I’m glad you like this Tess and that you believe her. You know, that she is a person from flesh and blood. My story is originally a challenge by Killjoy. And I don’t know if you know Rodney but he’s very fond of Tess (to say the least). So I really tried to give her a complete other backstory. She’s now a grown up woman who lived more among humans than she ever lived with Nacedo. She experienced it from first hand that Nacedo’s stories were very coloured and she learned to make her own path in life.
@ Ms_BuffyAnneSummers: Thank you!
@ Carolyn: This was indeed a chapter with a lot of answers and explanations. Discovering their heritage together will make them stronger and unit them more than ever.
@ Sara: Yeah, you’re right. The Royal Four came from far. They all lived a very sheltered life, each one on their own. But there was always something missing. Not only didn’t they have a connection to their origins, they missed out on such simple but o so valuable things as love, understanding and just being themselves.
Chapter 37
The sun was already past its highest point and making its descent on this late afternoon. The laughter on the little patio burbled ceaselessly. Relaxed and slumped down on the bench with his legs stretched in front of him, Kyle had fun just watching as his little niece played some kind of hide and seek with the three other grown-ups. Alternating, she hid herself behind their chairs and like a little jack in the box she popped up and tried to startle them. They had all played along with her until Alex had surprised her. The minute she had tried to peekaboo him, he had grabbed her with both hands. With one swing he let her dangle above his head, much to the joy of her and everyone else.
Man, how could life be so simple and complicated at the same time? He thought while observing the lively girl while she let her feet bounce on her Uncle Alex’s knees now. Was Emily really alien? Or even half alien?
The moment he asked himself that question, the head of the little rascal popped up. “My Michael is here!”
With looks of surprise Maria and the others just stared at Emily. Kyle scrambled to his feet, took the two steps to the garden and went smoothly around the corner of the house. But a quick check of the gate was useless: there was nothing to be seen in the wide span of his surroundings. Pulling his shoulders up in question he returned to the patio.
“Sorry, kiddo, but I think you heard wrong.”
“Uncle Kyle,” Emily answered matter-of-factly while rolling her expressive eyes. “Who said I heard anything?”
Her uptight reaction made them all burst in laughter. A dumbfounded Kyle just looked at her while Alex chuckled next to him. “Man, the apple never falls far from the tree, does it?”
The resemblance between her and Michael, and even more with Isabel, had never been so clear to him. It was the first time that he started to believe that Emily was indeed Michael’s daughter and Isabel’s niece. And it was hilarious and scary at the same time.
Maria ruffled a hand through her daughter’s blond hair. “Emily, dear, why did you say Michael was here then?”
“Because he’s already driving down our street. And now he’s gonna ring at the gate.”
At that moment they all heard the bell. You could hear a pin drop.
“Holy fuck!” Kyle muttered out loud without thinking. It earned him eyebrows pulled down in frowns from his sister and a reprimand from his niece. “Mom says you can’t use ugly words.” After which she trotted away while singing “fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck…” on the melody of ‘five little ducks’.
“Kyle Valenti, you’re in big trouble!”
He flashed Maria a semi-innocent smile “What can I say? Old habits die hard.”
The face of his sister reflected stormy weather but he was literally saved by the bell when the car at the gate honked twice.
“It’s quite safe to say they’re not the most patient people ever.” Kyle snorted. And with a wide smirk on his face he added, “Great match, Deluca!”
A little yellow-green polka dotted pillow from one of the garden chairs flew a couple of inches from his head. With a grin from ear to ear he grabbed it out the air as if it was nothing and threw it back in one smooth motion where it landed right on her lap.
“And he scores! Deluca – Valenti: zero – one!” he mimicked a sports commentator before celebrating his goal with a little routine.
Maria couldn’t help but to explode with laughter. Still shaking her head, she got up from her chair to open the gate with a small remote control lying on the windowsill. Within seconds Max’s blue cabriolet turned up around the corner and drove towards the house. Almost in synchronisation the doors of the car opened, both men stepped out and tipped the seat backs forward to let the two blond women out of the car.
The moment Michael slammed his door shut, little Emily charged him and jumped in his wide open arms. Just like she had almost every day for the past week. But instead of swinging her around, he could only look her right in the eyes. In response hers bored into his. Without breaking contact, Emily lifted up her arms and placed her hands on the sides of his face. With the same ‘Here I am. Take it or leave it’ attitude her father had in abundance, she connected with him. In richly coloured projections she gave him glimpses of her afternoon with her Uncle Alex and Uncle Kyle. Tumbling on the green grass together, throwing her bright pink ball towards each other while Kyle tried to catch it with an exaggerated jump.
