Cam paced the living room nervously. He'd really meant to call Claire and explain everything, but little things kept getting in his way. Mostly his own pride and ego. Mitchell had told him over and over to just stop holding onto petty little things. And now, due to him being told Claire doesn't like his baking, he was just waiting for the fallout of three kids not going to school all day.
How he forget his nephew had a soy allergy, he had no idea. Alex offered to come up with an excuse as to why Cam didn't just drop Alex and Lily off or call Gloria to pick them up, but he said no. He made this mess, he had to fix it.
Mitch had texted a picture of him and Phil eating waffles. Cam felt guilty again. He'd been known in the past to take Lily out of school simply because he missed her, so it wouldn't surprise Mitch. But what would surprise and shock anyone is that Alex Dunphy missed an entire day of school…then fainted in a hospital. Which brought Cam's thoughts back to the fact that it was his fault Luke ended up there in the first place.
Mitchell didn't say anything when he got home, yawning. He didn't notice Cam's face as he put things away, explaining what had happened and how it led to Haley's expulsion. It was only when Cam said he felt bad for Phil, did Mitchell pause. The high pitched voice gave his boyfriend away.
"Cameron, what happened?"
"W-well-"
The house phone rang. Cam made a mad dash for it and picked it up, startling the redhead. He picked up nervously. It was Lily's school inquiring about her unexcused absence.
"Uh, right. I'm sorry. I'll call next time." He said, trying to quickly end the conversation.
"Could we have an explanation to write so it can be an excused absence?"
"Family emergency." He said in a low voice, hoping Mitch couldn't hear. He saw the redhead looking at his phone.
"Okay, thank you, goodbye."
"Bye." Cam took a deep breath and turned to his boyfriend. "Mitchell-"
Mitchell held up a hand, his phone to his ear. "Really? Weird…yeah, I'll ask." He lowered the phone. "Cam, do you know why Claire got a call saying Alex and Luke missed school?"
"Uh-nope, not at all, I dropped them off as usual and um…yeah."
"Manny brought homework that Luke missed."
"Damn, I forgot they go to the same school." Cam groaned.
Mitch handed him the phone.
"Cameron…" Claire said, sounding annoyed. "I want to ask you before I ask the kids because I've already had a stressful day, okay? I woke up at three in the morning to drag our asses out only to have my daughter be expelled and bring her home. None of us ate and you know how Mitchell gets when he doesn't eat, so imagine how I was, then multiply that by at least five because that was how Phil responded."
"I swear I meant to call you."
"My trash smells of soy bacon-"
"Focan."
"I don't focan care! Luke had an allergic reaction, didn't he? That's why he's all pink faced and not because of PE. WHY didn't you call Gloria to take the girls to school and then TELL ME what happened?!"
"I-I tried…" Cam said meekly. Mitch rolled his eyes as Lily came skipping into the room.
"Lily, did Daddy try to call me or Aunt Claire to tell him about your day?" Mitch asked.
"Yes." Lily said. "But then Alex came into the room on the rolly bed."
"Were you there the whole time?"
"Yes."
"Did she just say rolly bed? Like a gurney?!" Claire asked. "Alexandra and Lucas Dunphy, get down here!"
"She had a doctor jacket and she went to see what the doctors do."
"She went with-Cam!" Mitch sighed, exasperated.
"Alex, what happened today? No lies. Cam's on the other line and I already know you two weren't in school, Luke had an allergic reaction, and Lily said you were on a gurney." Claire said to her kids.
Cam heard shamed voices explaining what happened. Then the worst thing happened. Or at least it struck fear into Cam's heart. Claire was silent. He could hear her kids stammering nervously, but she made no noise except slow breathing. He looked at Mitch pleadingly, but the redhead put up his hands in defeat. Then Claire hung up.
"Wh-" Cam looked at the phone. No messages incoming. "I'm scared." He squeaked.
"You should be. Lily, go play in your room, I need to talk to Daddy." Mitch stated blankly. Lily shrugged and ran off. "Were you trying to rub your stupid fake bacon in my face instead of telling me there was an emergency?"
"I really wanted to tell you, I got scared when Alex was brought into the room-"
"And you decided skirting around and lying would help you save face? When were you going to tell us, Cameron? Do you have any idea what we went through? I sat on half a peach, Phil was starving, and Claire was trying not to scream at the utter selfishness from Haley. She was playing the victim like she didn't do anything wrong. All we needed from you was to feed the kids and drop them off at school."
