eric got home, he told Annie the situation and that he couldn't talk to Ray because Ray's attorney wouldn't let him because Ray was too depressed to talk with anyone.  Annie stormed out to go down and talk with Ray and had to be taken out by security.  Later, Annie went back to the hospital and snuck in and lectured Ray again before security escorted her out once again which led Eric to go pick her up a second time.  As they headed home, Eric told Annie that she was acting like she did when they first met.

114.Worked

Eric came home with roses and chocolates, excited to take Annie out on a date.  She told him she didn't want to go out and he arranged to get pizza for the kids and for Ruthie to keep an eye on the twins so he could fix dinner for the two of them at home.  Annie didn't want romance and Eric settled for just conversation with her.  However, as he was fixing dinner, Annie said she was going out to be by herself and Eric was worried that things weren't okay between the two of them.  While out, Annie bumped into Serena and got some advice.  Annie got home and told Eric she was quitting college.  She then went up and called someone to accept an offer she had previously turned down to teach a morals class at Ruthie's private school.  Annie went up then to talk to Ruthie and Ruthie told Annie that she had decided what she wanted to be when she grew up so she could write her essay.  She told her mom that she wanted to be Annie when she grew up.  Annie then asked Ruthie if she would mind if she came to Ruthie's school a few days a week and Ruthie was totally for it.  Annie finally confronted Eric about her decision in which he was totally supportive.

Matt was concerned about a lady, Gina, at the free clinic who kept coming in with stomach pains.  She didn't want to come because she always got the same doctor, Dr. Kent, who told her she had heartburn, but she knew she didn't.  And since she didn't have health insurance, she couldn't go anywhere else.  Matt tried to Dr. Kent who refused to discuss the situation with him because he was only an orderly.  Matt ended up calling his uncle, Dr. Hank Hastings, who came in and saw Gina and discovered that she had a much more serious problem which required surgery.  When Dr. Kent found out, he got very angry and told Matt that he was fired.  Hank came to Matt's rescue however, and fired Dr. Kent.  Since Dr. Kent was the only doctor there, Dr. Hastings agreed to stay and Matt volunteered to stay later than his shift ended without pay.

Robbie tricked Lucy into setting her up on a date with his friend.  However, Robbie didn't expect the two to hit it off as well as they did and Robbie suddenly found himself to be getting very jealous.  When Lucy went to use the rest room, Robbie told his pal Hugh that Lucy wasn't having a good time and that he should go home.  So Hugh went home and when Lucy rejoined Robbie, she asked Robbie where Hugh went. Robbie told Lucy that Hugh wasn't having a good time and went home.
When they arrived home, Lucy pressured Robbie to tell her the truth why Hugh left and Robbie admitted that he sent Hugh home.  When she asked why, he confessed his attraction for her.  He leaned in to kiss her and she backed away and moved quickly on into the house.

Simon was having trouble with his new job at the pizza place.  He was late for work, he messed up people's orders, he spilled food and drinks on customers, and he failed to get food out to people on time, giving them warm drinks and cold pizza.  When his boss stopped him to talk with him, Simon told him that he knew his boss was going to fire him and that he would quit, making that night his last night.  Later, his boss confronted Simon on  a paper Simon had written about how his boss could save money.  The boss was impressed and instead of letting Simon go, promoted Simon to a new position the boss just thought of which allowed Simon to do what he loved, to work with figures and money.

Mary wasn't doing well with her firefighter training and got a phone from the instructor who told her that he didn't think she would make it.  Mary was struggling with trying to take care of Wilson and Billy, which Wilson was taking advantage of her kindness towards them.  When Wilson realized she was frustrated and that he wasn't helping her, he proposed marriage to her.

115.Realthionships

Annie inadvertently gave advice to one of her students (Christy) that Christy misinterpreted to mean that Annie thought her parents should get a divorce.  The girl's parents got very upset when they found out, but refused to talk to Annie about it, even when Annie showed up at their house.  They were bent on getting Annie fired without even knowing all the details and how Annie thought the student was talking about a bad relationship she was having with a boy.  Eric tried to help, but Annie scolded him to stay out of it, though when Christy showed up at their house, she asked Eric for help.  Annie called Christy's mom to tell her where her daughter was and was able to tell the truth about what had happened.  Through it, Ruthie had pointed out to her parents that they fought a lot and Annie was able to tell Christy's mom that even her and her husband fought.

