Chapter 2: Remembrance

London, O'Connell Manor

July 29, 1939

The sun lit up the London sky like a match lighting a darkened room. The clouds absorbed most of the remaining light, leaving a dreary landscape of skyscrapers not yet awakened by the dawning of a new day. The brightness sluggishly crept over the land, barely illuminating the insides of sleeping houses. Alex was still sound asleep when his alarm clock rang, signaling time for a shower and breakfast before Rugby. He slammed his fist down onto the metal buttons of the clock, shutting off the horrid noise. Then, he rolled over onto his back, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Getting up slowly, Alex held his hands over his eyes waiting for the blackness and dizzy feeling that always occurred when he got out of bed in the morning to pass. When he finally regained his balance and sight he hobbled groggily into the bathroom, turning on the faucet while he moved over to the toilet, relieving himself. Then he stripped, waiting for the water to get warm enough to be comfortable. When it was ready he flipped the little switch beside the faucet and water poured out of the shower nozzle and into the tub. The sight was very appetizing and Alex wasted no time in getting in.

After his shower he rushed downstairs to get his breakfast ready as well as his uncle's. He was excited because the first Rugby practice of the year was today. At fourteen Alex had become one of the prized stars of the team. His effortless speed and great reflexes allowed him to contribute immensely. Not only did the team honor him but they loved him and cherished him as one of their own. The school season hadn't started yet and Alex was very happy with that. Recently there had been a lot of talk drifting around about a man by the name of Adolf Hitler, and about how Germany was rising to power again. Alex wasn't the least bit frightened by this because they lived in London, far away from Germany, separated by the English Channel.

Jonathan stumbled down the stairs, observing Alex's face twisted in thought, "Whatcha thinking about partner?"

"Oh, g' morning Uncle John!" The five foot three inch blonde child engulfed his uncle in an enormous hug comparative to his size. Jonathan, realizing he wasn't getting an answer, paid his dues to his nephew and walked over to the breakfast table, taking his muffin and spreading it with butter. As he popped it into his mouth he sighed, glancing at Alex who had also seated himself at the table.

"So, what are we going to do today Alex?" Alex tossed his uncle a quizzical look, the kind that said silently 'Where have you been?'

"Uncle Jon..." Alex's voice whined, "we are going to play Rugby, did you forget already?"

"Oh..." Jonathan's voice dropped a notch in disappointment.

"Oh, come on Uncle Jon, it's not that bad, really it's not!"

"A bunch of children running around slamming into each other, breaking bones and the like. But of course! It's not at all bad! If I have to call up my sister because you have killed yourself in the sport I will be very displeased." He reached out his hand and ruffled his nephew's hair. Alex was all smiles. He was rather short for his age, but he knew he would be growing a lot soon because his dad was about 6' 4". He couldn't wait for his body to fill out so that he could be as strong as his father was. It was something he had looked forward to for awhile.

After breakfast they retreated to the living room for some cartoons before heading out to the Rugby field. Seeing Alex on the field made Jonathan remember his own childhood.

"Hey Jonathan...why don't you come over here and play with us?"

"No thankyou. Really, I don't like the game." He had always been able to weasel out of it before, but this time it looked as though his luck would change.

"Oh, come on Johnny! You can't be scared of the ball." The teasing look on his schoolmate's face hinted at more antagonizing to come.

Then, suddenly Jonathan didn't know what had hit him, for one minute he had been standing, firmly rooted to the ground refusing to budge and the next he was knocked down, a sharp pain emanating from his skull. He moved his hand shakily up towards his brow, brushing the stray hair out of his eyes not noticing the trickle of blood, which had begun to roll down his hand.

Jonathan never cried. He may have been hurt a couple of times, badly even, but he never cried. This time was one exception. He was so embarrassed, shocked, and hurt that the tears just came flooding out of his eyes on their own free will... He had absolutely no control over it whatsoever. He became very disoriented after feeling the blood and the next thing he knew he had woken up in the London Hospital diagnosed with a severe concussion. That was the last time he had ever taken place in a contact sport.

No, Jonathan decided. Alex did truly enjoy the game, and he knew that he could not prevent him from following his heart's desires, he was so much like his mother in that way. Once he made up his mind he could not be persuaded otherwise.

Jonathan took his normal place in the stadium at the field. Halfway up, in the very middle of the row was where he always sat. It gave him the best vantage point, and gave him enough leeway so that if he needed to cover his eyes from the carnage below he could do so without being seen and humiliated.

