Title: Like Father, Like Son.
Disclamer: the characters of Roswell doesn’t belong to me…
Summary: Took place in 2017. Alex Thomson is 16 as well as his girlfriend. He had been adopted when he was a baby as his father was just 18 and had, at the time, a really complicated life… Max Evans give up his child because he loved him but his son wants now to find out the real reasons…
Prologue:
“SHE IS WHAT?!”
Alex watched the two couple sitting before him and gripped Lily’s hand a little tighter in his. She was shaking, he could feel it. He could see her tears on her cheeks without looking at her face; all he had to do was listening to her sobs.
His father stood up and stared passing the floor of the small living room as Lily’s sat still on the couch struck by the new. Mrs. Stevens started to cry but Alex refused to cross his mother’s eyes.
He already knew what he would find: it wasn’t anger or surprise; it’d be disappointment.
She had told him; warn him; not once, not twice, but a thousand time. She had trusted him… Lily’s parents had trusted him.
“Are you sure?”
Hearing her voice brought tears in his eyes. He felt like a child, like a five-year-old who had just been caught stealing a cake in a bakery. The thing was that his mistake –if he was allowed to call it that way- was a lot worst that stealing a cake.
His head lowered as he nodded slightly. But he held back his tears.
“How old are you?”
Dr. Stevens’ dry voice brought him back to a reality he wasn’t even sure he had left. Was he waiting for an answer?
“I…I’m 16,… sir.”
Alex gulped some air in his lungs, trying to swallowed passed the lump in his throat. He could swear he would be dead by now if his girlfriend’s father had had a gun under his hand. Just watching him in the eyes would have killed him.
“16… you’re 16… you kids are 16…”
Alex watched cautiously as the man stood up and stopped Alex’s father from passing the room. The two men glared into each other eyes for a few seconds; but it seemed eternity to Alex; he didn’t know what he should expect from this.
He had prepared himself to everything: the shouting, the crying… the shame… But he had never thought silence would be the worst he could get from the parents. His father’s outburst earlier had reassured him in a way.
Dr. Stevens let out a nervous laugh. “They are 16…they are 16 and pregnant…. PREGNANT!”
What happened next went too fast for Alex to remember it clearly. He saw a fist going fast into his father face and heard his mother shout as Mrs. Stevens tried to calm her husband.
He heard Lily’s cried more and more as they tried to disentangle her from his embrace. He is ashamed to say it, but he didn’t fight. He was struck and helpless in front of the situation.
He watched the Stevens drove away from his house bringing his heart away from him. He barely recalled his mom bringing him back in the inside and his dad’s bloody face staring at him with more anger than he had ever seen in the eyes of someone.
**************
Later that night, Alex laid in his bed, his eyes fixed on the ceiling. The slight knock at his door caught his attention. He hadn’t dare going out for dinner, knowing anyone was ready to see him right now.
He sat on the side of his bed when he saw his mother entering the room and closed the door behind her.
She didn’t meet his eyes as she sat next to him, a bunch of paper in her hands. There was a silence until Alex cleared his throat.
She finally raised her head and her blood shot eyes meet his own torturous stare. He didn’t miss the point of disappointment in her voice even though she talked calmly.
“You remember what we told you when you turn 4 Alexander?”
He nodded, his head hanging low. “You told me that… that you weren’t my real parents. That you had adopted me when I was a baby… but that it didn’t matter ‘cause you loved me.”
“It still true Alexander. We did love you.” But it was said with so much bitter that it brought back to his tear once again; he couldn’t do anything to stop them from being ashamed of him when he was more ashamed of himself than he has been in his whole life.
“We never told you the whole story Alex… We knew a lot more but we wanted to wait until you’d be a little older… to give you a chance to know your origin.” His mother continued to talk and he listened carefully to her every word. He didn’t know where this discussion would lead but he was curious.
Mrs. Thomson took a deep breath looking back at her son.
“When we started to search for adoption, you dad was still unease with the idea; but when one of his friend, a lawyer from New York, told us that they had a child who needed a family quickly, we didn’t hesitate. It was the chance of our life and we took it… But we asked for the true; we wanted to know your story… they said it would be impossible to reveal the identity of the parents… your real parents, because they had asked to keep this information secret. But they told us that your father was 18, he had lost his girlfriend just a week before and had decided to give you up. He wanted you to have a better life that the one he would gave you… He was probably torn… as torn as you must be right now… but this night, he took the best decision of his life… because he loved you, and-.”
