Title: In Your Eyes Book Two
Author: Tazno
Rating: ADULT parts will be labeled accordingly
Disclaimer: Roswell characters are owned by the people who destroyed the show in season 2 and 3. No copyright infringement intended.
Summary: This is a continuation of my story In Your Eyes Book One which is posted on the repost board.
Other Notes: Alex Whitman is not the same as the character on the TV show Roswell, I just suck at picking names. All places mentioned in New Jersey are real except for Riverton University. Feedback is appreciated.
IN YOUR EYES BOOK TWO
CHAPTER 1
“Max, wait.”
Liz and Max had just left the movie theater and as Max tried to put the car keys in the ignition Liz grabbed them from him. “Liz, what…” his words trailed off as he turned to question her and caught sight of her. The unmistakable look of lust was written across her face and she was licking her lips. She tossed the keys on the dashboard as she crawled onto his lap, causing him to groan as she squirmed to fit between his body and the steering wheel. Before he could speak again she flanked his face with her hands and swiped her tongue over his lips. Pulling back slightly she gazed into his eyes and said the four little words that always made him lose his mind.
“I want you, Max.”
She had sat through the last half of the boring movie thinking of things she’d rather be doing with, or actually, to Max, and was now like a cork ready to burst from the confines of its bottle.
His hands grasped her waist as they began to kiss passionately. She suddenly pulled away and said, “Max, could you do something about that light?” as she pointed to one of the large overhead lights illuminating the parking lot. She could hear the smile in his voice as he raised his arm and said, “you mean like that?” As the light blinked out, leaving them in semi-darkness. “Yeah,” she replied, “just like that.”
They smiled at each other a moment before they became a blur of moving lips and hands, their passion steaming up the car windows. Having been aroused for the last hour or so Liz was desperate for his attentions, so she sandwiched her hands between their bodies to undo the buttons on her sweater. As the last one popped open she sat back and breathed “touch me baby, please.”
He leaned her back against the steering wheel to get a better look before his hands snaked over her torso and up toward her breasts. His thumbs played over her lace-covered nipples until her eyes drifted shut and her head fell back slightly. His mouth soon replaced his fingers and he trailed his hands down and began to unbutton her jeans, drawing an appreciative moan from Liz. They were so caught up in each other they didn’t hear the soft tapping on the car window.
They heard it the second time though, and both froze in place as they heard a voice call out, “roll down the window please.”
Liz sat up too quickly and banged into Max’s head as it was coming up, both wincing momentarily until they heard the voice again.
“Roll down the window NOW.”
Liz held her sweater closed and pressed her lower body hard into Max’s to hide the fact that her jeans were one millimeter away from hanging off of her hips. Max slowly rolled down the window with a shaky hand and looked up at the unwanted intruder. Oh shit, he thought. It was a mall security guard, in his early twenties, standing there with a very bright flashlight shining in Max’s face. The light didn’t prevent Max from seeing the smug look on the guards face, though, as Max said “can I help you officer?”
“Yeah, you can move it to someplace else, the parking lot at Century Mall isn’t a motel- Dr. Parker, is that you?”
Oh. My. GOD. Liz was mortified. She had buried her head in Max’s shoulder after she had caught a glimpse of the mall cop. He was one of her former students.
“Uh, yeah, hi Carl,” she said as she turned her head to look at him, her cheeks flaming red. “Sorry about this.”
Carl the cop was frozen in place. Dr. Parker had been his Biology professor a few semesters ago, and he had had a small crush on her. Surprising her in the middle of a heavy make-out session in her car was possibly the most uncomfortable situation he had ever found himself in. “Oh- Dr. Parker- it’s OK- just, ah, just- I’ll just see you later.”
“We’re leaving now, thank you Carl,” said Liz as she once again hid her face in Max’s neck.
“Yeah, sorry about this, thank you,” said Max as he began to wind the window closed. Then, not being able to help himself, he added “by the way Carl, it’s Dr. Evans now.”
“Oh- well, congratulations Dr. Park- uh, Dr. Evans.”
“Thanks Carl,” came Liz’s muffled reply.
“Bye Carl,” chuckled Max as the window finally closed. Liz pinched him as she climbed off his lap, causing him to yelp. “Liz, it’s no big deal…”
“Max he was one of my students,” she bit out as she quickly fixed her jeans and buttoned her sweater. “I don’t want this to be broadcast around school!”
“Honey,” he said as he brushed his hand over her cheek to calm her, “I think he was as traumatized as you. He didn’t see anything, really; don’t get upset.”
Nervously biting her nails, she looked at him and said, “can we just go home now, please?”
