I don't own Modern Family or any of the characters from the show.

Also, all you guys are awesome. The amount of positive feedback and hits I've gotten for this story is a little unbelievable, considering I almost didn't post this in the first place. Anyway, enjoy.


The 21th of December, 07:19 pm. Alex's POV.

What did she say? I must of miss heard her, I must've. There's no way she's... she's pregnant.

"You're what?!" I ask, a lot louder then I intended to.

Haley shifts slightly in her seat, looking uncomfortable. "I'm pregnant" she says, with a forced smile, like Mom's.

It just clicked, everything made sense. Why Haley had to come home for Christmas, why she brought Clay with her. She must be earlier on in her pregnancy, she wanted to come home and tell everyone before she started showing. With as small as Haley is, it wouldn't be long. Oh god, I'm going to be an aunt. Oh god, my sister is going to be a mother.

I can see tears in Haley's eyes.

I need to be strong for her, she was going to need all the support she could get. Becoming a mother at nineteen... well, she will be twenty by the time the baby comes. Jesus, a baby! My sister is going to be having a baby, a baby! I need to calm down, I need to be strong. Oh man, Mom is going to lose it, when she finds out. This isn't like when we were kids and I enjoyed Haley getting yelled at. This was serious, this was life changing. So I was going to be there for her.

"Please... say something" she says, with an upset voice.

I see Clay give her hand a light squeeze. She must be scared, being as young as she is and becoming a mother. But, then again becoming a mother must be scary no matter how old you are. I needed to be strong for her, I take a deep breath and nod.

"Everything is going to be fine" I say, putting my hand on her shoulder.

People won't my strong suit, but I think this is what you should do, right?


The 21th of December, 07:45pm. Mitchell's POV.

"Its fine, Cam" I say, looking over at my boyfriend. He was being Cam, over doing everything. Just because we were having the family over for dinner.

"I could use your help" he says back, looking over at me. He puts his hands on his hips, sending me that look of his.

"Everything looks fine, Cam" I say, shooting him a look.

I hear the doorbell ring.

"Does everything look alright Mitchell, does it" he says, looking at me, his hands still on his hips.

I roll my eyes as I go over to the door. I love Cam as much as one person can love another, but he always over does things. I mean, so what, we're having the family over and Haley's new boyfriend. Why do we need to make it a big deal? It isn't, they been here before and I bet this new boyfriend won't make it to the end of the year. So why do we need to act like the queen is coming?

"I saw that" he says, my back to him.

I sigh, before putting on a smile and pulling the door open.

"Uncle Mitchell!" Haley says, pulling me into a hug.

I'm slightly caught off guard by her. This isn't the Haley I'm used to. The Haley I'm used to, barely looks up from her cellphone to say hello. But now she was trying to kill me with a hug.

"Haley" I say, patting her on the back. She pulls back from the hug and smiles at me.

"You're looking so good" she says, smiling.

I nod slightly, I'm more then a little freaked out by her behavior now. "You too" I say, still nodding.

"Hey uncle Mitchell" Alex says, stepping in behind her.

"Hey" I say, relived she's not attacking me like her sister.

"Yeah hey, everything's great and normal" Alex says, quickly.

Okay, she's acting weird too, great. Haley shoots Alex a look and Alex shoots her a look back.

"I got to go to the bathroom!" Alex pretty much yells, nearly running down the hall.

Yeah, she's acting very weird.

I look over at Haley as she puts her hand on my forearm. "Uncle Mitchell, this is Clay" she says, pointing me towards the door. I look over and smile.

Standing at the door is a handsome young man, he's smiling a strange little smile. He holds his hand out to me, I spot a tattoo on his ring finger. I force myself to keep smiling.

"Nice to meet you Mr. Pritchett, Clayton Sweetwater" he says, introducing himself. "But people call me Clay " he adds, with a nod.

"Nic.. nice to meet you" I say, shaking his hand. I can't believe how rough his hand is, hasn't he heard of hand lotion. "And.. ah Mitchell, call me Mitchell" I say, trying not to show how freaked out I am.

I'm going to take a wild guess and say my sister didn't like her oldest daughter's boyfriend. But, mother like daughter, right. I could remember more then a few of Claire's boyfriends who looked a lot like the young man standing next to my niece. Hopefully she will out grow it like her mother, hopefully it won't take too long for her to.

