Same time,
Olivia woke up to a vastly different landscape. She had come up to bed like a zombie. Too tired, and all she could think of was Amelia.
That girl is insane she muttered to herself as she sank into bed and under her sheets as if she did not want to get out of bed.
She did not. Because to get out of bed would be realizing it was a different life. A new life where they were older, and capable of screwing up royally. She had shown that with Alex, and then her actions with her father. And now that she knew that that Amelia had gone willingly with Zack made her head hurt each more because Olivia could see how serious the situation was, and just how bad this could get.
Olivia still did not know how she was supposed to take the fact Zack had taken the fall for her and taken the glare of the authorities off the house, her mother, and especially her. She did not know why he did it. They might be blood. But they were
not family in the truest of ways that you would think made sense with a guy who a month ago met the half sister for the first time, and now he was taking the fall for her, and heading down a road that only had one ending.
A bad ending.
And now that her best friend was going along for the ride, it instilled fear in Olivia as she continued to sink into her bed, as she tried to forget reality.
After Michael and her father had returned with the grim news that Zack’s room was now a federal zone, cornered off, and that the government had a host of material on them. It did not take anyone telling her to know how bad this was for them as she watched her father take her mother into his arms, as they prayed for a sensible ending to this drama. Olivia could see from the faces of both her father and Michael, that this was bad for them.
So, Maria, Alex and Amy had gone with Michael to the Guerin house. Where Amy was spending the night because Jim was trying to contain the mess from infecting their clan anymore than it was… And because Maria needed her mother, as she was a mess.
Olivia was not much better, but she too tired to think anymore as she slipped into her bed and fell asleep and tried to ignore it and now that she had woken up.
She knew they existed in a different time.
The media had glommed onto the story and were painting Amelia and Zack as a teenage version of Bonnie and Clyde without the trail of bullets, and Olivia could not say for certain whether bullets would stay out of this story.
But for now, the media had a glossy story to follow.
It scared the clan to death because of what the federal government potentially had on them now, and she did not know what the endgame would be.
They barely knew her, and he was taking the fall. Sure, he was partially responsible but the evidence the media say they had found.
Roswell was a small town. Which means everything gets out, eventually and in this case, it had flown faster than most rumors on the gossip vine within their town limits. She had to give Zack credit for making it plausible. And of course, he did not have to manufacture evidence in the ambulance. But she had been the one who had committed everything, in the prison…
Now she was trying to sleep in her own bed, while her best friend was off with her half brother, god knows where.
She knew Maria and Michael were besides themselves with frustration because they knew how strong willed their daughter was. And now much she was like her mother, and how much she was like her father.
Which was a complicated when mixed. She groaned, and got out of bed, and checked her phone, and she saw the new message, and the only message from her best friend.
Having fun. Being Bonnie to Zack’s Clyde.
Jesus. Michael and Maria were going to love that…
And yet she could not help but think of her mother and father, who had a chance to be together if this worked out, but it was not like she wanted Zack to lose his freedom for something she did, so that she could have her mother and father together.
And be like a real family for once.
But it was one that she had now, in its own weird way.
*
“We need to wake up and get going,” Liz murmured as she rolled over and looked over at her husband. It was truly unusual to wake up in the same bed as her husband albeit in the spare bedroom, up in the attic, away from the easy access to her home. So, that no one would come in and find them. Not that she thought it was a chance because the surveillance had been called off from her home once Zack fled and taken Amelia with him
That girl, she thought of her god daughter. A girl who was wilder than her daughter. And who reminded Liz of her mother once upon a time but with the rashness of her father too. It was quite the mix. Still, she had not expected this of Amelia.
Going on the run with Zack.
“Or I have to go,” Liz corrected herself because Max could not leave the house. For fear that he would truly be found. He had been remarkably successful the night before, but luck always tended to run out especially when it involved them. Now, they could not take anymore chances which is why he was hiding up here in the attic of her home.
“I know,” Max murmured as he looked around the attic. It had been the dark of the night when they arrived back at the house after comforting Michael and Maria at their house. Which helped get Max into the house without being seen. Now the sun light was coming through the window, and he looked over at his sexy wife.
