Chapter 7 Carlos, the Superhero

Jennifer Knight eyes the young man before her with confusion.

"Honey, what are you talking about?" She asks him, while he starts to play basketball again.

"Hockey practice always starts at 7. Did Kendall forget? That's just like him." He says with a grin.

"Uh, Carlos, Kendall doesn't live here anymore." Katie then adds. Carlos stops bouncing the ball and looks at them with a frown.

"What do you mean, where did he go?" He asks, sounding baffled. "And how do you know my name?" He suddenly adds, making Katie glance at her mother for a moment. She walks closer to the Latino, who looks her up and down and walks backwards a little.

"Carlos, it's me. Katie." She tells him.

"Yeah, right. You are way older than Katie..." He tells her.

"Okay, seriously, this isn't funny, dude. Just stop. I know we haven't seen each other in years. But you're the one who decided on that, not me." She tells him, getting a little bit annoyed.

"What are you talking about? I don't even know you…" He argues. "Can I just go and get Kendall? I don't want to be late for practice." He mentions towards Mrs. Knight as he passes her and enters the house.

The two women exchange looks again and quickly follow him. He is already running up the stairs, calling his friend's name.

"Katie, could you try to contact Carlos' family members? You once got his brother's number, right?" Mrs. Knight absentmindedly tells her, while slowly heading up the stairs.

"You do realize he's just playing around, right?" The young woman tells her mother.

"Just do it, Katie." Her mother orders. She sighs and heads for the living room to retrieve her phone.

Jennifer Knight slowly reaches the walkway of the stairs and looks around worriedly at the now grown up Latino frantically searching for his best friend.

"He's not there… His room isn't even there. There's fitness equipment in it. What happened to his stuff?" Carlos asks, already looking upset.

"Sweetie, why don't we go sit down for a minute, alright?" She offers warmly, trying to stay calm while slowly growing more and more concerned.

Carlos stops walking and looks at her, before nodding slightly. She puts her hand on his shoulder and hopes he can't feel how badly it's shaking as she leads him down the stairs.

As they come down, she leads them into the living area and has him sit down on the couch. Katie comes in moments later. Her mother sends a questioning look, she just shakes her head. Jennifer Knight sits next to Carlos, who seems to be lost in thought.

"I just don't understand. What happened to his room? Why would he move away without telling me?" he asks, looking up at her with childlike eyes filled with hurt and sadness. Her heart breaks at the sight of it.

"Well, uh, he moved out a few years ago, sweetie. He has his own family now." She slowly tries to explain as if speaking to a child.

He looks even more confused. "I-I don't understand. What do you mean, he has his own family? You're his family…" He says. Jennifer Knight takes a deep breath.

"Sweetheart, we'll always be his family. That's true. But he is grown up now. He is married and has children…" She trails off when suddenly an old melody starts to sound from Carlos' pants. He still looks shocked and utterly lost, not even noticing the soft notes of "Cover Girl" starting up, until he suddenly jolts a little.

He looks down and pulls a cell phone out of his pocket, the music growing louder now. He frowns at the screen and then looks back towards Mrs. Knight. He turns the phone around, but doesn't seem to understand.

"I-I don't…" He starts, when Mrs. Knight carefuly takes it from his shaking hands and gives it to Katie.

The young woman quickly picks it up and walks into the kitchen, while Mrs. Knight tries to calm down the young man next to her.

Moments later Katie walks back in. Her mother slowly excuses herself to Carlos with a smile and heads for the brunette, while keeping a close eye on the Latino.

"Apparently, that was Carlos' wife." Mrs. Knight's eyes grow wide at this. "She was in full panic mode because she woke up in an empty bed and couldn't find him anywhere. I told him he was fine and gave her our address. She's coming over." She informs her mother, who just nods and sighs.

They go and sit with Carlos for a little while as they wait. Katie jumps up when they hear the knock on the door. When she opens it, she's happily surprised to recognize an older version of the woman on the last picture Carlos sent her.

"Hi, I'm not sure if I'm at the right house…" She says, gulping and trying to control her breathing. Katie sends her a comforting smile.

