by Tracy (biancaheart@yahoo.com)
Rating PG13
Category: FF
Spoilers: Season 3
Summary: Part 2 of this series.
Disclaimer: I don't own Roswell, nor any Garth Brooks songsl. Honest.
He awoke to the obnoxious sound of a dust buster.
He was really getting sick of that stupid machine.
Kyle gazed over at the clock. 8:00 in the morning- usually too early to get up on his day off, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep.
Just as if fate was proving him right, a small face suddenly popped up at the side of the bed.
"Hey Buddy!" He said, picking up Evan. It was hard to believe that he was almost a year old. Kyle couldn't get enough of Evan- he was more entertaining than X-box, the NBA, and the NFL combined. It had been an amazing year- watching him change and grow from this tiny scraggly thing to a full fledged human being.
He'd moved downstairs into the guest room after Evan was born. Isabel's room was next to his, and Evan's bedroom was across the hall. Kyle had done the late night diaper changes, the colic filled nights, and all else that came with having a baby.
Kyle couldn't have loved Evan more if he was his own son.
At times, he felt like Evan was his son. But Isabel did a good job of keeping Jesse's memory alive. She kept pictures of Jesse in the living room, and played videos of him, so that Evan would get to know his father.
As soon as Evan had learned to walk, which seemed remarkably early- Isabel was convinced that it had to do with the alien factored in intelligence- he had been extremely mobile. Evan had explored the entire house, often with at least one frustrated adult chasing after him.
Evan's favorite place to explore was Kyle's room.
His favorite habit as of late was to sneak up on a sleeping Kyle and wake him up- but the dust buster had beat him to the punch today.
"KY!" Evan squealed. "Up!"
Kyle took a deep breath. "Yeah, yeah buddy, I'm getting up. Does your Mommy know that you're scooting around?"
Kyle placed Evan carefully in the center of the bed. He walked over to the closet and pulled a t-shirt out and shrugged it on. "Time to go, get some breakfast, righty-o?"
Isabel smiled and put down the dust buster when she saw Evan and Kyle approaching. "I see you got him to wake up, Evan."
"Ha, Ha, Ha, Isabel." Kyle said, placing Evan in the booster seat, grabbing two bowls and a box of Cheerios, and a bottle of Tabasco. Kyle poured the cheerios and spritzed a tiny bit of Tabasco on each bowlful. He added milk and a spoon to one, and then carried both to the table.
Evan smiled and dug into the milkless one.
"Have you moved your stuff out yet?" Isabel asked, delving into the refrigerator.
"Not yet, I just woke up!"
"My parents, and my mother in law will be here soon!" She squealed.
Kyle rolled his eyes. "Not for eight hours!"
"Only eight?" She said, a crinkle appearing on her porcelain face. "I'm behind schedule!"
"Oh please, Isabel. The department of sanitation hasn't come up with a numerical score HIGH enough for this house. If you don't calm down soon, this house will spontaneously combust."
"Fine. Then I'm going to go get your stuff and take it to the apartment."
"Some of that stuff is valuable!"
"I won't hurt 'Jugs'."
"I only get it for the articles."
"Yeah, right."
***
"Not knowing exactly where he's going, where he's coming from, or where he's been, Godzilla comes to town to conquer all! Run, Run if you can…Bwhahahha!"
Evan squealed, trying to get away from Kyle, his rubbery baby legs moving as fast as they could go. Kyle crawled after him, making all sorts of snarling and roaring noises.
"Um, hello?"
Kyle looked up, and blushed when he saw the older lady standing there.
Jesse's mother.
"Um, hi Mrs. Ramirez."
"Hello..Kevin was it? Helping Isabel baby sit?"
"It's Kyle. And I live here…um, up above the garage. I help raise Evan, and I live in the apartment."
"Oh." A look of disgust was evident on her face.
"Kyle!" Diane Evans, her face lighting up. "How are you buddy? It's so great to see you." She walked over and gave Kyle a great big hug. "So how are you doing? School going well? Oh, and I have stuff from your father that he asked us to bring…Phillip are you bringing those things?"
