Hank sees a picture of a missing child on a milk carton and realizes it is his younger brother. Monica helps him find out he was adopted. Tess and Andrew must help the real father and the lawyer who helped place the kidnapped boy.

A widow who wants her son taken off life support clashes with his fiancée, who argues that her beloved would want to live.

Among a dying 8-year-old's last wishes is that his mother, a jingle writer, finish a song she started soon after he was born.

A lawyer learns the outcome of a heart-wrenching moment from her past after a former boyfriend is brought in as a suspect in an armed robbery.

Robert and Brianna return to their impoverished hometown of East St. Louis for the Thanksgiving holiday. This tradition annoys Brianna, who worked hard to leave this city behind, and wishes that Robert's widowed mother LaBelle would come to their safe and wealthy neighborhood instead. Monica and Tess watch unseen as Robert welcomes in the season with a beautiful carol played on his treasured trumpet. When a local homeless man named Gabe is drawn to the music, LaBelle welcomes him in for dinner, much to Brianna's chagrin. LaBelle tells Brianna that she is happy in East St. Louis, where she knows her neighbors and volunteers at the soup kitchen. After the holiday, Robert and Brianna work hard to afford their home by selling water filters. Though money is very tight, Robert buys LaBelle a cell phone for safety reasons. She calls him late one night to tell him that a vandal has broken a window in her home, so Robert promptly leaves for East St. Louis. Hours later, Andrew, a policem

In Tess and Monica are on hand to witness their next assignment, Jim Sullivan, get fired from his job as a construction foreman. Trying to warn the project managers of potential safety hazards, Jim instead incurs their wrath. Tess reminds Monica that humans value themselves for what they do, rather than for who they are. In light of this, the angels must keep Jim from making any desperate decisions. Unable to find more construction work, Jim takes a low-paying job as a limousine driver and worries that he will be unable to financially support his wife and two daughters. As the bills pile up, Jim does make a desperate decision. Tailing his co-worker's advice, Jim decides to drive a questionable by generously-tipping client around for the evening. Monica, the limo dispatcher, warns against it, but the promise of quick cash is too tempting to refuse. Stuart Deane, Jim's passenger, is secretive about his business and appointments. Jim learns too much when Deane leaves their last

Detective Frank McCovey and his narcotics team obtain a warrant to raid the house of an elusive drug dealer based on a tip from his informant. The targeted address is an African-American neighborhood known for its criminal element. McCovey leads the raid, ignoring the signs that indicate they may be at the wrong house. McCovey charges through the apparent empty residence and mistakenly shoots an innocent 11 year-old boy, Jamal Griffin, who is hospitalized in critical condition. Reverend Davis, hardened by the social injustices perpetrated on his community, proclaims that this is one will not be ignored. Andrew, an Internal Affairs agent, suggests the truth behind the tragic event lies with the accidental death of McCovey's 10 year-old daughter's by a black man. McCovey refuses to discuss the matter, insisting that he followed proper procedure. Meanwhile, Jamal's mother begins her vigil beside her unconscious son and is joined by the police department's community relations office

11 year-old Corey Taylor is hanging out at the local newsstand when he spies a locket dangling near the cash register. He steals the locket in plain view and runs off before anyone can catch him. Alice Dupree, the newsstand attendant, contacts the police regarding the theft. Monica arrives in the scene as the officer on duty to get all the information. Alice gives Monica a photo of the culprit who was caught on her security camera as well as a sketch if the heart-shaped locket, which Alice describes as a priceless family heirloom given to her by her mother. Monica pays a visit to Corey's school and discovers that he's an orphan with a heart condition. But Alice remains unsympathetic, anxious to get her locket back. Monica tracks Corey down at the local arcade and gives him the opportunity to return the locket on his own. When he doesn't show up, Alice is irritated with Monica's trusting attitude. It just confirms what she's believed all along, that trust leads to disappointmen

17 year-old Alex Wilson breaks into the music store where he works to steal a guitar, not counting on the fact that his boss and mentor, famed Blues musician Henry Baldwin, would be working late that night. Armed with a gun, Henry goes into the darkened store to confront the intruder. Henry is shocked to find Alex there and goes to call the police when Alex tries to stop him. There's a struggle for the gun and Henry is fatally wounded. Alex is arrested, found guilty and remanded to the local juvenile detention center until sentencing. Monica works at the detention center supervising a group of six boys, including Alex. In a show of false bravado, Alex makes it known that he's serving time for murder. Ronald (the angel from records and permanent files) suggests to Monica that perhaps the boys need to find some common ground. The next day, Tess surprises Alex with some strawberry pancakes for his birthday, and when everyone joins to sing ""Happy Birthday,"" they stumble onto some u

Dennis Loggins is a young multi-billionaire. He's become a success, he's gotten in shape, he's spent years improving himself, and he's done it all for the love of a good woman. Or so he tells himself. The fact is that Dennis has engineered this facade of confidence and importance solely as a means for revenge. In high school Dennis was a nerd with a crush on the head cheerleader, Melissa. Due to her kindness and attention, Dennis's crush transformed into unrequited love. To make matters worse, he was constantly tormented and humiliated by Ricky, Melissa's boyfriend. On one memorable occasion, Ricky tricked Dennis into admitting his love for Melissa over a live microphone at the football game. Dennis never got over the humiliation, despite Melissa's assurance that he needn't worry. Now years later, Dennis is a success, and is eager to return Ricky's slights ten-fold. He hires Gloria on as an assistant specifically to find out what football team Ricky is playing for, and to hel

Sarah and James Berrington are unable to conceive a child. They have tried everything, including in-vetro fertilization. Nothing works. When their final pregnancy test comes out negative, Sarah weeps, devastated. On the other side of the world, a Chinese woman staggers down a dark road with a small bundle in her arms. Finally she comes to the gate of a building and lays her bundled baby against it. As snow starts to fall, and the woman walks away from her child, she cries out in anguish. Back at the gate, Gloria cuddles the baby in her arms, waiting for morning. In New York, at the home they share with his grandmother, Lady Penelope Berrington, James and his wife consider adoption. Though they that Penelope will react poorly to decision, they decide to visit an adoption counselor. Everything seems to be in order, but they will need to be evaluated in home by a case worker. They take a series of pamphlets about adopting from various corners of the globe and return home to loo

The angels assist a 17-year-old girl with obsessive-compulsive disorder who is in danger of not graduating from high school because her anxieties prevent her from completing a written assignment and her illiterate dad is unable to help her.