Back to the Fanfiction Library!
by Adina Bernstein
Remember WENN and all of the characters except Vivian and Katherine Singer, Alexandra and Jack Sherwood and David Singer belong to Rupert Holmes and a certain channel who shall remain nameless. This is just a fanfiction. This story was inspired by the song “Father of Mine”. Did Jeff go to London the first time because he was patriotic, or was there a deeper motive?
Enjoy my story.
Italics denotes past
July, 1948
A weary-looking man got off the train in Pittsburgh. He appeared to be in his fourties or fifties and looked like he hadn't been in civilization for a while. He walked up to the ticket counter and asked where he could get a taxi. The clerk at the desk told him to turn right and go straight ahead. There he would find taxis. When he found a taxi he told the cabby to go to radio station WENN. “Do you know of an actor at WENN called Jeffrey Singer?” the man asked the cabby.
“Yeah," the cabby replied, "he's one of the regular actors”.
When he got to the station the man paid the cabby and walked up the stairs to WENN. At the receptionist desk he saw an older woman. “Can I help you sir?”
“Is there a Jeffrey Singer who works here?”
“Yes, there is, but he's on the air right now. Can I take a message?”
“No thanks," he replied. "I'll wait here for him."
A few minutes later a middle-aged brunette with two young girls walked in. “Any messages, Gertie?” she asked.
“None for you, but this man is here to see Jeff."
One of the girls whispered to the lady. “Who is that man, Mommy? Why is he here to see Daddy?”
“I don’t know, but I'll find out," she replied. “Excuse me, Gertie said that you wanted to see my husband."
“I’m Jeffrey’s father."
“So you're Jeffrey’s father. I’m Hilary Booth, of course."
“Nice to meet you Ms. Booth. Are you Jeffrey’s wife?”
“I am."
“It's nice to meet you, Hilary. Jeffery has good taste in women.”
“Thank you." She gestured to the two young ladies. “Girls, come here and say hello to your grandfather."
“Who is this, Mommy?" one of them asked.
“This is Jeffrey’s father, your grandfather, David. This is Vivian and this is Katherine.” Vivian was a vivacious 4 year old who looked like Jeff. Katherine was a shy 6 year old who looked like Hilary.
“Hey, Hilary you're needed on the air now," A red-headed woman with a thick New York accent came over to the group.
“Maple LaMarsh, this is David Singer, Jeffrey’s father.”
“Hiya, nice to meet ya, Mr. Singer.”
“Aunt Maple, where’s Alex and Tony?” Katherine asked.
“They're in the green room, honey."
“Thanks, Aunt Maple. C’mon Vi!" As both girls ran around the corner, they ran into Jeff.
“Hi Daddy!" they said.
“Hi Katie, Vi. Where's Mommy?”
“She's in the lobby” Katie insisted.
As he walked around corner and was about to give Hilary a kiss, he looked at the older man who she was talking to. “Dad?” he asked.
“Hello, son."
In a second, the two men were hugging and crying. “You’ve grown a lot since I’ve seen you."
“Dad, I was a teenager when you left. So what happened?” Jeff asked.
“It's a long story. Let's go where we can talk."
“We can go into the green room."
They sat down and David began to tell his story. “It was 1914 and I was 22. I met Jeffrey’s mother, Michelle in a small town just outside Paris. I went there on business and I saw her. She was with a few of her friends. I thought she was the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen. I saw her later at a dance, and asked her to waltz. We danced and talked. Her name was Michelle Tanem. She was a 18 year old. I told her I was Jewish. She said she was also Jewish. Her family was almost killed during the Spanish inquisition so they changed their name. They don’t practice. I told her we go to shul on Yom Kippur but we thats it. I gave her the number for my hotel room. When she called me the next day, I suggested that we get married. She agreed. The ceremony happened a week later."
“Jeffrey, just like you and me," Hilary said.
Mackie walked in. “Mackie Bloom, this is David, Jeffrey’s father."
“Grandpa, continue with the story!" Vivian begged.
"We get married and have a week to honeymoon. After the honeymoon, I had to come back to the States. I told Michelle to get a visa to join me. She did six months later. The next year Jeffrey was born. That was 1911. Michelle and I were so proud of him. We kept in touch will Michelle’s parents and we sent them pictures of Jeffrey. Her parents had written us about immigrating here. We sent them a little every month."
"It was 1932 when they wrote to us about the problems with Hitler and the Nazis in Germany with the German Jews. They said they were getting worried and they wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. They had the money they needed and they just needed their visas. We waited about a year and things were the same. Michelle was getting worried. I arranged to go on a business trip to get them.”
“This is a fascinating story, David, but Hilary and I need to get on the air," Jeff admitted reluctantly.
A second later a couple walked in. “Scott and Betty Sherwood, this is David, my father."
"Sit down, I’m in the middle of a story. As I was saying, I went to France to pick up my in-laws. I did get them into the Stated, but I saw what was happening to the other Jews. I came back and all I could think about was the other Jews who could not get out. It was in the back of my mind for several years. When Kristallnacht happened in 1939, I couldn’t keep it in the back of my mind anymore. I decided to go back see if anybody else needed help. Michelle begged me not to go. I told my in-laws to give me names of all of their friends who needed help. When I got there I became so involved that I forgot about my family back in America. Soon I found out I was in danger. I sent Michelle divorce papers to protect her in case anything happened to me. I had to go underground because I was involved with the French Resistance."
"I was almost killed several times. I was lucky to survive. After the war I wandered around for a while. Then I thought I should come back to the states. I hadn't heard or seen Jeffrey or Michelle since 1939. I went back to where we lived when Jeffrey was growing up. The woman who answered the door said that you had moved."
"Grandmere and Grandpere died in 1941. We moved after they died," Jeff said softly.
“Finish the story, Grandpa!" Katie insisted.
"I did a little detective work. I was about to give up when I saw the name Jeffrey Singer in a trade paper. I looked you up, and here I am”.
“Thats quite a story, Mr. Singer," Betty said.
“You're back for good, Dad?” asked Jeff.
“Yes, son, I am”.
The end
