"Father's Day"
Author's Notes: This is a stand-alone story, although I do plan to finish my "After the Finale" series, later. The dates are also just close approximates, they may not necessarily fit with canon. If I'm way off on any of the dates, let me know and I'll try to fix them. I wrote this very quickly and the format is different than I've ever tried to write before, it was partly inspired by the epiosde "Crock Tales." Please tell me what you think.
Disclaimer: All characters are the property of somebody else.
It's Father's Day, twenty years from now and a large group of mourners are assembled in a quiet, dimly-lit church in Seattle, Washington. Among them are most of the Crane family, as the final speaker begins his eulogy their minds begin to wonder back to Father's Days of the past.
"In my life there have been many challenges that I have faced. Having to stand up here today, in front of everyone that I love so much and give this speech, well this is about the hardest thing I've ever done. I'm not even sure if I can continue living my life now, but I know that he would want me to, so I guess I'll have to try."
Father's Day 1959
"Son come here and sit with me for a minute, I need to talk to you."The little boy dutifully walks over and climbs up into his father's lap. "When is Mom coming home?"
"She'll be home soon." The father, unsure of how to tell his son what amounts to the first truly bad news of his life, begins to stroke the young child's hair.
"Is Grandpa better yet?"
"Well, son, that's kind of what I need to talk to you about. You see, well, Grandpa isn't going to get any better."
"Do you mean he died?"
"I'm afraid so son, I'm sorry." The child doesn't cry he simply looks up into his Father's eyes, unsure of what this really means.
"Like what our dog died?"
"Yeah, just like that."
"I'll never get to see him again?"
"No, son, I'm sorry. But, you know your Grandpa really was very sick the last few months, and now he can rest."
"You can rest when you die?"
"Yeah, I think so."
"Does it hurt when you die?"
"No, no, when you die is when it quits hurting."
"When is Mom coming home?" The child's tears were starting to come now.
"Soon, but until then, I'm here, we better go check on the baby."
"Okay… Dad, when are you going to die?"
"Not for a long, long time son."
"Do you promise?"
"Yeah, I promise."
"Life doesn't always turn out how you planned it to. He taught me that. He also taught me that most of the time, things turn out even better than you could've planned for them to."
Father's Day 1966
"Are you sure you'll be all right?"
"Yeah, I'm sure. Thank you for bringing me home."
"It's no problem." The older man gently put his arm around the young girl's shoulders, he knew she was upset over being dumped by her boyfriend. "It'll be okay, I promise."
"Thanks again, you've been really wonderful."
"It's nothing."
"I hope, that someday, I can find a man as wonderful as you, instead of these creeps that keep finding me."
"You will, I'm sure of it." He smiled at her as she begin to get out of the car and walk towards where her mother was standing on the porch.
"Happy Father's Day."
"Thanks, we'll see you next weekend?"
"Of course, I love baby sitting for those boys, they really keep themselves. I just occasionally have to drag the little one out from under the piano."
"Yeah, we're working on him."
"Goodnight."
"Goodnight sweetheart."
"I don't think I'll ever forget what he told me when I left home for college. I'd share those words of wisdom with you now but he made me promise to never tell my Mom."
Father's Day 1974
The tall, stocky built young man stood embracing his mother in the living room of his parent's home."Are you sure you have to spend the summer in Europe?"
"Just yesterday you were telling me what a great experience it would be. Mom, I can't pass up this opportunity."
"I know, it's just that with you going off to college this fall, I thought we could spend one last summer together, you know, as a family."
"I'll be home before school starts. We'll have almost a whole month together. Maybe we can take one of Dad's infamous car trips."
"Sounds like a plan."
His father, returning from work, walks in on the tender scene.
"I see you're all packed."
"Yeah, my plane leaves in an hour."
"You better be going then, have a good time."
"Have a good time? I'm leaving for the entire summer and that's the best you can do?"
"Geez son, what do you want me to say?"
"I don't know, I know you're not good at goodbyes."
"You mean to say I'm not good at being a father."
"No, by the way, here's your father's day present."
"Son, I'm sorry, thank you for this, and… well don't tell you mother, but when I left to join the service my Dad gave me a few words of wisdom, I think it's time I share them with you."
"What is it?"
"Nah, go tell your mother goodbye then I'll drive you to the airport. I'll tell you in the car." They shake hands, enjoying a new chapter in their always rocky relationship.
"It was a rare occasion to hear him speak a bad word about anyone, and those times that he did, the criticism was tightly woven and disguised with humor."
Father's Day 1982
"Honey, this is the first time he's really been excited about a girl, just give her a chance."
"But the way he's describing her she sounds weird."
"Even if she is, that doesn't matter, he's the one who wants to marry her, he's not asking you to."
Their youngest son had never been much of a lady's man. Now that he was finally "in love", to use his words, his parents were split over how to feel about the occasion.
"I just wish he would've dated around a little bit more before deciding to settle down."
"We can't tell him he's too young."
"Youth is measured in more ways than numbers, he's very immature, especially, you know… that way."
"I have a feeling he's not as immature as you think."
"I don't want to think about it."
"Give her a chance, for me… for your son."
"Okay, I will." The always passionate couple shared a kiss until they heard footsteps approaching the house.
"Knock, knock," a handsome young man stepped nervously into his parent's kitchen, "I'd like you guys to meet the love of my life, the woman I plan to spent entirety with. Honey, come on in." His parents stood anxiously awaiting to meet their future daughter-in-law, but she wouldn't come in. "She's shy, just a minute."
"Like I said, weird."
"Give her a chance."
"How can I, she won't even come in the house! Let's spy on them."
