Chapter 3 – Show, Don't Tell

D.J. Tanner was amazed. She could have waited for Uncle Jesse to come down from his attic apartment; he might have heard Michelle crying. But, in the months since Jesse had moved back in, she'd grown to have more and more of a mother's instinct. Now, it was July, 1988, and she was getting Michelle up on her own.

Someone else had heard her, too, and followed her in. "Good morning, Deej," Stephanie said as D.J. changed Michelle's diaper while talking to her.

"Steph, you didn't have to get up, too," D.J. said, seeming to complain a little. Realizing how early it was, she wondered if her other sister had had a bad dream. "I just told Michelle it's early so I'm bringing her into our room anyway. Is everything okay?"

"I was just thinking. What if Uncle Jesse had been in an accident going to get his hair cut?"

D.J. smiled warmly at her. "Steph, just because our mom died the way she did doesn't mean everyone will." As she lifted Michelle off the changing table and held her, D.J. added: "Uncle Jesse didn't hurry, he had to go upstairs to his apartment to get his wallet anyway. If he'd just rushed, maybe he'd have run into something, who knows." She pecked Michelle on the cheek as she carried her into the girls' bedroom. "Maybe Steph should take you in bed with her; you'd take her mind off things."

"I know I'd be right there. But, I'm not sure I trust her sleeping with Mr. Bear yet," Stephaie said candidly.

"Come on, Steph, you can teach her to play nice with him." D.J. used her authoritative voice. "Now Michelle, it's only 6:15. You can cuddle with me or you can go back to your bed." Michelle let D.J. lay beside her and looked at a book D.J. pulled out for her. She had a stack by her bed for this reason. She knew Jesse would have just let MIchelle dictate when she was going to go downstairs to play; he and Joey were both very lax, even by what D.J. thought should be done. She didn't understand how the men didn't want to become their dads, so they were very lax.

Stephanie's mind was on other things. "I guess you're right. I think about Daddy, too. He had to spend the night at the 49ers' camp."

"It was only one night; ESPN had him doing some late night stuff because the 49ers are heavy favorites to win the Super Bowl. He didn't want to disturb anyone since he'd be going in so early this morning. Since they're local, he won't be gone a lot of nights. In fact, he's not doing sports for channel 8 anymore. So, he won't have that to do," D.J. reminded Stephanie.

"I thought he was doing that talk show with that Becky we met," Stephanie said.

D.J. didn't realize it, but Danny getting the ESPN gig had pushed the station to move away from him on local sports a few months early. He'd done their spring training reports as well as the national ones, but now, he'd be spending enough time away they felt it was best to do something they had planned on doing soon anyway. It was just that now, he couldn't host it; he would still be a good co-host when he wasn't covering events for the national sports network.

"He'll do it some; but the station can't afford to pay him like a full-time host." D.J. thought for a moment. "He will try to help find guests even if it's just Becky hosting."

A couple months later, between the 49ers' expectations, the Oakland A's running away with the division, and excitement over the Golden State Warriors and new head coach Don Nelson, the Bay Area was very excited about sports.

Danny walked in the door to see one of his favorite sights - a hug. Even if it was D.J. and her weird best friend, Kimmy Gibbler, it was still a great sight.

"Danny, you missed the excitement," Rebecca Donaldson, known as Becky, said as she walked toward him and Stephanie and Michelle ran toward him to give him a hug.

"Hey, Sweethearts." He turned to her after he hugged his girls. "Hey, Becky. You mean something other than quarterback controversies?" The 49ers had started off okay, but there were rumblings that Steve Young might be a better quarterback than Joe Montana - both would end up in the Hall of Fame, with Young having been acquired as insurance in a 1987 trade because Montana had suffered a back injury in 1986. "What happened?"

"I came over to help D.J. with a problem, since it's sort of a girl thing."

"See, Dad…" D.J. turned to her best friend. "If you don't want me to embarrass you…"

Kimmy shrugged. "I embarrass myself a lot; why not now?" Kimmy spilled the beans on the fight she and D.J. had had, their breakup, and then how she'd come to realize the girls that had tried to be friends with her were phonies.

