Chapter 6

Rath stood in the entryway while Liz shut the door behind him. It surprised him how well they got along; they couldn't have been more different… appearance wise especially. Liz dressed completely cornball; sometimes she wore a daring top or 'fuck me' shoes, but it was a rarity.

While he on the other hand stomped around in whatever was on the floor and kind of clean. Currently, that was a ripped black wife beater, dirty gray baggy pants, and combat boots. His hair was in his usual style—bed head Mohawk as Liz had taken to calling it. All the tats on his arms were on display, and black leather cuffs circled his wrists.

"Roswell not exciting enough for you anymore?" Liz teased as they walked into the living room.

"Nah, afta you's left, it got boring." Rath shrugged. To be honest, he got use to having Liz around. She was a constant companion, and he didn't want to lose the only family he had left…or at least the only family he could find.

Jeremy, seeing his old playmate, stood and clapped happily. "Raf." He raised his hands up to be picked up by one of the two adults present. Rath automatically reached down and lifted his dupe's son out of his playpen.

"Guess you weren't the only one that missed someone." Liz smiled. Rath, shockingly, was great with Jamie, most of the time. Once in a while, his short temper got the better of him. With a volatile and passionate personality like Rath's, it wasn't a surprise.

Liz sat on the couch and tucked her bare feet under her. Rath took the spot next to her, and Jamie crawled off Rath's lap and onto hers. "You know I will be ok up here by myself."

Rath nodded. "I know." He knew Liz could take care of herself; hell she took care of him while he was recovering. It didn't stop the worry he felt when she told him she and Jeremy were leaving town.

Off in the corner, the phone she hooked up during Jeremy's nap rang. Picking her son up, she hurried over to the phone before it switched to her voice mail service. "Hello?" Her own voice softened automatically.

"Hello, may I speak to Elizabeth Parker, please?" The male on the other end of the phone asked.

"This is she." She jiggled Jamie and gently took the phone cord from his curious hands.

"Hi Elizabeth, this is Adam Mascal from Mascal's Clothes & Shoes." He introduced himself.

"Yes, hello." Liz mentally sighed with relief; hopefully he called because he wanted her to come in for an interview. His store was next to most of the daycares she was looking into for Jeremy.

"I apologize for this being so last minute, but we had a sudden employee decline." There was a tone in his voice that said someone had either quit or they were fired. "Would you mind coming in for an interview now? And if you get the job, would you be able to work until six tonight?"

"Uh," Liz glanced at Jeremy in her arms. Who could she get to watch him for a few hours? Smirking a bit, she turned to Rath who was sitting on the couch laughing at some cartoon on the television. "That's not a problem. I can be there in forty-five minutes."

"Wonderful. I'll see you then." They both said goodbye, and Liz hung up.

"Rath?"

"Yea?" He watched the TV show engrossed completely. He didn't notice the gleam in Liz's eyes; if he had, he would have scurried out of there and said he had something important to do.

Liz stood next to him. "Are you busy for the next few hours?"

"Nah, why?" He still hadn't turned to look at her.

When she didn't say anything, he finally tore his gaze from the television. Liz was smiling widely, and the sparkle in her eye was very mischievous. Rath didn't like that look; it made him nervous.

"Could you please watch Jamie for a few hours while I go for a job interview?" She kept the smile on her face knowing it made him cautious.

"What?" Rath stood so he towered over the petite female. "Nah. Yous ain't leavin' me alone with him." He pointed at Jamie rudely.

"Why not, you're great with him?"

"I ain't never been alone with him before. Yous always putterin' 'round da background. No way. Uh-huh." He refused.

Liz lifted Jamie higher up on her hip. "Rath please. I have a job interview; this job is the one I really want. If you need anything, all you have to do is call me on my cell." She could tell he didn't like the idea at all of being left alone with a toddler. It constituted a nightmare for him.

Rath shook his head negatively. When Liz stared up at him with her swirling brown orbs pleading with him silently to watch Jeremy for a few hours, he could feel his walls begin to weaken. "What if I fuck up? Don't wanna be responsible for damagin' da kid."

"You won't damage him. If it'll make you feel better though, I can leave you another number to call. The man's name is Logan Cale. He's an old friend of the families and can be here in a half an hour." Jamie pulled on her hair as she worked to talk Rath into babysitting him. He put a strand in his mouth, and she easily pulled it away from him.

"What 'bout diaper's 'n shit? Hows am I gonna deal with dat?" He tried everything to get her to not leave Jamie with him. He didn't want to be the one to cause the kids death. He'd become rather fond of the little guy.

"You've done it before. I showed you how a few times, and you did it once when I napped, remember? Don't tell me you're afraid of a little kid." She knew it was a low blow questioning Rath's courage, but she was desperate.

"I ain't afraid of anything." Rath stood up straighter and puffed out his chest a bit. "I's got big hairy balls, Sweetness."

Liz shrugged. "If you say so." Giving the illusion that she wasn't so sure of his 'balls' status. If that didn't get Rath to agree to watch Jamie for a few hours, then nothing would.

"I's can watch him fine." Rath glared at her. And just like that, she talked him into babysitting.

Smiling, she leaned up and kissed him on the cheek before handing Rath her son. "I knew I could count on you." With a spring in her step, she hurried toward the one other room; she cleaned up and went to change. Using her powers, she changed her shirt into a nice pale blue buttoned down blouse and transformed her jeans into black pin-stripe pants.

She reached over to the box that carried all her shoes. Searching through them, she spotted the pair of heeled boots that would match her outfit perfectly. After she slipped them on, she opened the door and went back into the living room. Rath was playing with Jamie on the floor with some of his toy cars.

While they were busy, she went to the kitchen and wrote down her cell number, which she knew Rath already had, and also Logan Cale's number. Before she had arrived in Seattle, Dad told her that Logan offered to be of any assistance while she was out there. All she had to do was call. Also on the list were police, fire, and the hospital's pediatrics' unit.

She set the list on the end table in the living room and went into the bathroom where she fixed her hair and did her makeup. Once she was ready, she entered the living room and bent down to kiss Jamie on the cheek. "Ok honey, Mommy's going to go for a little awhile, ok? But Uncle Rath will be here to take care of you."

Jamie instantly stopped playing with his cars and stood up. "I wanna go."

"Honey, you have to stay here. Mommy needs to go to an interview." Liz tried to explain, but he wasn't having any of it.

Jeremy smiled. "I come too."

Liz held back a sigh and picked him up. "Jamie, you can't come with Mommy. Uncle Rath will be here to take care of you though. And I'll be back in a few hours, ok?"

"No!" He crossed his arms and frowned.

Rath stood and glared at her. "Yous wanna leave me alone with your upset kid?"

Liz glared right back at him, telling him without words to shut up. "Jeremy, you have to stay home. I'll be back before you know it." She kissed him on the cheek, even though he tried to back away, and set him down on the couch.

"MAMA!" Jeremy began crying loudly like he was being tortured.

She grabbed her keys and made her way toward the door. Rath caught up with her though and whirled her around. "Your just gonna leave? What da hell am I supposed ta do?"

Her son's cries from the living room only got louder. It killed her that she was leaving him while he was so upset, but Mom had told her more than once that sometimes kids just need to scream it out. "Let him cry. He'll work it out of his system eventually."

"That's it?" He growled angrily.

"Yea." Liz shrugged unable to give him any other answer.

"What if peeps think I'm killing da kid?" Rath questioned.

She licked her lips and sighed. "Stay outside for a little while. Trust me it'll be fine." She patted his rock hard arm that was tight with tension and left Jamie balling his little green eyes out.

TBC