9 En garde

"Bravo Manny!", Gloria cheered while clapping her hand, "Bravo!".

As the referee blew the whistle, Manny, dressed in a white fencing outfit with a helmet, rushed forward with his fencing sword, parrying away all the attacks of his opponent before thrusting forward and hitting his opponent on the shoulder, a loud beep ringing throughout the room, confirming Manny's victory.

"Bravo! Bravo", Gloria shouted while clapping, with Jay and the rest of the family doing the same.

[Commentary]

Jay and Gloria

"Well", Jay began, "When I heard Manny wanted to fence, I was like sure, 'uncoordinated kid, lethal weapon. How can this go wrong?'"

"And what do you think now?", Gloria asked while laying her head on Jay's shoulder.

"I'm proud of our little Zorro", Jay answered, "I mean, I worked with him a little, but the kid's got skills".

"It's in his blood. His father was a master swordsman", Gloria bragged, "He was an artist with his sword".

As she continued ranting about Manny's father, Jay raised his hand a bit and said, "You know, the nice moment I'm having with your son here, you're kinda wrecking it".

Gloria rolled her eyes at Jay's words, and muttered, "Sorry".

[Commentary ends]

"Did you know that fencing goes back to the 12th century?", Alex asked while watching the ongoing match.

"Do you know what's even nerdier tan fencing?", Haley countered, "Knowing when it began".

"I don't think you're a nerd", Luke said.

Alex sighed while pushing Luke away, "Shut up dork".

"All right, that's my boy!", Jay cheered while raising his arms and pointing at Manny. Hearing his words, Mitch, who had Lily in his arms, rolled his arms and moved away a bit from him.

As Manny won his next bout, everyone began cheering for him, with Claire and Gloria even hugging each other while jumping up and down. Realising what they were doing, they both separated from each other with Gloria muttering, "Sorry".

"No! No no no no no", Haley screamed, "My phone died".

"No biggie", Alex stated while taking Haley's phone and taking out the battery in the back, "Your battery probably just statically defracticated".

"What", Haley questioned, lost on what Alex was talking about.

"It means you can recharge it with static electricity", Alex answered, "Just rub it on your hair".

Taking her battery, Haley began rubbing the battery on her head, looking like she had lice in her hair.

"Bravo!", Gloria exclaimed one more time.

Taking off his helmet, Manny turned to look at the spectators. "How about a nice round of applause or our winner, Manny Delgado!", the referee said while gesturing towards Manny, a roar of applause reverberating through the small hall as everyone began cheering for him. "Manny now moves on to the championship where he'll be competing against Caroline Markum".

Manny ran towards Jay and Gloria who spoke rapidly in Spanish while hugging him.

"What she said", Jay said while grabbing Manny's shoulders before bringing him in for a hug.

"Hey Alex", a voice cut off their celebrations as the large family turned around to find Zephyr walking with a tall man, around 6ft 4 next to him. The man wore black jeans with a white T-shirt accompanied by a black jacket on top. The man had brunet hair that was short at the sides and tall at the top, being slicked back. Unlike Zephyr, he wore a frame of black glasses which brought attention to his emerald eyes.

Brushing a strand of her hair behind her back, Alex asked, "What are you doing here?".

"I'm here with my old man", Zephyr answered while pointing at the man next to him.

"Really?", Alex asked, "He looks nothing like you".

"He got his looks from his mom", the man answered.

Claire and Phil moved forward, standing behind Alex. "Hey", Claire said as she held her hand out for Zephyr's dad to shake, "I'm Claire Dunphy, Alex's mom".

Phil quickly cut in and shook his hand as well, "I'm Phil, Alex's dad".

At their words, the man introduced himself, "The names Matt Blake, I'm this little squirts dad", he introduced himself while rubbing Zephyr's head, messing up his hair.

Pushing his hand off, Zephyr groaned, "Dad! I told you not to embarrass me in front of my friend".

"Hey. I'm just surprised", Matt defended himself, "I was surprised when my loner and nerdy son told me he had a friend, a girl at that".

"You make it sound like I never had friends", Zephyr complained.

"Give me the name of a single one of your friends", Matt stated. Hearing this, Zephyr went into deep thought at rubbed his chin in deep thought. Before he could continue his train of thinking, he was interrupted by his dad, "If you have to think this long, it just proves my point".

"Whatever", grumbled Zephyr while looking away from his dad.

Seeing their interaction over, Claire asked, "Hey. Why are you guys here?"

"We're here because my friend's son is in the championship and he invited us here", Matt answered while pointing at a man who was talking to a boy dressed in a fencer's outfit. The man, seeing Matt point at him, gave a small wave before returning to talk to the boy.

"You just forced me to come with you because you didn't want to look like a loner", Zephyr grumbled.

"Kids nowadays. You don't appreciate going outdoors", Matt muttered while shaking his head in disappointment.

"I know right", Claire said, "Alex never leaves the house and spends most of her time reading books".

"Zephyr never leaves his room and doesn't sleep until 2 in the night because he's reading books", Matt countered.

"Alex once spent a whole day without talking because she was reading a book", Claire argued.

Matt looked at her for a second before saying, "Zephyr once went a whole day without any sleep just to read a book he found interesting".

"Damn it", Claire muttered under her breath, "Fine. You win".

"It was a competition? I didn't even realise", Matt said while laughing.

Claire sighed when she heard Matt's response, seeing some immediate resemblance to his son Zephyr, "Hey, do you two want to come over to ours after?"

