(Content warning: breif mention of suicidal thoughts/assisted suicide, brief mention of death)
Phil knew he wasn't always the best father.
It was obvious when he moved to the Dream SMP and found one of his twin sons blowing up a nation, the other begging him to kill him, and his youngest fighting as tears filled with trauma dripped down his face. Phil felt empty and knew that these weren't his sons. He gave up being a dad.
The sword he plunged into his son's chest as the other two yelled proved his point.
Phil would never admit it but he had nightmares about that night. He wondered what would have happened with grief. Mourning for the son he didn't help felt disgusting so he considered him more of a somewhat close friend.
Funny really, friend-zoning your own son?
Phil didn't care as he abandoned Tommy for the hundreth time. He already had given up helping his children. They were a lost cause in his mind. Techno did make an effort to change and Phil praised him for it. They both considered each other as friends, Techno cutting himself off from the family tree.
Even as Tommy clung onto him, tears rolling down his face the day of Wilbur's death, the younger boy asked for forgiveness. Phil almost scoffed since he should be the one asking for forgiveness for killing the person that Tommy idolized most. The younger boy hugged him as if he had never gotten one before even when Phil didn't wrap his own arms and wings around them both. Phil just stood there as Tommy pleaded for his father.
"Please, I will be good, dad! I just need someone in my life who I trust! Please, you are my dad, the only one I have left!" Tears were like waterfalls as they cascaded down the pale cheeks. Phil just smiled and pushed Tommy away. He turned and pulled the bucket hat over his eyes.
"You can't trust me to be there. I don't even care about you, I wish it were you instead of Wilbur." Phil had walked away even as Tommy reached out for him, begging for some semblance of forgiveness.
Now, here he was. Phil gave diamonds to Tommy weeks prior for a hotel. The older man waved his hand as his 'son' asked if he would come to the opening ceremony. Phil didn't care. Phil was just strolling around the SMP, planning to get some time in the warm climate compared to the frozen tundra when he heard a voice.
"Dad!" His eyes widened and he turned, looking around for his son. He saw the young blond and was about to chastise him for calling him dad but stopped.
Tommy was hugging Sam.
His eyes were bright and shining and Sam looked down with pride on his face. Phil could feel his heart drop into his stomach. It felt like rocks were lodged down his parched throat.
"I'm proud of you, Toms." Tommy let out a little noise of happiness at the praise as the smile grew.
"I think that's the first time in four years that somebody has ever said that to me besides the corrupted Wilbur and Dream. Are you being honest?" Tommy pulled back slightly but Sam pulled him closer in the hug.
"Of course! You have gotten all these materials yourself without much complaint, you have had fun without causing harm and most importantly, you have asked for help rather then stealing from others. You are a lot happier now and if it were just that, I would be proud of you no matter what. You have come a long way from your suicidal and traumatized self. It's amazing how much you have grown and still have had time to be a kid. Letting yourself loose after being a child soldier for years and years is hard and you have done it.
"I'm proud of you, Tommy. I hope you can also be proud of yourself."
Phil looked away as the tears ran down his face. He failed again. He didn't know his youngest child was suicidal and he was going to leave him for dead. Phil pulled out a piece of paper and a quill. He wrote a note of some sorts and then summoned an enderchest. Pulling out a file, he taped the note on the creme colored folder.
A deep breath, a hand brushed over his soaked eyes, and straightening his posture, he walked over to the gate.
"Phil!" Tommy still rushed to the gate and opened it like he always did when he was little waiting for Phil and Techno to get home from a trip. He gave Phil a hug and the man leaned down to press a kiss to his golden blond hair. Phil rubbed his hand against Tommy's back and handed the file and note to Sam.
"I-I thought you should have it. I know you are the court and judge and everything legal so it would be easy for you but I decided to make it easier." Sam audibly gasped as he opened the folder and looked at the documents.
"Phil, I c-can't do this-" Phil just smiled sadly as a single tear dropped from his eye.
"You already have." Phil cupped Tommy's face and kissed his forehead, moving the hair out of the way and looking into his eyes. "Your eyes have always been the prettiest. They are like all the seas and a thousand more that I have visited during my travels. They are special, just like you. Don't let them dull anymore."
Phil opened his wings as Tommy stepped away and took off into the sky, leaving the two behind.
---
Sam looked over to Tommy who looked more than confused.
"Tommy," the boy glanced back and noticed the folder, "do you want to see these?" Tommy took the file gingerly and opened it. Tears fell to the papers as he looked back at the sky. "Are you going to be alright?" Sam asked with concern. He took the papers back, the birth certificate with Thomas Watson's information including his legal guardian and his dad, Phil.
"This is the best thing Phil has ever done for me."
Words: 1027
Written: Monday, February 22nd, 2020
Edited:
