In this week's T.I. And Tiny: Friends And Family Hustle episode, LeToya and Toya make the lengthy trip from Dallas to Atlanta, Monica struggles to juggle life's many responsibilities, Tip and Tiny navigate the choppy waters of reconciliation and more...
Read last week's recap here.
Warning: Spoilers ahead.
To Stay...Or Not To Stay?
Much like this season's anticipated premiere, the second episode of T.I. And Tiny: Friends And Family Hustle opened with exploring the fallout of Tip and Tiny's prior separation and subsequent estrangement. While Tiny is definitely excited to move forward with Tip and have her entire family under one roof again, she's struggling with the loss of independence as she readies for the move. Despite Tiny grappling with the idea of giving up her home, Niq Niq is excited to lay claim on all of the furniture that Tiny isn't taking with her.
Reign Secures The Bag/Sister, Sister
Proving that you can never be too young to secure the bag, Toya follows up with the production and illustration of the children's book inspired by her soon-to-be one-year-old daughter Reign. "Reign's book is in full swing after the great feedback from last year," says Toya over B-roll footage of a prior reading from an early edition. "Now it's time to finalize the cover and get this book on the shelves," she continues, excited to bring her vision to life. Unfortunately for Toya however, the big reveal of the book's new illustrations goes terribly-- with everything from distorted fingers to cut-off scenery ruining what was supposed to be a happy occasion. An understandably upset Toya tells the illustration company that she is not happy with the proposed designs and is also incredibly upset that she will no longer be able to sync up the book's launch date with her daughter's first birthday. Sorry, Reign!
Even though Toya is stressed beyond measure, she still manages to remain a good friend to those in her circle. Selflessly, Toya offers to assist LeToya's move back to Atlanta by flying out to Dallas and then driving back with her and her family in the close quarters of a tour bus. "I know how it is when you have a little baby. I know there's a lot going on but I feel like I can make it work," says Toya.
Rounding off her chaotic schedule, Toya is also struggling to navigate the rocky relationship that she has with her sister, Beedy. Despite the fact that the two share the same mom and dad, they grew up mostly separate from one another and now treat each other like distant relatives instead of sisters. Fed up with the divide, Toya is now fully ready to mend that bond.
Treatment Is Tough
During a sit-down with her mother and her stepfather, Monica gets some seriously bad news. Sadly, Edward, (Monica's stepfather) is suffering from stage three prostate cancer and is currently dealing with a round of incredibly taxing radiation treatment. Monica reveals that the news of "Pa's" illness is hitting her children hard, and they are currently in crisis from not seeing their grandparents every day. Refusing to be swallowed by the darkness of Pa's health crisis, Monica reassures her parents that "positivity is all they're speaking at the moment."
With her parents no longer in the house full-time as they deal with Pa's radiation treatments, Monica is facing the burden of raising three children on her own and is clearly struggling to keep everything under control. "It's really hard on me but I know it's been draining for them so I don't want to just lay my burdens down on them," says Monica.
In the midst of all of the chaos in Monica's personal life and professional life (she's currently working on a new album), her son Rocko steps up to the plate and gives his mom a shoulder to lean on as the young man of the household. After spending a fun day out as a family, it really seems as if Monica will be able to weather the storm with the help of friends, her children, and extended family.
Road Trip
True to her word, Toya flies to Dallas and packs into the tourbus alongside LeToya and her family to head back to Atlanta together. With two babies on board, the trip is far from relaxing (especially for Toya who is stressing out about Reign's upcoming first birthday party) but it's cathartic for LeToya to spend time with her friend and dish on the trials of motherhood. There's chatting, card-playing, teasing, and to take their road trip party to the next level, LeToya even drinks some of her own breast milk.
Presentation Flop
King is still dead-set on getting his parents to homeschool him in order to focus on getting his burgeoning music career off the ground. Steadfast in his refusal of King's pleas, Tip insists that King must first prove that he is responsible and savvy enough to survive in the music industry--off of his own merit, not just his parent's. In response to his father's ultimatum, King, along with Monica's two sons, Melo and Rocko, set up a pop-up shop business proposal in order to prove to his parents that he's in the right headspace to break into the industry. Sadly, King's presentation about a sneaker store-meets-ice cream shop-hybrid is little more than hot air, and Tip even gets up from the table and walks out after his son hits him up for 250k in capital. It certainly didn't help that Monica's son was decked out in head-to-toe Gucci, considering Tip's continued boycott of the luxury brand.
Differences in Design
Looking to take the next step in the reconciliation of their marriage, Tip invites Tiny to the Lake House to check out the renovations he's been overseeing since their estrangement. Unsurprisingly, however, Tiny isn't as excited about all of the changes as Tip is because she wasn't involved in the decision making. "The house had sentimental value the way it was before," says Tiny, unsure about all of Tip's changes. "This is all his doing. It didn't really have much to do with me. I am kinda in my feelings because it is supposed to be our house." Eager to make his woman happy, Tip encourages Tiny to take a more active role in the renovation process and to voice her opinions about the new decor.
Toya goes all out for Reign's first birthday party and thankfully, Reginae, Red and the party planner pulled off a stellar event. The only downer on the whole happy affair is the fact that Toya's sister Beedy was late to arrive because she "felt like she wasn't invited." While there's still definitely tension between the two sisters, they agree to put their beef aside and enjoy Reign's party before coming together to work out their issues at a later date. "I'm just tired of us going through this. There's always some type of issue between my sister and I and it's not supposed to be like this," says Toya, eager to fix their relationship. "I really don't know what's Beedy's problem with me but I feel like Reign's birthday is not the time or place to have a discussion about it but we definitely have to revisit this conversation."