This was a sight he had not experienced since the morning after of their wedding. Because there had not been windows within that room up at the prison. Now, there was sunlight coming through the windows, and they were seeing each other with new eyes.
“What are you going to do while I am gone?” Liz wondered if she reached for her robe that she had brought up here, and got up from bed, and looked down at her husband in bed.
“I do not know,” Max mused. “I guess I cannot leave the house?”
“You can bond with Olivia. She might be around because she has to study for some on-line exams this week” she sighed as she thought of whether her daughter could be concentrating on her studies when they did not know if they would be finding Amelia anytime soon.
Max nodded.
“I am sorry Max,” Liz murmured as could see the tension in the midst of the bruises because this was not dream that he had been having since he first went to prison, and there was the added burden of what was going with Zack. A child he gave up so that he would be able to have a better life, and now was in the middle of firestorm that could take him down, along with everyone else.
This was not what Max was looking for when he had decided to put the baby up for adoption, it sucks Max muttered to herself. After Tess came back. And the explosion at the army base. He had gotten a view of how dangerous it had been for them, and it was no life for a child. And then only days later, well, they were forced on the road.
And we all know what happened from there, and now the child was up to his neck and Max was at loss to be able to help because he was a fugitive himself, and should be in prison but he was not, and instead of a cement cell.
He was living the dream with his wife and daughter.
Some life.
But for the moment. It worked but Max was unsure of how to approach the second minute.
“It’s not how I imagined it going” Max conceded as he reached for his pants and got up from bed and walked towards his wife. “When I chose that route, I did it to protect him. It was not for him to lead this life… “he sighed. “My life” he added as he thought of the true consequences of his life and then he could not help of what he had brought to his wife’s life. “And you Liz. I may love you to death, and of course I will always love you, but I am sorry because of what this has brought to your life. You and our daughter. You two have been changed by who I am,” he murmured as he took her hand in his.
“Max, I chose this when I came back to you, and when I chose to marry you. I chose this story. And of course, I knew the warts and flaws of this story. I could have left at anytime, and you know I did try. But I love you too much to have stayed away. And yes, it has been challenging. But having Olivia gave me something to live for. Sure, yes, it is not an easy life for her live, or me for that matter because this town can be small minded although the situation to them looks like I went horribly astray” she sighed as she thought of her parent’s opinion of Max. “But it was the only choice I could make if I wanted to be happy. And to love you. If I wanted something different, you gave me the ammunition to want out when you went away. I could have filed for divorce, but I stayed because I wanted to stay. That goes for today also. I am not leaving you,” she smiled as they went in for a sweet kiss that grew passionate as she stepped back a moment later. “I know you did not plan this life for Zack, but sometimes our kids pick their roads,” she sighed as she thought of their daughter. “And they are not always as easy as we might like them” as she knew they could not fall back into bed once again because she was expected at Maria’s place.
To comfort her friend because of the nightmare that had been inflicted on them.
“I need to get downstairs, dress and have a shower” Liz smiled. “Are you okay up here?” she wondered, and Max smiled.
“Except I do not have many clothes to speak of,” M0ax chuckled of the oddity of their situation.
“I know,” Liz smiled. “Although I do like you when you have little clothes,” she said with a sexy smile as they kissed, but she managed to pull herself away from sinking back into her husband’s arms as she walked away and went down the stairs.
“Some life I have,” Max muttered to himself as he did not know how to get out of this one.
*
As downstairs, Olivia was finally getting up and walking out of her bedroom towards when she saw her mother come down from the attic
Way to go Mom even though she supposed she should think it was gross to think of her parents youknow but Olivia was cheering them on given how much she knew her mother had been missing in regards to her father. Although there was a huge caveat in that her father was still classified as a fugitive.
Thanks to her, Olivia… But still she still had no regrets. She knew she would do it again, if she could get away with it although she knew she should not be thrilled because of the events that had snowballed from her actions. With now Zack and Amelia unaccounted for, and doing who gods knows what, and Olivia did not know if her half brother would have the necessary restraint even after her drilling it into him that he needed to be careful and lay off Amelia.
