Mrs. MacAvoy drives Carley to the Murphy foster home, calling her lucky to be placed with such a kind family.

At dinner, Daniel tells Carley her mother doesn't want her and warns she cannot take his mother.

Carley flees the Murphy house after Daniel's words and falls near an orchard, overwhelmed by memories of the attack.

Mrs. Murphy finds Carley in the dark and gently walks her back home without pressuring her to talk.

A police officer arrives at the Murphy home to question Carley about the night Dennis attacked her and her mother.

Mrs. Murphy defends Carley against the officer's aggressive questioning and forces him to back down and leave.

Michael Eric collapses with a febrile seizure and an ambulance is called to take him to the hospital.

On Easter morning, Carley finds that Mrs. Murphy prepared a personal Easter basket for her alongside the boys' baskets.

A librarian informs Carley that Mrs. Murphy has an overdue copy of a book about navigating adoption.

Carley works up the courage to ask Mrs. Murphy if she can call her 'Mom,' and Mrs. Murphy gently refuses.

Carley visits her mother in rehab for the first time and the argument ends with her mother saying the Murphys can have her.

During a second visit to the rehab facility, Carley's mother says she plans to sign papers releasing Carley permanently.

Mrs. MacAvoy and Mrs. Murphy assure Carley that her mother actually risked her own life to protect Carley from Dennis.

Mrs. Murphy reveals she was once in foster care herself and that this experience drove her to build a loving family.

As she walks to Mrs. MacAvoy's car to leave, Carley turns to tell Mrs. Murphy that she was her hero.

The story begins when Carley Connors is placed with the Murphy family after her stepfather Dennis attacks her and her mother. Tensions emerge early as Daniel resents Carley's presence, pushing her to flee the house and face her most painful memories. A police officer's visit forces the truth about the night of the attack into the open, and Mrs. Murphy's fierce protection of Carley marks a turning point in their relationship. Smaller revelations—an Easter basket prepared just for Carley, an overdue adoption book at the library—hint at the possibility of a permanent home. But just as Carley lets herself hope, her mother first rejects her and then unexpectedly reclaims her, leading to a bittersweet farewell in which Carley finally tells Mrs. Murphy what she truly means to her.

The headline events that shape Carley's journey from foster placement to farewell.

Mrs. Murphy shows Carley to Michael Eric's room, where a sign above the bed reads 'BE SOMEONE'S HERO.'

Carley secretly rearranges Mrs. Murphy's neatly organized cabinet and lets Daniel take the blame when it is discovered.

During a school-shopping lunch, Carley acts out badly toward Mrs. Murphy and stuffs bread rolls into the booth wall.

Carley overhears Mr. Murphy telling his wife he has doubts about the cost and chaos of keeping Carley.

Carley plays superheroes with Michael Eric and Adam for an entire afternoon, creating a character called Super High Tops Girl.

Mr. Ruben pairs Carley and Toni together for a major history project worth thirty percent of their final grade.

Before the ambulance doors close, Carley runs to give Michael Eric her stuffed giraffe Mr. Longneck to comfort him.

Carley skips school and uses Mrs. Murphy's library card without permission to spend the entire day at the library.

Mrs. Murphy brings the whole family to watch Daniel's spring basketball tryouts to show their support.

Toni comes to the Murphy home for dinner and the younger boys accidentally reveal in front of her that Carley is in foster care.

After Mrs. Murphy throws a mug into the sink during an argument with Mr. Murphy, Carley quietly cleans up the entire kitchen.

Rainer throws cooked carrots at Carley in the cafeteria, but Toni arrives to defend her and their friendship is repaired.

At Daniel's basketball game, Carley cheers him on and he successfully makes a lay-up and a three-pointer.

During a third visit to the rehab facility, Carley and her mother reconcile and her mother announces they will return to Las Vegas.

Toni gives Carley her own favorite jacket and a Wicked soundtrack CD as a farewell gift before Carley leaves.

While the main plot unfolds around Carley's placement and eventual return home, a quieter story runs alongside it in the details of daily life at the Murphys. Carley tests Mrs. Murphy's patience from the start—disrupting her organized cabinet and acting out at a restaurant—but she gradually begins to participate like a true family member. She bonds with the younger boys over superhero games and cares for them during a crisis, while also helping Daniel find confidence on the basketball court. Her friendship with Toni develops awkwardly through a forced school project before becoming genuine, and its fragility is exposed when the boys accidentally reveal Carley's foster-care status at dinner. The pool closes with Carley's reconciliation with her mother, a farewell dinner, and Toni's parting gifts, capturing the warmth of everything Carley must leave behind.

The everyday moments that reveal Carley's growing attachment to the Murphy family.

Mrs. Murphy explains she specifically chose to foster Carley after hearing from Mrs. MacAvoy about her fierce determination and spirit.

The police officer reveals that Dennis claims Carley's mother helped hold Carley down while he attacked her.

Carley bonds with Mr. Murphy over a baseball game when she notices the Citgo sign letters spell 'See-it-go.'

At Toni's house, Carley learns Toni relates to Elphaba from Wicked because she feels deeply misunderstood by her own mother.

Carley turns her brand-name shirt inside out as a quiet act of solidarity with Toni against social conformity.

Carley steals Daniel's basketball in the driveway to teach him dribbling moves, and the two agree to a truce.

Carley eavesdrops outside the bathroom door and hears Mr. Murphy warn his wife that she is 'spread too thin' with Carley.

A neighborhood bully calls Carley a Murphy and she feels secretly proud before hanging him from a tree branch by his overalls.

Carley reads the Mother's Day card she randomly chose and realizes every word perfectly describes Mrs. Murphy, not her own mother.

Hurt and angry after Mrs. Murphy refuses to be called 'Mom,' Carley tears the Mother's Day card into pieces.

The day after their painful conversation, Mrs. Murphy stops Carley in the hallway to tell her that she loves her.

Mrs. Murphy explains to Carley that The Giving Tree is really about a mother's unconditional love for her child.

Carley suddenly recalls the hidden memory of her mother striking Dennis with a vase in order to stop him from hurting her.

Mrs. Murphy tells Carley that no one, not even her own mother, can prevent her from pursuing whatever life she wants.

Carley finally lets her guard down and cries on Mrs. Murphy's shoulder during their last quiet night together.

Beneath the surface of Carley's story lies a series of quieter turning points that change everything she believes about family, identity, and love. Early revelations—why Mrs. Murphy specifically chose her, and what the police officer suspects about her own mother—force Carley to confront painful truths she would rather avoid. Unexpected connections with Toni, Daniel, and Mr. Murphy chip away at her emotional armor and show her that even seemingly perfect families carry private struggles. A chance discovery at a Hallmark store clarifies what real motherhood looks like to Carley, while overhearing an argument between the Murphys shakes her newly found sense of safety. The pool culminates in a rush of emotional breakthroughs: Carley recalls her mother's hidden act of courage, accepts Mrs. Murphy's wisdom about choosing her own future, and finally allows herself to cry—completing her journey from a girl who refused to feel anything to one who understands that vulnerability is its own kind of strength.

The key decisions and discoveries that transform how Carley sees herself and her world.