Liz spent the drive home alternately biting her nails and placing her head in her hands, shaking it back and forth, all the while muttering to herself and ignoring Max’s requests for her to calm down. Upon arriving at their home she was so engrossed in her embarrassment that she didn’t hear their son calling down to them from an upstairs window, and walked inside without acknowledging him. Max looked up at their son as he called out “Dad, what’s up with Mom?”
“Uh, I think she had to use the bathroom. What’s up Max?”
“Oh, just tell her Aunt Maria called. She wants Mom to go dress shopping with her tomorrow, something about needing a dress for Valentine’s Day.” Valentine’s Day was a week from tomorrow and Max had big plans for he and Liz.
“OK, thanks Max, goodnight.”
“Nite Dad,” his son said before closing his window.
Max went inside the house to find Liz already on the phone with Maria relating their embarrassing escapade, so he motioned to her that he was going to get ready for bed. After finishing her call and changing, she joined him.
“So I’m sure that Maria got a good laugh when you told her what happened,” he said as she slid in beside him.
“That’s the understatement of the day,” she sighed. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek before turning her back to him and saying “goodnight Max, I love you.”
Max stared at the back of her head a moment before scooting closer and molding himself against her back. He began to run his hand lightly over her arm as he leaned in and whispered, “don’t you want to finish what you started in the car?”
She turned her head and looked at him like he was crazy, then asked him that very question.
“You make me crazy Liz,” he said as he nuzzled her neck.
“Sorry, Max; I’m not in the mood anymore.”
Max sighed as he pulled her body against him tightly. “It’s OK, baby; I just wish you wouldn’t let this upset you so much.”
She sighed and said “I’ll try.” After a few moments she began to chuckle and said “Carl could be used as a very effective birth control method, huh.”
Max lay quietly for several minutes as his mind began to whirl. Birth control. Why hadn’t he thought about this before? ‘Because you’re a guy,’ the little voice in his head told him. They had been sleeping together for nine or ten months now, and they had never even discussed it. He’d never seen her take a pill or anything else. They made love almost every day, with the exception of a few days at the end of each month. How could it be that he had never questioned her about this? He’d often thought about them having another child; he hadn’t broached the subject yet because they were still enjoying being newly married and forming a family bond with their son. Now as he lay with her in his arms, he simultaneously felt like an idiot for this not occurring to him before and anxious at what her answer to his next question might be.
“Liz, can I ask you something?”
“Of course,” she answered as she squeezed his hand.
“What do you use- do you use- birth control?”
Liz turned to face him. “I haven’t been using anything, no.”
“Oh.”
Liz watched him carefully for a moment before continuing. “I have only one fallopian tube, Max. It would be very difficult for me to become pregnant.”
“What do you mean?” His face was puzzled as he rubbed his hands over her back.
“About fifteen years ago, I had an ovarian cyst and it burst. I had to have the tube removed, so I only have one. And because of the scar tissue build-up the doctor told me that it would be nearly impossible for me to become pregnant.” She paused a minute when she saw the alarmed look on his face. She knew he was beating himself up for being away from her when she was in trouble. “It’s OK Max, I’m OK. And don’t feel guilty about not being here; we’ve discussed that to death.”
Max swallowed back a tear as he leaned forward to kiss her forehead, unable to speak for a moment. “Are you OK now?” he whispered.
“Yes, baby, I’m fine.”
After another moment he looked at her with a searching gaze and said, “I could fix it, Liz. If you want me to.”
“Well, there’s no reason to unless I wanted to try to get preg…nant,” she stuttered as she picked up a very strong desire from him. She cocked her head back and her eyes became huge as she said “Max, you want to have a baby?”
“Well, I…haven’t you thought about it?”
“No, because I knew it wasn’t a possibility, I guess. I never thought about you healing it. I don’t know why.”
“Well, if you thought about it, what do you think you’d think? About a baby,” he stammered.
Liz quickly became flustered. “I don’t know, I mean, being pregnant with Max was hard, and I was eighteen; I’m almost thirty-seven now. Maria had to deliver him because I couldn’t go to a hospital and let them take his blood. And Max is finally able to be out on his own, and we are finding our own life together, and a baby would change everything so much…I don’t know Max, there’s just so much to consider.”
Max pulled her into him and tucked her head under his chin. “It’s OK Liz, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you or suggest- we don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.” As he stroked her hair he couldn’t help the feeling of disappointment that came upon him, so he quickly blocked their connection so he wouldn’t upset her anymore. They lay in silence while a myriad of thoughts and feelings raced through their minds, both finally falling into an uneasy sleep.
