The Illegitimate Daughter: A Modern Family Fanfiction
by: cooopercrisp
Chapter 13: The Results
"When we received the results in the mail," Claire says, "I texted Phil to let him know. I wanted to call him, but he was in the middle of showing a property. I was so tempted to open the envelope then and there, but I couldn't do that without him at home with us. Haley was working and Alex and Luke were at school, so we all decided to wait until that evening to read the results together."
Claire couldn't help but feel alone. Not only was she, at the moment, the only one at home, but it was all she could do not to imagine what would happen if Phil really wasn't Haley's father. Realizing that she had to talk to someone, she called her father.
"Dad, they're here," Claire said once Jay answered the phone.
"Oh my God," Jay replied. "That was quick."
"Mail came early." Claire chuckled. "No one else is home, though, so I'm going to wait for Phil and the kids to be here first."
"You're in that big house by yourself?" Jay asked. "Are you gonna be okay?"
"Yes, Dad, I'll be fine," Claire said. "I need some time to myself to think."
"Okay, then. If it's getting to be too much, though, at least go for a run or something. Get out of that damn house."
"I'll consider it," Claire said. "Thanks, Dad."
"You're welcome, Claire. Love you."
"Love you, too, Dad." Claire hung up the phone and started getting teary-eyed. After a few minutes, she decided that a jog would certainly help. She went to her room to change into her workout clothes and left the house as quickly as she could. It was surprisingly cold today, and the chill hit her to the bone and woke her up. As she jogged down the streets of her neighborhood, taking in deep breaths and her heart pounding, she was able to reflect on everything that had led to this point. The twenty year secret she had subjected herself to would finally be coming to a close. Claire could do nothing else now but to pray that she got the result she wanted.
After an hour, Claire was back home. She poured herself a tall glass of water and drank it as she cooled down from her exercise. It had helped, at least for a little while, but now she was back at home alone. She checked her phone and saw that Gloria had sent her a text that said "good luck" along with a random string of emojis. Claire chuckled a bit and replied to say thank you.
Surprisingly, Claire received a phone call. When she checked her caller ID, she saw that it was Andy.
"Hi, Andy," Claire said after answering the phone.
"Hi, Ms. Dunphy. Look, Haley told me you have the results of the paternity test."
"We do."
"I'd like to be there when you open it."
"Really?" Claire asked. "No offense, Andy, but I wanted it to be just immediate family."
"I appreciate that, Ms. Dunphy, but I need you to hear me out. Haley called me and was already in tears. She asked me to ask you if I could be there, too. I wasn't sure at first, but she started sobbing again, so I think it would be good for me to be there to help her."
Claire took a moment to think about it. "You can come, Andy. It's fine. I don't want anyone else coming here, though. I can tell the rest of the family what happened later."
"No problem, Ms. Dunphy. Thank you for including me. It means a lot to me, and to Haley, too."
"Of course. I'll see you later."
Claire hung up the phone, still uncertain, but feeling at least a little better knowing that Haley would have someone to lean on.
"So I decided then that my job that night was being there for Haley," Andy says. "However it turned out, there was gonna be a lot of emotion. Haley was the one caught in the middle here, and it was absolutely not her fault. It's not like she could choose who to be born to. Me being there for her was pretty much the only thing I could think of that I could do to be helpful. And you know by now how much I like to be helpful." Andy gives me an awkward grin but then looks off to the side.
"I was grateful to have something to be working on," Phil says. "My job was a nice distraction, but I was still thinking about those results in the back of my mind. I couldn't wait to get home and get this done. The kids were eager to find out, too. The last showing I had that day was late, seven o'clock at night, and I didn't get home until around eight."
Phil came into the door, and Haley was the first one to give him a hug. She was already crying.
"Hi, Daddy," she said as Phil hugged her back.
"You didn't already…" Phil said.
"We waited for you," Claire replied from the kitchen.
Phil and Haley walked over to join Claire, Alex, Luke, and Andy.
"Hi, Andy," Phil said. "Wasn't expecting you here."
"I know we said just us," Claire replied, "but Haley had already told Andy and he insisted on being here, too."
"That's not a problem," Phil said. "Well, if everyone's here, then there's no reason to wait."
"Agreed," Claire said, offering Phil the envelope. "You should be the one to open it."
Phil took a deep breath. "You're right, Claire. I'll do it." He took the envelope from Claire. Haley offered him the letter opener. Without ceremony, Phil opened the letter, unfolded it, and read through the document.