"Then why aren't you yelling at me?" Cam asked weakly. Mitch tilted his head, his expression remained blank. "Mitchell, what can I do or say to make it better? M-Mitchell?"
"You'll have a more pressing concern soon, Cameron." Mitch turned and went to their bedroom to change his clothes.
Cam heard a knock on the door before Mitch came out of the room. He sighed heavily and opened the door. Claire didn't say a word as she entered, Alex shuffling in behind her.
"Oh, good, you're here." Mitch said. "Cam, Alex, on the couch."
They sat and looked nervously at the redhead and the blonde.
Claire brought Mitch into the kitchen and the two of them had a whispered conversation. The two on the couch worried.
"I'm sorry, Uncle Cam, she made us." Alex said. "Luke's not in trouble because it really was an emergency for him and he suffered enough."
"It's not your fault." Cam sighed. "I should've called Gloria to take you and Lily. Jay was home too, so he could've helped."
"Glad you finally realized that, Cameron." Claire said, sounding calm but furious. She stood in front of them, arms crossed. Mitch stood next to her, one arm across his body, the other twisting his hair.
"Mitchell-"
"We don't want your apologies, Cameron."
"Mom, we already said we're sorry." Alex said. "I know I could've called Grandpa or Gloria myself, but Uncle Cam said the hospital would be a learning experience and I followed a bunch of interns-"
"Alexandra, you're a minor and not a medical student."
"And I never will be."
"Alex, you do realize they had to technically treat you and that will be another medical expense billed to me?"
"I thought Uncle Cam paid for it."
"Oh, he will." Mitch muttered.
"I'll pay for both of them." Cam said.
"They're under my insurance, Cameron. You don't want to pay fully, but I will be thinking of ways to punish you. Luke's off the hook because none of this was his fault. Lily's off the hook for obvious reasons, and Alex already had enough of a punishment. Alex, go play with Lily."
"Yes, ma'am!" Alex hurried away, looking apologetically back at Cam for a moment.
"You, Cameron, are not off the hook." Claire said. "I brought Alex so Lily wouldn't witness the verbal lashing you're about to receive."
Cam squeaked. Mitch rubbed his beard, but remained silent, opting to let Claire take over.
"Cameron, how long have you known Luke?" Claire asked.
"Just about ten years." Cam answered.
"Just about." Claire inhaled sharply. "You've been with my brother long enough to have met his family. You've known Luke since he was a toddler and have babysat him multiple times in the near decade since I decided I trusted you. It's hard to trust someone with your children, but with my brother it was one of the most difficult things. I trusted you with the kids solely because I trusted you with Mitchell. You're aware of his allergies and his behaviors and as someone who's been often left with my children, you should definitely be aware of their allergies. Did you remember Alex has a nut allergy? I know they're teens, but if someone else feeds them, they pretty much rely on that person remembering and not introducing the allergen to them. Especially Luke."
Cam looked down at his knees, feeling shame. He didn't know what he could say. He practically felt their glares. Double Pritchett glare. He shuddered slightly. He chanced a look when he heard whispering. Mitch was trying not to bite his nails.
"Mitchell-" Cam sighed, unsure what to say.
Claire whispered something to her brother.
"I'm sorry, what?" The redhead sent an appalled look at his boyfriend.
"I thought we told you everything." Cam said in a high pitched voice.
"Not the part where you left them out of your sight."
"I was checking to see where the doctor was and I thought Alex would stay with them."
"I did scold her for that." Claire said.
"What if Alex had to use the bathroom?" Mitch asked. "Even if the girls went to the bathroom together, there's no guarantee that she'd stick with Alex or even go back to Luke. She could've gone looking for you. Just because Lily's wandering tendencies have lessened, doesn't mean she can't or won't. She's five. You could've warned Alex not to let her wander."
"Alex leaving them alone isn't entirely on you because she made that choice." Claire added.
"Claire, Mitchell, what do you want from me if you don't want an apology?" Cam asked.
"You to feel bad, which I think we've accomplished. You'll also be driving Alex, Luke, and Lily to various after school activities for two months. Alex is grounded from those for a week. She self punishes and wanted to make it three months. The remainder of any punishment is up to Mitchell." She picked up her purse. "Alex, we're going!"
…
Later that night, Cam was reading Lily a bedtime story as usual when she interrupted him.
"Is Daddy mad at you?" She asked.
"Yeah, he is." Cam sighed.