The next day Liz and Maria set out to shop for some Valentine’s gifts. After making no progress they decided to break for some lunch. “I don’t know what to get him, Maria; I have no ideas. You have to help me out!” Liz was exasperated; she had been in half the stores in the mall already and had come up empty handed.
“I told you already- buy some slinky red lingerie and YOU be his gift. You know he’ll be thrilled,” Maria said as she stole a french fry from Liz’s plate.
“No, I need something original. This is the first Valentines Day we’ve been together for in eighteen years. I want to blow his socks off.” Liz blushed as Maria started laughing and she realized what she said. She slapped Maria on the arm playfully and laughingly replied “stop! You know what I mean.”
“Trust me Liz, red lace and garter belts will blow his socks off. Amongst other things,” Maria said with a sly smirk. “And it’s original for you; like you said, you haven’t been together for years.”
Liz’s blush deepened as she pushed the food around on her plate. “Well, uh, it’s not really original because that was kind of his Christmas present. Only trade the garters for some black leather boots and you get the idea.”
Maria’s eyebrows shot up. “Oooh, you go girl! He must have loved it.”
“Let’s just say Max had a very Merry Christmas and leave it at that. Back to the problem at hand- what the hell am I going to do? I just know he’s going to do something really romantic; he told me to buy myself a dress because he wants to take me out and show me off. I’m going to have some lame gift like a tie to give him.”
“Well, how about a nice romantic evening? You could make his favorite dinner, take a bubble bath, give him a massage, etc. etc. etc.”
“No, that wouldn’t be special; we do that all the time.”
“God you two are too much! Bubble baths, massages, next thing you’ll be telling me is that he gives you a foot rub every night.”
A dreamy smile lit up Liz’s face as Maria buried her head in her hand. “You are kidding me, right? He does NOT give you a foot rub every night.”
“We’re still newlyweds Maria, we do lots of things every night,” Liz laughed. “What can I say, I have the perfect husband,” her tone turning somber. Maria naturally picked up on it immediately and asked, “is there something wrong?”
Liz sighed deeply, grateful to have Maria to unload her worries to. Her answer was right to the point: “Max wants to have a baby.”
Maria’s eyes grew large as she simply said “oh.”
“Yeah, OH. He said he can, you know, ‘fix’ me so I’d be able to conceive. He didn’t really say that much, but I know he really wants us to have another child.”
“The question is, do YOU want to have another child.”
“I don’t know Maria; I mean, I’m almost thirty-seven now. There’s a big difference between being pregnant at eighteen and at thirty-seven. And having a teenager when you’re in your fifties. I had so much energy when Max was little. I don’t know if I feel like sitting through all the Little League games, science fairs, and Boy Scout things again. And what about Max? I have to think about how he’d feel about having a sibling. And what about my marriage? We were apart for so long, I’m jealous about my time with Max.” She let out another sigh as she finished her litany.
Maria looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “You’re doing a good job trying to convince yourself this is something you don’t want.”
Liz gave her a surprised look. “You think I should have another baby?”
“No, I’m not saying that; I don’t think you should do anything that huge unless you really want to. What I’m saying is that you didn’t mention one positive thing, and that’s not like you. You loved doing all those things when Max was little. In fact, I seem to remember a conversation we had a few years ago where you told me you were sad that Max was growing up and you weren’t so involved in the minute details of his everyday life anymore. As far as what he’d think about having a brother or sister, personally, I don’t think he’d mind; but the bottom line there is that it’s not his decision to make.” Maria paused to take a sip of her ice tea before continuing. “And your marriage? Liz, you’d be doing all those things with your husband. You can’t possibly believe that you two would spend any less time together; you’re glued together at the hip.”
“I don’t know Maria; it’s just such a huge thing to think about.”
“I know it is Liz; and I’m not trying to tell you what to do, I just think you should calm down a little and then think about all the positives as well as negatives before you make a decision. You know,” her face turning into a smirk, “like you always tell me to do.”
Liz let out a small chuckle. “Nothing is worse than getting your own advice, is it. You’re right; maybe I need to talk this through with Max after I’m less emotional about it.”
“All right, let’s go girlfriend, I have to find a dress to blow my own husband’s socks off,” Maria said as she reached for her wallet to pay the check.
The ensuing week found Liz preoccupied with thoughts of babies- she couldn’t get away from the topic. It seemed that everywhere she went children, pregnant women, or families surrounded her. Thoughts of the topic were constantly swirling through her mind, and even though she and Max didn’t discuss it again it was constantly between them. They had both been blocking out their connection to the other, and their actions bore the mark of nervousness when they were together. And though they were still affectionate with each other, they hadn’t made love since ‘the question’. It was the longest period of time they’d gone without sex since they’d been reunited.
