Every child needs parents. Owen is a baby and an orphan, who has older siblings, but what he needs is a father and a mother. I'd say that, somehow, the mother spot has been recently filled, but the father spot, not yet. Charlie didn't think before in spending more time with Owen, but I can tell since this episode, thanks to Kirsten, he starts to act more like a father to him. First, in the backyard, Charlie is doing some carpentry while Kirsten is reading and suddenly Bill brings Owen to say goodbye before his nap. When he takes the baby to sleep, Kirsten asks Charlie why he doesn't put Owen to sleep, that the baby wants him, and he says it doesn't matter if he does it or not. So she tells him that they (the siblings) are great with Owen but no one acts like a parent, and that he should act like a father. She says that yesterday he put Owen's diaper in backwards (this means that she is changing diapers too, taking turns with the rest). He thinks this is a lecture from books, so she answers that Owen only said 5 words so far: baba for bottle, bana for banana, mine, no, Bill (this implies Kirsten has paid a lot of attention to Owen in the last months, as she knows exactly every word he said, so she is obviously like his adoptive mother). Charlie, surprised that Owen mentions Bill and not him or the rest, takes her advice and decides to go for a date in a support group with other fathers. There, he feels bad because other fathers are so caring and loving with their babies, so he declines to share his experience (still, the scene is cute, mothers, fathers, persons who love babies should feel happy to see it). The next morning, he reads Owen a story for kids, about silly bunnies, and Kirsten happily interrupts saying "What a picture". Still, she quickly leaves to let him keep going. Anyway, he feels the story is too childish and changes it for a magazine where he checks prices for carpentry tools, still talking in a sweet voice with the baby. In the night, he also acts like a father to Claudia, and orders her and Artie to turn off the TV after Bailey warned him that they were watching The exorcist (he thought they were watching the Parent Trap). Then, before going to bed, Owen cries so Charlie tries to make him sleep singing the mockingbird, while Kirsten happily listens in bed through the baby monitor. But he can't and returns to their room, so she goes to stop his crying in a few seconds and puts him in the crib to sleep (Kirsten is wonderful as Owen's adoptive mother). She returns and comforts Charlie, telling him it takes time and that Owen will relax with him. The next day, he still tries to bond with Owen while feeding him, and jokingly gives up saying that he'll try again when he is 9, but suddenly the baby says his first dad words. Charlie calls Kirsten and they joyfully hold him while hearing the words again (sadly the baby actually didn't say it, he was with his back to the camera, but well, otherwise would have been high expectations). Then, the last scene was also nice, Kirsten sees the right side of the bed empty, only to find Charlie downstairs telling Owen a story about the Salinger parents. All the storyline here was excellent, Kirsten somehow teached and showed Charlie the bright side of being a parent, and this will be important for the future, when he becomes a father "again". Besides, for Owen, I think this episode sends a message: He is being taken care of. Although he's not in the main cast (he is a baby) and doesn't appear much like the other siblings, with Kirsten, Charlie, Bill and the other three, Owen is safe. All of them have a role in Owen's care, and unofficially, Charlie and Kirsten are acting like his parents. Little by little, Kirsten's good influence on Charlie is sorting effect, she makes of him a better man, and he makes her happy with moments like this with Owen, showing how happy they are together as a family.
With enough joy for Owen, the episode shows the dramatic side with Jill, who needed her mother, but she has to work hard as a nurse. She felt her parents absence, still can't stop using drugs, and when Bailey talks to her about Tim, her drug supplier, she lies saying that he is just a guy who thinks she owes him money for a ticket concert, and that she stayed away from him because he deals. Then, when she has an accident in her brother's car, she reaches the Salinger house. Bailey helps her to cure her but he and Charlie suggests that she has to go to the hospital. She refuses so Charlie guesses she is high. Bailey guesses the same so she, offended thinking she can't trust him, walks away. Then, Charlie questions his reasons for helping her, so Bailey tells that between the problems there's good stuff, that she's not a bad person. He wonders if Bailey is doing this because she is in trouble and he feels the need to help her. Bailey doesn't care about the reasons, and still worried, calls Jill's mother. The problem is that Jill fooled her, so when he reaches her in the hospital she thinks Bailey is a stalker and a liar. Mrs Holbrook is sure that as a nurse, she'd know if her daughter is on drugs and sends him away. Then, Bailey begs Charlie to talk to Jill's mother, but he, acting like a father, wants to protect him from an accident or the police, and tells him to leave Jill alone, he can't help her and is not his responsibility. Bailey admits that he can't implying that he loves her. Later, he crosses her in the coffee house, but she is mad because he called her mother. She explains that they are not close so she doesn't want any curfew or excessive worries, and before Bailey can help her, she sends him to hell and leaves. The next day, he learns that she took off to LA. Later, happens a great scene, when Jill's mother visits Bailey at the house, she apologizes for not believing him and tells that Jill is gone. She never meant to lose her, and asks Bailey to tell her who her daughter is. For Mrs Holbrook, teenagers are hard to handle, so she won't be the first or the last mother to have a child with drug problems. Besides, an absent bad father doesn't help. It's a hard case and Bailey did the right thing, but he can't help her alone. I wonder why Mrs Holbrook didn't appeared again in the series, she was mentioned sometimes but it's strange considering Griffin's future appearances. Also, if there was a little sister, where was she?
Meanwhile, Artie's parents are having troubles and are likely to split up. Because of this, Artie spends more time in the Salinger house and even stays for dinner (this time, they order fast food). Then, when Claudia insists about why he won't go home, Artie tells her about his parents. The next day, while Artie thinks he should avoid the problems, Claudia convinces him of trying to fix the situation. They plan a supposed romantic dinner for Mr and Mrs Baum at Salinger's, luring them there. Charlie thinks it's a lousy idea, but agrees to help when Claudia ponders telling Kirsten about Charlie's ex girlfriends. Although Claudia plays the violin for them, the plan doesn't work, and Mrs Baum is left alone, with Claudia next to her. Then, at home, Claudia explains to Artie that 11 months ago, she used to sleepwalk and reach the doorway, implying that she expected her parents to return. Bailey and Julia calmed her, and after a while, she accepted the situation and never sleepwalked again. He thinks it's not the same, but she tells she understands and that things will get easier. About the story, Artie should talk to his parents because the most damaged person of the eventual divorce will be him, he is only 11 years old and I don't think Claudia can understand that. Artie didn't return for later seasons and this split up might be the reason. I guess he lived with his mother somewhere else. As for Julia, as many times in this series, she needs her mother to talk about her first boyfriend. First they tell his mother, who reacts happily given she and Diana were friends. Then, Justin thinks their relationship is too easy because his parents love her, and says that in the greatest love stories, the couple beat tremendous odds to be together. Anyway, she doesn't mind that and is amazed by the poem Justin wrote for her. When she goes home, none of the siblings is interested. She reaches Helene Thompson, who is friendly and familiar with her. But when Justin learns this, he mistreats her, being insensitive and selfish. He totally forgot Julia is orphan and is bad he didn't realize himself of his mistake. Only when she tells the pact she made with her mother, and how much she needs that, he could understand and let her share family moments with his mother. It was a great episode, with entertaining stories and some lessons about parenthood. A child needs parents, and through this seems obvious, many times people forget that, for example, Artie's father.
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