"Let's go, kids. School time." Jay said to Manny and I."Oh, and Gloria, if you want to get together with the girls later, I could just, you know, watch the football game or something."

"That means he wants to watch the football game." Manny said.

"Yep." I agreed with him.

"I'm not talking to either one of you." He told us. "What are you drinking coffee for anyway?" Jay asked Manny.

"It's my culture. I'm Colombian." Manny said.

"Oh, Yeah? What part of Colombia are those french toaster sticks from?" Jay asked.

"Babe, I'm not sure about the game. The whole family's coming over for the barbecue." Gloria told him.

"That's today?" Jay asked.

"Si" Manny And I said.

Jay stayed silent for a second. "It's the Ohio State game."

"So? Everybody can watch." Gloria said, shrugging.

"I don't like watching the game with people who don't know the game. People talk." He said.

"You talk at my football games." Manny said, looking up at Jay.

"For one thing, it's called soccer. Your team scored two goals all season. I'm not taking a big risk." Jay said, walking to the coffee machine. "How much of this did you drink?" He asked.

"Give me a break. I have to climb a rope today." Manny says, taking a sip of his coffee.

"So does, Y/N. Yet she's not drinking coffee."

——

Whilst we was at School, Manny and Luke got into a fight.  I tried to stop them before a teacher saw, but it was too late. I was put in detention with them, they thought I was apart of the fight, or tried to keep the fight going. Jay and Gloria was the first ones to arrive. After a few minutes the door opened, Phil and Claire stood there. "What are you doing here?" Claire asked, referring to Manny, Gloria, Jay, and I.

"These three knuckleheads were fighting each other." Jay said.

"I didn't—" I began but Jay cut me off.

"Save it." Jay replied in his usual grumpy tone.

"What?" Claire asked, walking into the room.

"Could've been worse. I was not ready to face Durkas today." Phil said, closing the door before taking a seat next to Claire.

"So what happened?" Claire asked.

"Well," The principal spoke, "apparently there was name-calling and shoving on the playground. By the time a teacher separated them, Luke was sitting on Manny's chest."

"Luke, that's not like you." Jay said to Luke.

"Wait a minute. You're Luke's father?" The principal asked, pointing at Jay.

"Grandfather."

"So Manny's father is—" He began, pointing at Phil, but Gloria cut him off.

"Javier. Crazy guy. That's where he gets his fire." Gloria told him.

"Okay, you're—" He began, pointing at Luke.

"He's our son." Claire said, pointing at Phil and herself.

"And my grandson." Jay added.

"I'm his daughter." Claire said.

"So you're—" He pointed at Manny.

"His uncle." Manny said, his arms crossed.

"Stop saying that or I'll sit on your chest again." Luke said to Manny.

"Ho! Wait a second. Is this what this was all about?" Claire asked Luke.

"He keeps calling me his nephew." Luke told her.

"You are my nephew."

"Shut up!"

"Okay, Okay. I'm getting a sense you're all related, uh, somehow—" The principle began but was cut off by Gloria.

"Y/N isn't related to any of us. She's my best friends daughter. My best friend was arrested, Y/N had no father, so I took her in." Gloria told the principal.

"Okay. Anyway, it's probably best if you work this out at home... so the boys and Y/N can go back to class, Okay? But we're not happy about this, kids. This is not how mature young men, and women behave. Here's your note for Miss Passwater." He gave us the note. Luke, Manny, And I got up from our seats and walked to class.

"Sorry you got dragged into this, Y/N." Luke told me as we walked down the halls, "You was just trying to help."

"Don't worry, it's fine." I dismissed him.

——

"Hi, hi, hi, hi!" Jay said, as he opened the front door, "How ya doin'?" Alex, Luke, Phil, and Claire, walked into the house.

"Let me guess. Game's on?" Claire asked, kissing Jay on the cheek.

"Just started." He told her.

"Hey." Phil said to Gloria, "For you."
Phil handed her a bottle of wine. "It's nice to see you, Gloria."

"Ah! Two times today." She smiled.

"Okay, well—" He tried to give her a hug but she turned away from him.

"Uh, Phil?" Claire began, "She means we've seen them two times today."

Luke sat down next to me. "Hi, Y/N."

"Hi, Luke." I reply.

