The Failure of a Father

Ch 5: The Mistakes of a Father

"What are you doing here? Forcing me to come home?" Michael asked his sister, stern.

Elizabeth had a bit of tears welling up in her eyes when she received that response from Michael. "N-No, I just came here to tell you that Daddy r-really wants to repent for his mistakes so…"

"So what?"

Elizabeth didn't know what to say, so she just fidgeted her hands. "We…uh, want you to come home and see how Daddy really regrets his mistakes."

"See? Told myself you were just going to force me to come home, just so THINGS can go back to the way they fucking were and get myself hurt again emotionally and physically!" Michael yelled.

"M-Mikey, please…c-c-come home…" Elizabeth said, her voice breaking.

"No! I would NEVER, Elizabeth!" The oldest Afton said, as he headed towards the exit, when the ice cream fanatic held his other leg to prevent him from leaving.

"NO, MIKEY, DON'T LEAVE!" Elizabeth said, as her tears flowed down her cheeks.

"It is my decision, Liz, and you can't change it!" Michael said as he opened the exit and slammed it shut.

Elizabeth fell to her knees in despair, that was the first time Michael had spoke to her in a rude tone.

Lincoln then went up to her. "Elizabeth? What happened?"

"D-Does my brother hate me?" Elizabeth asked Lincoln, her eyes shining brightly with tears.

Lincoln had shock plastered on his face. "Elizabeth…why would you say that?"

"B-Because he shouted at me and…and…" Elizabeth felt her hair being stroked.

"Shh, Liz, your brother loves you, let's just say, he's not in the mood right now, so give him some time." Lincoln said.

Elizabeth then tightened her hug on Lincoln, the 11-year-old Loud lifted her up in his arms, and students were laughing their asses off at the poor little girl. "Look! We got a 1-year-old at school today!"

"Elizabeth must be Ronalda's daughter!" One kid said, laughing.

"SHUT IT!" The snow-haired child yelled before leaving the door, and got to them to shut their asses up at least.

Later, after lunch, the students went back to their normal affairs. They were annoyed when they still have to take the test that day, and one used the cheat sheet approach, to get a 100 on his report card. He was so afraid of his mom having to take away his phone for a long time, and he can't even text his girlfriend for a day.

Two minutes into the test, and the students started banging their heads on their desks. Marty was peacefully using his cheat sheet when Gwen asked him. "Can I borrow your cheat sheet?"

"No, Gwen, didn't you make your own at home?" Marty said, annoyed.

"But I'm too lazy…" Gwen said, fidgeting her hands.

"Yeah, no, Gwen." Marty said as he turneed his central focus on his test. "Go make your own."

"But-" The girl was interrupted when the teacher shushed them.

"Gwen, Marty, no talking in class." The teacher said, as she turned her focus back on the book she was reading.

"You almost got me caught." The boy said, irritated.

"I don't give a shit!" Gwen said.

"Gwen, no swearing!" The teacher said. She saw Marty's cheat sheet. "Is that a cheat sheet?"

"No, Mrs. J…uh…this is just a reviewer!" Marty said, hiding the cheat sheet.

"Give me that…or else." Marty gave Mrs. Johnson his cheat sheet, and when she took a good hard look, she realized that yesterday, while the guards weren't checking their classroom, he copied the answer key. "DID YOU COPY THE ANSWER KEY?"

"Heh heh, no!"

"You two, to Mr. Jones' office, NOW!" Mrs. Johnson said as she pointed towards the door.

Mart and Gwen slumped their postures as they went to the principal's office, with irritated looks on their faces. Mrs. Johnson then went back to her desk, putting the cheat sheet into her drawer.

Later, after the students finished their test, they gave their papers back to Mrs. Johnson when Gwen and Mart arrived from Principal Jones' office.

"How was the principal's office?"

"Terrible." Gwen said.

"You two will stay here and retake the test, sorry." Mrs. Johnson said as she gave two test papers to Gwen and Mart.

"Aw, man…" Marty said. "It was home time."

"The other students will go home while you two stay here."

Gwen and Mart groaned in annoyance, as the other students got on the bus and zoomed off straight home.

At the Loud residence…

Lincoln got off the bus, and walked up the porch to open the door. He went upstairs to his room, and put his backpack on his bed, he began to think why Michael snapped at William on Tuesday.

But he's pulled from his thoughts when Rita called him down for dinner.

In the Afton residence…

Things weren't the way they used to be since Michael ran away on Tuesday. William was not being his old, and cheerful self, he started drinking everyday, to get his mind off what happened recently.

He almost got his third glass of alcohol, when his wife came into the scene.

"William? How many glasses did you drink?" Olivia asked, shocked.

