Oliver -- Week Three

Bess swings by Paul's office to pick up the turtle that Oliver left behind. She explains that her son has been staying with Luke for the week, giving her some time to herself. Before leaving, she hands Paul some homemade cookies, thanking him for going "above and beyond" with the turtle. When the family arrives later for their session, Luke and Oliver talk about how much fun they had together, going to a Knicks game and hanging out at home. When Bess begins to grill them on whether Oliver completed his homework, her son lets slip that Nina — his former teacher and his dad's new girlfriend — came over to help him. Bess is furious: Not only is Luke seeing someone but he asked Oliver to lie to her about it. When Paul asks the boy if there's anything he'd like to say, Oliver responds, "Whatever I say makes everything worse." The therapist pulls Oliver into another room, where he finds out that not only is the boy still having trouble sleeping but that his parents were planning to adopt an African baby. Paul returns to his office without Oliver to talk to Luke and Bess alone. Bess is angry that Luke single-handedly overruled their decision not to involve Oliver with people they're dating, but Luke says there's no hope of discussing anything with her because she's so unwilling to compromise. Paul explains that he's trying to help them communicate, but right now he wants to talk about the adoption. Bess tells how hard she worked to adopt the baby and how Luke backed out at the last minute. He says he knew it was a mistake — that Bess acted like the baby would fix their marriage, but he knew it was too late. Paul points out that the two of them have never done a good job of working through their problems together, but now more than ever Oliver needs them to be a team. He tells them that the boy still isn't sure whether or not he's getting a brother. Aghast at their own lapse, the parents want to bring Oliver in to talk to him together... but the boy has fallen asleep in the waiting room.