Re:life with Karmic Gacha (Modern Family)

Chapter 61: Chapter 61: Disgust. (Part 3)

\'Why did she kiss me? Arghh! I don\'t know what to do now...\' I thought as I went to look at the commotion coming from downstairs. Luke was sniggering as I walked past him while mumbling, "Now, if you don\'t give me my bikes back...and give me 5 cakes...I will tell mom."

Pausing my step, I stood in front of Luke and bent my spine to meet his eyeline. "Do that and I\'ll set both of your bikes on fire."

Luke was stunned and froze on the spot. He thought he could have the leverage in this situation, but with the hostages in my hand, could he really do anything. Not to mention, Haley heard what he said and was glaring daggers at him with bloodlust emanating from her body.

\'Good luck Luke.\'

Luke\'s hand was gripped and he was then dragged into her sister\'s room before Haley locked the door to have a \'private conversation\' with him.

I continued to get to the front door, but the people there had already moved their conversation to the kitchen.

"So -- so, anyway, mom really wants To smooth everything over with dad and Gloria, So I was thinking, would it be okay If she may join us for dinner tonight?" Mitchell asked hurriedly in a begging tone.

Claire was standing on one side of the living room while Dede stood in front of her and Mitchell stood in the middle of both of them to try and act as a mediator.

However, instead of the rebellious-teenage-like behavior Claire always had when she was with her mother, this time, she was actually talking to her while acting like an adult which surprised both Mitchell and Dede.

"Mom. Mitchell said you want to apologize, so why don\'t you do that first? Then, I\'ll decide if I want to help you." Claire said while looking straight to Dede.

[Claire\'s commentary]

"When I saw mom on the front door, I don\'t know why, but the...miniscule... sense of loathing that I had... toward her... BUBBLED UP TO THE SURFACE STRONGLY...and then melted instantly." Claire said in astonishment while crossing her legs on the sofa.

"The first thing she commented...no, rather...she criticized me for...was my hair... The minute that she walked into the house." She said while playing with her blonde hair that flowed till her shoulder.

"The thing is, I hated her nit-pickings the entire time I was growing up. But I guess I had misunderstood something."

"I had never grown up. Not until...right now. Not until, I realized that I had been doing the same things to my kid...Although in my defense, I did it unconsciously and not as bad as my mother did it to me before."

"So today. I will try to treat her...like an adult...instead of...like a mother." She said with glassy eyes.

[Commentary ends]

As per the immortal words of Frankie Darts (Community Season 6), "One of the most unfair lessons we\'re forced to learn is that our parents are human beings. We wanna think of them as gods or demons because then that would make us heroes but... Ugh. Give me a break. We all suck."

I wonder why her quotes popped out of my head the moment I saw Claire try to stand up to her mother.

"What?" Dede asked in confusion while looking at Mitchell.

"Claire. It\'s true. Mom wants to apologize-"

"Then do it. To me first." Claire said while crossing her arms. I couldn\'t help but break into a wide smile as I saw her stand her ground and demanded inner peace.

In the particular episode which was going on right now, not once did Dede apologize to Mitchell and Claire about her behavior that impacted them at the wedding. She only wanted to apologize to Gloria, and not her family member.

"Say you\'re sorry." Claire demanded again.

Dede stammered while her eyes kept darting between Mitchell and Claire.

\'She must be confused as to why her usual manipulation techniques didn\'t work.\' I thought with a sense of disgust and repressed memories started bubbling up in me.

\'The two of them are f*cking similar.\'

"I\'m...I\'m sorry." Dede apologized after thinking for a while. Mitchell widened his eyes while Claire closed hers to accept her apology and gain inner peace. But for me, my loathing towards her increased.

[Claire\'s commentary.]

"I thought that it would feel great. But no. All it did was...Making me see my mom as another human being." Claire said before she lowered her eyes to start reminiscing about her memories with her mother. "I feel like...I understand her more now..."

[Commentary ends]

"Ed." Claire called out to me as I came into her view. The conversation stopped as they wanted to talk in private. That\'s why Claire and Mitchell had sent Alex and Phil away.

