"What?" Alex said, shaking his head. "You love me?"

"Alex!" Jill cried with tears in her eyes. "Did I just make an even bigger fool of myself? You still love my mother!"
"I didn't say that!"

"But you didn't deny it either. You loved her."

"Yes, I loved her. I had a crush on Isabel from the time I was young enough to realize that boys and girls were not the same. And I loved her from the time she let down her walls and let people in, let people see the treasure that she truly is."

"This is supposed to make me feel better?"

"I'm a ghost, not a superhero. I'm human, Jill, and I can't figure out everything that you need, or want. I don't know what to say. I hate to see you cry, and I hate to be the cause of your tears, but I'm at a loss for what to say. I don't know, Jill. I don't know."

"So where does that leave us?"

"I have no idea."

"You don't know what to do? Neither do I. Who would believe me? I'm in love with a ghost, the ghost of my mother's old boyfriend. For goodness sake, ghosts aren't supposed to exist. It's called fiction, for crying out loud!"

"The truth is stranger than fiction."

"You're telling me."

Jill's eyes glared at Alex. "Would you do me a favor and just shut up?"

***

The atmosphere in the house was, to say the best, hostile.

Isabel refused to go back in the house. Instead, she took the car keys and drove to the retirement home, to see her parents.

Kyle was sitting on the couch, reading the file folder that Jill and Alex had left there the night before. His eyes snapped to the door as Jill walked in the door, drenched in sweat.

"Hi honey." He said, looking at his daughter. "I think you better go take a shower."

"Awww…Dad, do I have to?" She said with a gleam in her eyes.

"Yes! Now march, Scooter." Kyle said with a chuckle.

Alex stayed downstairs, looking at Kyle. He still couldn't see how…how Kyle and Isabel had gotten together in the first place.

Kyle started walking around the room, examining the contents. He paused at the mantle, where the picture of Alex was displayed.

"You know…I wish I could talk to you, Alex. I miss you, believe it or not."

Alex raised his eyebrows. If Kyle was going to give him a post-mortum apology, he'd sit down and enjoy it.

"If…if you could see me now, you probably wouldn't believe it..you wouldn't believe any of us, Alex…what we've become. Your death…your death hit all of us, and broadsided us. We were all so innocent then…we didn't have any idea of what was ahead of us. When you died, we all became adults. And…I was there when it happened…when Tess…she mindwarped me. I carried your body out to the car, thinking it was luggage. I wish I was stronger…I wish I could have…Alex…I'm sorry. It's too little, too late, but it's all I can say."

Alex was amazed. He expected Kyle's dialogue to be self-righteous, but he could see genuine regret in the guy's face.

"You'd probably wonder how I ended up with Isabel. Your girlfriend…it almost seems like something out of a romance novel, doesn't it? I still can't figure out what I did to be lucky enough to wake up beside her each morning, and to see her smile. I just don't know. I have four children- three precious girls- Jill- she lives here now, Robin, and Tara, and one little boy- Max Alexander- named after our two best friends who are gone now." Kyle's voice cracked. "Isabel…things were bad for us after we found out about Tess. She left- pregnant with Max's child…yeah, they actually got together- I told you that everything went wrong after you left…we were all lost, but no one more than my father and I- we were on autopilot…trying to rid our lives of Tess, item by item, memory by memory. Amy helped Dad recover…but no one was able to reach me. And then…Isabel came by one day with some dish her mother sent over- a frittata, or something like that I think, and Isabel stormed into my room, turned off the Counting Crows, and got me to shower, put on new clothes, and get out of the house. She taught me to smile again, and she let me cry. She was my strength…she helped my heart heal. I loved Tess; but it's nothing compared to Isabel…she loved me back."

Alex wished he could hug Kyle, to let him knew that he understood.

"I never told you that I was jealous of you, did I?"

Alex shook his head "NO" as if Kyle could actually see him.

"You were strong, Alex. Always so strong. You dealt with a mindwarp, for what- months? I was only mindwarped for a short time, and I'm still dealing with the effects of it- years later. In the cave, you were so ready to die…not afraid of death. I've faced death, and it still scares me."

Kyle Valenti was a good man, Alex decided. The best kind of man. Honorable.

***

"Let me brush your hair."

"Mom?" Jill said, spinning around in her robe.

"Oh, don't go acting so old. You're still my little girl, no matter how old you are."

Isabel grabbed the brush and pulled it through the golden strands. She raised her hand and used her power to dry her daughter's hair.

"Remember the time you had to do that, because I was almost late for school?"

"Weren't you late?"

"I would have been if Dad didn't take a couple of illegal turns."

"I am so blessed to have my family." Isabel said. "I didn't realize how much."

"You were so freaked out at first because this was Alex's house, right? This was the house of your old boyfriend. And you've never gotten over him."

"I've gotten over him." Isabel said as she continued to brush. "Alex will always be a part of me, I can't deny that. But I've gotten over him, and I've moved on."

"Huh?"

"Life goes on, Jill, whether you let it or not." Isabel sighed. "I took his death hard. I used to go out to the football field- they had a memorial service set up for him there- it probably would have been better if they had it in the computer lab- that was his home- but I used to go and stare, as if he would just appear back there. Obviously, that didn't work. But one morning, someone got me to smile again- it was your father. He brought me a cup of coffee, and got me involved in a plan to get back at your Uncle Max."

"I thought that they were best friends."

"Ahh…but you don't know how much they disliked each other at first. It took many, many, many years for them to become friends."

"So what are you saying Mom?"