"Okay, everybody, the foods in there." Jay said, pointing to the room. "The drinks are in there." He pointed to a different room. "I'll be in here."

"Hold on, Jay." Phil began, "I think we should address the elephant in the room. Uh, Luke, Manny, Y/N. Bring it in."
Luke And I get up and follow Manny and Phil into the kitchen. "Come on. Huddle up. Football. Now in light of what happened at school today, I think this is the proper forum—" Phil began but was cut off by Jay.

"For gods sakes. All right, the three of you. Now, do we kick and punch each other, or do we love each other?" Jay asked.

"Love each other." The three of us said in unison.

"That's right." He said, then smacked us on the back of our heads.

"Ow."

"I'll be in the den." Jay said, then walked away.

"I— didn't even do anything." I said quietly as I put my hand to the back of my head.

"So, I brought dessert." Claire said to Gloria, carrying a pie.

"Okay. Thank you. I make pie too." Gloria said, putting her pie down on the kitchen counter.

"You can never have too many pies, right?" Claire said in an unamused tone, staring at Gloria's pie.

"Okay, whoa. Whoa." Phil said, walking over to the two. "Everybody take a deep breath. Let's think about getting real."

"Phil, no." Claire whispered.

"Why 'Phil, no'? What is Phil doing" Gloria asked, putting a hand on her hip.

"I'm just gonna say it." Phil said, "There's tension between you two. Bam. It's out there."

"I'm gonna kill you." Claire said to him.

"I think he's right, and I think we should talk about it." Gloria said to Claire.

"That's what I'm talkin' 'bout— you two talking... 'bout it." Phil said, he reached for a piece of pie but Claire smacked his hand.

——

Jay and I were watching the game, I didn't really know much about football, and hadn't really watched it.bSo i decided to give it a try, Who knows, I might like it.
"First and goal to go for the Illini." The Announcer of the football game said.

"I like football." Alex said, sitting down next to Jay. "Haley hates it's, which is weird because it's all boys and there's no reading required. Do you know that she spends at least 45 minutes every morning doing her hair?" Alex asked, "And then sometimes—" she began but Jay covered her mouth.

"Let's go, Illini" Cam sang, walking over to the sofa.

"Let's Go!" Mitch clapped, "Right now!" He clapped again.

"Looks like I gotta watch the game with Dick Butkus." Jay said as Cam took a seat. Alex and Cam chuckled.

"Dad! Dad, come on. That's offensive." Mitch said to Jay.

"Mitchell, he's one of the greatest linebackers to ever play at Illinois... and one of my personal heroes." Cam told him.

"And his name is 'Butt Kiss'? We're just choosing to— Okay. All right. Dad, I thought you were being homophobic. I'm sorry."

"We got all night." Jay said.

"Yes we do." Mitch sighed.

"Are you joining us here?" Jay asked Mitch.

"Yeah. Jay, you know what? He's been studying up." Cam told him, looking away from the tv to look at Jay and Mitch.

"I gotta tell ya, I'm a little worried about C.J. Hightower. Right? With the bad ankle? I'm wondering how he's gonna run his corner routes." Mitch said, sitting on the sofas arm rest.

"Hightower's out."

"What?" Cam asked.

"Oh. Then who is gonna run the corner routes?" Mitch asked.

"I'll tell you who it won't be— Billings."

Cam chuckled. "That's low. He's in jail."

"Oh, wow. Yeah. Then no." Mitch said.

"Double tight end, it's gonna be a quarter back roll-out to the left." Cam says.

"They're gonna run it." Jay said, eyes glued to the tv.

"Trust me. He's got the slot. In the end zone! Touchdown!" Cam cheered.

"Lucky call."

"Maybe they, uh, should've considered blitzing." Mitch said.

"Blitzing wouldn't have helped them. Get outta here." Jay said. Mitch rolled his eyes and stood up, walking away to get a drink.

"Oh, gosh. Blitzing." Cam said then laughed.

I get up and walk over to where, Gloria, Phil, and Claire were. "Okay. The truth? I sometimes feel like you don't like me." Gloria told Claire. I stood next to Phil, whom was leaning against a wall.

"Wow. Powerful, powerful stuff." Phil said waking over to them. "Claire? Tell us how that makes you feel."

"Right now, I'm feeling a lot of anger." Claire said, facing Phil and I.

