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MD - Chapter 21: Pilot VI
🕑 Added 2024-12-22 16:14:35 +0000 UTC"Each day you’re getting taller, mi niño," said Gloria with a big smile as she looked at Andrew.
[Gloria's comment]
"Andrew was always very warm with Manny and me when we first met the family. He always made us feel included. He’s like my second son," said Gloria with a wide smile.
Andrew had a very good relationship with Jay, and when Jay met Gloria, he started spending less time alone with Andrew. Because of this, Gloria thought Andrew might hold a grudge against her and Manny (since Manny is now like Jay’s son), but Andrew did no such thing. On the contrary, he got along very well with Manny and her.
Gloria was very grateful for this, and that's why their bond is so close.
[End of comment]
"Thanks to eating everything on my plate," said Andrew with a smile, used to how affectionate Gloria was—though with Manny, she was much more so.
"Always so strict. You need to be more relaxed. Every now and then, eat some empanadas, have a coffee, some arepas, something," said Gloria, who believed that a child should enjoy good food and not always be so meticulous about counting calories, proteins, macros, etc.
Veronica looked at Gloria with a confused expression. Who was this beautiful woman? And why was she speaking in both English and Spanish at the same time?
"Andrew…" Veronica called out to avoid being ignored. Her father, Hiram, stood beside her with a slightly nervous expression as he looked at Gloria. Perhaps he should have been kinder to Andrew?
"Oh, yeah. That’s my grandma, Gloria. And the old man lying over there sunbathing is my grandpa, Jay," Andrew introduced, pointing to Jay, who frowned slightly.
'Grandparents?' thought Veronica and Hiram as they looked at Gloria and Jay, finding them seemingly incompatible for a very logical reason: their ages.
Veronica recalled Haley mentioning Gloria’s name: a woman who married her grandfather not too long ago. Now everything made sense, although she hadn’t expected Gloria to be so beautiful and with such a big age difference.
"I'm not old enough for you to call me grandma, Andrecito," said Gloria with a frown. She didn’t like that nickname.
"And can I call Jay that?" Andrew asked.
"Yes," Gloria replied without a second’s hesitation.
"Stop calling me old, you two," Jay said as he got up with some difficulty. Even his outfit screamed, old man!
"And who are they?" Gloria asked, her eyes lighting up as she looked at Veronica, a beautiful girl Andrew’s age who was dressed stylishly. For Gloria, this could only mean one thing.
"This is Veronica. My…" Andrew replied, taking a breath at the end, "my girlfriend, and her father, Hiram," he said, finishing the sentence.
'Finally!' thought Gloria, trying to contain her excitement as she greeted Veronica and Hiram.
A smile formed on Jay’s face. At last, his stubborn grandson had gotten a girlfriend—and as expected, she had to be one of the popular ones.
‘Perfectly balanced, as all things should be,’ thought Jay.
"Jay Pritchett, nice to meet you," said Jay with a slight smile, extending his hand to Hiram, who returned the gesture with a smile of his own.
The game started. Manny seemed to be in another world, and his team was just terrible. Within ten minutes, they had already conceded two goals, and it looked like this was just the beginning.
Luckily, Gloria didn’t yell too much, as she was busy chatting with Veronica. The two got along very well, despite only having known each other for just over ten minutes. Jay was talking to Hiram about cars and other topics businessmen typically discuss.
'Don't get along so quickly!' Andrew complained internally. He needed to end his relationship with Veronica as soon as possible. If his family got along well with hers, it would only make things more complicated.
And why was Veronica’s overprotective and intimidating father laughing heartily with Jay instead of playing his role? Don't bond with your daughter's boyfriend's family so easily!
The game ended 0–6. Manny’s team lost. Gloria almost ended up in a fistfight with another mom who complained to the coach about Manny, accusing him of being distracted by staring dreamily at a blonde girl Andrew’s age.
Andrew watched the game with a more serious expression than the coaches of either team, shaking his head several times. These kids lacked focus, concentration—the hunger to win!
When Manny approached his family and saw Andrew’s serious face, he paled.
'Oh no… not another sports lecture,' he thought.
"Don’t say a word, Andrew! Respect your uncle," Manny said, immediately going on the defensive.
"Besides, I’m quitting soccer. It’s a game for kids," he added with an angry expression.
