Parenthood Episode 4.06 I'll Be Right Here

It's another boisterous breakfast at the Braverman house, and Haddie is pestering Kristina to let her help. Maybe Haddie should take a semester off to help out while Kristina recovers from her surgery? Both Adam and Kristina are quick to say absolutely not, but Haddie refuses to close the subject. They're going to need options. Adam reminds Max that his grandparents will be picking him up on the day of Kristina's surgery. Max asks if his grandparents can arrive late - his election is that day, and he'll have to give his campaign speech in the afternoon, then wait while the votes are counted to see if he won. Kristina immediately lays into Adam - why did he make her change the date of her surgery? Now she's going to miss Max's election!

At The Luncheonette, Crosby approaches Adam, wanting to help out during this stressful time. Adam clearly wants to be left alone, but Crosby starts massaging his back, prompting an agonized Adam to ask Crosby never to touch him again. Still Crosby persists; he wants to help! Adam allows that Crosby can take Otis the dog to the park, but that's still not enough. Crosby overheard Adam saying he was going to order Kristina's favorite takeout on the night before her surgery - how about he orders, picks up and delivers? Adam agrees, but warns Crosby the food must arrive by 6:00, because Kristina can't eat after 8:00.

Drew is sulking in bed with his iPod turned up full blast, when Sarah snaps her fingers in front of his face. It's moving day, and Mark should be there with the truck any minute! Drew complains that he doesn't know how to pack; why can't he just stay with his grandparents? Spying Hank pull up outside, Sarah runs off to talk to him. Figuring she's still weirded out about their kiss, Hank asks her not to quit. Sarah confesses to calling in sick because she's moving, just as Mark pulls up with the U-Haul. Hank recovers quickly, claiming he stopped by to drop off a dolly to help with the move. It's not long before Zeek ropes Hank into lugging heavy stuff, as Drew hurls garbage bags full of his clothing out the window.

A nervous Ryan stops by The Luncheonette to visit Amber, and announce his intention to ask her on a date. Amber accepts. Across town, Kristina approaches Max to talk about his speech. Max isn't interested in talking; all he'll say is that he didn't write his speech down. It's all in his head. Kristina does her best to persuade Max to write down his speech, but he won't budge. That evening, Sarah tries to interest Drew in hanging out with Mark on their first night together, but all he wants to do is borrow the car. Sarah follows him out the door, hoping to make everything okay, but things aren't okay for Drew. Why did Sarah make him move in the middle of his senior year? She made this decision without thinking about him at all.

Trying to keep herself busy now that she quit her job, Julia sets up a schedule for the Braverman siblings. Adam doesn't want them all in the hospital waiting room at once, so she's setting up two-hour shifts. Julia calls Crosby while he's at the dog park, and the distraction causes him to lose hold of Otis, who proceeds to get into some kind of dog trouble with a Husky. After school, Drew is stunned to discover Mark doesn't have cable TV. Mark offers to do anything to help Drew feel more comfortable, even if it's giving him his privacy. Drew agrees that what he needs is privacy and slams his bedroom door shut.

Amber's having a nice, though somewhat awkward time on her date with Ryan. The truth is, she's feeling distracted by the prospect of Kristina's surgery. Amber opens up; she's feeling scared. This isn't what she had in mind for their first date, and if it's too heavy, Ryan can leave. On the contrary, Ryan wants to buy Amber a burrito and talk about Kristina. Afterwards, Ryan drops Amber at her door. Although he claims he had a good time, he refuses her invitation to come in, and leaves Amber with a hand shake, wondering if she's been rejected.

On the night before her surgery, Kristina sets the dining room table with her good silver, china and crystal, in hopes of taking her mind off things. In fact, she seems more worried about Max's speech than her surgery. Once she's unconscious, can Adam whiz over to the school to check on Max? Adam can't bear to leave Kristina's side, so Haddie volunteers to check on Max. Later, the family sits at Kristina's carefully prepared table, wondering why Crosby is late. When Max warns that vomiting into a breathing tube during surgery is 100% death rate, Kristina gets up from the table to make a sandwich, but finds herself too weary to get the peanut butter jar open. Haddie steps in just as the doorbell rings. Crosby has arrived with the food and Otis, who's wearing a cone on his head. The incident in the park led to stitches...