Not when they were on the run.
“Mom,” Olivia smiled as she passed her mother as she walked towards the bathroom. “Some night”
“Your father is upstairs,” Liz smiled as she knew this was an odd circumstance to encounter. Given that her sixteen-year-old just caught her coming down from the attic, when they both knew of Max being in the house.
“I figured,” was all Olivia said.
“I have to get over to Michael and Maria’s. Are you coming or are you sticking around here?” Liz asked quickly and was relieved to see her daughter nod. “If you were to stay, I would appreciate that…”
“Mom I am not going to go anywhere,” Olivia laughed. “Anyways as I said before, I have some exams I need to finish studying for, and so I figured I might as well stick around home. I do not think they need me over there…” she sighed as she needed to do some thinking about her life. And dwelling on choices not made or given up.
Liz nodded as she turned to face her daughter. “I know everything went a little haywire last night. But how was the party?”
“It was great. It was everything I needed”
and did not need at the same time she muttered to herself. “Of course, the end of the party upped the drama…”
“Only a tiny bit,” Liz sighed as at least she had her sixteen-year-old her at the house. “Was there anything from Amelia?”
“Nothing you would like,” Olivia muttered honestly. “I did not hear from her until a text over night, and she is seeming to be having fun,” she sighed. “You might not want to be telling her parents that…”
no parent wants to know their daughter was trying out for a Bonnie and Clyde remake even if according to news reports. Her own parents gave the notion a run for its money back after their arrest in Utah. But this was different, this was going to have consequences
as if Mom and Dad’s version did not have its own fallout, she mused to herself, but it was before she was born so she did not have to live it and see it in action.
Now she did.
“I do not think I want to be hearing that,” Liz said mumbling to herself as she went into her bedroom, while Olivia,
tell me about it she said to herself, and out loud as she went into the bathroom, and then headed back to her room to get ready.
While Liz was in the shower a short time later. Fully dressed and out of the house within 30 minutes, and in the car.
*
While Max finished dressing in the clothes he had from the day before. As he reminded his wife. He did not have much. Since he was in his own version of being on the run. He could not go out and shop. And wondered how his own son would be handling being on the run. He should be angry. Because this was not the life that should be dealt to the group.
Oh, he was. The boy might not be his son because the adoption rendered that legally something, he could not claim but he was still shocked to know what was going on, and that Zack had taken a partner in his vanishing, and he had done it in the name of protecting Olivia. Max knew he should be happy that Zack thought enough of Olivia to want to protect her, but it would only lead to danger.
And danger was something they did not need. Not now. Especially not when they were innocent. As they should be thinking of other plans for their future, and not trying to outwit the authorities. Max knew he had too much experience with it, and he did not want that for his kids. Or any of the next generation, whose growing up he had missed.
It was headache inducing, as he finished getting dressed and heard the slam of the doors, downstairs, and knew it was safe to leave the attic.
Walking downstairs and seeing the house in daylight was a revelation. A homey and beautiful home. Liz’s touches everywhere, and he saw the pictures on the wall of Olivia growing up. Sighing and knowing how much he was missing. Still, he continued downstairs, and walked into the kitchen and saw his daughter.
Olivia sitting at the kitchen table looking at her laptop and eating her breakfast. It was something incredibly odd because it was something, he had not been able to experience before. Seeing his daughter in the morning.
Waking up in a house, and knowing his wife and daughter were there. Now Liz had gone off, and it was only Olivia. “Good morning.”
“Good morning Dad,” Olivia smiled as she looked up from the computer she had been focused on. As she had been reading media accounts of Amelia’s disappearance. “How did you sleep?”
“Better than I have in a long time,” Max said honestly
Dad, that is something I am still not used to hearing he mused to himself as if it were something he should be saying to his daughter, and not the other way around.
“I am glad,” Olivia smiled. “There are still some eggs in the pan if you want some. There is more tabasco sauce in the fridge, as this bottle is almost out” she sighed as she finished off the bottle she had besides her plate as Max was reminded once again how his daughter was so much like him. And it was unnerving, and something he should not be relishing because of how difficult their life can be “I know, you think it is odd?”
