[Late Morning] [Pritchett House]
Jay walked into the kitchen already dressed for the day, carrying a mug of coffee as he glanced toward Gloria and Manny. "Morning."
Manny looked up and immediately gave him an amused smile. "Wow. Look who finally decided to join civilization."
Jay glanced toward the clock hanging on the wall before looking back at him. "It's eight-thirty."
"Exactly. I've already had breakfast, read twelve pages, and answered three emails," Manny replied with enough pride to make it sound as though he'd completed an entire workday.
"Congratulations. At your age, I was sleeping until somebody physically removed me from the bed," Jay said before taking another sip of coffee.
Gloria walked over with a bright smile and kissed him on the cheek. "Good morning, honey."
"Morning," Jay replied, though he noticed that Gloria remained beside him afterward. She stayed close for another second, watching him with the particular expression of someone waiting for the perfect opportunity to say something. Jay knew that look well enough to become suspicious. "What?"
Gloria blinked innocently. "What, what?"
"You're looking at me funny," Jay said as he studied her.
"I always look at you," Gloria replied.
"Yeah, usually right before you ask me to move something heavy," Jay pointed out.
Manny looked up from his phone. "Or right before you find out you did something wrong."
Jay immediately pointed toward him. "Nobody asked you."
"I'm just helping you recognize the warning signs," Manny replied calmly.
Gloria shook her head while Jay took another drink of coffee and decided to ignore both of them for the moment. "So what's going on today?"
"Nothing special," Gloria answered.
"Good. That's exactly what I want," Jay said with immediate satisfaction.
Gloria tilted her head. "You don't want to do anything?"
"I didn't say that. I'm gonna stop by the club, play nine holes, come home, maybe fire up the grill later. Nice, easy Sunday," Jay explained, already sounding pleased with the simplicity of the plan.
"You've really mastered retirement," Manny said.
Jay gave him an unimpressed look. "I own a company."
"And yet somehow you've managed to schedule your entire day around golf and meat," Manny replied.
"That's called success," Jay said without hesitation.
"That's what lions do after they stop hunting," Manny observed.
Jay slowly lowered his coffee and stared across the room at him. "Are you gonna be like this all morning?"
"Probably," Manny answered.
"Find somewhere else to probably be," Jay said as he pointed toward the doorway.
Manny grabbed his bag from the chair without looking particularly offended. "Fine. I was going to meet Luke anyway. He's convinced we can make money selling old video games online."
"Finally, a business plan I understand," Jay replied.
"He thinks every game becomes valuable if you wait long enough," Manny added.
Jay's brief approval disappeared. "And there it is."
Manny headed toward the doorway, though he stopped long enough to look back at them. "If I'm not home for lunch, assume we're either rich or Phil somehow got involved."
"If Phil gets involved, I'm assuming the second one," Jay replied.
Manny walked out while Gloria laughed softly. Jay turned toward her again and immediately noticed that she was still watching him. Whatever had been on her mind before Manny left clearly hadn't disappeared.
"Okay, seriously. What's going on?" Jay asked.
Gloria widened her eyes. "Why does something have to be going on?"
"Because you've been hovering around me since I walked downstairs," Jay replied.
"I have not been hovering," Gloria insisted.
"You followed me from the kitchen to the living room and back into the kitchen," Jay pointed out.
"Maybe I like being close to my husband," Gloria said sweetly.
Jay narrowed his eyes as his suspicion increased. "What'd you buy?"
"Nothing!" Gloria answered immediately.
"Did Manny buy something?" Jay asked.
"No," Gloria replied.
"Did something happen to the car?" Jay continued.
"Jay!" Gloria exclaimed.
"I'm covering the possibilities," he said defensively.
Gloria stared at him for a second before shaking her head. "You are impossible."
"I've heard that," Jay replied.
Gloria took a breath, and the playful irritation disappeared from her expression as she clearly prepared herself for something more serious. "There is something I have to tell you."
Jay noticed the change immediately and gave her his full attention. "Okay."
Gloria opened her mouth, ready to finally say what she'd been trying to tell him all morning, when Jay's phone suddenly started ringing. He pulled it out, looked at the screen, and sighed when he saw the caller.
"It's Mitchell," Jay said.
"Don't answer," Gloria replied quickly.
Jay looked at her with surprise.
Gloria immediately softened her response. "I mean... maybe don't answer right now."
"He's been having a rough couple of days," Jay reminded her.
Gloria hesitated. Whatever she wanted to tell him could wait a few more minutes, especially considering everything Mitchell and Cam had been dealing with recently. "Okay. Answer."
Jay accepted the call and brought the phone to his ear. "Hey, Mitch. Everything okay?"
He listened for several seconds while Gloria stood beside him, visibly impatient despite trying not to show it.
"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry. You guys really got your hopes up about that kid," Jay said, his voice becoming more sympathetic.