"You must be Delilah. I'm Katie Knight, we spoke on the phone?" She says, holding out a hand. The woman shakes it and sighs in relief.

"I am so sorry about this…" She says, her voice shaking as Katie leads her inside and closes the door.

"He's in here." She announces as she leads Delilah into the living room.

"Oh my god… Carlos…" She says with a gasp and carefully kneels down to his level. He looks at her with confusion in his eyes. "I've been looking everywhere for you…" She tells him quietly. She looks up at Mrs. Knight, who smiles at her.

"You must be Delilah, Carlos' wife." Jennifer tells her. "I'm Jennifer Knight, Kendall's mother. I've known Carlos since he was little." She says as she introduces herself.

"Thank you for looking after him. Again, I am so sorry about this." The woman apologizes, but Mrs. Knight shakes her head.

"Don't worry about it. But uh, could I talk to you for a moment?" Delilah sends a worried look towards her husband, but soon follows the older woman into the kitchen. "Would you like something to drink?"

"Uh, no, that's okay, thank you." Delilah politely tells her.

"Honey, I'm afraid something happened to Carlos. I'm not sure what, but he doesn't seem himself. He uh, he came over here looking for Kendall to go to hockey practice. But Kendall moved out years ago and they haven't played hockey in over 15 years. In fact, they haven't even seen or spoken to each for ten years. I think that maybe he hit his head or something…" She trails off, before noticing how Delilah still just looks at her without a hint of worry. She bites her lip slightly and looks down. "Why do I have the feeling this is sounding familiar to you. I mean, you don't even seem worried about him at all."

"It's just…" Delilah starts, looking down and taking a deep breath. She sniffles suddenly and chuckles embarrisingly. "I'm sorry…" She says as she sniffles again.

"No, it's okay…" Mrs. Knight tells her and gives her a tissue. She gratefully accepts it and wipes her eyes. "Just take it easy."

"I just… It's so hard…" Delilah says as she slowly breaks down. Mrs. Knight sits next to her and soothingly rubs her shoulder. "Watching him like this is…" She goes to say, but is then interrupted suddenly.

"Delilah?" Carlos calls out all of a sudden. Delilah looks up with wide eyes, as does Jennifer Knight. They get up and hurry into the living area. Carlos looks around in confusion and slight panic, until he notices his wife. She walks towards him and leans down in front of him. "I don't…" He starts to say, but she cuts him off.

"Sh, it's okay. You uh, they found you outside, playing basketball." She explains as she motions towards Mrs. Knight and Katie. He looks up with shocked eyes. They seem to light up when he glances at the women. He slowly gets up and walks towards them.

"Mama Knight?" He asks in disbelief. Then a huge smile breaks out on his face and he envelops the women in a tight hug. "Oh my god… It's been like forever since I've seen you." He happily says, even sniffling a little. Jennifer Knight just stands there in shock, very confused about what is happening.

Then he turns to Katie and looks her up and down, before gasping slightly.

"Wow… You're all grown up…" He nearly whispers. She stares at him unsurely, when he suddenly grabs her into a warmfelt hug. "I've missed you." He whispers into her ear. She swallows thickly to keep her emotions at bay.

When he lets go, he just looks at both women with a huge smile and tears in his eyes. "You both look amazing…" He tells them with a grin.

"Uh, thank you, sweetie. You look great yourself. And you're married, I hear." Mrs. Knight tells him, careful not to let him hear the shakiness still present in her voice.

"Jep. For almost five years now." He proudly announces and pulls Delilah in his arms and watching her with loving eyes. "I still love her as much as I did the first time we met." He says while looking at her.

Now Mrs. Knight can't stop her tears and start sniffling. Katie rolls her eyes and hands her a tissue, before quickly wiping her own eyes.

"That is just so beautiful. You look so happy together." Jennifer sobs and the couple smiles warmly. "And you're pregnant…" She suddenly gasps, only now taking notice of Delilah's swollen stomach.

Carlos grins at Delilah and puts a protective hand on her stomach.

