SMITHFIELD, Va. (WVEC) -- "When's dad coming home?"
That's the question Amari Weathers' mother has been dodging for months before coordinating a surprise homecoming for her 10-year-old son.
It was another ordinary Monday at school for the 4th grader. He was working on his lay-ups and passes while playing basketball during P.E. class.
He flailed his arms in the air, trying to block his coach from passing the ball, but the coach got the ball through Amari and into the hands of a new player in the game...Amari's father.
Joy fills Amari's face as he realizes who his coach passed the ball to and he runs to his father, hugging him tightly with tears in his eyes.
Amari's dad, Technical Sergeant Robert Naylor, Jr., has served in the Air Force for 14 years.
He recently came home from his fourth deployment at Kandahar Air Base Afghanistan.
Naylor was deployed for a little more than six months before returning home to Joint Base Langley-Eustis.
Amari's mother, Lattisha, made it her duty to make this surprise as fun and creative as possible for Amari.
That's why she took more than a month to coordinate the reunion with administrators at Amari's school. And her hard work paid off.
"Well we wanted to do something exciting for Amari," Amari's mother said. "It was great. I couldn't ask for anything more. I loved seeing their reaction. It's just been a beautiful day and I'm so glad he's home."
Amari has two younger brothers and one younger sister, who Technical Sergeant Naylor surprised at their daycare center earlier that day before arriving at Amari's school.
To say the least, Lattisha wanted this homecoming to be as memorable as possible for her son. And boy, did she deliver.
Amari left his P.E. class in tears with his arms wrapped around his father.
