[Edward POV]
At my mansion, beside the pool.
Gloria, Claire, and Jay were at the grill. Phil, Luke, and Manny played in the water. Alex sat beside me, reading. Cam and Mitchell were playing with Lily at the kiddie pool.
Haley didn't come, as she had to handle a few things for her company—although the main reason for it was that she didn't want her mother to grill her and me about what we did here.
"Cannonball!" Luke jumped from the bridge above the pool, creating a huge splash. Manny used the slide, and Phil shot them with the water gun.
Alex grimaced as some water splashed onto her and turned towards me. "Is there any reason why you designed your pool the same as a water park pool?"
"Because ordinary pools are boring," I said as a matter of fact.
Alex grimaced and continued reading her book, pulling a towel to cover up her one-piece bathing suit that was a little too tight for her now.
"Did you gain weight during the lockdown—"
"I'll kill you, Newgate," Alex warned me before I could finish my question.
I threw my hands up in defeat and said, "It's not an insult to be thick."
"This is the third day without any deaths from the alienpox virus. They might lift the lockdown earlier," Mitchell said as he approached my seat.
Jay swirled his drink and said with a drunken smile, "Should they do that, Ed?"
"They should if we want to go back to normal," I replied with a smile. "The plague is defeated. We won," I added.
Alex grinned and teased, "You won. Not us, since we didn't do anything."
"That's true. I won," I said with relief plastered all over my face.
Alex was taken aback and asked, "Wow. You were really worried about it, huh? Did it feel good to have that burden of carrying humanity off your back?"
"Seriously good. It's like I'm having an orgasm—"
"Hey! What should we do after the lockdown is over?!" Phil hurriedly changed the subject.
The girls went back to their houses for a bit, and the Dunphys, as well as the extended family members, came to my house to have some fun.
It was already mid-December. Eight episodes of the TV series had aired. There were two more weeks left for the lockdown.
The filming for the TV series would be pushed back until next year—2013. Most of the productions in Hollywood did the same for the holidays.
"Maybe we can go on a hike?" Claire suggested to Phil, also a bit drunk from all the wine she drank.
"That's a good idea, Claire!" Gloria agreed excitedly. "We should all go together."
Cam said, "After being jailed for eight weeks, maybe we will appreciate nature more."
I grimaced at him but didn't say anything. Alex did though. "Jailed? You went to brunch with your friend twelve times."
Gloria widened her eyes and said, "You broke the lockdown restriction?"
"No—N—NO! We're just helping some friends who are going through some hard times," Cam stammered nervously.
Everyone went silent for a while, and then Jay said, "So should we, the ones who truly honored the isolation, go out to travel?"
"We can go to Cuba," Alex suggested.
I looked at her with disbelief, holding back a laugh.
She smiled and said, "What? I want to see the power plant. And I want to enter a city where everything is powered by clean energy."
"That decides it, then," Claire agreed with Alex. Jay also nodded.
Mitchell rolled his eyes and said, "Fine. We kinda deserved it."
"Mitchell!" Cam whined. "I want to go to Cuba too."
"We can go by ourselves. We don't really have to go with them," Mitchell said, smiling proudly. "I'm getting that bonus on Christmas. We can even go to Japan if we want to."
Luke suddenly approached them, listening from behind the entire time with Manny. "How much is your bonus check?"
"What—Um…" Mitchell whispered in his ear, his eyes wary of anyone else hearing it.
"Oh. So, like, half of what I got in one month?" Luke said innocently, which almost broke Mitchell's heart. His face was full of devastation.
Well, Luke has ten million subscribers on Entertain Videos. Sometimes he livestreams too. So he definitely earned more than Mitchell, who was just taking salaries.
Claire laughed and told Mitchell, "Don't feel bad. All of my children are out-earning us."
Haley sold stakes in her company, Alex with her invention, Luke with his channel and sponsorships.
