Part 11
The next couple of weeks were hectic but uneventful. I helped with the wedding plans and cried myself to sleep at night missing Max. I also helped Maria with the baby and thought about the day when I would be taking care of a child of my own. Little Beth was perfect, and I was so happy for Kyle and Maria.
The day of the wedding came and Isabel was nervous. I was in the back with Maria and Serena helping her get dressed. When she was ready, Maria and Serena went and took their seats beside their husbands. I started to leave to take my seat out front but stopped.
“Isabel, can I ask you something?” I asked her. I looked at her and thought that she looked so happy and so beautiful.
“I think you just did, Liz, but sure,” she answered with a grin.
“I don’t mean to bring up a painful subject, especially today, but I’ve wanted to talk to you about this for a while and just haven’t been able to. Were you scared to love Brody? I mean with what happened to Alex and Grant and then Jesse, I really admire that you could still find room in your heart for Brody,” I told her.
Isabel sat back down in her chair before the mirror and her smile faded quickly. “Liz, I can’t tell you how hard it was for me to let Jesse’s death go. When Khavar killed him, it was like someone had torn my heart out. That’s why I can sympathize with you about Max. No, Jesse and I weren’t as close as you and Max, we didn’t have time to get that way, but I loved him and we were married for a short time. But one thing this war has taught me is that we have to grab onto whatever happiness we can find. I’m not afraid of dying, but if something happened to all of you I wouldn’t be able to keep going. Now that the war is over, I’m hoping that Brody and I will be able to live happily for a long time as man and wife. Anyway, I couldn’t help loving him and I’d rather spend 6 months as his wife, happy and in love, than the rest of my life wondering if we could have made it,” she said.
She shook her head and looked into my face in the mirror and smiled. She got up and came over to me and gave me a hug. “I know that you miss Max. I’ve never seen any couple as close as the two of you were but, Liz, he would want you to be happy. It’s only been close to six months, but if you ever find someone in the future that makes you happy and laugh, I want you to snatch him up. Max would want that for you, too.”
I thought about what she said as I took my seat. I found Michael had sat beside Max and was keeping him busy while I had been with Isabel. I pulled Max up out of his seat, handed him the two rings and made him promise to hold onto them and not lose them and then stood him up beside Brody. I smiled gratefully at Michael as I reseated myself and enjoyed the ceremony. I really felt happy for my sister-in-law and her new husband. I cried a little but not like I was afraid I would.
The reception was going full swing, and I was playing with the new baby and watching Max coo over the baby. Brody walked up to me and smiled. “May I have this dance?” he asked. I looked up at him confused. He nodded toward the dance floor where I saw that Michael was dancing with Isabel. “My bride is dancing with her brother right now so I thought I’d ask you to dance,” he said.
Maria took Beth from me. “I’ll watch the two kids here, Liz. You go ahead,” she told me.
I shrugged and took Brody’s hand as he led me to the dance floor. We swayed to the music and talked about old times. We also talked about the future. I told him how happy I was for the two of them. Then suddenly he stopped and turned to see Michael standing there.
“Mind if we switch? I think your bride is wanting to dance with you, Brody,” Michael told him with a grin.
“Thanks. Excuse me, Liz,” Brody said, always the perfect gentleman. He went over and scooped Isabel into his arms and they held onto each other, smiling like lovesick teenagers.
I watched them and sighed. “They make such a great couple don’t they?” Michael said, reading my mind. We started dancing and I thought about my wedding day.
“Michael, did Max and I look like that on our wedding day?” I asked. “I mean did we treat everyone great but really only had eyes for each other?”
I felt him stiffen a little bit. It must hurt him to talk about Max too. “All couples are like that, Liz. However, you guys were worse. You both kissed your way through your wedding day,” he answered.
Suddenly, I got a flash of Max and I dancing on our wedding day, staring into each other’s eyes and whispering and smiling. I couldn’t figure out where that flash had come from, and then I realized it came from Michael. Just as suddenly as I had gotten the flash, it was gone again. Just before the image disappeared, however, I felt an emotion that I couldn’t quite put my finger on before it was gone.
* * * * * * * * * * *
“I’m looking for Queen Liz,” a female voice came from the dining area at the Crashdown. I was in the kitchen, grabbing a couple of orders to bring to customers.
I came out of the kitchen and looked around for the owner of that voice. I saw Maria talking with an older woman that looked like someone’s grandmother. Deciding that must be the owner of the voice, I stepped forward. “You’re looking for me?” I asked.
The older woman smiled. “Oh, there you are,” she said. Then she curtsied and bowed her head. When she straightened up again, the smile was still on her face. “I’m Prince Max’s teacher. You can call me Zelda.”
I shook her hand. “I’m sorry I wasn’t ready to meet you. I know I must look a fright, but I didn’t think you’d be here for another month,” I told her. Then I noticed her bags. “Oh dear! Were you planning on staying here? I’m afraid that the other room isn’t ready for someone to move in.”
“No, Your Majesty, I’m taking the apartment in the building next door. I wouldn’t want to impose on your small home here. I would like to speak with you about our curriculum and schedule if you have a few minutes,” she said.
“I do if you don’t call me ‘Your Majesty’. I don’t respond to that title well with people I’m going to be dealing with on a regular basis unless it’s one of the Stewards. I think titles are just too stiff,” I told her.
She smiled again. “I’m glad to hear it. I hate titles too. They are important for formal things but for informal, they seem to get in the way,” she declared.
“You know, Zelda, I was a little apprehensive about a new teacher from Antar coming to teach my son, but I think you and I are going to get along just fine,” I told her. I led her through the kitchen and to the back room where we discussed Max’s education and schedule.
* * * * * * * * * * *
“Liz, I would really suggest you reconsider your decision to carry this child yourself,” the Antarian doctor told me after my check up almost two months later.
I looked him in the eyes. “Can you tell me what my chances are that something will happen to me and the baby? Can you say for sure that we wouldn’t make it?” I asked him.
“No, I couldn’t say for sure you wouldn’t make it, but your body has been through a lot. I would strongly suggest getting a surrogate mother for the baby,” he said.
I shook my head. “No, I will carry this child myself. End of discussion.”
He sighed. “Ok, then be here next Monday morning at 9 am, and we’ll implant the embryo then. Don’t eat anything 12 hours before coming in. So don’t have anything after 9 the night before, not even water. You will be here overnight for observation so make sure you bring some clothes,” he instructed. He handed me a bottle of pills. “Take one of these before bed every night including next Sunday, but make sure it’s before 9 o’clock. These are to help your body in the acceptance of the baby.”
I thanked him and left. I was walking on air. I was going to be pregnant with a baby that was Max’s. I was so happy. Little Max noticed my mood later that day and said he was glad I was so happy. I hugged him and asked Zelda if I could speak with her. We went into my bedroom and I closed the door. Max was talking Michael’s ear off downstairs.
“Zelda, my surgery is next Monday morning and I’ll have to stay overnight. Would you mind staying here with Max during that time?” I asked her. She knew all about this coming baby, and she had been a great person to talk to about the whole situation.
She smiled at me. “I wouldn’t mind a bit. What time do you want me here?” she asked.
“If you could be here at 7:30 that would be great. After the surgery, I would like for you to move in with us. There is no reason for you to be next door in that apartment by yourself when we have an extra room here, and Max just adores you. You are over here most of the time anyway, and we would love to have you here. You’d be part of the family,” I told her.
She thought about it for a little bit. “I would love that, but I must be blunt about something. If I move in here, I am not working for you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I don’t mind babysitting Max from time to time, and of course I’ll still be teaching him but he is still your son. Also I have a cat and he will have to come with me,” she told me. My surprise must have shown on my face because she asked, “What?”
“It’s just that with you being Antarian, I never thought you would have a cat. As for the other, I have no intention of letting you work that much. Like I said, you’ll be family and family makes sacrifices for each other as necessary. Thank you for calling Max my son too. I always like to hear that,” I answered.
Zelda chuckled. “I may be born Antarian, but I’ve lived on Earth since Max was born. I like it here and I love cats. I just hope he and Sydney get along alright.”
We talked about when she should move in and other things before she said it was time to get back to work with Max. I said I’d send him up as I went downstairs. I walked through the back room and heard a yelp from under my foot as I almost made it to the kitchen door. I looked down and saw that I had stepped on Sydney.
I snatched the kitten up and examined it. I hadn’t hurt it too bad, but I held my hand over its paw and healed the bruise that would form. I patted the kitten’s head and carried with me to the kitchen.
“Max, here take Sydney and go upstairs. Ms. Zelda is ready to start your lessons again,” I told him.
He did as I had told him, and Michael grinned at me. “I thought he would never stop talking. You know what he talked about? The whole time he talked about Miss Zelda. He really likes her.”
I laughed. “Yeah, I know. Everybody likes her that I know of. She’s so great. I told her that I wanted her to move in here with us after my surgery on Monday,” I told him.
Michael’s head snapped up at that, and he placed his hand on the grill. “OUCH!” he yelled, snatching his hand back.
I rushed over and took his hand to look at it. I looked up at him and smiled. “Yeah, the grill is hot when you’re cooking on it,” I told him.
He stuck his tongue out at me. “Ha, ha. Very funny, smart mouth.” I touched my hand to his where he had burned it and healed him. He looked at me for a minute and then said, “Liz, you’re going to have that embryo implanted in you next Monday?”
Letting go of his hand, I tried to busy myself with the things on the counters. He came over and took my hands in his. I didn’t understand why I was so reluctant to talk to him about this. I looked up into his eyes and heard myself answer him. “Yes, I am. The doctor said to be there at 9 am.”
Michael let go of my hands and ran one of them through his hair. “I want to go with you. Someone needs to watch Max, and maybe Isabel will want to go. I know Maria will want to be there.”
I stopped him from pacing and told him, “Michael, it’s going to be ok. Zelda said she would watch Max. I’ll have to stay there overnight so Denise will have to work Monday and Tuesday. I don’t need everyone there, maybe just one or two of you. Maria won’t be able to bring the baby with her anyway.”
“I will be there, Liz, and I’m sure your other friends and family members will want to be there too,” he told me.
* * * * * * * * * * *
Michael took me to the clinic where the operation would be performed that day, and when I got there, everyone else was already there and waiting for me. Maria said that Zelda was also watching Beth. Isabel and Brody were there with a small plant with miniature roses on it. Serena and Sean hugged me with all the others and wished me luck.
“We’ll be here when you wake up, Liz, and I’ll take you home tomorrow,” Michael assured me.
I had tears in my eyes as they started the IV for the anesthesia. “Thank you all so much. I don’t deserve friends like you.” I started to feel woozy, and then everything went dark.
Picking Up the Pieces (UC,Mi/L,TEEN) Complete
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littleroswell
- Roswell Fanatic
- Posts: 1029
- Joined: Wed Sep 18, 2002 7:45 am
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Picking Up the Pieces (UC,Mi/L,TEEN) Complete
Just call me Phoenix...cause I'm back from the dead!
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littleroswell
- Roswell Fanatic
- Posts: 1029
- Joined: Wed Sep 18, 2002 7:45 am
- Location: Georgia, USA
Guys I am SO SORRY! I didn't mean to leave you hanging and to make it up to you, I'm posting a part today and tomorrow so that hopefully, you'll all forgive me for my failure to post last Friday. Anyway, without any further words except a thank you to Cinder for the bump, I present part 13!
Beth
Part 13
I sat on the table the nurse had directed me to when we were first ushered into the room. I looked around the room, feeling nervous. My eyes fell on Michael, who must also have been feeling nervous for he fidgeted as he too studied the charts and pictures on the walls. He caught my eyes and smiled reassuringly. I smiled back, unable to hide my nervousness.
“I’m sure everything will turn out fine,” he declared. I wasn’t sure if he said this to comfort himself or me.
Then the door opened, and a young woman who appeared to be in her twenties came in grinning madly. “And how are we doing today, Mrs. Evans?” she asked with a slight southern accent.
“Pretty good, nervous,” I answered honestly.
She walked over to me and started rolling up my shirt to just under my bra. Then she picked up the chart that had been on the table and flipped through it. “And how about you, dad?” she asked without looking up. Michael and I looked at each other, and when no one said anything, she looked up from the chart at him with raised eyebrows.
“Um, I’m not the father,” Michael choked out.
The girl’s grin faded, and then a look of horror took its place. “Oh my god! I didn’t realize who you both were. I mean I didn’t know that you were the . . . and that she was the . . . ” she stammered.
I smiled at her. “It’s ok. Michael is just here for moral support. I didn’t want to come alone.”
That didn’t seem to calm her nerves, and she silently went over to the machine beside the bed. She picked up a jar of gel that had been sitting on the table with the machine and spread it over my abdomen. She then went over and washed her hands and dried them off. She came back over and switched on the machine and picked up the probe. She almost lost her hold on it and sent it to the floor, but she caught it just in time.
