Bad News

"How long do you think they're going to take?", Alex asked, taking deep breaths as she separated her lips from Zephyr.

"I don't know", Zephyr breathlessly answered. Before he could continue, Alex forcefully pressed her lips against his, making sure her body was as close to his as possible. A few seconds passed before they finally disconnected their lips, their foreheads touching.

"I think ... we need ... to stop", Alex said, "Lily might catch us and we don't know when my uncles are going to be here".

"I think it's too late for the first one", Zephyr commented, taking notice of the small bob of hair that was peeking from one of the walls.

Seeing this, Alex's eyes widened and she entangled herself from Zephyr and rushed over to Lily. Seeing Alex suddenly appear in front of her, Lily let out a startled scream before trying to run away. Before she could get far, Zephyr picked her up, not letting go even as she tried to escape his grip.

"Lily. Calm down", Alex commanded in a gentle voice, "You're not in trouble".

Hearing her words, Lily stopped trying to kick herself out of Zephyr's grip, "I'm not in trouble?", Lily asked, tilting her head in confusion.

"No", Alex shook her head, "Lily's not in trouble. Right, Zephyr?"

"No way!", Zephyr exclaimed.

"What's wrong?", Lily questioned.

"You can't tell your dads about what you saw me and Zephyr doing", Alex explained, "Okay?"

"You two kissed", Lily responded, pointing a finger at Lily.

"We did", Zephyr agreed, "But you can't tell Cam or Mitch. Okay?"

Lily looked at them and countered, "I want cookies".

"We'll give you all the cookies you want", Alex conceded.

"I'll bake you a batch of cookies whenever you visit", Zephyr added, not wanting to make things awkward between Alex and her uncles.

"Yay!", Lily cheered as she clapped her hands. Seeing this, Zephyr set her down and she ran away back into her room.

Sighing, Zephyr sat down on the couch with his back slouched, "That was close".

"Yeah, it was", Alex muttered, sitting down right next to him. Simultaneously, they both took up their books from the table in front of them and began reading.

Unfortunately, they weren't allowed to read for long as the door was opened less than 5 minutes later with Cam and Mitch entering.

Setting down their books, Zephyr asked, "Hey. How'd it go?".

"Amazing. I was so proud of him", Cam declared.

"Oh thanks", Mitchell said, "I'm kinda proud of me too honey. Look at what they gave me".

"California State Bar Association Award for distinguished service in the field of environmental law", Alex read, nodding at Mitchell, "Wow".

"You should've seen it", Cam replied, "They called his name. He went up on stage. He gave a great speech. It was humble, inspirational with a touch of dry humour at the end. It was very Colin Firth".

"Oh, Cam. Thank you", Mitchell said, "But it's hardly an Oscar".

"So how was Lily?", Cam asked, "I know you two had fun but I hope she wasn't too hard to handle".

"Are you kidding?", Alex joked.

"Oh please. She wasn't a bother at all", Alex said, waving off Cam's concerns, "She's more fun to hang out with than Haley".

As Zephyr and her packed up, Cam looked at Mitchell who placed his trophy on the mantle and remarked, "Oh. That looks great up there". Turning to look at Alex and Zephyr, he asked, "How impressive do you think Mitchell looks right now".

Alex and Zephyr briefly glanced at each other and replied at the same time, "So impressed".

[Commentary]

Alex and Zephyr

"I didn't want to ruin the moment by telling them how many awards I've gotten", Alex said, looking at the camera, "But let's just say I don't get out of bed for a trophy that size".

"I'm going to be honest", Zephyr added, "I've won so many awards and trophies that Dad made a trophy room for me at some point. He added the gold medal I won from the Inter-School Soccer Competition last year. Could've won more but it's too much effort". Hearing his words, Alex rolled her eyes.

[Commentary ends]

"Hey", Zephyr greeted as Alex opened the door to her house, "I've been trying to message you but you're not replying".

"Oh. I left my phone at my uncle's yesterday", Alex explained, "I'm going to go over in 5 minutes to pick it up".

"Oh", Zephyr muttered in understanding, "I've got nothing to do so do you mind if I go with you".

"Sure", Alex replied, "But what's wrong? You don't usually come here this early?".

"Dad's friend, Javier, came over today and it's embarrassing seeing Dad act like a kid", Zephyr explained.

Alex nodded her head, understanding the pain of being embarrassed by her parents. "Give me a minute", Alex said, running up the stairs.

"Okay", Zephyr replied, beginning to make his way over to the kitchen when he saw Phil coming down. "Hey Phil", Zephyr greeted.

"Zephyr!", Phil screamed, running to Zephyr and putting his hands on his shoulders, "You're basically a doctor. Can you tell if I'm going to die?!"

"Woah woah woah", Zephyr exclaimed, raising his hands in surrender, "What's wrong Phil?".