Simon's friend's girlfriend kept flirting with Simon and coming on strongly to him, even going so far as to kiss Simon.  She wanted to break up with her boyfriend and go out with him.  Simon didn't fall for it and ended up calling his friend and telling him all about it.  He valued his friendship more.

Matt and Cheryl decided to break up since they couldn't find time for each other and Eric's involvement in the issue from Cheryl approaching him for advice only made things more complicated.

A guy going through the same training program with Mary asked her to join the others that evening.  Mary turned them down, saying she had a date with her boyfriend.  The guy showed up at Mary's home to ask her again and she turned him down again.  Wilson called to cancel the date, but Mary still told the guy that she needed to stay home to study.  So he stayed with her to help her study.  Towards the end of the evening, Mary told him it was time for him to go and he snuck her a kiss.  She immediately took offense and slapped him, but then kissed him.  She was kissing him when Wilson walked in.

Robbie called Mary to tell her about his feelings for Lucy, but she made it obvious before he brought it up that she wouldn't like it, so Robbie never brought it up.  Mary told him about Wilson's marriage proposal and that she hadn't made a decision yet. In his attempt to get over Lucy, figuring they couldn't have a future together, Robbie went on a date with a girl from school.  Lucy, who had been trying to find him all day to talk with him since they had been avoiding each other all week, heard about the date from Ruthie.  Lucy tracked them down at Pete's Pizza and joined them.  When Robbie was away, Lucy told the girl about Robbie's sordid past and the girl freaked and left before Robbie came back.  When they got home, Robbie demanded to know why Lucy had chased her off and Lucy said she was upset that Robbie had gotten over her so quickly like that.  Robbie asked if she would run away again if he tried to kiss her and she said no.  Robbie kissed Lucy then backed away.  Lucy then pulled him in for another kiss.  Unknown to them, Eric was inside the house watching them.

116.Broken

Robbie and Lucy tried to tell the family that they were a couple, but the family already had seen them kissing all week.  They then debated over who would call and tell Mary.  Ruthie ended up telling Mary.  Robbie took Lucy out on their first official date and it was a total flop.  Eric and Annie were against them being together, but it all worked out when Robbie and Lucy decided they really didn't want to be a couple and broke it off before it began.

Simon saw Sasha on his way to work, but she ignored him.  He saw her later to find out that she was waiting around to get back together with her jerk ex-boyfriend Larry.  He hung out with her until Larry came and she remembered how nice guys could be.  She finally decided not to get back with her ex-boyfriend and told that to Simon over the phone later that night when he called her.

Julie and Erica stopped by unannounced and Annie soon learned that Julie and Hank were planning to get a divorce because he quit his job at the hospital to take a job at the free clinic without talking with her first.  It also came out that Julie was pregnant again.  Eric and Annie got Hank and Julie to talk with each other and they were happy once again.

Matt suspected a girl in his study group was being abused by her boyfriend.  When he approached her about it she kicked him out of the group.  He got Cheryl to go talk to the girl and he learned through Cheryl that the girl got all the bruises because she was a boxer.

In Buffalo, Mary made the list to continue on with her firefighter training.  Mary came home to be surprised by seeing Wilson, especially since she hadn't seen him in a week since he walked in on her kissing another firefighter, Ben.  Right after Wilson told Mary that he never wanted to see Ben again, Ben walked in the door to tell Mary to hurry up, since she was planning to go out with the other firefighter trainees.  Wilson got upset and wouldn't let Mary explain and he stormed out of the house.  Mary went to Wilson and apologized and then asked him to elope.  He agreed, but when his son Billy questioned why he couldn't come and why they were running away, Wilson decided to back out of eloping.  He felt they should have a big wedding with their families.

117.Prodigal

The whole family was meeting in the new garage apartment to see Annie's progress and Matt and Lucy argued over who should get it.  Mary surprised them showing up unexpectedly and only Annie was excited to see her.  Mary told Eric that she was home for good and Eric told Annie.  Annie was excited, but Eric was not.  Mary went up to the attic to find a place to put her stuff, but Lucy and Ruthie told her that there wasn't any room.  Simon found Mary sitting with her luggage in the upstairs hallway and offered to help her move it, but when she told him there was no room upstairs, he told her that there was no room in his room.  Matt then came up and she asked Matt if she could toss her stuff in his closet and he showed her that it was full.  Mary was surprised that he and Robbie had left all of Ruthie's "Hello Kitty" stuff all over the room.  Everyone wanted to know what was up with her and Wilson, but she wasn't ready to tell them yet.  Robbie walked past Mary in the hallway and didn't say anything to her.

