Chapter 3
It was another two weeks before Amy Deluca and Jim Valenti could get things straightened out to bring Tess and Michael to their separate homes. They decided to go together to ease the kids into the separation. As they arrived at the orphanage Amy began to wonder if the kids remembered anything because of the comments the social worker made earlier in the week. She guessed that since the adults had quite a few memories it only made sense that the kids would recognize some things such as their names. She began to hope that, just maybe, they would not remember all the bad things in their lives. She had to hold on to the belief that they would still make the same connections to their counterparts because it was absolutely necessary in order to survive the great hurdles that would one day come their way. And as Amy got out of the vehicle, she slowly turned to look at the looming building in front of her and prayed that the desolate atmosphere was not an omen for any bad things to come.
"Do you think we can raise them to become who they are supposed to be Jim?" Amy questioned softly.
"Amy…these kids had so much strength and pride in who they were and what they did there is no way that they could grow up to be anything else than beautiful people. I just want to make sure they have the chance to do that without any outside influences such as their supposed 'protector' Nasedo," Jim replied with total confidence.
"Ok, let's go get our children," Amy responded in kind.
Later that night as Amy was tucking the girls in to bed was when Maria asked any questions about the new sister she just acquired.
"Mommy?" Little Maria said peering up from her pillow.
"Yes sweet pea," Amy replied smiling softly.
"Do you think Tess likes it here? Do you think she'll get along with Lizzie and Alex and be my best friend too?" Maria questioned naively.
"I have no doubt in my mind that you, Liz, and Alex will do everything to make her feel special after all, you are all princes and princesses." Amy replied leaning down to kiss Maria's forehead.
Little Maria just smiled back as she thought of all the wonderful things she wanted to show her new sister. And she absolutely couldn't wait to tell her friends all about the new person in her life. She was finally happy, she had always wanted another sister or brother but when her Daddy left she didn't think that she would ever get the chance. And as little Maria slowly drifted off to sleep she became confused as she softly heard someone whisper out her name in complete awe. And she dropped into peaceful oblivion she smiled softly thinking that for the past three weeks she had someone in her dreams to comfort her from the nightmares of her dad leaving and the other dreams she could make no sense of.
Tess' bedroom
"Hello Tess, how are you doing sweetie?" Amy asked softly after tucking the covers tightly around the small blonde haired girl.
"I'm scared, what happened to Michael? I don't like being away from him. I wanted to go with him." Tess replied as her luminescent blue eyes filled up with tears and slowly started to trickle down her pale white cheeks.
"Oh Baby, Michael is fine he is with the nice man that came with me when I picked you up, do you remember?" Amy asked as Tess nodded slowly in answer to her question.
"Well, I couldn't take both of you with me so he took Michael to make sure he had somewhere to go. If you would like, I'll call Jim tomorrow and see if you and Michael can play together ok? I hope you are happy here Tess. Maria is already looking forward to you meeting her friends Liz and Alex." Amy told her as she watched the little girl's eyebrows crease as if trying to place something.
"What is it sweetheart? Is something else wrong?" Amy questioned hoping that Tess was not remembering anything from her past life. If any of the children could not remember she hoped it would be Tess. She did not want her to remember any of the false lies that were taught to her by Nasedo. She wanted to have a hand in helping her develop her powers and to tell her never to mind warp unless it was a matter of life and death. And as Amy began to get lost in her thoughts Tess answered her.
"No, nothing is wrong I'm just happy I guess. I was so scared when we left but being here makes me feel happy," Tess said smiling up at Amy.
And as Amy turned off the light and softly shut the door the little blue eyed blonde alien girl wished with all her might that Michael was as safe and happy as she was. And for some reason she just could not understand she hoped that the little boy she saw in her dreams every night would be there for as long as he could. And knowing that she was different this little boy did not scare her even though he seemed to know so much about her some things that she didn't even know herself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Valenti Household~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Okay boys this is how it is going to work. You both are going to head to your separate beds with no more arguing. Do you understand me?" Jim Valenti said pacing back and forth in front of the couch in his living room.
"Yes, daddy. I'm sorry, I just, he's weird and mean." Little Kyle Valenti replied somberly.
And as Valenti shook his head at the two little boys in front of him he could not help but wonder why Michael was acting so surly. He guessed that no matter what life he lives out Michael will always be the enigma of the group. 'I guess some things are just too ingrained in someone's character to ever really leave them' he thought sadly. After watching the boys slowly turn and walk out of the room, Jim prayed that as the little spiky haired boy grew up he'd learn to let others in or at least let one little green eyed hurricane get into his heart.
As Michael laid there in his new bed he could not help but feel lost and wondering why none of his family had stayed with him. He could not figure out why he was being mean to his new brother, Kyle. And as Michael laid there thinking that tomorrow he would be nicer, he saw a picture flash quickly before his closed eyelids. He was so startled that he sat straight up in bed. He couldn't figure out how he knew some of the things he did or why he kept seeing pictures of a little girl with a small dog beside her and red shoes on. She kind of reminded him of his sister Tess but it wasn't and he had never seen her so he was scared about why she kept showing up when he closed his eyes. Finally little Michael finally gave up his fight with sleep and slowly slipped into a sleep filled with dreams of people and places he had never seen or been. For some reason, that he could not understand, these images gave him assurance and a feeling of comfort and acceptance.