"I was a bundle of nerves," Phil says, "but I needed to stay strong for my family. I didn't get too many chances to really feel like the man of the house, to tell the truth. It's fine, I consider myself a more sensitive, fun-loving dad most of the time. This wasn't the time for that, though. I remembered something Jay said to me a while back, when Haley was born. He said 'Phil, I know you like to have fun, but you're not just my daughter's husband anymore. You're the father of my granddaughter. You'd better be able to step up to the plate when your family needs you, or so help me…' I wasn't sure if he actually knew how to finish that thought, but I got the message."
"I don't think I've ever been more scared in my life," Haley says. "I mean, I guess it didn't really make a difference. Dad was there for me, there for the entire family. I just hoped he'd pass the test."
"Luke and I have really been the bystanders in all this," Alex says.
"Yeah," Luke adds. "Kinda hard not to take sides, either, with Mom and Dad blowing up at each other."
"It didn't matter anymore," Alex says. "No more sides. We needed to come together as a family, no matter what the tests showed. I just wanted the arguing to stop. I wanted us to be able to deal with this together like we've dealt with so much in the past."
"My kids always expect me to be the strong one," Claire says. "Since this secret came out a few months ago, I haven't been able to show them that strength, at least not in the way I normally do. It was up to Phil to fill that void. I thought when he walked out on me that that would be the end of it, to be honest. He came back, though, and he showed me a strong side that I don't always get to see from him. I was grateful for that, and I hoped that his name would be on those results so that he wouldn't have to be strong for the family all over again."
Phil scanned through the document multiple times to make sure he understood it with no ambiguity. Once he was sure, he dropped the paper to the floor, tears coming to his eyes.
"What did it say, Phil?" Claire asked.
Phil crouched down, picked up the letter, and gave it to Claire, his hands shaking. Claire read it and gasped. "It's Professor Cooke," she said. "Not Phil."
The house went dead quiet and the tension in the air was palpable. Claire wanted to cry, to scream and slam her hands on the table, but for a moment she seemed to have forgotten how to move. Haley buried her face in Andy's chest, crying. Andy hugged her and rubbed her back. Alex and Luke could barely hold it together either.
"I told you," Phil said, gratefully breaking the silence, "that it wouldn't matter what that paper said. I'm Haley's father in every measure that counts. Still…"
"Don't say 'still,'" Claire replied, choking on the air she was breathing. "You are her father."
"It hurts, Claire," Phil said. "I'm just trying to be honest, here. I can't sweep that under the rug, not with everything else."
"Phil, I am so, so sorry," Claire said. "I should have told you from the very beginning."
"Yes, you should have," Phil said. "Why didn't you?"
"I thought you would leave me," Claire said. "I thought I would end up raising my daughter alone. I needed for my child to have a father in her life. It was never going to be Cooke. It had to be you."
"Then you made a choice," Phil said. "But in doing so, you didn't let me make that same choice. You didn't trust me enough to tell me what I needed to know. That almost hurts more than anything else. Why didn't you trust me?"
Claire could not respond right away. Tears fell down her face. "Phil, I didn't even trust myself. Sleeping with two different men, not knowing the real father. I never thought I would be capable of that. In another universe, maybe I'm not such a monster. Maybe I don't feel so afraid of letting go of my relationship with Cooke that I break it off cleanly and there's no ambiguity. That's not what happened, though. I should have trusted you, Phil. I should have let you make your choice. For that, I am sorry."
Claire slumped onto a kitchen chair, burying her face in her hands. Alex and Luke went over to her and gave her a hug. Haley was still crying into Andy's chest, but then she pulled away.
"And what about me?" Haley asked. "How am I supposed to deal with this? I'm not going to start calling Dad 'Phil' and calling that skeezy professor 'Dad.' But, you know it's like, my entire existence is a lie. I'm not a Dunphy. What the hell am I then?"
"You're a Dunphy," Alex said. "You pulled my hair until I was eight years old and strong enough to fight back. You and I dressed Luke up as a girl to make fun of him. You're the one I came crying to when I had boy trouble. Who cares about blood? A stupid piece of paper can't change all that. We're still a family, dammit."
"Wise words, Alex," Phil said. "As usual." He took a deep breath, and his hands started to shake less. "This isn't the end. We got the answer, at last, and it wasn't the one we asked for. But that test only means something if we let it. It's haunted us for months. Heck, it felt like years at times. We have the results, now, and I think it's time to put this to bed." Phil put the piece of paper on the table.
Everyone stared at the paper for a moment, taking some time to reflect.
"Andy, can we get out of here and talk for a minute?" Haley asked.
"Sure," Andy said, following her to the living room.
"I have to say sorry," she said. "For months I've been dumping all this drama on you. I didn't mean to do that."
"It's no issue at all. I like to listen. I'm just sorry that you were in the middle of all this."