“I’m sorry, I’m just so nervous. I just started working for this doctor a couple of weeks ago, and even though I’ve done this a million times, I’ve never done it on a queen before,” she apologized.
I smiled at her again. “Well, I’ve never been pregnant before, and Michael has never before set foot inside the office of a doctor for females before. So it’s a first time for all of us and we’re all nervous,” I told her.
She smiled back at me and seemed to be somewhat comforted. As she moved the wand back and forth over my abdomen, we heard a loud, fast sound over the speakers. There was a black and white image that appeared on the screen of the machine. Michael jumped and came closer to the bed.
“What is that?” he asked.
I looked at him. “It’s the baby’s heartbeat, Michael. Pretty fast huh?” I answered.
He looked at me and grinned. Then he turned his attention back to the screen. “Wow, it’s so small!” he declared. “Do you know what the sex of the baby is?” he asked.
I had a strange feeling come over me, and I started to put my hand to my belly but remembered the probe and willed my hand to my side. The girl shook her head. “No, it’s too early for that, I’m afraid. Besides, mommy here might not want to know what it is just yet,” she said.
“It’s going to be a girl,” I said quietly.
Both Michael and the RT looked at me with eyes wide open. “But . . . but you can’t know that for sure. I’m sure you’re just guessing right?” she asked.
I shook my head. “This baby is going to be a girl. She just told me,” I told them.
Michael took a step back, and the girl almost dropped the probe again. Michael stared at me and asked, “Are you sure, Liz?”
I nodded. “Yes, it was strange, but the minute she started that machine going, I felt a strange feeling come over me from the baby. I realized that it was the baby itself trying to communicate with me. She didn’t exactly talk to me just . . .” as I couldn’t explain further, I closed my eyes and directed my emotions to Michael and the young RT. I heard them both gasp.
The young woman excused herself to go find the doctor. I opened my eyes and looked at Michael. He was studying me with a worried expression. “Michael, I’m not hallucinating here. Come here and feel her for yourself,” I told him.
As he started towards me, however, the door opened and the doctor from Antar stepped in followed by his very upset technologist. She moved silently to the opposite side of the bed from the machine, where Michael had once stood before backing away from me. Michael instead moved to the foot of the bed. I looked up at the doctor and smiled.
“How are you today, Liz?” he asked me congenially.
“Just fine, doc,” I answered just as congenially.
“My assistant here tells me you know that you are going to have a girl,” he stated.
I thought about not saying anything since he had asked me nothing. However, I answered, “Yes, I do. I can prove it if you’d like. This isn’t some kind of old wives’ tale I’m talking about. She communicated with me.”
He looked at me skeptically. “Liz, this child isn’t three months into development, and you’re telling me that it talked to you from inside you? I could see this in a more developed baby. Antarian children often communicate with their parents before birth, but it is usually only a few weeks before delivery. Your child is half human and not far enough developed to be able to communicate with you.”
Exasperated, I rolled my eyes and grabbed his hand. I placed it on my abdomen and held it there. Then I closed my eyes and tried to communicate with my daughter. Suddenly I felt her reach out to me with her feelings and felt a surge of love from her. I felt the doctor almost jerk his hand back. I opened my eyes and smiled at him.
“You felt that too, didn’t you?” I asked him.
He looked at me wide-eyed and slowly nodded. “Yes, Your Majesty, I did,” he answered in awe.
I laughed. “Just because this is something new for you doesn’t mean you can start getting formal on me. Just keep calling me Liz like you’ve always done.”
Coming to himself, he shook his head as if to clear it. “I’m sorry, Liz. This is just so amazing. You realize that I’ve never heard of this before. Then too, this is almost a new kind of being. I didn’t realize it before, but your daughter will be the first known true hybrid. She will be the first human-Antarian child born. That is an amazing thing. Of course this does present some problems. There will be no precedent to follow for your child. That means that we won’t know if something is normal or not. I’m going to go do a little research and print out your baby’s first picture.” He left the room, trailed by the young woman.
I looked at Michael who hadn’t moved. “Michael, are you ok?” I asked lightly.
He nodded and came over to stand beside me again. “Can I . . . I mean, may I . . .” he started to ask.
I smiled and took his hand and placed it on my belly. My daughter’s joy at his touch even startled me. I almost jumped and looked at his face. A slow smile crept over his face. I chuckled softly and smiled back at him. It was nice to have someone to share this experience with.
“You’re right. It is going to be a girl. She likes me already too. She knows her Uncle Michael is going to be a lot of fun and will take care of her,” he bragged.
The doctor reentered the room, alone this time, carrying several items in his hand. “Alright, Liz. Here are your prenatal vitamins, several brochures on pregnancy and a copy of the ultrasound. I want to see you in my office in 6 weeks. I also want you to keep a journal of everything that happens during your pregnancy. I want to see it with you on your next visit.”
At the mention of a journal, I felt my face drain of color, and I almost had to sit down again. The last time I had written in a journal it was about my wedding day to Max and then the fact that I couldn’t have children. That was the last entry, that I couldn’t have children. Michael, seeing my face fall, came closer to me and took my hand and squeezed it, communicating that he knew what I was thinking. I felt better knowing he was there for me.
We left and Michael drove back to the Crashdown. “Wasn’t that awesome, seeing the baby and hearing its heartbeat?” he asked me.
I smiled and looked at him. “Yeah, it was pretty special. Michael, thanks for going with me.”
He shrugged. “I’m glad to take you any time you need or want me to, Liz. I’m just sorry that it’s me taking you and not Max. I know you wish he could have been there today,” he said.
I looked down at my hands. Then I looked back up out the windshield with my eyes tearing up. “Yeah, I do wish he could have been here.” I looked back at him with a smile. “But if he couldn’t be there, then I can’t think of anyone else I’d rather take his place with me today.”
Michael looked at me skeptically. “Really? You wouldn’t rather have had Maria there?” he asked.
I shook my head. “Nope. You have been so good to me and Little Max since Max died.”
He grinned and sang with the radio the rest of the way home.
* * * * * * * * * * *
I sat at my desk and stared at the small book that was sitting on it. I couldn’t bring myself to open it and write in it. It was too hard. Too much of a chance of being flooded by painful memories. I stood up and brought the journal down the hall with me to Max’s room. Quietly, I opened the door and peeped in to make sure he was still asleep. He was sleeping soundly and let out a small sigh as he rolled over.
Stepping quietly over to the side of the bed by the window, I leaned down and kissed his cheek lightly. Then turning to the window, I unlatched the lock and pulled it open. It squeaked slightly, and I prayed that Max wouldn’t wake up. Thankfully, I got the window up the rest of the way without waking my son up. I climbed out onto the balcony where several things had been left from the past years.
I took a deep breath of the night air and closed my eyes. There were a million memories flooding my mind. I clutched the journal tightly and felt the tears roll down my cheeks. The nights were starting to get cooler, and I thought about the night when Max and I had first kissed. There was the Valentine’s Day when I had had the blind date and Max was jealous. I sniffed and went over to the wall on the side of the window and waved my hand over it slowly. A glowing, glittering red heart appeared with Max’s and my initials in it. It was just like the one Max had made so long ago.
Shaking my head to clear the memories, I started to erase the heart but then stopped. Why erase it? There was no reason it couldn’t stay right where it was. I went over to the little Christmas lights that lined the balcony and touched them, turning them on. I pulled up a lawn chair that was close to falling completely apart and sat down and opened the journal again. In a flash I saw the first entry in my journal that had mentioned Max. It was the entry where I talked about how Max had saved my life. I shook my head again and started to write about my day with the doctor’s office and the baby. It got easier after a few minutes, but when I was done, I realized that I had put a lot of my own feelings about everything in it and how I missed everyone that was gone from the war.
‘Oh well, I’ll just start a different journal for just the baby tomorrow,’ I thought to myself. Then I sat there and drank in the night. I started to feel sleepy and yawned. I looked up and studied the stars. I just couldn’t look at them the same way anymore. I used to think they were just beautiful stars. Now looking at them evoked so many memories and emotions.
When I awoke the next morning, the dawn had brought a chill to the fall air. I shuddered from the chill and pulled myself up out of the chair. I was a little stiff from being in the same position all night. I picked up the journal from beside the chair and turned off the little lights. Walking to the window, quietly so as not to awake Little Max, I opened the window and silently crept in. Somehow, I felt different. I couldn’t explain it, but for some reason I felt a little better. How better, I couldn’t say.
* * * * * * * * * * *
Max came over to sit beside me while I watched a movie later that night. Zelda had already gone to bed and I was going to put him to bed at the next commercial break. I looked at him and put my arm around him and pulled him into a hug. He allowed me to hug him for a fraction of a second before breaking away from me.
“Mommy, when will my little brother or sister be here?” he asked.
I smiled at him. “It’s going to be a girl, Max. You’re going to have a little sister in a few months won’t that be fun?” I told him.
He looked at me with awe in his ice-blue eyes. “Really? Can I feel her?” she asked, reaching his hand out towards my stomach.
I took his hand and placed it on my abdomen. His little hands were so cute. Max giggled and looked at me with a twinkle in his eyes. “She knows I’m her brother and that I’m going to take care of her. I love her already. I wonder what she looks like.”
“Max, did she communicate with you?” I asked him, shocked. When he nodded, I smiled, and then it hit me what he had said last. “Max, go downstairs and on the refrigerator you will find a little square, black and white picture, bring it up here.”
When he returned with the picture, I took it from him while he climbed back on the bed next to me. “This is a picture of the baby. This is what she looks like right now,” I told him.
He studied the picture critically and then smiled up at me. “She’s beautiful, mommy, just like you.”
I felt tears sting my eyes, and I hugged him again. “Thank you, Max. I think you and the baby will be great friends and not only siblings.”
Beth
Part 13
I sat on the table the nurse had directed me to when we were first ushered into the room. I looked around the room, feeling nervous. My eyes fell on Michael, who must also have been feeling nervous for he fidgeted as he too studied the charts and pictures on the walls. He caught my eyes and smiled reassuringly. I smiled back, unable to hide my nervousness.
“I’m sure everything will turn out fine,” he declared. I wasn’t sure if he said this to comfort himself or me.
Then the door opened, and a young woman who appeared to be in her twenties came in grinning madly. “And how are we doing today, Mrs. Evans?” she asked with a slight southern accent.
“Pretty good, nervous,” I answered honestly.
She walked over to me and started rolling up my shirt to just under my bra. Then she picked up the chart that had been on the table and flipped through it. “And how about you, dad?” she asked without looking up. Michael and I looked at each other, and when no one said anything, she looked up from the chart at him with raised eyebrows.
“Um, I’m not the father,” Michael choked out.
The girl’s grin faded, and then a look of horror took its place. “Oh my god! I didn’t realize who you both were. I mean I didn’t know that you were the . . . and that she was the . . . ” she stammered.
I smiled at her. “It’s ok. Michael is just here for moral support. I didn’t want to come alone.”
That didn’t seem to calm her nerves, and she silently went over to the machine beside the bed. She picked up a jar of gel that had been sitting on the table with the machine and spread it over my abdomen. She then went over and washed her hands and dried them off. She came back over and switched on the machine and picked up the probe. She almost lost her hold on it and sent it to the floor, but she caught it just in time.
“I’m sorry, I’m just so nervous. I just started working for this doctor a couple of weeks ago, and even though I’ve done this a million times, I’ve never done it on a queen before,” she apologized.
I smiled at her again. “Well, I’ve never been pregnant before, and Michael has never before set foot inside the office of a doctor for females before. So it’s a first time for all of us and we’re all nervous,” I told her.
She smiled back at me and seemed to be somewhat comforted. As she moved the wand back and forth over my abdomen, we heard a loud, fast sound over the speakers. There was a black and white image that appeared on the screen of the machine. Michael jumped and came closer to the bed.
“What is that?” he asked.
I looked at him. “It’s the baby’s heartbeat, Michael. Pretty fast huh?” I answered.
He looked at me and grinned. Then he turned his attention back to the screen. “Wow, it’s so small!” he declared. “Do you know what the sex of the baby is?” he asked.
I had a strange feeling come over me, and I started to put my hand to my belly but remembered the probe and willed my hand to my side. The girl shook her head. “No, it’s too early for that, I’m afraid. Besides, mommy here might not want to know what it is just yet,” she said.
“It’s going to be a girl,” I said quietly.
Both Michael and the RT looked at me with eyes wide open. “But . . . but you can’t know that for sure. I’m sure you’re just guessing right?” she asked.
I shook my head. “This baby is going to be a girl. She just told me,” I told them.
Michael took a step back, and the girl almost dropped the probe again. Michael stared at me and asked, “Are you sure, Liz?”