~The Next Morning~
As Jim was sitting at his table drinking his morning coffee the phone rang and as he got up to answer Michael walked into the kitchen rubbing his eyes. Jim smiled softly as he thought that there was no way that before Michael would have showed any vulnerability especially one such as being sleepy.
"Valenti here," Jim said picking up the phone.
"Well, I would hope it would be you considering I called your house," Amy replied chuckling.
"Sorry, its habit. What can I do for you on this fine morning?" Jim asked.
"Last night Tess mentioned about wanting to see Michael and I was wondering if we could get them together. I also wanted to see how we were going to handle getting our kids together. Do we want all of them to meet this early or wait until they drift together on their own? There are so many what if's Jim," Amy said frustrated.
"Amy calm down, it will be fine. I think we should do what feels natural to us. Personally, I think it will be good for the kids to all meet now. That gives us a bit of a guarantee that they know each other. They could be stronger together and if they are all friends from a young age that will definitely change Michael and Tess, you know that as well as I do," Jim told her soothingly.
"Ok, well maybe this weekend we can all meet up over at the park or something. Just talk to the boys and let me know," Amy replied.
"Alright, will do I'll talk to you later Amy," Jim said listening as she responded in kind and hung up.
As he turned he saw Michael staring up at him with his eyebrows creased in thought. That kind of made him nervous because he was not sure what on earth Michael could possibly be wondering. 'Guess I'll just have to ask' he thought laughingly.
"What's on your mind Michael?" Jim asked sitting back down as Michael blinked in surprise.
"Nothing really, it's just…well I had a weird dream last night and I thought maybe you could help me understand it," Michael replied nervously.
"I'll try to help so…tell me about it," Jim said waiting patiently.
"I don't remember a whole lot of it but I do remember names and I just heard you talking to an Amy so I was wondering who she was?" Michael responded softly staring up with confused amber eyes at Jim.
"Oh wow, well she is a really good friend of mine and she is the one who took Tess home with her..Do you remember who I am talking about?" Jim asked. He was kind of nervous that Michael was remembering Amy already considering he didn't ever really have a lot of contact with her because in all honesty he feared her because of Maria. But as he continued to stew in his thoughts, he began to realize he shouldn't be all that surprised considering all the visions he had last time.
"Ok, well do you know if Kyle is awake? I don't know why but I think I need to say I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to be mean to him, it's just that for some reason I was scared and uncomfortable around him. I mean I don't know why I would act like that, he was really nice to me when we got here." Michael rambled while scratching his eyebrow.
And as Jim sat there watching him he couldn't help but be in awe of how he was so much like before except with the rambling. 'Hmmm…maybe Maria rubbed off on him from before' Jim thought smiling.
"Well, I am thinking he should be up soon. He usually does not sleep too late," Jim told Michael as Kyle shuffled into the room.
"Dad, Can I have lucky charms for breakfast?" Kyle said yawning as he plopped down at the table.
"Yes son you can, do you want some also Michael?" Jim said glancing in Michael's direction. Michael shook his head yes then turned to Kyle.
"I'm sorry Kyle," Michael said hesitantly.
"For what? We're brothers it's all good," Kyle replied smiling goofily at him. And as Jim watched his two young sons he couldn't help but think this was one of the best days of his lives.
Later on that afternoon as Jim was watching the news Kyle and Michael were in Kyle's room talking.
"Michael, I know it sounds funny but I had this weird dream last night and I wanted to tell you about it," Kyle said as he went to his closet to retrieve some of his toys.
"I had one too, maybe it's something that happens to all little kids but I guess we can see if they were alike," Michael responded.
"That would be so cool," Kyle said dragging his cop cars and fire trucks over to Michael.
And as they sat there playing with the toys they began to talk neither one realizing that Jim had come to stand at the door to watch and listen. And he began to realize that the kids were remembering happier times with the ones that they had cared for. He hoped that they would only remember the good times. Even though they were able to get Tess this time around Jim was afraid that the kids' memories would lead them to not trust her. He decided that he needed to call Amy back and set up a time for the kids to meet as soon as possible, because he honestly believed that the sooner they all became friends the stronger their bonds would be. 'Maybe by being friends they wouldn't hold the past against her' he thought.
He also realized that since the Michael and Kyle were remembering it was just as likely that the rest of the group was having memories in their dreams as well. As he entered the living room he decided that the parents needed to have a meeting so they could all find out what the kids were remembering and how they were going to ask the kids about their dreams.
As soon as Amy answered the phone Jim told her, "Amy Michael and Kyle are remembering little things so I think we may have to tell them things sooner than we would have liked. We can probably put it off for a couple of years but I think it will definitely have to be done before the day of the shooting."
"Yes, I know Maria was telling me about the dreams she had last night. However; I think that they need to keep having the dreams so they can remember, it will be better for them. I still believe we need to hover over them for now and just let them come together. Then if Maria does not approach me about things then I will decide what to tell her. If they do not approach us let's try to wait. I do not want to put all those bad things on them Jim. They deserve the chance to be kids. But I think we need to get together with everyone to talk about this, so I'm going to go and call the other parents," Amy told him.
"Ok, call me and let me know when and where," Jim told her and then put the phone back in the cradle after she said goodbye.
