“Leroy meets EJ and the Makarios parental unit.”
(Over the past month, Leroy has been on an adventure to meet Madison’s family. Some of the meetings have had mixed feelings toward him, only because the family is protective of her, just like they are with each other, and this pregnancy thing surprised the family. They weren’t ready for another baby since they had 3 crawling around and figuring out the Lopez way of life. We see EJ with Mr. and Mrs. M. Who are still in town after Madison’s pregnancy announcement, but they’ll soon depart to go back home for a little while before coming back around the 8-month mark.)
Brooklyn: Thanks for babysitting his kids…
Mr. M Oh it’s no problem! This family is always busy with something and we like to pitch in any way we can, even on our “mini vacation”. We love these kids. Any idea where they’re going?
Brooklyn: He mentioned something about going to a movie and heading to the beach which he wants me there, I don’t know he talked too fast for me to understand. He’s probably up to something, he gets that way when he gets excited or nervous.
(In the background we can see Mrs. M playing with the twins and the twins are giggling at her every moment. You could tell she was in heaven by playing with them. One of the twins tries to mimic her but it leads to a frustrated outburst with him.)
Mr. M Someone’s in heaven back there with the twins!
(EJ makes his way back into the living room at the same time Leroy and Madison show up and enter the house. The two men share a sup head nod at each other before EJ leaves. Clearly, EJ didn’t have time to talk to the boy but acknowledged his existence. As EJ leaves, Mr. M looks toward Leroy like any “judgemental” father would)
Mr. M Is that the guy who knocked you up?
Leroy: ….
Madison:Dad!
(Mr. M starts to circle around the boy like a shark looking for a snack to eat, the tension between the two starts to build but he extends his hand out with a smile.)
Mr. M Welcome to the family!
(Leroy nervously shook his hand, he wasn’t sure what Mr. M would do.)
Mrs, M: He does that to scare off the guys my girls bring home, but so far it hasn’t worked. James is still with Lexi and Eddie is…well…he’s still part of the family.
Mr. M No man is good enough for my daughters.
Mrs. M Oh hush. I’m sure Leroy has treated Madison well.
Leroy: I am! Ever since I met her, I’ve treated her so well and I’ve never seen her so happy before and that’s my goal. To make her happy and to let her achieve her dreams, and she wants the same for me too. I told Alexis this and I’ll tell you this too, I won’t let anything happen to her, and I’ll make sure that she focuses on her career and her life goals. Our kid will be in great hands, too.
Mrs. M That’s wonderful to hear! Just to let you know, that baby is going to be so spoiled!
(While Mrs. M is excited about the baby coming Mr. M doesn’t really feel that way just yet, he thinks they did this way too soon. But as a father, he has the right to be concerned about this relationship and them rushing into things as they did.)
Leroy: The baby will?
Mrs. M Yeah, I mean Jenn can’t have kids, and I doubt Lexi is having a kid anytime soon, it may be our only chance to spoil a baby of our own…..
Leroy: Isn’t Gracie your grandkid too?
Mrs. M Yeah but we can’t spoil her….
Mr. M No matter how much SOMEONE wants to….
(He glares right at his wife, staring daggers through her but she doesn’t pay attention to it. Leroy is starting to feel more comfortable with Madison’s parents, how long will this last? Time will tell but for now, after meeting them he feels alright. The last person he needs to meet is Jenn but she’s hard to get a hold of as of late.)
Mr. M You’ll learn that the males in the family take care of the females, we just want what's best for them, and that includes her…..
(He points at Brooklyn.)
Mr. M I’ve always said you don’t have to be blood to be family and she hangs around this family so much so I consider her part of it. If she brings a guy home, I’ll be the same way as I was with you, it’s nothing personal.
(The group starts talking about stuff and getting to know Leroy as the scene comes to an end)
“Something special”
(After an hour of talking and getting to know Leroy, Brooklyn escaped the convo to find her long-time friend, Eddie Jr. He left to go on a date with his long-time girlfriend for the first time since the kids were born, it’s something they wanted just to escape the house for a bit. With it being the weekend the beach is filled with happy, laughing, tourist beachgoers enjoying the southern California sun. On her way to look for Eddie Jr, a familiar voice to the PWS universe (yuck) stops her)
Voice: Brooklyn! Hold up a minute.
(Brooklyn stops and turns around, she’s face to face with a legend, a hall of fame Brittany Lopez! She hasn’t been seen since her Hall of Fame induction a couple of years ago. She’s been super busy with her life as a soccer mom and coach along with finding new love in her life)
Brittany: Heyy where are you running off to?
Brooklyn: Trying to find EJ, there are so many people here.
Brittany: I saw him down by the skating area, he’s cheering on some of those kids. He’s with my kids too and he sent me to find you because he has something planned and whats you to be there for it.
Brooklyn: I knew it!
Brittany: What?
Brooklyn: I knew he was something to something, he rushed out of the house earlier and he was twitchy, and he’s normally like that if something is about to happen. I’ve known him for ages so I know how he reacts to stuff. So anyway, how are your brothers doing?
Brittany: Well, I talk to Eddie daily but Alberto on the other hand, Eddie, and I haven’t seen him since Dad’s funeral. I mean I know he’s in Florida and I know he has 6 kids but a call or text would be nice you know?
