Sins of the Father
All credit goes to the amazing writers, producers and crew of WTB! This takes place a few months after STV…
Tony walked through the front door, having just come home from a busy day at work. He started a few weeks back teaching fourth grade at an elementary school in the neighboring town. He enjoyed teaching, it really was his passion, but he was exhausted by the end of the day. Life had settled in very nicely for Angela and he since he came back from Iowa. They opted for a destination wedding with the immediate family plus Mrs. Rossini. They booked everything within the week he returned permanently from Iowa and spent the next week in St. Lucia, vacationing after a beautiful sunset ceremony on the beach. Since being home, they had fallen into a blissful routine.
Tony made his way into the kitchen to start dinner. He prepped the meal and put it into the oven, heading back out to get changed upstairs. Once he was changed, he headed back downstairs. Jonathan had just gotten back from school and was sitting on the sofa eating a snack and watching television.
"Hey Jonathan! How was school? Don't eat too much now, I've got dinner in the oven!" said Tony.
"Okay Tony. It was alright. I'm starting to get a bit stressed about the college search. I've narrowed it down to some east and west coast choices. I don't know how mom will take it if I'm across the country for school. Any chance you could talk her into taking me to see a few schools during fall break?" he asked.
"I think that can be arranged! Now I won't make any promises she will give you the green light to go to them! Maybe you can call your dad to see if he wants to join us if he's free" he said.
"I think I'll pass on that one Tony. I haven't heard from him for over three years. I'd rather it just be you, Mom and I, if that's okay" he said.
"Whatever you want buddy. We'll make it happen!" he said as Angela, Mona and Samantha all walked in the front door together.
"Hi my sweethearts! Make what happen?" asked Angela as she walked over and kissed Tony.
"I wanted to start touring some colleges. There's some on the east coast here we could check out over the next few weekends but also some… some on the west coast I would like to see…" he said trailing off at the end.
"West coast? Like California west coast? That's so far away!" Angela practically shouted.
"Angela, we both have a fall break next month. We were thinking maybe the three of us could spend an extended weekend checking out some of the schools. See what they are like and if any might be interesting. No commitments right Jonathan?" said Tony.
"Right! Just checking them out! I promise! Please?" Jonathan pleaded.
"Oh alright. It won't hurt to just see them I suppose. Let's plan it out and book the flights" she said.
"I think every grandson needs his experienced grandmother to accompany him, you know check out all the seedy, I mean study places. I only want my grandson to have the best educational experience, just like I did…" said Mona.
"Grandma, please don't give Mom any ideas!" shouted Jonathan.
"Hey if Mona is going, so are Hank and I! You know I need to approve where my little brother goes, even if you are still a dweeb!" said Samantha.
With a roll of her eyes, Angela reluctantly agreed to make this a family trip. Everyone cheered and started talking about the trip. Eventually, Mona and Angela went to change upstairs. Jonathan and Samantha sat down on the sofa to watch some television, while Tony straightened up the kitchen. They turned on the news and caught a story about a plane crash.
"Authorities are still trying to determine the cause of the crash of Air France flight 418. It's been three days now and they are no closer to determining the cause of the accident that claimed all 203 passengers and crew on board. Local authorities are still working on notifying next of kin. The flight left Charles de Gaulle Airport on Monday evening and was headed for Niger. The plane crashed shortly after take off…" the news reporter stated as Jonathan picked up the remote to turn the channel.
"That's so sad. That story has been all over the news for the past few days. I hope for the sake of the families they find the cause of the crash. Just so sad" said Samantha.
"Sam… Tony asked me if I wanted to contact my dad while we are in California to join us to look at colleges. I initially said no. I mean I've had no contact with him for over three years. I don't even know if he's in California or in some jungle somewhere around the world. But now I'm wondering if maybe I should just try and reach out. Especially if I end up going there for college. It would be kinda nice to reconnect. What do you think?" asked Jonathan.
"I think you've answered your own question. He might have been kinda absent the past few years, but this may give him a chance to get to know you better, have that relationship. It won't be the one you have with my dad, but it could be nice to have some family closer by out there. You won't know unless you try right?" said Samantha.
Just then the phone rang. Tony came into the living room and answered it.
"Micelli- Bower residence, Tony speaking!" he greeted. "Yes he does… yes I am his stepfather Tony Micelli" he said. There was a long pause as Tony was listening to the speaker on the other line. Suddenly, Tony's face turned a pale shade of white.
"Jonathan what did you do? Get kicked out of school? Rob a convenience store?" laughed Samantha.
"I didn't do anything I swear!" he shouted at Samantha.
"Excuse me one minute" Tony said to the caller. "Would you two be quiet please! Jonathan, go upstairs and get your mom and Mona. Sam, get me a paper and pen. Now!" he shouted.
All at once, they were both up and doing as Tony asked of them. Jonathan ran up the stairs and found both his mom and Mona about to head back downstairs. He told them Tony was on the phone and wanted them to get downstairs now. All three came down the stairs quickly to see what was going on.