For his part, Max spent the week kicking himself for upsetting Liz. The most important thing to him in his life was that his wife was happy, and because of him, right now she wasn’t. As much as he thought he’d like to have another child, if Liz didn’t want to, then they wouldn’t. He would never push her into something she wasn’t completely comfortable in doing. He lived to make her happy, and anything that didn’t was quickly moved aside. Even if it was something he wanted. Badly.
And so it was a stressed-out couple that greeted Valentine’s Day that Saturday. Max hadn’t told Liz anything about his plans except that she should pack an overnight bag and bring her new dress also. As they set off in the car that afternoon, Liz resolved to leave her worries at home and enjoy the weekend. It was their first Valentine’s Day together in ages, and she wasn’t going to ruin it for them by continuing to harp on the baby subject in her head. When they entered the town of Cape May about an hour and a half later, both of them were considerably more relaxed and looking forward to the evening.
“I love it here Max, thank you for bringing me.” Cape May, located at the southern tip of New Jersey sitting on the ocean, was home to a large assortment of authentic Victorian homes. The quaint old-time charm of the town was the perfect place for them to enjoy a quiet, romantic weekend.
“Another Alex suggestion,” said Max. “The man is a walking idea machine. He told me about the bed and breakfast we’re staying at so I hope it’s as good as he described.”
“Which one is it- oh, you’re kidding!” Liz exclaimed as they pulled up in front of their residence for the night. The Angel of the Sea was a magnificent Victorian mansion, painstakingly restored to its original beauty. It was on the ocean, and every room had a private balcony with a gorgeous view. “I’ve always wanted to stay here! Oh, thank you honey, this is wonderful!” She gave him a hug after he helped her out of the car.
“Anything for you, my Liz,” he said, before releasing her to grab their bags. “Let’s check in, I’m interested to see this place myself.”
They had arrived just in time to tag along on a tour of the building and grounds that the proprietor gave once daily, and for afternoon tea. They enjoyed learning about the architecture and history of the hotel over what Liz deemed ‘the best scones I’ve ever had’. When they finally entered their own room they were not disappointed in their expectations. It was large, with a fireplace and private bath off to the side. The walls were covered in lovely mauve-toned rose-speckled wallpaper, and beautiful fabrics draped the windows and floors. The king-size bed had a thick down comforter begging to be cuddled in, and the satin sheets under it were luxurious to the touch.
“Oh, it’s so pretty, isn’t it Max?” Liz said as she walked around the room, eyeing the antiques that filled it.
“Yeah, Alex really has great ideas, doesn’t he?” Max was trying to figure out how to work the gas fireplace, one of the few modern alterations the owners had made. Liz laughed as she watched him before walking over and touching a lever under the grate, making the fire come to life. “I guess your way of igniting wood is easier for you than our pathetic technology, huh.”
He wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and kissed her hair. “I’ve just never seen this before. I like it.” They stood together in front of it for a while enjoying the warmth, until Liz turned and asked, “Max, what time is our dinner reservation?”
“Um,” he paused as he looked at his watch, “not for a few hours.”
“Well, if you want, I could give you a tour of the Victorian homes, and then take you to the shopping area. It’s really neat.” He readily agreed, so they set off to view the many restored homes that populated Cape May. They wound their way through the streets on foot, viewing them up close as Liz explained how back in the 1970’s, the town underwent a renaissance of sorts when people began to buy the old but run down homes and restore them. Many were then turned into bed and breakfast establishments, and some turned into quaint restaurants. Along their travels they came upon a gorgeous mansion called The Mainstay. It had a huge, wrap-around porch with large white columns and floor-to-ceiling windows in the entire lower portion of the house. “Oh, we have to go in so you can see the parlor in this one Max,” Liz said excitedly. “It has fifteen foot ceilings with the original moldings and is filled with antiques. At one point in the later 1800’s this was a Gentleman’s Club,” she added with a wink.
“A Gentleman’s Club?” he repeated, not quite sure what that meant.
“You know, a place where gentleman came to gamble and consort with ladies of the evening,” she said as they approached the door.
“You mean this place was a who…” Her hand quickly covered his mouth as she giggled. “The PC term would be bordello, dear. And yes, it was. Now let’s go inside and check out the antiques.”
After their house tour and brief shopping trip they returned to their hotel to get ready for dinner. Max was playing with the fireplace again when Liz finally emerged from the bathroom. Hearing the door open he turned around and smiled widely as he moved toward her. “You look absolutely gorgeous Liz,” he said softly as he reached her and bent to kiss her cheek.
