When everyone got home that night they all sat down at the table. Darlene made dinner today and so what she made was not exactly what the rest of the family had in mind.

"Uh Darlene? What is this?" Dan asked staring down at the unidentifiable substance on his plate. DJ, Becky did the same.

Darlene stood behind Dan with a bowl in her left hand and a fork in the other. Her thousand yard glare, posture, and presence reminding Dan of Roseanne so much it was scary. "It's tofu and Caesar salad."

Dan looked at his bowl of salad. "I know what the salad is but what is that?" Dan pointed at the tofu.

"I just said."

Becky looked at her sister. "God Darlene. This family is used to eating food that's unidentifiable. But at least we always knew what it was."

Now DJ took his turn. "Even the salad looks wrong."

Darlene looked at everybody. "So what I slaved in this kitchen for food you're not even going to eat?"

Becky and DJ looked at Darlene and said in unison as Dan watched. "Yeah."

Dan saw the color of Darlene's face turn red so he intervened. "Hey! Darlene made it so you're going to eat it." He said to Becky and DJ.

Becky glared at her dad. "Let's see you eat it."

Dan was in the spotlight as he looked down at his very unappetizing plate. He forced a neutral look on his face as he grabbed his fork, cut a piece of the edible substance and took a bite.

Dan couldn't think of a grosser tasting thing that he had ever ate and thought about this as he chewed. Finally he swallowed and then said, "Now let's see you eat." His actions were interrupted by David who came in through the back door.

He and Darlene hugged. "David what are you doing here?"

David held each of Darlene's hands and looked around at everybody. "Well I told Mr. Wellington about how Darlene was pregnant and how we were getting married on Sunday and he said that because someone scheduled this week off and then ended up working anyway, that I could have the rest of the week off as a wedding present." David sounded happy about this.

Dan stood up. "That's great David."

Becky looked at the happy couple. "So what are your plans for the wedding anyway?"

The couple glanced at Dan. "Well we were thinking that we could do what Jackie and Fred did. Have the wedding in the living room."

Dan looked at the living room. "Well why not?"

David looked at the table. "Ooh tofu?" David said this with a happy tone.

Dan and everyone else looked at David in awe. "Want some? Here have mine." Dan handed David his plate and David took it and sat down at the table and ate it like it was the best thing in the world.

"See David likes it." Darlene said as she sat next to David and ate hers.

Later, dinner was done and Jerry was asleep and Becky was in the shower, and DJ was up stairs and Darlene and David went out to the movies, which left Dan alone in peace and quiet. He sat at the chair in front of the fire place and thumbed through a car magazine.

He was reading an interesting story about new carburetors when there was a knock on the front door.

"Coming!" Dan said as he got up from the chair and walked across the living room. When he opened the door he found Leon. "Oh hi , Leon. Come on in."

Leon smiled and then came in the house as Dan stepped aside. "I like what you've done with the place, Dan."

Dan looked around. "Well that makes me feel good Leon. Come to make small talk?"

Leon took a seat on the couch. "No actually I came to give you this." Leon took a wad of cash from his shirt pocket with his right hand and handed it to Dan. "It's your pay check from the day you worked at the diner."

Dan looked at the wad and didn't bother to count it. "Thanks, but you didn't have to drive all the way here to give this to me."

Leon looked at Dan. "I know. I came here because I wanted to talk to you about something."

Dan leaned back in his chair. "Oh yeah what's that?"

Leon shifted uncomfortably. "Stephen and I have been talking about adopting a baby."

Dan listened. "Well that's great. You two would make great parents."

Leon looked ta his shoes. "I know it's just that. I've been thinking about being a father and it scares me."

Dan leaned forward. "Listen Leon. I've had four kids. And with every one of them I freaked out. I mean when I found out that Roseanne was pregnant with Darlene, I freaked out and took Becky fishing on Lake Michigan. It's natural." Dan said all this while he studied Leon's facial expressions.

Leon fall back into the couch and looked at his feet. "Well I just worry about raising children. I mean what if I do something wrong or they start hating me or Stephen? Or what if they like Stephen more than me?"

Dan held out his hand as Leon started to tremble with worry. Frankly he was sort of starting to be freaked out by Leon. Although that wasn't uncommon for Dan. "Leon! I hate to tell you but there will be at least one time when your kids hate you. And sometimes your kids will like one parent more than the other. Darlene was always closer to me than Roseanne, and Becky was always closer to Roseanne than she was to me. You just got to learn to realize that that doesn't mean your kids don't love you."

Leon looked at Dan analytically. "What about DJ?"

Dan looked at Leon confused. "What about DJ?"

"Was he closer to you or Roseanne?"

Dan looked up for a minute as he thought about it. "I don't really know."

Becky came out of the bathroom dressed in a red robe with her hair up in a towel and dripping wet. Leon jumped up from the couch and looked away instantly. "Uh I got to go bye!" Leon then pulled open the door and ran out. Dan and Becky watched him.

Without even looking at her, Dan said, "Becky? Is it too much to ask that you start getting dressed in the bathroom?"

Becky looked at her dad. "Is it too much to ask that you fix the shower in the basement?" She asked snarky.

Now Dan looked at Becky. "Yes it is." Dan said matching his daughter's attitude.