"Oh, just look at you two… I remember when I was pregnant the first time. I was so happy…" The woman sobs, when Carlos and Delilah exchange a look.

"Uh, well, this isn't uh…" She starts.

"We already have three kids…" Carlos sheepishly adds. Mrs. Knight looks shocked for a moment and then loudly starts to sob and pulls both of them into a tight hug.

Katie just chuckles and then pries her mother away from the amused couple.

"I'm sorry. I'm just so happy that you're happy… I've seen the others, but seeing you, all grown up and married to a beautiful girl and you have kids… I just know you're amazing parents. I mean, you've always been great with kids. I can't believe I'm going to have another grandchild!" She blubbers. Katie sighs loudly and just pats her mom's back.

"Well, I for one am glad to see you broke off our contact for a good reason." She tells Carlos, who immediately looks guilty.

"Oh god… I did do that, didn't I? Katie, I am so sorry…" He says, but she just smirks at him.

"Don't worry about it. I kinda already figured when I got that last picture. I mean, I missed you and I was a little angry at first, but you're happy and that's all that matters to me." She tells him. He smiles in relief and pulls her into another hug.

"Thanks, Katie."

"Yeah, yeah. Now why don't you tell us why you were playing basketball in our driveway this morning, wondering why Kendall wasn't awake for hockey practice yet?" She bluntly throws in. Mrs. Knight shoots her a stern look and Carlos shares a look with Delilah. She just nods and sends him an encouraging smile. He takes a deep breath.

"Well, uh, why don't we sit down first." He offers and motions for the two women to sit down. They do straight away, while the couple sits opposite them. Delilah takes her husband's hand and softly squeezes it in reassurance.

"So uh, I guess I should start from the beginning." He tells them as he starts his story.

Carlos Garcia has always been the odd one in the bunch. He doesn't always think before he does anything, whether it's saying something that could get him in trouble or pulling a dangerous stunt that could kill him. He just loves to have fun and lives life with a nearly permanent smile on his face. It's why no one can ever stay mad at him. He just puts on his huge puppy dog eyes, along with quivering bottom lip and he wraps all people around his finger.

He's the little brother everyone feels the need to protect, which also leads to them not taking him serious all the time. Sure, he has a big imagination. And maybe wanting to beome a superhero when he grows up isn't very realistic. But it sounded a lot better than becoming a doctor or a model or a hockey player.

Still, that was just a back-up plan anyway. Because Big Time Rush was never going to break up. They were best friends and while they fought now and then, nothing could ever break their bond. At least that is what Carlos believed until ten years ago. That's when the cracks began to show. They fought more and more and all the happiness of performing seemed to ebb down slowly.

He tried to stay happy. He tried to keep his friends happy. But it didn't work. At all. They spent more and more time apart. Carlos could just feel their little family falling apart at the seams, which hurt him more than anything. But as much as he tried, he couldn't stop it.

Not that he had ever expected them to abandon him. The day Big Time Rush went their seperate ways was filled with excrutiating heartache that he had never exprienced before. His friends had always promised they wouldn't let the Hollywood life change them. Nothing could break their friendship, they would always protect each other, no matter what.

So why did they pack up their bags and leave him all by himself? They never even said goodbye. That was what hurt him the most. He wanted so badly to call them. But everytime he picked up the phone, his hands shook so bad that he couldn't dial anymore and he gave up, crying himself to sleep. It wasn't like he could just get up and get over it. He wishes he could. But after his friends left, he was the one left to take care of the press conferences, speaking to the fans… The things they yelled towards him were awful. It wasn't his fault. He never wanted the band to break up like this either, without as much as a goodbye, a last concert, anything. But he was the only one there to blame it on and a lot of them did.

He was the only one who didn't have any plans after the band disbanded. Sure, he had said he wanted to become a superhero if it ever happened. But no matter how stupid everyone thought he was, he knew it wasn't realistic. He was aware that he didn't have a back-up plan.

What was he supposed to do now? He knew he couldn't stay at the Palm Woods. But he didn't want to go back to Minnesota either. First of all, that's where his so called friends went and secondly, what did he have to go back there to? His family? The same family who he had to compete with to get any form of attention? Hockey? The sport he was once good at, but didn't want to do for the rest of his life? It just wasn't an option.

