Hello Father Ch. 02

Michael entered rehab a little more willingly this time. This time he was going to be in for twenty-seven days. Randy, Tim, and I visited often. I conferred with his doctors, and we held private meetings. Michael was making progress. Being in San Diego with his brothers was helping. The drugs were out of his system, and he was thinking with more clarity. By the second week, we brought dad in order to talk to the doctors about Michael. We had family therapy sessions once a week. All four brothers sat with the therapist to talk out some of the issues. It was during this meeting, we wanted to re-introduce dad.

The therapist opened the talk with questions about our father. We let Michael carry the talk. Michael let loose about missing his father; and how hard it was not having him around. Michael cried. Randy, Tim, and I had tears in our eyes too. The therapist asked Michael, "If you could say anything to your father right now, what would you say?"

Michael didn't even hesitate, "I would tell him that I miss him. I forgive him for leaving, but I want him back. I would ask him to forgive me, mom, and all of us."

With that the door opened, and our father entered the room. Michael looked up and saw him. His face began blank, then a flash of recognition, and afterwards happiness. He jumped up and ran to him. "Daddy," he kept repeating. Soon after Tim, Randy and I joined in the group hug.

It was almost as if a switch had been flipped in Michael. Gone was the moody, angry, drug user. In his place was a happy sixteen-year-old boy ready to face the world. The therapy continued for Michael and the family. I think we all got some of our issues resolved through it. However, nobody discussed the elephant in the room, what about mom? I felt that dad still had issues with her. And I had no clue about her side of the story. How do we talk to her about this? Can we get her into therapy to discover the reasons? How do we tell her what we know, and that we found dad?

I kept mom informed of the progress. I told her everything except for dad and his interactions. She seemed happy. However, I could detect some sadness also. I was thinking I could take a quick trip home to see how she was doing. Michael and I was there for about two months. I was sure that she would need to see me. I called her and told her that I wanted to come home. She told me that it was not necessary. I was insistent that I wanted to come home, and she was just as emphatic that Michael needed me more than she did. I left it at that, but I knew that I would plan a trip in a couple of weeks.

We were having a dinner at dad's house one evening the next week when my cell phone rang. I figured that mom was checking-in. I did not recognize the number, but it had an Aurora area code. I answered it. It was Aunt Shannon.

"Robert, your mom has died."

Edited by Barney R

Thanks to all that pushed me to finish the story. For a new writer, feedback is very encouraging. Even the negative comments can be constructive (most of them). Chapter III is mostly done. It will be posted soon. As I posted in the comments, having an anonymous writer saying, "Hey Asshole, where is chapter 2" pales in comparison to my boss saying, "Hey Asshole, where is the policy options memo on the Ontario project?"

Thanks to Barney R for the edits. If errors are found, I assume responsibility. I made a couple of changes after his reviews.