Max walked back into his house while putting down the car keys on the table by the door. He knew Grace was still at her party. His gathering at the Maria and Michael’s had ended relatively early because Michael and Kyle had to get on the road early in the morning to be able to catch their flight. Therefore, they needed to get home and pack. And Kyle had to arrange for his assistant coach Douglas Crystal take the game the following day and practices until he returned. So now Max was home alone.
Walking into the living room, he looked at the picture of his daughter. Sighing at how she was growing up. She went to the safe in his office and pulled out what Grace had found at the chamber. Looking at the wallet; he hadn’t wanted to tell the others about what Grace had found because the news about Alex to Max was enough for one night. He didn’t want to deal with the fallout of them learning about the wallet. But he needed answers. Why was the wallet perfectly intact fourteen years later? It made no sense to Max.
“Looking through it, it was everything like it should have been on June 25, 2008. Liz’s credit cards, the photograph of two-year-old Grace. Her identification for the hospitals she worked at and even a snapshot of their wedding day.
This should have perished in the crash Max told himself.
“Damn it, I have to go out to the Chamber. He hadn’t been out there since Liz’s birthday in December when he had gone both to the cemetery and the memorial site. He picked up the phone. “Sorry, I am waking you up. Can we meet in the morning? I need to go out to the Chamber and need some company. The kids will be sleeping in late I am sure, sure, thank you Maria. Tell Michael good luck. And to tell me everything when he gets home,” he smiled as he hung up.
Putting the wallet back into the safe, he decided to head to bed.
********
“This night was one for memories,” Grace was saying as they were locking up shortly after midnight as the party was officially over and Elizabeth was waiting in the limousine the parents had ordered to make sure they got to and home safety from the party. “I guess we’ll going to have to help with the cleanup in the morning.”
“You don’t have to worry. I have that handled. I’ll be helping the crew,” Jake admitted as they walked to the limousine. “It’s part of my deal with Mom and Dad.”
“Would that be in the wake of last weekend?” Grace asked.
“It’s no issue really,” Jake said. “It’s just matter of cleaning up,” he said as they got in the back seat with Elizabeth. “We’ll see you home first Elizabeth,” he said. “Then I’ll make sure Grace gets home safety” he said. “Mom and Dad want you home as soon as possible.”
“I know,” Elizabeth smiled at the mere idea of Grace and Jake. They might be stubborn, but Grace was swept away on the romance of it even if she did find it weird that her brother and best friend couldn’t help but flirt with each other, and might just end up together one day.
******
Amy Deluca Valenti was trying to make peace with what her husband told her earlier that evening. Her reaction to the name Alexandra told the whole story, she had been shocked. The idea that Liz could be alive had rattled her to the core.
The name Alexandra; form for Alexander had to be proof of something shady didn’t it she told herself. She knew it could just be coincidence. The name Alexandra was common place these days. But the fact was there was someone very close to her daughter and this Beth named her daughter Alex. It truly too much and to know she couldn’t tell Jeff or Nancy yet for risk of hurting them if this was one elaborate prank.
“Coming to bed?” Jim asked as he came downstairs. “I didn’t want to tell you.”
“I pestered it out of you,” Amy said. “I was just thinking of Jeff and Nancy. They took Liz’s death extremely hard. She was their only child. If not for Grace; I don’t know what would have happened and to think all these years, their grief was for naught.”
“I know,” Jim said. “I keep thinking of Max and Grace.”
“I know,” Amy said. “She’s sixteen and to spend fourteen years without a mother and to think it might have been taken from her not because of dangerous weather but some madman and there would have been the ability to locate her if only we had known?”
Jim nodded. “We can’t tell them. We need to hear more from Michael and Kyle.”
“As much as I want to go to Jeff and Nancy tonight and tell them; I know you’re right. They can’t know until we have some more proof,” Amy sighed. “And not my Maria, especially not Maria as it killed my daughter to lose her best friend on top of losing Alex. While she’d been able to move on with her life and establish such a critically acclaim one, losing Liz had left a deep and lasting mark.”
“I want to be able to tell everyone. But we can’t until we know more,” he sighed.
She nodded. “Have you thought about having the body that does lie in Liz’s grave dug up and tested to see whether the autopsy was correct,” Amy asked. “It would save us a lot of time and pain, to know one way or another.”
“I want to,” Jim said. “But then Max would have to know and consent.”
“And you don’t want to get up their hopes until you hear more from Connecticut, right?” Amy asked.
