章 3: Training
A week had passed since Ethan transmigrated into the world of Modern Family in the body of a five-year-old boy named Andrew. He had already been discharged from the hospital and returned home with his two new parents.
Mitchell and Cameron's house was the same as in the show. However, not all exactly the same as Andrew remembered from the show.
Mitchell and Cameron were younger, and from what Andrew remembered from the series, they would adopt Lily between 2007 and 2010, although he did not know exactly when. The difference was that they were in 1999.
The timeline was different compared to the show, and he was the same age as Haley, the daughter of the Dunphys, and his new cousin.
Andrew was born on June 24, 1994 and was in July 1999, so he turned five years old a few days ago. Haley was born on December 10, so she was still four years old.
He didn't understand why there were such changes in the timeline, but it didn't matter to him. He had learned firsthand that this was real. His dream was the same as in his past life: to win the Super Bowl and fulfill the promise he made to his grandfather, Richard.
When he saw Claire in the hospital, he noticed that her stomach was very swollen. Luke should be born in a few months. As for Alex, she should be two or three years old by now.
'I can be a better quarterback than before...' Andrew thought, holding a small pink teddy bear with a heart on its stomach.
He was in his new room, which was very peculiar. The walls were painted in shades of pink and decorated with a hand-painted mural by Cameron, depicting a field of flowers with butterflies fluttering around. The bed, covered with a vibrant quilt featuring princesses and unicorns, took center stage in the room.
In one corner, there was a bookshelf filled with fairy tales and adorable stuffed animals. When Andrew first saw his room, he had a look of surprise and confusion.
It looked like a girl's room. He would need to make some adjustments to reflect his own tastes—posters of football, Star Wars merchandise, and other things.
'I need to create a workout suited to my small body... I can't overexert myself,' Andrew thought as he sat down on a small chair. He grabbed a piece of paper and a colored pencil and began thinking about what would be the best workout for a five-year-old.
First, he needed to get used to his new body. He had to develop his coordination and agility. He could run through small obstacles to improve his agility and start getting used to his body. After all, kids do that, right? Run and play like crazy all day.
Andrew got up and started planning his workout. He looked around and decided to use the toys and stuffed animals in his room to create a mini obstacle course.
He started lining up the stuffed animals on the floor, creating a diagonal line. He spaced them about a foot apart to have enough room to run between them.
Once everything was set up, he began stretching to avoid injuries and warm up a bit.
"Okay, let's get started," Andrew murmured with a smile.
He ran through the stuffed animals, zigzagging between them. He did the course several times, gradually increasing his speed with each pass.
At one point, the door suddenly opened, and Andrew, running at his maximum speed, got distracted and tripped, falling to the ground with a thud. The fall was soft, and he barely felt any pain. This was nothing compared to all the tackles he had endured during his career as a quarterback.
Cameron, who had opened the door, hurried inside. "Andrew! Are you okay?" he asked, a mix of concern and surprise as he saw the strange arrangement of toys in the room.
Andrew sat up, laughing. "Yeah, this is nothing," he said with a small smile.
Cameron sighed in relief but couldn't help but smile, "You're a real warrior, huh? Look what I got you," he said, pulling a football from a bag he was holding, although it wasn't real—it was rubber.
"Great! Thanks, Dad!" Andrew exclaimed, taking the rubber ball and holding it as if it were his baby. He felt the texture of the ball in his hands. He missed that feeling, even though it wasn't the same as a real football.
'He called me Dad again,' Cameron thought with smile. It was the second time Andrew had done that since the hospital.
If it were up to Andrew, he wouldn't call Cameron "Dad," but he would feel bad and guilty if he didn't. He knew both of them were really good people, and they cared a lot about having a good relationship with their son.
Andrew had to act a bit like a five-year-old and make his parents happy. As for his enthusiastic and passionate attitude, that was always how he was.
"Let's throw some passes outside!" Andrew said, starting to march toward the yard. His dad, Cameron, was good at football. He played in college as a starting offensive lineman.
'I wonder if Jack is okay…' Andrew thought, a nostalgic look in his eyes. It had only been a week, but he already missed his best friend. A lineman who always protected him so he could make his passes.
