Kyle Valenti walks up the stairs of the Roswell Sheriff's department. Outside the door, he pauses, takes a deep breath and pulls open the door. Once inside, he looks around. In the distance, he can hear the sounds of typing, and he steps confidently towards the sound.
"Can I help you?" a voice asks from behind. Kyle turns around to find Sheriff Hanson standing behind him.
"Oh sure, great, Hi," he says. "I'm actually looking for a friend of my dad's, he's a deputy here in Roswell. My name is Jerry, Jerry McGuire."
"Well Jerry, who are you looking for?" asks Hanson.
"A Jim Valenti," answers Kyle. "He and my dad are friends, they go way back, and since I was going to be passing through here, Dad asked if I could stop by and leave some stuff off with him."
"Well, Jerry, you are in luck. Jim's on rounds, but his shift is just about over. You can wait here if you like."
The last thing Kyle wants to do is spend time in any law enforcement establishment, even if it is the Roswell Sheriff's Department. "Well, I drove straight through dinner, and I am getting pretty hungry. Is there any place around here to grab something to eat?" Kyle asks.
"As a matter of fact, Jim usually heads to the CrashDown for a bite to eat before he heads home. If you want to head over there, I can tell him you're waiting for him," Hanson offers.
"That would be great," says Kyle. "Is this place within walking distance?"
"Sure, it's just a couple of blocks down, on your left."
"Great, and thanks again, Sheriff," Kyle pauses and makes a big show of looking at the man's nametag. "Hanson. I appreciate all your help."
Kyle turns and heads back out the door and starts to walk towards the restaurant. Knowing he has a few minutes to kill, he decides to walk over to Maria's mother's shop. As Kyle walks, Jim pulls into the Sheriff's Department parking lot and goes in to log out for the night. He makes quick work of his paperwork and heads toward the door. He is exiting the building, when he hears Hanson calling his name.
"Yeah Hanson, what's up?" he asks.
"Someone was here looking for you tonight, the son of a friend."
"Oh yeah," says Jim, looking unconcerned. "What'd he say?"
"Said his name was Jerry," Hanson pauses.
"McGuire," says Valenti, thinking of Kyle's favorite movie.
"Yeah, that's it. Jerry McGuire. Anyhow, he was hungry, so I sent him over to the CrashDown, and told him you'd meet him there."
"Thanks Hanson, I appreciate that," says Jim as he prepares to leave. Stopping suddenly, he turns to Hanson. "What does he look like? I haven't seen this kid since he was like 10 years old."
"Nice looking kid, blond hair, kind of spiked, not too tall, broad shoulders. Looks like he could have played football."
"Not football," Jim says softly. "Wrestling. Ok thanks Hanson, I'll see you later." Jim exits the building, trying not to hurry, and makes his way to his vehicle and drives over to the CrashDown. He walks inside, and looks around, but doesn't see anybody matching the description that Hanson gave him. Philip and Diane Evans see him and wave him over to their booth, and invite him to join them.
"Sure, just for a minute though, I'm expecting someone," he says as he slides into the booth next to Diane.
"We thought you might be," says Philip, subtly motioning to the next booth. Jim excuses himself on the pretext of saying hello to Geoff. On his way back to the Evans' booth, he checks out the occupants in the booth behind them. He meets the young man's eyes, and knows in an instant that it is Max. Nodding imperceptibly, he sits back down and whispers "Max, Isabelle and Liz?" Philip smiles and nods. "Amy have company too?" he asks, and again Philip nods.
The bell over the door of the CrashDown rings and Kyle walks in. He spies his father sitting with the Evans', and hesitates, unsure of how to approach him. Jim however stands up and shouts, "Jerry, Jerry McGuire, your dad said you'd be coming through town. Thanks for meeting me here."
Kyle approaches his dad cautiously, his eyes sliding over to see the two FBI agents sitting in the corner. Shit, he thinks to himself. Don't they teach those guys anything in agent school? They are too obvious for words. Reaching his father, he sticks out his hand and says "Deputy Valenti, great to see you again. My dad sent some pictures and things for you. I have them out in my car. I only have about an hour, before I head out to L.A., so if you want, we can go get them now."
"Sure, sure, that sounds great," Jim says clapping him on the shoulder as the two walk out of the restaurant. "How's your mom doing?"
Once outside, they drop all pretenses, and Jim turns to Kyle as they walk down the street.
"You shouldn't have come to town," he says, fury in his voice.
"Yeah, but you knew we were going to, didn't you. That's why you gave us the car."
"You're right, I suppose, but Jesus Kyle, did you know,"
"That there are to agents sitting in the corner booth at the CrashDown?" Kyle interrupts. "Yeah, I saw them."
"Oh," says Jim, his anger deflected slightly. As they walk, he notices a woman walking towards them. As she draws closer, he sees that it's Amy DeLucca, and she is trying very hard to contain her excitement. When she reaches them, she grabs Jim's hand and just grins uncontrollably.
"Don't even say it," Jim says. "I know exactly what you want to say!"
Amy finally notices the young man standing next to Jim and she reaches over and squeezes his hand too. Kyle smiles at her and tells her that he stopped by the store, but when he saw what was going on, he figured they deserved some privacy. Amy smiles gratefully and turns to Jim.
"Do you know where Philip is?" she asks. I need to see him for a minute.
"He's over at the CrashDown," contributes Jim.
"Is it very crowded?"
"Well, there are 3 out of towners," Jim says meaningfully, "And a couple of regulars in the back booth."
"Great, thanks Jim," she says kissing him on the cheek, and smiling at Kyle before she walks off.
"Hmmm," says Kyle. "I like the secret code you guys have worked up. Now tell me, I got the out of towners, and the regulars in the back booth, but what exactly does the kiss signify."
"Shut up," Jim says as he playfully cuffs his son. "Come on, your hour's about up. I'll walk back to the car with you. You may want to let the others know that you have had an addition to the blast em club."
"No shit, really?" Kyle says incredulously. "That was quick. I wonder why?"
"I don't know, I'm guessing that my age may have influenced the changing process. Because I'm older, it happened faster."
"Well, hey, that's cool, like son, like father I guess," Kyle jokes.
Back at the CrashDown, Amy, is just opening the door, when 3 people walk out. As they pass by, the smallest of the three takes her hand and squeezes it and smiles as she walks by. A bemused Amy walks in and sits down with Philip and Diane.
"Hi everyone," she says. "Philip, I'm sorry to bring this to you out of the office, but you said this paperwork was important. It's that information you needed regarding Sean. She passes the envelope full of papers to Philip, as Diane slips her a note she scribbled on a napkin.
M,L,I just left, she reads. She reads it again, and realizes the woman who squeezed her hand was her daughter's best friend. She smiles at Diane and glances over at Nancy who is wiping the same spot of counter over and over again.
"Philip," she says. "Is that paperwork ok? Does it have the information you want?"
"Yeah Amy," he says smiling. "It has everything we need." He slides the paperwork over to Diane and she sees that Michael has signed the paperwork allowing them to adopt him. "I'd say this is just what we need."