I nodded. “Yes, it was strange, but the minute she started that machine going, I felt a strange feeling come over me from the baby. I realized that it was the baby itself trying to communicate with me. She didn’t exactly talk to me just . . .” as I couldn’t explain further, I closed my eyes and directed my emotions to Michael and the young RT. I heard them both gasp.
The young woman excused herself to go find the doctor. I opened my eyes and looked at Michael. He was studying me with a worried expression. “Michael, I’m not hallucinating here. Come here and feel her for yourself,” I told him.
As he started towards me, however, the door opened and the doctor from Antar stepped in followed by his very upset technologist. She moved silently to the opposite side of the bed from the machine, where Michael had once stood before backing away from me. Michael instead moved to the foot of the bed. I looked up at the doctor and smiled.
“How are you today, Liz?” he asked me congenially.
“Just fine, doc,” I answered just as congenially.
“My assistant here tells me you know that you are going to have a girl,” he stated.
I thought about not saying anything since he had asked me nothing. However, I answered, “Yes, I do. I can prove it if you’d like. This isn’t some kind of old wives’ tale I’m talking about. She communicated with me.”
He looked at me skeptically. “Liz, this child isn’t three months into development, and you’re telling me that it talked to you from inside you? I could see this in a more developed baby. Antarian children often communicate with their parents before birth, but it is usually only a few weeks before delivery. Your child is half human and not far enough developed to be able to communicate with you.”
Exasperated, I rolled my eyes and grabbed his hand. I placed it on my abdomen and held it there. Then I closed my eyes and tried to communicate with my daughter. Suddenly I felt her reach out to me with her feelings and felt a surge of love from her. I felt the doctor almost jerk his hand back. I opened my eyes and smiled at him.
“You felt that too, didn’t you?” I asked him.
He looked at me wide-eyed and slowly nodded. “Yes, Your Majesty, I did,” he answered in awe.
I laughed. “Just because this is something new for you doesn’t mean you can start getting formal on me. Just keep calling me Liz like you’ve always done.”
Coming to himself, he shook his head as if to clear it. “I’m sorry, Liz. This is just so amazing. You realize that I’ve never heard of this before. Then too, this is almost a new kind of being. I didn’t realize it before, but your daughter will be the first known true hybrid. She will be the first human-Antarian child born. That is an amazing thing. Of course this does present some problems. There will be no precedent to follow for your child. That means that we won’t know if something is normal or not. I’m going to go do a little research and print out your baby’s first picture.” He left the room, trailed by the young woman.
I looked at Michael who hadn’t moved. “Michael, are you ok?” I asked lightly.
He nodded and came over to stand beside me again. “Can I . . . I mean, may I . . .” he started to ask.
I smiled and took his hand and placed it on my belly. My daughter’s joy at his touch even startled me. I almost jumped and looked at his face. A slow smile crept over his face. I chuckled softly and smiled back at him. It was nice to have someone to share this experience with.
“You’re right. It is going to be a girl. She likes me already too. She knows her Uncle Michael is going to be a lot of fun and will take care of her,” he bragged.
The doctor reentered the room, alone this time, carrying several items in his hand. “Alright, Liz. Here are your prenatal vitamins, several brochures on pregnancy and a copy of the ultrasound. I want to see you in my office in 6 weeks. I also want you to keep a journal of everything that happens during your pregnancy. I want to see it with you on your next visit.”
At the mention of a journal, I felt my face drain of color, and I almost had to sit down again. The last time I had written in a journal it was about my wedding day to Max and then the fact that I couldn’t have children. That was the last entry, that I couldn’t have children. Michael, seeing my face fall, came closer to me and took my hand and squeezed it, communicating that he knew what I was thinking. I felt better knowing he was there for me.
We left and Michael drove back to the Crashdown. “Wasn’t that awesome, seeing the baby and hearing its heartbeat?” he asked me.
I smiled and looked at him. “Yeah, it was pretty special. Michael, thanks for going with me.”
He shrugged. “I’m glad to take you any time you need or want me to, Liz. I’m just sorry that it’s me taking you and not Max. I know you wish he could have been there today,” he said.
I looked down at my hands. Then I looked back up out the windshield with my eyes tearing up. “Yeah, I do wish he could have been here.” I looked back at him with a smile. “But if he couldn’t be there, then I can’t think of anyone else I’d rather take his place with me today.”
Michael looked at me skeptically. “Really? You wouldn’t rather have had Maria there?” he asked.
I shook my head. “Nope. You have been so good to me and Little Max since Max died.”
He grinned and sang with the radio the rest of the way home.
* * * * * * * * * * *
I sat at my desk and stared at the small book that was sitting on it. I couldn’t bring myself to open it and write in it. It was too hard. Too much of a chance of being flooded by painful memories. I stood up and brought the journal down the hall with me to Max’s room. Quietly, I opened the door and peeped in to make sure he was still asleep. He was sleeping soundly and let out a small sigh as he rolled over.
Stepping quietly over to the side of the bed by the window, I leaned down and kissed his cheek lightly. Then turning to the window, I unlatched the lock and pulled it open. It squeaked slightly, and I prayed that Max wouldn’t wake up. Thankfully, I got the window up the rest of the way without waking my son up. I climbed out onto the balcony where several things had been left from the past years.
I took a deep breath of the night air and closed my eyes. There were a million memories flooding my mind. I clutched the journal tightly and felt the tears roll down my cheeks. The nights were starting to get cooler, and I thought about the night when Max and I had first kissed. There was the Valentine’s Day when I had had the blind date and Max was jealous. I sniffed and went over to the wall on the side of the window and waved my hand over it slowly. A glowing, glittering red heart appeared with Max’s and my initials in it. It was just like the one Max had made so long ago.
Shaking my head to clear the memories, I started to erase the heart but then stopped. Why erase it? There was no reason it couldn’t stay right where it was. I went over to the little Christmas lights that lined the balcony and touched them, turning them on. I pulled up a lawn chair that was close to falling completely apart and sat down and opened the journal again. In a flash I saw the first entry in my journal that had mentioned Max. It was the entry where I talked about how Max had saved my life. I shook my head again and started to write about my day with the doctor’s office and the baby. It got easier after a few minutes, but when I was done, I realized that I had put a lot of my own feelings about everything in it and how I missed everyone that was gone from the war.
‘Oh well, I’ll just start a different journal for just the baby tomorrow,’ I thought to myself. Then I sat there and drank in the night. I started to feel sleepy and yawned. I looked up and studied the stars. I just couldn’t look at them the same way anymore. I used to think they were just beautiful stars. Now looking at them evoked so many memories and emotions.
When I awoke the next morning, the dawn had brought a chill to the fall air. I shuddered from the chill and pulled myself up out of the chair. I was a little stiff from being in the same position all night. I picked up the journal from beside the chair and turned off the little lights. Walking to the window, quietly so as not to awake Little Max, I opened the window and silently crept in. Somehow, I felt different. I couldn’t explain it, but for some reason I felt a little better. How better, I couldn’t say.
* * * * * * * * * * *
Max came over to sit beside me while I watched a movie later that night. Zelda had already gone to bed and I was going to put him to bed at the next commercial break. I looked at him and put my arm around him and pulled him into a hug. He allowed me to hug him for a fraction of a second before breaking away from me.
“Mommy, when will my little brother or sister be here?” he asked.
I smiled at him. “It’s going to be a girl, Max. You’re going to have a little sister in a few months won’t that be fun?” I told him.
He looked at me with awe in his ice-blue eyes. “Really? Can I feel her?” she asked, reaching his hand out towards my stomach.
I took his hand and placed it on my abdomen. His little hands were so cute. Max giggled and looked at me with a twinkle in his eyes. “She knows I’m her brother and that I’m going to take care of her. I love her already. I wonder what she looks like.”
“Max, did she communicate with you?” I asked him, shocked. When he nodded, I smiled, and then it hit me what he had said last. “Max, go downstairs and on the refrigerator you will find a little square, black and white picture, bring it up here.”
When he returned with the picture, I took it from him while he climbed back on the bed next to me. “This is a picture of the baby. This is what she looks like right now,” I told him.
He studied the picture critically and then smiled up at me. “She’s beautiful, mommy, just like you.”
I felt tears sting my eyes, and I hugged him again. “Thank you, Max. I think you and the baby will be great friends and not only siblings.”
Just call me Phoenix...cause I'm back from the dead!
-
littleroswell
- Roswell Fanatic
- Posts: 1029
- Joined: Wed Sep 18, 2002 7:45 am
- Location: Georgia, USA
Ok, here is part 14. Let me know what you think!
Beth
Part 14
A few months went by and Michael took me to all of my doctor appointments. I got bigger and bigger, and we celebrated Max’s sixth birthday. I was sitting at my desk trying to write in the journal I had started for my feelings as I had already written in the one for the baby. I sat staring off into space and listening to the radio. There was a light tapping on the door, and I turned to find Zelda standing in the doorway.
“I thought if you didn’t mind, I’d go ahead and turn in. I’ve had a long and trying day,” she told me wearily.
“Why? Max wasn’t acting up was he?” I asked.
“Oh, no! We just got on a subject that took a little longer to explain than I thought. We were discussing powers and when it is appropriate to use them. I think this subject is going to take several sessions,” she answered.
I chuckled. “Well, you are dealing with a six year old boy here,” I reminded her. Then I wished her a good night, and she left me to my writing.
I put my hand on my swollen abdomen and closed my eyes, trying to contact the baby. I felt her leap inside me and I smiled. She was getting stronger every day, and I had reached my sixth month in the pregnancy. I opened my eyes and started writing again when the DJ at the radio station came on.
“You’re listening to Lost Love Songs on WRSL, Roswell 98. Here’s an oldie but a goodie; it’s by an artist that was lost in the war. This is Sheryl Crow’s I Shall Believe,” he announced.
As the first few strains of the song came on, I automatically closed my eyes as memories flooded my mind. I relived the events that led up to my pretending to sleep with Kyle and Max thinking I had betrayed him. I stood up and suddenly I was dancing with the Future Max all over again. Then I was dancing with my Max. I felt the tears slip down my cheeks, and I realized that I had never told him the truth about why I had pretended to sleep with Kyle. After Max had found out that it wasn’t real he didn’t really care what the reason behind it was. He had thought that I had done it just to push Tess and him together.
The thought of that hurt me so much that I couldn’t dance anymore. I stopped in the middle of the floor and let the tears flow. Then I heard a creaking of the floorboards, and my head jerked up to see Michael standing in the doorway with a curious look on his face. I quickly wiped at my face and started back to my desk to sit back down.
“Don’t stop. I’m sorry for sneaking up on you like that. I was just coming up to say that the diner and kitchen were clean and to say goodnight when I saw you dancing. You’re really good,” he said quietly.
“Oh yeah, I’m sure I dance beautifully for a cow dancing by herself,” I tried to joke.
He came in and sat in the chair against the wall by the desk. “No, I mean it. You really had a beautiful swaying rhythm to your dancing.” Then he seemed to notice my tears and wiped my cheek with the back of his hand. “What’s wrong, Liz? Why are you crying?” he whispered.
“Oh, Michael, he’ll never know the truth. He’ll never know why I did what I did,” I sputtered between tears and gulps for air.
Michael looked at the floor and his hand dropped to his lap. “Max,” he stated flatly. When I nodded, he looked back up into my face. “Tell me, Liz. Tell me what happened. It’s not good to keep all this inside.”
I told him all about the appearance of Future Max and my attempts to get the other Max to leave me alone. Then I told him about pretending to sleep with Kyle and how I’d never forget that look on Max’s face. I also told him everything that Future Max had told me about that future and what happened to everyone. I finished with telling him about the significance of the song that had just played on the radio.
“So that song would have been Max and yours if things had gone the way Future Max had told you they would. Instead your song was . . . wait don’t tell me I know it. Oh yeah, When You Love Someone by Bryan Adams. Liz, I can’t believe what you did for all of us. I too wish that Max had known all that before he had died. I can tell you that no one, not even Max, could be more grateful for what you did than I am. Liz, you saved my life. You also saved Isabel’s life,” he told me, taking my hands in his.
I looked up into his eyes and said, “Yes, but because of what I did Tess was around to kill Alex, sleep with Max, die and all that led to Max’s death as well as Amy’s and Ava’s and so many others’. I feel like all I did was trade two lives of people I care about for others’ lives. I’m glad you and Isabel are alive, but I just wish there had been another way.”
He dropped my hands and looked back at the floor. “Maybe there was but, Liz, we won the war because of your actions. If the war had started earlier than it did, with Tess still around, she might have turned on us later and caused more deaths. We might have lost the war altogether and all of us would be dead. We can’t spend the rest of our lives wondering what if. We have to accept the past as it happened and learn from it and go from there. If things had been different, Little Max would never have been born, and don’t you tell me that you don’t love him. Besides, you also might not have gotten to have the little girl you’re carrying inside you. Have you thought about any names by the way?” he asked.