When Eric announced that he was going to the church to work on his sermon, Ruthie asked if he was going to preach on the prodigal son and Eric decided to make that his sermon.  Eric and the other kids felt like they couldn't trust Mary, that even if she told them about her and Wilson, it could be a lie.  They all went behind Mary's back to try and call Wilson.  The only one who actually reached Wilson was Eric and Wilson wouldn't tell him.  Mary finally talked to Robbie and all they talked about was the fact that he was going out.

Annie soon realized how the rest of the family felt and was upset about it.  She informed Eric that she was giving Mary the garage apartment and he told Matt.  Matt then staged a protest to stay in the garage until Annie decided not to give the apartment to Mary.  Lucy, Simon, and Ruthie joined him.

Ruthie found Robbie with lip stick all over his face.  Lucy then saw him and got upset because they had broke up only a week before, but Robbie told her that they didn't break up because they never got together.  Lucy ran upstairs and yelled at Mary, Ruthie came up and heard.  Lucy then stormed towards the attic, then came back to ask Ruthie whose side she was on.  Lucy then went upstairs and Ruthie said to Mary, "you understand, don't you?" and followed Lucy up.  Mary then went downstairs and found Robbie with the lip stick on his face.  She then asked him in tears if they all hated her.

The next morning, Annie freaked out when she couldn't find Matt, Lucy, Simon, and Ruthie.  Eric, who slept on the couch because of an argument the night before, figured they were all out in the garage apartment.  She went out there and gave them a chance to go back in the house.  When they refused, Annie told them they had made a big mistake.  She kicked the four of them out to the unfinished garage with a week's worth of allowance, a change of clothes, and some school books and told them she was going to let Mary have her choice of any room in the house.  She also told them that they could not come into the house for anything but to use the toilet.  Mary talked some more with Robbie about the girl he was dating and she told him that she and Wilson broke up.

Eric preached on the prodigal son.  His goal was for Mary to take it personally, however, Annie, Matt, Lucy, Simon, and Ruthie all took it personally and Mary thought he was preaching at all them.  Robbie brought his new girlfriend home to meet the Camden's and arrived before they got home.

118.Ay Carumba

Joy's parents wanted to meet Robbie which made Robbie very nervous.  Joy told him he needed to tell his parents that he was in love with her and had the intention to one day marry her.  She told him she wasn't needing that kind of commitment because she was just wanting to have fun, but her parents needed to hear it.  Joy's dad was tough on him, but finally approved of Robbie.

Matt, Lucy, Simon, and Ruthie turned their time in the garage apartment into a game of Survivor at Ruthie's idea.  Lucy was the first to be voted out then Simon.  After Simon left, Mary came up and apologized to Matt and Ruthie (since she had already apologized to Lucy and Simon).  Ruthie accepted the apology and hugged her, then fooled them both into getting them both to leave.  Once Matt and Mary were out, Ruthie shut the door and locked it.  Mary told Matt that the Colonel kicked her out.  Mary ended up telling Matt and Lucy the most about what had happened in Buffalo.  The last people Mary ended up apologizing to were Eric and Annie.

Annie and Eric still continued to disagree about Mary.  When Annie overheard Mary and Lucy talking however, she realized that her perception of Mary hadn't been completely right.  She went and had a long talk with Eric and they made up.

119.Lost

At Ruthie's suggestion, Mary and Lucy asked their parents to find boyfriends for them to one day marry.  When Ruthie overheard Robbie yelling at Joy over the phone, she told Mary and Lucy that his relationship with Joy was in trouble.  Mary and Lucy then told their parents they didn't want their help, but when they realized that Robbie and Joy were doing good, they asked their parents for help again.  They came up with names, but never told their daughters.  Mary eventually called Wilson and left a message on his answering machine.

Matt and Simon in an effort to pick up girls, took the twins to the promenade.  However, since they took them there at night, they got more lectures from girls than anything else.  However, Matt found Heather and took her to his backyard where Eric found them kissing.  She told Matt that she was moving to New York, so a relationship with her wouldn't work out even though he was her first love.