“Right,” Jim said. “It’s late; let’s talk about this in the morning. You need your rest. You work at the café, tomorrow right?”
“Right,” Amy nodded as they turned off the light, and walked upstairs to their bedroom with the hope of no more surprises to come.
******
Michael was in his office looking at some materials he would need for his trip. He should have been in bed by now; but he needed to stay up to see that Elizabeth got home safely. It was her first big outing past midnight. “Hey,” he called as Elizabeth passed the doorway. “Where is your brother?”
“Seeing Grace home,” Elizabeth said she came inside the office. “Why are you still up?”
“Your mother made me,” Michael smiled. “I wanted to see you got home safely. Did you have a good evening?”
“The best,” Elizabeth smiled that gave every glance to Michael that his little girl was growing up and becoming a woman as if he didn’t get that idea out of the dress that his daughter had conned out of his wife. He hated the idea his princess was growing up. “I want that kind of party in June when I turn 16.”
“I am sure we’ll come up with your own kind of party when the time comes,” Michael said, not liking the reminder his little girl would be turning sixteen very soon.
When did I become a family man he asked himself? It wasn’t that long ago, he was rebelling against commitment and now he had it all. “We have time. Honey, you should know I will be heading out of town in a few hours.”
“Where are you going?” Elizabeth asked as her eye brows raised at the news.
“Business,” Michael smiled. “Early morning flight out of Santa Fe and I’ll be going with Uncle Kyle. I am not sure when I’ll be home. You will help your mother, right?”
“Of course, Dad,” Elizabeth nodded. “How long will you be gone?”
“It will hopefully just a few days,” Michael said. “I know your mother can handle a lot, but you need to keep an eye on her, and your brothers and sister okay,” he asked.
“Of course, I will Dad,” Elizabeth promised. “But I’ll miss you.”
“That goes double for me and I’ll miss all of you,” Michael smiled as he hugged his eldest daughter. “It’s late as you should be getting to bed.”
Elizabeth turned and left the room, leaving Michael to watch his grown up looking daughter leave, and he sighed. Turning off the light, he took his briefcase and went upstairs and got into bed. “She’s home.”
“Finally,” Maria smiled as she cozies in her husband’s arms. “I assume Jake is still with Grace?”
“Yup,” Michael confirmed.
A sigh came from his wife.
******
Isabel couldn’t sleep. Kyle was due to wake up to catch his flight to Hartford anytime. The kids were still with Amy and Jim, so it was just the adults in the house. The unease that had been settling in prior to the evening event at Michael and Maria had manifested itself even more so once she had heard about Grace’s visitor. Alex Whitman. He was still around in his ghostly form.
I thought you had vanished when I decided to marry Jesse? She asked herself. What kind of unfinished business do you have? We solved your death. Or shall I say Liz did, so I don’t get it, why?
An unseen presence came from behind Isabel and stood to where she couldn’t see, even if it was visible.
It’s because a wrong must be corrected. It’s taken all this time to get the pieces to come together. None of the parties were ready until now. I can’t physically help bring Max and Liz back together. It must be done for me. I just nudge pieces into place. Liz helped give me peace. I am trying to do that for her now. She isn’t meant to stay where she is. It’s bad enough that certain people succeeded in getting their way. It ends now regardless of the pain that it will cause.
“You see it Isabel” came the voice in her head.
“You know it, even though you don’t think you do. Listen to your heart and especially your head.”
“Alex?” Isabel whispered. “Is that you?” she asked. “What are you trying to tell me?”
“You know Isabel” came the voice.
“You know.”
“Isabel?” came a very alive voice. She turned and saw that it was Kyle, “you’re awake?”
“I woke to make sure I had everything only to see that you weren’t in bed with me, couldn’t you sleep?”
“No.” Isabel shook her head. “There is something I am missing,” she sighed. “I just know there is something I should know but I don’t.”
“It will come to you in time Isabel,” Kyle reasoned as he looked at the clock. “Anyways I had to get up anyways. Michael will be here in 20 to pick me up for the airport. Are you sure you will be okay without me?” he asked.
“I think I can handle the kids without you,” Isabel smiled. “It’s not like you haven’t been gone before.”
“I know, but this is a sudden trip.” Kyle reasoned. “I know I am leaving you in the lurch and yes I know you can handle the kids,” he smiled. “But it’s a lot to handle on your own with the boutique such a booming success, and when I don’t know how long I will be gone.”