She blushed as she raised her hand to straighten his tie. “You always say that Max; I’m starting not to believe you,” she teased.
“Believe it,” he whispered before he captured her lips in a long, gentle kiss. When he pulled away he said “I want to give you your present before we leave.”
“Oh, OK.” ‘Great,’ she thought; ‘I should probably give him the tie now and get it over with’. “OK, then here’s mine to you,” she said, a little more cheerfully then she felt. They traded boxes and he opened his gift first. Removing the silk necktie he leaned over and kissed her. “Thank you Liz, I love it.”
“No you don’t, and you shouldn’t, because it’s a lame gift,” she said, wringing her hands. “Here you planned this great weekend and I couldn’t even think of a decent gift for you. I’m sorry,” she said, clearly upset.
“No, Liz,” he said as he pulled her into his arms and enveloped her, “it’s not lame, I really like it. Besides, I already have the best Valentine’s gift I could ever have- I have you.”
Liz sniffled a little and turned her head upward to kiss his chin. “I love you so much Max.”
“I love you too.” They remained in their embrace for a few minutes until he asked, “are you going to open your gift?”
“OK,” she said, smiling at him as she tore open the red foil paper covering a long, rectangular velvet box. When she opened it her mouth dropped open and she gasped at the contents. “Oh my God, Max, it’s, it’s absolutely gorgeous.”
“May I put it on you?” She nodded and he smiled as he took the bracelet from its nest in the box and secured it on her wrist. It was a chain of rubies in the shape of a heart, a smaller heart-shaped diamond in between each ruby. He had made it using the jewels bestowed upon him as King of Antar.
Liz stared at her wrist fingering the jewels, then looked at him with a shy smile and said, “now I REALLY feel bad about the tie.”
He kissed the back of her hand and then her forehead as he tucked her arm in his. “Don’t. Now let’s go to dinner so I can show you off.”
They enjoyed a wonderful meal at a fine French restaurant, and sitting by the fire Liz watched as the flames danced in the rubies on her arm. The secret smile that graced her face was not missed by Max. He reached over and began to run his finger lightly up and down her other arm and asked, “what are you smiling about?”
“I was looking at the flames inside the jewels and I was thinking, that’s how you make me feel. Like my heart is on fire.”
He lifted her hand to his lips and placed a soft kiss on each finger as he sent her a wave of love through their connection, relieved that she seemed to have moved past the baby issue and was so happy. “Me too, Liz,” he whispered in between fingers.
“Max,” Liz purred as she closed her hand around his and pulled him close to her face, “let’s go back to the hotel and I’ll give you the rest of your present.” The fire was now in her eyes and his body tightened as she gazed pointedly into his.
“Let’s go,” he said, hastily paying the check and grabbing her hand to lead her out of the restaurant. Arriving at the car, he pressed her body against the door and hungrily kissed her. As he dragged his lips over her cheek toward her ear, he said “so what’s this other gift?” He had a pretty good idea what it would be; and after a week of no physical contact with his wife, he was more than ready to ‘open’ it.
“Well, I’ll give you a hint,” Liz answered in a husky tone as her arms crossed behind his neck and her body folded into his. “It’s red and slinky and small.”
He kissed her hard again and then quickly opened the car door and helped her in. They traveled the short distance to the hotel in silence, holding hands; the desire to be one with each other rolling off them in waves. Upon arriving they both jumped out of the car and quickly made their way into the lobby. Just as they reached the bottom of the stairs, the owner popped out from around a corner. “Oh, Mr. and Mrs. Evans, I’m so glad to see someone. I’m terribly sorry to impose on you Mr. Evans, but a cabinet in the kitchen has just broken away from the wall and I need another man to help me detach it and get it down before it crashes onto the floor. I would never think of bothering you but it’s about to fall and you’re the first people to walk in- I’m so sorry, but would you mind?”
Max looked at Liz who smiled her approval. “Give me your jacket and tie honey; I’ll meet you upstairs.”
“Oh Mrs. Evans, I won’t keep him, thank you both so much.” The owner kept apologizing for inconveniencing them as Max handed her his things and kissed her on the nose. “I won’t be long,” he said as the man led him away and into the kitchen.
Liz took the time she had to get ready for him. She changed into a red silk camisole and red lace thong and dabbed some vanilla musk on strategic points over her body. She lit the fireplace and then the candles in the room, turned down the covers and climbed into the bed to wait for Max.
