Decisions (Modern Family)

[The Delgado-Pritchett Household]

Jay walked into the living room, adjusting his watch. "Gloria, have you seen my—" He stopped mid-sentence, noticing her standing by the window, arms crossed, her expression unreadable.

He frowned. "What's going on?"

Gloria didn't turn around. Her voice was quiet, almost resigned. "Vince and Manny are waiting outside."

Jay stepped beside her, peering out the window. On the sidewalk, Manny stood stiffly beside a suitcase, checking his watch every few seconds. A few feet away, Vince kicked a pebble across the pavement, smirking as he nudged Manny with his shoulder, saying something Jay couldn't hear.

Jay scowled. "Why the hell are they standing out in the heat? They could be inside with the A.C. blasting. What's the point of me paying for air conditioning if nobody's gonna use it?"

Gloria finally turned to face him, her eyes tired but composed. "Don't worry. I'm about to call them in." She hesitated before adding, "Javier's not coming."

Jay exhaled sharply, shaking his head. "Figures."

Gloria pressed her lips together, watching as Manny's hopeful posture began to deflate. Vince, catching on, stopped teasing and rested a hand on Manny's shoulder.

Jay sighed, rubbing his temple. "I'll go get them."

He swung it open and called out, his voice carrying through the warm air. "Alright, get inside before you melt out there!"

Vince immediately sprinted toward the house, slipping past Jay with a grin. Manny followed at a slower pace, dragging his suitcase behind him, his shoulders slightly hunched.

As he stepped inside, Jay gave him a firm pat on the shoulder. "You okay, champ?"

Manny offered a small, tired nod. "Yeah."

Vince, sensing the mood, stayed quiet for once, shoving his hands into his pockets.

Both boys stood before Gloria, who looked at them with a sad smile. She reached out, smoothing Manny's collar and brushing some dust off Vince's shirt.

"You don't have to pretend, mi amor," she said softly, cupping Manny's cheek for a brief moment.

Manny let out a slow breath, his voice small. "It's fine, Mom."

Vince rolled his eyes. "It's not fine. He does this everytime."

Gloria shot him a warning look, but there was no real anger behind it. Instead, she pulled both boys into a hug. "Come, let's eat something. You shouldn't be outside waiting for someone who doesn't deserve it."

Jay clapped his hands together. "I'll get the ice cream."

Manny gave him a weak smile. "It's morning."

Jay shrugged. "So? Ice cream fixes everything."

Vince gave an enthusiastic "Yeah!"

The boys made themselves comfortable on the couch, flipping through channels while Jay and Gloria headed to the kitchen.

Gloria took out four bowls while Jay grabbed the ice cream from the freezer. As she started scooping, Jay leaned against the counter, watching her.

"You know, Gloria, if you want, we could stay. No need to go to that meeting," Jay offered, his voice softer than usual.

Gloria paused for a moment but shook her head with a small smile. "No, Jay. Life doesn't stop just because someone lets us down."

Jay studied her for a beat, then nodded. "Alright. But I'm still giving Manny extra ice cream."

Gloria sighed, her expression weary. "I just wish he'd show up regularly for his sons."

Jay placed a reassuring hand on her back. "I know."

Gloria scooped another portion of ice cream, her movements slower now. "Manny waits for him every time, and he acts like it doesn't bother him. But I see it, Jay. I see it in his eyes."

Jay exhaled, grabbing a spoon. "Yeah, well… the kid's tough. Maybe tougher than we give him credit for. What about Vince?"

Gloria shook her head. "Vincente was already four when he first met his father. After that, he never expected much from him."

Jay nodded knowingly.

"But that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt," Gloria added, scooping another spoonful of ice cream. "He jokes about it, but I can tell—when Javier doesn't show, he gets unusually quiet."

Jay took her hand gently. "What do you want to do? We can't leave them alone. Maybe we drop them off at Mitch and Cam's?"

Gloria glanced toward the living room, considering. "No… they have Lily, and she's still so little. She needs their attention more. Maybe Claire's would be better."

Jay nodded. "Yeah, Claire's a good choice. She's got a whole system going over there. Vince and Manny will be fine."

Gloria exhaled, setting the ice cream scooper down. "I just don't want them to feel like we're pushing them off."

"They won't," Jay assured her. "Claire loves having the kids over, and you know Phil—he'll probably dance or whatever weird thing he does."

Gloria let out a small laugh. "And Haley will just ignore them."

Jay smirked. "Alex will probably debate with Vince. And Luke… well, Luke will just be Luke."

Gloria finally relaxed, nodding. "Okay. I'll call Claire."

Jay handed her the phone. "Good. Now, let's get them their ice cream before Vince starts eating straight from the tub."