Haley smiles between us and puts an arm around Clayton.

"Um.. ah... Cam!" I shout, over my shoulder. Not knowing what else to do.

"What is it, Mitchell?" Cam asks, walking into the room. "I have so many thi..." He stops, when he spots Haley and her boyfriend. "Haley, you are looking great" he says, stretching out every word. I try not to roll my eyes, as he smiles over at them.

Haley runs over to him and pulls him into a hug. "You too Cam" she says, hugging him. She looks up at him and smiles. "Did you lose more weight?" she asks, her smile getting wider.

I can't believe how she's acting, she's not acting like Haley at all. I haven't seen her this excited in years, not since that gig where Cam played with Dylan's band.

"Well..." Cam starts, blushing slightly. Seeming not to notice Clayton.

"Cam" I interrupt him, nodding towards the stocky young man standing behind me.

"Oh... Well hello, I'm Cameron Tucker" Cam says, walking over to Clay, holding his hand out. I can see the way Cameron is eying him, he thinks Haley's boyfriend is cute. That's just great, he always had this thing for bad boys. I roll my eyes at the thought, considering he ended up with me.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Tucker" Clayton says, shaking Cam's hand.

"Oh please, call me Cam" Cam says, smiling.


The 21th of December, 07:25pm. Claire's POV.

"I don't want to hear it, Phil" I say, looking out my window. I shoot him a dirty look. "We're supposed to be a team, Phil" I say, glaring at him.

We are supposed to be a team, a united front to the kids. But he had turned on me, in front of our daughters and Clayton. He made me look and feel foolish, he made me look crazy.

"I..." he tries.

"Don't interrupt me" I say slowly, glaring at him. "We are a team Phil and you don't cover your teammate's mouth" I say, looking out my window. "How do you think that made me look in front of our kids?" I ask, looking at him.

"I just think that with Haley just letting us back in that we shouldn't fight with her" Phil says, looking over at me then back at the road.

"She started it" I mutter, looking out my window. I know its childish, but I honestly don't care.

I had always been the bad cop, even now. Phil was always too easy on the kids, always making me be the one to be hard on them. The one time when he tried to be the bad cop, he over shot the mark. Treating the girls like prison inmates.

So now, I just did it out of habit. I didn't wanna be the one to fight with Haley over her choice of boyfriends, I would love to get to be the one who smiles and laughs the whole time. But I couldn't be, I was stuck as the bad cop. But I was doing what I felt was right by my daughter and I didn't think Clayton was good enough for her. So I was going to do what I feel was right, even if it still made me the bad cop.


The 21th of December, 07:30 pm. Mitchell's POV.

"I'm telling you Cam, something isn't right here" I say, looking over at Cam. I take a sip from my wine. "I mean have you notice how weird Alex is acting".

"Yeah something isn't right, your attitude" he says, looking over at me. "And Alex always acts weird, she must have a test coming up or homework she needs to do" he says, shaking his head at me.

I roll my eyes, there's nothing wrong with my attitude. Something about Haley was off and something was definitely up with Alex. why would Haley bring Clayton home for Christmas? There was something to this, I know it. Clayton was... unsettling. I remember back when I was working criminal cases, seeing guys less intimidating then the young man standing in my living room. He has this dangerous vibe about him, like a few of my dad's old navy buddies, the ones he would never leave me or Claire alone with.

I wish Cam could see past the fact Clayton was a good looking guy and see what I could, but that wasn't going to happen. I love him, but he let's his big heart get in the way of his common sense.

"I know, I'm not the only one who noticed how you treated him" He says, looking back down at the stove.

"Me?" I ask, I didn't do anything wrong.

"Yes, you" he says, looking back at me. "You treated Clay like he was a homeless man asking for money or something" he says, going back to the stove.

"Yeah well, sorry I wasn't the one acting like a school girl around him" I say, shooting him a meaningful look.

I know Cam finds him attractive, he had stared at Clayton the whole time. You probably couldn't tell by looking at me, but Cam's type was the big muscles and tattoos type guy. Its kinda funny considering he ended up with me.

"I don't know what you are talking about" he says, walking over to the island. His lips are pressed together in a tight line, he always does that when he's trying to hide something. He starts chopping up vegetables, not meeting my eye.

