Parenthood Episode 3.02 Hey, If You're Not Using That Baby

It's the first day of school, and Max is still sleeping. Worried about mainstreaming, Kristina watches him sleep. Later, she's nothing but positive encouragement while walking Max to school with Adam. They both try to prep Max on the best ways to make friends - look people in the eye and smile, shake hands - but Max is certain this school is going to be so much better than Footpath. You can have ice cream every day! At work, Julia approaches the coffee cart, ready to get her caffeine on. Zoe hesitantly asks if she can get some legal advice. Her landlord is telling her to move out, and Zoe thinks he wants to move his buddy into her place. Julia offers to draft a cease and desist letter. Zoe says no, she doesn't have the money, but Julia insists on doing it for free.

Adam and Crosby are back at the Pancake House looking at Adam's laptop, which contains the fruits of his initial research into Crosby's business idea, indicating profit by month four. Crosby doesn't even pretend to understand, but he's thrilled and asks Adam once again if he's in. Adam's sorry, but he has a job offer on the table; he's got to go for the beverage distribution job. Later that night, Sarah stops by the school for parent/teacher night. All it takes is one come-hither look, and Mr. Cyr knows what to do. The next morning, Sarah and Mr. Cyr wake up next to each other. It's sweet until Zeek knocks on the door with breakfast, and Sarah's immediately transported back to high school days. She screams, "Hide!" and Mr. Cyr scoots under the bed. Zeek takes tremendous delight in embarrassing both of them, but it's clear that he's happy for Sarah.

Early in the morning, Kristina finds Adam in the kitchen, paging through the beverage distribution catalog. Adam's got to decide whether to take the job in the next few days, and suddenly he's not sure that it's the most "inspiring" career choice. Kristina points out that it's not permanent but relinquishes the decision to Adam, who mutters that he should take it. Meanwhile, Alex and Haddie meet with Julia, who gives them a referral to a criminal lawyer, since assault and battery isn't her area of expertise. Feeling vulnerable, Alex claims he has to get Haddie to school and heads out. Once he's out of earshot, Haddie asks Julia how serious this all is. Alex could go to jail, which means Haddie should tell her parents about the situation right away.

Max's teacher Miss Mikindoe is giving an assignment when Max loudly calls out his neighbor for writing in her book. When Max won't let it go, Miss Mikindoe points out that talking out in class is also against the rules. The lesson continues, and Max continues to offend, talking out of turn and correcting other students. And why does he have to raise his hand? Max finally settles down, but sadly, the damage is done, as his classmates begin to label him a freak. After school, Haddie and Alex sit down with Adam and Kristina to tell them about what happened at the party. It's uncomfortable, and neither Adam nor Kristina have anything to say.

The next morning, Kristina wakes Max up with questions about school, but he doesn't have very much to say. Adam marches over to Crosby's house with a bee in his bonnet. Why did some guy call to discuss leasing the "the space" and refer to him as Crosby's partner?! This is why he can't trust Crosby! Crosby admits that Adam's name looks good on an application, after all his success at T&S. All Crosby did was put Adam's social security number on the application, which he got from Zeek, just like he always does. Crosby doesn't want to blow this incredible opportunity. Can't Adam just come with him to see the space? If Adam will do this one thing, he won't have to have anything to do with the Luncheonette, ever again.

After dinner, Julia opens up a discussion with Joel. Even though it sounds crazy, she wants to ask Zoe the coffee girl if she can have her baby. Joel has a lot of salient, realistic objections and stands firm. Asking the coffee girl for her baby is crazy. Julia just has to be patient, and eventually, they'll find their baby. Meanwhile, Sarah and Mr. Cyr enjoy a romantic date at a restaurant, getting to know each other. Mr. Cyr's brother is getting married in December - does Sarah want to go? Suddenly, December seems like a long way off... Alex drops Haddie at home after a date. Haddie wants to go with Alex to see his lawyer the next day. Alex tries to reassure Haddie that she's been a great help to him, but seeing the lawyer is something he needs to do on his own. Clearly, there's some distance growing between these two.

Before bedtime, Kristina tells Adam that she's worried. Max's teacher hasn't answered any of Kristina's many emails, even if it's only the fourth day of school. Kristina realizes she's totally hormonal, but she's just so worried about everything that she's having a little bit of a meltdown. When Adam tells her he's taking the beverage distribution job, Kristina reminds him that he doesn't have to, but she can't help feeling a tremendous sense of relief. Meanwhile, Sarah and Mr. Cyr make out in his car after their date. He offers to come inside, but Sarah makes an excuse. When he tells her in a sweet roundabout way that he's ready to commit to starting a relationship, Sarah can only say, "I don't know."

