AN: Big chapter and all the main characters are present in this chapter, which made it kinda hard for me to write. Like too many characters and their cut scenes. Hope it was alright.
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[Noon] [Pritchett's House]
The backyard was alive in the loud, chaotic way that only a Pritchett gathering could manage.
Jack stood near the pool with a mocktail in his hand, wearing a simple T-shirt and summer shorts, looking relaxed in a way he had not felt in a long time.
This felt surreal.
He saw a big family around him. Conversations overlapped loudly. Small arguments quickly turned into laughs. Kids splashed in the water while adults pretended to control the chaos.
It was a classic Modern Family scene, but real.
And, he was part of it.
Jay stood beside him, one hand resting on his hip, the other gesturing to something imaginary as he went on ranting about closets. "And that wall right there," He said, pointing, "that is where most people make the mistake. They think closets are just storage. They are not. Closets are statements."
Jack nodded politely. He had been nodding for a while.
"I tell people this all the time," Jay continued. "You open a closet, that is the first thing you see in the morning. That moment sets the tone for your entire day. You want chaos staring back at you? No. You want order. You want power."
"That makes sense," Jack said sincerely.
Jay smiled, encouraged. "See? You get it. Most kids your age are idiots."
Across the pool, Haley stood near a lounge chair, watching the scene with growing frustration. She was wearing the new purple bikini, and she wanted to see her boyfriend's reaction, but...
Jay was still talking.
Still.... It's been half an hour.
She had certain plans involving her and Jack, like floating in the pool, flirting, and watching him react to her bikini, maybe stealing a few quiet moments away from her family, and making out with Jack.
Instead, her grandpa had hijacked him.
She walked closer, stopping just short of them. "Hey, Grandpa."
Jay did not even turn. "I am in the middle of explaining something here, Haley. Go and play with Manny,"
Haley smiled tightly. "Cool. That sounds… important."
Jack glanced at her and caught the look immediately. He smiled apologetically.
"You wanted to go swimming?" he asked.
"Yes," Haley said quickly. "Very much yes."
Jay waved a dismissive hand. "Pool is not going anywhere. Now, Jack, imagine a walk-in closet shaped like an L."
Haley stared at Jay.
Jack cleared his throat. "Maybe later?"
Jay leaned closer to Jack. "Later. Absolutely. I am almost done."
Haley exhaled sharply and turned away before she said something she would regret.
//Haley's confession//
Haley sat in the living room. "Okay, I love my grandpa. I do. He built an empire out of wood and judging people." She gave a forced smile. "But when he says 'I'm almost done,' what he really means is: cancel your plans, you now live here."
She rolled her eyes.
"I had a whole vibe planned. Pool and some suncream... Cute guy I actually like who isn't emotionally unavailable or secretly married."
"I wore this..." She pointed at her bikini, "...for floating, flirting, and possibly making out in the storage room. Not for listening to a TED Talk called Closets: The Hidden Alpha Energy. And Jack is being sweet, which somehow makes it worse. Because now I can't even be mad at him. I'm mad at… geometry."
She nodded to herself.
"So yeah, if Grandpa thinks closets set the tone for your day—"
She gave a little smile.
"—then mine just got set to 'blue balls.' That sounds so good in my head, but much worse when I say it out loud. Anyway, just to be clear, I don't have balls. I'm very much a girl."
She shrugged.
"Welcome to the family, Jack."
//Haley's confession End//
...
In the pool, Manny and Luke were splashing wildly.
"Stop it!" Alex shouted from her inflatable, lifting her book above the water like it was sacred. "This is not a water park!"
Luke laughed and splashed harder. Manny followed, grinning.
"Arggg!" Alex tried to get out of the inflatable and stumbled straight into the pool with her book.
"Drown the monster!" Luke splashed again and Manny followed.
Alex somehow got out of the pool with her wet book. She gave them a death glare and made a mental note to take revenge on them at a later date when they least expect it.
//Alex's confession//
"People think I overreact."
Alex gave a tight smile. She was sitting at the dining table.
"But what Luke and Manny did wasn't 'splashing.' It was targeted and strategic. Honestly? Amateurishly executed, but still hostile."
She holds up the book.
"This is a first-edition annotated copy of A Brief History of Time. Do you know how long it took me to get Dad to understand that this wasn't 'just another space comic'?"
She narrowed her eyes and nodded.
"So yes, I'm planning revenge."
She leaned forward slightly.
"Not today. Revenge is best served when the subject has forgotten the crime and feels completely safe. Luke will fail something he assumes he passed. Manny will be publicly corrected on a fact he was emotionally attached to. Possibly both at the same time."
She gave a small, satisfied nod as she imagined it in her head.
"I don't need to yell or splash. I just need time. And access to their weaknesses. Which, fortunately, I already have."
//Alex's confession End//
...
Under the large umbrella, Cam and Mitchell lounged on long chairs, mocktails in hand.
Cam sighed contentedly. "This is nice."
Mitchell raised an eyebrow. "We are ten feet away from a pool full of unsupervised children, and dad is ranting about his closet with Haley's celebrity boyfriend."
Cam smiled. "Let me have this."
"Okay," Mitchell quickly shut up.
//Cam's confession//
Cam sat on the pool chair, looking straight.
"I missed the Pasadena Community Playhouse's very limited run of 'Cats: The Re-Catting'—a reimagining I have been waiting for a month. A. Month. With choreography inspired by Pilates and unresolved childhood trauma."
He sighed and then smiled.
"But… I missed it because Mitchell wanted one calm, drama-free afternoon. And I said yes. I sacrificed like a hero. Or a single mother in a Lifetime movie."
A moment of pause...
