The Colemans have just brought home nine-year-old Anton to foster him while his mother is in prison. While the foster father, David, seems eager to bond with Anton; the mother, Dee, holds back, remembering the recent death of their teenage son, James.

Dee tries to care for Anton while always remembering that he’s not their son, but David tries to mold Anton into a Coleman as they finally start to bond over skiing.

With her sentence almost over, David and Connor visit Anton’s mother, Juanita, in prison. David persuades her to give up parental rights to give Anton a better life with the Colemans as his adoptive parents.

After finding out that his Mam is relinquishing parental rights, young Anton runs away to the Roosevelt Projects in Brooklyn, looking for her. He calls David, who shows up and finds young Anton, heartbroken. They have a heart-to-heart and David asks Anton if he’ll go along with them adopting him.

With Anton poised to be elected governor, People publishes an article about him. In the office one night, he’s going through mail and finds a letter from Juanita, his birth mother, who saw the article.

As Anton charges around his office, frantically readying himself to go to Georgia and assess the threat his birth mother poses to his campaign, his campaign manager and best friend, Brad, tries to calm him.

Anton reconnects with Carine and spends the night on her couch. The next morning, while she takes her son to school, Anton looks around their home, allowing himself to image what it would have been like if he had returned to his mother as a kid or  if he had married Carine.

After spending the day with Carine and her son, Shay, Carine and Anton tuck Shay into bed. Anton gets a glimpse at the life he almost had with Carine.

In the show’s finale, just back from Georgia, Anton begins to give a campaign speech and finds he can’t go through with it. He instead talks about his own history and the history of the US, culminating in this song, where various characters appear in his mind and join in.