Danny is driving Helen, T.D., Alice, and Martha to an ice hockey game, but due to snow, there is a traffic jam. The kids are afraid they will be late, but Danny is sure they will be on time. He says he's an "expert on deliveries", and when the kids and Martha demand to know why, he reveals that it has to do with the time Jake was born. Martha can remember (but it was before she could speak), but Helen doesn't.
In the past, also during the winter, the Lorraine parents, accompanied by Martha, are taking Helen home from a visit with T.D. on C.K.'s farm. Daniel is worried Mariella will go into labour, but she assures him that the baby isn't due for another two weeks, and besides, they could get to the hospital if she did go into labour. However, then, they get a flat tyre and Danny forgot to replace the spare. To make matters worse, Mariella then goes into labour.
Martha runs into the road, which Helen thinks means she thinks the parents should flag someone down, and tries to tell Danny, but he brushes her off saying he's too busy thinking. He then comes up with the idea of flagging someone down on his own, but there's no one around. Mariella suggests calling a tow truck, but the phone has no signal.
Luckily, a truck drives past and Martha runs in front of it to make it stop. The truck driver gives the Lorraines a lift (even though Daniel and Martha must ride in the trailer), but then they get stuck in traffic and the backroads are closed because of ice.
When a garbage scow pulls up to a port nearby, Martha runs off and boards it, then starts playing with and eating the garbage. The Lorraines run after her, and the captain of a nearby boat allows them to ride in his boat. When they get to Wagstaff City, Danny sees a taxi, but it drives off before they can ride in it. Luckily, Martha again runs in front of the taxi and stops it, but unluckily, the driver refuses to drive them, because the road to the hospital is icy and Martha and Danny still smell bad from the garbage.
However, there is a funicular nearby, so they ride it. When they get off, the hospital is nearby at the bottom of the hill. They see a teenage boy on a bike, and Martha again walks in front of him, making him stop. The parents ask to borrow the boy's bike, but he needs it, and besides, Mariella won't fit in the box. Martha, however, finds two kids with a sled and alerts the parents to it by barking.
The kids let the Lorraines borrow the sled, so the Lorraine women sled downhill, and Danny and Martha run after (with Danny falling over halfway down and sliding the rest of the way). Thus, they manage to get Mariella to the hospital on time and the flashback ends. Back in the present, the kids not only arrive at the hockey game on time, they're two minutes early.
This episode provides examples of
- Anger Born of Worry: Danny scolds Martha for running into the road (to get the truck driver's attention) but it's because he thinks it was dangerous.
- Astonishingly Appropriate Interruption: Danny says that transportation is a way of getting somewhere, "like a car or a truck or a boat or a..." and then Helen sees the bike and exclaims, "Bike!".
- Badass Unintentional: While most of Martha's acts of heroism in this episode were intentional, at one point she jumps onto a garbage scow, and while she's just trying to get the trash, this ends up getting the attention of a boat captain, who gives the Lorraines a lift on his boat.
- Cell Phones Are Useless: Danny tries to call a tow truck, but there's no signal.
- Comically Missing the Point: When Danny fails at flagging anybody down, Mariella suggests he use his cell phone. Danny waves the cell phone in the air.
- Freeze Sneeze: Danny sneezes at one point in the snow.
- From Bad to Worse: First the tyre is flat... then there's no spare... then Mariella goes into labour... then there's no one around to flag down... and then Danny's cell phone doesn't have a signal.
- Heroic Dog: Downplayed. While she doesn't single-handedly save anyone, Martha does play a role in determining that Jake is not born in the dangerously cold weather:
- She gets the attention of the truck driver who gives the Lorraines a lift.
- She also gets the attention of the boat captain who also gives them a lift, albeit this time it was unintentional since she was after the garbage on the nearby garbage scow.
- She later gets a taxi driver to stop so that the driver can drive the Lorraines (although it doesn't work since the driver won't drive them due to ice and bad smells).
- Then, she gets the teenage boy on the bicycle to stop and alerts the Lorraine parents to the sled.
- Hope Spot: Double subverted. At one point, Daniel sees a taxi, but it drives off before the Lorraines can board it. However, Martha then stops it, meaning they can board it after all... however, the road to the hospital is too icy, and besides, Martha and Danny still stink from the garbage scow.
- Maternity Crisis: Mariella goes into labour when the car has a flat tyre and no spares, and to make matters worse, it's snowing, there's no one nearby, and Danny's cell phone has no signal.
- Not Now, Kiddo: When Helen tries to tell Daniel that Martha probably thinks they should flag someone down, he brushes her off by saying that he's too busy thinking.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Mariella looks nervous when she goes into labour, since the car has a flat tyre so they can't drive to the hospital.
- When there's no signal, Danny says fearfully, "Now what are we gonna do?!".
- The Pratfall: After seeing the taxi, Danny slips on ice and lands on his rear.
- Say My Name: When sledding downhill, Mariella yells, "Danny!" in fear, and he yells back, "Mariella!".
- Share the Male Pain: Rare female example; 8-year-old Helen visibly winces when she watches her mother having contractions.
- Shout-Out: While on the funicular, Danny sings "Funiculi, Funicular".
- Skewed Priorities: At one point, Martha, despite Mariella's Maternity Crisis, jumps into some garbage on a garbage scow. Lampshaded by Danny:Danny: "I can't believe you! Chasing after garbage at a time like this!"
- Speak in Unison:
- After the kids ask Danny why he's an expert on deliveries, but he doesn't answer, Helen and Martha say in unison, "Why are you an expert on deliveries?!".
- The Lorraine parents say, "Uh-oh!" both at once when they get a flat tyre.
- Tempting Fate: Mariella says that she's not due for two weeks, and even if she did go into labour, they'd be able to drive to the hospital. However, the car gets a flat tyre and she goes into labour a few minutes afterwards.
- Whole Episode Flashback: Most of the episode takes place a little less than two years ago, when Jake was born.
