Chereads / Modern Family: Genius / Chapter 11 - Finally! Finally! Finally!

Chapter 11 - Finally! Finally! Finally!

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Today will be quite a special day.

I will be meeting my uncle's new boyfriend, Cameron Tucker, with my whole family.

"Is my little genius son ready?" Phil asked, requesting a high-five.

"Of course," I said while fulfilling his request.

I went downstairs and saw my mom helping Luke and Alex choose their clothes.

"Are you ready, Gabriel?" Mom asked me.

"Of course, I am."

"Could you please tell your sister she should hurry up? We need to be quick if we want to get to the restaurant on time," my mom requested.

"But aren't we late every ti—" I started to complain, but saw Mom's stare. I knew I was in danger if I continued, so I wisely went to bother Haley.

"Mom says you should hurry up," I told her as I went into our room.

"Ugh. She doesn't know how hard it is to choose the right outfit," the almost 12-year-old Haley said.

After that, I helped her pick out a good outfit. I tried my best to be as quick, but still as objective, as possible.

We were ready before Mom was.

Because of that, we didn't get a lecture about taking too long to get ready.

When we finally got into the car, we were already late.

We couldn't possibly fly to the restaurant at 200 mph.

As expected, we arrived late.

Luckily, there was only Mitch and a slightly chubby middle-aged man sitting beside him.

"That must be Uncle Mitchell's boyfriend, Mom," I said, pointing toward them.

"Probably," Mom said, not really listening but instead thinking about something else.

I saw Mitchell noticing us and waving.

I quickly waved back and walked over.

"Hi, Uncle Mitchell," I greeted Mitchell.

"And you must be Cameron," I said, offering him a handshake. My hand was much smaller than his, making the gesture look a little funny.

"Hi, little guy. You must be Gabriel. Mitchell already told me so much about his little genius nephew," Cameron said as his first words to me.

Cameron seemed like a nice man.

About five minutes later, Jay also arrived.

"Hi, Grandpa," I said, jumping up from my seat and hugging him.

We had a special bond. Without him, I wouldn't be able to unleash my potential nearly as much as I can right now.

"Hi, little guy," Grandpa greeted everyone while rubbing my hair.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Pritchett," Cameron said as he stretched out his hand.

I saw Grandpa hesitating whether he should shake Cameron's hand. I gave him a little poke in his stomach.

After that, Grandpa immediately responded.

"Nice to meet you, Cameron," Grandpa said while shaking Cameron's hand.

I looked over and saw Mitchell's thankful eyes from beside me.

He obviously saw the whole process.

After that, we ate dinner. The atmosphere was a little awkward, but that was to be expected with the combination of people and their characteristics in the room.

When we finished paying at the restaurant, Grandpa invited us to his house to watch the NFL playoffs.

We all drove off toward Grandpa's house. He didn't live in the villa that was shown in the memories I saw before. He lived in a smaller house.

After we all went into the house, Uncle Mitchell immediately confronted Grandpa.

"Why do you hate my boyfriend? Why didn't you want to shake hands with him? You like Claire's boyfriends more than mine every time! Why?! Every time!" Uncle Mitchell was raging.

I understood. He felt discriminated against by his father. At least that's what he thought.

I also understood Grandpa. He cared about Uncle Mitchell as much as he did about Claire. He was just afraid of breaking the fragile Mitchell and was harder on Mitchell's boyfriends because of that.

They could easily resolve this misunderstanding if they only talked about it, but they would never do that.

That would hurt their pride too much. They can't admit their mistakes.

As for me intervening, I already tried. It was a complete failure.

"I don't hate him. It's just that he is kind of—" Grandpa tried to explain himself but didn't want to admit his thinking. Due to that, there followed a long pause.

"What do you want to say?!" Uncle Mitchell was brewing inside, and Grandpa immensely accelerated the amount of rage rising inside him.

"I don't think he is good enough for you, Mitchell," Grandpa finally blurted out. It was out! Touchdown! Full score! Finally!

I knew that could be the start of resolving their misunderstandings.

"What do you mean by that, Dad?" Mitchell asked, having calmed down a little.

"It isn't that I don't care about you; it's just that I am afraid of someone hurting you or you getting together with the wrong partner. Being gay in this day and age is already putting pressure on you, but getting together with another guy is only going to worsen it. If your boyfriend is also feeling the pressure, what happens if he doesn't want to say he's gay anymore due to the pressure he's receiving? You will be hurt tremendously," Grandpa finally tried to explain himself.

"Dad, thank you, but Cameron is one of the nicest, if not the nicest, people I know. At least to me. He would never stop loving me. He isn't that kind of person. I know that. It isn't just wishful thinking. It is my gut, my soul, and my heart all telling me the same," Uncle Mitchell accepted Grandpa's indirect apology, and they both hugged.

The dinner that followed was very emotional.

While being driven home, I started sleeping.

Waking up the next day, I was in my bed.

I was enjoying the best years of my life—my childhood.