Re:life with Karmic Gacha (Modern Family)-Chapter 365: Wedding Plans

[Edward POV]

My dad and I sat at the kitchen counter in my previous house, where he and Frankie were living together at the moment.

As I sipped my morning coffee, I asked, "What's the location of the wedding?"

"Frankie picked the ranch, so we'll have some work to do," my dad replied casually, drinking his own black, sugar-free coffee.

"Date?"

"June 24th, on a Sunday."

I nodded and said, "That's 10 days from now. Have you registered for wedding gifts yet?"

My dad sighed slightly, as if he expected a reaction from me. "We think we'll skip that since we already have everything we need."

I raised my eyebrows at his reply. "Why are you against getting gifts? You know they are... gifts!? Like, where else would you find the tiny salt and pepper shaker set if you're rejecting gifts at your own wedding?"

"Besides, this is Frankie's first wedding, even though it's your second one."

"Frankie is the one adamant about that. She didn't want to burden anyone with the pressure of finding the perfect gift," my dad said, sounding defeated.

"I'm still going to give her a present," I said firmly. "She deserves it."

My dad nodded in agreement, but his eyes changed slightly, a tinge of melancholy crossing his face. "How is your mother?"

Like me, he too suffered when he learned about my mother's current condition. Although their romantic love had faded years ago, camaraderie and familial love still lingered.

"She's still the same. She's happy, though. But yeah, she hasn't changed at all," I replied, my tone downtrodden.

I had tried to piece together her memories, and when I returned to her mind the next day, it was broken again.

I realized why she subconsciously chose her 6-year-old self. That was before everything started—the vicious training her father put her through.

After a few years of training, she underwent an initiation process at 14. She was locked in a basement with two guys who wanted to sexually assault and kill her. The only way she could escape was through death or by killing them.

I sensed all her fears as I dove into her memories. She was terrified for her life, knowing her father would leave her ravaged and murdered.

Her clothes were ripped off, and she was pinned to the ground. I couldn't bear to relive all her experiences, but she managed to kill them both after a fierce struggle.

And yet, I thought I was the one with a bad childhood.

The reason I chose this memory was that it related to the day she left my family.

Five years ago, when I was on stage at the violin competition, she was approached by a member of her fraternity. The member told her that her dad had left behind a will after he died, instructing her to take me back to Cuba to carry on his legacy and to train me as she had been trained.

So my mother went back to the hellish life she had known to protect me. She had never intended to leave but was forced to. There, she stopped anyone who dared to follow my grandpa's will.

While in Cuba, her mind was filled with a desire to return home. Yet when she did, she found that her home was no longer there. Her own son had rejected her, leaving her all alone in the world.

Still, she never thought her sacrifice was meaningless. The reason she asked me to free her country was that she thought it was an impossible task.

Yeah, she just needed a reason to stay by my side.

Yet I achieved the impossible, which led her mind to crumble.

'I swear I'm going to find her main consciousness in the millions of broken memories and bring her back to reality,' I vowed inwardly.

Understanding her side made me feel guilty, even though I wasn't truly responsible. That's why I didn't want to understand her in the first place.

It's like when hating a villain character on a tv series, but when their flashback came on and it showed why they did the thing that they did, you empathize with them. For example, Anakin Skywalker and Severus Snape.

Once guilt started, it bled into my brain and heart. But who knew that Leonard's book would actually help me?

The book, I Wish My Mother Was Dead, explored childhood guilt and unreasonable expectations of oneself. It was funny; I didn't think that helping Leonard would help me back in a roundabout way.

"Well, as long as she's happy," my dad said with a strained smile. He felt the same way I did.

At first, he wanted to postpone the wedding after learning of my mother's condition. Frankie had the same idea. But I convinced them not to. It wouldn't change anything, even if they postponed, so it was better to just proceed.

Pepper returned from his vacation and made himself the wedding planner, so my dad and Frankie didn't have to deal with the preparations themselves.

"I'm going to meet with Phil now," I said as I finished my conversation with my dad. "It's been a long time since I went to their house."

"Oh, tell Phil that I definitely don't need a bachelor party," my dad said before I left.

"I'm definitely telling him you want one," I teased.

"Forget it, I'll tell him myself," he said, exasperated.

...

*Ding Dong*

Standing in front of the door, I mused myself while I waited after pressing the doorbell, "I wonder if I can still recognize the place. Everyone has grown a lot in the past two years. I think—"

Before I could finish my thoughts, Claire opened the door with a manic expression, hair frazzled, flour on her face, holding her spatula menacingly.

"AHHH! MOM! IT'S COMING AT ME!" Alex shouted from the kitchen.

"KILL IT! KILL IT!" Luke cried.

As Claire saw me, her expression softened, and she greeted me casually. "Oh, Edward. You're here. Just wait five more minutes, then I'll let you inside." She closed the door without inviting me in, and I heard more shouts while I waited patiently.