"That's right," Jay beamed with pride before adding, "I was skeptical of Phil's genes at first, but it turns out they just needed a proper influence for them to thrive."
"Aww…" Phil was touched. Claire immediately told him, "He didn't compliment you."
Gloria laughed a little nervously and said, "Oh. Yes, yes. They just need a proper influence—Edward's influence."
She glanced at Manny, who was still smiling innocently.
[Gloria's commentary]
"What about my son? Why didn't he start a channel or invent something? Or sell something? I'm worried he's going to feel bad when he realizes everyone has surpassed him."
There was a little sadness in her tone as she was truly worried about Manny.
[Manny's commentary]
"I didn't say anything to my mom, only to Jay. But I edited a lot of Luke's videos and wrote the direction. So he split the money with me."
Manny added, "It's not like I didn't want her to be proud, but I want to control where I'm going to use the money."
He whispered, "I hate to say this about my mother, but all of the money my grandma gave me when I was young—I never saw any of it."
Manny smiled and said, "Edward also said that when I graduate, or during the summer, I can try to create my own movie. I'm keeping the money and investing it."
–Cutscene–
Manny's room, where he edited the video on his computer.
Then, Gloria burst into the room without knocking, yelling, "Manny! Come eat dinner!"
"AHHH!" Manny yelled and immediately closed the tabs. Accidentally, his coffee was knocked down by his hand and fell onto his crotch.
"Manny? Why are you yelling?" Gloria asked in confusion. "What were you doing on the computer?"
"Uhhh… I'm watching pornography," Manny blurted out, his face solemn.
Gloria froze and then slowly closed the door again, not speaking, and pretended it never happened till now.
–Cutscene ends–
Manny counted with his finger, "Pokémon cards are appreciating fast. So are Marvel comic books. I also bought something called Bitcoins. I don't have much—only 100,000 of it."
He smiled and said, "I'm going to hone my craft till I'm 18, and then I will start production once I finish school."
"Since there's no age restriction to learn some of Edward's college courses, I've been learning about filmmaking every day."
[Commentary ends]
I was in the kitchen looking for some snacks when Gloria approached me.
She pushed her belly to me and said confrontationally, "Manny was left out."
"Excuse me?" I was stunned.
Gloria added, "Manny didn't do anything. He needs something too; otherwise, he will feel left out by his nieces and nephew."
She pushed her belly and cornered me to the kitchen island. I felt uncomfortable about it and asked, "Um, what do you want me to do about it?"
"I don't know. Coach him or something," Gloria said urgently. "I need him to get out of his room and stop playing with himself!"
"Mom! What are you doing?" Manny heard Gloria as he was trying to get some water. His face became horrified. Luke, who came with Manny, was laughing madly.
"M-Manny. No—Nothing. I didn't do anything!" Gloria tried to brush the matter off, but Manny wasn't stupid.
"Did you just tell him you caught me… Mom! What are you talking to him about!?" Manny asked, his face turning truly red.
Alex, Cam, and Mitchell came by as they heard the commotion.
"What's going on?" Alex asked, her eyes darting between Gloria and the horrified Manny.
"No—Nothing. We're not talking about anything since it never happened," Gloria smiled nervously.
"What never happened?" Cam asked.
"Manny masturbating," Luke blurted out.
"Oh god—" Cam and Mitch became uncomfortable and immediately turned around. Alex had an expression of disgust on her face.
Cam blurted out, "Can't you wait till you go home, or at least do it someplace private, not the kitchen?"
"NO! I didn't do it here!" Manny tried to defend himself.
Michell said, "It's okay, Manny. It's something normal for a teenage boy… to do." His tone became unconvincing at the end.
Luke continued laughing till his eyes were red. Manny turned to him, snapping, "What are you laughing at, Mr. I-shart-my-pants-during-class?"
"HEY!" Luke was shocked. "We swore an oath never to tell anyone that!"
Alex laughed and teased Luke, "You sharted your pants in class?"
