"Ay, finally!" "Look who's wearing her itsy bitsy bikini." "He can comment because he's gay." " He was talking about Lily." " So was I." "Ay, Cam, you make her look so pretty." " Guess who's not coming for Christmas." " And the spotlight shifts." " Mom." "She cancelled." " What?" "In a voice mail, no less." "Unbelievable." "And by that, I mean believable." "Why isn't Nana coming?" "I don't know." "Something about her new boyfriend whisking her away on a cruise." " I just got my gift." " What boyfriend?" "Carl the cruise ship captain." "It was in her holiday newsletter." "Oh, I can't read that whole thing." "No." "Yeah, after two pages about the bird she rescued..." "And by the way, I don't think you can say you rescued something if it dies." " It died?" " She wrote a poem about it." "A little too free with the free verse for my taste, but fine, we'll call it a poem." "I stopped reading after she talked about suing her book club." "Oh, I stopped reading after "dear friends, family and others..."" "I'm sorry." "Who are "others"?" " Me." " No, you're not... uh, maybe you are." "Actually, she's kind of at her best at Christmas." "She makes a mean cookie." "What other kind could she possibly make?" "Aw, it's so sad that you guys are not gonna be with your mom this Christmas." " It's fine." " Yeah, it's more than fine." "Let's just..." "Can we move off of mom?" "Yes, please." "Yeah, and the upside now, Mitchell-- we can spend Christmas in Missouri where it actually feels like Christmas." "Wait." "Hang on a second." "Just because mom isn't coming doesn't mean we're not gonna spend Christmas together." "I mean, it's about family." "Who do you think we're seeing in Missouri, Claire, the Oak Ridge boys?" "Hold on." "I thought we were all getting together Christmas Eve this year." "We're on a flight to Mexico the 25th." "What do you mean, you're getting on a flight on the 25th?" "You two needed time with your mom." " I've already served my time with your mom." " Oh, dad." "Well, uh, well, when are we gonna have Christmas then?" "I heard kids are getting snatched in Mexico." " What?" " Kids get snatched here just as much." "It happens all the time." "Don't be scared." "Now when you say "all the time"" "Okay, well what about next weekend?" "'Cause we don't leave till the 21st, right?" "Yeah, we leave tomorrow and we don't come back until the 21st." "Hey, math club, could you get me some more lemonade?" "Are we saying that this is the last time we're all gonna be together as a family until after the holidays?" " And for you, maybe ever." " Well, this stinks." " Yeah, we can't do this." "This is not right." " We always spend Christmas together." "Yeah, we have to do something about it." "Ho, ho, hold up a sec." "We're all free today." "We've got four hours to shop, cook, wrap, get a tree." "By tonight, we could be celebrating Christmas, right?" "I guess we could do that." "Of course we can!" "Have you ever heard of express Christmas?" " No." " No, you haven't, because I just invented it." "Express Christmas,"TM."" " It's when you can't have it on Christmas day..." " I got it." " And you have to scramble." " Get on with it!" "We're wasting time!" "We're wasting time!" "Everyone in the house!" "We'll make a plan!" "Time is of the" " Oh!" "Ow!" "Hot!" "Hot!" "It's just too hot!" "Oh, Phil!" "Modern Family Season 3 Episode 10" " So we're really doing this, huh?" " Yes." "'Cause I had stuff lined up for Christmas Eve." "Yeah, Jay." "It's Manny's last chance to enjoy a family Christmas." "Until next year, you mean." " Well, with all the snatchings..." " Get out of my head, Luke!" "Okay, who's gonna get the tree?" "Oh!" "I will." "I will." "Because, you know, get the wrong kind, people get upset." " You get upset." " I'm people." "Fine, I'll get the turkey." "What about gifts?" " Jay, did we finish shopping?" " Yeah, but we're not wrapped." "Oh, I can help with that." "We have a mobile wrapping station." "God, has that thing paid for itself." "Really?" "'Cause I feel like I paid for it." "Okay." "We've got lights and ornaments at our place." "Oh!" "You know what would be great?" " Is the angel!" " The angel." "Yeah." "Where is it?" "Oh." "Um, Gloria, it's up in your attic." "Would you get it?" "Ay, no!" "Not the attic!" "It's dirty, and there are spiders." "Oh, but it really won't be Christmas without it." "Won't be Christmas with it." "It's December 16th." "Luke will help Gloria." "He's not scared." "Oh, good." "You won't find me in any attic." "That may be exactly where they find you." "Mom!" "Uh, I have a party tonight." "You