He didn’t want to waste any more time on these stupid games; he should be focusing his time on spending it with a woman and building a relationship with his future wife.
Andrew didn’t say anything. He didn’t have the energy to start a motivational yet critical speech. Besides, Manny looked very determined about quitting soccer, so anything he said would be pointless.
"No, you’re not quitting. You would’ve stopped that goal if you hadn’t been staring at that girl," Gloria said firmly. Soccer is a very popular sport in Colombia, and she didn’t want Manny switching to one of those strange American sports like baseball, hockey, or something similar.
"She’s not a girl; she’s a woman," Manny corrected.
"Are you seriously ten years old?" Andrew asked, looking at Manny as if analyzing whether it was possible that he, too, was a transmigrator like himself. But that couldn’t be the case. In the series, Manny was exactly like this.
"Yes. And I don’t care about soccer anymore. I’m going to tell Brenda Feldman that I love her," Manny said with determination.
"Oh, dear God…" Jay muttered, grabbing his head.
"Brenda has a boyfriend," Veronica said, glancing up from her phone for a moment. The oddity of a ten-year-old declaring his love for a fifteen-year-old didn’t faze her much. Manny was adorable, after all.
"No…" Manny murmured, looking down at the ground with a pained expression.
"Don’t worry, Uncle. There are plenty of fish in the sea," Andrew said, patting Manny’s shoulder in an attempt to cheer him up.
"And you’ve already chosen me. Let’s go for a walk," Veronica said, putting her phone away and grabbing Andrew’s arm.
She bid farewell to Jay, Gloria, and Manny, and told her father to wait in the car since it wouldn’t be a long walk.
"Who is she?" Manny asked in surprise, watching as Veronica and Andrew walked away hand in hand. A feeling began to grow within him as he saw Andrew holding hands with a girl even prettier than Brenda Feldman: envy.
"His girlfriend," Jay replied, this time patting Manny’s shoulder.
'Traitor! You told me soccer was everything and that you weren’t even thinking about getting a girlfriend,' Manny thought, filled with envy and anger toward Andrew.
"You can take it out on him later. You can take it out on him later. We'll go to his house for dinner. We're on our way," Jay said, starting to walk toward his car.
...
Andrew spent over an hour walking hand in hand with Veronica. Throughout the entire time, Veronica talked non-stop—an incredible skill. After that, they said goodbye. She offered to drive him home, but Andrew declined. He needed to walk to meet his daily step goal.
When he got home, he found his dads arriving with the newest member of their family—Lily, his new baby sister!
“Andrew, did you go out?” asked Cameron, carrying Lily in a baby carrier.
Andrew ran toward them, not for a warm greeting but to see Lily. Ever since they left for Vietnam, he couldn’t stop thinking about meeting his baby sister, and he was dying to finally see her.
“She’s adorable,” Andrew said as he carefully held Lily.
“Easy, easy…” Mitchell said, helping him hold her securely.
“Haha, I have a little sister!” Andrew exclaimed with a wide, happy smile as he lifted Lily as high as he could. Mitchell swore he felt a sharp pain in his chest seeing such a dangerous move with a baby but said nothing. He didn’t want to ruin his son’s joy.
“Just don’t use her as a human weight,” Cameron said with a smile, happy to see his son so excited.
“She’s too light. Maybe when she’s older,” Andrew replied.
“Absolutely not!” Cameron exclaimed.
“I wonder what sport you’ll like! They say Asians are good at ping pong. I should look into a training regime focused on that,” Andrew said as he carefully returned Lily to her baby carrier.
“Andrew, no Asian jokes,” Mitchell warned.
“Haha… yeah, sorry,” Andrew said, scratching his head as he followed his family inside.
They happily chatted until Cameron dropped a bombshell on Mitchell—he had invited the entire family over for dinner that night to meet Lily. Mitchell had been trying to avoid telling Claire and his father, knowing they’d be critical.
While they argued, Andrew spent time with Lily in her room, which was painted entirely pink with a mural that Mitchell described as “very gay.”
The house had three bedrooms, much to Andrew's luck. Otherwise, he would have had to share his gamer cave with his baby sister, or they would have needed to find a new house.
That evening, the family arrived to meet Lily, and everyone was overjoyed about the newest member of the family.
Andrew went to bed more tired than usual, as the day had been packed with activities. Tomorrow would mark his first day of high school.