Gloria's impatience faded slightly as she watched him. She knew how much Mitchell and Cam had wanted the adoption to work out, and hearing Jay talk about it made interrupting feel impossible.
"No, I get it. You and Cam put a lot into this," Jay continued as he walked toward the living room with Gloria following a few steps behind him. "Maybe you two should take a little time before jumping into another adoption situation. You've been through enough lately."
Gloria stopped walking.
Jay listened for another moment before nodding to himself. "Yeah. I'll talk to you later."
He ended the call and looked toward Gloria. "They were really geared up to get that kid."
Gloria watched him carefully. "But there's a silver lining."
Jay nodded thoughtfully. "You might be right. Babies are a lot of work."
Gloria's expression tightened slightly. "No, that's not what I mean. I'm..."
"Ah, you know, and these two aren't getting any younger," Jay continued before she could finish. "The last thing they need is to start over."
Gloria stared at him. "Would that be so bad?"
Jay shrugged, completely unaware of what Gloria had been trying to tell him since he walked downstairs. "No idea. At this point, I don't need any more surprises."
...
//Gloria's Commentary//
Gloria looked forward with a knowing expression. "Last night, I found out that I am pregnant, so Jay's gonna get one big surprise."
She paused for a moment as another thought occurred to her.
"Okay, two if you count the barbecue apron with the bikini body on it."
//Commentary End//
...
[Mitch and Cam's house]
Mitchell sat with his coffee in both hands, taking a slow sip while trying very hard to make the morning feel normal. "This is really good coffee."
Cameron nodded as he tasted his own cup. "It really is."
Mitchell glanced down at the dark surface of the coffee as though examining it could delay the conversation neither of them wanted to start. "Is it a medium roast, or..."
"Uh, dark," Cameron replied.
Mitchell gave a tiny nod and looked faintly annoyed with himself. "Oh. I was gonna say dark. I don't know why I said medium."
"Well, you would've been right," Cameron said.
Mitchell took another sip, then studied the coffee again. "Is it whole milk, or..."
"Two percent," Cameron answered.
"Two percent. Okay." Mitchell lowered the cup and finally looked toward the enormous stuffed elephant sitting beside them on the couch. Its giant fabric head leaned against the cushions while one oversized ear nearly covered the armrest. "This is ridiculous. We need to talk about the elephant in the room."
...
//Cam and Mitch Commentary//
Cameron sat beside Mitchell as the giant stuffed elephant remained impossible to ignore behind them. "The giant stuffed elephant was a gift from our good friend Pepper."
Mitchell nodded with a tired expression. "Gay guys having kids is... it's relatively new, so our community has not yet learned how to modulate baby gifts."
"When Steven and Stefan had little Rocco, our friend Longinus sent over the whole cast of 'Yo Gabba Gabba,'" Cameron explained.
Mitchell looked toward the camera. "Now Rocco cries whenever he sees bright colors."
Cameron gave a small, wounded smile. "I'm not allowed over there."
//Commentary End//
...
Mitchell looked back toward the stuffed elephant and sighed. "I guess we should donate it somewhere, along with the eight-hundred-pound gorilla. I mean, you know, now that we're not getting a baby."
Cameron rested his coffee against his knee and nodded with deliberate calm. "A decision, by the way, which seems even better in the light of day."
"Mm. No, I totally agree," Mitchell replied.
Cameron studied his face carefully. "So we're good?"
"No, we're great," Mitchell said.
"We couldn't have handled this any better," Cameron added.
"No, we really couldn't," Mitchell agreed.
Before either of them could continue convincing themselves how well they were handling everything, Lily walked into the room and looked straight at them. "Where's my new baby brother?"
Cameron froze with his coffee halfway toward his mouth before slowly lowering it. "Okay. Uh, slight oversight."
Lily walked closer and looked between them. "Can I see him? Can we name him Larry?"
Cameron set his coffee aside and patted the couch beside him. "Okay, sweetie. Here, have a seat with us. Um, listen. There's something we need to tell you."
Lily climbed onto the couch and looked up at him. "Is it about Larry?"
"Well, yes. Sort of," Mitchell said carefully as he leaned toward her. "Um, it turns out that... we're not getting a baby."
Cameron gave her a gentle look. "Yeah, and I know this makes you very sad, but I promise you we're still a family..."
Lily barely hesitated before asking, "Can I have a kitten?"
Cameron blinked. "A kitten?"
"If I can't have a brother, then I want a kitten named Larry," Lily said.
Mitchell stared at her for a second, then looked toward Cameron. "Okay, what's this about? Is Larry on a show?"
Cameron leaned slightly behind Lily and whispered toward Mitchell, "He's not, which is what's weird."
...
[Jack's house]
Haley and Jack were having lunch when Haley suddenly stood up and ran toward the kitchen sink before throwing up... hard. "Awwwkkkk!!"
Jack got up and went behind her, looking worried.
---
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