The next day at school, Haddie approaches Zach at his locker to apologize for what happened at his party. She can understand that he's mad, but is it possible he'd reconsider pressing charges against Alex? Zach explains he would if it was up to him, but his parents are furious because Alex has a record. Haddie can't believe it - Alex doesn't have a record! - but Zach assures her that Alex was pinched for attempted armed robbery. It's lunchtime over at Sycamore, and Max is trying to make friends by looking kids in the eye, introducing himself and extending his hand to shake. Unable to understand why this technique isn't working for him, a frustrated Max sits down to eat lunch by himself.

Sarah finds her mother reading in the yard. Camille must be aware that Sarah's kinda seeing Mark Cyr, who's way younger that she is - only 28! While Camille acknowledges that Mark's young, she doesn't understand Sarah's concern. What's wrong with young? Why not relax and have a good time - what's stopping her? Adam stops by to see Zeek, demanding to know why Zeek gave Crosby his social security number. Zeek hands Adam a beer, pretending to be shocked to hear that Crosby has "implicated" Adam in his business. What follows is a Crosby roast - Zeek perfectly understands why Adam wouldn't go into business with his brother - however, when Crosby told him about launching the Luncheonette with Adam, he had tears in his eyes. Zeek's point is made.

Kristina plays hooky from work. Instead, she goes to the elementary school to spy on Max, who's sitting by himself at recess. Julia meets with Zoe after work, assuring her that she's entitled to her apartment through January 2012. Zoe's grateful; her life is such a train wreck right now. When she mentions signing with an adoption agency, Julia has to physically hold herself back from asking Zoe for her baby. After school, Kristina stops by Miss Mikindoe's classroom with two coffees and literally begs for a few minutes of her time. Within seconds, Kristina's in tears, describing her worry and the spying incident. Miss Mikindoe reassures her that everything's going to be okay - but Kristina is going to have to get comfortable with having a little less control.

Zoe stops by Julia's office with a free coffee, over the moon that her landlord has completely backed off after receiving Julia's cease and desist letter. In a sincere moment, Zoe offers anything she could possibly do as a thank you. Against her better judgment, Julia asks if Zoe would ever consider letting her adopt the baby. Zoe's response? "Um, no." Adam and Crosby tour the Luncheonette with landlord Jay Ramone, who admits he's just gotten an offer from a solid developer who intends to rip the place apart for office space. Crosby tries to romance Jay with romantic stories of reinstating a historic treasure, but it's not working. That's when Adam steps in with a firm business pitch - and the confidence to say, "We're not leaving. We're here to lease this space and make our business work." Once again, a tear forms in Crosby's eye...

Later that night, Haddie stops by Alex's place to ask for the truth: does he have a criminal record? How could he not have told her? Alex confesses that during the dark times that Haddie knows nothing about, he took his father's gun and tried to rob a liquor store because he had no money and no food. What's more, he needed alcohol. If he had been honest about it at the beginning, would Haddie have dated him? Could she have loved him? He didn't want to lose her then, and he doesn't want to lose her now. He has no one else. Sarah stops by Amber's with some groceries and a sort-of confession. She's starting to fall in love with somebody, and... it's Mr. Cyr. Amber loves the idea - Mr. Cyr's a lucky guy. Nevertheless, Sarah confirms that her kids are always number one. The next day, Sarah skulks in the school hallway, waiting for Mark with two words: "I'm in."

Crosby runs into Adam's kitchen doing a victory dance. They got the lease! Crosby's not sure what to do, other than not bother Adam ever again with any recording studio business. With a wildly vulnerable look in his eyes, Adam asks Crosby if he can be part of the business. Crosby is beyond excited, but Adam lays out his conditions first. He's only doing this because he believes in Crosby's ability and idea, but Crosby's going to have to defer to Adam's experience on the business end. Adam's not doing all the work, and Crosby's not to tell Kristina. Adam's going to have to break it to her gently. Once it's agreed, the brothers can't help themselves, and their excitement bubbles into pure joy.

It's lunchtime at school when Jabbar spies Max sitting alone. Jabbar and his friends run over to ask Max about how to play a favorite video game. Max pauses, thinks, then looks the kids in the eye, sticks out his hand and introduces himself, before launching into the secrets of the video game. Jabbar proudly reminds his friends that his cousin Max is, in fact, a genius.