As Gloria dialed, they both glanced toward the living room, where Vince and Manny were now arguing over the TV remote—Manny frowning in frustration, while Vince casually held it out of reach.

Jay shook his head with a chuckle. "Yeah… they'll be just fine."

[The Dunphy House]

"Kids! It's time for breakfast!" Claire shouted as she hectically switched pans and prepared plates, "KIDS!"

She peered out of the kitchen to see Alex walking in with her head in a book, not even looking up, she banged her head in the wall but she just turned around too busy in her book.

Haley was taking selfies in the hallway while Luke was shirtless and his skin glistened, it looked like it was covered in oil.

Claire narrowed her eyes as Luke stood in front of the door, "Hmm that looks like-Luke nonononono-"

Her eyes widened as Luke started to run from the door and was airborne after running a few steps.

Luke launched himself forward like a human torpedo, his oily skin glistening under the kitchen lights. For a brief moment, he looked victorious—soaring through the air, arms outstretched like Superman.

Then reality caught up.

With a loud SMACK, Luke's feet hit the floor first, but the momentum sent him skidding uncontrollably. His arms flailed, his expression morphing from excitement to sheer panic.

"LUKE!" Claire shouted, watching in horror.

Luke barely had time to process what was happening before he slammed right into Alex, who had just picked up a plate stacked high with eggs, toast, and bacon.

The impact sent both of them tumbling to the ground. The plate flew into the air in slow motion—scrambled eggs splattering onto Alex's head, bacon sticking to her cheek, and a piece of toast landing perfectly on top like an unfortunate hat.

Alex sat there, stunned, her book now covered in syrup.

Silence.

Then, Haley burst out laughing. "Oh my God, That was gold—I should've recorded it!"

Alex, still in shock, peeled a strip of bacon off her face. Then, slowly, dangerously, she turned to Luke, who was sprawled out on the floor, groaning.

"You," she said through gritted teeth, "are dead."

Luke gulped. "Technically, I slipped."

Alex grabbed a nearby fork and lunged.

Claire yanked her back just in time. "No homicide before breakfast!!"

Still holding Alex by the collar, Claire shot Luke a death glare. "And you—why do you look like a buttered turkey?!"

Luke, still dazed, blinked up at her. "It was supposed to make me go faster."

Claire groaned, rubbing her temples.

And then the doorbell rang.

Claire threw her hands up in the air exasperated before walking towards the door.

"Luke shower first, Alex don't kill your brother and Haley for the love of god take a plate."

Claire opened the door, Jay was grumbling about squirrels, Gloria gave her a big smile and moved in for a hug.

"Dad, Gloria!" Claire greeted, hugging Gloria back before stepping aside to let them in. "What's going on?"

Jay grunted as he stepped inside, still muttering under his breath. "Damn squirrels keep digging up my lawn—little punks think they own the place."

Claire rolled her eyes. "Uh-huh. Okay?"

Gloria smiled, though there was a hint of exhaustion in her eyes. "Are you sure you want to watch the boys? You have three children and you must be so busy with them, I have two and I barely handle them."

Claire took a moment to recall the chaos of the past five minutes—Luke skidding across the floor like a greased-up bowling ball, Alex plotting her brother's demise, and Haley treating breakfast like a distant concept. Then, with a slightly forced but determined smile, she replied, "Sure! What's two more?"

Manny gave a small, polite nod. "Good morning, Sister."

Claire shuddered a bit, "That's never not weird."

Vince, on the other hand, strolled in with a mischievous smirk. "Sup, Claire. You rockin"

Claire narrowed her eyes at Vince's casual greeting. "Oh, great. You're in one of those moods."

Vince shrugged. "I don't know what you mean, but I do like that you assume I have multiple moods."

Manny sighed, adjusting the straps of his bag. "Please don't start."

Jay looked around a bit, "Where's Phil?"

Claire formed a small smile, "He had a showing today, he will be back in an hour or so."

Jay clapped his hands together. "Alright, good talk! We'll be back later." He turned on his heel, already heading out the door.

Gloria kissed both boys on the forehead. "Be good, mi amores." Then, she gave Claire a sympathetic pat on the arm. "I owe you."

Claire forced a smile as she watched them leave, then turned to face the boys.

"Okay, ground rules—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Vince interrupted, holding up a hand. "Ground rules? Don't you wanna start with, like, a welcome hug or something?"

Claire just stared at him. "Not particularly."

Vince shrugged. "Fair enough."

Manny, ever the peacemaker, smiled. "I promise we'll be on our best behavior."

From the kitchen, Luke suddenly yelled, "MOM, ALEX IS TRYING TO STAB ME WITH A FORK!"