promised I could go if I got a "B" on my test." "I studied." "I read stuff." "What was the point of all that?" " The point, young lady, is for..." " Who can remember?" "Express Christmas will be done by 9:00." " Claire, I'll text you the gift list." " Okay." "You and Haley do the shopping." "Manny, you're coming with me." "We're gonna get groceries." "Dinner, our house, 6:00." "Let's move!" "On dasher!" "On dancer!" "On prancer and vixen!" "Hey, that kind of worked out." "Come on, Haley." "It'll be fun." "A lot of fun." "We can go to target." "Okay?" "Come on, let's go!" "So it's-- it's just me and Lily getting the tree, then?" " Hello?" " Hello?" "My mom tells me it's "Xmas" in a text?" "Yeah, well, my mom canceled in a voice mail and told me she had a boyfriend in a newsletter, so... join the team." "Put some clothes on." "We're getting a tree." "Wait." "Hold on." " Luke!" " At what?" "What do you mean,"at what"?" "I said "Luke."" "I am looking." "I know you are." "Stay on the beams." "Maybe it's here." "Ay, dios mio!" "El diablo!" "It's back!" "What is so special about that angel, anyways?" "I don't know." "I guess Nana made it for mom and Uncle Mitchell when they were kids." "Ay, that's nice." "Look where you're going!" "To open more boxes." "Oh, you said "look where you're going, " didn't you?" "Yes." "Every time you say "Luke," I think you're saying "look."" "I don't hear the difference." "It's not that hard." "One is my name." "Juan is not your name!" "Stop kidding around and look, Luke!" "Ay, I get it." ""Look" sounds like "Luke."" "Yes." "Thank God." "I've been carrying that one around for three years." "Ugh." "There's like a hundred things on this list." "I know but it's just the two of us." "It's fun." "Okay, it's not fake mother's day." "Ugh!" "This place is huge!" "Oh, plus we have to cook dinner!" "This is impossible." "Listen to me." "Your whole life has led to this moment." "All the training, the hours of dedication... there's not a soul alive who can touch you when it comes to shopping, and, baby, you know it." "Look at me." "Be you." "Give me that list." "Never been more proud in my life." " Come on." " No." "This way." "What about this one?" "Let's see." "No." "No." "I'm sorry, I know I'm being really O.C.D. right now, but there's something very particular that I'm looking for." "It needs to be a Douglas fir, at least 8 feet tall, and look good from all sides." "Exactly." "No bald spots." "Yes." "Thank you." "Thank you." "The key is symmetry, right?" "♪ Oh, symmetry, oh symmetry ♪" "How come we never go shopping together?" " Because I hate shopping." " I do, too!" " Okay, this one." " Wait." " Oh." "No, no, no." " Oh, no, no, no, no." "Uh, I think I know what you're looking for, and we just got a shipment that might be perfect for you." "Okay, wow." "Just because my uncle is clearly gay... doesn't mean he'd ever want your tacky pink tree." "And frankly, we'd rather throw some lights on a coatrack than have to deal with knuckle-draggers like you today of all days." "December 16th." "Okay, first of all, amazing." " Second of all." " I was pointing to the truck." "It's full of 8-foot Douglas-firs." "It's behind the pink tree." "Second of all, uh, we're-we're gonna go ahead and take, uh, this-this tree..." " That one." " And we're going to tie it onto our car ourselves." "You bet you will." " I have two daddies." " He gets it, Lily." "Yeah." "Oh." "Finger." "All right." "Cam and Jay" " You know, sort of sounds like a bird." ""The migratory patterns of the Cam and Jay..."" "Do you have any more tape in that thing?" "Do I have more tape in that?" "I got a tank full of tape, mister." "What do you want?" "Invisible?" "Satin finish?" " Uh, double sided?" " Whatever." "Whatever." "Okay." "That's interesting." "I doubt that it is, but what?" "Well, I mean the way you wrap a gift." "That's a lot of tape." "Nobody can get in." "Kind of like... you know..." "I mean, well, you let me in, but in general, w-- Why so much tape, Jay?" "Why are you wearing a sweater when it's 95 degrees out?" "It's my Christmas sweater." "Based on those stains, you are the Christmas sweater." "Well, who's been a very good boy?" "So..." "Okay." "Are we gonna talk about the elephant in the room, which is ironic because it's so tiny?" "A man doesn't give another man a gift this small." "Oh, what do you think it is, a ring?" " Was there wine with this cork?" " Yes, there was, and we drank it on..." "Oh, we drank it on, uh... eh?" "Yeah." "Um... on that boat." " You have no idea." " I can't even remember my own anniversary, Cam." "How