Alex cut her before she could finished. He stood up from the bed brutally, watching his mother suspiciously.
“What are you trying to tell me Mum?”
She stood up and put a hand on his arm. She could feel he was starting to panic and that wasn’t what she had foreseen.
“It’s okay sweetie. I just want you to think about the decision your real father took 15 years ago. He decided to gave you a chance to have a life… he had the same problem as you and he decided to take a decision for you, his child.”
Alex jerked his arm away from her grip as her words hit his brain. It was the last thing he had waited from his mother as a reaction.
“You… You want us to give up on our child?”
“I… No sweetie. I just want you to think of the possibility. And there is a few… Lily told her mother she was 3 months long; there isn’t much possibility left.”
“Lily doesn’t want an abortion! And I don’t want either! And we won’t give up our child! It’s out of the question!”
Mrs. Thomson felt helpless in front of her son’s outburst. She hadn’t been used to that, he was a quiet child. But today, he looked more like a man than like a kid.
“Please Alex, look at you. You’re 16 and barely able to take care of yourself. How can you take care of a child! Please Alex think about it.” She begged with all her motherly ability, but he was already out of the room.
Tonight, she had lost her only child as he was himself fighting not to lose his own…
Part 1
Lily-Anne Stevens lay on her bed that night, tears pooling on the side of her face. She was curled on a fetal position, trying to forget the day she had just had. But it seemed impossible.
In one night, she had lost her parents, and probably ruined their own couple; she could hear her father screaming as her mother cried. She didn’t bother to recall the words he was saying anymore; they had been the same since they had left the Thomson’s house: ‘how could I trust them! They are kids! Why did I trust them? Why?’
She let her mind drifted back to a time where everything was simple. When the Thomson had become their new neighbors tem years ago; when she had first met this shy and quiet black hair boy who live two blocks away from her house; when they were nothing more than just friends to each other but everyone knew they’d soon become more; when the both set of parents accept their first kiss with cheers and whistled two years ago… the hope of an eternal love.
But this precious time had ended a few months ago when thing had become a lot more serious than she had expected on her early age. Hormonal kids… was that all that they were? Hormonal kids?
She knew it wasn’t true. She loved Alexander Thomson with all her heart; and she had felt he loved her the same way more than once.
She knew he would be at her side right now if her parents hadn’t forbidden her to see him again…
A slight knock on her windows brought her back to the reality. She hadn’t even remarked that the screaming had stopped above in her parent’s room, replaced by light footsteps passing the floor.
She made her way to the window and met the eyes of her lover behind the glass. She hesitated an instant, but when she crossed his torturous stare, she opened the lock quickly and hurried him inside.
She wrapped her arms around his shoulder as soon as he was settled on his two feet, crying softly again his chest. His own strong arms came around her as he tried to sooth her shaking body.
“Shh, it’s okay… everything gonna be ok…”
“How? How can it be okay Alex? They want to keep us apart. They want me to give up the baby… I don’t want to Alex.”
“We won’t let them Lily, we won’t! It is our child and they can’t decided for us.”
She looked into his eyes, torn between believing the unbelievable, and telling him the reality of the facts..
“We’re too young Alex… I mean legally, they are the one who can make the decision for us; even if we don’t want them to.”
“I know that Lily. But we can get passed through the legality. We can eloped and-.”
“Elope! Alex are you hearing what you’re saying?” She whispered urgently. “It’s crazy!”
“It’s not that crazy! It’s our child’s life which is at stake Lily! Think about it!”
She felt his warm hand on the bump of her lower belly and immediately understood his point. She didn’t know if it was normal but she had felt the baby live inside of her since the beginning. She couldn’t think of losing this life and she would do anything to keep people from hurting it or brought it away from her.
“Okay.”
Alex stared at her with barely hide disbelief. Had she said Okay? “Wh-what did you say?”
“I said okay Alex. Let’s go away from here. I want my baby to be safe… I Need it to be safe!”
A smile plastered itself on his lips. He still didn’t know what was waiting for him and he didn’t want to think about it.
He threw a suitcase on Lily’s bed and put all the clothes she was giving him one by one. They didn’t need much, just the essential. When the suitcase was closed, Lily approached the door and opened the it as quietly as she could. She could still here the footsteps above and she didn’t want to catch the attention to them.
She turned back to Alex, whispering urgently. “You stay here, I’m coming back.”
Alex obeyed and a few minutes later, she came back holding an envelop in her hand.
