eva gregory (thora birch) lives in los angeles with her mother amy (mimi rogers), her brother jack (adrian and julian johnson), and her stepfather tom (christopher mcdonald), a police lieutenant. tom's daughter tessa (alison elliott) occasionally babysits eva and jack. eva wants a dog, but her mother does not think she is responsible enough to take care of a pet, her stepfather is allergic to fur, and she cannot keep the pet at her father peter's (kevin scannell) house because he is a pilot and travels a lot.