Chapter-25: End of Holidays(5)

[Dunphy's House]

Alex and Haley Dunphy were feeling a bit down today. They finished the novel Jim gave them, and now they're just thinking about how good the novel was. But, most importantly, they were feeling a bit sad for the main guy in the story, 'Luke.' He was such a cool and collected person, even after going through all that suffering.

With heavy hearts, the two sisters went downstairs, waking up a bit late. This surprised Claire, especially seeing Alex waking up late. The fact that both sisters looked sad about something caught Claire's attention.

Claire, who was enjoying her morning coffee, saw them coming down with gloomy faces and in a bad mood, making her think something must have happened. She mused to herself, 'Something happened, but as far as I can remember, everything's okay. Did both catch some virus? No, they are looking healthy physically.' Unable to pinpoint what was wrong, Claire asked for an answer.

"What happened to you both? Why are both of you in a bad mood and looking sad?" asked Claire, as Phil also entered the room, looking at them with concern.

"We're feeling sad for 'Luke.' He really suffered. I just want to go hug him, but I can't," exclaimed Alex sadly. Haley nodded in agreement, both of them wearing somber expressions.

"What? What happened to Luke? Is he alright?" exclaimed Claire and Phil loudly, expressing their worry about Luke.

Both of them got up, about to rush to their son's room. However, Luke, in his sleeping attire, came downstairs with the same sad face. As he saw his dad, he ran up to Phil and started crying, saying, "Dad, 'Luke's' life is so sad."

Claire and Phil both looked puzzled as they saw Luke was alright. Claire felt angry at the misinformation Alex and Haley gave, and turned to them, saying, "Why did you lie to us? Luke is alright. What are you two thinking?" with an angry face.

"'Luke's' parents died. How could that be him being alright? I just want to hug him and tell him everything will be alright," said Alex, still in a trance, thinking of the novel with a heartbroken face.

Thinking 'Luke' might be their friend or someone their children are really close with, and Phil feeling sad looking at his son crying, suggested, "We can go to Luke and meet him. Alex and Haley, you can also console 'Luke'," with a face that showed certainty and a promise to fulfill their responsibility, while Luke looked at him with hope.

"Really? We can meet 'Luke'?" happily exclaimed Luke, looking hopefully at Phil. Even Claire nodded with a confident smile at that.

Alex and Haley, snapping out of their reverie, were shocked at the promise and realized that their parents had misunderstood them. Just as Alex was about to call out to Luke to stop, Haley covered her mouth and whispered, "Let's wait and see how they are going to handle him."

Haley, as she watched Luke go up and Claire again sitting on the spot she previously was, suddenly said, "Well, 'Luke,' we talked about a character, which Luke, me, and Alex read yesterday and were talking about him. Have both of you thought, where are you going to take Luke to meet a fictional character?" She asked the question mischievously with an interrogating face, hiding her devilish smirk.

"Huh, what? What are you on about?" questioned Claire, trying to understand the situation.

"Well, what I said. Luke wants to meet a fictional character, and if you say no to him now, he might cry for a whole week. Your choice," said Haley and turned her face slowly, as if saying, 'not my problem to deal with.'

"And you are telling me now? What's wrong with you both? Alex, at least you should have warned us," exclaimed Claire, looking a little upset at both of her daughters.

"I tried, Mom, but..." Before Alex could finish speaking, Haley suddenly intervened and said, "Mom, Luke could come down anytime. Think fast about what you and Dad are going to do," as she looked at Alex with a smile to make her shut up, enjoying every second of the predicament her parents were in, especially her mom, who often stopped her from doing things she liked.

"Phil, think of something. We can't just say we will do it and back out. What will Luke think of us?" said Claire, feeling distressed with the situation. She thought, 'We can't have our son think we are liars and set a bad example for him.'

"Honey, isn't your dad going to marry again?" asked Phil.

"Uhm, yes? But what does it have anything to do with it?" asked Claire, looking confused.

"Well, and she also has a kid, no?" asked Phil again, looking like he got a wonderful idea.

"Well, she does..., no Phil, NO! I am not telling Luke that his 'uncle' is 'Luke' that he wants to meet," scolded Claire for the stupid idea. If she does tell Luke that lie, it might come out in front of Luke on her dad's wedding day, and she started brainstorming again.

"Well, I thought it was a good idea, but, Okay," Phil said, looking a little down because a brilliant idea got wasted.

"Oh, oh, how about we just take some random kid and make him act like 'Luke'," suggested Phil, while Claire started off thinking this idea as quite a good one.

"Um, mom, not to burst both of your bubbles, but 'Luke' is an adult in the story, and the person needs at least 5 hours to be done with the story. Jim is the only one who knows about Luke in detail right now, as he made him," said Haley with a smirk as she poured cold water on their another plan.

On which Phil again felt sad, "Oh!" he said, feeling down again.

"Wait, what about Jim, you said, Haley?" asked Claire, noticing Haley mentioning Jim.

"Um, well, Jim is the author, so only he can act like 'Luke', but Luke already knows him, so you aren't in luck, mom," confidently replied Haley, looking smug.

