Carrie goes to show her first model home, but her boss makes her play the mother in the fake family when the actress he hired can't make it. Carrie is resistant at first, but then gets into the charade. Meanwhile, Doug buys an ice-cream truck as a financial investment. At first it seems like it's going to work out, but then when he takes another truck's spot he gets into a battle with the other truck and they try to sabotage each other.
A woman leaves a sexy message on Doug's answering machine for a different Doug Heffernan. Doug talks to the woman trying to get her to stop calling, but she won't believe he's not the right Doug.
Doug's boss O'Boyle has to go to rehab and asks Doug and Deacon to fill in. Initially Doug wants Deacon to do it, but then after talking with Carrie, Doug decides he wants to show Carrie that he can be a supervisor.
Doug and Carrie go to dinner at Deacon and Kelly's place and Doug reads Major a bedtime story. Frustrated that Major already knows all of the story, Doug changes it and ends up scaring Major.
Doug adopts a dog in order to impress his neighbors and make them believe he's actually a decent guy. This, after the same neighbors fail to invite him to a block party. But the dog turns out to be more than he bargained for and he's unable to maintain his cover of decency. Meanwhile, Arthur gets caught up in gambling world while attempting to get Danny out of it.
Deacon's son Major draws a picture of Arthur, but when Arthur sees it he is horrified by his teeth and convinces Carrie and Doug to pay for him to get braces. Spence is depressed from losing his job at the Subway. Deacon and Kelly decide to hire him as a maid/cook, but Danny gets jealous.
Carrie is upset when she learns that Deacon and Kelly were able to afford buying a second home. She is convinced that the reason they can afford it and she and Doug can't is because she and Doug pay for everything when they do things as a group. Meanwhile, Arthur helps Spence get to apply for a new job.
Doug nearly hits a chicken on the street and after rescuing the chicken from the butcher he decides to become a vegetarian. Carrie is frustrated with his new lifestyle and eats meat in secret. Meanwhile, Carrie's boss gives her a book to read, but Carrie can't get through it so Doug reads it for her and fills her in on what the book was about.
Doug gets his friend into trouble when they decide to egg the car of his friend's boss, their old school principal. Meanwhile, Carrie watches a movie with Arthur.
When an apartment becomes available in Manhattan, Carrie finally sees her dream of living in the city coming true, but Doug has different plans and the two quickly realize they share a different outlook on the future.
When Doug and Carrie visit their priest for some marriage counseling, they run into friends who recently had a child, which causes both of them to think about adopting a baby. They talk and decide Carrie will give up the Manhattan apartment and Doug will give up his job for a higher paying sales job so that they can adopt a baby from China.
Doug and Carrie's marriage continues to be on the rocks when Doug discovers that she didn't get rid of her apartment in the city. Arthur's bride-to-be leaves him at the altar when she learns that he's not gay.
Doug and Carrie's marriage continues to be on the rocks when Doug discovers that she didn't get rid of her apartment in the city. Ava St. Clair leaves Arthur at the altar when she learns that he's not gay.