I looked up with a smile. “Yes, I found a name that she and I both like. Her name is or will be Laura Ava Evans. I thought it would be nice to name her after Ava for everything that she did for us.”
He smiled. “I like that. Are you going to call her Laura or Ava?” he asked.
“Laura. I love that name.”
Michael stayed and talked with me for a few more minutes. I realized that he had successfully taken my mind off of my troubled heart. Then as the DJ announced another song, he stood up. “I know that I’m not Max, but would you dance with me?” he asked extending his hand to me.
Suddenly feeling shy, I placed my hand in his and smiled. “I’d love to.”
The song was a beautiful one by an artist named Enrique Iglesias called Hero. I didn’t remember it but after tonight, I would never forget it.
Would you dance if I asked you to dance?
Would you run and never look back?
Would you cry if you saw me cryin’?
Would you save my soul tonight?
Would you tremble if I touched your lips?
Would you laugh? Oh please tell me this.
Now would you die for the one you love?
Hold me in your arms tonight.
I can be your hero, baby.
I can take away your pain.
I will stand by you forever.
You can take my breath away.
Would you swear that you’d always be mine?
Would you lie? Would you run and hide?
Have I gone too deep? Have I lost my mind?
Well, I don’t care; you’re here tonight.
I can be your hero, baby.
I can take away your pain.
I will stand by you forever.
You can take my breath away.
You can take my breath away.
I can be your hero.
As the last notes died away, I found myself very close to Michael. Our noses were almost touching. Just as our lips touched in a gentle kiss, a dog started barking outside. Michael pulled away quickly and mumbled a quick good night before leaving. I felt like I had been drugged, or that I was in a dream. I shook my head and turned off the radio. As I climbed into bed and turned off the lights, I realized that Michael had kissed me. Michael Guerrin had kissed me! I wasn’t sure how to feel about that.
* * * * * * * * * * *
Over the next couple of days, Michael was extremely careful not to be alone with me. It was painfully obvious, and I wasn’t sure to be relieved or disappointed. I wasn’t sure about what had happened that night, and I finally decided to put it out of my mind. Evidently, Michael had decided to do the same thing because he was nothing more than friendly when I saw him. He politely asked about my health and the condition of the baby.
Then a few weeks later, two weeks after my seventh month check up, I was working at the Crashdown waiting on tables, and I started feeling the baby kicking me sharply. It got so painful that I had to tell one of the other waitresses to cover for me so I could lie down on the back couch for a few minutes. I passed through the kitchen and went to the couch when there was another swift kick from inside me.
I groaned and collapsed on the couch. I hadn’t realized that Michael and Isabel were coming into the room at that minute. They rushed over to my side and asked what was wrong.
“Liz, what’s wrong? What happened?” Michael asked.
“Are you ok?” Isabel asked at the same time.
Just as I was about to answer that I was fine and that Laura was just kicking kind of hard, there was a sharp pain and I felt that Laura was afraid. Something was wrong. I folded myself up as much as I could for as big as I was and groaned again. The pain was almost unbearable.
“Something’s wrong. I need to get to a doctor, quick, please Michael,” I told them.
Michael ran to pull the car to the back door while Isabel ran up the stairs and told Zelda what was going on. Then they both helped me into the car, and we all sped away to the hospital where my doctor was working that day. I was wheeled in a wheelchair into the emergency room, and a nurse told me that my doctor was just finishing up a delivery and would be with me as soon as he could. Meanwhile, I was to be taken to an examining room and to change into a hospital gown. The pains had not stopped.
“Don’t worry, Liz, we’ll be right here, and we’ll come back to see you as soon as the doctor tells us we can,” Michael reassured me.
Isabel flashed me a reassuring smile as the nurse wheeled me to a room. I changed into the gown she gave me as fast as I could. The pains were coming frequently now, and I knew that Laura wasn’t the reason behind them. I was so scared. Had I done something wrong? I had been trying really hard to be good at taking care of myself.
“Alright, Liz, let’s see what we have here. How are you today?” the doctor asked as he entered the room.
“Scared. Doc, I’m having these weird pains. They started a little while ago, and at first I just thought it was Laura kicking me really hard, but then I felt her fear and I knew it wasn’t her,” I told him in a rush.
“Well, let’s just see what’s going on here,” he said as he started examining me.
When he frowned thoughtfully, I was almost panicking. “What? What is it? What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Liz, I’m not going to lie to you, but I need you to remain calm. You’ve gone into labor,” he told me seriously.
“What?! I’m not even eight months into this pregnancy. How can I be in labor?” I asked upset.
“That’s what’s worrying me. There are a couple of things we can do to try to stop the labor. I don’t think the baby would make it if you delivered now,” he told me honestly. He excused himself to consult the nurse and to order a few tests and procedures.
I felt a few tears slip down my cheeks, and I wiped them away and prayed that this wasn’t really happening. I wanted to wake up in my bed and find that this was all a nightmare. At the knock on my door, I realized that that wasn’t going to happen. I called out for whomever it was to come on in.
Michael stuck his head in the door. “Hi, how are you holding up?” he asked as he came and stood next to the bed.
“Michael, the doctor says I’ve gone into labor! I’m so scared. What if I lose her? I don’t think I could take it,” I told him.
“Don’t talk like that. The doctor told us that this happens sometimes and while it is serious, it can be stopped. Everyone is here or on their way to root for you. You’re going to be ok,” he told me with a smile and a squeeze of my hand. “One of us is going to be with you at all times while you’re here.”
I smiled at him. “Thank you, Michael. You always seem to know just what to say to make me feel better.”
He let go of my hand that he was somehow now holding and smiled at me. “Maria is itching to get in here to see you, so I’ll go send her in. I’ll see you later and don’t worry about Little Max. He’s fine and Zelda said she’s keeping him busy.” Then he walked out the door.
* * * * * * * * * * *
This section is not from Liz’s perspective. It is an account of a short incident that takes place outside her hospital room.
Michael came out of the room and told Maria she could go in to see Liz. He went to a couch a little ways away from the others. Brody had not arrived yet, and Isabel noticed Michael sitting by himself. Without drawing attention to herself, she stood up and walked over and seated herself next to Michael.
“I’m sure everything will be ok, Michael,” Isabel told him.
He ran his hands through his hair. “The doctor said that she could die too. Isabel, what’s going to happen if that baby dies and she lives? It will kill her and she’d never be the same. You know how much she wants this baby.”
Isabel studied him for a minute. “Don’t you mean, what are you going to do if she dies?” she asked quietly.
Michael’s head snapped up, and he looked at Isabel with wide eyes. “What do you mean?” he asked suspiciously.
“You’re in love with Liz aren’t you, Michael?” she asked quietly.
“Isabel, she was married to my best friend and is having his child,” Michael said, looking down the hall toward Liz’s room.
“That’s not an answer. You are in love with her aren’t you? Don’t worry, Michael, I won’t tell anyone. I just know you too well, and I’ve seen the way you look at her when you think no one is looking.”
Michael sighed and leaned his head back on the wall. “I can’t help it, Isa. I do love her. I can’t ever tell her though. It’s my fault that Max is dead, and I couldn’t do more against him than to cause his death unless I made a move on his wife.”
“But, Michael . . .” Isabel began to argue.
“No buts. Liz can never find out that I love her. Promise you won’t tell her, Isabel. Promise,” he ordered.
Isabel sighed and looked at the door to Liz’s room. “I promise,” she answered reluctantly.
Beth
Part 14
A few months went by and Michael took me to all of my doctor appointments. I got bigger and bigger, and we celebrated Max’s sixth birthday. I was sitting at my desk trying to write in the journal I had started for my feelings as I had already written in the one for the baby. I sat staring off into space and listening to the radio. There was a light tapping on the door, and I turned to find Zelda standing in the doorway.
“I thought if you didn’t mind, I’d go ahead and turn in. I’ve had a long and trying day,” she told me wearily.
“Why? Max wasn’t acting up was he?” I asked.
“Oh, no! We just got on a subject that took a little longer to explain than I thought. We were discussing powers and when it is appropriate to use them. I think this subject is going to take several sessions,” she answered.
I chuckled. “Well, you are dealing with a six year old boy here,” I reminded her. Then I wished her a good night, and she left me to my writing.
I put my hand on my swollen abdomen and closed my eyes, trying to contact the baby. I felt her leap inside me and I smiled. She was getting stronger every day, and I had reached my sixth month in the pregnancy. I opened my eyes and started writing again when the DJ at the radio station came on.
“You’re listening to Lost Love Songs on WRSL, Roswell 98. Here’s an oldie but a goodie; it’s by an artist that was lost in the war. This is Sheryl Crow’s I Shall Believe,” he announced.
As the first few strains of the song came on, I automatically closed my eyes as memories flooded my mind. I relived the events that led up to my pretending to sleep with Kyle and Max thinking I had betrayed him. I stood up and suddenly I was dancing with the Future Max all over again. Then I was dancing with my Max. I felt the tears slip down my cheeks, and I realized that I had never told him the truth about why I had pretended to sleep with Kyle. After Max had found out that it wasn’t real he didn’t really care what the reason behind it was. He had thought that I had done it just to push Tess and him together.
The thought of that hurt me so much that I couldn’t dance anymore. I stopped in the middle of the floor and let the tears flow. Then I heard a creaking of the floorboards, and my head jerked up to see Michael standing in the doorway with a curious look on his face. I quickly wiped at my face and started back to my desk to sit back down.
“Don’t stop. I’m sorry for sneaking up on you like that. I was just coming up to say that the diner and kitchen were clean and to say goodnight when I saw you dancing. You’re really good,” he said quietly.
“Oh yeah, I’m sure I dance beautifully for a cow dancing by herself,” I tried to joke.
He came in and sat in the chair against the wall by the desk. “No, I mean it. You really had a beautiful swaying rhythm to your dancing.” Then he seemed to notice my tears and wiped my cheek with the back of his hand. “What’s wrong, Liz? Why are you crying?” he whispered.
“Oh, Michael, he’ll never know the truth. He’ll never know why I did what I did,” I sputtered between tears and gulps for air.
Michael looked at the floor and his hand dropped to his lap. “Max,” he stated flatly. When I nodded, he looked back up into my face. “Tell me, Liz. Tell me what happened. It’s not good to keep all this inside.”
I told him all about the appearance of Future Max and my attempts to get the other Max to leave me alone. Then I told him about pretending to sleep with Kyle and how I’d never forget that look on Max’s face. I also told him everything that Future Max had told me about that future and what happened to everyone. I finished with telling him about the significance of the song that had just played on the radio.
“So that song would have been Max and yours if things had gone the way Future Max had told you they would. Instead your song was . . . wait don’t tell me I know it. Oh yeah, When You Love Someone by Bryan Adams. Liz, I can’t believe what you did for all of us. I too wish that Max had known all that before he had died. I can tell you that no one, not even Max, could be more grateful for what you did than I am. Liz, you saved my life. You also saved Isabel’s life,” he told me, taking my hands in his.
I looked up into his eyes and said, “Yes, but because of what I did Tess was around to kill Alex, sleep with Max, die and all that led to Max’s death as well as Amy’s and Ava’s and so many others’. I feel like all I did was trade two lives of people I care about for others’ lives. I’m glad you and Isabel are alive, but I just wish there had been another way.”
He dropped my hands and looked back at the floor. “Maybe there was but, Liz, we won the war because of your actions. If the war had started earlier than it did, with Tess still around, she might have turned on us later and caused more deaths. We might have lost the war altogether and all of us would be dead. We can’t spend the rest of our lives wondering what if. We have to accept the past as it happened and learn from it and go from there. If things had been different, Little Max would never have been born, and don’t you tell me that you don’t love him. Besides, you also might not have gotten to have the little girl you’re carrying inside you. Have you thought about any names by the way?” he asked.
I looked up with a smile. “Yes, I found a name that she and I both like. Her name is or will be Laura Ava Evans. I thought it would be nice to name her after Ava for everything that she did for us.”
He smiled. “I like that. Are you going to call her Laura or Ava?” he asked.
“Laura. I love that name.”
Michael stayed and talked with me for a few more minutes. I realized that he had successfully taken my mind off of my troubled heart. Then as the DJ announced another song, he stood up. “I know that I’m not Max, but would you dance with me?” he asked extending his hand to me.
Suddenly feeling shy, I placed my hand in his and smiled. “I’d love to.”
The song was a beautiful one by an artist named Enrique Iglesias called Hero. I didn’t remember it but after tonight, I would never forget it.
Would you dance if I asked you to dance?
Would you run and never look back?
Would you cry if you saw me cryin’?
Would you save my soul tonight?
Would you tremble if I touched your lips?
Would you laugh? Oh please tell me this.
Now would you die for the one you love?
Hold me in your arms tonight.
I can be your hero, baby.
I can take away your pain.
I will stand by you forever.