Claire groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of."

.

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[1 hour later]

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Phil walked into the house, whistling to himself as he set down his briefcase. "Honey, I'm home! And I bring with me the gift of—" He stopped mid-sentence as he took in the scene before him.

The living room was in chaos. Vince and Luke were sprawled on the floor, breathless, surrounded by what looked like the remnants of a poorly executed pillow fort. Manny sat stiffly on the couch, arms crossed, looking like he was reevaluating his life choices. Alex, wearing an exasperated expression, was clutching a notepad and what Phil was pretty sure was a list of how to build a stable pillow fort.

Haley was sprawled onto the couch, checking her phone, unbothered by her surroundings.

And Claire? Claire was seated at the kitchen table, head resting on her arm, an untouched cup of coffee in front of her, looking like she had aged ten years in the span of one hour.

Phil blinked. "Soooo… I take it we're not doing 'Best Day Ever' today?"

Claire slowly lifted her head, fixing Phil with a dead-eyed stare. "Oh, we're way past 'Best Day Ever.' We're somewhere between 'Mild Breakdown' and 'Existential Crisis.'"

Phil chuckled nervously. "Okay, that's… that's a spectrum." He glanced around again. "So, uh… what exactly happened here?"

Vince, still lying on the floor, lifted a hand weakly. "Well, we tried to build a pillow fort."

Manny let out a dramatic sigh. "It was not structurally sound."

Alex scoffed. "Because these two morons thought stacking couch cushions without a proper foundation was a good idea." She flipped to a new page in her notepad. "I have notes."

Luke propped himself up on one elbow. "Hey, I thought using the broom as a support beam was genius."

Claire groaned. "It was all fun and games until the broom snapped, the fort collapsed, and Manny started monologuing about the fall of civilizations."

Manny huffed. "The parallels were there."

Phil grinned, clapping his hands together. "Okay! Sounds like we had a little adventure. But let's look on the bright side—"

Haley didn't even glance up from her phone. "There is no bright side."

Vince turned his head toward her. "Wow. That was dark. I like it."

Phil cleared his throat. "Well, lucky for you guys, I have a solution."

Claire perked up slightly. "Is it a time machine? Because I would love to go back an hour and leave the house."

Phil shook his head. "Nope! Even better. 'Monopoly'"

There was a beat of silence.

Manny frowned. "I fail to see how that's better."

Alex scoffed. "That's worse. That's like saying, 'Hey, you're drowning? Here, hold this anvil.'"

Vince sat up, intrigued. "Okay, but are we talking classic Monopoly or one of those gimmick versions? Because if it's Star Wars Monopoly, I call Darth Vader."

Luke pumped his fist. "Yes! Monopoly night always ends in total destruction."

Claire groaned, rubbing her temples. "Phil, no. Absolutely not. I am not emotionally prepared for Monopoly."

Phil held up the box, grinning. "Come on! It teaches important life lessons—strategy, patience, how to crush your enemies financially."

Alex set down her notebook "Actually, the original intent of Monopoly was to critique capitalism—"

Vince leaned back on his elbows. "Oh great, here we go."

Manny adjusted his posture, nodding in agreement. "She's right. Monopoly was originally designed to demonstrate the dangers of wealth accumulation and—"

Vince cut him off with a smirk. "Translation: You both suck at Monopoly."

Manny bristled. "I do not!"

Alex scoffed. "Yeah, okay. Then explain why you always insist on playing as the thimble, Manny."

Manny straightened his tie. "The thimble is a symbol of humble craftsmanship. I respect its legacy."

Claire crossed her arms. "Phil, I am begging you to pick literally any other activity."

"Monopoly isn't just a game—it's a metaphor for life! You gotta take risks, invest wisely, and never underestimate the power of Boardwalk." Phil, undeterred, wiggled the box. "Come on, Claire! What's the worst that could happen?"

Vince grinned. "Oh, I don't know… maybe an all-out war, years of resentment, someone flipping the board in a fit of rage—"

Haley pointed at Claire. "Mom will definitely threaten to disown someone."

Phil clapped his hands together. "Okay! Sounds like we're all in."

Claire pinched the bridge of her nose, already regretting everything. "Fine. But I am the banker. And there will be no shady business."

Vince gasped, placing a hand over his chest. "Claire, please. This is a respectable game."

Manny folded his arms. "Then why do you always end up owning all the railroads?"

Vince winked. "Because I play smart, hermano."

Phil, practically vibrating with excitement, set up the board. "Alright, team. Let's make some memories."

And with that, the Dunphys (plus their honorary Pritchetts) sealed their fate.

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