Fun

Marcus barely had a moment to process the sudden arrival of Jay, Gloria, and Manny before the Dunphy household erupted into even more chaos.

"Why is everyone here?" Alex muttered, rubbing her temples.

Marcus, casually twirling his lollipop, leaned back. "I don't know, but I feel like I should've brought popcorn."

Jay sighed, looking over at Claire. "We're picking up Manny, but Gloria wanted to come in and—"

"I wanted to see the family!" Gloria interrupted cheerfully, giving Claire a kiss on both cheeks. "And look, the kids are working on science!" She clapped her hands. "That is so good, Alex!"

Claire, still clearly on edge from Marcus' presence, gave a tense smile. "Yes. Science."

Marcus raised an eyebrow. "Why does that sound like an interrogation?"

Gloria suddenly gasped. "Oh! And who is this?" She turned to Marcus with interest, her eyes sparkling.

"Marcus," he said easily, setting his lollipop aside.

"He's just my project partner," Alex said quickly.

Gloria ignored her and took a step closer, studying Marcus like she was trying to solve a puzzle. "Ohhh, you look like you could be a boxer!"

Marcus smirked. "Close. Martial artist."

Manny perked up at that. "Really? What style?"

"Little bit of everything," Marcus said with a casual shrug.

Manny looked impressed, but Jay just scoffed. "A kid knowing 'a little bit of everything' usually means they know a whole lot of nothing."

Marcus chuckled. "That's fair."

Claire, still watching him closely, cut in. "So, Marcus… what do your parents do?"

Marcus leaned back slightly. "My dad runs a Porsche dealership. My mom's a fashion designer."

There was a pause.

Phil visibly perked up. "Wait… Porsche?"

"Yup."

Phil's face lit up like a kid on Christmas morning. "Like… new models? The good ones?"

Marcus shrugged. "I'd assume so. He runs the place, so…"

Phil placed a gentle hand on Marcus' shoulder. "Son… we are going to have so much fun."

Claire immediately yanked him back. "No."

Marcus fought the urge to laugh, exchanging a quick glance with Alex, who just sighed.

"Okay, well, this has been weird," she muttered, flipping a page in her notebook. "Can we please get back to work?"

Gloria pouted. "Oh, but we just got here!"

"And we're leaving," Jay cut in. He placed a hand on Manny's shoulder. "Come on, kid. We're going."

Manny sighed but grabbed his things. "Nice meeting you, Marcus."

Marcus gave a small nod. "Likewise."

As Jay and Gloria herded Manny toward the door, Phil clapped his hands. "Alright! Back to science!"

Claire let out a deep sigh before muttering, "I need wine."

Marcus just smirked as he turned to Alex. "Is it always like this?"

Alex didn't even look up. "Worse."

Marcus popped another lollipop into his mouth. "Neat."