Part 1: Heart-ties & Blood-ties – The Homework Assignment

A/N: This is the first in a series of one-shots and shorts celebrating fatherhood.

Port Charles, New York

Queen of Angels Middle School

Thursday, May 17, 2017

Sister Marie Bernard was one of the seventh grade teachers at Queen of Angels Middle School. Every spring she gave the same assignment to her seventh graders. And this year was no different.

Assignment: write an essay about your favorite person or someone you care about or the person who has the most influence on you and think of one word that would describe this person.

Cam had been thinking about the assignment all week. Let's see . . . I know so many people and there are so many I really like, I guess that would make them a favorite . . . He took a piece of paper from his notebook, It's easier if I make a list . . . writing at the top of the page "My favorite people." In a few minutes he was ready to review.

There are a lot of people on this list and lots who are my favorites . . . or who take care of me . . . Grams, and Uncle Stephen, Grandmother, Nanny Maureen, and Morgan, my little brother Jake, and Spinny. Oh, and I really like Aunt Carly and Uncle Jax, Aunt Brenda and Grandpa, and Pappa Tino.

He looked at his list again, and none of these people were really who Cameron thought of as his favorite person. He read the list again, and taking a fresh piece of paper made his decision.

My Favorite Person

by Cameron Alexander Webber

In this assignment I'm supposed to write about my favorite person or someone I care about a lot, or someone who has a lot of influence on me and to think of one word that would describe this person. I guess I'm really lucky because I have a lot of people I care about, my little brother, Jake, and my sister, Lillianna, and my Grams, and Uncle Stephen, and Maureen (she's our Nanny, well not mine anymore) and my friend, Morgan. Morgan and I have been friends for a long time. And there's also Morgan's brother, Michael. And there's Spinny – he works on computers all day and talks funny and is funny too, but he's not the one. And there are a lot of others, Grandmother, and Grandpa, Pappa Tino, and Aunt Carly, and Aunt Brenda, Adam and Marco and Tad and Tom – they work for my Dad.

And I guess I could have written about Mom, but she's been gone for a while. Even though I think about her all the time and we talk about her all the time, I don't want to write about her as my favorite person.

My favorite person is my Dad. I know it sounds kind of lame to choose my Dad as my favorite person. A lot of people may choose a sports person or someone from a band or rock group, or an actor from TV. But, my Dad meets all the things this assignment is about. He is my favorite person, he takes care of me and a lot of other people too, and he has the most influence in my life.

I know that my Dad is different from most Dads and he hasn't been my official Dad for that long, but I feel like he's always been my Dad. He didn't become my official Dad until after Mom died in a car accident. I was nine and my brother, Jake, was six. He came all the way from Italy to be with us with his daughter and Pappa Tino. I remembered him from when I was younger and I knew he was a really good friend of my Mom's then. [color=blue]And I had seen him sometimes at Morgan's house when he would visit.[/color]

I know he's not my Dad by blood, and he is Jake's Dad by blood. But he explained to me that it's not only blood ties that are important and that heart-ties are just as important and sometimes even more important. That's when he told me that his daughter was not his by blood, but by a heart-tie, just like me. I didn't find out until two years ago that he loved my Mom very much but they wouldn't be together to protect my Mom and me and Jake from my Dad's life. He even named his daughter for my Mom and his Grandmother, and Lily's Mom too, Lillianna Elizabeth.

I guess my Mom loved him a lot too and didn't think he was so dangerous anymore since she wanted him to take care of us if anything happened to her. It's something I still don't understand and Dad said he would be able to explain it better when I was older because then I would be able to understand better, too. And I trust him, so if he said there were reasons they couldn't be together then they must have been good ones, because he never lies to me about anything.

One of the first things I noticed about my Dad is that he's pretty quiet. He does just about everything quietly, he even walks quietly which sometimes I can't figure out how because he usually wears these heavy boots. He doesn't even make a lot of noise when he cooks – my Mom used to make a real racket. And he never yells – I hear my friends Dad's yelling all the time. They yell at the ball field, when they're mad or just to get your attention.