"Three…" William said as he sipped his third glass of liquor. "Just let me drink, this is my last one, and I haven't been OK since the day Michael ran away so please…"

Olivia took his glass and emptied its contents in the sink.

"Hey, that was mine!" William yelled.

Olivia grabbed the bottle and emptied its contents, then threw it in the trash bin.

"Are you out of your mind, William?! You shouldn't be drinking!"

"But-"

Olivia then hugged William with tears spilling out of her eyes. "William, please…I understand you, but you shouldn't be drinking…what if you treat the other kids the same as Michael?"

William then tightened his hug on Olivia, and thought. "No…I don't want them to hate me…I don't want them to run away…" Tears ran down his face, as he continued to cry silently to himself.

The next day…

Lincoln was taking a brisk walk around the neighborhood, lost in his thoughts.

"Maybe I can find a way for Michael to see how much pain his family is in, in addition to Mr. Afton drinking yesterday, maybe that'll work." Lincoln Loud thought. He then shook his head and thought. "NO! No, what if he calls the police? Maybe it won't, and will never work…"

Elizabeth and CC caught up to the 11-year-old Loud. "Lincoln!"

Lincoln then turned his eyes to meet the sibling duo before him. "Hey, guys." The snow-haired child said as he put his hands in his pockets.

"Did you find a way to make Michael come home?" CC asked.

"No…I did but, I think things will fly out of control if I did…" Lincoln said, being strict about his decision.

"But we miss him, Lincoln!" Elizabeth cried.

"Do you want him to call the police?" The 11-year-old Loud asked, clasping his hands behind him.

Elizabeth Afton and CC Afton had tears in their eyes. "P-Police?!" They said, hugging each other. "B-But we're too young to go to prison! We don't want to be in jail!"

"No, no…you two will NOT go to prison, but, your father will mostly get slapped with the jail time." Lincoln Loud said in a serious tone. "You will never see your dad for a long, long time."

The ice cream fanatic fell to her knees on the ground, thinking about her father going to jail, for a decade or two. "No…" She thought. "I don't want to see Daddy go to jail, I need him…"

The crying child hugged the 11-year-old Loud, with tears escaping his eyes. Lincoln bent down to CC's height and hugged him, Elizabeth joined, mirroring the pain of losing the trust of a family member.

Later that day…

Michael sat on a bench, thinking of what happened at school yesterday, the last encounter with his sister, and yelling at her. What he didn't know, Lincoln was there the whole time, just standing there, book in hand.

"What did I just do…?" Michael said to himself. "I just yelled at my little sister…"

This brought confusion from Stephanie. "Michael? Who are you talking to?"

"Oh! Nothing!" The oldest Afton said, as he turned his attention to his friend. "It's…no one."

"I see, maybe you have hallucinations or something?"

"No, I don't!" He said. "It's just some hard family issues…"

Stephanie stroked Michael's hair. "Sorry that you have to go through that…"

"It's fine, at least I have my friends to help me."

The teenage girl hugged the oldest Afton, making him smile.

Sunday the next day…

Michael was outside the neighborhood, taking a walk, until he saw Lincoln, Elizabeth, and CC reading a comic together. He took a moment to skim through the panels of the 11-year-old Loud's favorite comic. "Lincoln? Is that an Ace Savvy comic you're reading?"

This shocked the sibling duo, and they turned to see their brother. Their eyes glistened with tears at the sight of their long lost family member, they blinked and their lips quivered, letting a few tears escape their lacrimal ducts. "Come here, my little brother and sister." Michael smiled. Elizabeth and CC ran to their brother's arms, crying.

"Looks like they missed you, didn't they?" Lincoln chuckled, closing his comic.

"Yeah." Michael giggled, as he patted CC's head.

"We're so sorry for forcing you to come home, Mikey!" Elizabeth cried, apologizing.

Michael comforted his little sister. "Ha ha, it's OK, sister." The oldest Afton smiled. "Besides, you two weren't involved."

"Thank you so much, older brother…" CC said, tightening his hug on his brother.

Roberto and Lori came into the scene, smiling.

"¡Miguel!" The Hispanic teen called out.

"Hey, Roberto." The oldest Afton said, as he got up and held his siblings' hands.

"We're very happy that you already forgave your siblings for what they did, but we have one thing to tell you" Lori said.

"What is it?"

"Your papá started drinking alcohol to cope with your absence, and started mumbling to himself on some noches." Roberto explained.

"I see." Michael said, and he thought. "Wow…I didn't expect Father to regret his actions to the point he would start drinking."

A/N: Yeah… (LOL), I know it's short, but this was rushed due to specific reasons.