Then he decided to do what many others did when they went on a quest to find themselves; he went on a backpacking trip through Europe.

When he told his family, they were very hesitant. Was he sure it was such a good idea? LA was fine, because he went with his three older best friends. But a trip to Europe, by himself? Carlos rolled his eyes and instead called his older brother Antonio to join him and just went.

It was the best decision he ever made. Sure, it was terrifying as hell at first. But he met some incredible people and just discovering a whole other world and so many different cultures amazed him. He loved every minute of it. They visited the UK, France, Holland, Germany, Belgium and then left for Spain. (A/N I'm from Europe and I know the order might not be logical. But it's fiction, so who cares ;))

He had always longed to go there some day, the country his ancestors were from. Of course he knew all about the culture and had seen pictures of his grandparents when they went there on holidays. But he had never actually experienced it first hand. It felt amazing to him to step foot in the country and speak to the people in his mother tongue.

It was on a Friday when he went to explore more sights with his brother when he saw her. A beautiful girl was fitting another girl's dress during some sort of photoshoot. She looked amazing to him. Dark hair, tied together loosely, slightly tanned skin and curves in all the right places. She was slightly shorter than he was. And her eyes… He was mesmerized by her. His brother noticed and told him to go see her. He immediately protested heavily, but then his brother told him;

"Why are you so nervous about this? We're in Spain. This is your once in a lifetime moment. If it doesn't work out, who cares, because you'll never see her again." Yeah, that was reassuring…

But he was right about something; this was his moment. And since he wasn't surrounded by all those people who claimed they knew him completely, he could just be a different person. He was glad he left his helmet at the hotel that day. He decided to put on his best 'James' game and stepped up to the Spanish beauty.

He smiled seductively as he grabbed her hand, kissed it and told her in perfect Spanish how beautiful her eyes were.

The girl looked flabbergasted and seemed ready to melt on the spot. The girl next to her gasped and squealed with glee for her friend.

"Wow… I have no idea what you just said, but it sounded so hot…" She suddenly said in response in perfect American English, still holding his hand. He nearly took his hand back in shock. But then he chuckled. He had spoken in Spanish, because he assumed it was her language. Time to shock her right back.

"I uh, I said you have beautiful eyes." He told her and challengingly stared at her. He didn't know where his sudden confidence came from, but the gasp coming from her and her friend made him glad he did that.

"That was…" She stammered. "That sounded American…" she said, looking at him with wide eyes. He couldn't help but chuckle again.

"Uh, yeah. It was. I'm uh, I'm from the US, born and raised in Minnesota actually. I'm Carlos." He told her.

"I'm Delilah…" She told him, while staring deeply into his eyes. They just stood there, staring at each other, holding hands still, mesmerized and feeling an instant connection as the world disappeared around them.

She told him she was helping out on her friends' photoshoot, who was a model. Delilah wanted to become a designer and this was her way of starting up her network, before hopefully getting accepted into Parson's Deisgn school in New York in the fall.

She and her friend were still staying there another two weeks, before going back home. Carlos and Antonio were on their way to Italy, so there wasn't a lot of time left for them to spend together. But they clicked instantly and spend those two weeks together constantly. He showed her what the culture was really like and even taught her some Spanish, while they got to know each other.

During photoshoots, Carlos stayed around and doodled a little in a sketchbook. It was something he always did when his mind wandered off. He didn't have control over it. But it was better than annoying others with his endless amount of energy and not being able to sit still. It was then that Delilah noticed the small cartoons he was drawing and commented on how good they were. She even convinced him to show them to a designer on the photoshoot, who agreed and told him he was really talented.

He had never even considered it. It was just a habit, he didn't think they were any good. But it made him think. What if this was the direction he should take? Delilah told him that there were other design courses in New York that he could apply for. That really made him stop and think. College? Now that he never thought about. He knew he wasn't stupid, but college was never something anyone considered for him.

