Ch.6

My Mom and Gloria have become best friends in a matter of minutes it seems as the two are nonstop talking about everything. With Alex and I watching this interaction for a few minutes in stunned silence.

"I've never had it this easy becoming friends with someone," Alex says to me with surprise at how the two women became quick friends.

"Yeah I know, trying to become friends with you was the most difficult thing I've ever done," I say to Alex teasing her a bit as she glares over at me.

We all then spend the next few hours walking the mall, window shopping, and the worst part entering a woman's clothing store. Where both Gloria and my Mom tried on clothes showing each other then asking for each other's opinion. As I sat there wanting to die, with Alex in the same boat as me.

"Will this ever end?" I say with a heavy sigh while we wait for the two women.

"Doubt it," Alex says with a sigh too and agreeing with me.

"Alex! Come and try some stuff on! We know just what you should try!" Gloria says with my Mom nodding her head behind her. Before Alex can protest, Gloria practically drags her away as Alex looks back at me with a pleading and helpless look.

I just smile and wave at her, while laughing on the inside at her misery. She gives me a very annoyed look, which means she will get back at me for this betrayal later. Taking out my phone, I browse Reddit to see everyone arguing over the most mundane of topics.

"Miel! (Honey!) What do you think of Alex?" Mom asks me as the three come out and Alex is wearing a blue floral dress and standing between them with both a red embarrassed face and a annoyed one.

"Alex you look very beautiful," I say to her while smiling at them with my Mom and Gloria nodding behind her with pleased faces.

"Thanks," Alex says with an even more reddened face, then quickly runs back to the changing room.

I then was made to 'help' judge the next outfits for Alex as the two women begin giving her dozens of outfits to try on. By the next hour, we walked out of the store with several dozen new outfits for the three girls.

"Gabe, do you want to get some clothes?" Gloria says to me and I shake my head immediately as this is becoming a very long day.

"No, it is getting late and we should be heading home now," I say since it is almost four in the afternoon.

"Oh, you're right!" Gloria says having not realized the time she spent here. After helping load the things in both cars, we say goodbye and each head to our homes.

"Entonces… Alex?" (So… Alex) Mom says to me with a suggestive voice, while wiggling her eyebrows. I just stare at her unanswering, while she laughs and we head home.

The next few school days go by very quickly, with the Dunphys inviting my family over for lunch on Sunday. As my Dad and Phil are kinda like buddies now, along with Alex and I being friends. Though my Mom and Claire are nice to each other, they are not necessarily friends. My Mom has become best friends with Gloria as the two exchanged phone numbers and almost talk with each other constantly now.

"Hey, Mr and Mrs Hunter, Gabe," Alex says opening the door after we knocked on it showing we are here. Inside we can hear Claire and Haley arguing with Phil trying to placate them.

"Let's start from the beginning, what's wrong with Spencers' arm?" We hear Phil say as Haley groans in extreme annoyance before storming off past us by the entrance and heading upstairs.

"Normal day here it seems," I say with a chuckle as Alex sighs and nods her head.

"Oh, Hello! Sorry about that, you know teenage girls am I right?" Phil says with an awkward laugh as Claire just sighs and shakes her head.

My parents then go with Alex's parents to the kitchen to mingle. As Phil then heads upstairs a few minutes later, probably to talk with Haley again after she's cooled down a bit. Meanwhile, I showcase my limited piano-playing abilities, which is something I know very little about. As I only learned in my past life getting into Harvard was easier, due to the Ivy League schools wanting 'well-roundedness'.

As I am teaching Alex my limited piano skills, someone knocks on the front door. As Claire comes out of the kitchen to answer it. Noticed Alex and me playing the piano but saying nothing. As she opens the door, Claire's face becomes mixed with emotions, surprise, anger, annoyance, and finally acceptance.

"Claire!" an older woman's voice says after Claire opens the door. Then Mitchell comes in right after the older woman, who I now recognize as Dede, Jay's ex-wife and the mother of Claire and Mitchell.

"Nana?" Alex says hearing her grandmother.

"Oh, Alex! Look at you! You have grown so big!" Dede says walking past Claire who is staring at her brother with a look promising pain. Dede then gives Alex a tight hug as Alex hugs her back.

"Hello to you too, young man? You are?" Dede says turning to me and noticing me now.

"Gabe, Alex's friend," I say to her and she nods her head.

"Mom, why are you here?" Claire says as she turns back to Claire with my parents peaking from the kitchen curious as well at the commotion.

"Mom wants to join our family dinner tonight," Mitchell says and Claire now realizes this is going to become a shitshow once Jay, Gloria, and Manny show up.

"'It may be the last time you ever see me," Dede says taking everyone by surprise, as it sounds like she is dying.

"Mom, what are you talking about?!" Claire says hoping that is not the case, even though she is not that close with her mother.

"I am moving to a far and dangerous place!" Dede says once again making drama where there is no drama.

"Canada, Mom is moving to Canada," Mitchell says clearing up the confusion as Claire looks ready to hit her mother.

"Well, I met a man and he is well…" Dede says but holds back as her grandkids are around and my parents are watching this very entertained by the spectacle but not saying anything.

"Nana!" Haley says coming down with Luke who smiles at seeing his grandmother too. Phil comes down last while smiling awkwardly at Dede.