At first he was speechless. Her trust was amazing. The eternal loner in him had difficulty grasping it. Would she know that he was different too? Or would she be like that with everybody? And wasn’t that dangerous?
Her big soulful eyes waited for his reaction. They made his doubts fly away and disappear into nothingness. Fun sparkled in his eyes when he smirked. “So you wiped the floor with your Uncle Kyle, huh? Classic! Good job! You probably wrapped him around your pretty little finger, didn’t you?” he teased her while tickling her.
Wildly she struggled to get free and after one last toss in the air, he put her safely on the ground. It was only in that moment he saw that they had an audience. An audience staring with wide eyes, observing at the private father-daughter moment they had been privileged to witness. Within that crowd he saw the man who had been on his mind during the ride back.
“Valenti?” he barked out of habit.
Kyle nodded.
“We need to talk. Alone.”
Kyle nodded again and waved towards the house. “Come on, I’ve got an office here.”
Once inside he made a detour by the kitchen and pulled the refrigerator open. Inspecting its content for a sec, he grabbed a couple of beers and put them next to him on the kitchen counter. In one motion he grabbed his Swiss knife out of his pocket, twirled it around his index finger and uncapped one of the bottles. He offered it to Michael.
“No, I don’t drink.”
Michael didn’t miss Kyle’s downturned eyebrows, so he explained. “My system doesn’t mix well with alcohol.”
But the disbelief remained. Thinking back on how they met, he couldn’t blame Kyle’s caution. He wasn’t a man of apologies but he knew he owed the man an explanation.
“I know how I looked when I came here but even then I hadn’t drank that much. Not in human terms anyway. One drink is all it takes to affect me.”
Kyle didn’t understand it completely but that wasn’t new with these people the last two days. So he just nodded, opened the fridge again and held up a bottle of soda. After an approving nod from Michael, he uncapped it and handed it over. The men leaned back against the counter and took a sip of their drinks.
With the back of his hand Kyle wiped some drops from his chin. “Sorry, man. About your girl and your wife.”
“Me too. That’s why I wanted to talk to you.” With a wide smirk he glanced at the kitchen cabinets. “Is this your office?”
Grinning widely Kyle shook his head. “I wish. You can always find something to nibble on in Maria’s closets.” He immediately matched his words to deed while opening up a cabinet to his right and grabbing a package of golden Oreos. “But to my luck she put me not far from the best room in the house. Come on, I’ll show you.”
***
With envious eyes she couldn’t help watching the two men disappear into the house. Seeing him run away gnawed at her. Damn it! He had seemed to be such a nice guy but he had reacted so badly to everything alien related, on her background, on her. Cause that’s how it felt.
Tess exhaled loudly. She couldn’t deny feeling attracted to him, not even a bit. But she would go out of her mind if she had to ride back with him. After yesterday’s argument she wasn’t up for a second ‘sight without sound’ ride. She blew an escaped curl from her forehead. Maybe she had overreacted a bit but the Kyle that had answered every one of her questions with one-word answers was a far cry from the man she had gotten to know a week ago.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the blond next to her. “Would you guys like something to drink? The last time I checked, deserts can be very thirsty.”
“They still are.” Max chuckled. “If you still got one in the fridge, I’ll take a cherry coke.”
“If Kyle hasn’t plundered my refrigerator, I should have a couple.” Maria smiled at him and counted on her fingers. “So, one cherry coke and – Tess, what can I get you?”
“Something fresh and cool?”
“How does an ice cold homemade lemonade sound?”
“Very refreshing!”
The hopeful intonation made Maria chuckle. “One lemonade coming up.”
“Make it two.” Liz added. “Would you like some help getting everything together?”
Maria just nodded in approval while she glanced at Isabel in question. But the tall woman was deep in thought, her eyes focused on something vague in front of her. “Isabel?”
Alex touched her arm when she didn’t react. He arched his right eyebrow when he felt her quiver under his fingers. She didn’t answer his unspoken question though and just brushed his hand away with a nonchalant move. With a smile she turned to Maria. “No, thank you. If you don’t mind, I’m going to head back. With everything that happened this weekend, I’m behind in my preparations for tomorrow’s class.”
She surprised everybody by embracing her for a moment. “Thanks for taking care of him.” Isabel whispered in Maria’s ear.
With a warm smile Maria returned the hug. “My pleasure. He isn’t an easy man-“
“I know” Isabel half-smiled.