Over a half hour later he arrived, shirt sleeves rolled up, slightly sweaty and eager to make up for lost time loving his wife. His breath was sucked out of his chest when his eyes landed on her. She had fallen asleep reclined on the pillows, her hair spilling all around her, the candles and firelight dancing amber hues over her skin. He took in the tiny camisole that had ridden up slightly, exposing her navel, and then the lace thong, and he haltingly pulled air into his lungs. She managed to look like an angel and a temptress all at once; sexy, sweet, seductive, scrumptious. He drew another deep breath, clamping his eyes shut to try to get himself under control. He desperately wanted to wake her up and spend hours making love, but seeing her resting so peacefully reminded him that neither one had gotten much sleep over the past week. That, coupled with the 3 glasses of wine she had with dinner must have done her in, he reasoned. He popped open one eye for another look, then shaking his head, turned and went toward the shower.
Max emerged from the bathroom, goosebumps racing over his skin from the cool air hitting his damp flesh. He threw on a pair of black silk boxers he knew Liz liked, extinguished the candles, turned down the fireplace, and crawled in behind her. He molded his body into her back and ran his hand over her hip before coming to rest protectively over the place on her stomach where their journey had begun so many years ago. Lightly kissing the back of her head, he closed his eyes and drifted off, the warm smell of vanilla and candle incense filling the air.
Max’s eyes flew open as they always did whenever he awoke and realized that Liz was not in bed next to him. He made out her silhouette across the room as she stood with her back to him staring out the french doors that opened onto their small balcony. He slipped out of bed quietly and as he made his way over to her he saw her shoulders trembling slightly. “Liz? What’s the matter?” he asked as she turned toward him and he saw tears rolling down her cheeks. He pulled her into his arms and felt her cold skin and said, “honey you’re freezing, come back to bed and tell me what’s wrong.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” she sniffled as she climbed back in the large bed.
“You didn’t wake me,” he said as he pulled her into his body and began to rub his hands over her back to warm her, trying to ignore the sensuous silk sliding over his hands. He turned and placed a kiss on her head which was tucked under his chin and asked, “sweetheart, please tell me why you’re crying.”
“I had a dream,” came her muffled reply.
“Was it a nightmare?” he asked, wanting her to elaborate further.
“No,” she started as she tilted her head up to look at him. “I dreamed of Max when he was little. Alex, Maria, Max and I were at the beach and Max was burying Alex in the sand.”
“Did something bad happen?”
“No, I woke up in the middle of it; Max was covering Alex with the sand and Maria and I were laughing.”
“Then what made you cry?” he asked, still puzzled by her tears.
“Well, I was laying here thinking about when Max was little. When he started walking, his first day of school, when Maria taught him to ride a two-wheeled bicycle, all the baseball games and spelling bees. When I had to give him the ‘sex talk’. All of our Christmas’ and birthdays.”
“They sound like very happy memories,” he said as he kissed her forehead. “I still don’t understand why you were crying.”
More tears sprang forth from her eyes. “Because you don’t have those memories. You didn’t get to experience any of the wonderful things I remember about his childhood.”
“Oh honey, we’ve talked about this, it’s OK,” he said as he tightened his embrace. Whenever one of them would get depressed about the span of time they had been apart the other would try to soothe away the pain by focusing them on the future. “I am so blessed to have been given this second chance to know Max. That’s what’s important, Liz; our future together. We can’t change the past.” They lay quietly until she tilted her head back and looked at him, her eyes huge and vulnerable.
“I want to have another baby, Max.”
He brought one hand up and combed her hair away from her face. “Liz if we have a baby I want it to be because it’s something we both want, that we’re both ready for; not something of an obligation. I don’t want it to be because you feel sorry for me.”
“That’s just it Max. I wasn’t feeling sorry for you. I was feeling sorry for myself.” She gazed into his eyes, willing him to see she was being sincere. “I never got to share all of those things with you. I want us to plan our baby’s first birthday party together. I want to go to his sports games and watch you cheering him on. I want to see your face the first time you hold him.” Another tear trickled down her cheek and her voice dropped. “Our son has given me the greatest joy. I want to experience it all again. With you.”
He stared at her for a few moments unable to speak. He wanted so much to believe her but didn’t want her to make such a monumental, life-altering decision just to placate him. “We don’t have to do this Liz. I love our life; I’ll be perfectly happy leaving things just the way they are now. I only want this if you want it. Please don’t agree to it just for my sake.”
She gave him the sweetest of kisses before making her simple, heart-felt declaration. “With all my heart I want to have another baby with you Max.”