After saying his goodbyes to Delilah, before exchanging contact details of course, his brother and him travelled to Italy and some small places before finally heading home. He couldn't it out of his mind though. Without speaking to his family, he sent in an application to NYU for Design Studies, just to see what would happen.

A month later he was packing up his things and moving to the Big Apple without looking back. His entire life changed. He met up with Delilah again and while they were both very busy with their studies, they were so head over heels with one and other that they soon got together and stayed that way.

After four years they graduated and found a nice apartment together while looking for work. Their wedding took place a year later and their first child, a little girl by the name of Shayla Garcia, was born 8 months later. Not that their families had any idea. They just thought it was exactly 9 months and the couple was determined to keep it that way. Carlos' family was all about traditions and it would break their heart to know the truth. Delilah's military father on the other hand would break Carlos if he ever found out. So really, it was in their best interest to keep some secrets to themselves.

Carlos was ecstatic. He always wanted kids and now he finally had a baby girl of his own. Before she was born, he had insisted they were having a girl. Delilah shrugged it off every time. But he knew for sure and when the moment finally came, he looked his little girl in the eyes and let a tear slip down his cheeks as he held her.

Everyone seemed somewhat surprised to see him calm down immediately after Shayla was born. He was less energetic and though people thought he might not be able to handle it, having never been very mature, he stepped up and became an amazing father, who doted on his daughter's every move. To protect her from harm, he even gave her his most prized possession, the helmet his father once gave him.

His family was overjoyed. And it was a good thing everything happened a little fast, because it was the first and the last time Carlos' parents were able to see their granddaughter. They had already moved to Florida by that time to enjoy the sun. But Carlos' dad couldn't give up his job. He loved being a cop and continued the dangerous profession in the Sunshine State.

Carlos' father had been on a drugs bust when one of the suspects surprised him from behind and shot him in the head. Needless to say, the man was never the same after that. He survived, but had suffered a lot of braindamage and couldn't do anything for himself anymore.

They all tried to help as much as they could, but while Carlos lived in New York, his other siblings also lived spread out over the US. After a while, his mother couldn't handle it and decided to put their father in a nursing home. Yes, he did get the care he needed now. But it was unforgiveable to Carlos how his mother packed up her things and left with the new man in her life. He had never even met the guy, but his mother traded him in for his father, just like that.

His father died five months later. Carlos had been devastated. He had hardly gotten to see him. He had wanted to visit more, but it was hard with the distance to travel and with a small baby to take care of. He felt guilty. But he only found out later that he was the only one who visited the man at all. All the caretakers were fond of the wounded cop and loved seeing his eyes light up whenever his Carlitos was coming to visit. He would talk about him for hours.

Still, Carlos couldn't get rid of the guilt for a long time. At the funeral he was reunited with his siblings, but there was a lot of tension between them. And his mother? She wasn't even there. Needless to say, he couldn't stay for very long. I just hurt so much. He did visit the grave after the service and had a private moment to say goodbye to the man he had looked up to all these years. He was hoping he'd see more familiar faces from Minnesota. But later, again, he found out that his eldest brother hadn't even invited anyone from there. Even some people he once worked with just happened to find out about the service and barely managed to attend.

After that, Carlos cut all ties to his family. It felt horrible, especially for someone as caring and forgiving as Carlos. But this, this was just disrepectful and unforgiveable. They didn't arrange anything the way his father would have wanted. He couldn't even look at them anymore, let alone talk to them.

It was hard for him, being a family man. But he knew he had to do it. And besides, he had his own family to take care of now. He happily watched and recorded all his daughter's first moments. He almost cried when her first word was 'dada'. Delilah never told him her first word was actually 'helmet', he just seemed so happy. The girl was his little princess and Delilah couldn't deny that the two held a very special bond. She felt a little jealous at times, but just awed at all the times where he sang his little girl to sleep and comforted her when she cried.

Business was slowly picking up for both of them. Delilah came up with a line of maternity clothes, which grew to be pretty popular with some celebrities. In the meantime Carlos developed his first comic book series 'Monkey Dogs'. It was a term his old record producer Gustavo once used to describe him and his three friends. It stuck by him. Because even though it still hurt him to think about what happened, he missed them and the bond they used to have. That term was just a reminder of the good old days.