Whispering, Maria flashed a second smile. “But I will keep an eye on him.” After that she whirled around and called out to her daughter. “Emily! Say ‘hi’ to Miss Iz. She’s going any minute now.”
Isabel crouched down on Emily’s level and did a big high five with her. “See you tomorrow in class, Emily! I’m still looking for a nice theme for a story. Any ideas?”
The little girl’s forehead wrinkled for just one second before her eyes started beaming from pleasure. “About princesses!”
“A story about princesses is a very good idea!” The serious way she appreciated Emily’s input made the girl metaphorically grow an inch or two.
She stood again, grabbed her purse and smiled at the others. “I’m out of here. Alex, do you need a ride or are you staying here?”
Alex just needed one look at the smile she had plastered on her face to see that it didn’t reach her eyes. He had observed her numerous times in the past and had learned a thing or two about reading her body language. She wasn’t as much of an open book to him. Therefore she raised her walls a bit too high to protect her feelings. But he knew something was off. Big time.
Normally he would’ve stayed, spending his lazy Sunday with his best friends but he knew he was needed elsewhere. With her. So he didn’t let her leave without him. “Oh, if you could take me back in town, that would be great.”
From the corner of his eye he noticed Max. Even after a small glimpse at the man Alex knew he wasn’t the only one worried about her.
“Gimme a minute and we can go.” With that he started saying his goodbyes and giving the women a kiss on the cheek. The last person he came to was Max. The men shook hands.
With an approving nod Max mouthed a “thank you”. Holding the man’s gaze for a second Alex affirmed his understanding. The small gesture between the two men went unnoticed by the woman they both cared about. Isabel had withdrawn herself already behind her self-built walls and had walked towards her car.
After ruffling Emily’s hair one last time, Alex moved in a relaxed stroll towards the beige Fiat, its burgundy top already down. He hadn’t even completely buckled himself in when she drove off in a hurry. The tires spit gravel up in response to the spinning wheels.
Their exit was however, unnoticed by Liz, who had eyes only for the man in front to her. Gently she touched his arm when she noticed his worried look. “Is she going to be alright?”
Without averting his eyes from the departing car, Max heaved a deep sigh. “Yeah, she will be.”
He knew his sister inside and out and was certain she would land on her feet again. But this time it wasn’t some small futility. Unable to hold it in, another deep exhaled breath escaped. “She just has a lot to take in.”
Empathy washed over her and she gave him a gentle squeeze, letting him know he could count on her. “You find something about your origins?”
His warm hand covered hers and he let it rest there in a comforting gesture. “That too.”
His visible unease and the way Isabel had embraced her, rang a bell. “This is about Michael, huh?” Maria stated with all knowing eyes.
Her understanding hit him and his surprise coloured his response. “He told you?!”
His exclamation made her chuckle out loud. “Not exactly.” At the moment the flashes had grabbed her by the throat, crumbling her heart in a million pieces at the sight of the lost boy Michael had been. But now she treasured his trust in her, although it had been without his consent in the beginning. Unintentionally it had freed him in more than one way. “I found out the same way you did.”
“Oh!”
“Yeah, oh!” she smirked when she saw his eyes almost bulge out from surprise.
Max ran his right hand through his raven black hair, unintentionally presenting an external view of the turmoil he felt inside. He knew how dark Michael’s memories had been. He still hated himself for not being there for him. So disbelief continued to tear at him when he looked at the woman again, seeing her warm smile, her friendly understanding glance. “And you’re okay with it?”
“I can’t say I was happy to see it. Any of it.”
He nodded in understanding. The same feeling had burdened him for far too many nights this past week.
“He’s stronger then you give him credit for.”
“I know but he didn’t need to be.” He remarked, barely keeping the desperation out of his voice.
“No, he didn’t.” She agreed. “But he wants to. Nobody deserves to grow up like that. He had no choice but to take it in. Let him choose right now how he wants to deal with it.”
The sun reflected off of his hair when in one motion he combed it out of his eyes while he brushed a single tear away with the palm of his hand. The nonchalant gesture helped him compose. “You’re a smart woman, Maria.” He sent her a wary smile.
Hoping to ease the tension, Maria winked at her best friend. “If you ask my opinion, you’ve got to keep this man, Liz. I like his way of thinking.”
“I know!” Liz twinkled. “Me too!”
Chuckling out loud Maria hooked her arms through hers and led her into the house. “Come on, girl, we promised them drinks.”