“No,” Max said. “No, I do not. I love tabasco sauce too on my eggs”
although I have not had pleasure for these last sixteen plus years he thought because prison resources did not extend to keeping their unsuspected resident alien in a supply of tobacco sauce, so he had to deal with the food that was forced to consume. Which is why he had lost weight over the years, because the food for him had been on the terrible side…
“Clan trait I suppose,” Olivia asked with a smile that immediately warmed Max’s heart and despite the circumstances, made him glad to be here, on this day, and experiencing it.
“Yes,” Max smiled. “It is…”
“I am glad,” Olivia murmured as she watched her father walk over to the stove in a matter that felt like he was in an alternative universe. Unsure of how to proceed
which she supposed he was. A prison is a quite different atmosphere than a house. “Plates are in the cupboard on the right, and glasses in the next one” she said speaking up.
Max nodded as he turned. “Something interesting on the computer”
“Checking the internet for scope on Zack and Amelia’s crime spree…” Olivia smiled. “Sorry, I meant their vanishing” she sighed as she saw how the media was running with the case. And painting both not in the greatest of lights. “I know you will say, I should not be cheering them on, but I am not. Dad, I think it was stupid what they did, even if it was help me” she muttered as she remembered just what she had done to have skin in this game. “It is something I did not ask them to do.”
“Sometimes we have to do what we have to” Max murmured. “It’s not an easy decision” he sighed. “To risk your future?”
“No, I guess it not” Olivia sighed. “Although Amelia was wrong to go with him.”
“Why would she have even wanted to?” Max wondered because he was reminded once more that he did not know the children that were shared by Michael and Maria. “Was she not happy here with her life?”
“It is the risk. It is the danger that excites her,” Olivia murmured. “We live in a small town. So, anything that involves the open road excites her, and plus, in this case. She was also super pissed at her boyfriend,” Greg she thought. A great guy, but unfortunately, he could not compete with the air of mystery as she continued to address her father. “She has been flirting the edges for weeks with Zack, and I think this the moment she needed although if she has any idea of what Zack motivation was going to be, then she probably would have chosen to go if only to keep him out of trouble?”
“Do you want risk, and the danger?” Max asked because he did not know his daughter.
“Nah,” Olivia shook her head as her father brought his plate and sat down at the table. “Before recent days and weeks. You could say I was too cautious. Which is why I got delivered a punch if you will. It woke me up, and even if I had been living too much on the line in recent weeks. I would never want to do what Amelia is risking…” she sighed. “So, you and Mom do not have to worry about me and Alex…” she said stopping. “I just wish it was not in my name, or your name that they were doing this…”
“Yeah,” Max agreed. “You do know you did not have to do what you did, right, you know that?” he sighed. “I was fine with how things were going?”
“Dad, they were going to kill you.” Olivia muttered. “They were never going to let you win. Or Aunt Isabel to win, and let you come home. Those bruises are evidence of that, and you ending up in the infirmary?”
“That is not on you, nor is it on your mother” Max sighed. “It was on me, and you risked a lot with what you did…”
“And now I have Zack risking his life because of it, huh?” Olivia asked.
“Something like that,” Max sighed as he continued to eat. “Look honey, I know I have not been a part of your life. So, you have not had me for a dad. I regret that. I do not even think you can call me your Dad, because I have not been around for you. While I wish so much was different, but it was not, so while I hope that changes from today on, but it was your mother who has done everything she can think of to raise you, and I would hate for her to lose you…”
“I love Mom,” Olivia smiled as she though of her mother, and all her mother had done for her. “I know what she has done and what she has sacrificed for me. So, you do not have to worry about me, okay?”
“I hope I will not have to,” Max said as Olivia went back to reading.
While Max continued to relish being around her daughter.
