September 2001

"No go." Carlos didn't like being alone. It was his second day in the First grade and it was time for his mother to leave him. She'd tried to leave him the day before, but his hissy-fit could have been heard across the country.

"Mijo. You've got to go to school. Don't you want to grow up and be really smart?" Carlos nodded. He wiped his nose with his sleeve and shifted his tiny backpack up onto his shoulders.

"You're coming back, right? You're not leaving forever?" She kissed his forhead, took off her watch and placed it in his hand.

"When the little hand is here, and the big hand is here, I'll be back to get you." She showed him on the clock face that she would be there promptly at two o'clock. He flashed her a toothy smile and held onto the straps of his backpack tightly. "You think you can wait that long?"

"I can do it!" He jumped up and latched his arms around his mother's neck.

"Alright, 'Litos. Go have fun."

It had been an hour since his mother left and he was starting to feel a bit homesick. He was sitting in the corner on his own when he looked across the room and saw another boy doing the same. When the boy looked up at hin, Carlos gave a coy wave. The boy smiled and waved back.

After a few moments of waving the little blond boy walked over to Carlos.

"Hi." The small boy sat next to him. "I'm Kendall. I'm six." He proudly shoved his hand in Carlos' face, wrongly displaying five fingers. Carlos giggled and tapped on Kendall's thumb.

"S'only five. You need another finger. See," He took Kendall's hands and pulled his fingers up one by one, counting to six. "six fingers." Kendall examined the fingers and smiled at Carlos.

"You're good at numbers." He crossed his legs and turned to face the small, dark haired boy. "I'm not so good with numbers yet, but I'm a good reader. Mommy said my daddy's not good with numbers, too."

His face lit up like fourth of July as he continued talking about his father. Carlos figured that his dad must have been pretty amazing considering how highly Kendall spoke of him. "I want to be just like him when I grow up."

"He sounds like a superhero. I don't get to see my dad much. He's always out fighting crime and bad guys."

"Mine too!" Kendall leaped in front of Carlos and jumped up and down. "My daddy's off fighting the bad guys that hurt the people in New York. That's what my mommy told me. She said he's in Orangutan, keeping us safe."

"You're dad's fighting monkies?" Carlos had heard the word 'orangutan' on an animal show he'd watched with his mom earlier that week. "Are they evil monkies?"

"Yeah!" The boy pulled the hood of his sweatshirt onto his head, tucking his arms in close to his body. "Evil, zombie monkies!" He screeched and chased Carlos around the room.

The boys spent the rest of the day talking to each other. Carlos really liked Kendall and was happy that he finally had a best friend.

"'Litos!"

"Mommy!" Carlos ran to his mom and leaped into her arms. "I missed you. You'll never believe what happened today!"

"What happened, baby?" She set him down. He bounced around and excitedly told her everything he'd done. From coloring outside with chalk to eating all of his lunch and helping the teacher clean up, which earned him two gold stars and extra play time with the class' hampster, Benji. "Oh, and I have a best friend! He's awesome, and funny, and he can read really good! His name's Kendall."

He left his mother's side and ran to get his new best friend.

"Kendall, this is my mommy." Kendall hid behind his new best friend.

"Hi, Mrs. Carlos' mom."

"Hello, Kendall. I hear you're really good at reading?" She leaned down so she was eye level with the small boy. He nodded and smiled. "You should come over sometime and help Carlos." The boys exchanged a look and both of them nodded furiously.

"Can he come over today! Please, mommy?"

"Not tonight. We're going out for dinner, tonight. Daddy's waiting." Carlos sulked over to his mother and grabbed her hand. "It was nice to meet you, Kendall" He smiled, and stuck his thumb in his mouth.

"Bye, Carloth. Thee you tomorrow." He waved, and ran back to his spot at the front door, waiting for his mother.

That weekend, Kendall slept over Carlos' house. He was nervous. Carlos was his best friend, but he'd never spent the night away from his mom and future baby "brother".

"Will he be okay?" Kendall asked his mom, rubbing her swollen stomach. "Without me there to sing to him tonight, he'll miss me!"

"Your little brother or sister will be just fine without you for one night, Big Man." Kendall smiled at his mother using his father's nickname for him. When he left for Afghanastan, his dad had made it clear to him that he was the man of the house while he was gone. Kendall proudly took on the responsibilities that came with being the big man of the house, even though at the time he didn't understand where his father was going.

"What if he thinks I'm leaving him forever? Then he'll hate me." He pressed his ear to her belly, then spoke clearly into her belly-button. "Don't worry, buddy! I'll be back tomorrow, okay? I'll never leave you!" The baby kicked and he smiled.

"See, the baby knows you love him." She knocked on the door, and waited patiently until it opened.

"Mom, what if he got lost?" Carlos bounced on the couch as his mother made him and Kendall lunch. "What if he doesn't come? What if he-"

"Calm down, Carlos!" She laughed, wiped her hands on a cloth, and took her son's face in her hands. "He'll be here, soon. I promise."

"Okay, mommy." He kissed her forehead and ran to the window. He saw a green van pull up in front of the house, then Kendall and his mother stepped out. "He's here! Mommy, he's here!" He bounced over to his mom, and dragged her by her arm to the window. "Kendall's talking to his mom's belly." He laughed.