“My dad always keeps some cash in his desk, just in case. It’s not much but it would cover for a few days.”
Alex just nodded his agreement. She had always been the thinker and apparently it wasn’t gonna change soon.
“We need to stop at my house; I need some stuffs.”
************
Alex moved swiftly in his room, trying to think of everything he would need, at least for the first few days. He had seen the light in his parents room when he had entered the house by the window, if he wasn’t quiet, his mother would remark that he was back, and will be in his room in no time.
When his backpack was full he started to turned back toward the window but the papers laying on his bed caught his attention. His mother had brought them when she had come in his room and he now knew what they were: his adoption paper.
Maybe that was his chance? He opened the first page of the paper, knowing instinctively exactly where to look. On the bottom of the paper was the name of the lawyer who had take care of his adoption before passing by his dad’s friend in New York. He read it: Phillip Evans, from the Evans’s associate law firm, Roswell, New Mexico.
He folded the papers back into their envelop and made his way quietly to the window. Lily hadn’t given a second sight, not even a second thought. She had trusted him and followed him once again. He would do the same.
He run to the car parked on the other side of the street and entered the driver seat. His eyes met Lily’s questioning glare.
“Where are we going now Alex?” She asked anxiously.
“Roswell, New Mexico.”
Part 2
3rd February 2017. 6 a.m. 2 miles from Pittsburgh.
Alex drove in silence as Lily sat at his side. He hadn’t said a word since they had crossed the New York’s line. And even before that he hadn’t been really talk active. She had been struck that he already knew where they were going; she hadn’t bothered asking him how. She would have gone everywhere for him, and if he wanted to go in Roswell, New Mexico, then she would follow him.
But still, she wondered what was so interesting in Roswell. Wasn’t it what they were calling ‘the little green men town’ or something? Why would he want to go there, when all they would find was fake aliens and restaurants on this theme?
But he had stayed silent at her questioning looks before, and she didn’t want to push him in anything he didn’t want to explain. She had trusted him before, she would trusted him again.
Lily was brought out of her thought when she felt the car slowed down. They had entered a little station on the side of the road and Alex was now rummaging on the front pocket of his coat searching for the last dollars.
“You want some cafe?”
She turned on her seat; first surprise to heard him talk after a so long silence. Then his question hit her and she grinned.
“Well, Mister Thomson, have you already forgotten why we are on the run?”
She patted the soft swell of her belly and was rewarded by a smile of his own.
“It’ll be milk for you then!”
By the time he came back to the car, Lily was already fast asleep in the front seat. It was understandable after all. They had spend the last 5 hours in the car and she hadn’t took any second to sleep. He didn’t felt the urge to sleep, his mind too much tortured right now to find slumber, so he climbed back in the car and go back on the road.
*************
3rd February 2017. 0.30 a.m. Seattle
Mickey Alexander Evans turned the locked of the front door of his house as quietly as possible. He knew what would be waiting for him in the morning if his parents learned he had come back so late…
He took off his shoes, intending to climb the stair that led him to his room on his tiptoes ; but the voice behind him froze him to the core and he stopped dead in his track.
“Not so fast young man!” Came the calm voice of his dad behind him. Calm but not less scary for the 13 years old Mickey was. He turned slowly to face his dad, but was rewarded by blackness. He squinted to adequate his eyes and made a few steps inside the room.
His dad was sitting on the couch, wearing only jeans, his feet were bare and he didn’t wear any shirt. His hands were joined between his knees while his elbows stayed on his laps.
“Where were you?”
His voice was still so calm and under control but Mickey could feel it won’t last long. He made the mistake to let the question unanswered and jumped when his dad repeat it a lot more louder than the first time.
“WHERE WERE YOU?”
This time it was Max who didn’t let him finished; he stood up and made his way toward his son.
“You worried you mother to death, I was ready to go search for you if you hadn’t arrived! For the last time: Where were you?”
“At John’s.”
Came the teary answer of his son. Max let out a nervous laugh. He had called John’s parent’s half an hour ago. His son’s best friend was soundly asleep in is room at the time.
“Why are you lying?”
“I’m not!”
“Yes you’re! So tell me where you were or you won’t need any curfew anymore until the age of 21!”
Mickey hesitated a moment, his mouth doing fishy motion as he search for an answer. He finally gave up when he saw that his dad wasn’t kidding.
“I was out… out on the street.”
“With who?”
He tempted a look toward his dad’s face but immediately lowered his eyes. It was the first time he had seen his dad so angry toward him. He was always so calm and under control.