would I have remembered having had wine with my son's boyfriend?" "No, I do this." "This is my fault." "I" " I attach too much meaning to things." "I mean, we watched our first football game together five years ago, and I feel the need to save the cork from the bottle of wine you served." "I mean, who does that?" "It's not your only gift, by the way." "There's a duplicate bottle in that box right over there which I had engraved with the date and the final score, because I have a problem." "I feel too much." "I gotta get going to Claire's." " Cam..." " No." "Fresh wound." "Can't talk yet." "Fine." "We'll put a cork in it." "Let it scab, Jay." "Let it scab." "Oh, there you are." "I thought I'd lost you." "Oh, I'm sorry." "I may have taken a few minutes to try out a futon." "It's a young woman's game." "Okay." "Where do we stand?" " I think we have everything." " Yes!" "Oh... except the ladybug night-light for Lily." " Haley, your whole life has led up..." " Oh, I got it, mom, I got it." "Okay, great." "I'll see you in line." "Yes, Ronald?" "I not only found it, I got the last one." "Yes, the ladybug, not the turtle." "I also got the doll, so I'm all set." "I'm gonna leave in five." "Or maybe I just want paper." "Paper." "Paper." "Just paper all the way." "Yeah." "Haley!" "Too late to change my mind?" "Sir, would you like me to hold your merchandise up at the register while you finish shopping?" "Oh." "Aren't you a dream?" "Pack of gum." "And... one more pack of gum." "People drop in this time of year, you know." "Excuse me." "Sorry." "Pardon me." "Sorry." "Excuse me." "Night-light you were looking for, ma'am." "Ring her up, Madison." "Thank you." "There you go." "You're leaving me alone here?" "No, no, no, no." "I... it'll, uh, it'll just take me two minutes." "I need to get Jay's supersecret special gift." "Great." "First you lose me in the grocery store, now I'm in a deserted parking lot." "Why don't you just put a sign on me that says "free kid"?" "I think that might be him." "You don't know the guy we're meeting?" "That's how Craigslist works." "Total strangers sell you things like signed vintage baseball cards that make your father-in-law respect you for an afternoon." "I don't like the looks of this guy." "He looks like everybody else." "Great." "You can just tell that to the police sketch artist." "Joe DiMaggio?" "Phil Dunphy, but I get that a lot." "Kidding." "I'm your guy." "Can I see the cash?" "Yes." "Can I... can I see the card?" "Mint condition." "That's why I want another $50." "I only have the $200." "Uh, deal's off, then." "Come on." "It's Christmas..." "at our house." "It's a long story." "$225." "I just spent all my cash on groceries." " Fine." "But I'm taking the butterball." " I don't know about that." "That's it." "I'm getting mother's little helper." " What?" " My mom keeps a stun gun for emergencies." "This isn't an emergen" " Eeh!" "Now it is." "I thought he was going to snatch me." "A butterball is a turkey." "What'd he say?" "I think he said,"a butterball's a turkey." I was reaching for the turkey." "Oh." "Well, we can't give you our turkey." "Yes, we can." "And... here's the... money." "Joe DiMaggio!" "Joe DiMaggio." "Mint condit-- Near-mint con" "Fair condit-- Garbage." "Huh." "Never saw this before." ""An angel for my angels." "Love, mom."" "Oh, that's beautiful." "And it smells like mothballs, just like Nana." "Luke..." " Thank" " Merry Christmas." " Just" " Just give it up." "He hates us." "Don't beat yourself up." "I do that, like, once a week." "The good news is, we never have to come back here." "Watch out!" " The tree!" " I can't watch!" " Look!" " Ay, yes, I said "Luke."" " You told me already." "I did it right!" " No!" "Look!" "Never look back." "Never!" "Maybe we can salvage it?" "Are you okay, papi?" "Yeah." "Good." "That's because we had our guardian angel." "Ay!" "A spider!" "Hey, mom?" "Check it." "The gum!" "Oh, and you made it pretty." "Honey, put it on the table." " New tradition?" " Oh, yes." "Yes." "Christmas gum." "I take one." "Tough to decorate the tree with no tree, huh?" "Yeah." "How long you gonna ignore me, Cam?" "Until the shame cloud clears." "You know, I push." "I'm a pusher." "You gotta give yourself a break." "See, the thing about me, I'm not as open with feelings as you." "You've gotta lower your expectations." "Oh, I get it." " Baby steps." " No steps." "This is it." "See?" "Did it again." "Push!" "Push, push, push, push." "Now I've pushed you out of the room." "That's fine." "How is she?" "I got the tire marks off her wings, but I can't get