Following her mother's funeral, Annie's sunny demeanor turns to sadness, particularly after her father abruptly leaves to go back home to Arizona. Eric tries to counsel a young couple whose marital problems escalate during the post-funeral reception at the Camden home. Matt helps with the delivery of Renee's baby and after Mary breaks up with Jeff, she discovers she was better off with him. Lastly, Simon tries to find the exact location of heaven.

When the Camden family learns that their friend's church was burned down by a racist group, they invite the Hamiltons to stay at their home. Meanwhile, Simon has his own problems when defending his friend Nigel after a racist comment is made to him on the playground. Matt, Mary, and Lucy have a hard time while trying to develop a good relationship with the older Hamilton children, Keesha and John. Eric and Annie do their best to help Morgan and his wife, Patricia, get through their marital problems while Ruthie and Lynn are having fun as five-year-olds.

Simon rightly fears he'll catch roommate Ruthie's chicken-pox, but his enterprising hygienic measures fail to prevent contagion from her, or from Happy's fleas. When a robber carjacks them, Annie seems calm and hands their valuables, so Matt feels 'unmanly' and guilty. However, Anne breaks down at an identification lineup. Jimmy Moon stands against Lucy in the school elections, then turns to her parents for help. The church organist veers bizarrely from brilliance to disharmony.

While both couples, Annie and Eric, Patricia and Morgan Hamilton, spend a romantic Valentine's Day camping, Matt is left in charge of the rest of the family and allows chaos to rein in the Camden household. His preoccupation with his date and Mary's party allows the dog, Happy. to slip out of the house in search of her puppies. When a car hits Happy, the family holds a vigil, aided by a caring veterinarian. Simon blames Matt for the accident. Lucy is enjoying her first Valentine's Day with her boyfriend Jimmy Moon.

The reverends get their spouses to handle the annual two-families-day so they can go play pool. In fact Morgan arranges finally to meet his wife's ex Kevin, who turns out to be a happily remarried Vietnam vet in a wheelchair. As Eric expected, all kids want to do things without any parents, so only the youngest are dragged to a cartoon movie by the moms. Simon is excited about his first 'making out' party, yet terrified when it's time to step into the closet and probably kiss. Scott is 14 but looks 18 and tutors Lucy maths just so he can successfully treat Mary to a date, only to be kept on a string. Matt is surprised that the jazz club John dragged him to is his mate's singer career bid launchpad, unamused to be asked as support against Morgan. Lucy has her own date Rick, but chose the same cinema as Annie.

With the twins birth impending, Eric makes the kids' life miserable by fussing and over-planning, yet blames Matt for preparing the youngsters for what's ahead. Annie adds to the mess by inviting over the Hamiltons, just so Patricia can help her ward off the parish busybodies, who forced a baby-shower on her so they can snoop around the church-owned home. Ruthie acts as if a victim when classmate Bobby points out her underwear visible by failing to wear school-regulation shorts. Her elder siblings are pushed to confront Boby's family, but his brothers aren't only taller, like their dog, they also bond with Matt and Mary and end up turning on the brats together.

A school janitor claims that God is talking to him. So the school wants him to retire with his pension intact but if he continues to act the way he does, they're ready to dismiss him which means he'll lose his pension. So Eric tries to talk to him but he steadfastly maintains that God is talking to him and that he has a mission.

The monthly day when the twins' piggybacks are enriched with §10 is ahead, so the siblings fear the game is up unless Mary manages to repay the 'loan', but now her debt is reshuffled she idly spends her days in the movie theatre. So the Camden parents soon learn the dreadful truth they already dreaded. After pondering how to help her, a family intervention proving she's still in haughty denial, the last resort is packing her off to Buffalo, to be taken in hand by the Colonel.

Lucy tells Kevin she is thinking of quitting school, and he tells her the wedding is off if she quits. Annie and Eric help another couple face their marital problems and share their own problems. Roxanne leaves the police department.