"IT'S PLAYING POSSUM! DON'T BE TRICKED!" Phil shouted.

Then I heard Haley's voice. "It's going for the fabric! NO! That's for. THE. WEDDING!"

Her voice turned angry from the initial fear, and I assumed the crashing sound was because she either kicked it against the wall, causing decorations to fall, or wrestled the bag from the possum, causing something to crash down. My money was on the latter.

I waited for quite a while—more than 15 minutes—before Alex finally opened the door. She had smudges on her cheek and was wearing rubber gloves.

"Why are you here?" she asked rudely.

"Your dad called me here," I replied, pointing to her face. "You might want to wash up. If people saw you, they might think you're doing blackface, and you'll get canceled."

"What?!" Alex was startled and immediately went to check her reflection in the mirror. I walked into the house as she left the door open and saw the aftermath.

Alex snapped after checking her face, "I wasn't doing blackface! There's only a little smudge on my nose!"

"And cheeks." I added. Alex grumbled and immediately went to wash her face.

Claire was sweeping up broken glass in the kitchen, while Phil was fixing the cabinet door.

Haley was checking the fabric of the wedding dress, and Luke was taking out the trash.

"Eddy! Just wait a little longer. Then we can go," Phil smiled brightly and turned back, causing the shelf door to tilt.

"I can wait. There's no need to rush," I said, a smile tugging at my lips. "I was stupid to think they'd change."

Haley and I locked eyes, and she was startled. She was only wearing a robe, having just gotten out of bed.

"Oh... hi..." she said shyly, trying to cover her face with her palm, but she kept peeking with her big eyes.

I smiled and replied, "It's been a while."

Alex and Luke squinted at us from afar. Alex commented, "Why does the air immediately become tense when they see each other? They broke up two years ago."

"Is that what it is? I just thought he was shocked to see her without makeup," Luke added.

"Wh-Where are you going with my dad?" Haley asked, not meeting my eyes.

I shrugged. "I don't know; he kept it a secret from me."

Claire immediately connected the dots based on her previous conversation with Phil and rebuked him. "You're not going to bring him to the Magic Society, are you? Because that would ruin his image!"

Phil was baffled and defended himself, "He's doing a movie about magic! He said he wants expert comments on the tricks he's going to shoot, so I'm bringing him to the experts!"

"Oh, I thought I was going to show it to you, not some strangers," I said, taken aback by his plans.

Phil inhaled nervously. "Wouldn't it be better to have opinions from different people?"

I shook my head. "Not really. Then I'll have to ask them to sign NDAs or put their names in the movie credits, even though they didn't really do anything."

Claire interjected decisively, "He can't be seen hanging out with those dorks. One day with them, and the stock price could drop sharply."

"I'm one of those dorks!" Phil said pathetically.

[Phil and Claire's Commentary]

"The thing is, even I don't get what he was doing when he sent me the blueprint for the magic trick," Phil confessed as Claire rolled her eyes at him.

Phil continued, "And I don't want to look dumb in front of him."

Claire squinted her eyes skeptically. "What do you think is going to happen when you bring him to the magician gathering?"

[Commentary Ended]

...

I entered the basement room to see the wedding dress designs while Claire tried to talk Phil out of bringing me to the nerd gathering.

"There are three designs. I'm going to ask Frankie to pick which she likes best," Haley said excitedly as she showed me her drawings.

After two years of constant designing and making clothes, she had become proficient, no longer seeming like an amateur.

Haley posted her designs on Entertain, YouTube, and Instagram, amassing an impressive 3 million subscribers on Entertain, 1 million on YouTube, and 5 million followers on Instagram.

Not only dresses, she also posted skits and jokes, earning herself the title of OG creator in the early 2010s.

In the TV series, Haley started to become an influencer, but that route fizzled out. Here, she actually succeeded.

She launched her own brand and built her own clothing company, almost reaching $1 million in sales—sales, not profits.

Alone, she might never have reached this level so quickly, but she signed a contract with an agency—my company. I helped her from the shadows whenever she needed it, but that wasn't something that kept happening.

Every time she made a mistake, she learned from it and didn't repeat it the next time.

Haley was also involved with a makeup company, contracted as a brand ambassador, promoting new lines and even posting tutorial videos. She was loved by millions of teenage girls because of it.

"That's great, but do you think you can make it in time before the wedding?" I asked, slightly teasing but mostly concerned. It wasn't easy to make a complicated wedding dress on a tight schedule.

Haley furrowed her brow, having similar concerns. "If I can't make it in time, I'll ask for your help."

"I may be able to work miracles, but it's going to take one or two working days—maybe three—to make it happen."

Haley smirked. "I'm not going to ask you at the last minute! I know my limits."

"Do you really?" I narrowed my eyes, asking her skeptically. She laughed and mumbled, "Not really. No."

"Oh, what about the car?" I suddenly remembered. "You brought it to college; I guess you brought it back, right? Can I take a look?"