“With Tom and Sarah.”
“The two punks?”
Mickey felt the anger grown inside him at this moment and a surge of power burned his palm. He wasn’t yet totally in control and it played him trick every once in a while when his emotions were running high.
“THEY ARE NOT PUNKS! THEY ARE MY FRIENDS!”
He hurled back to his father’s face. Max’s face stayed unmoving at his son’s outburst. He had learned to stay of ice when it came to Mickey. He had always been a quiet and respectful kid until a few months ago when he had met those other teens.
“You know I don’t like it when you wandered on the street alone! Something could happen to you and you know your mother would not support it!”
Mickey let out a sarcastic laugh, no longer afraid by his dad. His power gave him some assurance and he didn’t fear answering him anymore.
“I’m not a kid anymore! And I don’t know why something would happen to me! John’s parents let him go out at least!”
He made an attempt to turned back toward his room but Max’s firm grip restrained him to go.
“John’s parents are not Aliens chased by the FBI, nor by some tyrant from another planet! They don’t have to fear for their children anytime they go out alone on the street!… You’re the crown prince of a whole planet Mickey, don’t forget that you’ll be the first goal of our enemies!” He ended up calmer. He hadn’t meant to frightened his son, just made him understand the thread.
By the time Max’s ended his speech, any feeling of revolt was gone from Mickey’s deep brown eyes, replaced by frustration and despair. He tried to hold on tears as he face what his father had just said.
“I’d rather be a normal kid then… I wish I wasn’t your son… I wish you’d given me up when I was born! That way all this crap about being a crown prince wouldn’t exist!”
He brutally disentangled his arm from Max gripped and run to his room slamming the door behind him. Max stayed frozen and unmoving, struck by his son’s revelation… If only he knew.
His eyes felt on the form in the hallway. Liz. She had been standing there the whole time, he had felt her. And seemed as struck as him by her son sudden outburst.
“What’s happening to him Max?.. I don’t recognized him… where is my son?”
He made his way toward her, wrapping his arms around her fragile frame trying to sooth her sobs. But at the same time he couldn’t help contemplated what had brought his son to this harsh revelation. Had they been wrong?
Mickey was born 4 years after their departure from Roswell and they hadn’t really foreseen his arrival. But it had still been the greatest joy for Max as for Liz even if they were still on the run; Mickey was born on the old van between Duluth and the Canadian’s line. During the first 7 years of his life, they had continued to run from the FBI crossing the Mexican’s line or the Canadian’s line once in a while when the agents had spot them; working wherever they found jobs; trying to live a normal life when they had the chance to try; but it had never last more than a few months.
It had last until they discovered that Maria was pregnant at her turn. The had then decided it was time for them to stop running. They had plan a trick for the FBI knowing they hadn’t much time as an alien pregnancy last no more than 5 months.
Max, Michael and Kyle had been forced to killed three men this night, just to assured themselves a normal life for once. The months that followed had been the hardest to live for the three boys, until the birth of Maria and Michael’s little girl; they discovered then that they hadn’t do this sacrifice for nothing.
They were installed in Seattle for close to 6 years now and hadn’t had any other ‘surprise’ from the special unit. But they knew it wouldn’t last long, the unit wasn’t dead and neither does Khivar…
It hadn’t prevent them to have a almost quiet life. Liz had the little house she had always dreamed of in the suburb of Seattle, they had both a job in the local high school, Liz as a chemistry teacher and Max as an English teacher. Maria and Michael were owning a little restaurant and Isabel and Kyle rent a studio not so far from Maria and Michael’s.
And to crown it all, they had been blessed by the birth of a little girl 1 and half years ago. They couldn’t have ask for more. But fate had decided to claim them one more time when Mickey started to show powers a few months ago and his behavior had completely change from then.
He had gone from the quiet and shy child Max had been too while he was a child, to an agitated and revolted teen.
Liz had gave up a month ago to let him passed to crisis alone, even though it hurt her to see him struggle that way. But Max couldn’t give up to lose his son, even if it was for a while; he had already lost one and he wasn’t ready to lost another one…
************
Lily woke up in a start, startling Alex.
“What? What’s up? Are you okay Lily?”
He parked the car on the side of the road, turning on his seat to take Lily’s face between his two hands. She was still breathing hard and she crossed his worried glare.
“Are you ok Lily?”
But he was surprise to discovered fascination and not fear in her eyes. “I.. I think I’m okay… I think I saw your dad.”