"He is?" Dede asked smilingly while pointing at me.

"Disgusted by you." I said with a smile while walking toward Claire. The Pritchett Family widened their eyes as they couldn\'t believe their ears.

"Ed? This is your first time meeting with my mom right?" Mitchell asked quickly while holding his mother\'s shoulder as if presenting her at me as he couldn\'t understand my apparent hostility toward his mother.

"Yup." I replied curtly.

"Then why did you say that? That\'s rude Ed." Claire said to admonish me and make me realize what I did was wrong – just like a mother would.

"I can\'t help it. It\'s biological. It\'s the natural order of things. And I don\'t want to be here if she\'s here, therefore I will return to my house. It seems that I won\'t be able to join you for dinner today Claire." I said calmly but with venom in my voice.

"I\'m sorry. Do I know you? Why are you so..." Dede asked hurriedly after I told Claire that.

"It\'s innate hate. I can\'t help it." I replied casually with a deadpan smile on my face before waving goodbye at Claire and Mitchell as I exited the house.

Confused, Mitchell and Claire turned toward each other.

[Mitchell commentary]

" What\'s... Going on? Did the children tell him about the incident too? If they did, it\'s an understandable reaction, but to mention it straight to her face..."

Mitchell scratched his eyebrow before smiling softly, "That\'s... Very brave... And satisfying..."

His smile turned into a poker face as he crossed his arms and said, "Still...it\'s their first time meeting. I wonder what happened between them?"

[Claire commentary]

"That\'s bad...for Ed..." Claire muttered as she didn\'t feel bad at all about her mom getting insulted.

"He\'s...not like this. He\'s usually polite. Even when talking to some human trash we encounter during the job, he did it calmly and without disrespect. To discriminate against his actions on my mother means one thing...He knew everything she had done, and had a lower opinion of my mother compared to the other trash he met before."

Claire shrugged her shoulders and continued, "But...I can\'t let him have a bad relationship with my mom. Not if we\'re going to work together for a very long time. So, no matter what happens, Ed needs to come to dinner."

[commentary ends]

[3rd Person POV]

"Well that was weird." Dede muttered.

"Mom, why now? Why do you want to apologize now?" Claire asked after thinking deeply for a while – thinking about the kid who left.

"Because... Because it may be the last time you ever see me." Dede muttered.

Claire was confused and she asked, "What are you talking about?"

"Well, I\'m -- I\'m moving to a far and dangerous place." Dede said as she sat down on the sofa.

"Canada, but -- uh, she met a man named Chas." Mitchell added as he knew his mother wouldn\'t explain properly.

"Yeah. He\'s a logger." Dede added to brag about her new partner.

"Like a -- like a lumberjack?" Claire asked.

" No, he logs blood samples into a cholesterol study." Dede replied as if it was common sense, causing both Mitch and Claire to look at each other in disbelief .

Dede continued, "Anyway, until I\'m past this whole wedding debacle, I can\'t be intimate with him."

At this moment, Alex and Phil walked back inside after seeing the situation had calmed down.. Haley and Luke also walked downstairs to meet their grandmother. Luke had dark clouds hovering over him from Haley\'s threat, before the cloud dissipated as he hugged his grandmother.

No matter how controlling and damaging Dede was to her children, she did a better job as a grandmother and was loved by her grandchildren.

"Claire. Just let her come to dinner. Apologize to dad and Gloria, and She and Chas can live happily ever after." Mitchell said after pulling Claire away for a private talk while Dede showered her love to her grandchildren.

"In canada." Claire muttered sternly.

"In canada." Mitchell repeated the word hesitatingly.

"Why don\'t you make her fix this Instead of you doing it, as usual?" Claire asked.

"Whoa. What\'s that supposed to mean?" Mitchell replied defensively.

"Oh, you know, mom makes a mess, And there\'s Mitchell to clean it up." Claire said before she added a bit smugly, "See what there?"

