A Million Little Things recap: Parenting and piñatas
This week’s episode of A Million Little Things is broken up into four separate storylines with each of our main couples (just go ahead and pretend Delilah and Sophie are a central pairing for the sake of this structure), so let’s go ahead and recap it that way.
Gary and Maggie bump into each other while out running and discuss their mutual friend Elena’s 5-years-in-remission party they’re both invited to that evening. Gary’s reluctant to attend because he realizes everyone is going to have questions about their breakup but ultimately decides to go and they both arrive together much to everyone’s initial joy, then confusion. Gary quickly decides to hit up what he hopes is an open bar to avoid all the questions about their breakup. Since it’s a remission party, the guest of honor’s husband has set up a piñata in the shape of a pill bottle so she can literally beat cancer, but when Elena can’t break the piñata she gets upset and confesses she’s still living in fear the cancer will come back. Maggie and Gary comfort her.
Other highlights of the party include Gary very casually dropping into conversation with Maggie that he saw his mom and that he got what he needed from it but doesn’t elaborate. Then, when they’re ready to leave, Maggie and Gary’s elevator comes to a halt. It makes Gary think of Jon and how he used to always say everything happens for a reason. Gary gets that now. He thinks he got cancer so he could wind up meeting Maggie. He tells her that seeing his mom made him realize that he pushed her away before she could hurt him. He tells her he loves her. They kiss and … IT’S ALL A LIE. Gary imagined the whole scenario. In reality, the elevator reaches the ground without stalling and as they leave Maggie tells Gary that she thinks they can just be friends after all. Gary pretends he was just thinking the exact same thing. Boo.
Rome and Gina have found an eight-and-a-half-months pregnant lady looking to give her baby up for adoption and they’re meeting today for an interview. They meet Eve at the coffee shop where she works and they all bond nicely. She tells them she’s just not ready to be a mom and doesn’t have the support system they have. When Gina asks about the father, Eve gets awkward. She hasn’t seen him since she got pregnant and doesn’t think he’d want anything to do with the baby. Gina is very worried this will be a problem and calls their social worker who tells her it’s actually fairly common but he could still come in with a paternal claim later — it’s the main reason adoptions fall through. Gina wants out of it now so that they don’t have to face the disappointment later. Rome thinks they should go ahead with it because they might not get another chance. When the social worker calls to say that, on hearing they were pulling out, Eve wants to meet with them again, Gina gives in and goes with Rome to see her. Eve explains that she doesn’t want the father to know where she is because he was abusive and that she picked them because Gina is on the board of women’s shelter. It’s enough to convince Rome and Gina; they’re in — which means they have approximately two weeks to prepare for the arrival of a baby. Later that day, Eve gets a call from her ex. She doesn’t pick up but looks scared.
Eddie and Katherine are not making a big deal about Theo going to therapy which is probably a good thing because he says he isn’t going. He isn’t going through anything, so he doesn’t need to talk, got it, parents? In an attempt to make him go regardless, Katherine pretends it’s about her wanting to talk, he can just come along to keep her company and say nothing. Theo agrees and when they get there, he plays with legos while Katherine talks about a case at work trying to relate it to Theo’s experience so he’ll chime in. Eventually he does. He thinks complaining about a problem just makes more of a problem. Theo starts chatting with the counselor about all the change in his life and how he doesn’t know if he deserves to be happy. When they get home, Katherine shares with Eddie that she’s realized she only fights for her own happiness when it aligns with everyone else’s and, by doing that, she’s been teaching Theo to keep things in. He’s pretending things are okay to maintain control so they decide to embrace moments when he’s not in control so that he can see that the world continues to turn. At dinner that night, Theo spills his drink and freaks out. His parents tell him it’s not a big deal and to prove it they start having a food fight which is all well and good but I’d just like to point out there is pasta on the curtains!! Anyway, Theo says he’ll go back to see the doctor again so I suppose it’s progress! Poor curtains, though.
Delilah and Sophie still aren’t talking. Matters are made worse when D walks in on her daughter making out with one of the boys who works at the restaurant in the walk-in fridge. Brrr. D tries to get Sophie to talk to her about Jake but Sophie says Delilah doesn’t get to lecture her on relationships. Just then, D gets a call from the assisted-living facility where her dad — who has Alzheimer’s — stays, to tell her he is missing. Sophie hops in the car and goes with her. When they get there, security can’t find him, so D goes off to review the security camera footage with them, asking Sophie to stay behind in the apartment in case he shows up. Soph takes one look in his fridge and realizes where he must be, so she speeds off in her mom’s car. She finds her grandad at the supermarket, picking up fennel sausage for Pizza Friday and drives him back home. During the ride, he gets confused thinking Sophie is Delilah and tells her how she needs to talk to Jon about how unhappy she is in the marriage and how she can’t go on feeling so alone. He asks Sophie (who he still thinks is D), don’t you want Sophie to grow up knowing she has a right to be happy in her own marriage? When they pull up at the home and see D waiting, he realizes what he’s done, but it kind of works out well since now Sophie’s seen things from her mom’s perspective a little. Soph tells D she’s sorry that she has to go through this with her dad and decides to stay at home that night. Small victories, folks!
By next week Rome and Gina will probably have a newborn on their hands. See you then!
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