Disclaimer: I do not own Modern Family and have no association with anyone involved in the show. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Author's note: This story takes place sometime in Season 7. This is sort of a continuation to Your Fault, ignoring the last few paragraphs/fast forward at the end. So think of it as an alternative timeline.
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Claire Dunphy was furious when she found out her daughters had given her brother a spare key to their new home and not her, just because they apparently think she is so controlling she would drop in on them unannounced. Something she had only learned when her spineless brother blurted it out when he was mad at her. And the worst part was he agreed with them.
Well, he was going to get what's coming to him soon enough, but today she was going to punish her daughters by doing the one thing they were afraid if her doing, showing up unannounced. She'd had to steal her brother's key, and quickly make a copy of it, to do so, but she was sure it would be worth it to see the look on their faces. Because something was fishy about all this.
Alex and Haley had been at each other's throats pretty much their entire lives, so why were they so willing to live together now? Sure, they had been getting along better lately, but people didn't change. Not really. God knows she still fought with her brother, who she of course loved, but she wouldn't want to live with him. At least not more than a few days.
So Alex and Haley had to be hiding something, and Claire was determined to find out what it was. She even made sure she arrived on a Friday night, when her daughters were most likely to be doing something wrong, and entered their apartment as quietly as she could before making her way into the home.
Then a creaky floor board gave her away, and suddenly she heard, "Alex? Honey, I'm in the bedroom."
Clare frowned, and then after a moment's pause quickened her pace, closing the distance between herself and Haley's bedroom, "Haley, what's-"
Completely losing her train of thought Claire found herself staring opened mouth that her eldest daughter. She had always known Haley was beautiful, and God knows Haley had known she was beautiful, but wow, her baby girl really knew how to show off her body.
Over the years Claire had kind of got used to it, but it had been a while since she'd seen Haley in something ridiculously skimpy, and never of course lingerie like she was wearing now, which kind of took her off-guard. Especially because it resulted in some unusual thoughts, which she quickly shoved aside in favour of validating thoughts which she pretty much voiced as soon as they came into her head as Claire got over her shock and pointed at her daughter.
"I knew it! I knew something was going on here!" Claire exclaimed proudly.
"You did?" Haley asked weekly after a brief pause.
"Well of course I did." Claire proclaimed, "You can't fool me. You're sleeping with a boy called Alex."
After a long pause Haley smiled and got off the bed while asking, "And why would I try to hide that?"
"Because, because..." Claire thought for a minute while her mind raced, "Because it's some really old, ugly rich man!"
"So I'm a golddigger now?" Haley huffed, "Gee, thanks Mom."
"Or it's a girl!" Claire added, and then frowned, "Wait, is it a girl?"
"So, you think I'm dressed up like this for an old ugly rich man, or a girl called Alex, in an apartment I share with Alex?" Haley questioned.
There was a long pause and then Claire's eyes went wide and she stammered weakly, "Is, is it Alex?"
Haley chuckled, "And you said I couldn't fool you."
"Oh." Claire breathed a sigh of relief, "So it isn't Alex."
"No, it's Alex." Haley confirmed with a grin, "The fooling you part comes from you apparently having no idea we've been doing it for over a year now."
"A, a year?" Claire murmured in disbelief.
"Well, 16 months, 14 days, and 5 glorious hours, but really who's counting?" Haley confessed, her grin becoming even wider.
"Oh my God." Claire mumbled, so stunned she could barely think.
"God, it feels so good to finally tell you." Haley admitted, and then taking advantage of her mother's stunned state continued, "We both wanted to tell you, and we talked about doing it so many times. Actually, we came pretty close a couple of times, but I always chickened out. See, no matter what Alex is going to be fine. Her big brain will ensure she does something amazing with her life. But me, the best thing in my life is her, and it's always going to be her, and I couldn't let you take that away from me. Alex though... she didn't think you would. She always thought we could convince you to see that our love was good and pure. You'd be surprised, but she's actually the more romantic between us. Always surprising me with a amazing date, or sexy lingerie, which is why I'm dressed like this actually. I'm returning the favour for an extra special night where she-"