Haley suddenly shuddered, her face paling slightly. "What—Is that my mom calling for me?" She turned and ran away immediately.

[Haley's Commentary]

"I've taken care of the car perfectly!" she said, visible frustration on her face. "I didn't get a parking ticket, didn't scratch the paint, washed it frequently, and never missed a service."

She grumbled in frustration. "Till last night when I got back home!"

-Flashback-

As Haley pulled into the driveway, a squirrel jumped into the car seat. She was startled and screamed immediately. She hit the trash can and the curb, causing a big scratch on the blue convertible.

She stopped the car immediately and muttered, "What the hell was that? Is that a cat?"

-Flashback Ends-

"I need to send it to the body shop before Edward sees it. Otherwise, he'll think I don't appreciate his gift," Haley added.

[Commentary Ends]

"Well, that was weird," I muttered as Haley left. I snapped pictures of the designs and left the room as well.

For their wedding, I had an important role—not as the best man, since I was only a groomsman—but I volunteered to create the wedding ring.

Taking on more work in the middle of my busy schedule was taxing, but I wanted to do this for them. Besides, creating the ring would take a maximum of four hours.

As I returned to the den, Phil finally relented and stopped trying to get me to meet the "magicians." They weren't official magicians, just his group of friends who shared the same interest.

Claire asked, "Edward, are you okay? You look tired."

"I am a little, but I'm fine. Thank you for asking."

Claire understood my situation and gave me an encouraging hug. "If you need anything, just let me know," she offered.

I brought Phil to my house, with Alex and Luke joining us. We took Phil's car since mine only had two seats. Luke and Alex sat in the back while I called shotgun.

Luke wanted to play around, and Alex was curious about the movie, seeking revenge for earlier when I teased her. She figured she could make fun of me for doing a movie about magic, so she came along.

"By the way, aren't you the director? Why are you being so nonchalant about this? Shouldn't you follow a strict schedule to get this out on time?" Alex asked as we arrived at my house.

She wasn't wrong. But after the whole fiasco, I decided to postpone the shooting. It would resume when I fly to New York and was done with my SNL guest appearance. Vanessa and I would fly there earlier to catch up with Max and Caroline, also to meet up with the SNL writers and prepare for the skits.

I turned to her with a cheeky expression. "Are you worried about me, Alex?"

"Shut up. I'm not," she replied, caught off guard. Phil smiled and joined the conversation. "She's always worried about you. Especially since the interview with Larry King. She thought you had become unhinged."

"I was a little," I admitted honestly.

Alex nodded in satisfaction. "I still think that was a marketing plan to help Dr. Leonard Hofstadter launch his self-help book."

"It's not marketing," I said defensively. "I was out for blood at that time."

Luke laughed. "You could've just sent CIA agents to her house."

Alex ignored Luke and said, "You know, I've read her book before. I thought it was jarring, but I didn't realize it had so much influence."

I nodded slightly. "Psychology professors usually use that book in their lectures. They also make the students buy it because they get a cut of the profit."

"Thank god that's over now," Phil said as we entered my house on the hill.

Phil worked hard to share his opinions about the tricks in the movie, but his enthusiasm got the best of him, and he geeked out over less than four tricks.

Alex tried to mock me, but she couldn't figure out the magic trick, which made it impossible.

Luke, like Phil, was also geeking out, but on VR games. He had no interest in the magic tricks at all, even though he was a sleight-of-hand genius.

After settling in, Phil decided to join Luke in the VR game. Alex came to my lab with me and said, "I read a study about turning ordinary skin cells into brain cells. Can I try to do that here?"

"It'll take a lot of work—maybe even weeks—before it produces results. I do have the equipment here, and it does sound fun," I said as I rubbed my chin in contemplation.

We got to work without much talk. After harvesting our skin cells, each of us began our experiments.

"Should we combine the genetic material? How is it going to turn out?" Alex asked excitedly.

I widened my eyes and said warily, "Alex, I like you, but not in that way."

"NOT LIKE THAT! OUR SKIN CELLS!" Alex blushed hard and rebuked me.

"Ah, right. Since we're doing brain cell incubation, sure, let's do it."

I asked Jacob, Enid, Jenna, and Elsa—who came with Jacob, Finneas, and Billie—to stop by my house so I could get their skin samples too.

"Leaving immediately after you got what you wanted? I feel like a cheap whore," Jenna joked.

Enid chimed in, "I want to see what you guys are doing too!"

"It's boring science stuff. Go watch football in the living room; I'll join you after I finish," I said to all of them.

"If the time comes and it's necessary for me to clone them, I think I have enough genetic material to do so," I said seriously, which left Alex stunned.

"I'm just joking," I clarified as Alex stood frozen.

"It didn't feel like a joke," she said seriously.

That night, I asked Vanessa if she wanted to do the same, and she enthusiastically agreed.

"It'll be like knowing how our children will turn out in the future," she said giddily.

"Umm..." I realized I might have made a mistake there.