"Yeah. I\'d like to learn that from you. Anyway, that\'s so not true. If anything, you\'re the one with a screwed-up relationship with mommy- With- with- with mom!"

Claire said mockingly, "Wow, "mommy"?"

"No, I didn\'t say it -- damn it."

After thinking for a while, Claire said, "I don\'t mind if she wants to have dinner together. Just clear it with dad first. I don\'t want to pull a fast one on Gloria."

"So me again?" Mitchell asked in disappointment.

"Yeah. Who else that\'s going to clean up after mom?" Claire said mockingly.

"Anyway, I\'m going to go to Ed\'s house to find out what\'s going on with him." Claire said in concern.

"Okay. You\'ll go there, I\'ll go Dad. Who\'s going to take care of mom? You know, someone needs to keep an eye on her."

Claire thought for a while before saying dismissively, "She\'ll stay with her grandchildren. Big deal. I\'m going to go find out what makes Ed so mad."

Suddenly, a tiny voice interjected Claire and Mitch\'s conversation. "Ed is mad? Why?" Haley asked in concern.

Turning toward his niece who\'s standing behind him, Mitchell said, "I don\'t know. He\'s so full of disgust and anger-"

Claire stopped Mitchell from explaining and said, "Go quickly. Otherwise they\'ll come here first."

"Okay I\'m going." Mitchell said hurriedly before running to the front door.

Claire turned to Haley and said, "I don\'t know what gets into Ed. Did something happen that made him angry?"

Haley was flabbergasted before saying, "N-N-N-N-Nothing happened. Why are you asking me about that? I don\'t know anything." She ran away quickly before taking out her phone.

[Haley\'s commentary]

"Is he angry because I kissed him? Oh MY GOD! I didn\'t mean too! What if he tells Abby about this!? URGHHH!" Haley groaned in frustration as she hid her face behind her hair.

[commentary ends]

"Hello. Ed?"

Haley called Edward using her phone to ask him to keep his mouth shut about the kiss and explain the situation to him. However, before she could say anything, Edward said, "I\'m not coming to have dinner with your family. I have work to do." Then, he hung up the call.

...

15 minutes after Edward had returned to his house.

"Where are we going?" Phil asked Claire as he followed her from behind while they stealthily moved around the bushes in front of Ed\'s house. "Also, why can\'t we just talk to him normally?"

"I want to go alone. But you insisted on coming. So don\'t do anything rash and follow my lead. No questions." Claire said in a hushed, yet stern tone. She used a hand signal instead to inch closer to Edward\'s house before knocking on the door three times stealthily.

"Why don\'t we just talk to him?" Phil asked.

"Look. I asked Ted about it, and he said Edward wouldn\'t do something like that unless he was really triggered by something he saw in my mother. We won\'t have an answer just by doing that." Claire explained.

Less than 30 seconds later, Ted opened the door, inviting Phil and Claire in while monitoring the surroundings to see that no one was around to see what they were doing.

"Ted. Where is the stuff?" Claire asked after entering the house. Ted nodded and snapped his finger. A young latina woman entered the kitchen with a briefcase in her hand.

Phil widened his eyes and thought, \'Is this a drug deal?\'

"He\'s not going to forgive me if he knew I had this. So you should be careful not to let him find out about it." Ted said in a solemn tone.

"I\'ll see what I can do." Claire replied. Then, she grabbed the briefcase from Camilla\'s hand.

"By the way, who is this?" Claire asked Ted.

"Ah. This is Camilla. Edward\'s Aunt. My ex\'s sister." Ted explained and introduced the woman to each other. Suddenly, a loud clattering sound could be heard coming from Edward\'s room, causing all the people there to raise their guard up.

"He\'s coming!" Phil said hurriedly.

"Quick. Through the backdoor!" Camilla said while ushering the couple out of the house.

"Hey, who put a baseball bat in front of my door?" Edward asked from afar while descending the stairs. He finally entered the kitchen where he saw both his dad and aunt acting suspiciously while warily glancing at him.