During a passing play, the offensive linemen have to block defenders trying to reach the quarterback. The offensive line forms a "pocket" around the quarterback to give him time to throw the ball without being sacked.
If you don't have good offensive linemen protecting you, it's going to be really tough as a quarterback.
Andrew—or rather, Ethan—lived through a time when his offensive line sucked. That's why he got tackled so many times, but it also helped him improve his passing and reaction times.
"Come on, little one! I'll teach you how to throw a football!" Cameron said with a smile.
Cameron thought that Andrew's sudden interest in football was because he watched games live or on replay, and the little one had accompanied him a few times.
'It's good that we have things in common. I hope he still likes football, even if he's not good at it…' Cameron thought as he walked toward the backyard.
He knew about the immense competitiveness in the sport. Not everyone had talent, that was a fact. He wasn't sure if Andrew had talent or not.
They reached the backyard, and Cameron positioned himself not too far from Andrew, but to his surprise, the boy started moving farther away.
"That far, little one?" Cameron asked, not believing that Andrew had the strength and precision to throw the ball to his position.
Andrew smiled confidently. "No problem, trust me!"
Cameron raised an eyebrow but said nothing. After being called "Dad" again, he couldn't say that he didn't trust him.
Andrew focused on Cameron, calculating the distance and adjusting the necessary strength. The distance wasn't much, though it might be for an average five-year-old. But since it was a rubber ball, he wouldn't have a problem.
Finally, Andrew threw the ball with great precision, though he could improve if he got more used to his new body. The ball flew through the air in a perfect trajectory and landed directly in Cameron's hands.
"Wow, Andrew! That was incredible! How did you learn to throw so well?" Cameron exclaimed, smiling widely.
"I don't know… I just did it," Andrew said, scratching his cheek, not sure how to respond. It wasn't that hard of a pass—it was straight and not far, and no one was guarding them.
'Talent!' thought Cameron, though he forced himself to calm down. It was just one pass, maybe it was luck. His passing session continued for a long time. Andrew never got tired, and he didn't miss a single pass or catch.
'This is no coincidence anymore...' thought Cameron with a big smile. His son had talent. He hadn't seen any five-year-old, though he didn't know many, throw a ball with such precision and never miss once.
Time passed. It was vacation, and Andrew took advantage of it to continue training and preparing his body.
On September 1st, he would start kindergarten, the preparatory year before first grade. He was enrolled in the same one as Haley. He had no choice but to attend.
During this time, he saw his uncles and cousins. He tried to be a good cousin, but he couldn't handle it for long. He got Haley to play football with him, which was hard to convince her to do, but he managed.
With luck, the little girl could catch a pass, and even less so throw the ball with precision like he did, but she had fun, and his relationship with his new cousin improved.
The vacation ended. During this time, he didn't meet Jay, his grandfather, Mitchell and Claire's father. He didn't care much. He knew Jay was a tough, old-fashioned man. He was still processing that his son was gay, had a partner, and had adopted a five-year-old child who wasn't his blood.
Andrew had already had a grandfather in his past life, and he didn't feel the need for another. He only wanted to meet him because he had seen him on the show, that was all.
Early on a Monday morning, Cameron was preparing breakfast for Andrew. Mitchell was sitting, drinking coffee and reading a newspaper.
"Go wake up the little one," Cameron said.
"You'd better do it," said Mitchell. Cameron stopped what he was doing and looked at him.
"Do you want me to do everything? He's your son, just go and wake him up. It's not that hard."
"The boy will want to be woken up by you. You're the one who always wakes him up. He's already called you 'dad' several times. He hasn't called me that once," said Mitchell with a downcast expression.
"Mitch... Don't feel bad about it. He'll call you 'dad' any time now. Andrew is a very kind boy, he just hasn't had the chance since you don't play with him like I do," said Cameron, trying to cheer him up.
"I can't play with him because I work all day. Plus, he loves football, my dad always wanted me to play and I never liked it," said Mitchell with a grimace.
"You don't have to share the same interests to get along. Go wake him up, I'm sure he'll wake up with a big smile," said Cameron.
"Fine," said Mitchell, standing up and walking toward Andrew's room.
...
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