New Life : A Second Chance

Ali was suddenly there as well, breathless as he had run over like a bat out of hell,* and he said, "And I\'m Ali!"

Then he looked at Xing Han and Kyle, then replied, "Xing Han, I think Kyle is sufficiently shaken by now."

Xing Han seemed to snap out of it and he looked at Kyle sheepishly, "Oh. Sorry."

Kyle laughed, patted Xing Han\'s cheeks and replied, "No worries. I\'m allowing it this time since I\'m so busy here at the moment."

"Since you haven\'t had breakfast yet, please do join us with our parents, Keanu," Kay invited, a sweet smile on her lips, her hands clasped in front of her, "Mother would certainly be quite happy to meet you."

Kyle looked at Kay with a raised eyebrow, "What, really? No. Are you seriously using your formal society voice?"

A hiss went out of Kay\'s lips and she turned to Kyle and hit him on the shoulder, saying with embarrassment, "Idiot brother."

She wanted to make a good first impression on Keanu and her stupid brother had to just spoil it all.

Seeing all of this, Keanu just laughed, spread his hands out and said enthusiastically as he pointed at Kay, "You\'re breathtaking!"

Then he pointed at all of the guys, saying, "You\'re all breathtaking!!"

The Elite Five, in unison, struck the pose and pointed at Keanu, shouting, "You\'re breathtaking!!"

?? Breakfast ??

In the end, the Elite Five, Keanu and Chad went to the house to have breakfast.

Keanu felt it was time he should spend some time with the hosts. He had graciously declined to stay at the Mansion, feeling more comfortable to be around the crew members instead. The Smiths didn\'t insist, understanding his situation.

Unlike most celebrities, Keanu\'s home wasn\'t in the million-dollar price range and he even took the subway. Then again, Keanu\'s situation was unique. Unlike other celebrities, fans didn\'t swarm over him in public that he could hardly move.

They respected him and kept their distance, allowing him peace of mind and privacy.

Kyle also kept his mother happy by staying in his own bedroom during his free time and would send her pictures of Keanu everyday. He had first gotten Keanu\'s permission to do so, of course, and Keanu more than graciously allowed it.

If the paparazzi ever got hold of those pictures ...

Suffice to say, Mother Delilah was deliriously happy.

During breakfast, however, it could be seen that one particular boy wasn\'t as jovial and happy as normal. Granted, he was normally the stoic and expressionless one, but this time, his sadness was plain to see that even Delilah noticed it.

"Sam, is everything okay?" she asked worriedly.

She viewed the Elite Five like her own children and wished they would come over more often. She knew how special they were to her twins, but they hardly came to spend time here so she couldn\'t see them much.

Sam gave her a big smile, saying, "Yes, everything is fine, Auntie Delilah."

Ali snickered, "Yes, Auntie Delilah. He\'s not really sick. Just lovesick."

Sam glared at Ali, who just grinned at him while putting food in his mouth.

"Sam? Lovesick?" she asked, surprised. What is this? Does Sam have a girlfriend? Or he was upset at not being able to get one? She then turned to look at Kyle, who was focusing 100% on his own food.

Just then, the doorbell could be heard. The Head Butler went over promptly to open the door and find out who the person was, so the rest wasn\'t really bothered about it.

"Kyle, honey?" Delilah called out sweetly.

Kyle looked out, his mouth full to the brim with eggs and toast as he chewed slowly. His cheeks were puffed up like a chipmunk and Delilah\'s eyes narrowed into slits.

"Kyle! Where are your table manners?! Honestly, you\'d think you\'re still five?!" Delilah scolded, though she found that statement rather ridiculous. Even at 2 years old, Kyle\'s table manners had been impeccable.

She just knew he was doing this on purpose so that he wouldn\'t have to answer her questions.

He blinked at her in total innocence, continuing to chew the food slowly.

Kyle never told Delilah about Betty because it would only start on her long-winded lecture about him not having anyone yet. It would range from the low start of \'he needs to have more friends\' to \'opening up his heart\' all the way to \'want to see grandchildren\'.

