Using their other phone line (apparently they now had two), Jon called his father and asked him to pick up some dinner on his way back from work. Jon thought his dad sounded kind of strange over the phone, but didn't think much of it.
About a half hour later, his father showed up, sporting a couple bagfulls of KFC. Jon opened the door for him, noting that something was different about his dad. He couldn't put his finger on it exactly, but at first glance, his dad seemed to be more... well, downtrodden, he supposed. His dad looked like he'd gone through the wash a couple of more times, if that thought made any sense.
Still, he decided not to ask (after all, things would only be like this for a week). Instead, he went back upstairs and alterted the rest of the family, telling them to come down for dinner. Mikey came down right away and fixed himself a plate, but Zoe and his mother lingered in their rooms. Finally his mom came downstairs, still talking on the phone (she had switched to her cell). She took her time wrapping up her call and fixed herself a plate without saying a word to anyone at the table.
It wasn't until Zoe came downstairs a few minutes later that Jon really began to regret his wish.
