Thicker than Water

First topic message reminder :

Alex Chambers stood on the helicopter landing pad his fingers pressed to his forehead to block out the morning sun. He was dancing from one foot to the other, unable to hide his excitement.
"I see them!" He shouted back to his mother, who was standing near the entrance with a medical team. None of them knew what kind of shape their heroes would return to them in but Alex didn't seem to care. Already he was hopping up and down waving at the chopper as it drew closer. He cheered when Chris Redfield waved to him and repeated the action when Jill Valentine did the same. But as the helicopter touched down his smile began to fade. Not everyone he'd hoped to see was stepping out.
"What happened?" Rebecca Chambers soon came to stand beside her son, her lips set in a thin line as she looked from Chris to Jill. "Where is Parker?" She'd done her best to keep herself from saying this man's name first but she couldn't seem to help herself. "Where's Jessica?" She added, hoping this would make for a decent cover up.

"At least she doesn't give you spankings." Alex muttered, shaking his head. "Consider yourself lucky."
"Alex Chambers, a stop acting like I beat you. You got one spanking a month ago. And I don't think we need to talk about why." Rebecca hissed.

"I didn't tell you because I love you." Chris whispered. A small part of him hoped she hadn't heard that. "It's a huge burden and you certainly don't need it."

Parker snickered and ruffled Alex's hair. "Busted, little man." He teased. "So... This thing you want to show me... Do I get a clue about what it is?"

But Jill heard it alright. "You... What?" She breathed, now moving around Chris to look up into his face. "But... I mean... why?"

Alex shook his head, all of a sudden shy. "You'll think I'm...no..." He stopped, changing his mind. "It's stupid. We should get you home so you can sleep." He whispered.

Chris couldn't meet her eyes. He was certain he was about to have his heart ripped out and thrown into his face.

"Hey, you're a little genius, I think everything you do is a miracle!" Parker insisted.

Quite the opposite. Jill's hands reached up and gently took Chris' face between them, pulling his face closer to her own before she kissed him. She needed him to know she felt it too.

"It's not always a good thing." Alex whispered, for a moment showing Parker that he carried a burden just like the rest of them. This passed rather quickly as he lifted his head and saw Chris and Jill locked in a deep kiss. "I told you!" He shouted, all but dragging Parker and Rebecca as he ran forward. "I told you they were kissing!"

Jill didn't jump in fear this time, she actually burst out laughing and rested her forehead down against Chris' chest. "Busted..." She mused.
Parker was grinning too as Alex made everyone stop and stare at Chris and Jill. "Well it took you two long enough!"

Chris didn't say anything. He wasn't sure what say anyway. He wasn't sure this was what Jill wanted or she was doing this because she was mad at him.
"Can we come in?" Alex asked, hopping up and down again. "I want him to see it!"

Chris' silence worried Jill. This was his reaction when Alex had spotted them the first time. "Yeah... Sure..." She breathed, trying to put on a brave face as she walked ahead of them all to unlock the door. It was as she fumbled with the key, Jill realised how much her hands shook.

Alex rested his hands over Jill's, offering her a smile. "It'll be okay. It will work out. Isn't that what you always tell me?" He said softly.
"He's right." Rebecca whispered, now beside her as Chris offered to help Parker. "This has been a long time coming. It's new and you're both scared but...it will be all right."

"I told him I didn't trust him." Jill breathed as she looked into Rebecca's face. "How could this possibly end well?"
"Well?" Parker asked with a grin as Chris helped him shuffle up the path to the apartment block. "Tell me you're not going to just ignore this one too!"

"This is my fault." Rebecca whispered. "I wish you would just lay the blame on me. Where it belongs."
"I don't know what to do." Chris confessed. "I'm not sure she meant it or maybe she's just mad at me."

"I'm mad at you too." Jill pointed out as she pushed the door open, allowing Alex to dart inside. "I don't think either of you realise how much it hurts that you felt you couldn't trust me." She added, then entered the apartment herself.
"Maybe you should have angry sex, just to see for certain?" Parker chuckled. "Chris, Jill's been in love with you for years, even I can see it. She's probably scared that you'll just cast her aside like you did... What was her name? That nurse with the annoying laugh?"

Alex looked from his mother to Jill and tried to figure out just what everyone was angry about. "I'm okay you know." He told Jill, hoping this was the problem. "There's no reason to be mad at Mommy or Chris. I'm the one who did what I wasn't supposed to."
"Marie." Chris sighed. "She was just a means to make Jill jealous." He confessed. "Though...angry sex does sound like a good idea." For a moment he was quiet and then he shook his head. "But after what Rebecca...nevermind."

"No sweetie, you did nothing wrong." Jill told Alex gently as she k let down to be at eye level with him. "I'm sorry I couldn't bake you the cookies you wanted. How about next time I just buy some, huh?" She breathed, simply to take her mind off the all too important matter at hand.
"For what it's worth... It worked." Parker told Chris, a sad tone to his voice. "Jill was looking for Rebecca a few weeks back, down in the infirmary. She saw you... Well, you know... Right on Rebecca's desk. That was the day before she started dating that weirdo from R and D."

"What is this?" Rebecca pushed past Jill and Alex and stood staring at the near perfect rendition of the Vatican. It didn't seem to please her near as much as it had Jill. "Alex...why did you do this?" Her voice was suddenly bordering on hysteria.
Alex looked from Jill to his mother and back again. "I was...I wanted to give Parker a present."
"Thanks for bringing that up." Chris snorted, now all but pulling Parker into Jill's living room.

