The next morning, Meg went into the kitchen to find her mother sitting at the table eating breakfast.

"Good morning, Mom." She kissed Lois on the cheek.

"My, you're certainly in a good mood this morning.

"I am. I have a date tonight!"

Lois nearly choked on the food in her mouth. "What!" Lois sat down her fork. "Who with?"

"Mr. Swanson."

"You're...you're going on a date with Joe Swanson?"

"Yep."

"But, Meg, he's married! And he has to be at least 40."

"I don't care, Mom! I'm in love with him!"

"Meg, you can't be in love with him."

"But I do love him. And I'm going to tell him tonight, and he'll fall in love with me too!"

"But, Meg..."

"Oh, Mom, he's so handsome! And he's the best father to little Susie! And he's so heroic. I mean, if I was in a wheelchair I'd probably kill myself. But not Mr. Swanson. And when he wears his uniform..." Meg trailed off.

That evening, Meg drove over to Joe's house (even though it's right next door) to pick him up for dinner. She wore a blue dress. She rang the doorbell. Joe answered the door, dressed in his usual clothes and holding Susie.

Meg tried to hide her disappointment. "Hi, Mr. Swanson. Are you ready?"

"For what?"

"Our date. You told me last night that you'd go. Remember?"

"Meg, I don't think that's a good idea."

"Come on. I already made reservations."

"Can't. I don't have anyone to watch Susie." Why couldn't she take the hint?

Meg sighed. "You can bring her." Meg was really hoping that it would be just her and Joe.

"No thanks. I think that you should go home and not come back over this week."

"I won't do anything. I promise." Meg forced a small laugh. "I don't know what came over me last night."

Joe sighed. He really didn't want to go, but she was so persistent. And she promised to behave tonight.

"Alright, fine. I need to go get the diaper bag. Get the car seat out of my car." Joe gave Meg his car keys, then went back inside.

Meg got the car seat out of Joe's car and put it in the backseat of her car. Joe came back out with Susie and a diaper bag. Joe put Susie in her car seat and sat the diaper bag beside her. Meg held the passenger door open as Joe slid into his seat. Meg loaded his wheelchair in the trunk, then got behind the wheel. She and Joe didn't talk during the drive to the restaurant.

At the restaurant, the three entered and were greeted by the host. "Do you have reservations?"

"Yes. Griffin. And there's one in a wheelchair."

As if they couldn't see that, thought poor Joe.

Once at their table, Joe ordered a beer. He needed some alcohol tonight, and that was okay since he wasn't driving. Meg sat beside Joe and Susie sat beside Meg in a highchair.

Joe got Susie's food ready and handed it to Meg, along with a bib. "I was gonna sit by Susie so I can feed her. But you can feed her if you want." Meg grabbed the food and sat it in front of Susie. Joe also handed Meg a small cup filled with water. Meg sat it with the baby food and forgot about it.

"Look, Mr. Swanson. There's a salad bar beside us." Joe looked. "We should get salads."

"No thanks. I don't eat salad."

"It's good for you."

"I said no."

"Just try it."

"I SAID I DON'T EAT SALAD!"

Meg dropped it. She didn't want to ruin this evening by making Joe mad. Instead, she casually placed her hand over Joe's. Joe tried to pull back, but she pushed down on it. She held it until their food arrived. Meg finally let go of his hand, and they ate in silence. Suddenly, Susie started crying.

"She's hungry." Joe said, getting pissed that Meg has been ignoring his daughter.

"Well, why did you bring her for! All I wanted was a nice evening together, and you bring her!" Meg screamed, motioning toward Susie. "I mean, this is a romantic restaurant, not a place for a baby! And you didn't even bother dressing up!"

Joe just looked at her, speechless.

"I love you, Joe! Don't you get that! And you treat me just like my family treats me: like shit!" Meg got up and stormed away.

Joe was aware that every eye in the restaurant was on him. He moved to beside Susie and started feeding her.

After Meg took Joe and Susie home, they went straight to bed. Susie had fallen asleep in the car. Joe and Meg didn't exchange words on the drive home. Joe couldn't stop thinking about what Meg had said to him: she loves him. Was she serious! He was married, and he loved his wife very much. He couldn't wait until she was home; maybe then everything would return to normal. Joe felt like he was in a nightmare. And it was only going to get worse, but of course he didn't know that...yet.

Next door, Meg was in Stewie's room looking out the window. She had a pair of binoculars, which she also stole from Joe. She was watching Joe's window through the binoculars. The window looked right into Joe's and Bonnie's bedroom. Suddenly, Joe got in front of the window. Meg got excited. In his bedroom, Joe took his shirt off and tossed in aside. Next, Joe put one hand on the side of his chair and listed himself up off the seat, taking his pants off with the other hand. Joe sat back down in his seat and tossed his pants aside. Now he was in his underwear.

Suddenly, Meg heard something. She turned and saw that Stewie was standing up in his crib. He looked at her curiously. "Meg? What the hell are you doing?"

"Go back to sleep, Stewie."

Stewie squinted at his sister. She was wearing a police uniform, obviously too big for her. "What are you wearing."

"None of your business, Stewie."

Stewie then looked past Meg and saw Joe sitting in his bedroom. "Are you...are you spying on Mr. Swanson?"

"Of course not."

Stewie ignored her denial. "You are! You're watching him get naked. You're a...a peeping tom! Oh my God! And is that...is that his uniform? He's going to be so pissed!"

"But he's not gonna find out, is he Stewie?" Meg moved to Stewie's crib.

"Mommy! Daddy!"

Meg began to panic. "Stewie, don't! Please! I'll do anything."

"Take me to a PG-13 movie."

"Done."

The door opened and Lois walked to the crib. She groggily picked Stewie up and started breast-feeding him. She didn't seem to notice Meg. Meg looked back at the window. Joe was gone. Had she missed everything? Did he see her? Quietly and quickly, Meg slipped out of the room.