Later on, the family arrived at Jay and Gloria’s house.
“There are my little stinkers,” Jay greeted them at the door.
“Howdy,” Alex replied, ever polite, a slight wave accompanying her greeting.
“Hi, Grandpa,” Luke said, giving him a quick, tight hug.
“Come on in,” Jay ushered them inside, the sounds of the football game growing louder.
“Hey,” Gloria greeted them warmly, her smile radiant as always.
“Hola,” Alex replied in Spanish, a nod to Gloria’s heritage.
“Hola, hola,” Gloria chuckled, embracing Alex.
Manny, ever the weird romantic, immediately honed in on Hayley, “Well, hello there, Hayley.”
Jay, seeing Manny’s charade warned, “Take it down a notch, Jethro.
So, you guys ready for some fun?” Jay’s eyes then fell on Luke’s face, a look of profound sadness etched there, a hangover from the “Grandpa is dying” conversation.
“What?”
Luke, instead of answering, hugged Jay tightly, almost clinging to him.
“I love you, Grandpa, and I’m never gonna forget you.”
“Okay, okay.
Back at ya, champ,” Jay said, patting Luke on the back, confused by his sudden display of morbid affection.
His eyes then caught a distinct lack of pajamas on his eldest grandchild.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.
This is a pajama party.
Where’s your p.j.’s?”
Ethan, seeing his escape plan already unraveling, quickly explained, his voice laced with forced casualness, “Yeah, they’re in my bag.
I got to go to a party, I got Mom’s permission, so we’re good, right?
It’s kind of an important party and I don’t-”
He launched into his rehearsed speech, hoping to make a quick exit.
Jay, hearing the word “party,” cut him off.
“Somebody invites you over, the last thing you wanna do is insult them.” His words, delivered with a gruff wisdom, were perfectly timed to derail Ethan’s plans.
Haley, seeing Jay’s line of reasoning, quickly interjected, “Exactly!” hoping to piggyback on the argument.
“I’m glad we agree,” Jay said, smiling, completely missing the fact that he and Haley were agreeing on opposite points, a masterclass in unintentional manipulation.
He walked away, satisfied with his victory.
“Oh come on,” Ethan groaned, realizing he’d been hoodwinked by his own words.
Haley, however, was beaming, oblivious to the subtle trickery.
“What’s your problem?
That was so easy.”
Alex, ever the perceptive one, shook her head.
“You really don’t understand what just happened there, do you?”
Jay’s voice boomed from the living room, “P.j.’s on, twins!”
“This is so unfair!” Ethan protested, his plans utterly defeated.
Manny, seeing Haley’s plight (and probably eager for her attention), offered chivalrously, “Um, I would be happy to let her change in my room.”
Ethan looked at Manny with utter disgust, just as Jay walked back in and, with a knowing look, sprayed Manny with a water bottle.
Ethan, back on the couch, looked utterly defeated, his face a mask of profound disillusionment.
“I’ve been hoodwinked, bamboozled, led astray, ran amok, and flat out deceived!”
Later that night, the pajama party was in full swing, with the family playing poker around Jay’s large dining table.
The cards slapped against the felt, chips clattered, and the air was filled with a mix of laughter and competitive grumbling.
Ethan, feigning interest in his hand, kept glancing at the clock; it was nearly eight.
His window of escape, now significantly narrowed, was closing rapidly.
“Let’s raise the stakes, old man,” Ethan challenged his grandfather, a desperate glint in his eye, trying one last, risky gamble.
Jay, intrigued by the sudden bravado, leaned forward, a shrewd look on his face.
“Okay, I’m interested.”
“If I win,” Ethan proposed, his voice steady, “I get to go to the party.”
“What if I win?” Jay countered, his gaze unwavering, already anticipating Ethan’s move.
“What do you want?” Ethan asked, bracing himself, knowing he was about to face a formidable opponent.
“I want your drums,” Jay stated, his gaze unwavering, a hint of triumph in his voice.
Ethan’s face fell.
He knew he was beaten.
The drums were his lifeblood, his sanctuary.
“I fold.”
Haley, however, still holding her cards, looked confused.
“I don’t think I have anything either.” She fanned out her cards, clearly clueless.
Jay’s eyes widened, then a slow smile spread across his face.
“Are you kidding me?
That’s a straight!
She wins!”
Alex, looking at Haley’s cards, confirmed, “You won.”
“I win!” Haley exclaimed, genuinely surprised, her face lighting up with uncharacteristic joy.
“You know what?
I think I deserve a soda.”
Manny, ever supportive, said, “Good job, Haley.”
“Did you see that?” Alex whispered to Mitchell, still amazed by Haley’s accidental win.
Gloria, shaking her head in amusement, muttered, “‘I don’t know how to play.'”
“She didn’t even know,” Alex laughed, marveling at her sister’s pure luck.
Luke, ever the innocent, added, “You know, she deserves it.”
Jay, seeing Haley head to the kitchen, called out, “Hi, honey.”
Haley shrieked, startled.
“Oh!
Gee, you scared me.
How did you-”
Jay, holding a new lightbulb, explained, “Lightbulb went out.
You don’t change these right away, you never get around to it.
There.
Now I can see everything that goes on around here.” He gave Haley a pointed, knowing look, his gaze sweeping over the kitchen, subtly reminding her of his constant surveillance.