"Oh please" I say, rolling my eyes. I sip from my glass and look around the kitchen.

I hear the front door open and a few hellos sound out around the room. Claire comes in, she looks upset and I bet I know why.

"You want a glass?" I ask, holding my glass of wine out. She takes it from me and downs it. "I meant your own glass" I say, looking at the empty glass in her hand.

She looks at me with a hateful look. "I'm not in the mood Mitchell" she says, handing the glass back to me.

"Not you too" Cam says, looking up from the cutting board.

Claire looks at me and smiles slightly. "You see it too?" she asks.

I sigh, putting a hand on my hip. "Yes" I say, with a slight nod. "Its... its just... just that he looks like a gang banger or something" I say, with a shrug.

"Thank you" she says, giving me my glass back. she walks over to the counter where the bottles of wine are and pours herself a glass.

"You two are unbelievable" Cam says, shaking his head.

"Oh please, Cam" I say, looking over at him.

"Don't even" he says, shooting me a look.

I see out of the corner of my eye Claire down another glass. She then looks between us. "What?" she asked, still looking between us.

"Well, Cam has a new crush" I say, looking over at my sister.

"No" she says, stretching out the word, looking over at Cam.

"I don't have a crush on him" Cam says, shaking his head.

"But, you think he's cute don't you?" I ask, taking a few steps towards him.

"No, not at all" Cam says, looking over at me.

"Not even, a little bit?" I ask, staring at him.

"No" Cam says, shaking his head, with a tight lip. I can tell he was lying, like when I asked who ate the last cookie and he would say Lily. I love the man, but he was a terrible liar.

"Really?" I ask, starting to get frustrated with him.

"Come on Cam, even if you took everything else away, he's still half your age" Claire says, even though it sounds like she's hissing.

Cam puts the knife down, harder then he needed to, and looks up at us. "He's been nothing but kind and respectful, so I don't wanna hear it from you Pritchetts" he says, sounding angry.

I look down at my empty glass, feeling slightly bad. I never like when he tells me off. Maybe he was right, 'us' Pritchetts had a tendency to judge books by their covers. Like when I first met Cam and thought he was just some dumb country boy. I look over at Claire, her jaw is set and her eyes are on her glass. I look back at Cam, pouting a little bit.

"She started it" I mutter, nodding slightly at my sister. She glares at me, before punching me hard in the arm. "That hurt Claire" I say, grabbing her by the hair.

"Ah" she hisses, twisting my nipple.

"You two are unbelievable" Cam says, shaking his head. I can barely see him out of the corner of my eye.

Me and my sister struggle for a few minutes, as Cam chops up vegetables. Why do I have the worse sister ever, why? Its not fair.

"Oh, hello Clayton" I hear Cam say. Me and Claire slowly look over at the doorway.

Clayton is staring at us, with a look somewhere between amused and confused. When I meet his eye, he smiles that strange little smile of his. I'm assuming Claire met his eye too.

"Ah..." he starts, looking over at Cam. Claire let's go of my nipple and I let go of her hair. "I was just wondering if you guys needed any help?" he asks, looking between the three of us, the weird look of amusement and confusion still set on his face. He looks back at Cam. "And ah, Clay's fine Mr. Cam. No ones ever really called me by my full name besides.. my dad" he says, scratching the back of his head, looking slightly uncomfortable.

Claire walks back over to where the bottles of wine are and pours herself another glass. While I straighten out my sweater.

"Well, if you're going to call me 'Mr. Cam', I'm going to call you Clayton" Cam says, with a smile. "Understand?" he asks, still smiling at the young man.

"Ah, yes sir, M... Cam" Clayton says, nodding, smiling that strange small smile again. "So... you guys need any help?" he asks, looking between the three of us.

Cam opens his mouth, but my sister cuts him off.

"No" Claire says, quickly, with that forced smile of hers. It was seriously creepy, at least I thought so. "We got everything under control" she adds, before downing her third glass, or was it her fourth?

"Okay, um... Well, if you guys need any help, you know" he says, with a nod. He then turns and goes back into the living room.

I see Cam shoot Claire a dirty look. "That was a little mean" he says, looking down at the cutting board.


The 21th of December, 07:45 pm. Haley's POV.

"Isn't she cute?" Lily asks, looking up at me.

I smile down at her, Lily was as sweet as a little girl could be. I look at the doll in her hands and nod.

