Former wild child Mel Burke has just been elected as city council person for Toledo, Ohio. However, in addition to her new job, she is also forced into raising her niece, Lennox, and her nephew, Ryder. Lennox and Ryder's father, Louis Scanlon, was part of a ponzi scheme and fled the country. Their mother was sent to prison, leaving Mel as the only option. Joe Longo, a former employee of Louis and lost all of his money. His wife kicked him out and left him with nothing. Joe tracks down Mel for information on Louis. Their paths continue to cross until Mel accidentally offers Joe a job to help her take care of the kids. Lennox got suspended from school and Joe saves the day getting Lennox to talk to the principal and accept her punishment.

Mel & Joe are reeling from both the pregnancy test results and Ryder's announcement that he's joining the Navy. Feeling Ryder is completely unprepared, they hatch a plan to have Joe put him through a rigorous mock Boot Camp.

Mel tries to convince Joe to talk Gloria into drawing up a will, but Joe chickens out. So Mel invites Russell to come talk to her. Gloria is offended, but Russell soon charms her - a little too well for Mel's liking. Meanwhile, Lennox and Zander try to just be "friends with benefits."

Mel and Joe both panic when she gets news that will directly affect her senate run. Meanwhile, Ryder gets his orders from the Navy, and Lennox and Zander both have life-changing epiphanies after they almost die in a car crash.

Joe finds himself in a compromising position with a famous “bondage romance” author that Mel invited to her book club.

Mel and Joe want to have a child as soon as possible. Ryder wonders what to do with his future.

After taking a new job with crazy hours, Joe has to down a bunch of energy drinks to stay awake for a meeting Mel has with Hank, a rich backer who might finance her Congressional run. But with Joe wired and acting weird, Hank fears he's is on drugs. Meanwhile, Lennox decides to kill off Cassandra to break up Zander and McKenna.

Mel decides to run on a Healthy Diet campaign for her senate run but is then caught eating a Piggy Burger by a voter. After he tweets a photo of her and calls her a hypocrite, she gets into a war of the words with him.

Joe has to return a fancy wedding gift from her relatives and then learns that they are going to pay a visit.

On a family game night, questions and answers lead to a breakdown of Mel and Joe’s, as well as Lennox and Zander’s, relationship.

After Lennox breaks up with her new boyfriend, Mel starts dating his father behind her back. Joe tries to teach Ryder a lesson about how to invest in the stock market.

When Joe learns the significance of the little devil tattoo on Mel's backside, it's a big turnoff for him in the bedroom. Meanwhile, Lennox and Zander are forced to work with an untrained actress on their "Cassandra" short film.

Dani wants to go on a date with a boy at school, but Joe tells her she’s too young. So she tricks Mel into taking her anyway, putting Mel in the awkward situation of wanting to be the cool stepmom but having to lie to Joe. Meanwhile, Lennox and Marco run into Zander and are outed as a couple.

Joe wants Mel to stop taking birth control so they can start a family, but she's unsure. So he invites Nate and Gillian over with their new baby to see if he can change her mind. Meanwhile, Lennox tries to help Zander move on by setting him up with her friend Lilah, and Ryder announces his unexpected plans for the future.

It's Ryder's 18th birthday, and the family gathers to video chat with him, but the computer crashes before they get a chance to talk. Joe insists he can fix it, but Mel is afraid they'll run out of time, so she secretly hires a Jiffy Nerd computer technician behind Joe's back.

Mel pretends to love her birthday gift from Joe. But that turns out to be a fake gift to throw her off. Instead, he had a one-of-a-kind wedding ring made for her that she hates even more and is horrified she has to wear the rest of her life.

During her first visit in a few years, Joe gives Mel's mother, Monica some advice that upsets Mel. Meanwhile, Lennox gets into some hot water when her gym teacher assumes that she is pregnant.

Joe is shocked to learn that Dani snuck friends in to the house, drank wine and then lied about it. Meanwhile, Mel is less than thrilled over Lennox's infatuation with her professor.

Lennox wishes to follow her professor to Colombia; Joe wants Dani to tell her mother about her irresponsible behavior.

Mel dates a guy with ulterior motives. Joe deals with getting his stuff back from his ex-wife, most importantly his flat screen TV. Lennox tries to make friends in her new school.

When Mel and Joe walk in on Lennox and Aidan in bed together, they try to steer her away from sex, while Aidan's parents are delighted at the idea of the two being each other's "first." Holly tries to get Ryder to shave for the first time.

Joe thinks that Mel is having an affair with a married man and seeks to expose her. Lennox's friend has a boyfriend, Haskal (Gregg Sulkin), that has been crushing on her and she tries to find the right words to tell Scarlett. Ryder looks for a perfect birthday present for Holly.

Mel's friend declares she wants to have a baby, and thinks Joe should be the father.

Mel's sister Meredith comes home from prison on furlough to celebrate Christmas with the kids and Mel, and seems unruffled by Joe's obvious animosity towards her.

Joe rushes home to tell Mel that he has feelings for her after their romantic night together in New Jersey. When he arrives, he's shocked to find Austin has shown up and wants to give his relationship with Mel another try. Deciding he can't stay and watch them fall in love all over again, Joe quits. Meanwhile, Lennox plots to get Joe and Mel together and Ryder gets sick from his own cooking.