Phillip Evans was hidden under a pile of gifts. "I don't know. We didn't exactly leave anything in the store."
"Mom! Dad!" Isabel shouted, impeccably dressed as always.
***
He couldn't sleep.
His Dad would say it was nothing more than his usual Christmas excitement. Kyle hadn't slept well on any of the twenty five Christmas Eves he had experienced. When he was little it was the excitement of Christmas- but now- he just didn't know.
The last two days had been a nightmare. Pilar Ramirez hated his guts.
In front of the Evanses and Isabel, she was nothing but polite. But when he was alone with her, she would say nasty things- little comments about how he wasn't fit to be a father, or about how Evan deserved a better role model.
He pulled on a T-shirt and a robe and headed down the stairs to the kitchen. Kyle missed the squeaky fifth step by doing a quick, bunny sort of hop over it to the fourth one. A cold glass of frothy milk with just a delightful hint of green Tabasco was calling his name.
Kyle sat down at the kitchen table with a deep sigh of relief. Maybe this would help- and he would be blissfully put to sleep. He'd take Ny-quil, but alien sensibilities couldn't handle it. Just another thing the alien invasion had changed for him- his tolerance for good quality cold medicine.
"Just what are you doing down here?"
The little hairs on the back of Kyle's neck raised. It was her. Why
did it have to be her.
"I came down here for a glass of milk."
Why at 25, was he having to explain himself to this woman?
"You don't have your own milk?"
"I live here. I'm allowed to drink the milk."
Pilar huffed. "Well, I don't think you should live here."
Kyle's eyes widened. "Excuse me?"
"It's not proper! My precious baby grandson being brought up in a house with two unmarried people. Not to mention that you are taking the place that my Jesse should have had."
"I'm Evan's godfather! I don't know what you think about me, but I was actually pretty close friends with your son. He invited me to stay here- and after his death I stayed to help Isabel. Did you expect her to raise him on her own?"
"I expected her to move back to Roswell. To family. Where Evan could be raised properly and gain his full cultural influence."
"Well, he's not."
"He could be." Pilar's lips were drawn up into a twisted smile. "I could take Isabel to court and gain custody. Of course, I wouldn't feel lead to if I felt little Evan was in a safe environment.
Kyle's stomach felt like lead.
***
It was Christmas night. Everyone else was downstairs, eating fruitcake and singing carols.
Kyle had made his excuses and withdrawn to his room.
He'd finished packing, and with two more words, he'd be done with this note. And Kyle Valenti would live at 657 Maple Road no more. He couldn't let Isabel even be threatened with the loss of Evan.
Stuffing the last of his limited boxes up into the back of the truck, he gazed at the house.
A silent tear fell down his cheek as he revved up the car and said goodbye to the house that had become his true home.
***
"Hark the Herald Angels sing, glory to the newborn king…" Isabel sang as her father plunked out notes on the piano. This was Christmas. This was why she loved Christmas.
Then she heard a car in the driveway rev up and pull away. Kyle's car.
"That's weird…" she muttered.
"Oh, honey, he probably went off to meet some friends." Diane said, petting her daughter's shoulder.
"Right." Isabel pasted a smile on her face and went back to the carol sing. Kyle had friends?
***
It was 2:30 in the morning, and Kyle still hadn't come home. Isabel watched the nearly muted TV, spouting advertisements for the buttsizer or some POS like that. He had to be okay. He had to be. Jesse was late coming home, and he never came home. Alex never made it to the Crashdown.
If she lost Kyle….No….No, she couldn't think about that. Loosing Kyle must be an impossibility. She needed him. He was her best friend- if she lost him…
Phone numbers. If Kyle had some friends nearby, he would have a telephone book, she could call and see if he was okay- and he wouldn't mind her snooping, because it would be for the best of everyone involved, right?
She tiptoed on the stairs, remembering to hop over the fifth creaky step.
