Plot

Ray lies to Debra about getting her a great Christmas present. He goes to Amy and Robert for help and Robert suggests the book "To Kill a Mockingbird". But when Ray gets all the credit, Robert snaps.

Ray puts a lot of thought into his mom's birthday gift. He got Marie a set of figurines exactly like what her mom used to have as a child. But one day they all broke and Marie had wanted them ever since. Ray remembered and scoured the antique shops in NYC till he found them. He paid $240 for figurines and wants Marie to enjoy them. Robert and Frank contributed $30 each, while Ray paid the remaining $180. Robert says that Ray intentionally paid more to hog all the glory for the gift. It is also revealed that Ray picked the gift all by himself and wrapped it too. Marie is upset that the boys are fighting on account of her gift and wants Ray to return the figurines. She says that the gift is tainted now and would only remind her of their fight every time she looks at them.

Ray obsesses over the fact that he killed his mother's birthday. Debra asks for a thoughtful gift too. Debra says that Ray always gets her gift certificates or things that she gives him hints about, like her pajamas (she gave him the color, the size, the directions to the store, the directions from the front of the store to the pajama department, and still she had to return them as Ray got the wrong ones). Ray says that he has a good Christmas gift for Debra. He says that he and Debra were walking in the city a few weeks ago, when she commented on a particular object. Ray indicates that he ended up buying it for her.

Ray can't figure out what to get for Debra, but he already told Debra that he got her a very thoughtful gift for Christmas. Now it is only 2 days to Christmas, and Ray has got nothing. He turns to Robert and Amy for help and tries to bluff that he wants to get a thoughtful gift for Debra. Robert figures out Ray's true predicament, that Debra has asked him to get a gift of equal or greater thought than what he gave to Marie for her birthday. Ray wants to get Debra a space heater.

Robert says that Ray knows absolutely nothing about his wife and gives him the perfect idea. Ray gives her the first edition of To Kill a Mockingbird, the book on which she did her thesis, and it is her favorite book. She is very happy, and Robert is jealous because Ray did not give him his due credit. Debra is so happy that she wants to sleep with Ray that night. Robert knows more about what the gift means to Debra that Ray can ever appreciate.

Robert obsesses over it all night and tells Debra the truth the following morning. Robert confronts Ray and says that he never read the book, didn't even know that there was a movie about it, and that it won the Oscar in 1982. Debra is shocked that Ray took credit for Robert's idea and lied to her. Amy then confronts Robert on the gift he got her (tickets to the Ice Capades), which was Marie's idea. Amy is very angry that Robert knows Debra so well and knows nothing about her. Ray tries to defend himself by saying that he only lied as he cares about Debra. The girls are furious with the boys, and they are forced to go to the Ice Capades all alone.