Parenthood Episode 4.13 Small Victories

It's early in the morning and Crosby has to pee... real bad. Unfortunately, Renee has been in the bathroom for 45 minutes doing her hair and Crosby doesn't want to knock. He's just eyeing the kitchen sink when Renee finally emerges, ready for her job interview. That's when Jabbar darts into the bathroom, forcing Crosby to run for the backyard. Kristina enters Max's room with only 15 minutes before he has to leave for school. Something smells bad, and she's shocked to discover that it's Max. Kristina urges Max to take a quick shower, but he won't deviate from his showering schedule of Tuesdays and Saturdays. Kristina enlists Adam in hopes of logically explaining the hormonal changes that are impacting Max's body odor, but in the end, she relies on Skittles to get her son clean enough for school.

Things are still tense over at the Grahams' house after Victor's bat-throwing incident. Julia makes pancakes for breakfast per Victor's request, but he wants Burger King pancakes. Julia's cooking sucks! Julia sends Sydney to watch TV while she attempts to wrangle Victor, but he refuses to eat breakfast and delivers a painful parting shot: his real mom got him Burger King every day. Drew drives a silent Amy to school; clearly something's wrong. Drew thinks she's about to break up with him again, but the news is much worse. Amy is pregnant. Drew follows her to class, promising everything's going to be okay, but she knows it's not. Having witnessed the entire exchange, Mark Cyr takes note when Amy pulls away from Drew and rushes off to class in tears.

Mark corners Drew at his locker, concerned that he and Amy are in trouble. Despite assurances they can talk about anything, Drew remains mum. That night, Crosby returns home to discover that not only is it stiflingly hot (Grandma gets cold), but Renee has insisted on having dinner early (8:00 is way too late), and she made fish (which Crosby hates). Crosby is forced to at least try the fish while Renee explains that today's job interview was a bust. She's not moving out any time soon...

After a conference with Joel, Victor refuses to join his family at the dinner table. Julia marches upstairs to his bedroom, only to discover Victor has liberated the candy stash from her bedroom closet. When she demands he hand it over, Victor shouts, "Get out of my room! I hate you!" Julia lunges for the candy bin, setting off a tug-of-war, which ends when Victor tumbles off the end of his bed. Across town, Drew stops by Amy's house, worried that she ditched school. Upset, Amy called Planned Parenthood to make an early morning appointment for a formal pregnancy test. Drew offers to come along, just as Amy's parents pull up. Amy's not intending to tell her parents about her condition, so Drew tries to play it cool.

Hank and Sarah are having a flirty time at work when Mark stops by for a talk. Sarah is shocked to see him, and Mark's uncomfortable telling her that something's up with Drew - it seems like a whole lot more than stress over college applications. Drew seems scared. With that, Mark's out the door, leaving Sarah worried and Hank suspicious. When Sarah confronts Drew, he claims that it's nothing. He and Amy have been freaking out over their college applications. Over at The Luncheonette, Crosby refuses to pick up his phone when Renee calls, since it's her ninth call of the day. Luckily, Renee leaves a message with her amazingly good news: she got a job! Now Crosby can pee in his own home with impunity.

Zeek and Camille stop by Adam and Kristina's. Max is quick to announce that he has pubic hair, and he read on the internet that when he experiences his first ejaculation, he'll start to experience girls in "a new and exciting way." Zeek and Camille are perfectly comfortable with this conversation - it's natural! - but Kristina is mortified. When Zeek starts explaining wet dreams to Max, Kristina yells for Adam to come put an end to her misery. Julia is just enjoying an after-dinner glass of wine when there's a knock on the door: it's the police, responding to a 911 call reporting child abuse. Julia is calm and cooperative, indulging the officers' request to speak to the children separately, keeping a lid on her emotions for Sydney's sake. Clearly, it was Victor who made the call.

Crosby returns home with a celebratory box of cupcakes, but it's not long before Renee shoots the wind out of his sails. The benefits and vacation time aren't what she hoped for, so she turned the job offer down. Crosby is shocked - how could Renee turn down a job in this economy?! Across town, the police officers have concluded their impromptu investigation, having informed Victor that it's a crime to make a phony 911 call. Julia sends a still-rattled Sydney upstairs to put on her pajamas, then tells Joel she doesn't want to talk about what just happened. Right now, she wants to comfort their traumatized daughter. Joel will have to tuck in Victor, because Julia can't even look at him.

Kristina shakes Adam awake at the crack of dawn, demanding to know how old he was when he got his first boner. Thinking back, Adam realizes he was about Max's age. Kristina's already got it worked out: it's time for Adam - just Adam - to have a talk with Max about the birds and the bees. Meanwhile, Amy and Drew receive a similar but different talk across town at Planned Parenthood, where Amy's pregnancy test has come up positive. Afterwards, Drew offers to discuss their options, promising to love and support Amy no matter what she decides. He loves her and that's all that matters, and there are plenty of people to help them through. Nevertheless, Amy thinks there's only one way to go; the help she needs is coming up with the money to have an abortion.