"I'm glad everything worked out. And I'm proud of you, too, Deej. That reminds me of a story-"

"Uh, Danny, before you go on, we had some things come up and we might need some help getting guests next week," Becky said.

"She needs you to book 'em, Danno," Kimmy blurted.

"Suddenly, I'm fine with being called Mr. T." Danny turned to D.J.. "Why does your friend like to greet me with terms from television shows?"

D.J. said it could be worse. "She's never referred to you as "the Beaver' or asked if you were touring the country for ESPN in an RV with a great big bear."

"With a bear?" Stephanie's eyes grew wide. "Why would someone have a bear in an RV?"

Jesse and Joey had entered by this time. Joey explained: "The guy just called his chimp 'Bear.'"

"Kimmy saw one of the last episodes years ago when she was little, and she still doesn't believe me when I tell her that," D.J. explained.

"I keep asking if anyone ever saw the bear," Kimmy said. "It's like Area 51; everyone denies there ever was a bear."

"You got your work cut out for you, Deej,"' Jesse said before giving Becky a flattering smile. "Hey, good lookin'."

Becky smiled politely at him. "Hi, Jesse. Danny says your family is Greek; were you aware of the Greek custom about the first performer or guest?" she asked to make small talk, trying to get him to think about conversing with her and not just talking about her looks.

"Oh, you mean podariko," Jesse said.

"I thought that was Spanish," Kimmy blurted.

D.J. corrected her gently. "Not Puerto Rico, Kimmy; podariko. It's a Greek custom meaning the first one to set foot in a house should be one who brings good luck." She turned back to Danny. "I know we don't do a lot of Greek things because, well,..."

Danny put an arm around her. "I know; it reminds me of Mom, too."

Becky knew the first guests they'd had on a few months ago had done well, and Danny had enjoyed it when he'd gotten to co-host. Her brief menetions hadn't seemed to bother him. Still, she wanted to be sure. "If it reminds you too much of Pam we don't have to talk about Greek customs," Becky assured all of them. "I'm sure it was rough."

"It's a little easier when someone else talks about Greek customs," D.J. said as Danny sat on the couch and cuddled Stephanie in his lap.

"Yeah, like if Papouli came. He's the one person I wouldn't mind doin' 'em with. I used to love his stories." Jesse remembered Papouli - his dad's father - very fondly from having been to Greece a decade earlier.

"I'm sorry I brought it up. The girls didn't seem as affected by it when I've mentioned Greece," Becky said.

Stephanie managed to smile. "Kimmy helped us laugh."

"Before our little tiff, I thought they should watch 'Grease' and it would make them feel better, because it's all about the country. How was I supposed to know the only thing the country has in common with it is your Uncle Hairboy is just like the guys in it," Kimmy elaborated.

:"I can see you as John Travolta, Jess," Danny told Jesse as both smiled.

"Yeah. And then there's the goofball at immigration when my grandparents came over who misspelled our last name 'cause of Metropolis," Jesse said with a chuckle.

"Right; and then the time you told me about when you got married over there in that old custom." Joey changed his voice to sound like Doc Brown in Back to the Future. "Great Scott, Marty - if marriage truly is fourth dimensional, that 2,000 year old custom means Jesse has been married all this time!"

"I have not been- Can you believe him?" Jesse smiled, realizing everyone was chuckling, which caused him to begin to chuckle, too. "Hey, we're talkin' about Greece and it's okay."

"Sure, all you have to do is look at the happy side of things," Joey said.

"That's right. Maybe we still won't do a lot. But it's fun to talk about it like this," Danny added.

"So, it's okay?" Becky was glad to see everyone agreeing. "Good. I was thinking, since we've hit a bit of a lull, to talk about that good luck thing and maybe have someone who does family history. Maybe one of the two of you could help with some ideas, even some relatives?"

"Papouli and his wife went back to Greece after they helped my dad get settled; but you know, the band and I can always stop by," Jesse offered.