"Yes she is" I say, bending down to her eye level. I push some of her hair behind her ear, smiling at her.

I hope I have a little girl, maybe she could be just like Lily. I freeze, staring into Lily's brown eyes. That was the first time, I actually thought about the baby growing inside me, as more then just a baby. I could almost see her, she looked a lot like me. But with her father's nose, well, minus it being broken more then a few times like his. She has green eyes like me and is smiling a large smile like my Dad. She's smiling and waving at me, I swear I could just see her. I could see myself walking her to school, dressing her up, teaching her to cook... well maybe Clay would do that.

"Are you alright, Haley?" Lily asks, looking at me.

I then realize that I had been staring at her. I smile at her and then kiss the top of her head, before standing up.

"Yeah sweetie, I'm fine" I say, smiling down at her. "I was just thinking about adult stuff" I add, folding my arms over my chest.

"Yeah, My Daddies do that a lot too" she says, hugging the doll to her chest. She looks down at the doll and kisses its head. "Can you watch her and I'll get her sister" she says, holding it out to me. "She really misses her sister" she adds, in a whisper.

I smile at her. "Of course, sweetie" I say, taking the doll from her. "Be quick, okay" I say, holding the doll at my side.

She nods and runs down the hall to her room.

I look down at the doll, playing a little bit with its hair. I wanted a little girl, I honestly hadn't thought about the baby much past telling my family and the situation between me and Clay. But the more I thought about it, the more I wanted a little girl. I wanted a little girl to dress up in pretty dresses and do her hair. I mean, I wouldn't care if it was a boy. I would love it just the same. But I didn't get little boys, they liked playing in the mud and with bugs. Little girls I get, you play dress up with them and teach them how to sit when wearing a skirt. Was it that bad that I wanted a girl? Maybe Clay wanted a girl too, no, guys always want boys. I just wanted a sweet little princess. Not a little boy, I had to worry about bringing a dead cat home.

"Hey" Clay says, as he wraps his large arms around me. "What's with the doll?" he asks, with

an amused voice.

I had been so lost in my thoughts, that I had almost forgotten about the doll in my hands. I wonder how long he had been watching me.

"Lily asked me to watch her" I say, leaning against him and resting my head against his chest.

"Hmm" he mutters, giving me a light squeeze. I smile.

We both stand there, quietly, for a few minutes. I wonder what he's thinking about, I wonder if his mind is on our child. Clay had done well with Lily earlier, he had played with her a little and asked her about school, he had even called her darling a few times. I wasn't going to tell him how much I loved seeing him act so sweet. Clay was the kind of guy, who wouldn't take being call sweet well. I know he wouldn't, I remember how Amber loved to call him sweet. He would always blush and tell her to stop it. I guess he saw being seen as 'sweet' made him look weak, stupid I know. It just was how he was, something from his childhood I'm sure.

"So" he starts, shifting slightly. "Are we going to tell them tonight?" he asks, his voice barely above a whisper.

I turn around, still in his arms. I look up at him, then back down at the doll, pushing its hair around. I know we should, but I just wanted to enjoy being home for a little longer. Tonight was the night to do it, everyone was going to be here. But still, the thought of standing up in front of my whole family and telling them that I was pregnant was still a very scary thought. Clay would be right there with me, holding my hand and that was a comforting thought.

Not to mention, Alex now knew. And if I waited too long, she would probably let it slip. That wouldn't be that bad, would it? I mean, if she let it slip. Then I wouldn't have to tell everyone, they would already know. Yeah that could work, no. I can't do that, its childish and I need to start acting more like an adult. I'm becoming a mother damnit and I was going to start acting like it.

Did I really need to tell them this week though? I feel like that would ruin Christmas and I didn't want that. I just wanted to enjoy Christmas with my family, my whole family. Clay was now apart of it and I wanted to enjoy Christmas with him. I wanted to have one last big family Christmas, before I added to it. I could just push it off, until New Years. It could be like a baby new year or something. Man, that sounded stupid. I was just being stupid, I just needed to tell them and get it out of the way. I know I should tell them, the longer I wait the worse it would get.

Alex wouldn't make it to New Years anyways and I needed to be the one to tell them.

I sigh, still playing with the doll a little bit. "Yeah, I'll tell everyone at dinner" I say, not looking up at him.

