The General Store
Steph runs in to the store looking for Ned or Janae to tell them about Kirsten but it's too late, as Lou tells her that Kirsten has taken off with Ned.

No. 26
Ned and Janae enter the house not able to take their hands off each other and are surprised to see Mickey home. He tells them that he has got permission to take Jake but refuses to say from whom. Just as Ned is about to start questioning him, Steph arrives and is surprised to see Mickey and has to quickly make an excuse to stop Mickey running out the door with Jake. Janae cottons on quickly that something is up and sends Mickey off to tidy his room up to allow Steph to talk.

STEPH: Kirsten's here, she wants to take Mickey.

Lassiter's Park
The Parker family are enjoying some quality time when Riley spots a stray dog and having spotted a car reversing into its path, takes off to try and prevent an accident but its too late, the dog gets hit.

No. 26
Ned calls Toadie (who is still based at Charlie's) to get the info on what he said to Kirsten. He denies telling her to take Mickey but reminds Ned that she is still entitle to see Mickey and that he should start talking to her to find out what her intentions are.

Steph suggests letting Mickey go to meet his mum and that they discreetly follow so they can talk to Kirsten. Ned is reluctant in case it upsets Mickey but their chat is curtailed when Mickey comes out from having tidied his room and is shocked to hear that they know about him going to meet Kirsten. Bless him, Mickey blurts out that they are going on a secret adventure...and since Ned knows about it, invites him along too. Ned wants to talk to Kirsten first and bless him again, when Mickey reveals where she is hiding. Steph and Janae lull him, thanks to his innocence, into remaining in the house so that Ned can talk to her.

Lassiter's Park
Bridget confirms to Steve that it is a stray dog but they are reluctant to touch it, and instead call Riley in. He goes to the dog to assess its injuries (a dislocated hind leg) and asks if he can take it to the surgery. Steve heads off to get the surgery ready and Bridget takes the opportunity to remind Riley that diagnosing the dog's injuries wasn't the job of a born journalist!

BRIDGET: If you're a natural pen pusher Ri, I'm a natural princess.

Ramsay Street/No. 26
Kirsten is surprised to see Ned and he confronts about taking off with Mickey. She confirms that she was planning on doing a runner but changed her mind because she couldn't hurt either of them.

Inside No. 26, Mickey asks Janae where his mum will take him on their bid adventure and she plays along and replies back that it is just part of the surprise.

Back in the car and Kirsten assures Ned that she has changed and that its time to put Mickey first again. She then goes on to tell him that Mickey loves life with him and hasn't stopped going on about him, Janae or 'Pop'.

Mickey watches from the window, wondering what is taking so long. He then let's slip that Kirsten has a new job and house in Adelaide.

MICKEY: Its not that far away is it?
(Pause)
JANAE: Mmm. It's not as far as Perth.

Mickey thinks he can spend a few days with each of his parents since another kid at school spends part of his time with both parents. He asks again how far away it is but Janae stalls from answering and instead asks him if he'll help her with the washing. Mickey agrees to do after he's gone to the toilet but he doesn't go to the toilet, going out the front door instead.

In the car, Ned asks Kirsten to stay for dinner so they can sort out shared access and she agrees just before Mickey enters the car. With him in the car, Kirsten wants to go to the shops to get something for dinner and Ned does his best to prevent that from happening but runs out of excuses and exits the car. The car takes off just as Janae reaches Ned and tells him about Kirsten's job and house in Adelaide and they watch as the car exits Ramsay Street. Oops.

Charlie's
Stonie is jealous that Charlie is bonding so well with Chantelle and promises that they can go for fertility checks and tests when they get home. He also confirms that he is off the weed just as Lou announces Harold's return from Port Douglas.

Lou thanks Steph for the text about Mickey and he is relived that he didn't contribute to Mickey's sudden disappearance. Harold brings them up to date with that Sky and Dylan are up to before asking Steph what her thoughts are on integrating prisoners into society. "I'm not feeling too good about that," Toadie replies and isn't changing his mind when Harold confirms it is prisoners who have served their time. Lou is firmly on Toadie's side too, so Harold reminds him that he is an ex-con! Steph is in agreement with Harold and promises to raise it in council if she is elected tomorrow.

Road somewhere
While Kirsten studies a map, Mickey starts asking about the shops and if they'll be back for dinner. He cottons on that they aren't going to the nearby shops and half-pleads with her not to change things without talking to Ned.

Charlie's
Toadie and Steph are decking out the bar in election paraphernalia and he brings up that Harold is going to be annoyed when he discovers that she was just humouring him about welcoming the ex-cons. Miranda suddenly appears and asks Steph if she was just humouring Harold but Steph assures them that she was serious - that she believes everyone deserves a second chance.

Toadie then starts spouting off about ex-cons and wanting to keep the neighbourhood safe for his family, which causes Harold to walk out after replying "and you think I don't?" Toadie follows Harold as he leaves the bar wanting to reassure him he didn't mean it that way but Harold isn't stopping and exits the bar. His attention is drawn to Stonie's new mate but his brother isn't answering any questions, preferring to do a last minute letter drop of Steph's leaflets instead.

No. 26
Ned looks at the clock as it approaches 5.30 and Janae decides enough is enough and wants to call the police but he stops her as Kirsten hasn't done anything wrong yet in the eyes of the law. Miranda tries to reassure them it will all be fine but Janae thinks they should be getting on a plane to Adelaide to start looking there for Mickey.

