About

A couple visits a cathedral orphanage to adopt a child. However, they are disappointed to find only Jack, who tries to bite someone every ten minutes; Mark, who set strict rules for his own adoption, including the exact time to open Christmas presents; and Clara, who seems normal but insists on being adopted with all 11 of her siblings. As they prepare to leave, they notice a boy named Joe. The nun warns them against him, explaining that he is a troublemaker whose adoptions are always canceled and a strange child who refuses to speak despite being able to. Joe was already set to be adopted by a professor who forced him to solve massive amounts of problems daily. When Joe couldn't solve a single one, the professor canceled the adoption, calling him a child without basic common sense. Joe continues to be adopted by a series of nightmare parents only to be returned: a couple who planned to force him into organ donation for their own child, a paranoid individual convinced of an alien invasion, and a grandmother with dementia who forgot she adopted him and sent him back. Readers feel pity for Joe, thinking he would have been happy with the first couple. As Joe sits depressed and alone, other children at the orphanage comfort him by sharing their own experiences with terrible adopters. One child was adopted by a fat, bald man who was always drenched in sweat; another by someone who spent their entire fortune on anime characters and only wore anime-themed clothes; and another by someone who 'married' a giant Twix bar and slept with it every night. Joe gives a faint smile—so subtle you have to look closely to see it. Just then, Joe's new adopter, Mr. Oliver, arrives. He is fat, bald, wearing an anime shirt, and carrying a giant Twix bar—possessing every trait of the nightmare adopters the other kids just described. Joe goes to Mr. Oliver's house with a sliver of hope, but Mr. Oliver is clumsy at everything, breaking furniture while trying to assemble it. He tries to make omelets and play soccer with Joe, but ruins the plans by putting the soccer ball in the fridge and leaving the eggs in the yard. He even sends Joe to the hospital by giving him a Twix bar, unaware of Joe's peanut allergy. Eventually, Joe starts acting out to get himself returned for the first time, while Mr. Oliver's clumsy daily life continues. Then, Oliver's ex-girlfriend Amelia shows up. She is a gold-digger who previously ran off with $30,000 of his money. Amelia demands $40,000 under the guise of an 'investment' for her acting career, but Oliver firmly refuses, saying it costs a lot to raise a child. Amelia takes Joe back to the orphanage, but Joe persistently returns to Oliver's house. Feeling pity for Mr. Oliver, Joe starts acting out—scribbling on documents so Amelia can't touch Oliver's money and hiding his wallet. Hating Joe for this, Amelia locks him in a shed when they are alone. One day, Oliver receives an ultimatum from Amelia to choose between her and the child. He leaves Joe at the orphanage, saying he'll leave him there for just a bit. Having been abandoned by every adult who said they'd be back 'in a bit,' including his biological parents, Joe resigns himself to being discarded again. However, Oliver only left Joe there to avoid showing him his anger while he confronted Amelia. Oliver firmly ends the relationship and, unlike the adults before him, returns to the orphanage to bring Joe back, showing true responsibility. But Amelia reappears, moving in next door and declaring she won't give up on Oliver. To protect Oliver, Joe speaks for the first time, manipulating his previous nightmare parents to chase Amelia away. Since Joe had never spoken before, they believe his words implicitly: the professor becomes obsessed with the fact that he taught the boy to speak, the couple targets Amelia's organs, and the paranoid man believes Joe's lie that Amelia saw an alien. Furthermore, the grandmother with dementia sets fire to Amelia's house, leaving Amelia completely ruined and constantly hunted by Joe's former parents. Joe and Oliver return to their daily lives. Oliver is still a coward who can't even catch a butterfly and a klutz who accidentally packs a toolbox instead of a lunchbox, but they are finally home.