"And here's the thing, Mitchell knows it. Oh, he knows it. And for the first time in our marriage, I have the upper hand. He won't argue. He won't correct my pronunciation of 'prosciutto.' He won't even challenge me when I say Barbra's best era was all of them. I can get away with anything, like how I remodelled our bathroom with aqua tiles."
He takes a sip of his cocktail, "So sure, I missed musical theatre… but I gained something far more powerful."
He smiled.
"Silence. And honestly? Standing ovation."
//Cam's confession End//
...
Inside the house.
Claire sat on the couch, legs crossed, eyes fixed on the window overlooking the pool. Gloria sat beside her, relaxed, sipping something bright pink.
Claire leaned in. "I just think Haley is taking this very seriously."
Gloria glanced at her. "She is serious about everything. Shoes, hair, lip gloss, makeup. This is not new."
"This is different," Claire said. "This is her first real relationship. She is already studying more, changing her habits, and talking about the future. If Jack breaks up with her, it could devastate her."
Gloria frowned. "Eey, Claire, don't be so negative all the time."
"I am being realistic," Claire insisted. "Teen relationships do not last."
Gloria turned toward her fully. "Jack is a good person. I know it."
Claire scoffed lightly. "You met him once."
"Yes," Gloria said. "And when I met him, a very famous girl tried to flirt with him."
Claire froze. "What?"
Gloria nodded casually. "Dakota Fanning."
Claire's eyes widened. "Dakota Fanning?"
"Yes," Gloria said. "And Jack politely declined her advances because he already had a girlfriend."
Claire stared at her. "Haley."
"Yes."
Claire leaned back slowly. "Dakota Fanning."
Gloria smiled. "Exactly."
They sat in silence for a moment.
//Claire's confession//
Claire stared at the kitchen counter as if it had personally betrayed her.
"So apparently—" she began, then stopped, lifting a finger as if the thought itself needed to catch up. "Apparently, Dakota Fanning flirted with Jack. Dakota Fanning. Oscar-nominated, critically acclaimed, can-do-no-wrong Dakota Fanning."
She shook her head slowly, still trying to wrap her mind around it. "And he said no. Because he has a girlfriend."
A beat passed.
"My daughter."
She leaned back, letting that land. "As a mother? I am thrilled. Ecstatic actually. This is the dream. A respectful, loyal boy who chooses Haley when literal Hollywood royalty bats her eyelashes at him." A small, proud smile tugged at her mouth. "I mean… that's huge."
The smile lingered, then softened, fading just a little as another realization crept in. Claire leaned forward, elbows on the counter. "But as Claire?"
She exhaled. "I am devastated. Because if this works... if they actually last... I lose one of my greatest parenting tools. No 'I told you so.' No 'first love never works out.' No dramatic life lesson delivered during a car ride while she cries and I pretend not to be happy that I was right."
She sighed.
"I raised her to learn from mistakes," she said, counting it off in her head like a principle carved into stone. Then her shoulders slumped in resignation. "And now she might just… make a good decision."
Claire simply looked straight...
"Dakota Fanning."
//Claire's confession End//
...
In the kitchen, Phil stood at the counter, staring at a lineup of bottles.
He squinted at the clear liquid in his glass and sniffed it. "Okay," he muttered, "that one smells lemony, but it could use a bit more tang."
He reached for a lime, squeezed it in, took another sip, and winced. "Sour! Too sour!" He grabbed a water bottle from the counter and took a big sip.
Behind him, Gloria stepped into the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel. She glanced at the counter, then at Phil's face, then back at the counter.
"How many drinks have you tasted?" she asked, seeing the lines of open bottles.
Phil hesitated. "I haven't counted yet."
Gloria looked toward the pool. Her eyes narrowed when she spotted Jay standing far too close to Jack, gesturing wildly, completely blocking Haley from her own boyfriend.
She straightened immediately.
"Oh no," she said. "He's still at it."
Phil blinked. "Who is?"
"My husband is stealing the boyfriend," Gloria replied sharply. "And ruining a girl's pool moment."
Before Phil could ask what that meant, Gloria was already walking out of the kitchen.
Phil followed a step behind, still holding the tray. "Wait. Am I in trouble?"
"Just follow my lead," She whispered.
Out by the pool, Jay was mid-sentence, his hands illustrating something large and imaginary.
"And if you angle the shelves just right," Jay said, "you maximize—"
"Jay," Gloria cut in sweetly.
He turned, surprised. "What? I'm in the middle of something here, Gloria."
Gloria smiled, but it did not reach her eyes. "Phil needs your help with the drinks."
Jay frowned. "Phil does not need my help."
Phil waved awkwardly from behind her. "I might." He wasn't going to let such an opportunity to spend some time with Jay and mix drinks go by.
Gloria nodded firmly. "See. He needs you."
Jay glanced back at Jack, then at Gloria.
He sighed. "Fine." He tapped Jack's arm. "We'll continue this later..."
"Alright," Jack nodded with a polite smile. 'Finally, dang! Thanks, Gloria.'
Gloria walked over and looped her arm through Jay's and steered him toward the house. "Come. Be useful." She looked back at Jack and then at Haley and gave them a knowing smile.
As soon as they disappeared inside, Haley exhaled in relief.
Jack looked amused. "Was that a rescue mission?"
Haley grinned. "She is terrifying when she wants to be."
Inside the kitchen, Phil stared at the bottles again as Jay approached.
"This better not be about umbrellas," Jay muttered.
Phil brightened. "Actually, it is about ratios."
...
[Out at the pool]
Haley pushed Jack into the pool. Jack quickly got back up and grabbed her, pulling her in. Water splashed everywhere and they laughed...
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Today Bonus Chapter impossible target: 432/600 PS
1 bonus chs if the target is met. 🤣🤣
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