Tony was rapidly writing information on a pad of paper Samantha had given him. They looked at Samatha to see if she had any clue as to what was going on, but she simply shrugged her shoulders.
"Yes sir we will. Tomorrow morning, 9:00am, JFK terminal 7…. Yes, my wife, Jonathan and I will be there in about half an hour or so… yes, yes I will… thank you. Goodbye" said Tony as he hung up the phone.
All four sets of eyes were staring at Tony with worried looks on their faces. Tony motioned for them to sit down on the sofa and chairs.
"Tony what is it? What's wrong?" questioned Angela with a sense of urgency and worry in her voice. Tony ran his hands through his hair and took a deep breath before he spoke.
"That was the Connecticut State Police Department. They called because they were contacted by the French government. You know that plane crash they have been covering on the news the last few days? The one that was heading for Niger? They have been trying for the past few days to identify all the passengers and locate the next of kin. Apparently… apparently they finally identified two of the passengers they had been struggling to identify and notify the family. Jonathan, the two passengers were your dad and Heather. They were on the plane and… they died" he said as tears formed in his eyes.
"My dad? Heather? What… I don't understand" said Jonathan.
"From what they believe, they had been in France for a few months and were heading back to Niger where Michael was working. They had tickets booked for a couple of weeks to head back to France and then to New York and finally to California. No one knows their exact plans, but it seems they were planning on moving back to California" said Tony.
"Oh sweetheart, I'm so sorry" said Angela as she wrapped her arms around her son. She was crying as she embraced him. Mona came to sit down next to Angela and put her arm around Angela. Samantha was crying as well as she sat on the other side of Jonathan.
"I'm so sorry too Jonathan. We are all here for you" Samantha said through her tears.
"Yeah kid, we are all here for you" said Mona. She wanted to say more to her grandson, but outward displays of emotion weren't her thing.
"There's more unfortunately. We need to go down to the local police station in about a half an hour or so to… to identify photos of Michael and Heather. Once they are positively identified, their bodies will be flown to JFK and will arrive tomorrow morning. We will need to make arrangements for the wake and/or funeral with the funeral home. I can do that once we get back from the station" said Tony.
Still in a state of shock, Jonathan wasn't outwardly showing much emotion. He was definitely his mother's son.
"Okay, so once we identify the photos, they put… they put them on a plane here and we arrange the funeral. What else do we need to do?" asked Jonathan.
"Sweetheart, Tony and I will handle all of that I promise. You don't have to worry about it okay?" said Angela.
"He's my… he was my dad and I should be the one to do this. I can call the funeral home and whatever else needs to be done" he said.
Angela was about to protest when Tony intervened. "How about we do this together? That way you feel like you're doing something to help" he said. Jonathan just shook his head in agreement.
"There's one more thing and I honestly have no idea how to say this to you Jonathan, so I'm just going to go ahead and say it. Michael and Heather were living in Niger for the last few years until… until she got pregnant. They flew to France so she could have the baby. It's a boy named Henry" he said.
"I had a brother? He died too?" Jonathan said, finally showing some sign of emotion as tears filled his eyes and his voice became shaky.
"No! He was in France with a nanny when they were on the plane. They were scheduled to fly back to France within the following week and then leave for the US shortly after with Henry. I think they were going back to California to live. The authorities located Henry with his nanny when the nanny hadn't heard from them. They located Michael and Heather's will. They made Jonathan Henry's legal guardian, with Jonathan's legal guardians being responsible for Henry until Jonathan is twenty one. French authorities will be bringing Henry on the flight tomorrow morning. He's only two months old" said Tony.
"What? Two months old? How could he have not told us Tony!" shouted Angela.
"I don't know Angela. Maybe they were planning on coming by on their way back to California. Either way, we have to get ready to go to the police station. They need Jonathan there along with one of us, to provide the identification so the flight arrangements can be finalized. Jonathan, I don't think you have to be the one to identify the photos, your mom and I can do that, but you do need to be there" said Tony.
Still in a state of shock, all Jonathan could do was nod in agreement. Tony came over to him and gave him a big hug. Angela, Tony and Jonathan stood up and put on their coats to head to the station. Jonathan was the first out the door.
"Dinner is in the oven. It should be ready in about forty five minutes or so. I don't know how hungry we will all be when we get back but keep it out anyway" Tony said to Samantha and Mona.
"Tony, how are we supposed to do this? Not just this part, that's going to be hard enough, but to get him through this and take care of an infant? I'm so mad at Michael right now, but so sad at the same time. I don't know what to do" she cried as she leaned into Tony.
"We are going to do what we always do Angela. Take things one thing at a time. First we have to get through this and somehow get Jonathan through it too. We lean on each other when it gets too much. He's going to get through this and so are we, I promise " said Tony, as much for her benefit as for his own as they both walked out the door.