"No, don't tell us. Tell Gloria." Phil said, now leaning against the wall.

"Gloria, right now, I'm really angry at Phil." Claire said to Gloria.

"Let's respect the process." Phil told her.
Claire sighed.

"Gloria, I don't know why you think I don't like you."

"Sometimes when you see me, you make that face." Gloria told her.

"What face?" Claire asked her.

"Like this." Gloria said, making a face.

"I do not make a face like that." Claire said. Mitchell walks over to us.

"Oh, my god that is so Claire." He exclaimed before taking a sip of his drink.

"Yeah." I agree.

"Mitchell! Y/N!" Claire said to us.

"See? She does that with everyone. It's just her face." Phil said.

"No, it's not just the face. From the beginning, I feel like, Y/N, Manny and I are not welcome in this family."

"That is so crazy." Claire told her.

"No, it's not so crazy. It's how I feel." Gloria said. Mitch walks by, muttering something. Claire sighs.

"I am sorry if you feel that way. I really am, because from the moment I met you, I have tried to make you feel comfortable with us." Claire told her.

"You think it's all in my head?" Gloria asked, pointing at her head.

"No. Kind— I don't know. I mean, we really love having, you, Manny and Y/N in our family."

"Really?" Gloria asked.

"Really. So you don't have to be so defensive." Gloria grinned and then looked at Phil and I.

"I do that, don't I?" Gloria said, then looked back at Claire. Gloria chuckled.

"Well, a bit." Claire said.

"I'm feeling a hug." Phil said, walking over to the two.

"Me too." I add. Gloria, and Claire chuckled. The two hugged.

"I was thinking group hug, but this is nice." Phil said, taking a step back from the two.

"I'd be there if I could." Haley said, walking into the room on her phone. "Oh, my god. There's hugging." She said, staring at Claire and Gloria.

"When did she get here?" I whisper to myself.

"Haley, get off the phone already." Claire said after breaking away from the hug.

"Where did you go?" Cam asked Mitch, whom was currently getting a beer.

"You heard him. He said, 'get outta here.'" Mitch told him.

"Oh, my god you're such a girl." Jay said to him.

"Dad— I was coming to get a beer anyways." Mitch said. "Nice apology."

"Nice beer." Jay replied.

"Phil, I think these two might need time to talk." I tell him.

"I was just thinking that." Phil told me. Luke And Manny run inside, Luke was holding a football. They were both laughing."Hey, there are the little roustabouts. You look like you patched things up pretty good, huh?"

"Yeah." They said in unison.

"Oh, we can learn so much from the children. Bet it seems kind of silly now what you were even fighting about, huh?" Phil asked them.

"I made fun of his accent." Luke said.

"What accent?" Gloria jokingly asked.

"I made fun of him for having the same thing for lunch every day." Manny said.

"I made fun of him because his mum used to dig coal." Luke said.

"What?" Gloria asked Luke, her eyebrows furrowed together.

"He said you were a coal digger." Manny told her.

"Okay. I think we can move on." Phil said, nervously chuckling.

"Who said I was a coal digger?" Gloria asked.

"That's what my mum told me." Luke said.

"What's a coal digger?" Alex asked.

"Sweetheart, he heard it wrong. It's 'gold digger.'" Phil told her.

"I'm gonna have to call you back." Haley said before hanging up the phone.

"I really do not think that I remember ever saying that." Claire said said nervously.

"Well, you said it in the car. You said it at Christmas. You said it in the Mexican restaurant—" Luke listed but Phil covered his mouth.

"Okay, Mr. 'Leaves His Sweatshirts at School Every Day Suddenly Remembers Everything,' thank you." Claire said.

"And it was all in my head, huh?" Gloria asked Claire, raising her voice a little.

"Oh, listen. Gloria, it was... like a year ago, before I knew you." Claire began, but Gloria had walked away.

"Nice going. Now my mum and my sister are fighting." Manny said to Luke,m before walking away.

——

"Well she's pissed." Jay said to Claire.

"Yeah. She wouldn't even come out of her room." Claire told Phil.

"Oh." Phil said.

"Did you really have to call her that— a gold digger?" Jay asked.

"Well, you know what, Dad? It was a year ago. And it was a natural question to ask. She's a beautiful, hot woman, and you're not exactly, you know—" Claire trailed off.