As soon as Sarah arrives at work, Hank wants to know what happened with Drew. When Sarah assures him everything's fine, Hank points out that Mark was probably just looking for an excuse to see Sarah... but Hank's not jealous, he's just making an observation. That night, Drew visits Amber to ask for money for Amy's abortion. Amber's concerned and rightly so; Drew breaks down in tears, confessing he doesn't want to give up the baby, but he has to respect Amy's wishes. The next day, Drew finds himself sitting awkwardly beside Amy in Planned Parenthood's waiting room. When the nurse calls her name, Drew doesn't want to let go of Amy's hand.

Joel and Julia find Victor playing catch in the yard, and he's in no mood to stop throwing the ball to hear what they have to say about his 911 call. When Joel grabs the ball and tells Victor to listen to his mother, Victor asserts, "She's not my mom." Julia throws up her hands and silently walks into the house. Cooly furious, Joel orders Victor not to talk to his wife that way. Not only was calling the police unacceptable, but it really hurt, and Victor needs to think long and hard about what he did. His voice cracking with emotion, Joel grabs Victor's mitt and walks away, leaving Victor alone with his thoughts.

Adam starts his talk with Max by telling him which body parts to focus on in the shower: balls, butt and pits. It may seem strange, but surely all the boys in Max's class are going through the same thing. Max doesn't think it's strange at all, considering lizards periodically shed their skins. But when Adam tries to shift the conversation away from lizards to girls, Max stops him. Even though the internet said Max will begin to see girls in a new and exciting way, he knows Asperger's will make it different for him, and he's not ready to talk about it yet. Adam decides to accept this for the moment, adding that he'll be ready whenever Max is ready to talk.

Jasmine's brother Sekou is over for a visit. Crosby frowns as Renee fawns over him, feeding him cereal and doing his laundry, remarking, "That's quite a sight - a grown ass man having his laundry folded by his mother." But Sekou's well aware that Camille did Crosby's laundry until he moved in with Jasmine. Meanwhile, Drew's car is silent and Amy's stare is of the 1,000-mile variety on the way home from Planned Parenthood. Drew wants to call her later to check in, but Amy tells him not to. She's going to need space - a lot of it. The only thing Drew can say is, "Okay." Spying her dad, Amy wipes away her tears and gets out of the car, trying to look normal.

Kristina is pleased when Max starts showering regularly, and remarks to Adam that the talk must have went well. Adam admits most of the talk went easily, because nothing embarrasses Max. But when he tried to talk about sexual feelings Max stopped him, and he didn't know what to do. When Haddie started liking boys, Adam's skin began to crawl and never stopped, but she was so excited. He can only hope Max gets to experience the same kind of excitement. Kristina assures him that Max will, just as he brushes past them, announcing his intention to use Adam's deodorant.

Sarah stops by Mark's place, claiming she finally unpacked her moving boxes and found his muffin tin. More truthfully, she wants to thank him for looking after Drew and to say that she hates feeling like she has to invent an excuse to talk to him. Mark admits he's never owned a muffin tin and it was hard for him to see her with Hank; Mark now knows he gave up on Sarah too easily. He should have fought for her. Both choking up, Mark and Sarah say an awkward goodbye.

Jasmine and Renee look for jobs online. When Renee mentions that a particular job is too far away, Crosby lets loose. Renee can get an apartment anywhere, so commute time shouldn't be a factor in which jobs she chooses to apply to. Renee decides it's high time to level with Crosby. She was lucky enough to work at a wonderful non-profit, helping kids get healthcare, for the last 30 years. She didn't make a lot of money, but she managed to raise her kids and every day was meaningful. Then one day the bosses were talking budget cuts and it was over just like that. And maybe Crosby's right. Maybe Renee is being too picky and acting entitled to the sort of job she's had for 30 years. If her pride has inconvenienced them, she's sorry. Wiped out and uncertain, Renee excuses herself to go lie down.

Julia's surprised when Loretta, Victor's social worker stops by. Apparently its standard operating procedure: a social worker must visit any time the police receive a call. Resigned, Julia invites Loretta in. After a talk, Loretta thinks Joel and Julia are doing everything right - it just takes time - but Julia still feels opposite: things with Victor are getting progressively worse. Joel tries to paint a positive picture, but Julia's not having it. When Loretta asks Julia if she still wants to adopt Victor, Julia admits she's no longer sure. Stunned, Joel jerks to his feet and without a word, walks upstairs. That night, Sarah is reading a book when Drew knocks on her door in tears. He collapses into his mother's arms, sobbing.