"I went for a check-up a few days ago and the doctor ran some tests on me because of some pain around my shoulder joint and he said that he'd call if something was wrong and he called today in the morning but I was in the shower and now I think I'm going to die", Phil ranted, speaking far faster than normal.

"Calm down", Zephyr said, "Take a few deep breaths".

Phil nodded his head and took a few deep breaths, slowing down his breathing until it returned to normal. "Thanks", Phil muttered, "But do you think anything's wrong with me?".

"No", Zephyr said, "Nothing at all".

"Thank God", Phil sighed in relief.

"However, doctors don't call on Saturdays unless something's wrong", Zephyr added after taking a small second t think about it.

Before Phil could panic, Zephyr saw Alex walking down the stairs and followed after her.

[Time Skip]

"Hey Uncle Mitchell", Alex greeted as Mitchell opened the door.

"Hey Mitch", Zephyr said, entering right after her.

"Hey you two", Mitchell welcomed. "Your phone's on the table", Mitchell said, gesturing towards the table.

"What's that?", Zephyr asked, pointing to the trophy next to Mitchell's award.

"Oh", Mitchell muttered, "It's Cam's old fishing trophy. When I woke up this morning, that's where I found it".

"Right after you go yours?", Alex queried.

"Thank you!", Mitchell exclaimed.

"Oh, My God. Welcome to my world", Alex sighed, "Last week, I got this beautiful plaque from the debate team for outstanding achievement. And guess what Mom did?"

"What?", Mitchell questioned.

"She found one of Luke's participant ribbons and some certificate Haley got for showing somewhere on time and put them together on the same shelf", Alex explained in frustration, "It's, like, so unfair".

"I know right?", Mitchell agreed.

"It's not when you think about it", Zephyr interrupted.

"Huh?", Alex and Mitchell muttered at the same time.

"In your case Alex, because you've won so many awards while siblings have won so few, your Mom's probably worried that if they only display what you've won, Haley and Luke will feel they're not good enough", Zephyr explained, "It's the opposite in your case Mitchell. From what I know, Cam was really good at football and other stuff so he probably won quite a few number of trophies as well, but because you didn't have any, he probably hid them away so you didn't feel bad. My guess is that the fishing trophy probably isn't even one of the best. He purposely placed a trophy that's not as good as yours so you don't get jealous".

[Commentary]

Mitchell

"I was so glad that I talked with Alex and Zephyr", Mitchell began, "Alex agreed with everything I had to say which made me realise that I was acting like a 14-year-old girl. Talking with Zephyr allowed me to see things from Cam's perspective which helped me understand that I was being petty over the fact that I wasn't the only one who won trophies".

[Commentary ends]

"We're here", Matt declared as he walked into the room.

"What's wrong with Phil?", Desiree asked as she entered right after him.

"We don't know", Mitchell answered.

"He's getting bad news", Gloria explained.

"Oh, what happened?", Matt questioned.

"He's getting bad news", Gloria clarified.

Confused, Matt turned to look at Mitchell who was also just as confused as him, "Wait. I'm still confused", Mitch said, "What did the doctor say?"

"I don't know", Claire muttered, "The doctor called this morning but we missed it".

"The doctor called today?", Desiree asked.

"On Saturday?", Jay added.

"Yeah", Claire nodded, "Why?"

"Noting", Jay said, shaking his head and looking down.

Claire looked at her father and asked, "Not nothing. Not nothing. What?"

"It's just, uh, that doctors don't usually call on Saturday with good news", Matt answered.

"What?", Claire queried, turning to make sure Phil wasn't in the vicinity, "Do you think he's sick Dad?".

"What's ... What's going on?", Phil questioned as he walked down the stairs.

"Nothing. Nothing", Claire answered, making things look even more suspicious.

"We all came by here for absolutely no reason at all", Cam added.

"You all look worried", Phil observed.

"We're not worried", Matt answered, his voice shaky.

"Oh God", Phil muttered, "The plane's in trouble. You've put away the drink cart and you're strapping in".

"You're going to be fine kid", Jay exclaimed.

"Yeah", Mitch agreed.

"You're going to be great", Desiree added.

"Stop! Please! You're freaking me out!", Phil yelled.

"Are you going to die?", Lily asked.

"I don't know!", Phil screamed in panic, "There's a five percent chance I'll make it". Before he could continue, Phil's phone began ringing. Quickly pulling it out of his pocket, he looked at them and said, "I don't know what's on the other end of this phone call but whatever happens, I just want you all to know you've given me a lifetime's supply of happiness. I remember once as a-".

"The phone!", everyone shouted at the same time.

"Dr Sendroff", Phil greeted, "What's the word?". A few seconds of silence followed before Phil put the phone down, "I'm fine. He's just calling about a real estate listing".

Everyone sighed in relief at his answer. "Ay. You had us worried with the silence", Gloria muttered.