Divided We Fall

Eugene and Katrina Meltsner are getting ready for a visit from a new caseworker. Buck's usual caseworker, Marsha, has gone on maternity leave, and her cases are being covered by Edna Platt, who has a reputation for being strictly by-the-book. Katrina throws herself into preparation, timing fire drills, locking up cleaning supplies, and reading a guide about caring for foster children. The book explains that kids raised the way Buck was often miss out on important childhood experiences, and it suggests ways to give those experiences back, like building a treehouse. Eugene lights up at the idea; as a boy he even drew treehouse blueprints that never left the paper. Buck overhears and is instantly on board. While he and Eugene work, Buck explains why it matters to him: he once helped a boy named Mike Rudy and his dad build a treehouse behind a motel, and the two boys planned to fight pirates and watch the stars from the roof. But Mr. Skint woke Buck at midnight to skip town, and Buck never even got to say goodbye.

Mrs. Platt's home inspection turns up small problems, an expired fire extinguisher and unlocked rocket-cleaning chemicals, but she assures the Meltsners these are easily fixed. Then a crash comes from the backyard. Buck has fallen eighteen feet from the unfinished treehouse, which has no walls or railings, while hauling up a chainsaw unsupervised. Mrs. Platt calls an ambulance, growing more alarmed with every detail. At the hospital, Buck's ankle turns out to be broken in two places, and his pain medication leaves him woozy enough to cheerfully tell the story of the motorized skateboard Eugene once built him with a lawn mower engine and brakes that didn't quite work. In the hallway, Mrs. Platt delivers hard news: Buck is a ward of the state, the accident report has already been filed, and any foster child needing emergency care triggers a review by a judge. The hearing is set for Tuesday, and until then Buck must stay in respite care with another family. The Meltsners say a tearful goodbye, sending him off with cookies, warm socks, and a promise to walk his dog, Sparky.

Hoping to impress the judge, Eugene and Katrina spend the weekend cramming foster-parent training classes, including an infant care course where the two of them, a Rhodes Scholar and a certified genius, manage to fail at diapering a doll, adding origami folds, duct tape, and an accidentally broken plastic leg. The failure hits Eugene hard. He begins to fear he really is the absent-minded professor who misses obvious dangers, and that night he heads outside to tear the treehouse down, muttering, "A hot tub. What was I thinking?" Buck, whose respite home is only a few blocks away, hobbles over on his crutches and catches him at it. When a loose board nearly falls on Buck, Eugene shoves him out of the way and then spirals further, convinced he nearly injured the boy again and unfit to parent at all. He sends Buck back, but not before Buck overhears that Eugene's parenting is being questioned.

At Tuesday's hearing, Judge Gonzales reviews the long list of infractions. Katrina promises they are fixing everything, but the judge wants to hear from Eugene, since the accident happened on his watch. Eugene, painfully honest, admits he cannot guarantee Buck's complete safety and wonders aloud whether he is competent, leaving the judge baffled about whether he even wants Buck to stay. Just then Buck himself appears at the door, announcing that this is his hearing and he has something to say. He tells the judge that Eugene and Katrina are exactly who he would choose "if I had a whole catalog of people to pick from." He explains that he grew up lying about everything, and they were the first people to show him he mattered anyway, teaching him that God made him and loves him enough to help him grow. Then he turns to Eugene with the real question: if Buck is worthwhile despite all his mistakes, "you can be a good parent even if you're still learning how?" Eugene, moved, allows that perhaps he can. The judge, impressed by Buck's case, agrees to talk things through, and Mrs. Platt concurs.

In the end, Buck comes home, and the treehouse gets properly finished. He and Eugene sit on its roof under a clear night sky, the very thing Buck dreamed of doing with Mike Rudy years ago. When Eugene starts lecturing about exactly how many stars are visible to the naked eye, he catches himself and decides to simply enjoy the view. Both agree it is amazing.