"Not exactly what?" Jay asked her.

"Um— Mitchell, little help?" Claire asked, turning to look at Mitchell, whom was washing the dishes.

"No. You are doing great." He told her. Claire turned to Jay.

"See, this is exactly why we sweep things under the rug— so people don't get hurt." Jay said.

"Yeah," Phil began, "until you sweep too much under the rug. Then you got a lumpy rug. Creates a tripping hazard. You open yourself up to lawsuits. Boy, you can go a really long time with out blinking."

A minute or two later Phil walked upstairs. "You're not leaving, are you?" Jay asked Mitch and Cam, whom were putting their stuff in a green backpack.

"You know, there's kind of a lot of drama." Mitch told him.

"So we're torn." Cam said.

"Let me ask you something." Jay says, his arms crossed. "Your sister said that Gloria would never go for anybody who looked like me. Now, you guys basically are like women. You know, you look at guys. So what do you think?" Jay asked, then pointed to himself.

"You're seriously asking us if you're attractive?" Mitch asked.

"Well, I know I'm no Erik Estrada or anything. I'm just curious is all." Jay shrugged.

"Dad." Mitch said, becoming uncomfortable.

"So if I was in one of your bars and" Jay began, "Righteous Brothers were on, you know. Would you, uh, I don't know, check me out?" Jay asked.

"Dad, you're really close to ruining gay for me." Mitch told him.

"All right, fine. Whatever."

"Jay. Jay, now listen." Cam stopped him from leaving, "I think it's— I just think it's a little weird for a son to say this to his father. But for the record, I think you're smokin' hot." Cam told him.

"Really?" Jay asked.

"Yeah, 100%. You're totally my type. You're dangerous, you're getable, you have a little 'cashola' in your pocket." Cam said, making Jay chuckle.

"Face, body, the whole—" Jay began.

"The whole kit and caboodle, I think. Really." Cam said, cutting Jay off.

"What about a seven?" Jay asked.

"Nine. For sure, nine. But you knew that."

"I might have lowballed a little bit."

"Okay, isn't there a game on?" Mitch asked. Mitch left the kitchen and bumped into me. "Oh. Sorry, Y/N. Uh, was you listening?" He asked me.

"Yes. I'm getting second-hand embarrassment for you." I told him. He nods then walks over to the sofa, I follow him.

——

"Now a field goal beats us." Jay says as Claire and Gloria walk down the stairs. "Hey, you guys work that out?" Jay asks them.

"Almost. Gloria just wants me to jump in the pool." Claire said. I got up from the sofa, I definitely wanted to see this.

"Okay then." Jay said.

"What?" Phil asked, turning away from the tv.

"If they could get a pass rush on 'em, something, a break." Jay said, still watching the game. Everyone else got up and followed Claire and Gloria.

"This is so awesome." Luke says as we walk outside.

"I know. Mum does not look good wet." Haley said, still on her phone.

"Gloria, is this really necessary?" Jay asks, joining us outside.

"Dad, it's fine. It's fine. If I need to jump in this water to prove to Gloria how sorry I am, I will do it." Claire said. "I'm fine. I'm fine." She then looked at Gloria. "You're serious? You're not gonna stop me?" Claire asked Gloria.

"Why would I do that?" Gloria asked her.

"Because I am standing here. I am showing you my willingness to— No?" Claire sighed, then jumped into the pool. We all cheered."Are you happy?" Claire asked Gloria.

"Yes! I forgive you!" Gloria shouted.

"Then give me your hand." Claire said, reaching out to Gloria.

"Oh, that's the oldest trick in the book." Jay said. "She's gonna pull you in there."

"No!" Claire shouted.

"And that's my job." Jay said then pushed Gloria into the pool. Gloria shrieked.

"This is funny, but this is also a teaching moment. Think about—" Phil began but Jay pushes him in. "No!" Phil shouted.

"Sorry, Y/N." Luke said.

"Sorry for wha—" I began but he pushed me into the pool. "Ah!" I scream.
Luke And Manny then jumped on Jay, pushing him into the water, along with themselves. Mitch hugs Alex from behind, then jumped into the water, taking Alex with him.

"Cannonball!" Cam shouted, then jumped into the water.