She still hadn\'t quite settled the fear in her heart that her son was gay. It wasn\'t because of the fact that he would not be continuing the Smith line - though she would be lying to say that it wasn\'t a factor. It just wasn\'t the main factor.

It wasn\'t that Delilah was homophobic either. Delilah would accept him even if he did turn out to he homosexu*al and wouldn\'t love him any less. However, what made her worried was because she knew what society\'s perception would be like and that Kyle\'s life wouldn\'t exactly be roses because of it.

As a mother, she wanted his life to be smooth and free from worries. Life was hard enough as it is, and the burden that Kyle had over his shoulders as the Smith Heir was even more. She firmly believed that such a burden would be greatly alleviated when he has someone beside him that completed him.

Not family. That\'s different.

However, if that someone was one that Kyle never found - or one that he would have to constantly fight society (and not to mention, all those of the Smith blood) ... wouldn\'t his burden only increase? What mother would want that sort of struggle for her own child?

She would be supportive but she would also be sad.

Sad at the sort of slurs he will face, sad at the sort of prejudice and unjust hate he would have to endure, sad at having to see the pain in his eyes as he goes through it just because he wanted to be with his loved one.

That was not the sort of life she would want for her son.

Kyle truly did understand what Delilah meant, and where her heart was. Which was why he always accepted it whenever she just ranted in extreme worry about it.

As for him, he still wasn\'t 100% sure yet which way he swung at the moment.

His soul may have been female before but he grew up as a male. The physical changes he was experiencing since hitting puberty made him even more aware of his identity as a male. He was neither attracted to male or female and could deeply appreciate both genders.

It was way obvious by now that he could get aroused by a female ... if he let his feelings and emotions take over. His body reacted very well to it, Kyle thought. Whether it would be the same for a male remains to be seen.

What was equally obvious was that ... other than the normal physical reaction, he felt absolutely no attraction towards either male or female. He truly didn\'t know if he would fall in love with male or female ... if he did at all.

Figuring this out wasn\'t possible right now.

Only time would tell.

Worst case scenario, he\'d just marry whoever his parents picked for him. If he never found \'The One\', and he had no problems \'getting it on\', then it just meant ... love wasn\'t meant to be for him. He had been lucky enough to have fallen in love before in his past life, so he felt it was perhaps an equal exchange to be able to re-live his life (albeit, in a different form) to help his children.

What was definitely clear, was that he wasn\'t a girl in a guy\'s body. His soul may have been female before, but he had never felt uncomfortable being a guy. Other than the initial surprise of finding that dangly-bit inbetween his legs while he was a fetus, he had never felt that he was born the wrong gender.

So that wasn\'t an issue.

It was the \'falling in love\' part.

Kyle was still a romantic deep down but he just didn\'t think there was one for him right now. He didn\'t truly believe in the concept that there was that one person who had been destined to be your other half from the day you were born.

His past life dispelled that romantic notion.

Not to say that he didn\'t believe in love. He would help his brothers - and Kay - find the person they would want to be with, but that was something that wasn\'t quite in the cards for him.

Not right now, anyway.

Kyle finally swallowed the last food in his mouth, and smiling sweetly back at his mother who had been waiting extremely patiently while he did so, he asked, "Yes, Mother?"

Delilah delicately wiped the edge of her lips, put her napkin on her lap then asked, "So, when will I be meeting your girlfriend?"

"When I get one," Kyle said.

"When will that be?" she demanded.

"When I find one," Kyle replied.

"Are you really looking properly?" Delilah asked, staring at him.

"As properly as my two eyes can see," Kyle responded then added, "Come on, Mum. It\'s hard to find any girl that is better than you. Stop being so awesome then, and perhaps I can stop comparing."

Though Delilah knew Kyle was just saying it to avoid the topic, she couldn\'t help but feel extremely pleased with his obvious compliments.

"Laying it on thick, aren\'t you son?" Patrick commented.

Kyle gave him a shocked look, saying, "What? Father! Please. Are you saying my mother, who is the love of your life, isn\'t awesome? That any girl can compare? That I can easily find another girl who is as awesome as Mum?"

Delilah turned to him, smiling sweetly, "Hmmm ... is it?"

Patrick almost choked on the coffee that he was about to drink.