*
“Look, I know I said to come in,” Liz was saying as she spoke through her phone speaker as she drove her car across town to Michael and Maria’s home. The plans for today were going by the wayside, as if that had not been what her life has been life these past weeks. Still, she always was able to control the chaos. She now saw that it was a losing proposition. Because she had wanted to get in a few hours of work at the office to be able to get her paperwork under control because the fact she had not been able to show the level of care for her patients in recent weeks as real-life drama had taken over. Before the last twenty-four hours. She had asked her secretary to come into the office today, and Marsha had, and now she, the professional, was pulling a no show. Which was unlike her, and she knew it. For years she had been able to control the chaos. No matter where it was coming, and now she was falling under the weight of it “Family emergency,” she sighed. “It cannot be helped and no, fortunately, it is not Olivia, but it is another matter all together, and so I need to take care of it. So, take care of what you can handle, and I will try to come in a little later. If I cannot than I will call, and you can go home” she sighed. “I am paying you for today, regardless of how many hours,” she sighed. “You are welcome,” she murmured as he hung up and finished the drive.
Parking outside on the street. Getting out of the car. She saw a cab waiting at the curb. Wondering who it was, she knocked on the front door. Alex came to the door. “Alex,” she acknowledged.
Ms. Parker,” Alex murmured.
“I think you can call me Liz by now,” Liz laughed at the formality that came with the breakup of her daughter and Alex, even though she had been in the twin’s life since they were born. It also showed how awkward everything had been in recent weeks “How is everything?”
“Barely functional,” Alex admitted. “I cannot believe Amelia would do this and here she was getting at me for being irresponsible,” he muttered softly as he acknowledged the situation that remained between them. “Olivia did not come with you?’
“No,” Liz shook her head. “She decided to stay closer to home. She has exams to study for,” she murmured, and Alex nodded. “You do too, do you not?”
“Amelia too if she had not pulled this Houdini act,” Alex muttered. “You were asking. Mom is in the living room. Greg stopped by…” he could not help but murmur as he frowned as there was a reason why he was not in the living room.
“Oh,” Liz said surprised. “Anything on the Amelia front?”
“Nope, radio silence” Alex murmured as Michael came down the stairs and stopped when he saw Liz walking into the house.
“Hello, Michael” Liz said as she reached, and they exchanged a hug. “How was your night?”
“Unimaginable,” Michael muttered as he still could not believe this was their life. And three years of all-nighters when they were teenagers were coming back to haunt him, and now he was beginning to understand what the Parkers, Evans and even Amy were feeling when he and Max had kept both Liz and Maria out all night on one misguided adventure after another on some mission to find out more about their heritage. Seeing it revisited in his teenage daughter who felt she wanted the rush of running from the law, then being at home, and going to school every day.
Now he wanted every day of those three years back and to do over again. And maybe Maria would not have picked him.
Liz could almost sense what was in his mind. “Alex said Greg is here?”
“Yeah,” Michael nodded as Maria and Greg came out of the living room, and Liz could see her best friend weighted down using Michael’s words,
the unimaginable. “Greg, nice to see you.”
“I came to say good-bye” Greg muttered.
“I did not think you were leaving until later,” Liz asked as she sensed the tension in the room.
“My mother got an earlier flight, so we are on the way to the airport now” Greg sighed. “We thought it would be easier than you know…” he asked because it was hell to be in the middle of the media storm and his mother had wanted him out of it, and he had agreed even if he had wanted to see if they could find Amelia.
“Staying and dealing with what you wrought?” Alex muttered.
“Alex, it is not Greg’s fault” Maria said with a frown at her son. “Your sister is the one who chose what she is doing. It is no one fault but her own, and you should not blame it on anyone else…”
“I can blame whoever I want,” Alex muttered as he walked away. Unsure of how to take that his twin had done this. How she had disappeared on them and was now wanted by the authorities. Alex wanted to blame someone, and Greg was the target, even if he knew it was on his sister because she did choose this road.
“Again, I am sorry Mr. and Mrs. G” Greg said as they walked him to the door, “It is my fault. If I had not told her last night?”
“We do not know what would have happened,” Maria sighed as she felt like this was something that had been coming for them, and she knew her daughter. If it had not been last night, then it would have been sometime soon, “You take care of yourself okay, and say hello to your parents, and I will let Amelia know when she comes home…”
“I do want to talk to her, you know. I do love her, and I know she did not believe me, but I did not want it to be the end of us,” Greg muttered. “She means the world to me, and I wanted to believe we could have made it work?”