Companies he presented it too laughed in his face. It was a tough business, but he wouldn't give up. He kept improving the stories and sketches and kept trying to sell them.

When Delilah became pregnant again, Shayla was two. The small family was overjoyed, but Carlos felt a little frustrated. Especially when they discovered they were having twins. Because that meant extra costs, thus more money.

He worked very hard and came up with a final design. He stepped into a Starbucks one day and bumped into someone, making him drop all his drawings. The man had coffee now poured all over him. Carlos apologized over and over again, while trying to pick up his drawings. But instead of getting mad, the man picked up one of the designs and laughed out loud. Carlos shot up and wanted to get mad, but the man wasn't laughing at the designs. He was laughing at the comic itself. He thought it was hilarious. And of course the man happened to know a publisher, who would love it.

In short, Carlos was signed immediately and soon held the first copy of 'Monkey Dogs' in his hands. No one had expected it to be too much of a success outside of the children's target group. But it soon started to grow and teens and adults started to read it as well. One thing Carlos did agree on with the publisher, was that he wanted to remain anonymous. He was done with the limelight. This was just something he liked to do, so just the letters CG neatly hidden in the bottom was fine to him.

The Garcia family soon expanded with two more children, a boy named Parker and another girl named Molly. Once again, Carlos had predicted both genders. They were happy, but it stung for Carlos to not be able to share it with his own family. Sure, he had some new friends, but they weren't close to him like brothers or sisters. He just missed his siblings and his second family. In the end he just settled for sticking with his own small family and couldn't be happier.

It was all going so well. So where was the turning point? For Carlos it started with sudden headaches. In the beginning it seemed normal and he just thought he should spend less time behind his computers designing or behind the drawing desk. But the headaches became more frequent and more intense. It got so bad, he couldn't work for two days and just had to lie in bed and wait for it to go away.

Delilah made him go see a doctor, who told him it was migraines. He was given some medication to take when another migraine hit and it would be okay. He was confused. Because it wasn't something that ran in his family, except for maybe the women, and he never had them before. So why now? Then again, he wasn't a doctor, so why should he question the man?

Three weeks later he experienced his first black-out. He just got up to work in his studio. It was 6AM. The twins were in their playpen and Shayla was spending a day with mommy in her studio. He sat behind his desk and started to work with some music on. The next moment, he looked up at the clock and saw it was 8AM. Two hours had gone by and he had no recollection of what he had done in that time. He looked at his paper and sure enough, there were drawings on it, but they were of his family and had nothing to do with his comic. He felt a small amount of panic hit him.

But then he realized he was being stupid. This could happen. Sometimes you get so caught up in your own work, you don't even realize time passing by. And maybe in that time, he absentmindedly drew his family, because they were on his mind. He just shrugged it off and went back to work.

This happened the next two times as well. Because not a lot of time had passed and he was alone both times. He just lost track of time. It happens to everyone.

But the next time he wasn't so lucky. He remembered waking up in the morning and getting the twins, who were crying. The next moment he was sitting on the couch ans it was dark outside again. Delilah was sitting next to him as they watched TV. He just looked around in a slight panic. He didn't remember anything he did that day. Did he even draw anything? Did he spend time with the kids?

He tried hard not to let his wife know about what had occurred. She didn't say anything to him about it. So maybe she didn't notice. But he did. How could he not notice missing nearly 14 hours of a day? It freaked him our, but he decided to keep it to himself. They had small children. He didn't want them to worry. This was just a one time thing… right?

But it wasn't. It just got worse. Not the time frame though, he never lost 14 hours anymore. But apparently he did act a little different now and again. After one black-out, he found himself suddenly holding his old hockey helmet, while his daughter Shayla was crying her eyes out. He quickly went to soothe her and gave her the helmet back. He just told her it was a game and he didn't mean whatever he did. Thankfully, she had inherited his forgiving nature. But it was far too close. Why would he even take the helmet from her?

