Todd’s son from his first marriage, Cody, visits Anthem for his twenty-first birthday. Todd is elated, as it’s been far too long since he’s seen his oldest son. But Laura is less enthusiastic. Cody actually lived with Todd and Laura for a year just after they were married, but that time was a disaster. A rowdy teen from a hick town, Cody was a bully, he turned the kids against each other and he didn’t want to follow rules. Eventually the family decided it would be better for Cody to move back to Kansas to live with his mother.

Now Cody is returning.

When he arrives, he’s not sure what sort of reception he will receive. After all, he did pick on Dylan and Rex and turned his half-brother Levi against them. But to his surprise the kids are all happy to see him. They celebrate with a birthday feast in Cody’s honor, but pretty soon some of the old ghosts begin to emerge: Cody smokes around Rex which is very bad for his asthma, he wants to shoot birds in the backyard with Levi, and he refuses to attend church with the entire family. Laura is nervous and scared, and perhaps just a bit angry, because she doesn’t want to disturb the delicate balance she and Todd have created for their blended family.

Things get even worse when Cody announces he wants to move back in with them. Laura insists that if Cody is to move back in with them, Todd must be willing to discipline him. But Todd’s loyalty to, and guilt over, his first-born son runs deep. He must reconcile the man Cody is now with the boy he left behind while never forgetting the love that binds them together. For Todd and Cody alike the visit raises some old demons, but it’s also a chance at redemption and forgiveness, a chance for a father and son to reconcile and heal the deepest and most painful wounds of their lives.