You can take my breath away.
Would you swear that you’d always be mine?
Would you lie? Would you run and hide?
Have I gone too deep? Have I lost my mind?
Well, I don’t care; you’re here tonight.
I can be your hero, baby.
I can take away your pain.
I will stand by you forever.
You can take my breath away.
You can take my breath away.
I can be your hero.
As the last notes died away, I found myself very close to Michael. Our noses were almost touching. Just as our lips touched in a gentle kiss, a dog started barking outside. Michael pulled away quickly and mumbled a quick good night before leaving. I felt like I had been drugged, or that I was in a dream. I shook my head and turned off the radio. As I climbed into bed and turned off the lights, I realized that Michael had kissed me. Michael Guerrin had kissed me! I wasn’t sure how to feel about that.
* * * * * * * * * * *
Over the next couple of days, Michael was extremely careful not to be alone with me. It was painfully obvious, and I wasn’t sure to be relieved or disappointed. I wasn’t sure about what had happened that night, and I finally decided to put it out of my mind. Evidently, Michael had decided to do the same thing because he was nothing more than friendly when I saw him. He politely asked about my health and the condition of the baby.
Then a few weeks later, two weeks after my seventh month check up, I was working at the Crashdown waiting on tables, and I started feeling the baby kicking me sharply. It got so painful that I had to tell one of the other waitresses to cover for me so I could lie down on the back couch for a few minutes. I passed through the kitchen and went to the couch when there was another swift kick from inside me.
I groaned and collapsed on the couch. I hadn’t realized that Michael and Isabel were coming into the room at that minute. They rushed over to my side and asked what was wrong.
“Liz, what’s wrong? What happened?” Michael asked.
“Are you ok?” Isabel asked at the same time.
Just as I was about to answer that I was fine and that Laura was just kicking kind of hard, there was a sharp pain and I felt that Laura was afraid. Something was wrong. I folded myself up as much as I could for as big as I was and groaned again. The pain was almost unbearable.
“Something’s wrong. I need to get to a doctor, quick, please Michael,” I told them.
Michael ran to pull the car to the back door while Isabel ran up the stairs and told Zelda what was going on. Then they both helped me into the car, and we all sped away to the hospital where my doctor was working that day. I was wheeled in a wheelchair into the emergency room, and a nurse told me that my doctor was just finishing up a delivery and would be with me as soon as he could. Meanwhile, I was to be taken to an examining room and to change into a hospital gown. The pains had not stopped.
“Don’t worry, Liz, we’ll be right here, and we’ll come back to see you as soon as the doctor tells us we can,” Michael reassured me.
Isabel flashed me a reassuring smile as the nurse wheeled me to a room. I changed into the gown she gave me as fast as I could. The pains were coming frequently now, and I knew that Laura wasn’t the reason behind them. I was so scared. Had I done something wrong? I had been trying really hard to be good at taking care of myself.
“Alright, Liz, let’s see what we have here. How are you today?” the doctor asked as he entered the room.
“Scared. Doc, I’m having these weird pains. They started a little while ago, and at first I just thought it was Laura kicking me really hard, but then I felt her fear and I knew it wasn’t her,” I told him in a rush.
“Well, let’s just see what’s going on here,” he said as he started examining me.
When he frowned thoughtfully, I was almost panicking. “What? What is it? What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Liz, I’m not going to lie to you, but I need you to remain calm. You’ve gone into labor,” he told me seriously.
“What?! I’m not even eight months into this pregnancy. How can I be in labor?” I asked upset.
“That’s what’s worrying me. There are a couple of things we can do to try to stop the labor. I don’t think the baby would make it if you delivered now,” he told me honestly. He excused himself to consult the nurse and to order a few tests and procedures.
I felt a few tears slip down my cheeks, and I wiped them away and prayed that this wasn’t really happening. I wanted to wake up in my bed and find that this was all a nightmare. At the knock on my door, I realized that that wasn’t going to happen. I called out for whomever it was to come on in.
Michael stuck his head in the door. “Hi, how are you holding up?” he asked as he came and stood next to the bed.
“Michael, the doctor says I’ve gone into labor! I’m so scared. What if I lose her? I don’t think I could take it,” I told him.
“Don’t talk like that. The doctor told us that this happens sometimes and while it is serious, it can be stopped. Everyone is here or on their way to root for you. You’re going to be ok,” he told me with a smile and a squeeze of my hand. “One of us is going to be with you at all times while you’re here.”
I smiled at him. “Thank you, Michael. You always seem to know just what to say to make me feel better.”
He let go of my hand that he was somehow now holding and smiled at me. “Maria is itching to get in here to see you, so I’ll go send her in. I’ll see you later and don’t worry about Little Max. He’s fine and Zelda said she’s keeping him busy.” Then he walked out the door.
* * * * * * * * * * *
This section is not from Liz’s perspective. It is an account of a short incident that takes place outside her hospital room.
Michael came out of the room and told Maria she could go in to see Liz. He went to a couch a little ways away from the others. Brody had not arrived yet, and Isabel noticed Michael sitting by himself. Without drawing attention to herself, she stood up and walked over and seated herself next to Michael.
“I’m sure everything will be ok, Michael,” Isabel told him.
He ran his hands through his hair. “The doctor said that she could die too. Isabel, what’s going to happen if that baby dies and she lives? It will kill her and she’d never be the same. You know how much she wants this baby.”
Isabel studied him for a minute. “Don’t you mean, what are you going to do if she dies?” she asked quietly.
Michael’s head snapped up, and he looked at Isabel with wide eyes. “What do you mean?” he asked suspiciously.
“You’re in love with Liz aren’t you, Michael?” she asked quietly.
“Isabel, she was married to my best friend and is having his child,” Michael said, looking down the hall toward Liz’s room.
“That’s not an answer. You are in love with her aren’t you? Don’t worry, Michael, I won’t tell anyone. I just know you too well, and I’ve seen the way you look at her when you think no one is looking.”
Michael sighed and leaned his head back on the wall. “I can’t help it, Isa. I do love her. I can’t ever tell her though. It’s my fault that Max is dead, and I couldn’t do more against him than to cause his death unless I made a move on his wife.”
“But, Michael . . .” Isabel began to argue.
“No buts. Liz can never find out that I love her. Promise you won’t tell her, Isabel. Promise,” he ordered.
Isabel sighed and looked at the door to Liz’s room. “I promise,” she answered reluctantly.
Just call me Phoenix...cause I'm back from the dead!
-
littleroswell
- Roswell Fanatic
- Posts: 1029
- Joined: Wed Sep 18, 2002 7:45 am
- Location: Georgia, USA
Ok, everyone, here is part 15. Enjoy! Oh, the songs are by Sheryl Crow and Enrique Inglasias. (?sp?)
Beth
Part 15
I don’t know how long I was unconscious, but when I woke up, I felt like I was coming out of the best sleep I had had in years. Then a dull pain in my head hit me. I moaned, and I felt someone stir in the chair beside . . . wait a minute. Where was I? I opened my eyes; a feat harder than I thought could be possible. Even with my eyes open, I couldn’t quite place where I was. What was wrong with me?
“Liz? Liz, are you awake, can you hear me?” I looked over to see where the voice was coming from but Michael’s face appeared over me. “No, don’t move. God, I’m glad you’re awake!”
“Where am I?” I heard my voice ask weakly. Was that really my voice? I sounded so weak and groggy.
“You don’t remember? You’re in the hospital, Liz . . .” he began.
As the memory of where I was and what had brought me here flooded over me, I started to panic. “Michael, the baby . . .” I began.
Before I could work myself up, he placed a hand to my face. “Sh, you’re ok now. Everything is going to be ok. Laura is alive, though she is weak. The doctors are very hopeful and optimistic that she’ll be just fine. You were the one we were most worried about. You’ve been unconscious for almost three weeks now.”
I tried to sit up, but the pain made me collapse back onto the pillows. “Three weeks?! You’ve got to be kidding! That’s ridiculous!”
Michael smiled. “You’re sounding more like yourself. I’m gonna go get the doctor and tell everyone you’re awake. Don’t move!”
After a few minutes, the doctor walked in the door with a big grin on his face. “Liz, you are awake! I’m so glad to see that. For a while we weren’t sure if you were going to make it,” he told me honestly. He took my chart from the door and placed it on the counter.
“Me or the baby?” I asked.
“At first, either of you. Now that you are awake, I’m pleased to say that we’ll probably be able to keep both of you. You’re just going to need a lot of rest at home after you go.”
“So I can take Laura and go home?” I asked. My baby was alive and we were going to be ok!
He smiled at me again. “Tomorrow. If everything looks good, you can go home tomorrow.”
“I want to see my daughter,” I demanded.
“I thought you would, so the nurse is bringing her in here,” he told me. As if on cue, a woman came in carrying a small bundle wrapped in a blanket. She placed the bundle in my arms, and I adjusted the blanket to be able to see my daughter.
As soon as I touched my little girl, I felt a surge of joy and love from her. The connection was still strong between us. I started to cry. “Oh, she’s so small and so beautiful! She’s glad to see me.”
The door opened and Michael walked in followed by Maria and Isabel. “Liz! Oh, Liz, we were so scared we were going to lose you!” Maria exclaimed, about attacking me in a hug.
Isabel hugged me too and whispered, “I’m so glad you’re alright.”
“You guys are too much! I’m tough, and you know that. Where is everybody else?” I asked.
“Serena and Sean are working and taking care of the Crashdown today and watching Max. Kyle and Brody are waiting outside. They didn’t want to overwhelm you,” Michael answered. Then he looked down at the baby that had gone to sleep in my arms. “She’s so small!” he said in awe.
“Oh, she’s perfect, Liz,” Maria gushed. “Can I hold her?” she asked.
For the next few minutes, Isabel and Maria passed Laura Ava back and forth and cooed over her. Then Maria handed her to Michael who protested loudly. But once Michael was holding Laura, he didn’t want to give her to anyone else. “Liz, she’s so beautiful and tiny! Laura definitely fits her. She still knows who I am.”
I smiled at him. “Of course she still has that connection with all of us. I’m just glad she survived.”
The doctor cleared his throat. “Liz, I’m glad that you are ok and that Laura has survived this, but I have to give you some bad news.”
My smile fell, but I couldn’t imagine what could be wrong. The daughter that was half-Max and half-me was alive and I had given birth to her myself. “What is it?” I asked.
“You will never have children again. Before, we told you that you couldn’t have children because most of your eggs and your fallopian tubes were damaged by your transformation. With Laura’s birth, it put the final seal on your not having children because your womb was damaged. I’m sorry, Liz, but Laura is going to be your first and only child,” the doctor told me.
“That’s where you’re wrong, doctor,” I began to tell him. I heard everyone suck in his or her breath. “I already had one child, and now I have two and that’s enough.” I snuggled little Laura to me and kissed her head.
* * * * * * * * * * *
“Jeffrey Maxwell if you don’t sit down at this table and finish your lunch I’m going to do something horrible to you!” I told him with a sigh.
It had been 9 months since Laura was born and Zelda had the day off. She had told me that she was spending the day with a friend. I had not gotten much sleep lately for Laura had kept me up most of the night. I was tired and Max was being a real handful. Laura was crying, and I couldn’t get her to stop. She had something sticky in her hair from when Max had been aggravating her. He was racing all around the table, chasing Sydney and aggravating her as well.
“What is all the noise coming from back here?” Maria asked coming from the kitchen to the back room. “Customers are complaining, and one older couple just left.”
I sighed and glared at her. “I can’t get Laura to stop crying, and Max keeps acting up. I’m exhausted and Zelda has the day off. I’m at my wits end and I don’t give a care what the customers think!” I yelled frustrated.
That froze Max in his tracks, and Maria was silent for a minute. I looked at her and Laura continued to cry. Maria took her from my arms and she was quiet in a minute. I dropped into a chair and heaved another sigh. “Why didn’t she stop crying for me?” I asked.
“I think she could feel that you were upset and that upset her and then she upset you and that upset her and so on. I tell you what; you could really use a break. I get off in 20 minutes and Kyle is on his way with Beth. We will take care of the kids and you go out and have fun. Go to a movie, go shopping, or do whatever will make you happy, but you will leave and we will watch the kids. How does that sound?” she asked.
I threw my arms around her. “Thank you, Maria, you’re the best! I think I might go skating.”
“Liz, you haven’t gone skating in forever! Now I wish I could leave the kids with Kyle. You’re such a beautiful skater!” she said, rocking Laura in her arms.
I snorted. “Maybe once perhaps. This is the first time I’ve felt like really skating in years.”
“What happened that Christmas you went skating with Max?” she asked curiously.
I sighed again and looked at the floor. “That was just for fun with him. I slipped and fell like an amateur. He never knew about that time in my life. Not that it was much,” I answered her.