Robbie found out that Joy had a little brother named Joseph who had disappeared two years ago.  When Joy and her dad heard a dog barking in Robbie's car, he told them that he found the dog on the side of the road and picked it up.  He had planned to drive to Arizona to return the dog to it's owner but Joy and her dad quickly recognized the dog as Joy's little brother's.  They contacted the police department and Detective Michaels (now upgraded from Sgt.) contacted Eric to help them out.  Eric went to Arizona and when he saw Joseph and a lady walk towards the house, he came up to them with the dog.  Then suddenly the police all came out and arrested the woman who was Joy's father's old girlfriend who angrily shouted that she had done the right thing in taking Joseph.  She thought she deserved Joseph and his father did not.

120.Consediration

Eric forgot to tell Annie that her dad and Ginger were coming and neither had time to entertain house guests.  Annie was surprised that her dad was staying and that Ginger was going on a vacation.  Annie found out later what Eric already knew, and that Ginger had an appointment at the hospital to have tests run on her heart.  She discovered that she was just suffering from stress.

Matt had a problem with Robbie and Joy's relationship, but never said why or what.

Robbie told Lucy that Jeremy had called and would call back.  Lucy thought about calling him back and when Ruthie advised her against it, Lucy got angry at Ruthie telling her that she wasn't old enough to give her advice.  Ruthie's feelings got hurt and she got angry back.

The day came that Eric promised to take Simon to get his learner's permit, but with Charles and Ginger's arrival, he didn't have time.  He told Simon that they couldn't do it and asked him to watch Grandpa and Ruthie and clean up around the house.  Grandpa took Simon to get his learner's permit and when they came out of the place, he tossed Simon the keys and told him to drive.  So with Charles in the passenger seat and Ruthie and the twins in the back, Simon took the wheel for the first time.  A police car started following them, suspicious as to why they were driving so slow.  When Simon seemed to speed up, the officers thought that he was trying to get away from them and turned on their lights and sirens.  Charles told Simon that they did nothing wrong and that he should not pull over.  Charles took a nap and Ruthie urged Simon to pull over, but Simon said that he wouldn't.  He thought that when he got caught, he would lose his privilege to ever get a drivers license so he would stay in the car until it ran out of gas.  The chase soon grew to a major chase with many police cars and a helicopter chasing them.

At home, Robbie, Joy, Matt, and Lucy were all gathered around the television set watching Simon's car chase when Jeremy called.  Lucy told him that she would call him back.  Sgt. Michaels went to the hospital where Eric was waiting with Ginger.  He got Eric and they chased after Simon.  Eric got on the loud speaker and told Simon to pull over.  Simon finally pulled over and finally got out of the car.  Simon remarkably didn't get into any trouble with the police.

Lucy finally called Jeremy back and made a fool of herself because she thought he wanted her back.  In fact, he asked her for the engagement ring back so he could buy sheet music.  Lucy and Ruthie made up.

Mary had been trying to get into firefighter training with the Glen Oak Fire Department, but never heard back.  She talked to the fire chief face to face who told her that she wasn't cut out to be a firefighter.  Mary asked him what she should do with her life and he told her he didn't know.

121.pathetic

Annie quit her job teaching at Ruthie's private school after realizing that teaching was no longer her dream.  Eric felt hurt that she didn't talk about it with him first, but supported her decision.

Ruthie got upset when she discovered that Miss Riddle (the teacher who called her stupid back at her old school) was going to be teaching at her current school.  Miss Riddle and Ruthie ended up having a heart-to-heart talk where Miss Riddle told Ruthie about her past and her efforts to let go of her anger.  Ruthie accepted her as a teacher at her school.

Lucy refused to take off the engagement ring Jeremy gave her until Robbie's brother Ronald showed up.  Mary refused to take the engagement ring that Wilson gave her off the necklace she wore until after fireman Ben showed up and she blew it with him.  The two of them ended up heading to the post office to mail their rings back.

Simon wanted to drive with his learner's permit, but Eric put him off.  Robbie let Simon drive his car, not realizing that Simon couldn't drive without a license driver who was over 25.  Simon rear ended Matt on the road and both he and Robbie got a ticket.  This led to a heavy conflict between Matt and Robbie which ended up with them finally talking about Matt's real problem with Robbie which was Matt's thought that Robbie had been trying to take over Matt's position as oldest sibling in the family.

