Fathers and Sons

       Reggie’s Diner was bustling as usual at lunchtime. It was the perfect setting for the meeting. It felt like an eternity since they had spoken. Such a crowded place would hopefully discourage an outburst from either of them.

            When Luke arrived, his Father was already there. Typical of the Old Man, taking a power position. Letting him and everyone else know who was boss. Luke pushed down the anger, or was it frustration, he felt building by this simple act. 

Luke forced a neutral look on his face as he neared the table. His Father didn’t stand up to greet him in anyway. He merely sat there, stirring his coffee, and looking over the menu. Again, always with the power moves. Or was it just disinterest in his son? It was thoughts like these that drove Luke to rebel like he had and take things as far as he had.

“Hi, Dad.” 

Luke stood by the table, waiting for at least an acknowledgement. The Old Man looked up from the menu.

“Hi, son. It’s been sometime. I’m glad you called me.”

With that, Luke slid into the seat before his Father could invite him to sit. They sat, letting the noise of the diner fill the silence between them. What could be said after all of these years? What could be said after such a falling out. The last words spoken between them could never be taken back. Could they be forgotten? Were they carved in stone?

“The coffee is excellent. I suggest you give it a try,” his Father finally said.

“Sure.”

Luke waved down a waitress for a coffee and a menu.

“What’s the food like here?”

“Compared to what I can make? Pretty good. I’d suggest the Philly cheesesteak. It’s the best outside of the City of Brotherly Love itself.”

The waitress came back.

“I’ll have the house burger with fries,” Luke said. 

His Father looked frustrated by his choice. He ordered a clubhouse.

Luke smiled at the reaction.

The noise of the diner filled the space in between them again.

“I know why you called,” his Father finally said.

“Of course, you do. You know everything. Why even waste our time here, you already know how it ends.”

Luke always had a fiery temper. It was something he felt his Father stoked rather than cool down. He got up to leave but his Father gestured him to stay.

“Please, stay.”

His Father could see the fire in Luke’s eyes, the heat rising from his body.

“Please.”

The fire began to cool and Luke sat again.

“I know why you called and I feel the same way. It has been too long. Longer than it should have been. Longer than I wanted. We only get one chance in this life. We shouldn’t waste a moment of it.”

“It was just too much, Dad. All the expectations you had. Everything you had given me and then to just ignore me for…for…for what?”

“I never meant to ignore you. I thought you were ready to be your own person. I thought you wanted to go your own way. I wasn’t ignoring you, I was trying to give you space.”

“You know I was your kid, too. You. Your’s. You raised me, you taught me, you gifted me with such…such…such dreams! And then, nothing.”

The waitress brought their food.

“Thank you.”

“There. I’m glad you at least remembered that that I taught you, to be humble and polite.”

The rage started to build again.

“I raised you to be so much more than you became. All of my hopes and dreams. They went into you. And then…”

“And then you chose them over me! OVER ME!”

Luke soared into the air. Wings burst through his jean jacket. The Reggie’s Diner erupted into flames. The customers screamed as they burned. Glass melted. Containers exploded. Luke roared with all of the infinite amount of rage he had kept inside for so long. For eons. For eternity.

“DAMNED YOU! DAMNED YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN!”

“LUCIFER! ENOUGH!”

His Father waved his hand and the flames disappeared. Reggie’s Diner reassembled itself and people acted like nothing had even happened. Luke floated back down to his seat.

“Would you like your coffee warmed up?” The waitress asked.

“No, I’m good,” Luke said. He looked into his Father’s eyes. The flames that burned in him began to cool.

“Maybe I never said how much I loved you or often enough. Maybe I should have told you that I wanted you by my side. I wanted someone there to guide them. It took me sometime to understand that. And I’m sorry.”

I’m sorry. Luke thought he would never hear it from Him. I’m sorry. All of that hatred, all of that anger he felt faded away. All of the evil he had caused, the rebellion in Heaven, the temptations he had created to corrupt His creation, to capture the souls of those He loved the most.

I’m sorry.

Luke started to cry.

“Dad…”

“I know. You’re not the one who needs to be forgiven. You never were. It’s been me.”

The two beings stood up and hugged each other for the first time in billions of years. Luke kept crying. When they separated and looked at each other, he wiped his eyes.

“No, I’m the one. I’m sorry.”

His Father smiled. Glory filled his heart and radiated into every person in the diner. There was light. There was joy. There was a purity of life that ran through everyone. People looked at one another in a different way. They saw the beauty in one another and themselves.

Luke finished wiping his face.

“So now what do we do?”

His Father put his arm around him.

“We talk.”

Both beings smiled as they walked up to the cash register. His Father asked for the cheque and took his wallet out to pay. Luke stopped, ran back, and left a tip on the table.

His Father felt a joy in him that he had not felt since the beginning of it all.

“Let’s go change the world.”