The Illegitimate Daughter: A Modern Family Fanfiction
by: cooopercrisp
Chapter 07: You're Still My Dad
"We woke up that morning feeling groggy and miserable," Phil explains, rubbing Luke's shoulders as he sits next to him. " That was a really nasty motel and we had a really hard time sleeping."
" It was shitty," Luke says.
"Buddy, language," Phil scolds, looking stern but too tired to follow through with disciplinary action. " Our goal that day was to get out of there as fast as possible and head straight to my dad's house."
"Don't we have to check out at the desk?" Luke asked as Phil was pushing him along through the hallway with their sparse luggage.
"Not when we could run into shady fellows in this part of town. We have to get to Grandpa's. Are you sure you packed everything?"
"I don't know," Luke said, "you kinda rushed us out the door before I could really check."
"Well it's too late now," Phil said as they got to the car and opened the trunk to put in their luggage. "If we left anything there I'm sure it will be left to rot for all of time."
"What are you talking about?" Luke asked.
"Nothing, just get in the car," Phil said abashedly. He and Luke hopped in quickly. Phil programmed the GPS to direct them to Frank Dunphy's house, and the two were on their way as soon as the GPS gave them their first direction.
"That place was straight up creepy," Phil says. "I can't believe how insane we must have been to choose to stay there. But I guess I was a little delirious after finding out Haley might not be my kid. I mean, that's a blow right to the old manhood, don't you think?" Phil waits for a response from me. I have nothing to say. "Impartial observer," Phil mutters, low enough to pretend it was under his breath, but definitely loud enough for me to hear it.
"Dad and I didn't talk very much on that car ride," Luke explains. "That car ride was super awkward. I guess he just didn't want to talk after everything we said the night before, or maybe he ran out of things to say and was just thinking about it too much. I didn't really know what to think. I mean, it didn't really affect me at all, I'm pretty sure he's my dad." Luke looks at me and sighs.
"We finally got to my dad's house," Phil says. "Luke was so quiet in the car, it was creepy. But I figured when I got to see my dad he'd loosen up a little, and maybe we could have a discussion on what to do next. I know Luke and I were both feeling lost, and we needed someone to steer us in the right direction."
They got out of the sports car and went to get their luggage. Frank apparently had seen them from inside, because he came out in pajamas and a bathrobe, holding a mug of coffee, with ugly slippers on his feet. Phil dropped his luggage and gave his dad a big hug.
"How's it going, champ?" Frank asked. "This is an unexpected surprise, seeing you and Luke here. Where are the girls?"
"It's a long story," Phil said.
Frank looked concerned. "Is everything alright?" he asked.
"I'll explain inside," Phil said. "Come on, Luke."
Luke and Phil followed Frank into the house. They set their luggage in the living room for now, and the three of them sat down at the dining room table.
"I'm glad you got out of Florida and came out west," Phil said. "It's good to have you close by, especially right now."
"It was tough giving up that house of ours," Frank said, "but it was worth it. So, what's eating you, son? How come Claire and the granddaughters aren't here?"
"Be careful when you say granddaughters," Phil said. "The older one might not be related to me by blood."
"Um, come again?" Frank asked.
"That had to be one of the most awkward conversations I've ever had with my dad," Phil recalls. "I told him everything that had happened the night before, everything I knew, and he just sat there with a look of shock on his face. I could tell Luke was really uncomfortable about being there, but there wasn't much I could do to help that."
"Golly," Frank said. "I'm really sorry about what happened. Um...do you want a cup of coffee? How rude, I didn't even bother to offer one when you came in."
"No thanks, Dad," Phil said.
"I'll take one," Luke said.
"Luke, come on now, you're not old enough...oh, forget it. I don't really care at this point."
"One steaming cup o' Joe coming right up," Frank said with a wink. He walked out into the kitchen to get a fresh cup from the batch he had made this morning.
"Luke," Phil said in a whisper, "check your phone. Maybe one of the girls back home gave you an update."
"Oh crap, yeah," Luke said. He took out his phone and saw that it was out of battery. "No good. I forgot to charge it last night."
"Not that it would have mattered, the room had no working outlets, remember?" Phil asked.
Luke chuckled a little bit. "That room was really bad, wasn't it?"
"Yeah, it sure was, buddy," Phil said with a laugh of his own. "Why don't you see if you can plug that sucker into the wall, see if someone's reached out."