“We all want to believe that” Michael muttered. “So, stay safe,” he said as they watched Greg walk out and get into the cab, as he came back and took his wife in his arms. “I know, I know.”
“Amelia did it this time, did she not?” Maria asked as her friend took her arm and lead her into the kitchen, and they tried to talk about the subject that they were all dreading.
When Amelia would be coming home…
*
Amelia was in no rush to go home. She knew she could not even if she wanted to. She was officially on the run. If she showed her face now, even without Zack. She would be in serious trouble so she might as well get into the act of someone on the run as she and Zack got on his motorcycle and rode into town. She had on her sunglasses, and a baseball cap.
Looking stupid with a gold ballgown, on back of a motorcycle. Once they reached the nearest town. They stopped at a thrift store and found themselves a bounty of clothes for them both. Using her abilities to make money rain. Bills that were real, and not counterfeit to the eyes of everyone who looked even if she knew that they were not on the legal side. But they needed money, as they needed to stay undetectable from the authorities if they were looking, and they were. So, she was trying on countless things in the fitting room.
Throwing things at will above the door, and onto Zack’s lap who was sitting as a bodyguard. It had been easy for him to find something to wear. T-shirts, jeans, other pants, a jacket. But Amelia was being difficult. She wanted to try on countless things, as she flung her gold dress onto his lap.
“What do you want me to do with it?” he muttered as she felt the material fall on him.
And knew she had to be naked behind the doors shielding him
Damn.
“Well, put it in your backpack or something,” Amelia called out. “I want to keep it for the memories,” she said smiling from behind the door. Yes, she was naked, and she was tempted to open and let Zack a peek. But she knew they had people watching, and she had to be professional as she continued to try on clothes and frustrate her companion even more.
“When will you be done?” Zack asked as the minutes ticked by. “Because we do not have a lot of time you know,” he sighed and said softly. “You do not know who could be watching?”
“Yeah, right” Amelia annoyed that he was raining on her shopping spree as she finished selecting the clothes she needed and came out fully dressed as she had already bought this outfit when they arrived, since she would need to be wearing something more than her dress out of here, and plus, their pictures were on the television played all over the state of New Mexico, and probably all over the country.
They were extremely fortunate to have not been noticed so far, but that luck could run out at any time.
Given that they were notorious in New Mexico, and they would have to do something about that, before long.
Zack could not help but be stunned because he had not expected this from Amelia. Because Amelia now looked completely different. She was dressed in a skimpy tank top, jeans, and a jean jacket, with her blonde hair up in a ponytail, along with her black glasses that makes her look completely different from the Cleopatra siren who had tried to seduce him the night before, and even this morning. “What?” Amelia asked. “Do I look bad?”
“No,” Zack stammered because she still looked hot. Completely different that even the Amelia he knew in Roswell. “I am just surprised that is all…”
“I might have been teasing you earlier, and I might be asking for trouble by helping you out with this” Amelia muttered. “But I am not completely stupid Zack. I know I cannot look like I was before because they have our pictures. And the surveillance from last night. While the people at the bed and breakfast did not see me, only you. We are running on a dangerous line and so I do know how to hide?”
“Yeah, you do,” Zack conceded.
“So, you approve?” Amelia asked with a sexy smile that was strikingly familiar to the old Amelia. “So, are we going?”
“Yes, I approve, and yes, we are going?” Zack and they went and paid for the merchandise that had been unpaid for and took the bags and sleeked out of the store with the hope that no one would have had recognized them.
Unfortunately, for them, someone had recognized one of them…
Amelia
But they did not know this as put some of the bags in Zack’s backpack with the dress, and they tied the remaining bags to the bike, as they headed back to the guest house with their purchases as they worked to formulate their plan.
Which unfortunately was likely going to take them out of state because they would be too recognizable to stay within New Mexico.