His arms held her in a vice-grip and his tears prevented him from speaking. They held each other for a long while, absorbing the enormity of their decision and enjoying all the feelings flowing through their connection. Liz finally broke their reverie with a gentle kiss and took his hand and placed it on her abdomen. She pulled back and gave him a smile full of love and trust.
“Heal me, Max.”
He drew in a shaky breath at her words, allowing the full meaning of her request to sink in. It not only meant the possibly bringing a new life into their family, but it once again demonstrated how unswerving her trust in him was. When he had healed her at sixteen it had been his decision alone. He had acted on impulse, changing her life irrevocably in an instant. She had no choice in the matter; no choice in deciding if she wanted to be invaded in the most personal way, to have her soul bared for him to see. Now here she was inviting him to do just that. Trusting him to not only to make her whole, but to fathom her very essence. She trusted him the same way he trusted her.
He gently moved her so she lay on her back, then softly caressed her face before whispering “show me where, baby.”
Liz took his hand and led it to the left side of her pelvis, her hand remaining over the top of his as their eyes locked. They smiled at each other before a tingling warmth began under their hands and then spread throughout her body. Flashes of their lives began to assail them both; pictures of joy and sorrow and laughter and longing. The final one took Max’s breath away. It was Maria handing Liz her newborn son and asking her what his name was to be. With tear-filled eyes Liz clearly replied, “Max. So like his father he’ll be strong and loving and beautiful.”
They slowly came back to reality, gently kissing and touching and cherishing each other, not wanting to rush through the wonderful sensations flowing over them. When she brushed her hand over his silk-covered hardness he took her hands, placed a kiss on each, and then lay them on the bed on either side of her hips. His lips moved over her face, kissing her eyes closed, caressing her cheek, before drifting to her ear to whisper “for you, my beloved Liz.”
He made love to her languidly, enjoying the taste and feel of every luscious inch of her and the sounds she made correlating with each precious caress. He finally joined them when he sensed they were both about to burst from the need for him to be inside her, the need for them to be whole once again. With each thrust they became more lost in each other until they reached the crescendo together, cuming with an intensity that left Liz sobbing and clutching onto him for a long time after their bodies had calmed. He accepted her refusal to release him from her body and rolled them over, their limbs tangled and her hair spilling haphazardly over his chest as they succumbed to exhaustion.
Just before she drifted off, Liz softly called out “happy Valentine’s day, baby.”
“Liz,” he whispered, “thank you for the best Valentine’s gift ever.”
She smiled into his chest. “I’m glad you like the tie Max.”
They both managed a soft chuckle before sleep claimed them and sent them off to a dreamland only surpassed by the reality of love they lived every day.
In Your Eyes Book Two- M&L, ADULT- Complete
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In Your Eyes Book Two- M&L, ADULT- Complete
Last edited by tazno on Sun Mar 21, 2004 8:20 pm, edited 17 times in total.
CHAPTER 2
Easter fell in late April that year, and Alex’s brother’s family held their annual celebration at their home on the beautiful Navesink River with its breathtaking views of the New York City skyline. Liz and her son always had a standing invitation, as they had spent many holidays over the years with them. After hearing of Liz and Max Sr.’s reunion after so many years (without the alien details, of course,) they had excitedly prodded Maria to invite the whole Evans family to join them again.
On the trip up Max noticed that Liz seemed quiet and pre-occupied, but Maria’s non-stop chatter prevented him from discussing it with her, and before he knew it they were pulling into the Whitman’s driveway. His chuckling roused Liz from her musings and she smiled at him as they climbed out of the car. “What’s so funny, Max?”
“Oh, I was just thinking that there’s no way Alex can ever refute that that man,” he pointed at the couple emerging from the house, “is his brother.”
Alex over heard them giggling and joined in. “Yep, Nick & I are twins separated by three years,” he said as he embraced his brother and his sister-in-law. “Nick, Paula, I’d like you to meet Liz’s husband Max.”
“Max, it’s so nice to meet you. We’ve heard so much about you from Maria,” said Paula as she shook his hand. “Liz! It’s so nice to see you,” she added as she embraced her and then their son. “We’re so happy you could all join us this year. Please, come in. Liz, Maria, I’m so glad you’re both here, I need some help deciding on a dress to wear to a wedding next week…”
Paula’s voice faded away as she led them inside, the men all trailing behind them. Nick led them into the family room, which had a gorgeous view of the river and the skyline. It also had a wide screen television with a basketball game on, immediately drawing all of the male’s attention as they settled on the comfortable furniture. After catching up on family news, Maria laughed as she surveyed the men, all glued to the action on screen. “OK, sister-in-law-dear, use us in the kitchen,” she said as she pointed to Liz, “or my eyes will pop out of my head if I have to watch basketball!” The girls chuckled as they went off to assist Paula, the guys not even noticing their exit as they cheered after another score.