Everyone around them looked at Claire, surprised by her words, "Sure, why not?", Matt answered.

[With Zephyr and Alex]

As Zephyr and Alex walked towards Haley and Luke, they heard Luke ask, "Hey, why are you rubbing your head with your phone?"

"She's clearly trying to recharge it using static electricity", Zephyr answered.

"S-sta-stick electricity?", Luke asked, struggling to say the word.

"It refers to the imbalance of electric charges on the surface of an object", Alex answered.

"What?", Luke asked, confused even more by her answer.

Looking at how confused Luke was, Alex sighed.

"How the hell are you related to these two idiots?", Zephyr whispered into Alex's ear, causing her to shiver.

[Time Skip]

Claire and Phil sat on a couch with Matt opposite them. There were three cups of tea on the table and while Phil drank with loud slurps, Matt and Claire had measured sips of their tea.

Looking around the house, Matt commented, "Your home is very ... decorative. There are lots of pictures of your family".

Phil thanked him, "Thanks. I took most of them".

Matt nodded hearing his words, and looked around, his eyes focusing on the very small gold medal hung in the corner of the room with a picture frame under, "Hey. Is that medal Alex's?"

Claire snapped her eyes towards the medal and picture, nodding her head, "Yeah. Alex won that 3 years ago in a competition"

"That's nice", Matt replied.

"Hey", Phil interjected, "Zephyr's a smart kid, he must have a few medals, right?"

Matt smiled hearing his words, "Yeah. He's got loads. Some are academic rewards while the rest are for sports. We've got a whole cabinet at home dedicated to all the trophies and medals he's won".

"Woah", Phil muttered in awe, "Did he win his sport trophies and medals for soccer".

Matt shook his head and gave a small laugh, "No. Before he began soccer, Zephyr loved swimming, he was really good at it as well, Under 13 Regional champion for 3 years straight. He used to do Judo as well, so some of the trophies are Judo trophies".

"No way", Phil exclaimed, "He's soo cool".

[Commentary]

Claire and Phil

"Our kids are great", Phil said.

"Yep. They're the greatest", Claire added.

Looking at the camera, Phil stated, "Gosh, we're blessed".

"Yep", Claire agreed, "But are they the best at something? I'd have to think about that".

"Well, Alex is great at everything she tries, so you know ... she'll find her speciality and become the best at that".

"She will", Claire nodded, "And Haley. Haley is ..."

"Haley is so pretty", Phils finished her sentence.

"Gorgeous. Gorgeous girl", Claire admitted.

"So she can meet someone who's the best at something", Phil said after some deep thought.

"That's right", Claire said while nodding.

"That just leaves Luke", Phil said.

Claire and Phil looked at each other before looking at the floor and then looked at the camera, "We dropped the ball a little on that one"

[Commentary ends]

After finishing his cup, Phil got up, "I've got to go", he said while walking away and up the stairs.

An awkward silence settled in the room as Matt and Claire quietly drank their tea. After a minute, Matt was the one to break the silence, "Hey, what do you think about Alex and Zephyr?"

"He's such a nice kid", Claire admitted, "but I'm worried that they'll start dating too early and end up with their hearts broken".

"I worry about that too", Matt remarked, "But we can't be buying them their whole lives. Eventually, they'll have to spread their wings and fly away from the nest".

Nodding her head at his words, Claire sighed, "Of course, but seeing them grow up is both amazing and painful".

"Why wouldn't it be?", Matt questioned, "No parent wants to see their child be hurt, but it's necessary to stop at some point to allow them to be themselves, no matter how much it hurt them".

"Yeah", Claire answered while nodding her head, "I just hope things work out between them".

"Oh My God!", Matt exclaimed, "Did you see the videos and photos of them during their date last week?"

"They went on a date?", Claire screamed while standing up.

"Yeah, I recorded them and they were soo cute", Matt voiced while taking his phone out.

Showing her the videos, Claire began to smile when she saw how happy Alex was in the videos. "Damn it. He better not break her heart", Claire muttered while wiping her eyes.

"Hey, Alex better not do the same. I've seen how Zephyr looks at her", Matt countered.

Claire and Matt looked at each other before erupting in laughter. Looking at his watch, Matt said, "I've got to go, but is it alright if Zephyr states here for a bit. I don't want to disturb his alone time with Alex".

"Of course it's alright", Claire said, "Let me lead you out", she said while walking towards the door. As soon as they got there, they saw Phil, Luke, Alex and Zephyr coming down with Phil having a soccer ball in his hand. "Phil, what are you doing?"

"I read that it wakes 10,000 hours to achieve excellence and with Zephyr here, I thought that maybe he could give Luke some pointers", Phil answered while trying to spin the ball on his finger and failing every time.

"Phil", Claire muttered.

"What?", Phil asked, lost on what she was on about.

"Why are you with them, Alex? I don't remember you playing soccer", Claire questioned.

"The teams would be uneven with three so I convinced Alex to join us", Zephyr answered.

Matt and Claire gave Alex a knowing look, causing Alex to look away in embarrassment. Matt then walked to the door, "I've got to go Zephyr. But you can stay and play with your friends. Bye", he said while waving and walking out.

"Let's play some soccer!", Phil exclaimed while running out of the house, "Last one there is a rotten egg".

Luke ran after Phil while Alex and Zephyr casually walked after them. Claire sighed as she saw them, noting how their shoulders touched while they were walking. "At least she's managed to snag a good one".