The Failure of a Father
Ch 16: Forgiveness Regained
Michael was feeling happy after that fun time he spent with his real parents. Stephanie, confused, asks him a question while calling out to him.
"Michael? What happened?" Stephanie asked, confused.
"Nothing…" Michael said. "I just spent time with my parents like I never did before…"
"That's nice." Jamie said as he entered the scene. "I'm happy that you finally get to spend time with your father after what happened in the past three to four weeks."
"Thanks, Jamie." The Afton teenager said gratefully.
"You're welcome, Mike." The 13-year-old said as he hugged Michael. "Or should I call you…brother."
Michael gave Jamie a light pat on the head. Stephanie smiles at the cute moment.
"Hope my siblings aren't going to be jealous…" He chuckled.
In the Loud residence…
Lincoln was reading a comic in the couch, his sister Lori was watching Dream Boat. The 11-year-old Loud stood up from his seat while reading the comic as he went to get something from the fridge, and closed it.
He was eating a baguette sandwich consisting of ham, lettuce, and tomatoes. He then goes back to the couch, with a smile on his face, knowing that things in the Afton family are at peace.
Monday…
The one day everyone loves to hate and fear of, it signaled the start of a new stressful work week, and school. Everyone got up from their beds, went to the bathroom to freshen up, and went for breakfast. They then get on the bus on the way to school.
The sound of kids talking in the halls of welcomed them, Michael, Stephanie, and Jamie then walked around to find their lockers.
"MICHAEL!" Robert said as he ran up to Michael and gave him a hug.
"Hey." Michael chuckled.
"Yo, bro, what's up?" Elijah greeted as he playfully ruffled Michael's hair.
Lincoln then came into the scene with a raffle in hand.
"What's that?" Jamie asked.
"I won the raffle, and I will keep Frank for today." Lincoln answered.
"Who's Frank?" Michael asked as he released himself from Robert's hug.
"He's Mrs. Johnson's pet tarantula, she's on a trip to the Bahamas the next day. And I need to protect Frank from any possible dangers." The 11-year-old Loud.
"YOU'RE GOING TO KEEP A SPIDER AS A PET?!" Jamie asked, shocked. "AREN'T THEY POISONOUS? WHAT IF IT KILLS YOU? I ALREADY SAW MANY HORROR MOVIES AND DOCUMENTARIES CENTERING ON SPIDERS!"
"Chill out, Jamie…" Lincoln said. "I will be fine, tarantulas aren't even quite venomous."
"He has a great fear of any type of spiders in this case…" Stephanie said.
"I see…" The 11-year-old Loud said. "Looks like I'll have to hide Frank away from him…"
He walked away with his raffle in tow.
"MIKEY/MICHAEL!" Elizabeth and CC said as they ran to their brother's arms, and hugged him.
Michael hugged them back with both arms. "Hey, it's nice to see you two."
"Are they your siblings?" His friend asked.
"Yeah."
Later…
Class went on as usual, the students have to yet bury themselves in the burdens of mathematics, language arts, and science. They were getting irritated at this point, and they have nothing to do but to listen to every single word the teacher says.
Lunch came by a few hours later, students quickly rushed to the lunch room to get their well-deserved break.
Michael and his friends were eating their lunch, silence formed between them for 10 minutes when Elijah was the first to speak.
"Did anything exciting happen?" Elijah asked.
Michael shook his head. "No, not really…"
"Today was…" Stephanie gave a thumbs-down. "…boring."
"Could say the same." Robert answered.
Meanwhile, Lincoln, Daniel, and their friends were talking to each other.
"What up, L-Dawg?" Rusty said as he shaked hands with Lincoln.
"Hey, Rusty." Lincoln greeted.
"You sure are the goat here, ain't it?" Liam said.
"Sure thing, Liam." The 11-year-old Loud answered.
"We promise that we will never let anything get in the way of our thinking, not even superstitions." Liam said as he gave Lincoln a hug.
Michael and his friends smiled at Liam's promise.
A few days have passed…
William and Michael sat on a bench, silence lingered between the two for a few moments. The father then asked.
"So…" William said, looking at Michael. "Did anything interesting happen today, son?"
"No…not really…" Michael said.
"I could say the same, my boy…" The Afton father said. "Do you forgive me?"