"That little moment where we were laughing," Phil says, "I didn't want to say anything or it would ruin it, but that was a relief. It was good that we could still make some humor out of a bad situation. It must have been because we were at my dad's, he always reminds me that laughter is the best medicine."
Luke plugged the phone into the wall with a charger he had packed in his luggage. He had gotten a text from Alex, actually.
"It's Alex," Luke said. "She wants to know where we are."
"Is that really Alex asking, though?" Phil asked.
"What?" Luke said.
"Never mind. Just tell her we're at Grandpa's. It's not like Claire's gonna come after me. At least I hope she doesn't."
"Okay," Luke said. He typed out the message and sent it.
"It was obvious who really sent that text," Phil says, "but what was I gonna do, lie about where I was? I wasn't about to stoop down to her level. If she wanted to send out a search party to track me down, that was her business. But she would be very disappointed if she thought she'd be able to get me back home."
"I sent the message," Alex said to Claire as they were shuffling in preparation to leave and pick up Haley. "He's going to know it's coming from you."
"I know," Claire said, scrounging through her pockets in search of her keys. "Oh damn it, I forgot, Haley took my car. Wait a minute…"
"We took my car last night, remember?" Alex asked. "I have the keys right here."
"Great, thanks Alex," Claire said, taking the keys from Alex and leading the way out the door.
"I hadn't gotten any sleep at all the night before," Claire says. "I was lucky that Alex had her head on straight, at least. I was so worried sick about what had happened and beating myself up for how stupid it was to keep that secret in the dark for so many years. But Alex was good to me, even though I know I didn't deserve it."
"What was I gonna do, let Mom freak out about Haley?" Alex asks me. "Dad was venomous, Mom was crying, Haley was incensed, and Luke was just plain pissed off. Who else was gonna try to get things under control?" Alex leans back on the couch, crossing her arms and giving me a sullen look. "Do I ever just this one time get to be a kid?" She lets that sit for a minute, and worry crosses her face. "Actually, can I retract that last statement?"
"Mom, did you get any kind of sleep last night?" Alex asked.
"No," Claire said, no longer with the time or the patience to tell any lies at this point. "How could you tell?"
"You're wearing two different colored socks."
Claire looked down to see that, indeed, one of her socks was white, and the other one was black.
"How about we just get in the car?" Claire asked.
"Do you think I should drive?" Alex asked.
"No, sweetie, I'm fine," Claire said. "Why don't you ride shotgun with me on the way there, and let Haley decide where to sit coming back?"
"Sure," Alex said. Her phone buzzed, and she immediately fished it out of her pocket and read the incoming text.
"Luke and Dad are at Grandpa Frank's," Alex said.
"That's a relief," Claire said. "At least I know they're safe. Let's get your sister."
"So, just so we're clear, we're going to get her because we don't trust her to come back on her own?" Alex asked.
"Uh...sounds about right," Claire said as she turned the key in the ignition.
"What kind of message does that send?" Alex asked.
"It sends a message that we love her and want her to come home."
"Or that we don't think she's responsible enough to come home like she promised," Alex said.
Claire turned the engine off and turned to face her daughter. "Did you have to wait until we were in the car to tell me that?"
"I was debating whether it was a good idea to get her or to let her come back on her own. You seemed set on getting her, so I went along with it until I decided just now that it would be worth mentioning."
"That's, well...okay," Claire said. "So what should we do?"
"Why don't I just text her and ask how she's doing?" Alex suggested.
"That's very thoughtful of you," Claire said.
Alex took out her phone and texted "How are things?" to Haley. She sent the message, and she and Claire waited with bated breath, hoping for some kind of response.
"Did I expect Haley to answer?" Alex asks. "Well, maybe coming from me she would. She seemed more or less reasonable the night we drove out to get her, but who knows what her night away from home was like?"
"She's not answering," Alex said, after a few minutes of no response from Haley.
"Why don't you try Andy?" Claire asked. "Maybe he'd be more willing to let us know what's up?
"Okay…" Alex said, typing a text to Andy. "How's Haley doing today?"
Andy got the message and looked at it grimly.
"Haley," he said, "you can't ignore them forever. You said you'd go back today."
"Ugh, seriously?" Haley asked. "I wish you wouldn't harp on me like this is somehow my fault."