her head to stay on." "Okay, that's what this is for." "Now stick it in the top of the tree with the good part facing out." "Come on." "Well, that stuffing looks good." "All we need now is a turkey to surround it." "Well, relax." "Phil just texted, and he's "on his wax."" "Okay!" "Here comes the tree." "Oh!" "Finally!" " Here comes more of the tree." " Hi, honey." "Oh." "Oh, my gosh." "What happened?" "Well, uh, someone ran over it, but that's okay 'cause we are gonna put it back together." "Right now." "He's gonna need a lot of gum." "Oh, thank God." "Here comes Phil and the butterball." "I have a name." "I am sorry, but there is no turkey." "There's no turkey?" "What's the plan, Phil?" "Cornish game hens." "If you get real close, they look like turkeys, and everyone gets their own." "Sounds like fun." "Not fun." "Not fun." "I asked you to pick up a cooked turkey." "The store was out of turkeys." "It was an hour to express Christmas." "Please, just make it work, okay?" "Please." "They're not even defrosted." "Fine, Claire." "You want 'em defrosted?" "Merry... freaking..." "Christmas!" "Phil!" "Is that my stun gun?" "Yep." "And it works great." "Okay." "Okay." "Um... we can make this work." "This can work." "Dad, you and Mitchell reassemble that tree." "All right." "And I am going to defrost these birds, and we'll cook them in shifts, and we'll just push dinner back by a bit." "Oh, how long?" "'Cause I still have my party." " What the hell happened to the angel?" " No!" "The real question here is, how come we still have the dog butler?" "Oh, you found him, huh?" "Well, this thing is... it's filthy." "And... what happened?" "!" "It got run over." "Probably by the same maniac who ran over the tree." "Oh, my God." "Is that..." "Yep." "Yep, that's gum." "That is gum." "Okay, I'm..." "I'm out." "I'm done." "I am out." "No." "No turkey, no tree, and now this looks like the lady she used to be before she died and became an angel." "All right." "Relax, Mitchell." "It's an ornament." "No, he's right." "We're never gonna get this together." " I'm going to my party." " No, no." "No, you're not." "You are not." "You're staying right here, because you're not going to abandon your family... on Christmas." "It's not Christmas." "Exactly." "Exactly." "It's not Christmas, Claire." "Okay, fine!" "Fine!" "You know what?" "I am really tired of trying to make this work on my own." "I will see you people in a year." "And nine days." "No!" "Nobody goes anywhere." "I know what the problem is here." "You two miss your mommy." " No." " I do not miss my mommy." "Admit it." "It's sad." "She used to make you cookies, the angel..." "Now she talks to you in a newsletter and she cancels for no reason." "Come here, my little ones." "No." "We're... good." "No, it's fine." "We're good." "It's not a big deal." "It's Christmas." "You need a mommy." " You're not mommy." " But you're not our mommy." "And it's not Christmas." "Come here." "It's okay to miss her." "Can I put in my 2 cents on fake Christmas?" "Express Christmas." "Let it go, Phil." "It's not sticking." "It needs time." "We all gave it our best shot to make this thing work." "It just didn't happen, all right?" "What do you say we cut our losses?" "Let's go out to a nice Chinese restaurant and have a traditional Jewish Christmas." "But I risked my life grocery shopping." "Save that story for Wang Fu." "Now let's go." "Come on, everybody." " Oh, Wang Fu's?" "Dad, no." " On me!" "Out!" "Everybody out!" "Wang Fu's." "It's on me." " Let's go." " Come on, baby girl." "Come on, honey." " What's going on?" " Awesome!" "You hate Chinese food." "Not bad, huh?" "Jay, Jay, Jay." " You wanna hug me, don't you?" " I kind of do." "4 to 5 seconds." " 45 seconds?" " 4 to 5 seconds." "Oh, okay." "Family is family." "Whether it's the one you start out with..." " Hi, mom!" " Hi, mom!" " Merry Christmas!" " So, um, tell us everything about the new boyfriend." " Oh, yeah." " Don't leave anything out." " You can leave some things out." "The one that you end up with..." "Or the family that you gain along the way..." "Which makes every day December 16th." "Hey, Jay, um, I'm sorry about the baseball card." "I" " I did get you a- a backup gift." "It's-it's nothing." "I picked it up when we stopped for gas." "Dog antlers." "I know." "You got us snow, and I got you dog antlers." " I love these." " I thought you might." "Honey, look." "Come here." "How cute is that?" "Where's my camera?" "Gloria, you gotta see this!" "Casta, Gloria!" " Dog antlers..." " He loves dog antlers." "Oh, no!" "Okay!" "I am so sorry."