The game really was quite exhilarating today, Alex scored a number of goals including one where he literally jumped out of a tackle and proceeded to launch the ball into the goal, successfully evading the goalie. Jonathan only had to close his eyes twice that he could count, and neither time was for Alex, which Jonathan was extremely thankful for. After they had played the game they took a water break and then went back into instruction on defensive movements and how to properly tackle someone. Then they proceeded to do more instruction on evasive maneuvers, plays, and the different kinds of throws, kicks, and passes. By the end Jonathan felt like he could go up onto the field and play right along side them because of the accuracy of the coach.

As Jonathan walked down onto the field to collect Alex so that they could go get ice cream before going home, he heard the coach talking to Alex and one of his friends and could not help but stop and listen.

"Alex, I just know that this will be our best season yet, with you as our head offensive player and Dean as the goalie it can't go wrong. I am putting all my faith in you two boys, you carry the team, don't let us down."

"Don't worry coach, we won't, I promise. Dean and I are good friends we will hold this team together like super glue. You'll see, it will be grand!" Alex said exuberantly patting his coach on the back while he gripped Dean around the neck with his arm taking the other hand and giving him a noogie. Both of them laughed. Then Alex who had just noticed his Uncle asked, "Hey, do you think Dean could come with us for ice cream? We could drop him off on the way home."

"I don't have a problem with that Alex, Dean is that ok with you? Will your parents mind?"

"Oh, naw, Mr. Carnahan... they don't care where I go, just as long as I don't get into a bloody gang..." he punched Jonathan gently in the shoulder having heard many stories about Jonathan's days with gangs. For some reason Jonathan never seemed to have too much luck with gangs. They always beat him up. Dean chuckled at the thought of Alex's uncle being beat up by a gang.

The three of them loaded into Jonathan's yellow convertible and headed over to 'Eddies' for ice cream. After sharing the delectable treats they left, took Dean home and Alex and Jonathan headed home themselves.

While Jonathan made dinner Alex sat upstairs in his bedroom staring at his comics but not reading them. He was thinking about his parents and about how they loved each other and about the baby. When he was little he remembered wanting to have a little sister so he could be just like his mum and his Uncle Jon. But now he was really not sure what to expect. He knew that life would be changing for all of them when the baby arrived, and he wasn't quite sure what he wanted. A little brother would be nice because then he would have someone to come home to after college and roughhouse with but a little sister would do just fine. He was actually quite happy about the whole thing and would openly accept whatever gender it was when it came. He was beginning to get excited for the baby was due in just a couple of months. The due date was September 1st, but he knew that babies usually never arrived on time. They had a tendency of being late or early. Naughty little buggers. He thought smiling. Just then Uncle Jon called him for dinner and his thoughts were disrupted for the time being.

As they sat down to the table Alex asked his Uncle for probably the twentieth time about how his parents met. Jonathan rolled his eyes remembering exactly the sequence of events. "Well Alex, it went like this..." Alex knew exactly how it went but he loved hearing it. "I was a very naughty man and stole the Key from your father while he was drunk as a lout in a bar in downtown Cairo. Then, upon showing it to your mother we learned it's real value because we found a map to Hamunaptra in it! Can you even imagine that? A map to Hamunaptra, City of the Dead. Our excitement could not be contained, because we had found proof that the city actually existed. Then, Evie begged me to take her to this man whom I had stolen the Key from because she wanted to ask him about it. I really did not want to go all that much. It was horrible, almost like turning myself in for the crime I had committed. He was in Cairo Prison, not a place for a lady such as your mother to be traipsing around. He surprisingly enough remembered me in enough time to sock me in the jaw before proceeding to kiss your mother." Alex loved the story. It was so romantic in a way. He was only like this at home. If any of his friends knew that he was hopelessly romantic they would never let him live it down.

"Go on Uncle Jon. What happened next?"

"Well then she saved him from being hanged at the prison and proceeded to tell me, in these exact words: 'He's filthy, rude, a complete scoundrel, I don't like him one bit!' The irony being how they fell in love. They were quite disgusting to tell you the truth. Always kissing! I remember when you were little, you and I used to comment on them and say 'Oh, go get a room!' But we can't do that anymore can we...? Alex you have changed, you don't think it's gross anymore. My days of playing that little game with you are over."

"Awww, Uncle Jon, don't say that! You are great, and I love you dearly, but I am changing, you must understand." As he said the last his voice cracked causing both of them to laugh.

"Of course I understand Alex, if you weren't changing I think I would be a bit frightened. Soon your voice is going to be as deep as your fathers. Then I won't know who to be scared of more." They both laughed.

Getting up from the table that night seemed to take forever as Alex and Jonathan just continued to talk, and when they finally did neither of them had the heart to wash the dishes. They just left them in the sink to soak and figured they would get to them in the morning. Then off they went to bed, exhausted from their fun day. The night was relaxing and both of them slept well.