Ethan was ready to call it quits.
Not only because it was getting late, but because he could feel a headache coming in from the sheer force of Gloria’s singing.
Gloria, observing Lily, mused, “I don’t understand why she’s not falling asleep.”
“I have a theory,” Ethan muttered under his breath.
Jay, returning to the living room with a classic movie (likely another Western), declared, “I got the movie.” He turned to Manny.
“Manny, why don’t you go fire up some popcorn?” He then held up Haley’s shoes, dangling them playfully.
“You looking for these?” He threw them onto the couch, just out of her reach.
Haley stared, aghast.
“You took my shoes?”
“No, I took your freedom,” Jay said, a grim smile on his face, his voice laced with an almost theatrical villainy.
“Sorry, kid.
It ain’t your night.”
Haley, utterly defeated, tears welling in her eyes, stormed off towards the couch, her shoulders slumping.
“Why are you being like this?
I just wanted to go to that party for, like, two hours.
I would’ve been back by now.
Would that have killed you?” Her voice was filled with a raw, adolescent despair.
Jay watched her go, then sighed.
“She’s just like her mother.”
Gloria, however, was concerned.
“Why are you treating her like this?”
“Me?” Jay scoffed, feigning innocence.
“She’s the one acting like a pill.”
“You’re taking this too personally,” Gloria insisted, her voice soft but firm.
“When I was their age, I loved my grandfather, but I still wanted to go to parties and be with boys.”
“I know.
I know.
So did Claire…
and Mitchell,” Jay conceded, a hint of wistfulness in his voice.
“But you know what?
You try to put something over on me, you’re gonna lose.” His competitive spirit was clearly fueling his current behavior.
“So, what?
Now you’re gonna make this into a big game?” Gloria challenged, her eyebrows raised.
“I’m trying to keep ’em around a little bit longer, that’s all,” Jay admitted, a hint of vulnerability, a rare glimpse into his paternal heart, in his voice.
He glanced at Ethan, who was pretending to be engrossed in the poker game.
“Ethan hasn’t been complaining.”
Ethan immediately deadpanned, “I’m just waiting for you to fall asleep, and then I’m gone.”
Jay’s eyes narrowed, a clear warning.
“Go to the kitchen.”
Ethan sighed, defeated again, and went to the kitchen, mumbling under his breath.
Jay continued, a softer tone in his voice, “I mean, who knows how many nights like this I got left?”
Luke, with his head in the wrong place and his heart in the right place, hugged Jay again, clearly still traumatized by Alex’s earlier comments.
“I miss you already.”
“What’s wrong with this kid tonight?” Jay muttered, patting Luke on the back, confused by his continued melancholy.
“Go in the kitchen and help out the guys, and I’ll be right in.” Luke, still clinging to Jay’s leg, finally detached himself and went to the kitchen.
Gloria looked at Jay, her expression softening.
“It’s great that you wanna spend time with your granddaughter, but is this really the way?”
Jay sighed, finally giving in to Gloria’s gentle persuasion.
“Fine.”
Gloria smiled, stroking his arm.
“You’re a good Abuelo.”
After a quick, dramatic confrontation involving Jay finding Dylan hiding in the bushes outside, attempting to rescue Haley from her pajama prison, Jay finally agreed to let Haley and Ethan go to the party.
“Thanks again, we’ll be back by eleven,” Ethan said, grabbing his backpack and rushing towards the door, his face a mixture of relief and disbelief at his sudden liberation.
“Yeah, exactly,” Haley added, already pulling on her shoes, a triumphant grin on her face.
Jay, however, wasn’t letting them off easy.
He pointed a finger at them.
“I will track you down.”
Haley, now properly chastened, nodded.
“I believe that.”
Dylan, emerging from the bushes, sniffed the air, confused.
“What’s that smell?”
“Sloppy Joes,” Jay replied, gesturing to a Crock-Pot on the counter.
“Help yourself.
There’s plenty left.”
“Oh,” Dylan said, a slow realization dawning on him.
“Sloppy Joes because your name’s Jay.”
“Right on,” Jay confirmed, a hint of pride in his voice.
Ethan, unable to resist, muttered, “Well done, Einstein.”
Gloria, ever hospitable, offered, “If you want, I’ll fix you a plate.”
“Yeah, definitely.
That’d be great,” Dylan replied, eyeing the food, his hunger apparently overriding his desire for the party.
Haley, growing impatient, tugged on his arm.
“But what about the party?”
“We can go in just a minute,” Dylan said, already reaching for a plate, his attention already drifting.
Just then, a gunshot rang out from the TV, where Jay had put on an old Western movie.
“Oh, no way.
The Gunfighter,” Dylan exclaimed, his eyes lighting up with genuine excitement.
“I love this movie.”
“Dylan, the party,” Haley pleaded, her voice filled with a desperate, crushing despair.
“Oh.
But…
cowboys,” Dylan mumbled, utterly captivated by the screen, a glazed look in his eyes.
Gloria, seeing Haley’s face fall, smiled sadly.
“Don’t fight it, Haley.
They never grow up.”
Ethan, however, had had enough.
The party, the drama, the never-ending games – he was done.
“Well, I’m going.”
“Ethan, wa-” Haley started, but he was already gone.
He closed the door behind him with a definitive click and ran to his van, speeding out of the driveway, finally free from the emotional entanglement of his family.