Danny looked oddly at him. "We don't want people to think all we'll be is an entertainment show. We're not Johnny Carson."

"Why not act it out if it's history; they always say show, don't tell in writing. Oh, well, I guess that leaves me out, too," Joey said in his Bullwinke voice, complete with holding his hands like antlers. Michelle giggled as she looked up from the book she was reading on his lap.

"Dad, if you take us out to the stables where I ride, maybe we can find some good guests there. It's not family history, but still…" D.J. suggested.

"I have to get things set up for a Don Nelson interview; the Warriors couldn't have been much worse last year but now that they're starting to get together a few weeks before training camp, things look really exciting. The network's trying to see which sport I'm best at," Danny explained. The Warriors would, in fact, go from only 20 wins to 43 and a playoff appearance that season. "So, I'll be kind of busy yet for a while, but I've set time aside for all of you, I promise. This is just an exciting time of year in sports."

"That's okay; we had a great summer with you," Stephanie said.

"Say, Dad, if we don't have anyone close by on Mom's side, what about yours? I know you said you had an ancestor who fought in the Civil War," D.J. proclaimed.

Kimmy thought that would be a great idea for a different reason. "If you can get him to come when he's over 150 years old, I bet anyone would watch."

"I'm sure he meant other descendants. And, it's true, I think some family history would be interesting," Becky agreed.

Weeks later, as the baseball playoffs were under way, as well as Warriors camp getting underway and the growing quarterback controversy in San Francisco, Danny was beign run ragged. This led to a interesting discussion with D.J. and some oddguests for the show.

It began when D.J. came home from the stables. Joey was practicing some cartoons voices. "Hey, Joey," D.J. began "you're in charge for the next couple days, right?"

"Yeah, why, what is it?"

"Can I get a horse?"

Joey instantly switched to a horse voice, as he impersonated Mr. Ed. "Yeah," he said, turnign the end of the word into a whinnie before making more horse noises with his lips. "I'm in charge. Why, what is it, Willlberrrr."

"No, I didn't mean for you to reply as a horse," D.J. corrected him with a laugh. "I mean, would you be willing to buy me a horse? I'd take care of it."

Becky entered behind her, having dropped her off. "There's one for sale, his name's Rocket.I said she' probably should wait for her dad."

"But, you heard Joey; he is in charge right now."

"I think you probably figured I'd be a better sell."

"You know, I do love horses. It does remind me of growing up in Nebraska. I don't want to talk you out of it if you're willing, but if not, I could buy him," Becky offered.

"That might be the best thing. I'd love to have a horse myself, but I don't know if I could train him to do some of the skits I'd like to do with one," Joey considered aloud.

D.J. smiled sadly. "Okay; I figured Dad would say 'no' for sure. That's why I waited till he was gone for a few days again," she confessed.

"Having a pet is a huge responsibility," Joey pointed out. "And, I know it wouldn't be in the house so your dad couldn't complain about the mess. Still, let's just let Becky buy Rocket." D.J. was fine with that. "Speaking of Old West stuff, did you see the historical re-enactment folks I found? I thought it'd be perfect for your show on family history."

"Wait, why would we have historical re-enactors on a show about family history?" Becky asked.

"Because with some of the stories D.J. was telling me about, they could act out some of the scenes. You know that old saying in writing, about how showing is better than telling?"

Jesse interrupted their thoughts as he entered from the kitchen with Stephanie and Michelle. "You're just in time," he said as he walked toward Becky with flowers. "Happy Sweetest Day."

"Uh…"

"Michelle and I picked these for you," Stephanie said as she and Michelle walked over to Becky with a bunch of marigolds – Stephanie holding them by the stems, Michelle just holding them in her hands and dropping some. "They grow out of the sidewalk next to the curb a few blocks away," she explained.

"Since the girls wanted to pick those for you, I thought I'd find some roses." Jesse smiled sweetly as Becky took all the flowers, though she figured correctly that it had been the other way around – Stephanie had heard that Jese planned to give Becky flowers, and she insisted on going for a walk with Michele and him to get some herself. "We don't really do Sweetest Day in California, it's more a Midwestern thing, but it's in another week or two, I heard."