"No one's harping on anyone," Andy said. "I'm just making sure you stay true to your word."
"I really don't want to talk to Mom right now," Haley said. "I thought I'd feel better after a good night's rest, but I was tossing and turning all night."
"I understand," Andy said, reaching over to put a hand on her shoulder. Haley didn't object when it landed there.
"Do you though?" Haley asked. "I mean, not to get too personal, but when did you ever have something as screwed up as this happen to you?"
"You don't remember our conversation? I told you Beth was cheating on me."
Haley's eyes opened wide in fright. "I'm so sorry," she blubbered. "I totally wasn't thinking when I said that."
"It's okay," Andy said. "Look, don't worry about hurting my feelings. But you should let your sister know that you're coming back home today."
"And why should I do that?"
"Okay, I didn't want to have to do this," Andy said dramatically, and he took a deep breath, "but I might start to change my mind about that date if you don't decide to at least go home today."
"Right, like you would give up the chance to go on a date with me," Haley scoffed, but her bravado quickly faded. "All right, fine, but do I really have to talk with my psycho mother?"
"I see your point," Andy said. "Normally I'd say yes, but this isn't a normal circumstance. Why don't you tell Alex that you'll come home only if your mom promises to give you some space for a while?"
"That sounds okay to me," Haley said, and she sent a text back to Alex saying just that.
"Haley says she'll come back if you 'give her some space,'" Alex recited. She then looked at Claire nervously. "You can do that, right?"
Claire's nostrils flared, but she took a deep breath. "You know what? That's fine. I've done enough damage to our relationship to last a lifetime. The least I can do is respect her wishes, try to earn back some of that lost trust, if that's even possible."
"Okay, I'll let her know," Alex said. She texted Haley the response.
"Looks like Mom agreed," Haley said. "Andy, really, thank you so much for being like the coolest guy ever. I really owe you one."
"The only thing I want from you is that you keep things civil with your mom," Andy said. "I know it's going to be tough, but she's still your mom and she still loves you. Think that's a fair deal?"
"Sure," Haley said with a smile. "Okay, I look presentable?" she asked.
"Come on, Haley, do you have to ask? You always look nice."
"Do you always have to be such a gentleman?" Haley teased. "Okay, I'll take your word for it."
"Want me to walk you out?" Andy asked.
"No, I can handle it," Haley said. "Thanks, though."
"No problem," Andy said. He held open the door for Haley as she left, then shut it behind her.
Haley walked out to her mom's car and turned the key in the ignition. She sat there for a while, took a few deep breaths, and slowly backed out of the space to make her way back home.
"Without Andy, I don't know if I would ever have gone back home," Haley admits to me. "Well, I can say for sure I wouldn't have gone home that day. He was right, I didn't want to make things worse than they already were, and I'm sure Alex wouldn't have wanted to deal with this without her big sister. Oh my God, I actually sound mature. When did that happen?"
Haley pulled into the driveway. She was wondering if Claire or Alex would be waiting for her outside the door, but neither of them were visible from the driveway. Haley took another slow, deep breath and walked briskly out of the car and into the house.
"Haley, thank God you're okay," Claire said. She had been in the living room when Haley came into the door. She was standing, but looked unsure of whether to hug her daughter.
Alex stepped forward from where she was standing and gave Haley a hug, almost as if to make up for it. Haley returned it hesitantly, avoiding Claire's gaze.
"Can we talk?" Haley asked Alex once she had let go of her.
"Um...sure," Alex said, looking at Claire, who was just as befuddled as she was. Claire held out her hands and backed away, signaling the okay for the girls to head up to their room to talk. Haley and Alex went upstairs, leaving Claire standing in the living room alone, not sure what to do with herself.
"What I wouldn't have given to be a fly on the wall of that room!" Claire says emphatically. "I wanted to know what my daughters really thought about what's going on. But an invasion of privacy was out of the question. For the first time, I was the one in trouble, and I was the one who had to walk on eggshells. It wasn't a comfortable feeling. It really made me think of how hard I was on my kids when they were growing up, especially Haley…" A small tear seems to well up in Claire's eye. She wipes it away as she gazes out the window.
Alex and Haley walked into their room, and Haley shut the door. Haley mouthed the words "what the fuck" to her sister.
"Mom's a complete wreck," Alex said. "Did you notice her socks?"
"That was the first thing I saw when I came in," Haley said. "Did you say something to her about them?"