She handed Laura back over to me and went back out to take care of the customers and their orders. The next 20 minutes seemed to take forever to go by. When Maria came back in the room, I didn’t wait for her to say anything but ran upstairs to my bedroom and grabbed my keys and my skates. I ran back down the stairs and out the back door with Maria calling for me to have a good time.
* * * * * * * * * * *
I finished tying my skates and went out onto the ice. After a couple of minutes to get comfortable again, I did a few figure eights. I had only been gone from the Crashdown for a few minutes, but already I had called to check on the kids three times. Maria threatened to carry them off somewhere herself if I didn’t stop calling and bugging her. I tried to concentrate on my skating and did a few easy moves. It had been years since I had done any real skating moves and I was a little rusty.
For some reason I got one of my old routines in mind and started off by circling the rink. I twisted my body in different ways and did a pirouette and did several small spins. I did a couple of light jumps, but then I tried a double loop landing on my right foot, which was a mistake. My ankle didn’t support my weight and down I went. I landed with a thud, and suddenly I heard someone calling from behind me.
“Liz, are you alright?” came a voice I recognized all too well.
“Michael, what are you doing here?” I asked him, pulling myself onto my feet. He checked me over to make sure I was all right.
“I went to the Crashdown to see how you were doing without Zelda there to help with the kids, and Maria told me that she had sent you out to have fun. Then you called and she got frustrated saying that you didn’t know how to have fun. Then she sent me here to make sure you have fun and stop worrying about Max and Laura. I didn’t know you could skate so well!” he explained.
I laughed. “Yeah right. At one time I could skate well. There’s a reason you don’t know I can skate. I can’t.”
“Liz, you just fell. Everybody falls. Are you sure you’re all right?” he asked.
“I’m fine. I’m just stupid for having tried that jump. I know I can’t do that anymore. I used to be really good. I’ve been on the ice since I could walk and I loved it. I really wanted to make it a serious career, so my parents hired a coach for lessons and she said I had real talent. She taught me well and I got far in several competitions. By the time I was thirteen I had placed first in multiple competitions. The summer before we went to high school I was in a competition that if I placed in the top three I could go to the tryouts for the Winter Olympics. My coach and I got in a fight over a move I wanted to perform. She said I wasn’t ready, but I insisted I was. I put it in the routine without her permission and performed it and landed wrong. I broke my ankle, and I was told that my career was over. It took a long time for that ankle to heal, but it will never support all of my weight in a landing again. I put my skates up and haven’t put them on to really skate since then, until now,” I told him.
“Wow! What a story! Did Max ever know about all that?” he asked.
“No. The only ones that knew about that were Maria and Alex,” I answered. Then I noticed he had a pair of skates that looked used. “Are those your skates?” I asked, pointing at them.
He reddened. “Actually, I’m not that bad of a skater. I got into it to play hockey, but I found that I liked to skate without playing hockey too. Don’t tell anybody ok?”
I grinned at him. “Why? Afraid someone will think you’re not married for a reason other than that Maria broke your heart?” I teased.
He answered by tickling me, and we collapsed onto the ice together, laughing. As our eyes met, the laughing stopped and I remembered that night before Laura was born when the song came on the radio and we danced. I also remembered that kiss. As if reading my thoughts, Michael pulled me to my feet, and suddenly we heard that same song playing. We started to skate and for the first time in my life, I felt like I was in a movie. You know those great old movies where the couple is dancing and they slow it down and overlap the images so that they fade into one another just perfectly, and it just goes great with the music someone picked out for that scene. Those are the most romantic moments in any movie because the couple isn’t thinking about the mundane things of life but only have eyes for each other.
As the last notes and words to “Hero” faded, Michael leaned in close to me and my heart skipped a beat as I waited to feel his lips on mine again. Then he seemed to catch himself, and he cleared his throat as he pulled back. I didn’t understand why I felt so disappointed. “Hey, you wanna go grab something to eat?” he asked.
Suddenly I was starving. “Sure. Where do you want to go?” I asked.
* * * * * * * * * * *
Isabel was studying me over her cup of coffee. She, Maria, Serena, and I had all met at a coffee shop to spend some time just the four of us. The guys were working or watching the kids. I felt like Isabel was looking for something in my face. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore.
“Isabel, why do you keep staring at me?” I asked.
“Because I can tell there is something you want to tell us but you haven’t. I’m trying to get you to speak up. What’s on your mind?” she asked.
I sighed. “All right. You can tell that I’m blocking all of you from getting inside my head.” I told them all about the incident at the skating rink that day almost a year ago now.
“Liz, why are you just now telling us about this?” Serena asked.
I fidgeted. “Because I was embarrassed. I can’t figure out my feelings on the matter, and two months ago at your anniversary party, Michael barely looked at me. Then last week at the Crashdown, I caught him staring at me more than once or twice. I can’t figure out what’s going on inside him either.”
Maria spoke up. “Well, I think you should find out. Not knowing is the worst part of any situation.”
“I don’t know. I don’t want to lose the friendship we have between us. Besides, Max . . .” I started, but Isabel interrupted me.
“Max is gone, Liz. We know you loved him, but if you’ve found a place in your heart for Michael, then let him know that and don’t let Max get in the way,” Isabel said quietly. “Isn’t that what you told me when Jesse was killed and I started to have feelings for Brody?”
I stood up, pushed in my chair, and paid for my coffee. All three of them looked up at me. “Where are you going?” Maria asked.
“I have to go take care of something before I can even think about this whole Michael situation,” I said as I headed for the door.
Beth
Part 15
I don’t know how long I was unconscious, but when I woke up, I felt like I was coming out of the best sleep I had had in years. Then a dull pain in my head hit me. I moaned, and I felt someone stir in the chair beside . . . wait a minute. Where was I? I opened my eyes; a feat harder than I thought could be possible. Even with my eyes open, I couldn’t quite place where I was. What was wrong with me?
“Liz? Liz, are you awake, can you hear me?” I looked over to see where the voice was coming from but Michael’s face appeared over me. “No, don’t move. God, I’m glad you’re awake!”
“Where am I?” I heard my voice ask weakly. Was that really my voice? I sounded so weak and groggy.
“You don’t remember? You’re in the hospital, Liz . . .” he began.
As the memory of where I was and what had brought me here flooded over me, I started to panic. “Michael, the baby . . .” I began.
Before I could work myself up, he placed a hand to my face. “Sh, you’re ok now. Everything is going to be ok. Laura is alive, though she is weak. The doctors are very hopeful and optimistic that she’ll be just fine. You were the one we were most worried about. You’ve been unconscious for almost three weeks now.”
I tried to sit up, but the pain made me collapse back onto the pillows. “Three weeks?! You’ve got to be kidding! That’s ridiculous!”
Michael smiled. “You’re sounding more like yourself. I’m gonna go get the doctor and tell everyone you’re awake. Don’t move!”
After a few minutes, the doctor walked in the door with a big grin on his face. “Liz, you are awake! I’m so glad to see that. For a while we weren’t sure if you were going to make it,” he told me honestly. He took my chart from the door and placed it on the counter.
“Me or the baby?” I asked.
“At first, either of you. Now that you are awake, I’m pleased to say that we’ll probably be able to keep both of you. You’re just going to need a lot of rest at home after you go.”
“So I can take Laura and go home?” I asked. My baby was alive and we were going to be ok!
He smiled at me again. “Tomorrow. If everything looks good, you can go home tomorrow.”
“I want to see my daughter,” I demanded.
“I thought you would, so the nurse is bringing her in here,” he told me. As if on cue, a woman came in carrying a small bundle wrapped in a blanket. She placed the bundle in my arms, and I adjusted the blanket to be able to see my daughter.
As soon as I touched my little girl, I felt a surge of joy and love from her. The connection was still strong between us. I started to cry. “Oh, she’s so small and so beautiful! She’s glad to see me.”
The door opened and Michael walked in followed by Maria and Isabel. “Liz! Oh, Liz, we were so scared we were going to lose you!” Maria exclaimed, about attacking me in a hug.
Isabel hugged me too and whispered, “I’m so glad you’re alright.”
“You guys are too much! I’m tough, and you know that. Where is everybody else?” I asked.
“Serena and Sean are working and taking care of the Crashdown today and watching Max. Kyle and Brody are waiting outside. They didn’t want to overwhelm you,” Michael answered. Then he looked down at the baby that had gone to sleep in my arms. “She’s so small!” he said in awe.
“Oh, she’s perfect, Liz,” Maria gushed. “Can I hold her?” she asked.
For the next few minutes, Isabel and Maria passed Laura Ava back and forth and cooed over her. Then Maria handed her to Michael who protested loudly. But once Michael was holding Laura, he didn’t want to give her to anyone else. “Liz, she’s so beautiful and tiny! Laura definitely fits her. She still knows who I am.”
I smiled at him. “Of course she still has that connection with all of us. I’m just glad she survived.”
The doctor cleared his throat. “Liz, I’m glad that you are ok and that Laura has survived this, but I have to give you some bad news.”
My smile fell, but I couldn’t imagine what could be wrong. The daughter that was half-Max and half-me was alive and I had given birth to her myself. “What is it?” I asked.
“You will never have children again. Before, we told you that you couldn’t have children because most of your eggs and your fallopian tubes were damaged by your transformation. With Laura’s birth, it put the final seal on your not having children because your womb was damaged. I’m sorry, Liz, but Laura is going to be your first and only child,” the doctor told me.
“That’s where you’re wrong, doctor,” I began to tell him. I heard everyone suck in his or her breath. “I already had one child, and now I have two and that’s enough.” I snuggled little Laura to me and kissed her head.
* * * * * * * * * * *
“Jeffrey Maxwell if you don’t sit down at this table and finish your lunch I’m going to do something horrible to you!” I told him with a sigh.
It had been 9 months since Laura was born and Zelda had the day off. She had told me that she was spending the day with a friend. I had not gotten much sleep lately for Laura had kept me up most of the night. I was tired and Max was being a real handful. Laura was crying, and I couldn’t get her to stop. She had something sticky in her hair from when Max had been aggravating her. He was racing all around the table, chasing Sydney and aggravating her as well.
“What is all the noise coming from back here?” Maria asked coming from the kitchen to the back room. “Customers are complaining, and one older couple just left.”
I sighed and glared at her. “I can’t get Laura to stop crying, and Max keeps acting up. I’m exhausted and Zelda has the day off. I’m at my wits end and I don’t give a care what the customers think!” I yelled frustrated.
That froze Max in his tracks, and Maria was silent for a minute. I looked at her and Laura continued to cry. Maria took her from my arms and she was quiet in a minute. I dropped into a chair and heaved another sigh. “Why didn’t she stop crying for me?” I asked.
“I think she could feel that you were upset and that upset her and then she upset you and that upset her and so on. I tell you what; you could really use a break. I get off in 20 minutes and Kyle is on his way with Beth. We will take care of the kids and you go out and have fun. Go to a movie, go shopping, or do whatever will make you happy, but you will leave and we will watch the kids. How does that sound?” she asked.
I threw my arms around her. “Thank you, Maria, you’re the best! I think I might go skating.”
“Liz, you haven’t gone skating in forever! Now I wish I could leave the kids with Kyle. You’re such a beautiful skater!” she said, rocking Laura in her arms.
I snorted. “Maybe once perhaps. This is the first time I’ve felt like really skating in years.”
“What happened that Christmas you went skating with Max?” she asked curiously.
I sighed again and looked at the floor. “That was just for fun with him. I slipped and fell like an amateur. He never knew about that time in my life. Not that it was much,” I answered her.
She handed Laura back over to me and went back out to take care of the customers and their orders. The next 20 minutes seemed to take forever to go by. When Maria came back in the room, I didn’t wait for her to say anything but ran upstairs to my bedroom and grabbed my keys and my skates. I ran back down the stairs and out the back door with Maria calling for me to have a good time.
* * * * * * * * * * *
I finished tying my skates and went out onto the ice. After a couple of minutes to get comfortable again, I did a few figure eights. I had only been gone from the Crashdown for a few minutes, but already I had called to check on the kids three times. Maria threatened to carry them off somewhere herself if I didn’t stop calling and bugging her. I tried to concentrate on my skating and did a few easy moves. It had been years since I had done any real skating moves and I was a little rusty.
For some reason I got one of my old routines in mind and started off by circling the rink. I twisted my body in different ways and did a pirouette and did several small spins. I did a couple of light jumps, but then I tried a double loop landing on my right foot, which was a mistake. My ankle didn’t support my weight and down I went. I landed with a thud, and suddenly I heard someone calling from behind me.
“Liz, are you alright?” came a voice I recognized all too well.
“Michael, what are you doing here?” I asked him, pulling myself onto my feet. He checked me over to make sure I was all right.