"Come on, we really shouldn't," she protested but still made her way towards the kitchen window. They could see their son, who appeared to be begging to a lamp post. "Is that her?"
"Where?"
"Standing beside that lamp post he's talking to."
"Oh, wait, she's not standing beside it, she is it."
"I never thought a person could be that thin."
Together they shared their first of many laughs aimed at the eccentric lady who would later that year become their son's wife.
"If he never taught me anything else, he taught me the importance of being near your family. Not necessarily getting along with your family or even always liking them, but never forgetting that you love them. And that your family are the people that, no matter what they do to you, that you should never stop loving. Because, they're the only people that you can depend on to never stop loving you either."
Father's Day 1994
"Well Dad what do you want to do today?"
"I thought I'd sit here and watch the ballgame."
"But it's Father's Day, don't you want to go out and get some dinner together?"
"Where?"
"There's this great new French restaurant that just opened up down town, we could try that."
"I'd rather sit here."
"Where'd you want to go?"
"The Steak house?"
"Can't you ever eat anywhere that doesn't require a cardiologist report to get in the door?"
"Very funny. Look, I don't mean to be hateful, if you want to spend today with me so much, why don't we just watch the game together?"
"I really don't like football."
"It's June."
"I'm sorry, I guess it's not football season."
"Good call."
"I guess I can stand a basketball game, then."
"Oh, brother."
"When I pitched the no hitter my senior year of high school, he was cheering louder than anyone. Probably because he understood the significance of the event more than the rest of the family. Of course, when I won my first spelling bee, he was cheering pretty loud that day too."
Father's Day 2004
The gray haired gentleman sit in a raggedy old recliner, balancing the television remote in one hand and his new born grandson in the other. Everyone had come over to have a special Father's Day brunch and while they were bustling about in the kitchen, he decided to spend some one on one time with his grandson.
"Oh, here we go, the Mariners versus the Reds." He put down the remote and gently shifted the baby so that he was looking towards the t.v. screen. "Now, that guy with the mask on there, that's the catcher. The one with the big stick, he's the batter. The guy standing on the mound, that's the pitcher. In a minute he's going to sling the ball towards those two guys. Now the guy with the bat, he's going to try to hit it, but the catcher, he's there in case the guy doesn't hit it, or in case he hits a fowl, well, we'll get into that more later. For now, just keep your eye on the guy with the bat."
"Oh, Dad, please don't fill his head with all that."
"No, no, no, this may be my last chance to have someone to talk sports with, I'm not giving up."
"I love baseball." The newest addition to his growing family, his daughter-in-law, came over and sit down on the couch.
"Really? Well, come over here and watch with me, help me fill this little guy in."
"He may be a little young yet."
"I thought that years ago, but I waited too late, this time I'm not missing my chance."
"Ok, well, oh, now, that was a homerun."
"And with two men on, which means…"
"Mariners are up three, zip. Bottom of the eighth, we've got a real chance today."
"Maybe this won't be my last chance, sounds like we may have some genes in there that can outwit the opera/ chess/ math camp genes my boys seem to carry."
"My genes and I will certainly try."
"Today, of course is Father's Day. In one respect it seems tragic to bury him today, but in another, it seems really fitting. He was a great Father, an outstanding Father-in-Law and a wonderful Grandfather, I don't think anyone would try to dispute that."
Father's Day 2008
"You're doing great."
"When's he going to get here?"
"I'm sure he'll be here real soon, okay?"
"I don't want to do this alone."
"You're not alone, sweetheart, I'm right here."
"I'm really scared."
"I know, but these are just monitors and wires, just precautions."
"They're early, before I knew the baby was healthy, he was two weeks late, but this time they're early and they're twins, that's why I'm scared, what if something's wrong?"
"Then we'll get through it like a family, okay?"
"Okay. Oh, I seem to be getting light-headed."
"That's probably the shot kicking in. Why don't you just try to get some sleep, the doctor said it'd be best if you could rest a while before the contractions start to get stronger. I'm sure that husband of yours will be here before you know it."
"Promise me you'll stay with me if I fall asleep?"
"I promise."
"I love you."
"I love you too," he helped her roll onto her side and gently stroked her hair as she shut her eyes, "Now try to get some rest, this is going to be a long day."
It had already been a long day and he was getting sleepy himself, so he laid his head down on the bed next to his daughter-in-law, his hand still on her back. That's how his son found them when he finally made his way from the conference he was attending in Tacoma. He just sit down on the other side of the bed and waited for them to wake up.
"We're all going to miss you Grandpa, but we're all so grateful for the time we got to spend with you."
David Crane made his way off of the altar and sit down beside his mother. She reach over and wiped his eyes with the Kleenex she had been clutching since the beginning of the service. The service now over, the other members of the congregation quietly filled by the coffin, paying their last respects while the family sat tearfully on the front pews. Frasier, holding his nine year old son, his wife Charlotte with her arm wrapped protectively around the both of them. Fredrick sat beside his step-mother, his pregnant bride by his side. Martin would miss meeting his great-grand daughter by just a few weeks. David laid his head down on his mother's shoulder and wept. Daphne wrapped her arms around her now grown son and tried to comfort him, but she couldn't manage to make her own tears to stop flowing. Niles was sitting beside of them, holding the hand of his 16 year old daughter, her twin brother was sitting on the far end of the pew, rebelliously refusing to cry. He would do that later, when he was alone in his bedroom. In the middle of them all, Ronee Crane couldn't help but smile, she knew how proud Martin was of his boys and their families. They were the best gift Marty had ever given her. They had certainly all been there for her during his illness, she knew that wouldn't change now. He was resting, he had once told her that's what he thought death was like, and she believed him. Still, everyone knew that Father's Day would never be the same.