"Hmmm..." Edward exclaimed while narrowing his eyes at them. "You know what. I won\'t care about it." He said while getting a glass of water. After downing the drink, he got out of the kitchen and said mischievously, "I\'ll give you guys some privacy."

"What happened there?" Camilla asked after Edward had left.

"I don\'t know." Ted replied in confusion, not knowing that his son had misunderstood him to have improper relations with his aunt in their kitchen as they thought he wasn\'t at home.

Claire and Phil returned home with the briefcase before they decided to open it in their bedroom so as to not let others see it.

"Wait..this is.." Phil muttered in astonishment as he picked up something from inside the briefcase.

"Diaries. Family photos. Anything that reminded Edward about his past that Ted can keep him from destroying them." Claire explained.

"He destroyed them?!" Phil exclaimed in astonishment after learning about Ed\'s past.

"Let me see...there must be something here that could explain why he\'s so hostile with my mother."

...

-Jay\'s house-

The glaring sun made Mitchell wear his sunglasses before he exited the car.

"Hey Dad...Uh, could I talk to you and Gloria for a second?" Mitchell asked as he met Jay who was half-naked and just gotten out of the pool.

While drying himself with a towel, Jay said, Oh, she\'s out to pick up Manny from his friend\'s house. What\'s up?" Turning toward the lawnchair, Jay laid down on the chair to rest.

"Uh, well, you know, mom\'s in town." Mitchell said cautiously.

"Your mom?" Jay asked with a horrified look.

Mitchell replied sarcastically, "No-No, your mom. She\'s back from the grave. Yes, my mom."

Jay chuckled and said, "My mom would be less scary."

"Listen, she\'s a wreck about what happened at the wedding, And she wants to come to dinner tonight To apologize to everyone." Mitchell explained quickly.

"Still her little errand boy, I see." Jay said dismissively before closing his eyes to enjoy the sun.

"No. Why does everybody keep say-- no. I -- I\'m just trying to piece this family back together. So you\'ll talk to Gloria about mom coming to dinner?"

"Oh, Gloria would never go for that in a million years. She\'s still furious with your mother, Which is why I\'m not talking to you." Jay said clearly.

"What did I do?" Mitchell asked, feeling unjust by his father\'s words.

"This conversation never took place." Jay added.

"Well, that\'s not very nice. I drove all the way here." Mitchell said, not getting the hint.

"No, you didn\'t. You were never here. In fact, you never even called."

"I would have called, but I thought it would be better To talk about th-- what -- what\'s happening here?"

Jay finally opened his eyes and looked straight to Mitchell. He said whisperingly, "Listen I would love to get this thing behind us, But Gloria would never forgive me If I pulled a fast one on her. That\'s why you\'re going to pull a fast one on her, And I\'m not going to like it one bit."

Finally understanding the situation, Mitchell shrugged his shoulders and said, "Okay, that\'s just great. No, that\'s great. So it\'s all up to me."

"I can\'t hear you because you\'re back home And I\'m taking a nap." Jay said before lying back down on the chair and finally succumbed himself to his nap. Mitchell mumbled to himself as he returned to his car and drove off to Claire\'s house.

Along the way, he picked up Cam and Lily who had gotten ready to go to the dinner party at the Dunphy\'s.

...

As I returned to my house after getting out of the dinner party, I had forgotten about the kiss I had with Haley as I saw Dede.

"Damn. Even though I have an eidetic memory, Ed\'s vestigial consciousness wouldn\'t let me access the source of his trauma. I do understand why I had a sense of disgust when I saw Dede though. But It doesn\'t matter. She\'s only here for an episode. She\'ll be in Canada soon. I don\'t have to bother with her ."

"My only concern is the rest of the family feeling hurt about me not going to the dinner. And I didn\'t exactly leave the house with grace...Hmm...what should I do?"

Haley called me, but as I was immersed with my thoughts, I blurted out, "I\'m not coming to have dinner with your family. I have work to do."

I guessed that statement would be helpful for me to mend the relationship with the family in the future, not realizing that Haley had called me for something else.