"She must be pregnant. Kendall's gonna be a big brother." She smiled and walked Carlos over to the couch.

"I want to be a big brother!" Carlos jumped up on the couch behind his mom. "Can you get pregnant? Please, please, please pleaaaaaaasssee!"

"It's not that easy, baby. We'll talk about this later." She laughed. "Much later!" There was a knock at the door and Carlos ran over to open it.

"Kendall! You're here!" He grabbed his friend and squeezed him tight. "I thought you weren't gonna come!"

"Why would I ever do that?" He hugged his friend back and laughed. After their hug ended, the boys ran straight up to Carlos' room. He shut the door and jumped on the bed.

"This is my room." He looked over at Kendall, who was sitting on the beanbag chair in the corner, looking around. "You like it?" Carlos was desperate for his friend's approval. He wanted everything to be perfect. This was the first friend he'd ever had, he didn't want small details to mess anything up.

"I wish my room looked like this." He got up and sat down next to Carlos on the bed. "You've got those cool glow-in-the-dark star stickers! I wanted some, but my mom said they might bother the baby. We have to share a room." Kendall stuck his toungue out and shook his head.

"I wish I had a little brother." He walked over to the picture of him and his older brother on his bedside table. "I'd be a better big brother than Toni."

"Who's Toni?" Kendall looked over Carlos' shoulder at the picture in his hands.

"My brother." He groaned and jumped back onto the bed. "He's watching us tonight."

"I wish I had an older brother."

Carlos' mom and dad went out for their annual date night, leaving Antonio to watch the boys. He ordered them pizza, and while they were eating, they heard the doorbell ring.

"Shit. That's Leah. She's early." He changed the channel from Nickelodeon to MTV and turned to the boys. "Okay, brats. Upstairs." Carlos put down his pizza and stood up on the couch, becoming eye level with the older boy.

"I'm telling mom you swore in front of me and that you have a girl over!" He put his hands on his hips. "Mom said no girls when she and daddy aren't home."

"You tell her that, I'll tell her what really happened to her blue dress." He pushed him down onto the couch. Carlos' eyes started to water, but he didn't want to cry in front of his new friend. Kendall would think he was a baby.

"Now go upstairs. Both of you! Now!" Emphasizing the last word with a shove towards the stairs. The boys made it to the top of the stairs and looked down. A lanky, olive-skined brunette ambled through the door.

"She's pretty."

"She's dumb. She ruins everything." Carlos crossed his arms and looked back down at the scene unfolding downstairs. Antonio and Leah were now on the couch, kissing. "Gross!" Carlos exclamed in an almost silent whisper yell.

"It's not gross. Mommy said it's beautiful. Something that people do to show how much they love each other." The boys made their way up to Carlos' room and sat on the bed. "My mom kisses my daddy all the time!"

"But I hate Leah. She took my brother away from me." He folded his arms. Kendall didn't know what to do. He didn't want his friend to be upset at his first sleepover.

"We should make a blanket tent!" Kendall quickly ran around Carlos' room, gathering all the blankets he could carry. "Me and my dad used to do this all the time!"

After being heavily directed, Carlos moved all of the chairs in his room to their places. The boys ran downstairs to get the pizza and flashlights. They spent the rest of the night watching movies, together.

"Carlos?" Kendall yawned. Carlos rubbed his eyes and looked over at the blonde. "You're my best friend."

"You too, Kendall."

"I love you."

In October, the boys went out for Halloween together as evil clowns. In December, they spent the week before Christmas together. They got each other video games, and played them together as soon as they were opened. They became insperable.

June 2002

Kendall's seventh birthday party. One of the first non-familial parties Carlos had been able to remember going to. It was an outerspace themed party. Kendall loved space, and the planets. Pluto was his favorite, Carlos remember from a conversation earlier on during school. Carlos walked over to the table, holding his mother's hand.

"I'm going to go over there and talk to Mrs. Knight. You okay?" He nodded and let go of her hand. He walked over to the table, and set down his gift. It was a full, hot wheels track with ten cars. He'd picked it out especially so he and Kendall could play with it together.

"Carlos!" Kendall shrieked from the bouncy house. He jumped out, and pulled his friend into a hug. "You made it! Come on!" He said as he pulled his friend over to the inflated castle.

Later, Kendall opened his presents. Carlos' face lit up when he saw how happy Kendall was with his cars. "Thanks, buddy!" They hugged. Carlos looked over his shoulder and saw Kendall's mom with two men in green-camouflage suits.

"Kendall, who are they?" Kendall turned around and smiled.

"That's Phil! He works with my dad." He got up and ran over to his mom. She looked upset, angry even. He backed away a little before calling for her. "Mommy, is dad-"

"Sweetie, go give this to Katie, alright? Then go play with your friends." She handed him a bottle and smiled, but Kendall wasn't stupid. She was hurting, something was wrong. "Mommy's fine, okay? Go have fun."

Everyone would soon find out that Mr. Knight wouldn't be coming home.

So this is a different kind of story. I don't exactly know where it's going relationship wise, but I have a general idea. Everything will fall into place later. See what I did there?