"Thanks. That's nice. They'd look nice in a vase together, with the smaller marigolds around the outside. Why don't you three go with Joey to see if you can find one and plant them while I talk to your Uncle Jesse." They took the flowers and went off to do as Becky had suggested. "You know, Joey was just saying again how it's important to show, not just tell, in a story."

"At least I don't show you how nuts I am by using puppets all the time. Although I am nuts about you," Jesse quipped.

"I know you think what you're doing is showing, but all you're doing is telling."

"So, how do I show it?" Jesse asked, a little exasperated.

Becky smiled. She hadn't wanted to reject him in front of them, and hadn't wanted to reject a gift, either. But she'd needed to see more than a macho playboy. If that question was the best he could give her, at least it showed he might be willing to try. "That's a good start. Asking questions. Seeing what I want, how I feel appreciated, rather than what you've suggested the last few weeks, which have been about you – coming to hear the band perform, acting like you know the perfect restaurant because you've probably been on dates with several other women there; and I've heard you've had a lot." Jesse nodded. "Showing you care means liking me for who I am. Didn't your dad do that with your mom when they started out?"

"Of course not; my dad came in and swept her off her feet and, from what he tells me, had everything down pat. That's the way it's supposed to be."

"And, has it worked?" Becky asked.

"Oh, yeah, it's worked great-" From her look as she folded her arms, he knew she knew the truth. "You've heard they fight a lot, huh?"

"Jesse, I would be willing to go out with you if I could pick the place, if we could have a pleasant conversation, and if I could see that you're willing to think about me. If you're not sure, ask and listen," Becky said definitively. "And, if you want to bring me flowers then, that's fine. Because I'll know they come from a man who is interested in me for myself, not just as another woman."

Jesse smiled. "Capiche. You know who you remind me of when you get tough like that?" Becky asked, though she thought she knew. "Pam. She sounded just like that."

"Then I guess I'm in pretty good company," Becky said as the others brought the flowers in. "Oh, that is beautiful – I'm going to put it in my kitchen table as a centerpiece in my apartment."

"Yeah, and guess what? I'm takin' Becky out…" Jesse looked at her. "I mean, Becky and I are going out someplace soon. What day?"

"How about Saturday at 6. I know a good place in Chinatown," Becky suggested.

"Sounds good."

Danny Tanner sat down in the studio a few minutes before the start of "Wake Up, San francisco. After they spoke with the family history guests, he turned to host Rebecca Donaldson as he tried to cram everythign he wanted to say into a short time frame – something hard for him to do, given how much he talked. "Thanks again for buying that horse – I'm sure it helps you and D.J.; it's great having you stop by and help her. The girls like you, and Jesse really does. He said the date went well. I know he's a bit wild yet, but he's a nice guy underneath all that. Helping to raise the girls has helped a lot, you know…"

"We only have a few minutes, Danny. Can I talk?" Becky teased him. Danny apologized. "He is nice. I told huim what I really want is for him to be 'coachable.' He knew what he thought would be nice," she said, ignoring that Jesse seemed a little stubborn, too. That could hopefully be worked on in time. "But when he learned what I really wanted in a date, he was willing to listen. From all I've seen, it sounds like he's been great at learning on the job when it comes to raising the girls, too. So, I see him as having great potential," Becky finished.

"He has. Joey offered to move in to help practically the day it happened, one of those 'I'll do anything for a friend' things." Becky agreed – that sounded like Joey, all right. "It took Jesse a few days, till after the funeral, but I accepted his offer first, ironically, because he was so willing. Then I figured Joey would be great, too, and so we became like 'The Three Amigos.'"

"Speaking of which," Becky said as Joey came on the set with a couple people she'd seen from the comedy club where Joey sometimes performed.

"Joey, what are you doing here?"

"We were talking about how, in stories, it's important to show, not tell. So, I thought I'd help you with some re-enactors."