“I went to the Crashdown to see how you were doing without Zelda there to help with the kids, and Maria told me that she had sent you out to have fun. Then you called and she got frustrated saying that you didn’t know how to have fun. Then she sent me here to make sure you have fun and stop worrying about Max and Laura. I didn’t know you could skate so well!” he explained.
I laughed. “Yeah right. At one time I could skate well. There’s a reason you don’t know I can skate. I can’t.”
“Liz, you just fell. Everybody falls. Are you sure you’re all right?” he asked.
“I’m fine. I’m just stupid for having tried that jump. I know I can’t do that anymore. I used to be really good. I’ve been on the ice since I could walk and I loved it. I really wanted to make it a serious career, so my parents hired a coach for lessons and she said I had real talent. She taught me well and I got far in several competitions. By the time I was thirteen I had placed first in multiple competitions. The summer before we went to high school I was in a competition that if I placed in the top three I could go to the tryouts for the Winter Olympics. My coach and I got in a fight over a move I wanted to perform. She said I wasn’t ready, but I insisted I was. I put it in the routine without her permission and performed it and landed wrong. I broke my ankle, and I was told that my career was over. It took a long time for that ankle to heal, but it will never support all of my weight in a landing again. I put my skates up and haven’t put them on to really skate since then, until now,” I told him.
“Wow! What a story! Did Max ever know about all that?” he asked.
“No. The only ones that knew about that were Maria and Alex,” I answered. Then I noticed he had a pair of skates that looked used. “Are those your skates?” I asked, pointing at them.
He reddened. “Actually, I’m not that bad of a skater. I got into it to play hockey, but I found that I liked to skate without playing hockey too. Don’t tell anybody ok?”
I grinned at him. “Why? Afraid someone will think you’re not married for a reason other than that Maria broke your heart?” I teased.
He answered by tickling me, and we collapsed onto the ice together, laughing. As our eyes met, the laughing stopped and I remembered that night before Laura was born when the song came on the radio and we danced. I also remembered that kiss. As if reading my thoughts, Michael pulled me to my feet, and suddenly we heard that same song playing. We started to skate and for the first time in my life, I felt like I was in a movie. You know those great old movies where the couple is dancing and they slow it down and overlap the images so that they fade into one another just perfectly, and it just goes great with the music someone picked out for that scene. Those are the most romantic moments in any movie because the couple isn’t thinking about the mundane things of life but only have eyes for each other.
As the last notes and words to “Hero” faded, Michael leaned in close to me and my heart skipped a beat as I waited to feel his lips on mine again. Then he seemed to catch himself, and he cleared his throat as he pulled back. I didn’t understand why I felt so disappointed. “Hey, you wanna go grab something to eat?” he asked.
Suddenly I was starving. “Sure. Where do you want to go?” I asked.
* * * * * * * * * * *
Isabel was studying me over her cup of coffee. She, Maria, Serena, and I had all met at a coffee shop to spend some time just the four of us. The guys were working or watching the kids. I felt like Isabel was looking for something in my face. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore.
“Isabel, why do you keep staring at me?” I asked.
“Because I can tell there is something you want to tell us but you haven’t. I’m trying to get you to speak up. What’s on your mind?” she asked.
I sighed. “All right. You can tell that I’m blocking all of you from getting inside my head.” I told them all about the incident at the skating rink that day almost a year ago now.
“Liz, why are you just now telling us about this?” Serena asked.
I fidgeted. “Because I was embarrassed. I can’t figure out my feelings on the matter, and two months ago at your anniversary party, Michael barely looked at me. Then last week at the Crashdown, I caught him staring at me more than once or twice. I can’t figure out what’s going on inside him either.”
Maria spoke up. “Well, I think you should find out. Not knowing is the worst part of any situation.”
“I don’t know. I don’t want to lose the friendship we have between us. Besides, Max . . .” I started, but Isabel interrupted me.
“Max is gone, Liz. We know you loved him, but if you’ve found a place in your heart for Michael, then let him know that and don’t let Max get in the way,” Isabel said quietly. “Isn’t that what you told me when Jesse was killed and I started to have feelings for Brody?”
I stood up, pushed in my chair, and paid for my coffee. All three of them looked up at me. “Where are you going?” Maria asked.
“I have to go take care of something before I can even think about this whole Michael situation,” I said as I headed for the door.
Just call me Phoenix...cause I'm back from the dead!
-
littleroswell
- Roswell Fanatic
- Posts: 1029
- Joined: Wed Sep 18, 2002 7:45 am
- Location: Georgia, USA
Ok, everyone, this is the last part of this fic but that only means that the next part will be the beginning of the sequel. It does have a different title but I'll be posting on the same thread. Enjoy part 16!
Beth
Part 16
I approached my destination slowly. I had been working up the courage to come here for three years now, and now that I had finally made it, I wasn’t so sure that I was ready. The slab of stone looked hard and cold, like it should I guess. The grass was a healthy green and looked like it was well manicured. I put down the flowers that I had brought with me. I really ought to plant a rose bush here.
After thinking about it for a minute, I sit down in front of the stone. “Here lies the great king that joined two worlds. He was a loving husband and father, a proud warrior, and a strong king.” Underneath the words was the name “Xan Maxwell Evans”. I studied this stone. It was completely wrong for Max. Yeah, he was all of those things, but the description reminded me of someone hard with a jaw set in determination. Max was always so unsure of himself as a leader. He pretended to know what he was doing, but he would admit to me in bed late at night when everything was quiet that he really didn’t.
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. I looked down at the ring that was still on my left ring finger. Then I closed my eyes and let myself relive the days I spent with Max. When I opened my eyes again, I felt better. “Max, I know you can’t hear me, but I need to talk to you. I thought this would help me to get some things straightened out in my head. I hope I’ll be able to picture or imagine what you would say,” I stated out loud.
“Well, everything’s finally getting together. Almost every place of importance has been rebuilt. The US has elected a new president. It’s kind of weird to think about him being such a good leader after everything that we went through. Besides, since the war, the President doesn’t have near as much power. It’s all in perspective I guess,” I said to the air.
The wind picked up and I just sat there until it died down again, picturing that it was Max’s comments on what I had just told him. “Max . . . er Jeffrey as you knew him, wants to be called Max after you. He chose that not long after we buried you. He’s getting so big and he’s getting smarter and smarter. He looks just like you. Oh, he has a great teacher; her name is Zelda. She and Jim Valenti are getting married this fall. Don’t worry, he doesn’t know about Tess. We also have a little girl now. Her name is Laura Ava, and, Max, she is so beautiful. She has your warm amber eyes and my long dark hair. She’s almost 2 and is learning how to talk and to walk well, and she and Little Max get along so well.”
A lump formed in my throat, and I tried to swallow it. “Max, I miss you so much but it’s getting better. Everyone has been there for the kids and me. Michael has really been there for us. I don’t know what I’d do without him. Max, I need your help because I think I’ve fallen in love with Michael. I didn’t do it on purpose, but he’s been such a great friend since you’ve been gone and the kids just adore him. Isabel, Maria, and Serena think I should tell him, but I wanted to come here because I feel so guilty for feeling this way. I’m so scared that he won’t feel the same. Then too, I don’t want people to think I’m a horrible person for allowing myself to love someone else after you.” I paused and then said, “I don’t want to raise the kids by myself. I don’t want to be alone for the rest of my life, Max.”
I heard a rustling noise behind me, and a man’s voice said quietly, “You don’t have to be, Liz.”
I whirled around, half expecting to see Max standing there, but instead was surprised to find Michael. “How long have you been standing there?” I asked him. I didn’t want him to find out this way.
Michael walked over to sit beside me. “Long enough. It’s funny that I would meet up with you here. I usually come up here when things are bothering me that I don’t really want to talk about with anyone but Max. Usually, I talk to him about you or about how sorry I am that I was the one that lived and not he.”
I sat there holding my breath, waiting for him to say something about the unintentional confession that I had just given. He didn’t look at me but instead looked at the gravestone as he said, “Today, I came to tell him that I was sorry that I had feelings for his wife.”
I gasped. “Oh, Michael, you mean . . .” I started. Could it be possible that Michael had feelings for me too?
Instead of seeming to be happy like you would think he would be at the revelation, he seemed incredibly sad. “I didn’t mean to fall in love with you, Liz. I tried so hard to keep from falling for you, but you were just too beautiful a person. I’ve realized that I have been in love with you from the day I read your journal all those years ago. I’m a horrible person. What kind of person falls in love with his best friend’s wife?” he asked, looking into his hands.
Not answering, I studied him. He really seemed to be upset about his feelings for me. “Michael, if it makes you feel any better, you never gave any inkling that you felt that way toward me. I’m just glad to know now because I do love you.”
As if hearing me for the first time, Michael looked up at me. “Do you really, Liz? I know I’m not Max, but I would treat you like a queen if you married me.” He stopped and grinned. “That wasn’t meant to be a joke.”
I grinned back at him. “No, but it was kind of funny.”
Looking back at the grave, he asked, “So what do you think he would say about all this?”
I sighed and answered, “Knowing Max, he would want us to be happy. He never wanted anything but the best for me and Jeffrey Maxwell, and, Michael, you are about as good as they come.”
Michael slowly started nodding as if mulling this thought over in his mind. “I can hear him now telling me that he would want us to be happy. Liz, do you think I could ever get over the feelings of guilt I would have if we took our relationship further?”
Holding out my hands to him, I answered, “Michael, take my hands. I want to go through those years again together.”
He placed his hands in mine, and we closed our eyes and let our minds be flooded with the memories and emotions of the past. I saw the day that Max saved me at the Crashdown and felt the fear that ran through Michael. I knew he felt the fear that I too had that day, and he seemed a little surprised by it. We went through the days when I thought I had lost my journal and how scared I was. Michael had been suspicious of Maria and me. Then he returned the journal to me, and I felt the respect he had for me, and I also felt his jealousy of Max and me and our relationship. We went through Pierce, Whitaker, the skins, Future Max, Tess, Alex, the war, and the burial.
I realized through all these memories that Michael had always been there for me. It was he that held me and tried to comfort and calm me when Pierce had Max in the white room. He was the one who was going to stay behind with us on earth when Max, Isabel, and Tess were going back to Antar. He was the one that took me home that day we buried Max. Michael was the one who constantly watched over little Max and Laura. He was the one who took me to all of my doctor’s appointments and held my hair while I was sick with the morning sickness while I was pregnant with Laura. He was the one that kept watch over the Crashdown. He was the one that fought for me to keep Max when the council wanted to send him away to school.
I had never thought about how much he had done for us, until now. All through the memories, I felt his love for me grow. I felt the jealousy of Max and then the guilt for that love and jealousy. Finally, as we caught up to the present, there was a flash of light and suddenly there was Max. He was standing there with us.
“Liz, Michael,” Max’s voice called.
“Max!” I cried. “Oh, Max, I’ve missed you!”
“Liz, you’re doing great on your own, though. You’re doing such a great job with the kids. Laura looks just like you; she’s so beautiful. Liz, it’s ok that you found love in Michael. You deserve to be happy. I’m not sure I was the best husband to you. I know I hurt you many times. Yet, you never really complained and you never abandoned me. You stood by me and helped me no matter what,” Max told me.
Then he turned to Michael. “Michael, you are a much better king than I ever was or could have been. I want to thank you for taking care of Liz and the kids and everything. You’ve kept your promise to me, and I appreciate that. I don’t begrudge you Liz. She’s a great woman and you’re lucky to notice and to have her love you too. I want you both to be happy. I wouldn’t want you two with anyone else. Take care of each other.”
As Max’s image began to fade, I was dragged back to the graveyard. “Max!” I cried, trying to fight reality. When I did open my eyes, however, I realized that it hadn’t been as painful to wake up as I thought it would be. I looked into Michael’s eyes, and they were just as wide as I mine were.
“What was that?” he asked me.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Do you think it was real, or was it formed from our imaginations?” I asked him.
He frowned, thinking about it for a minute. Then he looked at me and answered, “You know what? I don’t think I want to know either way. I might be disappointed in the answer. I’d rather just accept that that is what Max would say if he was here.”
I nodded, liking his answer. “I agree with you.”
As if on cue, we both noticed what we were discussing as a possibility and both realized that this was a major turning point in our lives. Suddenly I was scared to death. I started to fidget, but then I wished he would kiss me again. Then as another thought crossed my mind, I started to giggle. Because of my nervousness, I couldn’t seem to stop giggling. Michael looked at me like I had lost my mind. I let him read my thoughts, and he too started chuckling.
“So Rath kissed you? You never told me that,” he commented.
I shivered at the memory. “It’s not something that I like to live over again.”
Michael frowned slightly. “Why? He and I are the same person you know.”
Tentatively, I reached up and touched his face. “You aren’t the same person any more than Isabel and Vilandra are the same person. I don’t want to remember Rath’s kiss because he was such an evil person. You aren’t evil, Michael. You are . . . sweet and kind.” I dropped my hand. “Wow! I never thought I would say that about Michael Guerrin. You’ve always been there for your friends but sweet and kind?” I grinned at him.