Reluctantly, Ned agrees to Janae's suggestion and goes to see if they can get a flight tonight but thankfully Mickey runs into the house, startling his dad when he hugs him. Kirsten plays it cool, apologising for they delay and wants to cook Mickey's favourite meal and refuses to rise to Janae's bait when she asks what took so long despite getting the evil eye.

No. 26 (later on)
Ned and Janae tell Kirsten about the positive things that have happened to Mickey since she left, keeping it all very civil but the gloves come off when Mickey heads into the backyard to walk Jake. They let Kirsten know that they know about her job and house in Adelaide. She confirms that the info is correct and that they have to say bye to Mickey as she is taking him with her.

No. 32
It's mini party time at No. 32, where Toadie proposes a toast to the (hopefully) new independent councillor Steph. When Chantelle goes to get more beer, there is only one bottle left, so Stonie volunteers to go to the pub to get more since the party shows no signs of letting up soon.

Ramsay Street
Toadie runs after Stonie to give him some money for the beer and wants to know what Stonie is hiding in his pocket. Stonie plays along with Toadie's accusations that he has drugs in his pocket but instead pulls out a $50 - he was just checking his pocket to make sure he had enough money. Toadie breaths a huge sigh of relief and reminds Stonie that he can beat his addiction. "I already have," assures Stonie and begrudgingly agrees to Toadie's company to get the beers.

Charlie's
Toadie notices that Stonie is a bit edgy and Stonie explains that he needs the loo and heads off there, leaving Toadie to wait for their order.

At a table, the Parker family sit after deciding to head to the pub to give Ned & Janae some time alone with Kirsten, talking about the stray that Riley rescued. Steve is gushing at the good his lad did and when Riley wants to stay overnight in the surgery to be with the dog, Bridget queries if that is part of a journalists job description and asks him to admit that caring for animals is what he was meant to do.

RILEY: (sarcastically to Bridget) So why did I drop out of Uni?
BRIDGET: Because you are as stupid as you are ugly.

Feeling that the time is right, Miranda asks why he dropped out of Uni and Riley reaffirms that it isn't what he wants to do with his life. The ladies remind him of the empathy he has with animals and Steve asks if it's because he doesn't want to go into business with his dad and to be independent instead, to which Riley confirms that isn't the issue. Miranda assures him he'll be good at whatever he chooses to do and Steve again reiterates that it is fine to be independent but Riley's decide he's had enough family time for one night and leaves to go and check on the dog.

No. 32
While waiting for the guys to return with the booze, Chantelle sings Steph's praises for how she manages to do so many things while still being a mum and putting up with Toadie, but also for showing Stonie what is important - family.

When the guys appear, the ladies wonder what took them so long and Toadie blames Stonie for being so long in the loo, which Stonie puts down to a dodgy belly. Stonie mentions getting the 3rd degree from Toadie to his wife at the pub and he decides it's time for bed when Chantelle has a dig at him for not supporting his brother. Steph follows Toadie and Stonie wonders if he is going to have to spend the rest of his life getting back the trust.

CHANTELLE: I believe in you, that's the main thing right?

Stonie doesn't reply to that one, and Chantelle tells him of what she was saying to Steph that she feels good for their future and hasn't been so happy like this in a long time. He confirms that he feels the same way and suggests that they head to bed too after he tidies up the bottles from their party. Once Chantelle heads off, Stonie disposes of a packet (presumably containing drugs) into the kitchen bin with a smile on his face as to what he has done.

No. 26
Ned enters the house after leaving Mickey to say bye to his mum and Janae is stunned at him trusting Kirsten. He assures her she isn't taking Mickey and then stuns Janae when he refuses to confirm that he will fight to keep Mickey because he doesn't want him caught up in a messy custody battle and forced to chose who he wants to live with.

JANAE: The very fact you're willing to back down for his sake, it proves what a great dad you are. The worst thing for Mickey right now would be to lose you from his life. He deserves his mum; I'm not arguing that, just that I think he also deserves a dad that loves him.

No. 26 (next day)
The Parker family enjoy some bantering over breakfast, Mickey and Bridget especially, when Riley arrives home. He tells his dad that the stray is fine and promises to continue the chat Steve wants after he's had a shower.

Janae takes Mickey outside to feed Jake when Kirsten calls round to collect him. Ned isn't letting him go even when she reaffirms it is just to take him shoe shopping and not to Adelaide, well not for a few more days.

NED: He's not going interstate, not now, not ever.
KIRSTEN: You've got no say in the matter.
NED: We'll see if the law disagrees.

She tells him that there is *no way* they will be on his side and suggests that he moves to Adelaide to be closer to Mickey. Ned replies he would if he thought it was right but tells her that he feels it isn't right for Mickey to be uprooted and settled in again especially as he has just got settled in. The two of them aren't willing to concede so Ned tells her how things will be.

NED: You move to Melbourne and he can spend equal time between the two of us.

Kirsten tries playing the "but I love him" card but Ned replies that he loves his son too and tells Kirsten that it isn't about her, it's about Mickey when she goes on about having turned her life around. Chucking her out of the house, he tells her that if she were to take Mickey to Adelaide then he'll do everything in his power to get Mickey away from her.