Another time he found himself in the arcade in the middle of the day, with 6 missed calls from his manager, who he was supposed to meet that morning. Another 8 missed calls were from his wife, who was worried sick since he didn't show up at the meeting. Kids in the aracade were giving him weird looks. He heard from some people working there that he had acted like a 6 year old as he played the games. He felt so embarrassed, he left right away and never went back.

He didn't realize that his wife was already noticing something wasn't right. She tried to confront him about it, but he just waved it off, saying it was nothing to worry about. So what if he wanted to act like a child now and then?

The black-outs weren't the only problem though. His memory slowly started to fail him as well. He started to lose his keys wherever he went and found them in the freezer, the fridge, his twins' bed. He sometimes even mixed up his children's names and one particular time forgot them completely. That was the last draw for Delilah. She tried to force him to go see a doctor and they got into a huge fight. But he refused to admit anything was wrong.

Truthfully he was scared to death. Because clearly something was wrong. But he couldn't face it. He needed to be strong. He needed to be a superhero, for his wife, his children, for himself.

The breaking point occurred on a Sunday afternoon. Delilah was in the living room, playing with the twins, while Carlos was making lunch in the kitchen and Shayla was drawing on the floor. Delilah giggled when her son sneezed loudly and then grinned right after.

"Mommy, is lunch ready yet?" Shayla asked her mother, who looked up.

"I don't know, sweetie. Why don't you go ask daddy? Maybe you can even help him." She suggested to her daughter, who happily skipped away into the kitchen.

She came back seconds later. "Mommy?"

"Hm?" Delilah responded, while still keeping her eyes on the twins.

"I thought you said we aren't allowed to draw on the walls?" Shayla suddenly asked, making Delilah frown.

"You're not." She said.

"Then why is daddy allowed to do it?" Delilah turned around in confusion and got up from th floor.

"Look after you brother and sister for a moment." She mentioned as she slowly approached the kitchen. The moment she stood in the doorway, a hand flew to her mouth and a loud gasp escaped. With shocked eyes she stared at her husband, who continued to do what he was doing without even noticing another presence in the room.

After what seemed like minutes, she snapped out of it and shakily walked over to her husband and touched his shoulder.

"Carlos?" She nearly whispered with a quivering bottom lip. "Carlos?" She asked again, a little louder.

He suddenly seemed to come out of his trance like state and turned to her.

"What?" He said with a smile. But seeing hr distraught state, immediately made him concerned. "What is it, what happened?" He asked her, while she just looked around with tears threatening to spill. He turned around in confusion and then gasped as well.

The kitchen was completely covered in drawings. The walls, the kitchen cabinets, all of it. He turned back to his wife.

"Who did that? Didn't we tell the kids they're ot allowed to draw on the walls?" He asked, looking slightly angry. But before he could leave, she grabbed his arm.

"They didn't do it." She told him, still shaking.

"Then who did?" He asked her in confusion. She just stared down at his hands. He looked down and his eyes widened.

In his hands he still held the black ink marker used to make all the drawings. He dropped it as if it burned him. He held out his arms and was shocked to see them covered in the same black ink.

Tears filled his eyes. "Oh god… I don't… I didn't…" He whispered as he fell to his knees. He looked around with shocked eyes and quietly started to sob. His wife soon joined him on the floor and just wrapped her arms around him while he cried.

They had an appointment with their doctor the following day. After describing what happened, he immediately made an appointment for them at the local hospital to run some tests. The couple was terrified, especially with all the blood tests and then the MRI done. After a week, the doctor called them back in for the results.

If he couldn't say it over the phone, it couldn't be good. The two stepped into the office and sat together quietly. They hadn't said a word since they left home. Neither knew quite what to say. They could both feel something was wrong. When the doctor came in, he immediately greeted them with a warm smile. He seemed generally happy, so maybe it was good news after all?

"Mr. And Mrs. Garcia. We received the results of the several tests we took and I'm afraid it's not good news." Oh. "I'm afraid there is a tumor lodged in Mr. Garcia's head, which is pressing on his brain. This is the reason for the black-outs and memory lapses." He casually explained.

