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.

For Alex, two years went by in the blink of an eye. It had been no more than a week into his return when his mother had sedated him. He was out for a little over a month and somehow this had allowed him not only to begin to eat again, but the nightmares had gone away. He had been angry with her at first and it was clear that Parker didn't think that much of it either. But Rebecca had maintained that she had done the right thing.
Though Alex held onto his guilt about Jill, he had flourished in a normal school with other children. His family had stayed in the BSAA headquarters, which had been the only concession for Rebecca's agreeing to her son's education in an outside setting. Alex truly loved being with other children his own age and had even made friends.
As far as he could tell, Parker had kept his word about getting closer to Rebecca. But Alex had yet to keep his. He didn't want his father sharing his darkness. So...he simply pretended it no longer existed.

Rebecca couldn't figure out what had gotten into Parker. Though their physical relationship had made no advancements, he was still treating her like he was madly in love with her. Things had truly changed between them.
She had even dared to let him take things further than usual one night.
If Alex hadn't come running into the room to escape a nightmare they'd have done more than simply removed their shirts and kissed.

For Chris, things were neither good nor bad. He'd simply shut down. Marie's reminder that his beloved was dead had done more harm than good. He'd thrown himself into every mission he could find. He worked out when he wasn't saving the world and slept only when he couldn't find the energy to move anymore. The less time he had to think...to remember...to regret...the better...




That particular afternoon, Alex was rolling his shoulders and glaring at a boy on the field across from him. He was grinning widely as he prepared to take a swing. He'd finally found something he was good at, something that would take out his energies. His mother was okay with it simply because there wasn't too much chance for blood.
His bat cracked with a satisfying sound as it hit the ball and sent it sailing. His grin grew wider as he heard his mother's cheering. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Parker on his feet, waving as he held the video camera. This was what he'd always dreamed of, being a normal boy with a normal family. He only wish Jill were here to see this. She'd tried so hard to get Rebecca to give in to letting him be a child. She would have been proud. At least...she would have if he hadn't killed her.
This dark thought slowed him down and he crashed into the boy guarding third base, sending them both tumbling into the dirt.

Parker continued to cheer, even when Alex crashed into the other boy. He had been overjoyed when Rebecca had finally given in to allowing their son this little slice of a normal life. Though he had never said it out loud, Parker had noticed that since his return... Alex seemed different, physically. He had been so thin at first, but now... He seemed so much stringer than the other children. Faster. Healed quicker.

Jill's only blessing was that for the two years she had been captive, a year of it had been spent unconscious inside a stasis pod. Of course, even that hadn't been continuous. It hadn't taken wesker long to find out she had carried Chris Redfield's child, and the sick man he was, he did everything he could to make sure the child came to term, and was healthy. The little girl that had grown inside Jill for nine months was now over a year old, yet was already physically much older. The former STARS captain had the child thinking he was her father, only because he knew how much torment it would cause Chris. However, one look into the littl girl's big blue eyes... And there was no mistaking Chris was her true father.
All this would soon become second thought, given what had been done to the girl's mother. A new evil was brewing, and Jill would be the one to nurture its emergence into an unsuspecting world.

Alex had an obsession with posting everything he did on a blog. That night he proudly posted his father's video of the baseball game, pausing to grin at himself holding up a trophy. Though he couldn't possibly know it, he'd given his true father a clear window into his life. Even helping him keep up with a good portion of Parker and Rebecca's blooming relationship.

Rebecca sat on the counter in the kitchen, watching Parker as he sang his way through the Barber of Seville. "You know..." She shouted finally taking a swat at him as he paused to try and kiss her. "Just because you're Italian doesn't mean you can sing! It's illegal to sing that badly you know!" She teased him.

Wesker was smiling as he scanned through the blog, pausing at the photo of Rebecca and Parker both hugging Alex tightly. He knew which school Alex attended now. Casting a glance to something in the adjacent computer screen, he smiled once more. Perhaps it was time his 'daughter' enrolled. Though he had convinced the girl he was her father, wesker hardly treated her like a child. He had been training her to be the perfect soldier from an early age.

"So lock me away!" Parker declared, continuing to sing as he chopped onions. "You're just jealous that not only am I ridiculously good looking... I can sing perfectly too!" He added, picking up a slice of tomato and throwing it at his wife.

Rebecca giggled as she caught the tomato. She'd almost missed it and brought her hands together, forcing it to explode. "Parker!" She wailed, turning for a rag to wipe her face. "if you ca sing, I'm the queen of Norway! I don't have to put up with you know."

"I married into royalty? Wow..." Parker relied with a serious expression, though he was grinning again as he returned to slicing the vegetables for the sauce he was making.

Rebecca took a glass of icy water and dumped it down the back of his pants. She couldn't keep herself from laughing as she watched him stiffen. "What's the matter?" she purred, making sure she pressed the ice against his backside.