He runs a hand through my hair, making me look up at him. He smiles and kisses my forehead, then leans back and looks me in the eye.

"Everything is going to be okay" he says, tucking some of my hair behind one of my ears. "I promise" he says, smiling down at me.

I can't help but smile. He leans down and kisses me, I lean into him, wrapping my arms around him. I slip my tongue into his mouth, running a hand up his large chest. I feel as one of his large hands rest on my behind. My mind goes rushing back to our little thing earlier in me and Alex's room, I can feel the want, the need, that we both feel in this kiss. The longer the kiss goes, the more passionate it gets. Even though it had been two days since the last time we had sex, I knew I wanted him and I know he wanted me, well I could feel that he wanted me.

"Eww!" I hear Lilly shout from behind me.

I push Clay back and look over at the little girl, she's looking at us with a small smile on her cute little face and a doll in her hand, that looked like the almost forgotten one in my hands. Are we going to get caught everytime we start kissing now?

"Hey Lily" I say, with a slight blush to my cheeks.

"You two were kissing" she says, smiling.

"No, we were just talking real close darling" Clay says, from behind me.

"Yeah" I say, with a nod.

"You two love each other and all you want to do is kiss" she says, before pressing her lips out and starts making kissing sounds at us.

"Lily" I say, putting a slight bite to my voice, hoping to get her to stop.

She darts past us, singing loudly. "Haley and Clay sitting in a tree, K.I.S.S.I.N.G. First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in a baby carriage" she sings, running into the kitchen.

I can't help but think, that's not how it always goes.


Hey Fallout here and I want to thank Thunder31, TheDreamer006, Csi-Dragon101, Itskindafuntodotheimpossible , Iluvcm, Mylifeisbooks and Freddie97 for following my story, thanks guys.

Thank you Korkman2 for reviewing again. You don't have to worry, I'm planning on writing up to the birth of the baby and a little bit after it. So, I may be at this awhile. Anyways, thanks again for reviewing man.

Thank you Noleb for reviewing again. Well, I hope you liked Alex freaking out a bit about the news. Thanks again for sticking with this story and for the kind words.

Thank you Fedff for reviewing. Sorry I couldn't update sooner, with the holidays things... well, sort of got away from me. Thanks again for taking the time to review.

Thank you Tricksk8er for reviewing again. Thanks for the kind words Trick, I'm glad you're still enjoying it.

Thank you KiaraBlake2000 for reviewing. Thanks Kiara for the kind words, really your review made me smile like an idiot for the whole day. And yes, cliffhangers are a little evil on the writers part, but its so much fun to end a chapter that way. Yes, I'm evil ;). thanks again.

Thank you Caitlin 3 for reviewing. Well, I'm happy that I could bring your fantasy to life, even in just a silly little story like this. Thanks again for taking the time to review.

Thank you Russianeyes718ouat7ncis for reviewing again. Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it. and yeah, Claire is a little... Well, overprotective. But they say you can't be too overprotective of your children, right? But I don't have any, so... I wouldn't know. Thanks for reviewing again Russ.

Thank you Lauren for reviewing. Well, don't worry Lauren, you're going to see... or, well, read the baby being born and maybe a little more. And sorry I couldn't update sooner. Thanks again.

Thank you Ally for reviewing. I hope the wait didn't kill you, sorry I couldn't update sooner Ally. But its here now. Thanks for taking the time to review.

Thank you Mercury for reviewing. I'm trying, just don't yell at me anymore (writes while crying). ;) I'm joking... just so that's clear. Thanks again man.

Thank you Modernfamilygirl for reviewing and following . I just got to say love the name and I'm glad you love my story, I did update... somewhat soon after you reviewed, so... you're welcome? Thanks again.

Thank you to the guest who reviewed 11/11/12. Thanks man. Once again, smiled like an idiot all day because of your review man. Two things, I'm a dude and about the wait... well, hopefully you're not too pissed that its been almost a month since you reviewed. But, will a internet hug make up for it? Thanks again man.

Thank you to the guest who reviewed 11/17/12. Thanks man, I'm glad you love it and i did. Thanks again.

Thank you to the guest who reviewed 11/26/12. Yeah, me too man. Thanks again.

And now I would like to thank all of you for reading and remember all reviews are appreciated. Much love to all you guys and gals.