His son then thought for a moment. Later, he hugged him and said. "Yes, I forgive you, Father…"
William hugged Michael back even tighter, symbolizing the healed bond between them as father and son.
Later that day…
Roberto and Lori were standing next to each other, blushing.
Robert was giggling in excitement with Jennilyn. Michael and Stephanie had smiles on their faces, while waving their eyebrows at the couple duo. Lincoln was dressed in his classy black tuxedo, an orange buttoned shirt, and necktie.
"Why are you dressed like that?" Roberto asked Lincoln.
"Because this a special moment between you and Lori." Lincoln said.
"En serio…?" Roberto thought.
"Finally, Roberto and Lori get to confess their love to each other!" Robert said.
Roberto and Lori pucker up to kiss, they did. They released each other from the kiss, blushing hard, their faces as red as a cherry.
In the evening…
"That's nice to hear, Michael." Julius smiled as he kept eating.
"Thanks, Mr. Williams." Michael said as he munched on his dinner. "I knew you were the nicest person I could look up to on this planet."
"Thanks, honey…" Abigail said as she smiled.
"Y'know, Mike, since the day I saw you outside on the streets and took you in here, I thought you were going back to your family sooner." Stephanie hugged Michael. "I thought of you as my brother, and I think you can stay here a little bit longer." The teenage girl said as a tear formed in her eye.
"Sure, I wouldn't mind that…" Michael answered.
Stephanie hugged Michael back even tighter. The Afton teenager rubbed her head, smiling.
"Your siblings miss you, don't they?" Julius asked.
"Yeah…they do…" Michael chuckled.
The next day…
Lincoln read the latest Ace Savvy issue that came out just now. Few minutes later, Michael and his (biological) siblings came into the scene.
"Lincoln?" CC called out.
"Oh hey guys." Lincoln greeted, closing his comic.
"Got anything to do today?" Michael asked.
"Nope." The 11-year-old answered.
"This can be the perfect opportunity to spend time with us." Elizabeth said as she hugged Lincoln.
"That's nice." The older boy said.
"Let's go to "Where should we be heading to?"
"The park, I guess?" CC 's house." The Afton teenager said.
At Stephanie's house…
Stephanie pinches CC's cheek in adoration. "Your brother is so adorable!" She said as she hugged the youngest Afton in her arms.
"Yeah." Lincoln chuckled.
"I agree with you." Michael said as he rubbed Elizabeth's hair.
The 11-year-old Loud then opened his comic.
Later that day...
Michael was hanging out with his friends and Lincoln, and they were talking about how things have been in the past few days.
Now that Michael has forgiven his family, it is time for a new chapter in his life.
"That's nice." Lincoln said. "I was going to plan to do something other than reading comics in my underpants."
Elijah squinted. "Lincoln...you read comics in your undies?"
"Yeah." The 11-year-old Loud said. "What's wrong with that?"
"Well, I do too." Elijah chuckled. "I watch movies my without my shirt on."
"I do listen to songs by Maroon 5." Lincoln said. "My favorite song was 'Sunday Morning'."
"That's good." Stephanie said.
Michael said. "Do you listen to songs by Freddie Mercury?"
"No." Lincoln answered. "Dad does, and his favorite song was 'Bohemian Rhapsody', Mom listens to songs by Glenn Frey."
They chuckled.
"I also sing in the showers." Lincoln laughed. "I tried to win the video contest but I didn't get the trophy, but seems like being a good person, whether a perfect son or brother, or a nice friend to hang out with, is worth it."
"I also sing in the showers too!" Robert said, as he playfully nudged Lincoln's arm. "Seems like I have a new friend here, right, Lincoln?"
"Yeah." The 11-year-old Loud chuckled.
"You two may start a band or something." Michael said as he ruffled Robert's hair.
"Sure thing." Robert said, as he shouldered Lincoln. "I took many vocal lessons already."
"I'm not that good at singing..." Lincoln chuckled.
To be continued in Ch 17...
A/N: Hey guys! Sorry if chapter sixteen took a lot of time to publish, I just don't have the will to write it, or have other things to do. By the way, I'm changing Jennilyn's name to Mary.
[NOTE: Sorry for the typo, I meant to be continued in chapter seventeen.]