Parker turned slowly, fixing Rebecca with a wicked smile before he picked up the bowl hand squashed tomatoes and poured it over her head.

"Parker!" Rebecca wailed, feeling the lumpy tomatoes dropping from her hair to her shoulders and finally to the floor. She turned and grabbed for the flour he was using to make pasta and tossed it at him covering the tall man from head to toe. "Take that!" She shot back, clearly proud of herself.

This was clearly war. Parker reached for the egg box and cracked one on top of Rebecca's head before dropping one down the back of her pants and smacking her sharply on the rear.

Rebecca grabbed for hamburger meat and placed a handful of it directly in his face. She made sure to grind it deep into his facial hair. "ready to give up?!"she demanded.

"Never!" Parker declared, grabbing for the milk carting and sloshing its contents at Rebecca. Alex would be hard pressed to ever recall anything like this if he happened to walk in on his parents.

Rebecca managed to hit the carton just right and sent a shower of milk spraying down over the both of them. The milk was extremely cold and it left her gasping. "give up!" she shouted when she'd caught her breath. "or I will something really evil!"

"I told you woman, I never give up! I think you are living proof of that." Parker purred, reaching out and grabbing Rebecca, kissing in spite of all the food she was covered with.

Rebecca returned the kiss, her fingers digging into his back. She sincerely hoped Alex was in his room playing on the computer. She wasn't sure she could stop at a kiss this time. Especially not when Parker shoved everything off the table and laid her down on it.

Parker was pulling Rebecca's shirt off over her head even before all the items that had been in the table crashed to the floor. His desire was getting the better of him, and he prayed Rebecca wouldn't stop what was happening. He needed her, just as much as he needed her to know he loved her.

Alex frowned over the pizza sitting on his plate. He had been certain that his dad was making his famous spaghetti. It did help his wondering that his mother refused to let him go into the kitchen. He watched his parents out of the corner of his eye, surprised to fInd them sitting impossibly close, his father had an arm around his mother's shoulders. "you guys okay?" he asked worriedly.

"Hmm?" Parker looked up from where his free hand had been trying to steal a slice of his wife's pizza. "Yeah kiddo, why?" He asked, not thinking anything different with the way they were acting.

Alex shook his head. Though his mother and Parker had gotten closer these past few years she had never let him touch her the way he was now. He had thought she never would. He hoped this didn't mean anything bad. It wouldn't surprise him if it did, however.
Rebecca yawned widely, her head rested against Parker's shoulder. She was completely sure that things couldn't go anywhere but up. At least, that was the case right up until the phone rang.

Parker smiled at Rebecca, removing his arm so she could answer the phone. It was always for her anyway. "So, how's school goin'?" He asked his son, finally stealing Rebecca's pizza.

"The teacher wants to talk to mom." Alex muttered, suddenly showing a greater interest in his own plate. "I fell asleep at school and had a nightmare." He admitted.
"Phone's for you." Rebecca hissed suddenly, shoving the receiver against his chest and getting to her feet. She stalked to the bedroom and slammed the door hard enough to shake the pictures on the wall.

Parker stared at the hall where Rebecca had disappeared for a long moment before he finally answered. "This had better be giddamn important!" He growled.

Alex's eyes went wide as he heard Parker's angry tone. He had no idea the elder man could even speak that way.
"Are you coming over tonight?" A sultry voice purred on the other end of the line. "Sorry your wife answered and all but...I just have to see you, Parker. It's been too long."

"Who is this?' Parker snarled, afraid he already knew the answer. He was on his feet now and moving out of the dining room, not wanting Alex to over hear anything further.

"I think you know." The woman breathed. "Parker, I need you. That night at the bar a few months ago was not enough. You and I both know you need it too. Don't deny it."

Parker glanced over his shoulder to make certain he was alone. "This isn't funny!" He growled. "How dare you call my home!"

"You're the one who left your number with me." The woman breathed. "I thought you said if either of us needed it again that I could call. Wasn't that what you said? Didn't you say your wife wouldn't care? That's not why you're mad is it?"

Parker was frowning, trying to remember if he had ever done such a thing. He remembered that Rebecca had told him to find his satisfaction elsewhere... But that so long ago. That was before Jill's death. "If I did say that... I imagine I would have said it to every woman I met that night." He finally growled, hoping to make her hang up.

"You didn't say that until we were in bed." The woman purred.
"Parker, you pig!" Rebecca shouted, having listened in on the other end of the phone. "You lying...piece of...pig!" She slammed her end of the phone down hard enough to leave it ringing in his ear.
"There." The woman chuckled. "I think I owed you that one for getting me shot."

"Do you have any idea what you've done?!" Parker roared, so angry he was struggling to find English words. "I swear to god... You had better run if I ever see your lying, double crossing face ever again!"