For a moment, Claire pondered, and suddenly she turned to Haley as she smirked, making Haley have a bad feeling. Claire took a moment to look at her face and said,

"Phil, we can dump Luke on Jim. I mean, I will ask Ava, and she will agree to her friend for sure, no? And, Haley will help Luke to take him to Jim's house and meet 'Luke'," sharply said Claire as she made her suggestion.

"But still, we will be lying to Luke if he doesn't get to meet the character," still depressed Phil whined.

"Well, Haley was the one who made the misunderstanding, so she will be the one to take the brunt of it. If Luke couldn't meet the character, we will just punish her, like taking her phone for the week. How does that sound?" said Claire, while Alex, being the good girl most of the times, slipped out of the situation without even knowing it.

Phil looked relieved at that suggestion, but Haley looked shocked and asked, "How could you do this to your daughter?"

"Well, since she has been looking smug and snarky about it, also did you really think I didn't notice you, young lady, stopping Alex to clear the misunderstanding? I just felt it was something else at that time, but Alex confirmed it in between," remarked Claire confidently as she figured Haley out. Haley now had a crestfallen face, knowing she might not be able to use her mobile for a week, and she stared angrily at Alex, who turned her face sideways.

"Well, it's decided then. Go, Haley," said Claire as she finally relaxed and went to prepare another coffee with a happy face.

"Well, good luck," wished Alex as she ran to her room, leaving Haley. Luke came downstairs and went to Haley after he was directed by her mother to her, as she had just talked to Ava about it and got a "yes" from her after a small laugh when Haley shared the incident.

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[Jim's House]

"So, you are telling me that Luke wants to meet 'Luke,' and he is coming here. And, I am somehow supposed to distract him," clarified Jim again, standing beside his mom who was sitting on the sofa with her mobile in her hand. His aunts had already left in the morning as they didn't bring any morning supplies with them to their house.

"Yes, my dear son," Claire said. "Claire sounded anxious at first, so I agreed. And well, you have a knack for handling kids, don't you? I remember you pacifying little Gia when she used to throw tantrums. This task is just a joke for you," said Ava as she slyly tried to flatter him into doing the task.

"Okay, Mom, I got it. Don't try to use those tactics on me. I would help you anyway. I was just asking what happened that the situation came to this," asked Jim, confused about all this fuss.

"Well, ..." Ava recounted the incident, making Jim laugh until he was on the sofa holding his stomach. He thought about how, once, Luke, after learning from Gia, asked him about the main character. Jim told him that he is naming it 'Luke' and that he will be a little based on him (Luke), not much but still a little.

And in between talks and jokes, they had a conversation where they imagined someone mistaking Luke for the character of the novel 'Luke,' and then Luke messing with them. They created several scenarios that day while Gia was also there, and the main creators of every prank they could perform were mastermind siblings, Gia and Jimmy. So, that's why he laughed out loud at this incident, fully aware that Luke is trolling his family.

Ava looked at him, wondering why he was laughing so much at this incident. While she admitted it was funny, it didn't seem that hilarious.

Just as Gia, who overheard the incident while coming inside the room, came running in and exclaimed, "Jimmy, Luke really pranked them, wow!" The brother and sister looked at each other in wonder about how Luke pulled off the prank and started laughing. Gia giggled mischievously like a little witch, while Jim sported a devilish grin while laughing like one, looking like a pair of mischievous demons. Ava got the idea that they might have had a hand in it.

"What happened, you two?" asked Ava, making both of them come out of their victorious laugh. They turned their heads robotically to Ava, who was now smiling at them so sweetly that even devils might consider calling her 'mom.'

"Ah, well, I have some homework left and school is starting, so I will complete it. Bye, Jim-Jim. Love you, Mommy," hastily said Gia as she tried to escape, knowing that trouble was coming.

Just as she moved her body a little, she was picked up by Ava, who told her, "Wait here, little lady. And you, yes you, Jimmy Williams, tell me why were you laughing and what prank," said Ava to Jim after instructing his fallen comrade to sit obediently, who looked like a little angel trapped in the devil's cage. While Jim acted dumb at first, the second 'you' from his mom sent shivers down his spine. Jim, knowing he couldn't escape, confessed to his mom about it. She looked serious while listening, but inside she was laughing at their mannerisms and the whole incident as a whole. 

"These two, when did they become so mischievous," thought Ava, keeping her inner thoughts to herself.

Ava sat in her seat, wondering when these two became so mischievous, but also happy that they were now acting like children their age, and not trying to act mature like adults for her sake. Ava suddenly snapped out of her reverie and looked at Jim, who had finished telling the tale of the prank these little devils had created.

Ava thought about the incident and found it amusing, but she controlled her laughter. She turned to Jimmy and said, "Now, you are going to tell Claire about this, and you and Luke can handle her afterwards. I am out of this, okay?"

"Yes, ma'a.., mom," replied Jim with a face that indicated he was about to face a formidable adversary.

That was when the doorbell to their house rang, and they knew who was coming.

[To be continued]