"Well… I didn't really think you would actually find…" Becky heard the countdown and decided to simply start the show. The people Joey had brought had to have been briefed on the family history information, after all. "Hi, welcome to 'Wake Up, San Francisco, I'm your host, Rebecca Donaldson."

"And I'm co-host Danny Tanner, fresh off a week of great sports, and now about to show what a great sport I am by getting to interview some people from my mom's side of our family tree, but also allowing my best friend here, Joey Gladstone, to do… what was it you called it?"

"Historical re-enactments."

"Well, this should be interesting…" Becky said, beginning to speak with the guests while Danny kept a confused look on his face for a moment.

After a bit of discussion, Danny brought the viewers' minds back to the present. "That's fascinating about how German immigrants hated slavery so much that when Virginia seceded, before West Virginia seceded from it and rejoined the Union, some of the settlers literally crossed the Ohio River and joined Ohio regiments."

"That's right," one guest explained. "Some of the ones who remained in what would become West Virginia knew almost no English, but they knew the general's name and so they would just go to the enlistment office and say they were fighting with Spiegel."

Joey interjected that, "To go over to Ohio, it was probably more like this."

At that moment, one of the re-enactors stood up and – with a German accent – invited the others to gather around him. "You see with this proclamation posted in our county square that Brooke County, where we have chosen to reside peacefully for several years, is now part of the rebels – rebels who left the land we love only to support slavery of other people. Well, we will not stand for it. We have learned of the great leaders of this land, who proclaimed 'Give me liberty, or give me death!' Well, I for one intend to fight for freedom again. Because we chose this free land…"

At that point, he pointed down to the ground; then, he looked around, confused.

"What direction is the Ohio River… there it is!" He pointed toward the Ohio River. "Actually, we chose that free land. And I will go there and make this lang part of that free land once more. Who is with me?"

Danny couldn't help but chuckle. "That speech sounds like it belongs in a movie."

"Wait till you hear what we have planned for the Huguenots in Switzerland…"

"Don't get ahead of us, Joey," Becky said with a fake smile, though she, too, wondered why they were there. Still, if it helped ratings, so much the better.

After discussion of French Huguenots who had fled to Switzerland after the Edict of Nantes was revoked in 1683 – and who would occasionally go back into France when persecution was less – one of the guests pointed out that she and Danny had a common ancestor who had always insisted he was born in France in the early 1800s, even though all the document's – except for maybe 1-2 censuses - said Switzerland.

"That's interesting," Becky said. "I suppose if the town was only ten miles from the border, with borders being much less guarded in those days, his family's farm could have easily just happened to stretch into France and they wouldn't know it."

"Right, combine that with some pride in where they had come from – feeling that he should be in France – and you never know," Danny added.

"Or, you could have this." Joey threw off his oversized jacket to reveal a top that looked like something a farmer would wear150 to 200 years earlier. He looked at one of the other re-enactors and spoke in a French accent. It is time. My wife is going into labor. How far apart are the contractions?"

"Eight minutes," the woman said.

"Then we have plenty of time. Heinrich, we will board the carriagenow."

"To the midwife, Sir/"

"No, the midwife will ride with us. We are going to the middle of nowhere. On Dasher, on Dancer, on- wait, we only have two horses. We'll stop there." Joey used his normal voice to announce that they had gone a certain number of miles. "Now, hopefully the bump ride has hurried our baby along. I believe we are probably about into France now. Provided we didn't take a wrong turn."

"But, Sir, what if the French authorities should ask why we are here?"

"That is the beauty of it, Heinrich, we can tell them we took a wrong turn anyway, and had to stop because my wife is having a baby."

"But, we have no compass to prove we are at the correct coordinates."

"That is the beauty of it, Heinrich; we have nothing to prove my wife did not give birth in France." Joey used his normal voice to say: "Things were a lot easier before hospitals, of course."

The stunned common ancestor asked Joey: "What you are saying is that you believe they may have gone across the border on purpose?" Into the middle of nowhere?"