"You really want to tease me, Miss I-practice-kissing-with-the-mirror?" Luke said.
"HEY!" Alex was stunned.
I laughed at the conversation, and Alex turned towards me. "What are you laughing at?"
"Nothing. Absolutely nothing." I quickly shut my mouth and then turned to the Latina mother.
"Why do you need me to coach Manny? I think he's doing pretty well for himself."
Gloria was taken aback, and everyone finally understood the initial topic of conversation.
"Um…"
"Mom, why did you do that?" Manny was confused. "Is what I am and what I'm doing now not enough for you to love me as it is?"
"Damn." I was slightly impressed by Manny's words.
Gloria became restless and said, "No. Manny, I'm only worried about you. I don't want you to just stay in your room and masturbate consistently."
Jay was walking to the kitchen, heard Gloria's last sentence, and quickly walked away.
"I never did it! When you came to my room and I closed the tab, I was editing Luke's video, not watching pornography," Manny confessed.
"You better." Alex rolled her eyes and then walked away.
Gloria looked at Manny sadly. "But your pants."
"The coffee fell on my lap! I'm not crazy enough to watch porn with my door unlocked!" Manny snapped.
Mitchell laughed, "Oh-ho. So you have your own routine."
Manny was embarrassed.
I quickly shooed everyone away except for Gloria and Manny.
"Why didn't you tell your mom what you were doing?" I asked Manny.
Manny looked a bit guilty and glanced at Gloria secretly.
"Um. After she became pregnant, she became a hothead. I don't want to risk anything," Manny said.
"I'm not a hothead! I'm a Latina!" Gloria said angrily.
"She's also become more overbearing than usual," Manny added. "I don't think I can tell her what I'm doing with my money since she's trying to control every aspect of my life right now."
"I never tried to control you!" Gloria said defensively.
"Oh really? Then why did my chat with Susan always get deleted, and she was blocked on my messenger app?"
"She might have blocked you herself!" Gloria said unconvincingly.
[Gloria's commentary]
"Fine. I hate that girl. She always acts so giddy around Manny. Since Manny became thinner, he has become more like his father—in the way he attracts girls towards him."
[Commentary ends]
"She can still contact me on my Instagram, Mom. She asked me why I blocked her!" Manny exposed Gloria.
"I— I might have done that by mistake. You know me. I'm not good with computer stuff," Gloria said coyly and then quickly changed the subject.
"If you are doing your own things, I'm just going to support you. I trust you'll know what to do," Gloria said before leaving.
Manny sighed, and as we were left alone, I asked him, "So you watched porn?"
"Shut it, Edward!" Manny scolded me and left too, which made me burst into laughter.
…
Outside by the pool, Claire suddenly approached me while I was eating some sandwiches.
"Edward, Christmas is already here. Where are you spending it?" she asked.
"Maybe back in Wisconsin. Why?"
[Claire's commentary]
"My friends put the responsibility on me to figure out what Edward wanted for Christmas. It's more difficult than it might seem."
She sighed and added, "When he found what he wanted, he didn't wait and just got it. We've been trying to figure out what to give him as a Christmas present."
[Commentary ends]
"Nothing. I'm just asking," Claire said.
Luke suddenly came to me and asked, "Ed, what do you want as your Christmas present?"
Claire widened her eyes slightly in surprise, but she was also excited. "Nice timing," she whispered.
"Why, Luke, you want to buy me one?" I chuckled slightly.
Luke said, "It can't be anything better than what I want to buy for myself."
"What do you want to buy?" Claire asked him, slightly confused.
"A 20-foot-tall Optimus Prime and put it on the front lawn," Luke said casually.
"NO!" Claire immediately rejected his idea.
"10 feet!" Phil tried to negotiate.
Claire looked at him, flabbergasted. "Phil! Were you the one to instigate him?!"
"Can he do it or not?!" Phil asked urgently.
"Wh— NO!" Claire rejected them decisively.
