Erica laughs; she knows this is serious, but every time he knows he’s fighting a losing battle, he starts to sound like the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court handing down a ruling, “Order in the Court!” When Sam and Lily come in, Jack sarcastically tells the boy, “Well, how nice of you to finally bring our daughter home!” Does he have any idea how worried they were? “I’m sorry, sir,” Sam tells him, but Jack says that’s not going to cut it. Sam agrees they were aiming for 11, but stuff happens. Jack furiously asks if that’s his excuse, a bumper sticker? Erica steps forward and suggests Mr. District Attorney, Former District Attorney, let the juvenile offenders speak in their own defense. Maybe they have a valid excuse for this infraction. Jack agrees, and asks Lily if she’d care to explain why they were so late getting home? Lily tells him they got behind schedule. They were waiting 18 minutes at Pine Street and Madison for the #7 bus, but that never showed up, nor did the town taxi that Sam called. Sam smiles as she says they spent 13 minutes riding the #7 bus, the driver’s name was Minnie Pascal, and rattles off her license number. She concludes they got off at Queensland and Madison, and they ran the 3 blocks here. Jack asks, if she was having a hard time getting home, why didn’t she call him so he could come pick her up? “Because that would make us seem like little kids,” Lily replies. Erica smiles as she takes Jack’s arm and asks, “Counselor, do you have anything to say in your own defense?” Jack apologizes to Sam for coming down so hard on him, but a simple phone call would have saved him a world of worry. Sam’s sorry, and promises it won’t happen again. Reggie tells his sister to add being late to her list of reasons to call him, and make sure her cell phone’s always charged, just in case she needs him to come after her. Lily agrees, and Erica asks if they’ve reduced the charges from Federal case to guilty with an excuse? Because Lily has a very busy day tomorrow! Sam tells Lily she means it’s time for them to say goodnight. Lily thanks him for a really fun first date; she had a good time. Sam did, too, and Lily tells him the next time they go on a date, it will be her treat, “That means I’ll pay for you.” Sam says there are dating traditions, the guy usually springs for the movie and the popcorn, but Lily doesn’t know about those traditions. Erica and Jack beam with pride as she tells Sam if she pays, they’ll be even, and she likes even things. Sam agrees they’ll do things her way; he kisses her on the cheek and says he’ll call her tomorrow. Lily closes the door and says she’s going to bed, but Erica insists there’s another dating tradition she’s about to learn. Lily asks if she should get her notebook? Erica laughs she doesn’t need a notebook, “I just want you to sit down and tell your new mother all about your first date.” Surprised, Lily asks if that’s really a tradition? Erica agrees, “Handed down from my mother to me, and to you.”
Lily tells the family about her evening, dinner at BJ’s and a movie, but says the movie was hard to follow; she kept missing some parts because she and Sam were practicing their kissing. She asks her dad, when he kisses Erica, do they both close their eyes, or does one of them keep their eyes open in case of an emergency? Jack stammers he guesses mostly it’s the woman who closes her eyes, and Erica asks if he doesn’t? That’s amazing—it goes to show how well she knows the man she married! “Okay, who’s up for pizza?” Jack asks.
Later, Erica agrees it’s harrowing and nerve-wracking, but he will survive. Jack’s starting to think maybe men shouldn’t even have daughters! “Well, never mind the survival of the species!” Erica exclaims. Would he really give up one little moment of it? Lily making him raisin toast on Sunday mornings, that first-ever hug, or calling him Dad? Jack thanks God for her, saying sometimes she seems to get these kids on a level that he just doesn’t. Erica insists they are both cool parents! She even heard Reggie tell that to Danielle, but he’ll never tell them to their faces, except on rare occasions. Jack agrees he’ll try to match her cool for cool, but he would never survive this dating stuff without her, and thanks her for stopping him from going off on Sam to get his grubby mitts off their daughter. Erica smiles he’s very welcome, but she didn’t come by this cool brilliance by accident; she made every mistake in the book as a parent, she just tried not to make them twice, “Okay, three times.” Jack laughs, and Erica says the main thing is that they’re all going to survive, and someday they’re all going to be sitting around a big old table, telling “remember when” stories that make them a family. Jack kisses her and asks where in this loft they’re going to put this great big, happy family table?
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