"Why not? It's what I would do in their shoes, It'd really be easy, and it's not like there's modern medicine in hospitals back then; they'd be giving birth at home anyway," Joey explained.

"Although at home you would have benefits like four walls around you," Danny pointed out.

"Well, they do say showing is better than telling," Becky said. "I guess it's possible there could be a story like that which is lost to history."

Hours later, D.J. and Stephanie arrived home from school to see their dad on the couch reading to Michelle. "Hey, girls." Danny got up and they hugged.

"Hey, Dad. I'm really glad you get to stay here for a few weeks now," D.J. replied.

"How was the show? Did those people acting like they were history show up?" Stephanie asked.

Danny chuckled. "Yes, they did." Joey came in at that moment from the kitchen. "Hey, Joey. Becky said she had the idea from your people about bringing in some historical re-enactors who do more than just the typical Civil War and other battles. She says there's ones who do ocal history, Vikings, Renaissance; there's huge Renaissance Fairs, in fact."

"Yeah, but she sounded like she wanted to do it without the comedy," Joey said. He shrugged. "At least it gave me some new material. It sounds like you girls had lots of fun with your distant cousins over the weekend."

Stephanie was first to speak. "It was so fun. I wonder, how far apart can you be and still be cousins?"

"I don'tknow, but I heard some stories about older sibligns caring for younger ones like I help with Michelle." Shedidn't want to mention that a couple of those stories had included women who had died young of infectious diseases like the Spanish Flu.

She was about to mention that Danny had yet to enfrce limits with Michelle or put her in timeout, and that from the stories told she shouldn't have to to be the only one to do that like she had been. However, she was interrupted by Jesse as he came down from his attic apartment.

"Hey, Danny, you're home," Jesse said. "Hey, when you're not here, do you mind if I use your office – I was thinking of trying to put some jingles together."

"Aslong as you just use the computer to write them and your own equipment for doing the tapes. I'd hate to send ESPN audio and have an interview with Jerry Rice interrupted by an ad for Ted's Tire Town," Danny quipped. Ironically, when Joey joined Jesse in doing them, that would be one of the first ones they would do.

"Sure thing, man. It's great to know you're going so well with your sports career. I guess now that I'm not in business with my dad, I's really stepping out in faith, huh?"

"You'll make it, Jess. And, it's like I told Nick, if he hangs on long enough, maybe D.J. will have a boyfriend he can hand if off to, if he doesn't want one of the girls to handle it." Danny stared straight ahead for a moment. "I can't believe that could be possible."

D.J. grinned wistfully. When Stephanie asked if she was going to mention about Michelle, D.J. said, "Given Dad's look, I don't think this is the time to mention anyone else growing up."

"Well, whatever happens, however long you want to do sports, we'll be there for you," Joey said.

"Thanks. I still get times off like this, where I can co-host and be home more. And, if it gets too busy one day, I can always come back to the station way, I know I've got a great family behind me helping me," Danny said. The girls agreed, and they all hugged.

A/N: I used some of my own family history here - the story of the guys leaving West Virginia and also the guy born on the border may or may not be how it happened in my family, but the existence of the people is true of our family. See 'The Storytellers" for a bit more.

I'll keep this going if I have time but for now it's complete. As I imply, Danny wouldn't be doing sports all series, most likely, but we'll see how long it takes him to tire of it. Although one thing to note – he would be goen for the NBA Playoffs for a while in May going back and forth, and Becky mmight or might not get the offer by herself to go to the Fabulous Ali Baba Resort – chances are she'd decline, but she and Jesse might go themselves, with Danny taking an offer by ESPN to go to the All-Star Game in 1989 with the family – in Anaheim, so maybe not a big story, I don't know. If the next chapter isn't there or with Jesse and Becky – who might actually have the near-wedding thing months earlier since they start dating 3-4 months earlier in this timeline – then the next chapter would probably revolve around the earthquake.

And if I don't get back to this, thanks to all for reading all my stuff, God bless, and remember you're only a single, sincere prayer of repentance away from eternal life, and you can go to Godlife dot come for more.