All the Ugly and Wonderful Things

Kellen gets a letter from Wavy. Beth shows it to him and threatens to throw him out again if he breaks parole. He tells Beth she can throw the letter away, and she does. After a meeting with his parole officer, Kellen comes back to the apartment. He finds that Beth has taken the trash all the way to the dumpster. He has to go through a number of bags before he finds the letter. In it, Wavy tells him about the letter from the court. She wonders why he did not come to her, not knowing that Kellen, who was moving from place to place at the time, never received any letter from the court. She says she will not bother him again but that she has something she needs to give him. She asks him to meet her at her aunt’s house. Kellen decides he either has to forget the letter or go upstairs and pack his things.

Amy plans to come home for Labor Day weekend, wondering if Wavy’s plan to visit means a confrontation with her mother. Brenda throws an annual party for her book club friends. Wavy arrives after the party. Brenda greets her, not understanding what is happening. Wavy carries two manila envelopes. A flatbed truck arrives; Brenda wonders if Wavy plans to sell Kellen’s motorcycle. While Wavy and Amy go inside the garage where the motorcycle has been, Kellen arrives. They hear Brenda shouting at him. As Brenda tries to go into the house to call the police, Wavy blocks her. She confronts Brenda about lying to the parole board. She sticks one of the manila envelopes in Brenda’s chest, telling her the judge has changed Kellen’s parole.

Amy sees Kellen standing outside and realizes that he does not know yet that his parole has been changed: He came simply because he trusted Wavy. While they kiss, Brenda threatens to have Kellen arrested for trespassing. She says she will call the police, knowing Wavy cannot push the motorcycle to the street alone. Amy offers to help Wavy get the bike out of Brenda’s garage and to the street where Kellen can take it.

Amy suggests they get going before Brenda finds more reasons to call the police. She offers to have the tow truck driver take Wavy’s car home; Wavy gives her the keys and a hug.

In a car on the way to Tulsa, Kellen tells Wavy she does not have to go through with their plans. Soon they arrive at Brenda’s house. Wavy wakes Donal, who sleeps in the back seat.

Leslie’s husband answers the door, wishes them a merry Christmas, and lets them in. Leslie enters the room, followed by Amy, who comes straight to Kellen and hugs him. The sight of Donal overwhelms Amy and Leslie. Donal shies away from Amy’s hug. Leslie tells her husband who Wavy and Donal are, but she leaves out Kellen. When he introduces himself, she tries to correct his name to “Barfoot.” Kellen explains that his name is legally Kellen now.

Kellen warns Leslie’s husband not to stand too close to him since Brenda will not be happy to see him. Brenda walks in as Kellen arranges the flowers they brought in a vase. He asks her to give him a head start before calling the cops.

Amy watches her mother melt when she sees Donal. Nothing else matters beyond the 14-year-old, who looks so much like Liam that Amy wonders what Wavy feels when she looks at him. Brenda tries to hug him, and Donal almost runs out of the house, but Kellen stops him.

Trisha, who introduces herself as Amy’s roommate, announces dinner, and the family makes room for Wavy, Kellen, and Donal. Amy regrets not having previously introduced Trisha appropriately to her mother and sister, but in that moment she corrects Trisha, telling everyone that she is her girlfriend.

The dinner table small talk limps along. Brenda and Leslie awkwardly try to talk to or about Donal, who refuses to respond except to scowl. Kellen explains that his parole officer helped them find a detective who was able to locate Donal. Brenda brings up Sean, and Donal runs out of the house. Amy watches as Kellen goes outside and talks to Donal; he eventually gives Donal the car keys and lets him leave.

Brenda attacks Kellen for letting Donal leave. Kellen finally asks Brenda what she expects from him. He tells Brenda that Donal has been through a lot and that it was hard enough for him to visit a family he hardly knows anymore. Without Donal at the table, Wavy explains that Sean died from a heroin overdose. In foster care, Donal got into trouble and landed in juvenile detention. Leslie expresses shock that Donal has already been in jail. Kellen goes on, telling the Newlings that Donal’s infractions were not serious and that he got permission for Donal to live with them despite Kellen’s parole conditions because Donal is his brother-in-law. Amy takes in the new information all at once. Sean is dead, Donal went to jail, and Wavy and Kellen are married.

Amy feels sorry for Wavy, knowing she, her mother, and sister are the only family Wavy has. Brenda tried for so long to destroy her only positive relationship. Amy marvels at how Wavy has come there to make peace. Kellen and Wavy talk about their wedding in Las Vegas the day after they last came to Brenda’s house. When Brenda stands, Amy hopes she means to say something nice to Wavy. However, she only clears the table.

Before Donal returns, Wavy tells the family that Sean killed her parents. Kellen gently and slowly reads part of a letter Donal wrote to Wavy detailing everything he witnessed the day of the murder. Leslie wants to know if they have told the police. Kellen patiently explains that Donal is not ready to talk to more police. In the letter, Donal explains he kept the secret until Sean was dead because Sean threatened to hurt Wavy, and Donal knew Kellen would not be there to protect her. All of Brenda’s efforts to protect Wavy put her in more danger. Brenda weeps, and Wavy forgives her.

After Donal returns, Amy sees Donal and Wavy eating off the same plate in the kitchen while Kellen washes dishes. She realized that Wavy stands almost as high as Kellen’s armpit now. After being the same height for almost a decade, Wavy has started growing again.