All the Little Children Need to Come Home

Chapter 14 Because

Back in Heaven, Todd sat on a cloud wall as Joe sat next to him. His shoulders slumped as he watched the town of Woodridge Lake wake up and each person begin a new day. It was Sunday, and Todd knew it was only a matter of moments before the news of children suddenly showing up in this small town was out. He had stayed by The Scribe throughout the day yesterday. He remained the correct distance from his mother. His father was passed out, leaning against the window so he could not feel his presence. Haley was whispering to him. He saw his mother's eyes in the rearview mirror, with a curious look on her face. He froze. For a moment, he thought for sure his mother had seen him.

"Do you think she saw me?" Todd asked. "I touched her hair."

He felt a gentle push on his arm, as Joe replied," She felt it I'm sure. She thought it was me. I had to look away or she would have slugged me."

Todd smiled at his words. His mother would never have done that.

"We were going to move out, you know.. It was getting harder as she watched Dad be on and off of alcohol. It was hurting her. She knew he had to want to get help. She was worried for me. It was hard for me to stay sober when Dad was on and off like that. I get it. He just can't say no. He doesn't think he has a problem. He always thinks he can have just one or two."

"Did you?"

"Yeah," Todd grunted. "I'm not judging him. All I wanted was just one drink, you know, to relax. I would get so mad the next day. I never intended to get drunk." Todd nodded to himself. "Yeah, I was getting it."

He looked down through the clouds at his father, who was moaning while he slept on the couch." Todd was still amazed that from up here, one can see just about everything below.

"I told her we knew," he whispered.

Silence.

"I told her Adam and I knew that she was the one who kept our family together. We had a happy family." He looked at Joe and cleared his throat. " He was a great dad. He did everything with us. He coached us, played with us." He glanced at Joe and sighed. "You know, we would hide when he would come home from work. He'd always say, 'where are those guys?"

Todd smiled, wistfully. "Adam would get mad at me because I'd always go to the same spot every time. The corner inside his closet." He squinted in the bright light and smiled. "Adam would tell me to change spots because dad would always find me." He chuckled. "I was little. He always found me first. Adam was always the hard one to find. He always chose different spots." Todd bathed in the simple happiness that surrounded his childhood.

"He used to take us both in his arms and pretend he was the 'Incredible Hulk.' Adam and I loved that."

Todd sighed deeply, as the melancholy memories of his youth, then as a young man crept in. All the happiness and peace he had felt the past few weeks dissipated as he looked down on his father, just waking from a drunken slumber.

"I just don't know why..." his words were a confused whisper.

"Why your dad doesn't stop drinking?"

Todd glanced at the man next to him, who reminded him more and more of his father, before his total submission to alcoholism.

"No," his voice broke. "Why I had to die."

Todd swallowed and waited until he could calm his voice. Joe nodded, and Todd raised his eyebrows.

"I watched your whole story, Todd, on the sky screen. The moment it happened, the Big Guy wanted me to know you. To understand you so I could help you." Todd watched Joe scrunch his face in a comical way. "Well, I didn't think it was going to be this way. I mean coming to earth and all...trying to get back all the angels. I enjoyed watching you grow. I never had siblings, so I loved seeing you and Adam growing up. You two were good brothers. I loved all of your friends." He winked. " Did you really have three sets of twins on your AAU Baseball team?"

Todd nodded. Below, they heard a loud yawn.

"He'll get it. You did."

"Yeah, but only because I wanted to get my driver's license back. I saw how my dad's drinking was hurting my mom. She was so worried about him and the things he would say." He paused. "You know what she said to me when she picked me up from my work that day?"

He watched as Joe tried to discreetly wipe an eye.

"I came out after work and got into the car and she was looking at me with this smile on her face." Todd swallowed, remembering. "She reminded me of the time when she had told me that I had at least two years to catch up with my friends. I was disappointed in myself and depressed because I wasn't where I wanted to be. She said I just had to give it more time."

Todd looked down and saw his mother getting Haley ready for the day with the clothes she had bought the day before. He felt something soft and wet on his face.

He turned to Joe, who had an easy sad smile.

"She told me that not only had I caught up those years, but that I was a wonderful, strong twenty-six-year-old who was wise beyond my years. She was so proud of me."

Todd straightened his shoulders and continued, softly.

"She hugged me and she told me," his eyes twinkled with the memory of her words. " if she was twenty-six years old and of course, not my mom, she would find me 'Hot.'"

Todd saw a longing look in Joe's eyes.

"Well, I think your mom is a pretty special lady. I had someone like your mom, once. It was a long time ago."

Todd looked at Joe and nodded. Here was a man who probably had a good life, and he found peace and harmony up here.

Joe cleared his throat. "And to answer your question of why you had to die, well, it seemed it was just your time. From where I see, you should have died in that car accident. I mean, that was no easy feat surviving that and all. You could have given up then." Todd felt a nudge. "But you didn't."

"I wanted to a few times. I never thought I would get better. I felt bad for everything that had happened in my life. All the bad choices. The struggle to get better was so hard. But my mom kept telling me that I would. She told me to just hang in there." He looked sincerely at Joe. "I just believed her."

A loud sigh came from Joe, as he stood and seemed to float upon the clouds.

"Well, we'd better get going," he said. "I think I know where everyone is. They've chosen the families you know. So here's the plan. Pretty soon, your friends are going to start calling Alice. By this time, they are all waking up to find a little boy or girl sleeping on their front step. The children will mention you. Your brother will help make the phone calls. But there's one person who may be reluctant to let her little one go. We have to visit her. Are you ready?"

Todd followed Joe's gaze down to earth. They saw news vans already pulling up to the townhouse where Adam lived. The little angel that had appeared in the back seat of Adam's car that day was playing outside. Lindsay quickly ushered him into the house, as Adam pulled up in the driveway, circling the vans.

"We'd better go. Now." Joe said. "It's gonna get messy."

With a soft wisp, they were gone.