After spending all of her 15 years bouncing from one foster family to another in Portland, Oregon, Lux as decided it's time to take control of her life and become an emancipated minor. Her journey through the legal system leads Lux to her biological parents, local radio personality Cate Cassidy and thirty-something Nate "Baze" Bazile, who had a one-night stand back in high school. Although they haven't seen each other in 15 years, it doesn't take Cate and Baze long to fall into the same contentious relationship they had as teenagers. However, when a judge decides that Lux isn't ready for emancipation and unexpectedly grants temporary joint custody to Baze and Cate, they agree to try to get past the arguments and awkwardness and make a belated attempt to give Lux the family she deserves.

Cate and Baze are paid a visit by a social worker whose job it is to evaluate both of them and determine if they are fit parents. Lux is torn when her boyfriend, Bug, and best friend, Natasha, suggest that Cate and Baze may not be in it for the long haul and that Lux should return to her old life and the people who love her most of all. Meanwhile, Cate is pressured by the executives at the radio station to deny that she has a daughter in order to save her job.

When Baze tells his parents about Lux, they insist on planning a dinner at which they can meet their granddaughter and Cate. Cate reluctantly agrees to go to the dinner and is further annoyed when her overbearing mother and neurotic sister show up unexpectedly. Meanwhile, when Cate hears about a gang fight at Lux's school, she immediately decides to have Lux transferred to her and Baze's alma mater, Westmonte.

When Lux gets suspended from school, Cate does her best to convince Principal Dugan to give Lux a second chance, but, unfortunately, her efforts may have made the situation considerably worse for Lux. Meanwhile, Baze is insulted when he finds out that Cate and Ryan are hosting a radio station event at the bar across the street.

Off to a rocky start at her new school, Lux offers to throw a party in Baze's loft in an effort to impress the high school quarterback, Jones, and his friends. Cate worries that her relationship with Lux will never measure up to the bond Lux has so easily made with Baze.