122.Suspicion

Ruthie helps a muslim girl who was being terrorized by some older boys by taking her home and hiding her in the garage.  However, when the rest of the family found stuff missing, their trail led them to the garage to find Ruthie and her new friend, Yasmine, the whole family decided to chip in and help.  Eric and Annie talked with the Yasmine's mom, Mary and Lucy went knocking on doors to ask their neighbors to sign a petition of support for their muslim neighbors, and Matt and Simon decide to find the boys responsible for terrorizing the young girl.  Mary and Lucy could not find anyone to sign their petition but found more neighbors who were upset that there were muslims in the neighborhood.  Matt and Simon got over excited and jumped to the wrong conclusions and accused the wrong people.  Eric and Annie talked to Ruthie's principal about getting financial aid for the muslim girl so she could transfer schools, but the board refused it when many parents complained about the idea of having a muslim girl at their school.  In protest, Ruthie quit private school to go back to public school and her principal and teacher Miss Riddle also quit to teach at the public school.

123.Drunk

In an attempt to be cool, Simon went to a wild party.  The only way Eric and Annie allowed him to go was for Simon to get his friend Morris to take him and look out for him while there.  At the party, Morris lost track of Simon when a couple guys took him out back and tricked Simon into drinking punch that had been spiked.  When Morris found him, he took Simon home, but dropped him off a few doors down so he wouldn't have to face Simon's mom after he had promised her to watch out for Simon.  When Simon got home, Matt, Mary, and Lucy saw him in the yard and realized that he was drunk.  They decided to take him in the house and cover for him.  Ruthie soon found out and got in on it too.  They sobered him up by his curfew and sent him out the back door to come back in the front door.  When Simon came in, he was surprised to find Morris there confessing the truth to his parents.  The lectured and punished Simon and sent him to his room.  There, Ruthie gave him a serious talk and he went back downstairs and apologized to his parents and took full responsibility.

Lucy got annoyed because Mary enrolled in all the same classes with her and invited herself to go along with Lucy and her two friends that evening.  When they showed up and realized it was a bar, Mary was uneasy and Lucy used her as her excuse to her friends not to drink.

Matt got two letters from two medical schools that he applied to, but was too nervous to open them.  He confessed to Ruthie that if he hadn't been accepted to either, then he didn't want to be a doctor.  Ruthie volunteered to open the letters for him and he agreed.  She opened and read them, then told Matt that he wasn't ready for what they said, and took off with them.  When Matt asked for the letters, she asked him if he had considered what he was going to do if they didn't accept him.  When she finally gave him the letters, she told him that one school had granted him a full scholarship and another school a half scholarship.

124.Hot Pants

It's Valentine's Day again and the twins are now 3 years old.

When Mary overheard Robbie talking on the phone, first to a hotel and then to Joy, she assumed he was going to make his first Valentine's Day with Joy like his first Valentine's Day with her.  She met with Joy to warn her, but Joy told Robbie about it and Robbie informed Mary that her plans to break them up would not work.  When Robbie arrived at the house, he was surprised to learn that everyone was gone and that the two of them were alone in the house.  Joy wanted to go up to her room and make out, but Robbie hesitated which led up to Joy getting upset and locking herself in the bathroom.  When the butler came home, Joy came out and Robbie finally got her to the hotel to meet his mom who had stopped in to get some medical records.  He informed Joy that he would be going to Florida quite a bit, but didn't explain why.

Matt visited Cheryl and Heather's mom and called Shana to find out want went wrong in their relationships.  Everyone told him that it was simply a case that he wasn't the one for them and that the right one for him was out there somewhere.

When Lucy saw Jeremy at school and he showed her the engagement ring, she thought he wanted her back, but he told her that he didn't.  He informed her that he had a date that evening.  Lucy decided that she wanted to see who and got Mary to come with her to the pool hall.  There, Lucy pretended that she and Mary had dates coming as she sat and waited with Jeremy, Mike and their dates.  While there, Mary sat at the bar and saw and old teammate from High School - Corrie (the one with a daughter.)  When Wilson came out, she realized that Corrie and Wilson were dating and their kids were really close, like brother and sister.  Lucy finally excused herself to the bathroom where she found Mary.  She didn't want to leave until after Jeremy and Mike left so they wouldn't know that she really didn't have a date, but they finally decided to let the guys go and left before them.

A senior girl (Maria Davis) invited Simon to the Valentine's dance, but he told him that he was baby-sitting his younger brothers.  She asked if she could come over and help and Simon asked permission and was told yes, so long as there was no making out.  As soon as she arrived though, that was all they did unknown to Eric and Annie who were in the back yard on a date.  When Annie got angry at an innocent comment made by Eric, she poured her wine on his head and stormed inside and upstairs.  As Eric chased her, he saw Simon and Maria making out on the couch.  He walked in and covered the twins eyes and took them upstairs to bed.