The couple sat in complete shock as the doctor told them the news. Delilah saw how her husband started to shake and squeezed his hand for comfort. She warmly smiled at him, which he tried to return, but just couldn't.

"So what now?" She shakily asked the doctor.

"I'm afriad there is nothing we can do. The tumor is lodged too far. It would be too dangerous to remove it and any normal treatment will not help at this point." He blatantly informed them.

They sat there in shock, looking at the doctor, who told them this information without a care in the world. He actually smiled at them.

"So, you're saying there's nothing at all you can do?" Delilah asked him with a frown.

"I'm afraid not."

"But that would mean… it's cancer, isn't it? Then this could kill him… You can;t just sit there and tell us there's nothing you can do." She told him, standing up and angrily staring him down.

"Mrs. Garcia…" He started with a bored sigh.

"No, you listen!" She shouted. "He is 29 years old. Plenty of people have had cancer and got better after treatment. So start him on chemotherapy or anything like that!"

"Mrs. Garcia, like I said, without removing the tumor, chemotherapy will have no effect, nor will radiation therapy. I'm afraid there is nothing we can do." He told her again.

She was absolutely fuming.

"Now I do have a card for you, which might be able to help you get through your tough times." He offered and handed her a card. She took one look and in a swift moment, stalked to the other side of the desk, threw back the card and punched him square in the face.

Then she walked back and pulled her still shocked and pale husband from his seat. He just stared into space, while she angrily walked out of the hospital with him.

"Recommending a therapist… How dare he? What a complete and utter asshole!" She mutters angrily, before softening up and looking at her husband. "Carlos? It's going to be okay, alright? We're going to find help."

He didn't respond to her, while they got into their car and drove back to their personal physician. He was shocked at what had happened at the hospital and quickly placed a few phone calls to some colleagues. He told the couple he would do everything he could to find help or at least a second opinion.

A second opinion they got. That doctor thankfully told them it was possible to remove the tumor and get treatment. But they didn't have the facilities for it. It required a specialist, a neurosurgeon, one of the best. Delilah told him she didn't care what it cost, as long as he would get better. The doctor quickly put them into contact with the best neurosurgeon he knew, who of course resided in Minnesota.

The decision was quickly made and they soon made plans to head back to Carlos' former hometown. The memory lapses and black-outs remained and became worse. But the family learned to deal with them, since they didn't have a choice right now.

Before they fully packed up, however, some other news came to light. Delilah was pregnant again. As happy as they both were, it couldn't have happened at a worse time. She was already three months pregnant. In six months time they would have four children to take care of, while Carlos might be going through cancer treatment. They decided not to think of that right now.

Thankfully everyone around them supported them in every way. They didn't mind having to keep in touch at such a long distance for work. Carlos' health was far more important right now. They were grateful and finally headed back to the cold land of Minnesota.

Mrs. Knight and Katie sit in shocked silence after hearing the full story.

"So, we have our first apointment with the doctor this afternoon and find out more." Delilah explains, while rubbing her husband's knee, since he has become down and silent once again.

"Carlos, honey…" Mrs. Knight says as she starts to cry. She leans forward and pulls the man into her arms, like she would have done years ago when he was just a child. That is all it takes to get Carlos to break down himself. He cries in her arms, letting out all the fear he has been building up for the appointment.

Katie soon joins in, holding on to her big brother for dear life.

After all the crying is over, they talk a little more, before Delilah announces it's time to go home. Their appointment will take place in a few hours and they have to get ready.

Jennifer and Katie Knight hug both of them one final time, before wishing them good luck and waving goodbye. They close the door and exchange glances.

"I need coffee…" Mrs. Knight announces as she heads for the kitchen.

"Got anything stronger?" Katie asks her, before following suit.

A/N And there you have it. So a lot of you got it right, Carlos is sick. The poor thing. Finally here was his background story and the reason why they moved to Minnesota. Of course they didn't share this many details with the Knight's, but I felt you should know ;)

Anyway, thanks again for all the support on this story! I think I'll try to focus on James again for the next chapter. He hasn't been around for a while :P

Let me know what you think and until next time!

Love, Baxxie