"Yes, and she still didn't change them," Alex responded.
"Holy shit," Haley said, and she sat on her bed. Alex took the cue and sat in her own bed on the other side of the room. "I still can't believe how sick this is. Do you have any idea who the other guy could be?"
"I don't have a clue," Alex said. "You know how little Mom talks about her life before we were born. Whoever he is must be some sick freak, though, or she wouldn't have been so ashamed to tell Dad about it."
"You think that's it?" Haley asked.
"No, I'm not sure," Alex said, holding her head and falling backwards in her bed. "For the first time in my life I feel totally clueless. Is this what being stupid feels like?"
"You're asking me?" Haley asked sharply.
"Never mind, you're right. I'm sorry," Alex said. "This is so screwed up."
"You know what, though?" Haley said, the pitch of her voice starting to rise. "Mom has no right to judge me for anything I've done. I might have been a little reckless, but I did not fuck up that bad."
"Yeah, I suppose that's right," Alex said. "Maybe that's why she's so hard on you. You know she told me once she got caught swimming naked in a neighbor's pool with her boyfriend? I thought that was the extent of it, but boy was I wrong."
"That's so gross," Haley said. "I bet she lost her virginity when she was like thirteen, for all we know."
"Ew," Alex said. "I don't want to think about that. Mom having sex? Blech."
"Alex, you're sixteen. You remember how old I was when I had sex with Dylan. It's not that gross. You just haven't done it."
"For your information," Alex started to say haughtily, but then she toned her voice back down, "I haven't really had the opportunity."
"Not even with the nerdy boys?" Haley asked.
"Very funny," Alex replied snarkily. They laughed for a bit but then fell into silence.
"Life's gonna be so weird living with Mom," Haley said. "I mean, knowing this, how do things go back to normal?"
"We're gonna have to redefine what we consider normal," Alex replied. "You can't hear something like that and expect things to go back to the way they were. We don't even know if Dad and Luke are ever coming back."
"Have you tried texting Luke, at least?" Haley asked.
"Oh, right, he and Dad are at Grandpa Frank's," Alex said, "but to be honest, I didn't consider trying to talk to him beyond that."
"I want to call him," Haley said.
"Really?" Alex asked. "You don't think that's gonna be weird with Dad right there?"
"That's the reason I'm calling," Haley said. "I want to talk to...Dad. Wow, it's really hard to call him that now. I just...I just want to make sure he's okay."
"Here, why don't I make the phone call?" Alex asked. "If you still feel like talking to Dad, you can, but there's no pressure if you're not ready."
"That would be great, thanks," Haley said.
"Alex is so smart," Haley says. "And I don't just mean like book smart. She's way more mature than I was at her age, and she seems to be handling this way better than I am. Yeah, it doesn't affect her directly, but it's still a huge deal for the whole family.
"I wanted to talk to Dad because, well...I just wanted to hear his voice, make sure he was still okay, make sure he and I were still...I'm sorry." Haley pulls out a tissue from a box sitting on the table beside the couch. "This sucks," she adds bluntly as she blows her nose.
"It's ringing," Alex said. She and Haley both wait until Alex hears a voice on the other end.
"That you, Alex?" Luke asked.
"Yeah, it's me. How's everything over at Grandpa's?"
"Dad's still acting really weird, but he's not as mad as he was last night," Luke said. "Is Haley okay?"
"Yeah, she left shortly after you guys did, but she's back home now," Alex replied. Haley was biting her nails. "Hey, listen, can you put Dad on the line? I want to hear firsthand how he's doing."
"Uh, you sure?" Luke asked. "He's been acting really funny all day."
"I think I can handle Dad acting funny, just get him on," Alex said.
"Okay. Dad!" Luke called out. Phil staggered into the living room where Luke was taking the call. "It's Alex."
"My actual daughter," Phil said bitterly. "Sorry, here, I'll take the phone." He took the phone in his hand, and it trembled slightly as it went to his ear. "Alex, honey, that you?"
"Dad, is everything okay over there?"
"Um...well, Luke seems fine. I'm a little shaken up still, but I'm hanging in there."
"Great, that's good to hear." Alex pointed at the phone and then to Haley, signaling that she wanted to know if Haley wanted to talk to Phil. Haley looked grim, but she nodded solemnly. "Do you want to talk to Haley?"