Instead of grinning back, he seemed to get nervous and cleared his throat. “So now that you’ve kissed both Rath and me, what do you think? Which one is a better kisser?” he asked.
“Rath’s kiss was disgusting. It immediately made me believe that he wouldn’t take no for an answer if we were ever left alone. When I kissed you that night, Michael . . .” I began and let my voice trail off for a minute. Then I answered quietly, “It was so beautiful. It was sweet and gentle and full of love.”
He looked up at that and looked into my eyes. My heart started pounding as he leaned closer to me. The next thing I knew, he was kissing me again. We kissed and kissed until we felt a few raindrops hit our faces. We separated and looked up just as the heavens opened up. We ran to a nearby shelter.
I was brushing my rain soaked hair away from my face, when Michael grinned at me and pulled me into his arms. “Well, Liz, are you going to marry me or what?” he asked.
My eyes flew open at his question. I was certainly not prepared for this. “Michael, we just agreed that we have feelings for each other and already you’re ready for marriage?”
“Hey, I’m not getting any younger, we’ve known each other for years, I’ve had feelings for you for years, and I’m not letting you get away now that I have you,” he stated simply.
I realized that he hadn’t let go of me and it felt nice to have him holding me. I arched my eyebrows at him. “Are you sure you have me?” I teased.
“You always make out with men on your ex-husband’s grave?” he teased back. “You never did answer my question. Will you marry me?” he asked again.
I thought about what life with Max was like but those thoughts quickly faded, as I thought about life alone with the kids and then life after the kids were grown and gone and I was alone. I didn’t want that life. I wanted to be with Michael for the rest of my life and I saw us growing old together. I looked up into his expectant eyes and said something that we hadn’t talked about.
“Michael, if you marry me you’ll be throwing away your chance to have children. I will never be able to give you any. I want you to be absolutely sure about this,” I told him.
“Liz, I’ve been helping to take care of Max and Laura since they were born. Laura is already calling me daddy. Or at least that’s what I thought she said yesterday. I have two children already, and all I really want is you,” he told me. “So was that a yes?”
“Yes! Oh yes, Michael!” I threw my arms around him and kissed him.
Beth
Part 16
I approached my destination slowly. I had been working up the courage to come here for three years now, and now that I had finally made it, I wasn’t so sure that I was ready. The slab of stone looked hard and cold, like it should I guess. The grass was a healthy green and looked like it was well manicured. I put down the flowers that I had brought with me. I really ought to plant a rose bush here.
After thinking about it for a minute, I sit down in front of the stone. “Here lies the great king that joined two worlds. He was a loving husband and father, a proud warrior, and a strong king.” Underneath the words was the name “Xan Maxwell Evans”. I studied this stone. It was completely wrong for Max. Yeah, he was all of those things, but the description reminded me of someone hard with a jaw set in determination. Max was always so unsure of himself as a leader. He pretended to know what he was doing, but he would admit to me in bed late at night when everything was quiet that he really didn’t.
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. I looked down at the ring that was still on my left ring finger. Then I closed my eyes and let myself relive the days I spent with Max. When I opened my eyes again, I felt better. “Max, I know you can’t hear me, but I need to talk to you. I thought this would help me to get some things straightened out in my head. I hope I’ll be able to picture or imagine what you would say,” I stated out loud.
“Well, everything’s finally getting together. Almost every place of importance has been rebuilt. The US has elected a new president. It’s kind of weird to think about him being such a good leader after everything that we went through. Besides, since the war, the President doesn’t have near as much power. It’s all in perspective I guess,” I said to the air.
The wind picked up and I just sat there until it died down again, picturing that it was Max’s comments on what I had just told him. “Max . . . er Jeffrey as you knew him, wants to be called Max after you. He chose that not long after we buried you. He’s getting so big and he’s getting smarter and smarter. He looks just like you. Oh, he has a great teacher; her name is Zelda. She and Jim Valenti are getting married this fall. Don’t worry, he doesn’t know about Tess. We also have a little girl now. Her name is Laura Ava, and, Max, she is so beautiful. She has your warm amber eyes and my long dark hair. She’s almost 2 and is learning how to talk and to walk well, and she and Little Max get along so well.”
A lump formed in my throat, and I tried to swallow it. “Max, I miss you so much but it’s getting better. Everyone has been there for the kids and me. Michael has really been there for us. I don’t know what I’d do without him. Max, I need your help because I think I’ve fallen in love with Michael. I didn’t do it on purpose, but he’s been such a great friend since you’ve been gone and the kids just adore him. Isabel, Maria, and Serena think I should tell him, but I wanted to come here because I feel so guilty for feeling this way. I’m so scared that he won’t feel the same. Then too, I don’t want people to think I’m a horrible person for allowing myself to love someone else after you.” I paused and then said, “I don’t want to raise the kids by myself. I don’t want to be alone for the rest of my life, Max.”
I heard a rustling noise behind me, and a man’s voice said quietly, “You don’t have to be, Liz.”
I whirled around, half expecting to see Max standing there, but instead was surprised to find Michael. “How long have you been standing there?” I asked him. I didn’t want him to find out this way.
Michael walked over to sit beside me. “Long enough. It’s funny that I would meet up with you here. I usually come up here when things are bothering me that I don’t really want to talk about with anyone but Max. Usually, I talk to him about you or about how sorry I am that I was the one that lived and not he.”
I sat there holding my breath, waiting for him to say something about the unintentional confession that I had just given. He didn’t look at me but instead looked at the gravestone as he said, “Today, I came to tell him that I was sorry that I had feelings for his wife.”
I gasped. “Oh, Michael, you mean . . .” I started. Could it be possible that Michael had feelings for me too?
Instead of seeming to be happy like you would think he would be at the revelation, he seemed incredibly sad. “I didn’t mean to fall in love with you, Liz. I tried so hard to keep from falling for you, but you were just too beautiful a person. I’ve realized that I have been in love with you from the day I read your journal all those years ago. I’m a horrible person. What kind of person falls in love with his best friend’s wife?” he asked, looking into his hands.
Not answering, I studied him. He really seemed to be upset about his feelings for me. “Michael, if it makes you feel any better, you never gave any inkling that you felt that way toward me. I’m just glad to know now because I do love you.”
As if hearing me for the first time, Michael looked up at me. “Do you really, Liz? I know I’m not Max, but I would treat you like a queen if you married me.” He stopped and grinned. “That wasn’t meant to be a joke.”
I grinned back at him. “No, but it was kind of funny.”
Looking back at the grave, he asked, “So what do you think he would say about all this?”
I sighed and answered, “Knowing Max, he would want us to be happy. He never wanted anything but the best for me and Jeffrey Maxwell, and, Michael, you are about as good as they come.”
Michael slowly started nodding as if mulling this thought over in his mind. “I can hear him now telling me that he would want us to be happy. Liz, do you think I could ever get over the feelings of guilt I would have if we took our relationship further?”
Holding out my hands to him, I answered, “Michael, take my hands. I want to go through those years again together.”
He placed his hands in mine, and we closed our eyes and let our minds be flooded with the memories and emotions of the past. I saw the day that Max saved me at the Crashdown and felt the fear that ran through Michael. I knew he felt the fear that I too had that day, and he seemed a little surprised by it. We went through the days when I thought I had lost my journal and how scared I was. Michael had been suspicious of Maria and me. Then he returned the journal to me, and I felt the respect he had for me, and I also felt his jealousy of Max and me and our relationship. We went through Pierce, Whitaker, the skins, Future Max, Tess, Alex, the war, and the burial.
I realized through all these memories that Michael had always been there for me. It was he that held me and tried to comfort and calm me when Pierce had Max in the white room. He was the one who was going to stay behind with us on earth when Max, Isabel, and Tess were going back to Antar. He was the one that took me home that day we buried Max. Michael was the one who constantly watched over little Max and Laura. He was the one who took me to all of my doctor’s appointments and held my hair while I was sick with the morning sickness while I was pregnant with Laura. He was the one that kept watch over the Crashdown. He was the one that fought for me to keep Max when the council wanted to send him away to school.
I had never thought about how much he had done for us, until now. All through the memories, I felt his love for me grow. I felt the jealousy of Max and then the guilt for that love and jealousy. Finally, as we caught up to the present, there was a flash of light and suddenly there was Max. He was standing there with us.
“Liz, Michael,” Max’s voice called.
“Max!” I cried. “Oh, Max, I’ve missed you!”
“Liz, you’re doing great on your own, though. You’re doing such a great job with the kids. Laura looks just like you; she’s so beautiful. Liz, it’s ok that you found love in Michael. You deserve to be happy. I’m not sure I was the best husband to you. I know I hurt you many times. Yet, you never really complained and you never abandoned me. You stood by me and helped me no matter what,” Max told me.
Then he turned to Michael. “Michael, you are a much better king than I ever was or could have been. I want to thank you for taking care of Liz and the kids and everything. You’ve kept your promise to me, and I appreciate that. I don’t begrudge you Liz. She’s a great woman and you’re lucky to notice and to have her love you too. I want you both to be happy. I wouldn’t want you two with anyone else. Take care of each other.”
As Max’s image began to fade, I was dragged back to the graveyard. “Max!” I cried, trying to fight reality. When I did open my eyes, however, I realized that it hadn’t been as painful to wake up as I thought it would be. I looked into Michael’s eyes, and they were just as wide as I mine were.
“What was that?” he asked me.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Do you think it was real, or was it formed from our imaginations?” I asked him.
He frowned, thinking about it for a minute. Then he looked at me and answered, “You know what? I don’t think I want to know either way. I might be disappointed in the answer. I’d rather just accept that that is what Max would say if he was here.”
I nodded, liking his answer. “I agree with you.”
As if on cue, we both noticed what we were discussing as a possibility and both realized that this was a major turning point in our lives. Suddenly I was scared to death. I started to fidget, but then I wished he would kiss me again. Then as another thought crossed my mind, I started to giggle. Because of my nervousness, I couldn’t seem to stop giggling. Michael looked at me like I had lost my mind. I let him read my thoughts, and he too started chuckling.
“So Rath kissed you? You never told me that,” he commented.
I shivered at the memory. “It’s not something that I like to live over again.”
Michael frowned slightly. “Why? He and I are the same person you know.”
Tentatively, I reached up and touched his face. “You aren’t the same person any more than Isabel and Vilandra are the same person. I don’t want to remember Rath’s kiss because he was such an evil person. You aren’t evil, Michael. You are . . . sweet and kind.” I dropped my hand. “Wow! I never thought I would say that about Michael Guerrin. You’ve always been there for your friends but sweet and kind?” I grinned at him.
Instead of grinning back, he seemed to get nervous and cleared his throat. “So now that you’ve kissed both Rath and me, what do you think? Which one is a better kisser?” he asked.
“Rath’s kiss was disgusting. It immediately made me believe that he wouldn’t take no for an answer if we were ever left alone. When I kissed you that night, Michael . . .” I began and let my voice trail off for a minute. Then I answered quietly, “It was so beautiful. It was sweet and gentle and full of love.”
He looked up at that and looked into my eyes. My heart started pounding as he leaned closer to me. The next thing I knew, he was kissing me again. We kissed and kissed until we felt a few raindrops hit our faces. We separated and looked up just as the heavens opened up. We ran to a nearby shelter.
I was brushing my rain soaked hair away from my face, when Michael grinned at me and pulled me into his arms. “Well, Liz, are you going to marry me or what?” he asked.
My eyes flew open at his question. I was certainly not prepared for this. “Michael, we just agreed that we have feelings for each other and already you’re ready for marriage?”
“Hey, I’m not getting any younger, we’ve known each other for years, I’ve had feelings for you for years, and I’m not letting you get away now that I have you,” he stated simply.
I realized that he hadn’t let go of me and it felt nice to have him holding me. I arched my eyebrows at him. “Are you sure you have me?” I teased.
“You always make out with men on your ex-husband’s grave?” he teased back. “You never did answer my question. Will you marry me?” he asked again.
I thought about what life with Max was like but those thoughts quickly faded, as I thought about life alone with the kids and then life after the kids were grown and gone and I was alone. I didn’t want that life. I wanted to be with Michael for the rest of my life and I saw us growing old together. I looked up into his expectant eyes and said something that we hadn’t talked about.
“Michael, if you marry me you’ll be throwing away your chance to have children. I will never be able to give you any. I want you to be absolutely sure about this,” I told him.
“Liz, I’ve been helping to take care of Max and Laura since they were born. Laura is already calling me daddy. Or at least that’s what I thought she said yesterday. I have two children already, and all I really want is you,” he told me. “So was that a yes?”
“Yes! Oh yes, Michael!” I threw my arms around him and kissed him.
Just call me Phoenix...cause I'm back from the dead!