 Alan pays his ex Judith such generous alimony, which he can barely afford, that she can go on holiday to Hawaii for a week and dump their son Jake on him, barely announced. As usual the Harper brothers grin and bear their cross Jake as good as they can, which isn t quit good enough, for one thing because the boy is not too helpful and hopelessly forgetful, reason enough for maid Berta to award herself a permanent raise. The brothers aren t much better: they manage to forget picking up Jake at school, once each, Alan because his workload kills him, then Charlie because he has to bring Jake to school while Alan desperately tries to convince the IRS he pays Judith about every cent he earns; of course everything goes wrong too...