Claire turned to me, expecting to change the topic. "Edward, what do you want for Christmas—" She froze as she saw me rubbing my chin, contemplating the robot out loud.
"Is it animatronic? I think I can install a couple of programs into it to make the robot feel more like the character. Will the IP owner sue us, though?"
"Earth to Edward!" Claire waved her hand in front of my face, bringing me back to reality. "What do you want for Christmas?" she asked again.
"Well, I'd like to meet Santa Claus," I said with a childlike demeanor.
Claire and Phil exclaimed, "Aww."
Alex suddenly interjected; she was within earshot the entire time. "What do you want to do with Santa?"
"Basically, I want to reverse engineer his sleigh. I want to know how he can travel around the entire world and give children presents in the span of one night."
Alex narrowed her eyes at me and said, "You know Santa's not real, right?"
My face turned crestfallen—using all of my acting ability to act like it was the first time I heard about it. With a shaky voice, I asked, "Santa's not real?"
"He—HE IS! HE IS REAL!" Phil quickly interjected. He turned to his daughter and said, "Why would you lie, Alex?"
Alex was aghast. "Wait. Really? You're messing with me, right?"
"Does that mean there's no Santa factory, the elves, and Mrs. Claus didn't dance on Santa's pole?"
Claire was trying to say something, but she stopped. "There's something weird about that last one."
"Why don't you go to the North Pole and check it out?" Alex said with a teasing grin. "Who knows, you might find Santa there."
"Good idea, Alex." My eyes lit up. "I should go to the North Pole and search for Santa this Christmas."
"Alex!" Claire was exasperated.
[Claire's commentary]
"So, what he wants for Christmas is to go to the North Pole." She rubbed her head in frustration. "And he's also adamant about it, not changing it to another wish."
[Commentary ends]
Claire's phone suddenly beeped. She checked it and said, "It's the doorbell ring cam." There was a visitor on the screen. Claire saw it, and her face immediately fell.
"Hello, Claire. It's me… your mother."
Dede was at the door, trying to get Claire to answer her.
"Oh my god," Claire mumbled. "Why is she here?"
"Maybe she got kicked out of her place and wants to stay with you," I said teasingly.
Claire got annoyed and said, "Hopefully it won't come to that."
It did come to that. Claire went to call her mother and became dejected by the request.
…
"So, what do you really want for Christmas?" Alex asked as we sat at the bar, with her parents already gone back home. I wouldn't let Dede into my place, so they had to leave early. Alex and Luke would ride with Jay later on.
"I'm not sure." I turned to her.
"Good. 'Cause I have something." Alex gave me a card. "It's an early Christmas gift."
"Really, Alex? Early present and you gave me a simple card?" I scoffed playfully and opened up the card. It was a riddle and something encased in glass.
"A microscope glass? You wrote 'I love you' in bacterial culture and are trying to get me to read it, are you?" I teased.
Alex scoffed, slightly flabbergasted by it. "Why—why would I do that? It's a riddle. You need to solve it and follow the clues to get your Christmas present."
She grinned proudly and said, "I've been working on it for eight months now. I'm sure the world's smartest man could solve it before Christmas time, right?"
I grinned and stood up. Alex was taken aback. Then, I hugged her tightly.
"What—"
"Thank you! I love it!" I raised her body, which made her legs flail around.
She pried her face away from my chest and then breathed heavily. While still in my embrace, she said, "Stop—stop hugging me and go check the clue already!"
"Oh! Right!" I let her go. "I'm so excited." I almost squealed and went to check on the clue immediately.
Alex sighed as she saw me walk away.
[Alex's commentary]
"It's a really hard puzzle. I had to talk with Billie to figure out the musical notes needed. Then, I had to talk with Dr. Cooper to get the details of the Ancient Sanskrit translation smoothly."
"It will bring him to multiple places over the city. I think he will enjoy the treasure hunt." She smiled.
[Commentary ended]