All episode long, Ruthie was upset and wanted to talk to someone, but no one would give her their full attention and she got completely frustrated.  When Simon saw her in the kitchen, she told him that her friend Kim from school was having a Valentine's party that evening.  She said that Kim dared her to ask Frank to the party.  Ruthie did and he said yes, but later Frank told her that he was going to the party with Kim and that she had been set up for a big joke.  She said that when she went to school the next day that Kim would realize that Ruthie was just too chicken to show up at her party alone.  Ruthie went upstairs and Maria came in.  Simon told Maria about it and asked if she knew any cute 11 year old boys and she told Simon that her younger brother Jake could take Ruthie to the party.  When Kim saw Ruthie and Simon show up, she went up to her and gave her total attitude about bringing her brother.  Simon informed her that he brought Ruthie and wasn't her date.  Jake came out and Simon announced that he was Ruthie's date.  Jake asked Ruthie if she'd like to dance and Kim rudely told them that it was a party, not a dance.  Jake said that he didn't care and took Ruthie into the living room to dance.  When all the other kids laughed at Kim, she stormed off.  The other kids all soon started dancing as well as Simon and Maria danced.

Annie finally apologized to Eric about his comment when she told him she was taking medicine to help her through her hormones.  The two felt like this was a new beginning to their relationship.

125.I really Do

The entire family learned that Matt was trying to find a bride because he brought a Bride's magazine home to look at.  All of them were worried that he would rush into a marriage.  Matt borrowed $90 from Simon to take a girl on a date, but had to cancel the date when he found out from Ruthie that the clinic called him into work.  At work, Matt met a girl named Sarah who was also working.  Throughout the night they talked and got to know details about each other.  After work, Sarah asked Matt if he was going to ask her out for coffee and they went out.  There, they learned about each other that Sarah's dad was a Jewish rabbi and Matt's dad was a Protestant Christian minister.

The following evening, Matt went to meet Sarah's parents then they went over for Sarah to meet Matt's parents.  Sarah's parents totally rejected him because he wasn't Jewish.  Eric and Annie's parents took it from an angle of trying to convince them to date for a long time.  Afterwards they went out to dinner and got to know each other even more.  They discussed politics and baseball and their religions among other things.  While at dinner, Matt got down on one knee and asked Sarah to marry him and she said yes.

126.I Really Did

The episode began with Matt and Sarah dancing in their hotel room, wearing nothing but hotel robes, spending their first night together as husband and wife.  Ruthie called and found out that he got married when Matt picked up and immediately said "Mr. and Mrs. Matt Camden."  Matt made Ruthie promise not to tell anyone they were married.  Ruthie had a hard time keeping the secret.  At school, she let her teacher know she was having a hard time keeping the secret and her teacher was able to encourage her to not tell anyone.

The next morning, Eric and Annie were really worried about Matt.  All the kids rumored amongst each other about if Matt was married or not, except for Ruthie who snuck out early to go to school.  Sarah's dad opened the front door to find Matt holding Sarah and he carried her into the house before putting her down.  Sarah said she had something important to tell them, but they avoided letting her say anything.

At home, Mary and Lucy looked everywhere for Ruthie.  When they saw that her bike was missing, they assumed that she was out riding it somewhere.  They got in Mary's car to go look for her and did for awhile before realizing that she would be in school.  After Robbie took Simon to school, Matt called to say that he was with Sarah at her parents and would be home in a few hours.  When Sarah's parents were finally sitting down and ready to hear what Matt and Sarah had to say, Sarah told Matt she didn't want to tell them right away.  Matt stuck to telling them and Sarah came up with a plan on how to tell them.  However, they were use to her plan, and she ended up telling them they were engaged instead of the truth - that they were really married.  They also told Matt's parents that they were engaged - but both sets of parents assumed they were really married.  Sarah's parents decided to believe they were only engaged.  Matt's parents and siblings decided to believe that they were really married and said they were engaged to warm them all up to the idea.

127.Lip Service

The Camden's were invited over to the Glass's house for Shabat (Sabbath) dinner.  Annie felt the need to make some Jewish dishes to take.  Simon wanted to bring his friend Morris who said he was half Jewish, half protestant.  After telling Matt and Sarah, they agreed to let Morris come.  Lucy tried to get out of the dinner so she could stay home with Robbie who was watching the twins.  She tried to act faintly but Mary beat her out on faking being sick and Mary got to stay home with Robbie and the twins.