"Me, too. You know, if someday we ever, you know, get married or something, I'm going to ask my dad to walk me down the aisle."
"He would love that," Andy said. "I can't think of anyone more qualified to do it."
Haley wrapped her arms around Andy and kissed him on the cheek. "Don't let me let you go," she said.
"I won't," Andy said. "I promise."
"After the shock wore off, I needed to make some phone calls," Claire said. "The first one was the hardest."
"Hello, Professor Cooke," Claire said.
"Hello, Claire. I assume you're calling about the results."
"Well, yes."
"They mailed them to me, too. Remember our agreement."
"Trust me. I don't want anything to do with you ever again. You've fucked up my life enough."
"I'm glad we're in agreement then. I guess that's goodbye then."
"It is."
"For what it's worth, I am sorry this didn't turn out the way you wanted."
"Me, too," Claire said. "Take care of yourself."
"Likewise."
Claire hung up the phone and shuddered, then made the next hardest phone call.
"Hi, Dad."
"Hi, Claire."
"It's not Phil."
"Oh...well, I'm sorry. How's everyone taking the news?"
"A lot better than I thought."
"That's good, at least."
"Jay!" Claire could hear Gloria in the background. "What is the news?"
"It's not Phil," Jay said.
Claire could hear exasperated Spanish from Gloria, and she almost started laughing.
"Well, that's it," Claire said. "The secret's out. The results are in. Maybe now we can finally move on from this nightmare."
"I hope so, too. If you need anything at all, call your old man. I'll do whatever I can."
"Thanks, Dad. I have to call Mitchell."
"Okay. I love you."
"Love you, too."
Claire got off the phone and started crying again. She allowed herself a minute to compose herself, then called Mitchell.
"Hi, Claire," Mitchell said.
"Hello. We got the news. It's not Phil."
"Oh my God. Claire, I am so sorry. How is everyone holding up?"
"Okay, for now."
"Wow. I really wasn't expecting that."
"Me neither. Can you do me one favor, though?"
"Sure, anything."
"If Mom asks around, can you be the one to tell her? I don't need to talk to her again about how much of a disappointment I am."
"I'll deal with Mom, don't worry. Go be with your family."
"Thanks, Mitchell. Love you."
"Love you, too," Mitchell said before hanging up.
Claire rejoined the rest of the family, who had all gathered in the living room.
"So...what happens now?" Claire asked. "Do we just move on?"
"It's going to take time," Phil said. "I'm not going anywhere, though. I won't do that to my family. Haley, you are my daughter. No test can change that. We need to do a lot of work. I need to work on myself. I know normally I'm not into therapy, but the counseling we have been getting since this whole thing started has been helpful. I will be seeking out my own therapist to deal with problems I would never have talked about otherwise. I have an opportunity to work on myself, to work with my family. That never would have happened without this, so in a weird way, maybe it's the one good thing that comes out of this."
"I don't know how you still manage to find the bright side in all of this," Claire said, wiping her eyes. "It's one of the things I love about you."
Phil smiled. "I appreciate that."
"Look, it's late and we still haven't eaten," Claire said. "Should we just do takeout again?"
The rest of the family agreed, including Andy.
"Okay, I'll place the order for some Chinese. Everyone get your order ready."
With that, the Dunphy family took their first steps back towards normalcy. After Claire placed the order, they stayed in the living room, talking to one another and even daring a few jokes. The test results remained on the kitchen floor, for the time being left forgotten.
"I wish I could say the rest was easy," Claire says. "It took a lot of therapy and a lot of work for Phil and I to gain back even a fraction of the trust we had. A year later, and I can't believe how much has changed, most of all with Haley."
Haley and Andy are sitting next to Claire, smiling. Haley shows off the engagement ring on her hand.
"With everything that happened, and all the support Andy's given me, this was the clear choice," Haley says.
"That ring belonged to my grandmother," Andy says. "She passed it down to me before passing away and ordered me to find a girl who deserved to wear it. And that is exactly what I did." He wraps his arm around Haley and kisses her cheek.
"Congratulations," I say. "And Haley, I assume you know who will be giving you away."
"Of course," Haley says, a tear escaping her eye. "That was the easiest choice to make."
"I look forward to it," I say. "I think that's a wrap for today. Thank you."
The three of them smile and head back to the kitchen. I reflect on the footage I've just filmed. In all the years that I have documented their family, this had been by far the hardest thing they'd ever had to cope with. That they came out of it stronger and closer shows me what a marvel this modern family is. I see clear skies on the horizon, and I hope that they can see that, too. I can think of no other family that deserves more to have a bright and vibrant future.