The Failure of a Father
Ch 21: Time to Make Arrangements
The next day, it was Sunday, Michael woke up to the feeling of someone nudging him. He got up to see his friend Stephanie beside him, she had already freshened up and changed into her day clothes. Her ginger locks were down, she rolls them to the side to see her ears.
"You look beautiful with your hair down, Stephanie." Michael complimented.
"Thanks, Mike." Stephanie responded. Her tone became a bit sad. "You're going home, right?"
"Yeah, tomorrow afternoon." He replied to her. "Why are you sad?"
Stephanie hugged Michael tight as tears gushed from her tightly closed eyes. "I'm going to miss you so much, Mike…I don't know what it'll be like to not have you here…"
Michael rubbed Stephanie's back to comfort her. "Stephanie, calm down, the last time you've been like this is when you found out I moved here in R.W. I can't stay here in your house for much longer, I'm sorry."
Stephanie hugged Michael even tighter in response. "I know…I want you to be back with Mr. and Mrs. Afton and all but, I think I'm going to miss you so much…"
The Afton teenager comforted his friend, who was having her crying session. The teenage girl cried and cried for half an hour, until her loud cries turned into quiet sobs.
"Feeling better?" Michael asked as he patted his friend's head.
"Yeah…" Stephanie said, wiping her tears and fixing her hair. "But still, when you leave, I'm going to miss you alright."
"You can bid me a final farewell before I leave." Michael said to his friend, trying to keep her spirits up.
"Thanks, Mike, and also, get freshened up." Stephanie said to her friend. "We need to eat breakfast now."
"Right, sorry." Michael chuckled as he took his towel and quickly went to the bathroom to clean himself and get ready for breakfast.
They ate breakfast, the family put their plates in the sink as Julius started washing them manually. Michael went outside for a stroll, while Stephanie and Jamie were in the living room.
Outside, Michael was breathing in the fresh air as he walked around the neighborhood of Franklin Avenue. Then, he saw two familiar people he knew well since they lived in Hurricane, walking in front of him.
The man had light blonde hair, hazel eyes, fair skin, and wore a cyan button-up shirt; sleeves rolled back to his elbows, a gray pair of jeans with light cyan suspenders, and brown laced shoes.
The woman beside him had shoulder-length hair, also has fair skin, had grey eyes, and wore a dark purple dress with elbow-length sleeves, has a purple bow on her head, and dark purple flat shoes.
"Uncle Henry? Aunt Valerie?" Michael called out to the Emily parents in front.
Henry furrowed his brows, and as he turned back, he saw Michael in front of him. "Michael!" He said as he hugged him tight, rubbing his back. Michael did the same.
"How are you doing, Mike? Did you forgive your father?" Henry asked him.
"I did on Wednesday, we managed to reconcile." Michael replied.
"I'm so happy for you, honey!" Valerie said as she hugged Michael tight.
"Some space, Aunt Valerie…" Michael said, having trouble breathing.
"Sorry, hun…" Valerie giggled, letting go of Michael.
Henry, Valerie, and Michael went out for a walk, while talking to each other about recent times.
"How's Sammy doing?" Michael asked Henry.
"Sammy's doing fine, Michael." Henry replied. "You can visit him whenever you want."
"Thanks, Uncle Henry." He said. "I'm going home now, bye!"
Henry and Valerie waved Michael goodbye as he walked away from the scene.
At the Williams residence…
Stephanie and Jamie were busy watching TV, Michael opened the door, clearly exhausted from that walk outside. He sat down on the armchair.
"Hello, Mike." Jamie greeted. "What did you do outside?"
"Nothing, Jamie." Michael replied. "I just met up with Uncle Henry and Aunt Valerie, that's all."
The trio went back to watching TV, and later, they turned it off to go upstairs.
In Jamie's room, the trio were talking to each other.
"You're going home tomorrow afternoon?" Jamie asked.
"Yeah, you can bid me your final farewells." Michael responded to Jamie.
"That's nice." Stephanie smiled. "You're finally back with your family, I'm happy for you."
"Thanks, Stephanie." The Afton teenager said to his friend. "I know you're going to miss me, even though I'm not really leaving Royal Woods."
"I know." The female teenager chuckled. "I care a lot about you, that's all."
"Do you have a crush on Michael, sis?" Jamie asked his elder sister.
"What?! No, I don't!" Stephanie said, disgusted. "We're just friends, and I will never be involved in romantic relationships with Michael!"
"I agree with Stephanie, Jamie." Michael agreed. "Stephanie and I are just friends."
Stephanie fixed her long ginger locks into a ponytail with her pink scrunchie. "Let's just forget Jamie said that."
"Alright." Michael said, rubbing the back of his head. "By the way, Steph, should we go to Robert's house or something?"
"No, we'll stay here." Stephanie replied. "We'll speak to him on the phone."
The phone rang downstairs, Michael quickly went down to answer the call.
"Hey, Robert!" Michael greeted. "How is my bro doing?"
"I'm doing good, bro." Robert said on the phone. "Mom and Dad are grocery shopping due to the fridge being empty, and Natalie and I are keeping an eye on Jeremy."
"I see." Michael replied. "Mind hanging out later?"
"Sorry, Mike." Robert responded. "I have a lot of stuff to do right now, I had to keep an eye on Jeremy, clean our rooms, do the laundry, and so on. See 'ya!" He hung up the line.
The Afton teenager put the handset back in its receiver. Julius, intrigued, asked him.
"Who was that on the phone?" Julius asked.
"Just a friend of mine." Michael replied.
"Oh, sorry, you can continue." The father said as he went to get something from the fridge.
In the afternoon…
Michael ran into Lynn Sr. and Rita on the way, he hasn't seen them since Tuesday a week ago.
"Mr. and Mrs. Loud?" Michael said, smiling.
"Hello again, lad." Lynn Sr. said, turning to see the teenager. "How are you doing?"
Rita hugged Michael. "Oh, we're so happy to see you again." She said smiling.
"I'm happy to see you too." Michael replied, as he hugged Rita back.
"Are you ready to go back to your family, son?" Lynn Sr. asked him.
"I'm ready, I'm coming back to my family tomorrow afternoon." Michael replied to the Loud patriarch. "Stephanie and Jamie are bidding me a final farewell before leaving, of course."
"Alright, by the way, we helped plan your welcome home party for you. Lincoln was the one who did the streamers, your siblings helped too." Rita told the Afton teenager. "Your parents are excited to have you back."
Michael turned away from Lynn Sr. and Rita, he said. "Family, I'm coming home…"
Lynn Sr. and Rita stood side by side with Michael, looking at the sky.
To be continued in Ch 22…
A/N: Hello readers, I'm sorry that this was rushed. I wanted to get chapter 21 out sooner, so that I can work with the other chapters quickly. I'm also excited to write the epilogue in chapter 24.