“If anything happens, I can always get some help from my parents. We are due there anyways for dinner tonight. It’s a family dinner. Max and Grace will be there. I know Michael and Maria and family were invited, so I sure it will just be Maria and the kids. We will be fine Kyle, you don’t have to worry.”
“Okay,” Kyle smiled as they kissed. “What was going on when I came downstairs? It’s as if you were talking to someone?”
“It’s nothing,” Isabel insisted.
“Isabel,” Kyle asked.
“It’s just I have this feeling. Maybe Alex is just on my brain because of what Max said but I get this feeling he was trying to communicate with me.”
“Maybe he is,” Kyle acknowledged as it didn’t bother him that Alex held a hold of his wife still to this day because it was hard to argue that given his own actions in helping Tess, he didn’t have much ground to stand on and he was fine with it. He knew how much Alex meant to his wife, and the regrets she held. But he was confident in their love, and the family they had built. “We all know you have certain gifts. You are able to see more than most people.”
“I know, but why now. Why wait all this time,” Isabel asked.
“It beats me,” Kyle said. “Ghosts usually have their own time table in giving answers. If he wants you to know something, don’t fight it.” he suggested. “Anyways my suitcase is by the door and I am going to grab something to drink and eat before Michael arrives.”
Isabel nodded and followed her husband into the kitchen.
*******
“I really should go inside,” Grace was saying. “Dad is going to kill me if he knew I was still out here at 2 a.m.,” she sighed. “It may have been my birthday party. But I was already skating on thin ice over our act of rebellion last weekend.”
“He’s asleep,” Jake insisted. “Otherwise he would have been out long ago.”
“Thank you, Jake, for that comforting thought,” Grace laughed. “It’s late, I really should get inside. Are you sure you want to walk home? You shouldn’t have told the driver to leave. It’s dangerous to walk home this time of night.”
“This isn’t the first time I have been out late at night. I will be fine,” Jake said. “You are worried because I am normal; I am not one of you.”
“No, that’s not it.” Grace said to the reminder that Jake was normal. Not a human alien hybrid second generation like she was. It truly was a stark contrast to how she was, and what she dealt with each day. Jake had normal worries. She had too many weird ones. “Anyone would be worried.”
“Thank you for being worried but I will be fine,” Jake smiled as he was oddly touched by her concern.
“It’s nothing,” Grace insisted as they stood up from the bench they were sitting on. “Your parents are going to have issues with you staying up this late, with me of all people.”
“Why?” Jake asked.
“You know they think we spend too much time together,” Grace stated as she knew that they were a popular discussion topic among the adults. She wasn’t without special talents for no reason and she could use them when she wished and therefore she knew they were concerned about her and Jake. Heck they first thought Jake was her baby’s father. That would have been a wakeup call for anyone and the adults in their little circle were no different.
“Well they can think what they want, we’re friends. And we’re not suddenly going to stop seeing each other.” Jake said adamantly. “Plus, it’s your night. You deserve to be happy.”
“I am happy,” Grace smiled. “I do hope you get the job at the club this summer.”
“It would be interesting,” Jake nodded as he got prepared to say good-bye and head home. “I hear acceptances are starting to come in the next week or so. Some friends have already gotten theirs.”
“I will miss you,” Grace sighed.
“Let’s worry about that when the time comes,” Jake said. “And will you really miss me. You have Dominic.”
“What!” Grace squeaked. “I do not.”
“Grace, the grapevine around West Roswell is not that big and especially not when you have a sister like Elizabeth who likes to parrot all the gossip that she thinks is relevant but in this case, it wasn’t Elizabeth but other sources. I heard Dominic asked you out, and you’re considering it.”
“I wanted to be the one to tell you,” Grace insisted. “And I don’t know if I am going out with him. He called and asked, and I am considering it. If Dad lets me off his leash I wanted to wait to after the party to ask him, so I might not even want to go. I haven’t made up mind yet.”
“I want you happy,” Jake said a little too quickly and firmly. “I have to go,” he sighed as he looked at his watch. “All I ever have wanted is for you to be happy,” he muttered as he walked away.
“I am,” Grace smiled as she watched him leave and wondered if for the first-time Jake was jealous of another guy asking her out.
*******
“You’re a dumbass Jacob,” Jake Guerin told himself as he got into his car and drove home. “Maybe my sister is right. Am I jealous and am I risking losing Grace before I even have her in my life. If Dominic is interested, maybe I am too late.” he sighed. “Grace maybe going through a tough time,” he told himself as he continued his inner monologue as he drove the few streets to him his family home. “She isn’t ready. But one day she’s going to take that step, and even if Dominic is not going to be around next year, he still is a good guy,” he acknowledged as he pulled into the driveway of home as he noticed a cab pulling up front.