Jill could easily see how upset Alex was getting, and was quick to offer him reassurance in the form of a tight squeeze. "Your mom's just jealous at she couldn't do one even half as good!" She told Alex gently.
Parker's jaw nearly hit the floor when he saw the Lego model in Jill's living room. He gasped something in Italian, clearly awestruck by what he saw.

Rebecca knelt in front of the model, her fingers shaking as she removed the lego pope that was standing on the ornate balcony. "How long?" She asked Jill, her throat dry. "How long did this take him?"
Chris had gone silent. This was yet another manifestation of Alex's true nature. It scared the hell out of him.

"I-I dunno... A few hours maybe?" Jill replied, needing to know the truth about Alex more than ever when she saw the way Rebecca and Chris were staring at the model. "What's going on?"

Alex's lower lip was trembling. He hated it when his mother got like this. It had been happening as long as he could remember and every time it did she would pull further away from him.
Because of this he retreated to Jill's bedroom and hid in the closet, his tiny arms hugging his body. He rocked back and forth, muttering numbers to himself.
Chris didn't even try to follow the boy. He was doing his best to keep Rebecca from smashing the building to pieces.

"I want the truth! Now!" Jill hissed. "There is no good reason for you to piss all over something that kid created like you are doing!"
Parker left the three former STARS members to it, hobbling slowly down the hall after Alex.

"Jill, that kid has never seen the Vatican." Chris hissed, hoping that this was enough to get her to leave the subject alone. Rebecca was on her knees now, sobbing openly.

Alex had kicked the door almost completely closed and was still where he'd escaped to. He was terrified that this would mean his mother would be taking blood samples from him again. He hated those needles they used.

"He can open a book, Chris! Or you know, just google it!" Jill shot back. "There is more to this than him just making this model!"

Parker gently pulled open the closet door, squeezed his large frame inside, then closed the door to again. For a moment he simply sat there with Alex in the dark. "You know... My mother would drag the whole family to the Vatican city every catholic holiday?" He remarked at last. "And let me tell you... We Catholics... We have a great many holidays."

"He knows things that a child shouldn't know, Jill." Rebecca whispered, wiping at her eyes. "He can do things that children his age shouldn't. Tell me you haven't noticed."

Alex didn't look up, he kept holding his bony knees and muttering numbers. He wanted to talk to Parker but he couldn't force himself to. He was certain the other man would disappear once he too found out that he wasn't normal.

"I've noticed you, both of you, treat him like a freak." Jill replied as she folded her arms across her chest. "You make him feel... Wrong! No one should do that to a child, no matter how different they are!"

"I guess... I didn't realise how much I missed my mother, until I saw that model you made me. Thanks, Alex. It means a lot to me." Parker breathed, sliding a string arm around the little boy and hugging him, as best the confined space would allow.

"Look who's son he is!" Chris hissed, pointing to the door as if Wesker were standing on the other side of it. "Think about that! He gave himself an injection of T-virus and nothing external happened to him. That's not normal! That means he was never normal and neither is Alex! Hell, his blood alone can kill the virus almost on contact!"

"Did your mother love you?" Alex whispered, leaning against Parker. He stopped rocking and simply sat there, feeling safe for the first time in a long time.

Jill mouth dropped open and she looked to Rebecca for confirmation. "That's who the fath is?!" She hissed, now understanding why Chris looked at Alex the way he did. "Wesker is the father, and you never thought to mention that to me?!"

"I believe so." Parker confirmed. "My mother had many children... But she always made the time to know each of our favourite foods... The things that would cheer us up when we were sad. You would have liked her pizza..."

Rebecca's chin quivered and she burst into tears all over again.
"Wesker raped her, Jill." Chris said softly. "I...I walked in on him. He'd been doing it pretty much since he found her in the mansion days before we got there. She made me swear I wouldn't tell anyone."

"You had brothers and sisters?" Alex asked him, cringing when he heard Jill shouting. "Did you love them? Were they fun? Will you and Mommy give me one?"

Jill's sky coloured eyes were filled with the kind of compassion that only came from having gone through a similar experience. "I could have helped you, Rebecca." She whispered. "You should have trusted me..." She turned away from both of them and reached down the side of the couch for her cigarettes. They were her safety net, stashed there during the time she had been quitting. Three years clean... And yet it was the only thing that could calm her right then.

Parker smiled fondly as he thought of his siblings. "We were unstoppable." He laughed. "My mother used to call us her private army." Parker added, his thoughts following Alex's other question. He would have liked nothing more than to give Alex a sibling. "I... Don't think your mother wants another baby, at least not with me."

"I can't even trust Chris." Rebecca muttered, feeling as she had all those years ago. All she wanted to do now was get in the shower and burn the memory away. "Just...forget about all this. Please?"

"You're not even going to try." Alex whispered. "Please, Parker? You can make my mommy smile. I know you can."

"I helps no one to bury it, believe me." Jill breathed, closing her eyes as she took a drag of her cigarette. "Rebecca... I want to help you. I wish someone had..." She stopped herself from finishing that with 'been there to help me'.

"Lately... I just seem to make her mad." Parker replied with a heavy sigh. "You know... Kinda like mr. Mean face Chris does with Jill?"