Kentucky Jones is "flat wore out" by all the little things that have been going wrong and says he needs a vacation. The break he gets may not be what he had in mind.
To remind him of home, Ike goes and finds a small laughing Buddha to buy. But soon he's torn about keeping it when it's discovered that it's actually worth a lot more than he paid for it.
Ike is feeling somewhat neglected. He has brought home a straight-A report card from school but Kentucky can do nothing but think about his own research project.
Putting aside being a vet for a while, Kentucky picks up where he left off by taking on the training of a friend's horse prior to an upcoming high stakes race.
Still influenced by the superstitions of his native country, Ike suspects that an ancestor of eons ago has come to pay him a visit in the form of a goat that Seldom just won at auction.
Paulie Clifton wants to buy a guitar he's seen at a pawn shop. Ike wants to buy the same instrument but neither of the boys has enough money to purchase the guitar by themselves.
Seldom has found a new flame and to impress her, he tells her that the ranch belongs to him. In order to help him out, Kentucky and Ike both agree to pretend that it is so.
Ike is deep in the midst of homesickness for his old country and home and it's about to get worse as Kentucky has to take a trip that doesn't allow for little boys to go along.
Kentucky will have to have that talk with his new son, now that he's started bringing home guests, which this day included an abandoned teen-aged girl and her mare which is in foal.
Ike is not happy at all about his being selected to star in his school's stage production of A Midsummer Night's Dream for one very big reason...it means he has to kiss a girl.
Even though it's the season to celebrate the love of God as expressed by the sending of His Son to die for the sins of all mankind, Kentucky is getting more than just a little out of the brotherly love attitude as everyone keeps reminding him that it's Ike's first Christmas and he needs to make sure it's a special one.moreless
Known in the past for his quick tempter, Kentucky is now watching everything he does so as not to jeopardize his custody of Ike, which includes not punching Chub Baxter's lights out.
A social worker becomes concerned about Ike's well being after he gets thrown from one of Kentucky's horses. She's also not too thrilled with the vet's new female company.
Young Ike is deeply bothered by his new dad's sorrow over the loss of his beloved wife. So he contacts a marriage match-maker who lives in Chinatown for help.
Veterinarian "Kentucky" Jones gets home at the crack of dawn after dealing all night with a foaling mare, only to be told by Seldom that his day has just begun: it's registration time for Ike during his first day at school.
Doctor Kenneth "Kentucky" Jones has recently lost his wife. The two of them had planned on adopting a Chinese orphan but after her death, Dr. Jones wants to back out of the adoption, only to get a call that the boy is waiting for him at the airport.