My Dad never even yells at the ball field, but I always know that he's there – even sometimes when I can't see him. And he never yells when he gets mad, and that's another thing I like about my Dad, he doesn't get mad. I know you're thinking everyone gets angry some time and I suppose that's true, but my Dad doesn't. He gets irritated and annoyed with things at work or when he has to work all the time. But he doesn't get mad at me or anyone in his family.

When we do something wrong or something dangerous for us, he sits us down and explains why it was a bad thing or why it was dangerous. He let's us ask questions and he answers all of them. That's not to say there are never punishments, there are and he tries to make them fit the crime. But he doesn't hit and he never says anything bad to us or anything like that. And on Sunday your punishment is suspended.

Sunday's are the best days. He cooks this huge breakfast every Sunday after church. He cooks eggs, and bacon and sausages, and potatoes, and all kinds of pancakes – pancakes are his specialty. He said he learned to cook them for my Mom because they were her favorite, but he never got the chance to make her any because they couldn't be together. But he makes them for me and Jake and Lillianna, and Michael and Morgan and their sister, every Sunday. And friends and lots of the people that work for him come over and eat with us. Sunday is always the day my Dad spends with his family, no matter what else is going on.

No one would describe my Dad as fun or funny. He doesn't laugh a lot or even smile that much. But he's not sad or mean. He just doesn't smile a lot. He does it more now than he used to when me and Jake first came to live with him. He smiles a lot at home when we're playing games together or watching sports on TV or Jake and I are telling him something about school. And he smiles this odd little smile every time Aunt Brenda and Aunt Robin take Lillianna shopping for clothes. He smiles a little bit more when he's with his family, and his girlfriend, Celeste. And, his friend, Spinny, who is really funny, and his wife Maxie, and their little boy make him smile sometimes, too.

I've heard a lot of people call my Dad some really awful names and say that he's too dangerous to be around children. I always feel safe with him and he does everything he can to keep his family safe. I remember when I was really young before he went away, when he was still friends with my Mom, he always made me feel safe and like I was the center of his world. And he makes me feel that way now. He makes us all feel like that.

When people call my Dad names if you look really close you can see this small thing that happens around his eyes. They crinkle just the littlest bit but you can't see it unless you're looking. I could tell the names hurt him and they seem to hurt him more when he's with his family. But he always puts us behind him to protect us from the looks or what the person is saying. He is always protecting us. Even when he can't be around we have tons of people who protect us.

I know my Dad has a dangerous job and that he isn't a nice man to some of the people in his business. And I'm not stupid. I hear things and know some things, too. I know that people call my Dad a criminal and all kinds of terrible names and say he does terrible things. And that could be true. But he's still my Dad and I know that he loves me and is always kind and understanding, and patient with me.

I guess I finally found the perfect word to describe my Dad. He's patient. He is patient with me all the time. When Mom died, I had a million questions and he answered all of them, more than once. When I didn't understand how she could die and leave us, he tried to explain and he kept explaining until I understood or at least came to terms with it. When I had trouble in school after Mom died, he worked with me to catch up. When I had trouble playing hockey, he put on skates and worked with me for hours and hours until I finally got it.

When I have questions about the things I hear people say about him he answers honestly and explains why those people say the things they do. He tells me that I should not hold it against them, that everyone is entitled to their opinion. I've seen him be patient with so many people, not just his family, but with Aunt Carly who always wants him to do something crazy, with Spinny who talks endlessly, with Grandpa who is always telling him what to do, with cousin, Michael, who was having lots of problems when we first came to live here.

I know people don't understand my Dad and they judge him a lot. Sometimes I just want to shout at them to leave my Dad alone and that he is the best Dad a kid could have. He doesn't tell you what to do. He gives you the chance to make the right choice or the better choice. He told me just a little while ago that the best thing he could do for me as a Dad, as a man and as a friend was to teach me to make the better choices in life and that he knew all about making the wrong choices.

My Dad is patient and kind, loving and honest, a great cook and coach, he actually can be funny, and he's a good friend and teacher. He's also the Crime Boss of Port Charles, Jason Morgan. And did I tell you – he's my Dad.

Please let me know what you think!

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Disclaimer: All characters are the property of ABC, Inc. and The Disney Corporation.
No copyright infringement intended. Character's identities are merely borrowed for fun.