Karen's brother, Joe Cooper gets a job as a visiting professor at USC and moves in with them. Rusty, an old boyfriend of Val's comes to town and abandons his daughter Cricket at the Ewings. Upset at being abandoned, Cricket lies, steals and accidentally hurts Olivia. Val reluctantly takes Cricket to a shelter, but reconsiders and brings her back home. Gary finally locates Rusty, and Val confronts him, and he decides to come back for Cricket.

Val finishes a journal assignment about the Ewings for her class. Lilimae find and reads it, then gives it to Abby who shows it to Joe. Joe thinks it's publishable and sends it to a publisher. When Val finds out, she is both furious and flattered. Gary thinks it is a scam and runs off to work on Methanol with Abby. Laura tells Richard she is pregnant, but is going to get an abortion and leave him because she doesn't love him anymore. Richard convinces Laura to keep the baby and that he will change, and starts pampering her and being really nice, which only irritates her. Richard is very sincere about wanting to change, and tells Karen how excited he is about the baby. When he gets home, Laura has left him.

Joe's girlfriend Lorraine comes to town, but they determine they want different things and it won't work. Abby, Gary and Val go to Sacramento to see Senator Riker, because if a bill doesn't pass to make Methanol legal, they will lose their business. He says there's nothing he can do. Abby sleeps with him, and then he decides to push the bill through. Val is mad at Abby and how she uses sex to get what she wants. Abby tells Val she could learn from her. Larry asks Karen away for the weekend, but she's not ready. Joe tells Karen she needs to stop living in the past and should take off her wedding ring. He shows home movies of the Fairgates, and everyone laughs and cries. Karen goes to the cemetery and talks to Sid. She says she will love him forever, but will now wear her ring on a chain to symbolize letting go of her fantasy that he's not really gone.

Joe needs a date for a faculty dinner. Kenny suggests he take Ginger, so he does. Richard is ready to go home, and tells Laura he'd like to be part of the baby's birth. Laura goes to see his doctor who tells her only to go back to him if she's there to stay, but not if it's out of pity. Gary and Abby continue their affair, but he feels so guilty, he ends it. However, he keeps watching Abby from the window, and Val is extremely suspicious. Val asks Gary if they're having an affair, and he locks himself into the bathroom. Val then goes to see Abby, who tells her ""I'm not saying we are having an affair, and I'm not saying we're not. I am saying that I can have him anytime I want."" Val slaps Abby. Later, Gary sees Abby and kisses her.

Richard tries to get his job back, and they call Laura to bring him home. While there, she sees a suicide note in the garbage, and decides to move back in. Val's publisher changes the name of her book to ""Capricorn Crude"", and hires Joe to be the editor. Val asks Gary to go to her publishing party, but he says no because he's mad about the book. At lunch, Karen and Lilimae see Abby and Gary coming out of an apartment together. Lilimae tells Gary she saw this and will tell Val if he won't go with her to the party. Gary agrees to go to the party, but that night he's at the apartment with Abby, who won't let him leave. At the party, Val's very upset about Gary not showing up. Karen leaves and Val sees her and follows. Karen goes to the apartment and bangs on the door until Gary and Abby finally let her in. The door is open and Val walks in and sees what's going on. She takes off for home where she packs. Gary has followed, but she won't let him in. As she gets back into her car, Gary trie

Joe warns Mac that Karen is using the court transcripts to try and go after Frank and Roy herself. Karen asks Wayne to negotiate a parts deal, and he goes to Frank and Roy, who set him up with their front men Marshall and Angelo. J.R. has one of his companies buy Val's publishing company. J.R. also meets with Abby, who will only give him the rest of the book if he'll tell her about Jock's will. J.R. tells her that Gary's coming into millions, and it isn't dependent on Val. Laura's water breaks. Richard rushes her to the hospital, but the car goes off the road and Laura gives birth in the car. The baby isn't breathing, but Richard saves him by giving him mouth-to-mouth. They name their new son Daniel.

It's opening night at Richard's restaurant ""Daniel"". Gary asks Val to go to Dallas with him for the reading of Jock's will. She says no. Abby hints around for Gary to ask her to Dallas, but he doesn't. When she finds out he asked Val to go, she is furious. Ginger is upset at all of the attention Kenny pays to Ciji while he ignores her career. Joe tells Mac that whatever Karen has planned, it's going down tonight. Karen tells Mac of her plan to catch Wayne buying illegal parts. At KLM, the parts deal is going down. Mac has an informer tell Angelo, who walks in on the deal and is going to kill Wayne and Marshall. Then Mac and the police burst in and let Angelo go. Wayne and Marshall know that Angelo will have them murdered, so they agree to sign confessions about killing Sid. Wayne tells Karen he didn't mean to kill him, they were just trying to scare Sid.

Gary goes to Dallas for the reading of Jock's will, and Abby flies in to surprise him. Val is at the same hotel on her book signing tour. Val and Abby are civil to each other, but Val's very upset when she sees Gary. Gary's money is left to him in trust, and he's very angry that even in death Jock doesn't trust him. J.R. goes to Val's book signing and tells her he hopes her book is a best-seller, because he owns the publishing company and will profit from it. Diana and Mac don't get along. Chip and Bess have an argument and she breaks up with him and fires him. Chip tells Lilimae that he quit over policy differences and lost his lease, so Lilimae invites him to live with her and Val. Chip hits on Diana.

Abby's mad when Gary and Kenny decide to go into business together to produce a record for Ciji, and then promises money to Richard. She tells Gary if they don't have a partnership she will leave him. Abby makes Richard sign a contract that she will be in control of Gary's investment in Daniel, and if he doesn't sign, she'll make sure he doesn't get any money. Val is upset that Lilimae invited Chip to live with them. Lilimae introduces Chip to Ciji, and they're attracted to one another. Diana gives Chip a car from KLMotors. Karen and Mac go camping for the weekend, but she refuses to sleep with him and they argue the whole time. Joe tells her that she's in love with Mac and that he's moving back to New York. Karen and Mac talk and realize they're both scared of getting into a relationship. They make love.