"I realized a few things, Jill, when I was visiting my parents. I was afraid to come in this house, because this was Alex's house. I didn't want to fully admit he was gone, as if he were still alive in one center of my brain. But I can be stronger than that. I do miss Alex, but I can't live in the past. The past is only a road that we take to the present. So don't dwell on the past, Jill. It will only bring you pain. And you, my dear, are strong enough to face the future."

Jill looked up at her Mom and smiled.

She knew that things were complicated- but in the end they would turn out fine.


***
The next day, Jill's parents left. Isabel needed to get back to her fifth grade students, and Kyle needed to ready his football team for the opening game of the season next week.

"You know that I'm never farther away then a phone call." Isabel said, hugging Jill. "And I can come back again soon.."

"We love you sweetheart." Kyle said, giving his daughter a big hug. "I am so proud of you, following in the Valenti tradition. You wear that uniform proudly, dear."

"I will, Daddy." Jill responded, hugging her Dad.

"We'll call when we get home." Isabel said as she stepped in the car. "Eat well, take care of yourself, and try to eat something besides pizza for a change."

Jill stood in the doorway until the car carrying her parents was nothing but a speck on the horizon. Her eyes began to tear.

"Hey…" Alex said, noticing her digging her nails into the wooden door frame. "It's gonna be ok."

"Oh Alex." Jill sighed, and collapsed against him.

Alex began to chuckle.

"What?"

"I was just thinking."

"About what?"

"Do you know how many times I've been used as a human hankie?"

Jill gave him a blank look. "What are you talking about?"

"Growing up with your two best friends being girls, you learn to be in touch with the feminine side of your emotions, and you learn how to deal with female emotions."

"And THAT'S a problem?"

"The female sex is a mystery males will never get. And as I was saying, with Maria and Liz being my best friends, you wouldn't believe how many times I was used as a shoulder to cry on?"

"Oh really?"

"Maria ruined one of my best dress shirts once with her mascara."

"Maria? Liz?" Jill said, her ponytail bobbing up and down. "What were their last names?

"You know Liz and Maria? What about Michael? Or Max?" It had never occurred to Alex that Jill would know the rest of his friends. He remembered little fragments of conversation between Kyle and Isabel…but he never heard any of them mention anything specifically.

"I have an Aunt Maria…she's actually my aunt, because Dad is her stepsister… Maria Guerin…"

"Michael actually married Maria?" Alex exclaimed. "I never thought they'd stop arguing long enough to say "I do".

"Yeah, Uncle Mike."

"He goes by Mike now?"

Jill shook her head.

"So?"

"The Michael I knew would have drop kicked anyone that even attempted to call him Mike."

Jill laughed. "Now that would be an interesting sight to see."

"Does Maria really have him that whipped?"

"Whipped?"

"You know…Whoopa.." Alex made a noise imitating a whip.

Jill laughed. "I think we're experiencing a generation gap."

Alex shrugged. "What about Liz? Did she go to Harvard and then marry Max?"
Jill shook her head. "Uncle Max never married. He was a loner, except when he would come over and play with Casey, Robin, and I. I was little when he died…I don't remember that much about him…except that he always seemed sad.."

Alex swallowed, his throat feeling like it was made of razors. "How did he die?"

"He was looking for a way back to the home planet, and somehow…it malfunctioned, and he died. I remember the white flowers at the funeral, and My parents crying. I was sad…"

Alex reached out and touched Jill's hand. The familiar tingly feeling was back, the one caused just by Jill's touch.

"I'm sorry."

Jill shrugged. "It's ok. Loss is a part of life…I guess….I never realized that…my brother got his middle name…from you."

"If he's anything like you, then I'm honored."

Jill smiled, a radiant smile that made Alex smile right back at her.

"And Liz?"

"Aunt Liz…she married Uncle Sean sometime around the time that my parents got married…"

"Uncle Sean?"

"Sean De Luca."

"Maria's cousin? I could never stand him."

"Not too many people could. He got arrested when Jett was very little, and he went to jail. He got out on parole, when we were twelve, but he was in a car accident and died."

"Jett? Wasn't he your old boyfriend?"

Jill's body tensed. "We never officially went out, but who knows what might have been."

"Yeah, who knows."

"Do you want to watch TV?"

Alex shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

"Oh, look! A "Sydney" rerun!" Jill said, turning up the volume.

"I can't believe it! Brian just broke up with Sheli for the new girl, Katie? And does that guy have a mullet?"

"Is that a raddish?" Alex questioned, looking at a small object off to the side of the screen.

As the program progressed, Jill stretched out on the couch. Soon, her head was in Alex's lap, and he was rubbing her head.

After repeats from the 25th season of "The Simpons" Alex pressed the mute button.

"Jill?"

"Yeah?" Her voice was soft, and shrouded in the realms of sleepiness.

"I was thinking about what you said. About who knows what might have been. I can sit here all day, wondering what things would have been like if I didn't die. And it won't do me any good. I can't go backward, but I can appreciate today."

"Uh-huh."

"I don't know how this came to be…or why this happened…but all I know is that when you are around, everything seems right. It seems improbable, and impossible, but somehow, I've fallen in love with you. I know I'm too old, and too dead, and you're too young for me…but the one good thing that has come out of all of this is you. I love you, and I'm not afraid to say it."

There was no response from Jill.

"Jill?"

He looked down, and saw that Jill had fallen asleep on his lap, but with a smile on her face.

Alex sighed, and pulled the light throw blanket over her. " You're beautiful, Jill." He said, and closed his eyes.