"Haley, Luke! Look how much the two of you have grown!" Dede says hugging her other two grandchildren.

"Nana, Mom won't let me go to this concern!" Haley says trying to use her grandmother to convince Claire, as Claire's eye twitches.

"That's right and because it's overnight with her boyfriend," Claire says defending her reasons. Dede breaks out laughing making everyone curious about her laughter.

"Karma's a funny thing; that's all... Claire, you remember Ricky?" Dede says as Claire and Mitchell's eyes widen remembering Ricky with everyone else confused.

"Oh, God!! Mom!" Claire says embarrassed and annoyed at her mother.

"Who's Ricky?" Haley asks the question everyone wants to know, with Claire turning to her nervous about her Mother, who is going to answer.

"Ricky was a boy who looked like Charles Manson and was Claire's boyfriend. One night Claire didn't come home until four in the morning," Dede says making Claire's face go red from both embarrassment and anger. As Phil gives Claire a confused look apparently not knowing this, as my parents look away pretending to be not listening to the drama.

"Oh really! What were they doing?" Haley says making her Mom even more annoyed, as Dede smiles at Claire mischievously.

"NOTHING!!" Claire says immediately.

"Well, it seems Ricky and Dylan are not so different! If you could go, why can't I?!" Haley says as Dede smiles at the chaos she caused.

"They are not the same!" Claire says defending her reasons still.

"Fine!! Then Dylan can come for dinner and I'll let you go if he is sweet and kind!" Claire says to Haley who smiles and nods her head in victory.

"Thank you! Thank you!" Haley says before running upstairs to text Dylan.

"You know this is very revealing," Dede says nodding her head to herself. As everyone is confused again.

"What, the way I parent?" Claire says with Dede shaking her head no.

"Your blouse," Dede says while gesturing to Claire's shirt making Claire look down then at her mother in even more anger.

"Mom!!" Claire says then holds her chest before walking to the kitchen too annoyed to deal with this anymore. Phil and Mitchell both go after Claire where my parents are in the kitchen too as all five begin talking in there.

Once she comes back she agrees to let Dede come to family dinner tonight. Somehow even we are staying for dinner, though my parents are gonna head back home to cook some things to bring over as a courtesy. As I stay and hang out with Alex. My parents come back with a couple of dishes they cooked, putting them in the kitchen while talking with Alex's parents. Shortly after they came back so too did Mitchell, Cam, Lily, and Dede.

Then the doorbell rings again an hour later with Phil going to answer the door, but Haley rushes down the stairs too. At first, it seemed Phil was going to try to be himself while getting to know Dylan better. However, Haley got downstairs too quickly and kissed Dylan making it awkward for Phil.

"Everyone this is my boyfriend Dylan!" Haley says introducing him to everyone.

"I see you have a guitar with you, you play?" Phil asks Dylan who nods his head.

"Yeah I just came from practice with my band," Dylan says as Alex just chuckles hearing it. I look at her curiously.

"Seems he has no idea just how hard that dream is and doesn't seem like he will be going places," Alex says dropping the truth though Haley heard her while giving Alex an angered look.

Then the doorbell rings again, with Jay, Gloria, and Manny coming inside as Dede says she is nervous about this. Gloria sees my Mom and smiles immediately at her running over and hugging my Mom. Then everyone notices Dede as the whole room goes quiet seeing Gloria's face darken seeing Dede.

"Huh, so… My Mom is here as she wants to talk with you Gloria," Mitchell says as Gloria looks over at him with an annoyed look. Then she looks at Jay who shakes his head.

"I had no idea she was here," Jay says as Claire looks at Mitchell annoyed since he was supposed to tell them.

"I thought Mitchell told you I was here," Dede says to Gloria who becomes more angered.

"Lies!" Gloria says while almost ready to attack Dede.

"Jay, Manny, we are leaving!" Gloria says grabbing both of them and walking towards the front door.

"Wait!! Gloria I really do want to apologize!" Dede says making Gloria stop in her tracks.

"I just wanna... rip your head off!" Dede says in the beginning that she is gonna say sorry, but then jumps at Gloria.

Phil, Cam, and Mitchell pull them apart, as Phil is yelling he has Gloria. Another fight starts to break out right after DeDe says sorry again as Gloria tells her not to say sorry anymore.

"It seems pretty simple to me. You're reaching out, trying to hold on to something awesome-" Dylan beings to say making everyone look at him, but he is stopped by Haley whispering to him.

"I'm not used to this, the whole big-family thing. In my house, we don't even talk to each other, you know, it's funny. The first time I saw Haley, I knew I liked her, I mean, she's beautiful and everything but, it's not just that. It's that she's got this killer confidence, you know, the kind of confidence, that you get from having a family like this, passionate and accepting of 'hot' foreigners, and 'gay dudes' and 'nutty people', you know a family that actually loves each other," Dylan says surprising everyone from his words that seem out of character from him.

The night ends shortly after that, as both Gloria and Dede have a small agreement to not attack one another. While the Dunphys apologize to my family for witnessing the whole inner drama, it seems to have brought both our families closer together. We all say goodbye before heading home.

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AN: Moving forward I will not be posting chapters on Wednesdays and Thursdays. However this week I will not be able to post the next one until this Saturday. Hope everyone has a good few days, see you Saturday.