Overwhelmed, Tess tries to read the letter at school but drops it. Jessica finds it and, in a rare moment of humanity, returns it without reading it. "My mom left too," she admits. "It sucks."
Cut to the boys’ bathroom. The toilet seat is, of course, up. A single pink hair tie is draped over the shower rod. The chaos continues.
That night, Tess gathers her dad and brothers in the living room. She reads the letter aloud. There isn’t a dry eye in the house—even Gabe pretends to be looking for something in his nose to hide his tears. Jack brings out an old home video of their mom chasing Sam, Tess, and baby Gabe around the backyard with a squirt gun, laughing.
The construction is a disaster. Sam installs a light fixture that falls on Gabe. Jack accidentally paints the walls "Pepto-Bismol pink" instead of "Ballet Slipper Rose." Meanwhile, Tess invites her two cool new friends, Nikki and Chloe, over to see her new space. Chaos ensues when a sewer pipe bursts (courtesy of Gabe’s flushing experiment), flooding the basement. The "girl cave" becomes a swamp.