“Mom and Dad?” Jake said quietly as he saw his parents walk out towards him as he walked up the pathway. “What is going on?”
“It’s 2:30 in the morning Jake and you’re just getting home?” Michael asked.
“Grace and I were talking. She’s safely at home,” Jake acknowledged. “It’s not like it hasn’t happened before.”
“We know,” Maria said. “Anyways, I am too tired to argue with you. Your father needs to go away on business.”
“Why?” Jake asked.
“New case,” Michael said. “I am not sure how long I will be gone, so please keep an eye on your mother and siblings. And try not to stray that far from the house while I am gone, okay?” he asked.
“How long will you be gone?” Jake asked.
“It is hard to know right now, since I am not sure what I will be looking at until I get there and come face to face with the situation,” Michael said. “So, get inside, it’s the middle of the night”
“Yes Dad,” Jake said as he walked past his parents. “I hope you have a safe trip,” he said before he went inside.
“I am going to kill him before you get home, just so that you know,” Maria sighed. “I know he’s eighteen, but I wish he would take it easy.”
“It was Grace’s party tonight. It is to be expected he would test the limits as we did when we were their ages and anyways he’s here in Roswell and safely in his bedroom,” as he noticed the light to Jake’s bedroom turn on “And that is not something we could say a week ago,” Michael said softly as he kissed his wife. “We should trust them. I don’t think Grace is any condition to want a relationship right now.”
“I know,” Maria said as she watched Michael put his bag in the cab and kissed him goodbye. “Call me when you get where you are going,”
“I will,” Michael smiled. “Why don’t you say sorry to the Phillip and Diane and explain why Kyle and I can’t be there for dinner tonight?”
“I will,” Maria said. “Isabel and I can bond,” she smiled as waved and watched as the taxi drive off for the Valenti home.
Sighing, she went inside and saw that Jake had gone instantly to bed, so she decided to turn in. Deciding to lock the front door, she headed to bed after a reassuring check on all her kids to make sure they all were tucked into their beds.
******
“So, are you and Maria really that concerned about Jake and Grace?” Kyle was asking Michael as they took their seats on their flight to Connecticut. “I am so glad I don’t have to deal with it with my girls or Jamie yet.”
“Yes and No,” Michael said. “I know truthfully it hasn’t gotten serious between them. Grace is barely sixteen, and Jake is about to graduate. They are no way close to that point. But Maria is worried. She really doesn’t want to see the sins of the parents to repeat on the kids.”
“How so,” Kyle laughed.
“She knows how intense Max and Liz were as teenagers, and all the pain that came from that. And the same thing with her and I, it was pure hell during high school and even afterwards. Max and Liz got lucky in that they were made for each other and yet that plays into how devastated Max was after losing Liz; that love. We do want our kids to fall truly in love, but we don’t want them to get that serious….”
“So soon,” Kyle finished.
“Yes,” Michael said. “It might be a lost cause though and because of that Maria is fighting it,” he sighed.
“How so?” Kyle asked as the plane started to go down the runway.
“I see how a guy looks when he’s interested. And I see that in Jake when he looks at Grace. But because of her age, he’s resisting. And who knows if they ever get to that stage. Maria just rather they wait. He’s her baby, so she’s having a tough time letting go and acknowledging he’s growing up. And falling in love is something she would like if he waited for and enjoyed life a little more. And college, which is something she never got to do.”
“Because she was head over heels for you,” Kyle asked.
“Partially,” Michael thought. “We were headed to New York when we were eighteen. It was a hell of a time,” he remembered back,
.
“She wonders what if her life would have been easier.” Kyle asked. “What if she had gone to college and had the freedom of being a college kid rather than working for a living and all the stresses that came with that.”
“Yes,” Michael said. “We all had an intense time when we were teenagers, and she doesn’t want that intensity for the kids.”
“No one does,” Kyle said simply as she remembered that time well as he saw how intense Max and Liz had been, and even Michael and Maria. And then Isabel’s ill-advised short marriage to Jesse in the wake of losing Alex. It wasn’t an easy time for any of them with the pain that had enveloped them all so none of them wanted it repeating on the younger generation.
“I just hope they slow down.” Michael sighed. “And not rush so much, which is something I do agree with my wife on.”