*
While Liz stayed at the Guerin’s to give her support. She never made it to the office. So, she was allowing her receptionist to head home as she sat and gave her friends comfort because she had received so much from them when she had been on the other side of it and facing the worst time in her life. Although for her, it had not been in a case of her daughter going off on a flight from the authorities, because it was with her husband being convicted of a crime he had confessed to, although he was innocent. Still, she was giving back all the support that her friend needed as Amy had gone back home because she had an appointment to get to, and therefore Liz had offered as Alex finally went off to meet some friends as he needed to get out of the house. And for that, Maria trusted her son.
How can I not when my daughter has done this? Maria said as she antagonized over her situation.
Glitter was now closed, as she had no energy for it as she sat in the backyard with her best friend. “I really do not know why she would have done this,” she said miffed. “I get feeling hurt and betrayed because Greg should have been upfront. And maybe going off with Zack for an hour or two to blow off some steam, but to go with him, on his flight. Liz, why on earth would she do it?”
“Amelia has always struck to me as someone who wants to protect those she loves” Liz wondered as she reflected on her goddaughter.
Amelia can be wild and has an edge to her, but she strikes me as someone who would do just about anything, she muttered herself. “She felt she was helping…”
“She’s helping herself into legal trouble,” Maria muttered. “She has known Zack maybe a month, so why would she help him, or protect him?”
“It might not be him that he is protecting,” Liz asked. “She might be smitten with him, but she probably sees it as for the greater cause,” she wondered as Maria could not help but look miserable at the prospect. “Zack is doing this to protect Olivia and she would do the same even more for someone she cares for…”
“Yeah,” Maria muttered as they started to get up, and walked back into the house as they both had more than enough sunshine, and they were willing to open the alcohol. ‘Why do our children remind us so much of our own teenage years?
“Because that is their main purpose until they because useful members of society,” Liz mumbled.
“Well, my daughter might not have that chance” Maria murmured.
“She will come home,” Liz predicted.
“But when…” Maria muttered. “And what will she done before does come home?” she could not help but wonder given their own exploits when they were teenagers.
I have no idea as her friend had no answers for the one Maria wanted the most. “But she will…” she promised, and she prayed that they were right about this one thing.
“I hope so,” Maria muttered as she was getting down the glasses out of the cupboard in the kitchen when there was a ring of the doorbell.
Maria groaned as she did not have the energy for this. Michael was out on his case, because it was at a critical place and he needed to follow up on it. So, it was just her in the house. Sighing, she muttered “I cannot handle it…”
“Why don’t I go and answer it,” Liz offered.
“Thank you,” Maria sighed as she took the bottle and sat down as Liz could only sigh as she walked out into the living room, and to the front door. When she opened, she was startled. “Diane, what are you doing here?” she asked of her mother-in-law.
It was someone who she had not expected.
*
Back at home. Max was being given a lesson in being in a new century, and on the cusp of a whole new decade all together. As he had watched his daughter study all morning for her upcoming exams. It amazed her that her situation did not have to cost her in terms of her education. She could stay at home, and do her courses online, and finish year with the necessary credits to be able to move on the following school year.
Max had heard her talking about New York, and he asked, “What is this about New York?” he asked as he stood at the door jam as he watched her working in the kitchen. “You were mumbling to yourself, and I heard you and your mother talking about it…”
“I got into an exchange program in New York, starting in October” Olivia signed as she did not know how her father would take it. “It means me leaving Roswell for six months. But it involves an exchange internship with the New York Times and other New York based newspapers…”
“Wow,’ Max whistled at the opportunity. “That is big?”
“Yeah,” Olivia murmured. “I did not think I would get it. I applied last fall before everything happened with Alex and me. Only ten spots from all over the country, and I never imagined I would get one of them, but they picked me.”
“Congratulations, honey,” Max said and meant it. “Can I ask, what does that mean for the baby?”
“Oh,” Olivia murmured as she thought once more of the decision she had made. A decision she did not regret and felt that was the best for all involved and now she would have to explain it once again. “I guess Mom has not told you” she sighed. “And given everything that has been happening, well, I guess that has to be expected.”
Uh oh Max mused to himself. “What does that mean?”