She felt like Mulder or Scully, or even Maria snooping through Michael's mess of an apartment.
It was clean- amazingly clean. Granted, he'd only moved in the day before, but it was sparkling- nothing was left.
He…wasn't coming back.
On the bed, there was one solitary piece of paper. On it were a few
lines of Kyle's familiar chicken scrawl…
Isabel---
This is one of the hardest notes I've had to write. I'll miss
you more than I can say- you are my best friend in each and every sense
of the word. It has been wonderful to live here with you and help you through
the tough times.
I love Evan like he's my son. Please know that. He's an angel, and I marvel at the way I see his mother in him every day. It seems hard to believe I won't be around to see any other of his growing up.
Isabel, the time has come that you need to be on your own. You need to go your way, and I must go mine. I'm glad that I could be here with you-
Maybe our paths will cross again one day. You never know.
Love,
Kyle
She sat on the bed and cried. She knew that she was annoying with the dust buster, and that Evan was very mischievous- but she never thought Kyle would leave.
Coming back down the stairs, she was so upset that she didn't notice the fifth step, and it squeaked beneath her.
She didn't care.
Isabel put a cup of water in the microwave in order to make hot tea. She sat down at the table and waited for the buzzer.
It went off and she didn't get up.
About a minute later, a pair of hands came and handed her the mug. "Here you go, Isabel."
"Oh, thank you Pilar."
"Couldn't sleep? Or is Evan being a noisy boy?"
"Evan's fine. I have some thinking to do."
"About?"
"Kyle left."
"Ah, the hired hand?"
"He's not a hired hand." Isabel snapped. "He's my best friend. And all of a sudden, he just up and leaves, without saying anything, and I wonder why."
"Ah, the boy took my advice."
"Your ADVICE?"
"I didn't think he was an appropriate role model for my grandson."
"APPROPRIATE ROLE MODEL? Evan is my son and I will choose who will be a role model to him and who won't be. This is my house and I will not have you run it!"
"I'm only trying to keep the memory of my son alive!"
"I loved Jesse. I still do. He was great friends with Kyle- he was the one that invited him to live with us. And I know- without a doubt that he would be happy with the way his son is being raised. So I say to you, do not mess in my house, Pilar. You are welcome to see your grandson, but you are not welcome to control our lives."
Isabel stormed out of the room and picked up her son, and dressed him in warm clothes. Then, carrying the letter and Evan, she stormed out to the car.
She touched the letter and closed her eyes. This HAD to work.
The images in her brain swirled, and then she saw Kyle. He was driving in the mustang, singing along to the radio.
"Oh I've got friends in low places, where the beer drowns and the whiskey chases, something something something, to the oooooasssis, oh I've got friends in low—hey that's my turn!"
The sign for The Happy Valley Inn appeared infront of Isabel. She buckled up and stepped on the gas.
***
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
Who in the hell knew he was here? Kyle grudgingly got out of bed. It was raining- appropriate for the way he felt. Life was bleak, and he knew it.
He couldn't believe his eyes when he looked through the spy hole.
"Isabel?" He said, opening the door. "What are you doing here?"
"Getting you to come back." She said, stepping inside from the rain. "Getting you to come home."
"Is….I can't."
"I know what Pilar said."
"She threatened to take Evan from you."
Isabel scowled. "She can just try. My parents are lawyers."
"But maybe she's right."
"She isn't."
"Isn't she?"
"I need my best friend."
"Do you?"
"How am I supposed to say it Kyle? My life is a thousand times better with you there. You make me laugh when I feel like crying. You know when I want to fix dinner, and you know when to call out for pizza. I need you, Kyle. And Evan needs you. You're our family."
"Really?"
She reached over and gave him a hug. "Really. Now let's go home."
"And if I don't come?"
"I'll follow you to the ends of the universe and pester you to come home."
"You would, too, wouldn't you?"
"C'mon." She said, giving him a great big hug. "We have to go blow out the candles on Evan's birthday cake."
"Oh do we?"
"It's a must."
Kyle smiled. He was going home.