At the dinner it came out that Morris really didn't know much about Judaism and Ruthie asked several questions about the religion.  At the house, Mary came down obviously feeling much better and wanted to watch the game with Robbie who let her.

Lucy dismissed herself from the table to call home and Mary talked to her like she was trying to sell her a newspaper subscription until Robbie left the room to check on the twins.  Then Mary made up something to tell Lucy and hung up on her.  Robbie then came down with the twins to watch the game with them.  The dinner had a dramatic twist when Richard made mention that Matt was planning on converting to Judaism.  Lucy called Mary again and Mary again pretended to be talking to someone trying to sell a newspaper subscription and hung up.  Lucy ran back into the dining room to say that something came up and had to go and Simon offered to let Morris drive them home and the three of them left.  Right after they left, the silent Eric finally erupted in anger at Matt for not discussing with them sooner his plan to convert.  The dinner became a total disaster when Rosina discovered that Annie used cream instead of chicken fat and made the meal unkosher.

At home, Mary confronted Robbie about her feelings for him.  She tried to kiss him but Lucy interrupted them.  The doorbell rang and Robbie went to answer it while the girls argued upstairs.  It was Joy and she finished watching the game with Robbie.  Annie apologized to Rosina for the meal while Richard and Eric talked.  Matt interrupted and confronted his dad about the situation.  Eric, Annie, Matt and Ruthie went to Richard's synagogue that night for the Sabbath.

128.The ring

Matt and Sarah were heading to pre-marital counseling with Eric when they got into a big argument outside his office about an engagement ring.  Sarah really wanted one and Matt couldn't really afford it.  Eric tried to help Matt out by helping Matt to buy a fake ring, but when Sarah found out it was fake, she was even more upset.  Ruthie tried to tell Sarah that the ring wasn't important.  Concerning the fake ring, Ruthie pointed out that it was also a fake engagement since Matt and Sarah were already married.  Annie finally fixed the situation by giving Matt her grandmother's ring to give to Sarah.  Matt was hesitant, but Annie was certain she wanted Sarah to have the ring.  Sarah gladly accepted it.

Mary took Lucy to Buffalo to get the rest of her things from their grandparents.  Lucy had a lousy flight over with terrible service plus the airline lost her luggage.  When Lucy went to check on her bag, she left her carry on with Mary.  Mary went off to make a phone call and when Lucy came back to find Mary, her bag was gone.  Lucy asked the airport sercurity officer who told her that the police had confiscated the bag.  Lucy threw a huge fit over it and demanded her bag back.  When she made sarcastic comments regarding terrorism, security took her into custody.  Lucy finally met the police officer who confiscated her bag who apologized to her for the inconveinance and told her that he rescued her bag before it had been destroyed.  They were instantly attracted to each other and officer Kevin Kinkirk asked her and Mary out on a double date with him and his brother.

Mary didn't want to go, as her real reason for going to Buffalo had already surfaced to Lucy that she wanted to give Ben another shot.  But Lucy persuaded Mary into going on the double date.  They were able to stay in Wilson's old apartment which Mary said the landlady was just being nice to let them borrow while they were there, but the truth was that Mary was renting the apartment.  When they went on their double date, Mary and Lucy were shocked that Kevin was Ben's brother.  Ben and Mary had some strong tensions between them since Ben had broken up with her, but they made up and decided to give the relationship another try.  Mary finally confessed to Lucy that she was renting the apartment because she was going to be a flight attendant for Jet Blue airlines and that Buffalo was going to be her base.  She sent Lucy home alone with one job, to tell their parents about Mary's new job.

Lucy found her parents waiting for her at the airport and was all smiles as she greeted them.  When they asked her about Mary, she smiled as she explained the whole situation and quickly moved on to tell them about Kevin while her parents stood there stunned over the news about Mary.

129.Letting Go

Mary came home late and brought Ben and Kevin home with her from Buffalo.  Eric came down with a bat to check out the noise and when he told Annie who was making the noise - she came down excited to see them all.  Annie started fixing them something to eat and Eric went up to check on his other kids to find that Matt wasn't in his bed.  The next morning Eric was suppose to go counsel a couple at the church, but his suspicions about where Matt was and if he was really married already or not kept making him forget.  By the time he finally reached the church, he counseled a couple who were upset that their 45 year old son moved out and they thought he wasn't ready yet.  He got their son to come in and he brought his fiance and her adopted daughter.  Eric took it into perspective to learn to let go of his own children.