“Mom has offered to take the baby and raise him and her” Olivia sighed. “And when if I do not change my mind by the time, I am eighteen, then Mom will officially adopt my baby,” she sighed as she saw how her father was reacting. “I admit it is partially selfish because this opportunity came up you see, and it made me know what I wanted to do, finally. I was going to deal with the uncertainly about adoption, knowing who I am, and what it could mean for the baby but then Mom came up with the idea…” she sighed. “I did not even have to suggest it. She came to me on her own…”
“She did,” Max asked, shocked that Liz would do it.
“She knows how much I was uncertain about the decision because I do not know what the future holds for my baby. Is he or she different? You assumed or was told by Tess that Zack was human. And maybe he was in the beginning. But that has obviously changed, and so my fear is that eighteen years from now. My baby would be in the same situation. Different, and coming and seeking out answers to their questions…”
“Yes, I did,” Max murmured as he remembered what he had been told about Zack when he was Zan, and he came to this planet with Tess. The belief he had been human, and normal had made his decision for him even though for months prior to that day he was operating under the assumption that should he find his son. That he would raise him. And he knew it could have cost him. Because he had no idea what Liz would have done. Whether she would have stayed? And he figured that she did not really know either, since of their tendency to not discuss the larger implication of their relationship. So, adoption had been the out that had saved his relationship and allowed them to get married.
“So…” Olivia murmured.
“It was different for me obviously,” Max murmured as he thought of his own situation. “I chose a family outside of Roswell, and then our situation escalated the way it did,” he sighed as it was an easy explanation of how badly it had gone from there. With the exception being a bright shiny moment for him and Liz. But this would-be different Olivia. What your mother is offering, right?” Max wondered. “Can you and Alex handle it. Giving the baby to your mother, and not being apart of the life of the baby as anything more than a sibling?” Max asked.
“I was not ready for being a parent,” Olivia insisted. “And I know Mom can do it, much better than I could right now in my life” Olivia murmured. “I know it is going to be odd. And will quite the explanation for the baby one day because I do not intend to lie to them, about the circumstances. But of course, that was last month before everything escalated, once again” she sighed. “I really do not know what the future holds for any of us, but it feels right. I know the baby will be safe. I can see him or her grow up, and know they are safe, and if one day, they are deemed special, and have gifts than we can handle it and be a support system that the child will need to get through each day.”
“I am proud of you honey,” Max murmured. “You have made a very mature decision.”
“I hope so,” Olivia sighed as she glanced back to her computer screen. “So, New York will be a big change, but it will almost help me over the hump once everything happens, but then who knows what will happen in September when everything changes from day to day. And I never know what tomorrow will bring…”
“I know,” Max sighed as he marvelled that his daughter could be so composed when everything was falling around them. As he got up and went to the fridge to get something to drink for them both when there was a doorbell ring.
And both froze.
It was not like Max could go and open the door. Almost like she knew what to do. Olivia got up, “I will get it. You should stay here, and do not make a sound. I have no idea who it can be” she sighed because she was not expecting anyone with Alex close to home due to Amelia’s insanity. And her mother would have a key, but she knew her mother was still over at the Guerin’s house.
So, Max stayed, and then he felt the world shift when he heard some cursing when he glanced and saw that his daughter had looked through the peephole, and now knew who the visitor was, and she was not pleased in the least.
At the front door, Olivia swung open the door, and cursed at the man in her sight. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Well, I have some questions for you…” Agent Dave Barker mused as he revealed himself. “So, can I come in?”
“My mother is not here, and I know you do not have authority to question me without my lawyer or my legal guardian,” Olivia murmured.
“You have been doing some research” Barker murmured
Or, she has been suitably warned by her family.
“You make us want to be prepared,” Olivia said as her heart was racing because her father was in this very house. A wanted fugitive, and capable to being found at any second.
Of course, the law would come after us once I had my first real father daughter conversation with my father, she cursed to herself “So, you will need to come back another time because I cannot talk to you…”
“If you do not want me to go after your half brother, or your best friend than you might want to answer my questions,” Barker murmured with barely covered threat issued at the teenage girl as he knew he was legally on a very on an unethical branch, but he felt she had the answers for him, and he could not be asking when she had her mother or lawyer covering for her… “Can I come in?”
“Yes,” Olivia muttered as she had no idea how she was going to get out of this one.