Charlie glared at his father."Don't you realize how bad that is for you?"

Alan responded "Once in a while isn't gonna kill me!"

Charlie got angrier"You promised to stick to the diet!"

"But you're too strict!"

"I'm following the advice of the cardiologist and the nutritionist!" The mathematician quickly and furiously grabbed the sandwhich from the T.V table. "Look at this! Could you have put on any more mayo?You're not even supposed to have steak!"

"Charlie..."

"You broke your promise!"!" his voice got louder. The two men were face to face. Charlie really cared about Alan's well being.

"If eating steaks is wrong, I don't wanna be right!"

"Dad!"

Just then, Don came in, and heard the fighting.

"Maybe the diet could be modified a litte, give Dad some slack" Don suggested calmly, as he stole the sandwhich from Charlie, who was too upset to care, at the moment, and began to eat it. "But he still has to eat healthy"

"He's already had one heart attack,and he's got genetic risk factors!" Charlie countered.

"A realistic modified diet that Dad is able to follow is better than none at all!" Don pointed out with his mouth full. He and worried that the tensions from before would return.

Charlie scolded Alan"You can't depend on the lipitor to do all the work!"

"Chuck's right" Don nodded after swallowing another bite.

"Mom would want you to take better care of yourself!" Charlie told his father with deep emotions of concern and love. "because Don and I need you!"

Alan, taken aback and touched, didn't say anything, and the three men looked at each other. The retiree then and there, decided, for his sons, to eat healthier.

"I'll make more of an effort tostick to the diet" he promised from his heart. "I'm sorry!"

"Really?" Charlie was surprised at how Alan just did that.

"Yes!"

The mathematician glared at his brother. "Do you think it's fair to eat that in front of Dad?"

"Uh...well uh...I'll eat it outside, and come back." Don went to the front porch.

"Let's have some uh...broiled chicken breast" Alan said lamely and went to the kitchen to prepare them.

At dinner, Charlie thought about his mother again. Eventually Alan had to go to his bookclub, and so it was just Don and the mathematician.

"Don..." Charlie began suddenly. "What would you do if you were a married woman who had a child and your husband wasn't the father?"

"I'd pinch myself" Don retorted "You already asked me this!"

"I asked if you would lie toa child about his parentage, assuming you were his father" Charlie corrected his brother.

"I'd think about my kid first..." Don reluctantly answered.

Charlie prodded his brother."Which means what? lying? telling the truth?"

"I'd worry about how telling the truth would hurt my kid and maybe screw up the relationship he had with my husband" Don decided to answer, hoping to mabye get Charlie to see their mother's point of view. "Who has been like a father figure to him"

"Wouldn't you worry about your kid finding out from someone else as an adult?"

"Only me, my husband, and my ex boyfriend knows about the affair I had" Don pointed out, finding this conversation surreal.

"Doesn't your child deserve to know the truth?"

Don sipped his beer "It's not that simple. My husband did a lot by forgiving me. Having my chid's biological father in our lives could crack the peace that we've worked so hard to achieve."

This gave Charlie food for thought. Margaret lied for what she perceived to be the good of the family.Don had made some good points. Soon, the agent was called back to work, leaving Charlie to think about things.

TBC