Meanwhile, Eric learned that Lucy's Kevin was a 25 year old police officer and that the twins had outgrown their baby beds and needed regular beds.  Ruthie decided she should tell Mary and Lucy's boyfriends that Mary had been arrested and Lucy's old boyfriend did marijuana.  Mary and Lucy took her out of the room to confront her and Ruthie was spared when Robbie came in to talk to Ruthie.  Meanwhile, Mary and Lucy learned that Kevin and Ben had a sister named Patty Mary.  She showed up in Glen Oak because their mom was going on a date and the kids didn't think their mom was ready to date.  They eventually learned to lighten up.

130.The Known Soldier

The episode opened with Ruthie videotaping herself singing along with the Tom Petty song "I Won't Back Down."

Ruthie was writing to a U.S. Marine Staff Seargent named Dwight J. Morgan who was stationed in Afghanistan.  When she explained it to Annie, Annie was concerned about Ruthie telling a stranger about their funny family stories.  Ruthie went upstairs and Eric came in from outside and Annie expressed her concern to him.  Annie went upstairs to get Ruthie to let her read her letter and Robbie came in and Eric asked him if he knew about Ruthie writing a marine.  He did and Eric didn't understand why she would trust Robbie and not him and Annie.  He then went upstairs and Mary and Lucy walked in.  Lucy asked why mom wasn't making dinner and Robbie suggested it might have something to do with the guy Ruthie was writing to.  They didn't know about it and Robbie went upstairs.  Mary and Lucy were worried that Ruthie was writing about them and headed for the stairs where they met up with Simon coming down.  They told Simon about it and the three of them headed upstairs and met up with Eric, Annie, Robbie and Ruthie in the attic where Ruthie was already starting to read her letter.  Ruthie started over.  As she read the letter, she let each person read the part about themself where they shared what they were grateful for in America.  After they were done, Eric led them in prayer.  After the prayer, Ruthie was worried because she hadn't heard back from Morgan when the class checked their emails.

Eric called his dad in Buffalo and asked him to look into Morgan's status.  In their room, Ruthie shared with her sisters about Dwight J. Morgan.  They asked her what the video camera was for and she said everyone in class was making a short film to be sent over the computer to the troops.  She explained that marines aren't soldiers, because soldiers are the army.  The navy has sailors and the air force has airmen.  In the kitchen, Robbie and Simon talked about the whole situation of American troops in Afghanistan and Sept. 11.  They were concerned that people were forgetting and in moving on, weren't dealing with what happened.  In the twins room, Annie watched Sam and Dave sleep.

The next day in the afternoon Eric came home to tell Annie he hadn't heard any knews, but that there had been a helicopter accident with two casualties, but didn't know who.  Ruthie came home excited because she had received a letter in the regular mail with pictures.  She shared them with her parents.  Mary and Lucy came down and Simon came in and Ruthie shared with them.  When Simon came in he mentioned there was a helicopter crash but Ruthie wasn't worried anymore since she got the letter.  That night the doorbell rang and Eric answered the door to find the Colonel who told him the bad news.  The Colonel went upstairs to tell Ruthie that Sgt. Dwight J. Morgan had been killed in the helicopter crash.

Downstairs Annie wanted to be up there with them, but Eric assurred her they should give them some time alone.  Ruthie finally came down and asked them if they could have a memorial service for the Staff Seargent.  They held the memorial service the next night at the church.  In the church were Morgan's wife Teresa and five-year-old son Alex and announced that they were looking forward to their baby girl who was going to be born in July.

The next day, the family all did something to try and help others.  Annie and the twins headed to Mrs. Bink's house.  Simon didn't want to tell what he was going to do so he wouldn't feel like he was getting a reward by people telling him it was so nice.  Robbie went down and took a meal to someone at the Marine Corps Recruitment place.  And got a marine to agree to stop by the day care center to meet the kids.  Robbie then went over and gave a free flag to the guy who had cut him off before.  The guy apologized to Robbie.  Simon got a money order and put it in the Flying Tigers Memorial Fund.  Mary, Lucy, Matt and Sarah went to an armed forces cemetary and put flowers at the graves.  Eric walked by and found a guy without shoes who had them stolen at the shelter.  Eric offered to take the guy back to a shelter but he told Eric he was waiting for Jesus, that Jesus rode that bus and sometimes got off there.  Eric took off his shoes and left them there with the man and went on

131.Hly War{pt1}