At dawn, Kristina tiptoes through the house, saying goodbye to Nora and leaving a note for Max. She's surprised to find Haddie's already up, talking to the dean's office at Cornell. Kristina doesn't want to hear it, but Haddie has learned that she can have all the money they've spent on her first semester refunded with no penalty. Kristina insists that she's going to be fine and Haddie's going back to school. Then she starts falling apart while giving Haddie last-minute instructions to make sure Max wears a clean shirt for his speech.

At work, Hank asks Sarah how the move went. Drew seemed pretty cranky... Sarah explains that she and Mark talked about different dates, and Drew didn't like the one they picked, but Hank knows they moved the date up. Did it have anything to do with the kiss? Sarah says no. Back at the apartment, Drew is surprised to find Mark still at home. Mark explains he had another teacher cover his first class so that he could wait for the cable guy.

Adam seems more nervous than Kristina as they wait for her to be called into surgery; all Kristina can think about is Max's speech. Both of them are disappointed to learn Adam can't accompany Kristina into the operating room. When it's finally time, he doesn't want to let her go. Julia takes the first shift in the waiting room, offering tea and pointing out that Adam's asking what time it is every two minutes. Julia confides that the stay-at-home mom thing is harder than she thought - but they don't have to talk about it.

As kids pile into the auditorium at school to hear the candidates' speeches, Haddie reviews the qualities that would make Max a good president. He's tenacious and he has a great memory. If for some reason Max happens to get nervous, he can look at Haddie and she'll give him a big thumbs-up. Claiming he won't get nervous, Max bails on her to wait with the other candidates. Across town, Sarah takes her turn in the waiting room, once again offering tea. In hopes of getting his mind off Kristina, Adam asks Sarah to talk about her life, so she admits Hank kissed her. She doesn't like him but, it made her feel weird, because she kind of jumped into moving in with Mark. The truth is she doesn't know what she's doing. Adam is just advising her to do what feels good when Crosby and Julia return - they just couldn't leave.

Max's speech gets off to an awkward start as he spends several minutes adjusting the microphone. His prepared speech is about two sentences - he's going to bring back the vending machines. When the students start to chat and snicker, Max looks in Haddie's direction. After she gives him a big thumbs-up, Max continues, citing the qualities Haddie mentioned that would make him a good student body president, which leads to the revelation that he has Asperger's. Suddenly, Max is explaining his behavior to the entire school: he's very smart, very tenacious, has an infallible memory and always keeps his promises. Some people say having Asperger's is a curse, but for Max, it's a blessing. Haddie can't believe it, but the students like what they hear, and Max gets a standing ovation. Yeah - vending machines!

Adam is sitting by the bed when Kristina comes to, feeling nauseated. She asks how they did, so Adam tells her the surgery went well, but all Kristina wants to know about is Max. Adam's pleased to deliver amazing news: Max won the election! Kristina beams with pride in Max's unexpected victory. Across town, Sarah knocks on Drew's door, then sits down for a talk. She did think about Drew when she made her decision to move in with Mark, but she didn't think about how many times they'd moved before, or what the kids would say at school... so she's sorry for all the things she didn't think about. If living with Mark doesn't work, they can talk about Drew moving back in with Zeek and Camille. But for now, would Drew help give Mark a clue as to how to watch cable TV?

Ryan stops by Amber's with a bouquet of flowers. He was thinking about Amber and Kristina today, so... When Amber offers to take the flowers to Kristina, Ryan explains. Although it might seem creepy, and maybe he should have gotten flowers for Kristina too, these flowers are for Amber. Confused, Amber tells Ryan she's not sure how he feels about her. After assuring Amber he can't stop thinking about her, Ryan explains that he really likes her. Since he's trying not to screw anything up, he wants to take it slow. Next time he'll call before he stops by. Ryan seals the deal with a gentlemanly kiss on the cheek.