"Oh, um...okay," Phil said. "Yeah, put her on." He was shaking a little more now. Haley was, too, as Alex gave the phone to her.
"D-dad?" Haley asked, playing with a lock of her hair with her free hand.
"Hi, honey," Phil said timidly. There was a brief silence as the two of them waited for each other to talk.
"Um, how's Grandpa?" Haley asked.
"He's in good spirits," Phil said, chuckling halfheartedly. "How, how are you?"
"It's still tough," Haley said, "but I guess I'm doing okay. How are you?"
"Fine," Phil said, but a sniffle gave away his true disposition. "Hey, have you talked to your, um, your mother since last night?"
"Kinda...not really," Haley said. "We're taking things slow. I miss you, I wish you were here right now."
"Me...me too, honey," Phil said, and he had to sit down.
"You're still my dad, you know," Haley said. "I don't care what Mom did, you're still my dad."
"That's um...thanks, Haley. I love you."
"I love you, too," Haley said, trembling quite a bit herself now. "Um...are you gonna come home soon?"
"Haley, um, I don't think I can do that right now," Phil said. "I'm still kinda reeling from all this, I think I need to take more than a day off from the house before I feel up to coming back home. I'm glad you're still there with your sister and your mom though. That's really nice of you to stick with the family after all we went through last night."
"Yeah, but you know, it's just not the same without you here," Haley said. "I know I can't make you come back, but I hope you change your mind."
"Haley, it's okay," Phil said. "You can call me any time. Any time, you hear me? I'm always gonna be there for you, I promise."
"I know you will, Dad," Haley said. "Look, I gotta go. Tell Luke I'm hanging in there, and I hope I see you and him soon."
"Okay, sweetie. Take care."
"Bye, Dad." Haley hung up the phone.
She inhaled deeply and started to weep. Alex crossed the room and gave her distraught sister a hug, which Haley gratefully returned this time around. They sat there for a while, just holding each other, so much on their mind.
"I miss him," Haley said. "I really want Dad to come home."
"Me, too," Alex said. "You don't think he's going to file for divorce, do you?"
"Don't even say that," Haley said, suddenly angry. "Why would you say that?"
"I'm just being realistic," Alex said. "This is the kind of thing that ruins marriages sometimes."
"Yeah, but I can't even imagine Mom and Dad getting a divorce, not after everything we've been through."
"You're right, I don't want to think about that, either," Alex said. "Let's just forget I said that, okay?"
"Yeah, that's a good idea," Haley said. "Ugh, I don't think we can stay hidden in our room away from Mom forever. Do you think we should go downstairs and try to be civil with her?"
"Mom and I are already civil," Alex said. "I mean, I'm not trying to be snippy, but this issue really isn't about our relationship."
"Easy for you to say, you've always been the favorite child."
"Have not!" Alex retorted.
"Oh, please. It was always your report cards on the refrigerator, your science projects being bragged about at Thanksgiving. Alex is the genius of the family, Haley is just the spoiled immature party girl."
"So what? So what if she slaps my grades on a kitchen appliance and brags to the family? Other than that, I basically get the cold shoulder around here. You and Luke constantly get more attention than I do."
"Yeah, but not for good reasons. It's always 'Haley, what were you doing out so late?' or 'Luke, don't eat that cookie that fell on the floor.' That's not the kind of attention you want."
"Okay, wait a second, can we just stop fighting?" Alex asked. "We had a really touching moment just now. I don't want to go back to being squabbling sisters. After all that's happened, we have to rely on each other more than ever. Can we put our petty differences aside and just see what we can do to recover from this horrible blow to our family?"
Haley stopped to consider what Alex proposed, then nodded her head. "You have a good point there. This isn't about some stupid report card or some stupid party. Things are a lot more real now, and it's time we...well, really I have to act like an adult."
"Why only you?"
"Please, you've been an adult since you were like six years old."
"Have not!" Alex said, but the two of them laughed. Haley grabbed a pillow from the head of her bed and hit Alex in the face with it. "Knock it off!" Alex said, and the two of them kept laughing for a little while. Once it died down, they were starting to feel much better.
"Okay, let's go back downstairs and see if we can't talk to Mom," Alex said.
"Alright, sounds good to me," Haley said. They left the room and shut the door behind them, took deep breaths, and made their way downstairs, careful to avoid the broken step.
End of Chapter 07