"Are you gonna break up?" She frowned, worry all over her face.
"N-no. No, sweetie, we're not." He heard a nasty voice in the back of his mind, reminding him of his worry about that.
"But what if he's really mad and you break up?"
"Well, we both love you, so nothing would happen to you-"
"Jimmy in my class has parents who broke up and they don't talk to each other very much and he goes to his dad's house only sometimes. And his dad was always sleeping on a couch."
"I'm absolutely sure I didn't make Daddy so mad he never wants to talk to me again." Cam said, hugging his daughter. "If we did break up, I know he'd be calling me a lot asking what to do and we'd talk about you. You would still be the most important person to us."
"What's gonna happen now?" She whined, still sounding distressed.
"Daddy and I will have a talk like grown ups because I did mess up." Cam said. "Even adults have to admit when they messed up. I forgot that soy made Luke sick and I was being-" Stupid. An idiot. A raging as- "I was being rude to Daddy and I was hiding everything from him and Aunt Claire which is bad because she's a concerned parent. Maybe we should finish the story so you can go to bed and not worry."
"I'll go to sleep." Lily mumbled.
"Are you sure?"
"Uh-huh." She turned over and pulled the blanket over her head.
"Good night, honey. I love you." Cam said. He heard her muffled voice saying 'love you, Daddy'.
Mitch hadn't spoken to Cam all evening. Cam looked into the den to make sure he wasn't throwing himself into work just for a distraction. He wasn't, so Cam washed the dishes and went to their room. It was dark and Mitch was already in bed.
Cam got his pajamas on and looked at his boyfriend. He tried not to sigh loudly and he grabbed his pillow.
"Cam, what're you doing?" Mitch asked tiredly.
"Sorry I woke you." Cam said, keeping his voice down. "I'm-um…I thought you might want me to sleep on the couch tonight."
"And scare our daughter more?" Mitch turned on the bedside lamp. "I heard your conversation and I also know that she didn't tell you everything about her classmate's situation because she doesn't know it. Jimmy's dad was having an affair and couch surfed for a while after being kicked out of the house. When two five year olds are talking, information gets skewed. Jimmy's mother told me because the child loudly declared that his dad surfed a lot."
"Oh." Cam slowly lay down on the bed.
"I'm upset that you resorted to lying because you wanted to prove a point. I'm upset that you didn't tell me that our daughter missed school and that she was left supervised by Luke Dunphy. The rest, I feel Claire should be more upset about. We're glad the kids came out unharmed at the end, it's just been a long and emotional day. We didn't want to come back to all of this." Mitch gestured vaguely with his hands. Cam's eye caught how pink they were.
"Did-did you bite your nails?" Cam asked.
Mitch nodded and sighed and showed him his hands. "Been doing it all day."
"I'm sorry, sweetie…so, what can I do to make it up to you?"
"You're on dish duty for a month. I'd say chores in general, but then I'd want to take over. I'm afraid I'll have to deprive you of sexual activity."
"Not all of it?" Cam gasped.
"I will kiss you when I leave for work and kiss you goodnight. If I have a tough day and I need your arms around me, I'll let you know. Of course, I still love you and I'll tell you that. I don't want you or Lily getting the wrong idea."
"I know you love me-"
"I heard it in your voice, Cam." Mitch held his hand. "The anxiety and fears, I heard it. This isn't a break up worthy offense. We'll work on it, okay? We'll work on your need to be competitive and be right. If I'm honest, sometimes I get that way too, but we need to work together on it, not against each other. For the sake of us and everyone around us because even though you brought Luke to a hospital immediately, your competitiveness risked his life. Let's be honest with each other and try to be better for ourselves and our daughter."
"Almost killing your nephew isn't a break up worthy offense?" Cam asked weakly.
"He's fine now and he's our nephew. This isn't the first allergic reaction and it won't be the last. You're also not the first person or the last and it could've happened to anyone. He's still also your nephew, Cam. You and I are still together. I love you and if it was possible for us, I would love to marry you one day."
"Aw…I really want to kiss you right now."
Mitch kissed his hand and turned off the lamp. "Goodnight, Cameron."
I definitely deserve that. "Goodnight, Mitchell."
Sometime in the middle of the night, Lily snuck into their bed. She mumbled between yawns asking if her dads were breaking up and Mitch told her no. Cam put an arm around her, then he felt Mitch's arm brush by his to hold her too. Both silently reassuring each other of their love and trying to reassure their daughter that no matter what, they were here for her.