(Brittany shrugs her shoulders slightly as they make their way toward EJ and her kids who are hanging around the skate park area of the beach. Meanwhile, for these two, they’ve met for like 10 minutes but they haven’t had a full convo to really get to know each other but they have time, Brooklyn isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, and the family will see more of her too.)
Brooklyn: Yeah… I have a question…what did Mr M mean by I’m part of the family?
Brittany: When did he say that?
Brooklyn: Almost an hour ago when I was with them.
Brittany: I guess they like you and they see you as part of the family. They don’t use those words lightly either, so when they say it they really mean it. Plus you’ve been helping out my nephew and I can’t thank you enough for that and they see that… I see that, Eddie sees that. So yeah, you’re part of the family.
Brooklyn: That’s good to know!
Brittany: Yeah! Speaking of my nephew, I know he’s in English classes how’s that going for him?
Brooklyn: Slow. I mean he’s starting to speak better English but it’s slow. At first, he thought it was stupid but the more he realized he needed it the more he’s starting to process it and talk more. I mean with Spanish as the only language he knows, I’m sure it’s hard and frustrating.
Brittany: Well….lets it wasn’t easy for me to learn Spanish but I did it. I mean being the only white lady in a Mexican family…. yeah I had to learn that quickly.
(The two girls look at each other for a moment before chuckling at the statement she made, which is true. She’s the only white woman in the Lopez family though adopted. She had to learn the Lopez way and she’s grown up pretty good with it.)
Brooklyn: I bet! And I’m sure you’re still watching your family doing wrestling right?
Brittany: Of course, I try to stay up to date with everything going on even though I’m busy with the girls and their stuff but I kinda wanna know who attacked Gracie. I know she doesn’t have that many friends and I know Lexi is gone crazy with that mannequin stuff. Too much madness now!
Brooklyn: You thinking of coming back?
Brittany: No way. I’m too busy with life as it is and then you want me to train to get back into the ring? I’ve been in the ring for 8 years now, and I’m older. So it’s not a simple 1 day to get ready, I’ll need several months. I’ll leave the action to you guys, you guys are killing it, EJ is killing it. I saw that he won the last show.
Brooklyn: He did! I’m proud of him for that, Corey was the person I expected him to be. He was tough, and he punished EJ but EJ stuck with the plan he went in with and didn’t back down. He didn’t give up either. Everyone knows how resilient Gracie is in that ring, they’re going to learn the same thing about EJ too. He doesn’t know when to quit and he doesn’t know how to stop himself, he pushes himself to the limit in the ring, in the gym, it doesn’t matter. These people will start to figure that out.
(Brittany nods her head as they get closer to the rest of the family. Brittany was the same way too when she wrestled, she was resilient, and took a lot to get her down.)
Brooklyn: This week is another tough task, he’s gonna be facing Candy.
Brittany: she’s still wrestling? God I remember when I used to wrestle, that was a long ass time ago and she’s still doing it. More power to her, and I’m sure it’s going to be a great match between the two of you as well.
Brooklyn: Me too. From the stuff I looked up, she’s a hall of famer, and she deserves it. I’m not going to stand here and bash her because she doesn’t deserve that, she’s fought hard to get everything she has from the titles to the friendships, to the hall of fame.
Brittany: Yep….
Brooklyn: Look, some people say she’s dumb and from the stories I gather and heard from your family, I don’t see that in her. Sure, she’s bizarre and has tried to do some strange things like smuggling a koala. I mean who hasn’t?! Those things are so gosh darn cuddly and soft. Candy is a kid at heart, we all know this. She’s like SpongeBob, she’s not harming anybody unless she uses glitter and I’ve heard that’s hard to get out.
Brittany: Awww, that’s nice!
Brooklyn: Right? And people say I’m evil….ha! Anyway, EJ see’s facing candy as an honor. And for him to step into the ring with someone of her status, he’s humbled by the experience, and he’s not going to take that lightly either. I know he’s going to go in there and put on a match and impress her, I know she’s faced almost every person in this family, and she’s going to see what he dishes out. Here’s the thing if he wins, he can lay claim to facing her sometime down the road, because defeating a champion is nothing to shake a stick at. So who knows what will happen?
(Brooklyn slaps her chest slightly with her hand.)
Brooklyn: And I promise you that I won’t get involved, which I never do but I just want you to understand that Candy, this match is between the two of you.
(They reach EJ, but Ej saw his girlfriend walking on the beach after the bathroom and he ran away to hug her. But after he does that he gets down on one knee and proposes to the young girl. Brooklyn turns around just in time to see the proposal in action and she has the biggest smile in the world. She’s watching her two best friends in the world get engaged right in front of her. ‘After the question was popped, and she said yes, she leaps into EJ’s arms and they share a big hug before walking back towards Brooklyn with smiles on their faces)
Brooklyn: Seeing my two best friends getting engaged is so cool! I’m so happy for you guys!
EJ: Perfect time for proposal…time to let family know.
Brooklyn: including Lexi?
EJ: She family right?
(While his English isn’t perfect and his Spanish accent is very heavy, those were the first words he spoke using his new language. Brittany has a big smile on her face after watching the proposal and him speaking broken English AND warming up to Lexi, all big milestones for the youngest member of the Lopez family, it’s a huge day for him.