As they worked in the kitchen, Maria picked up on Liz’s distracted behavior. ‘Something’s up,’ she thought to herself just as her niece appeared in the doorway. “Jackie! I was wondering where you were,” she said as she hugged her. “You look wonderful, as always,” she added.
“This is why you’re my favorite aunt, Aunt Maria,” the young girl replied. “Aunt Liz, hi, it’s so nice to see you,” she said to Liz as she walked over to embrace her also.
“Jackie, my goodness, look at you, you’re so grown up!” Liz said. “I haven’t seen you in over two years! You are so beautiful!”
Jackie blushed at Liz’s compliments as her mother wrapped an arm around her shoulder and squeezed. “She turned eighteen a few weeks ago, girls. And her father is trying to figure out how to keep her locked away in her room for another eighteen years, right, honey?”
Jackie rolled her eyes as they all laughed. “Yeah, I think Daddy would be quite happy to see me die an old maid.”
“Have you decided on a college yet, Jackie?” Liz asked when they all finished laughing. “Graduation is just around the corner!”
“Actually, I decided to go to Riverton Aunt Liz. I’m going to live at home and commute to school.”
“Oh, that’s great!” Liz enthused. “I’ll get to see you on campus, hopefully. Max is commuting to RU too; he’s finishing up his second semester. You should talk to him about it.” Liz understood the reason Jackie had decided to stay at home. On September 11, 2001 Nick’s law office was located in the World Trade Center complex, and he had experienced first hand the abject horror of that terrible day. Paula and their kids had been frantic until he had finally been able to contact them and let them know he was OK. In the days that followed, their joy was tempered by the sorrow of losing so many dear friends and neighbors. Many of Jackie’s schoolmates had lost a parent in the disaster, and she had been deeply affected by it. Maria had told Liz how, although always close to her family before, she had become inseparable from them, especially her father. It was only natural that she had chosen a college close enough so she could remain at home.
“Where is Max? I wanted to say hi,” Jackie asked, her cheeks reddening slightly at the thought of seeing the boy she’d had a crush on since she was ten years old.
“Homer’s in the family room. Oh- we have to introduce you to his dad,” said Maria.
“Homer?” said Jackie, looking confused.
Liz chuckled as she explained. “It’s gotten kind of confusing having two Max’s around. Every time I call for one they both answer. So to make it easier for her, Maria decided to call my son Homer after The Simpson’s because that’s been his favorite show forever, and now we all use it because it is actually less confusing.”
“Yeah, now we only call him Max when he’s in trouble,” Maria said, grinning.
“Anyway, come with me sweetie, I’ll do the honors,” Liz said as she grabbed a tray of hors d’oeuvres for the hungry crew. Arriving in front of her husband she said, “Max, I’d like you to meet Jackie, Nick and Paula’s oldest child. Jackie, this is my husband Max.”
At the sound of her name, Max Jr. had turned his head to greet her also and froze in place. He couldn’t believe the difference in her appearance since he had seen her a few years before. The tomboy with the short red hair and braces had morphed into an auburn tressed beauty with gray-green eyes and a sweet, shy smile. He saw her shake his father’s hand and then watched as she turned toward him and her lips began to move. It took his brain a few seconds to register that meant she was talking to him. And that meant that he should answer her. But that meant that he would have to know what she said in the first place, and all he could seem to focus on were her pink-painted lips and how soft they looked.
Maria had followed the girls and was standing behind Alex’s chair observing the young man’s reactions to her niece’s arrival. She had never seen him take more than a passing glance at a girl before, and his obvious stare now was intriguing her.
Jackie’s greeting finally sunk in and Max was able to form a coherent reply. At least he thought he did, because at the moment all he could seem to focus on were the soft ringlets of her hair that hung midway down her back. Wait. She was saying something again. That’s what it meant when those soft pink lips were moving, right? “Um, I’m sorry, what did you say Jackie?”
“Your Mom told me that you were in your second semester at Riverton. I was wondering how you liked it?”
Max managed to keep it together and discuss the University with her for awhile. He gladly exchanged email addresses with her at Maria’s suggestion, and he promised to show her around and help her when she was ready to register for her classes.
The day progressed with both Maria and Max Sr. continuing to notice Liz’s distant demeanor. After dinner was finished, the guys went to shoot some pool and the women set about cleaning up the dishes.
“Why is it,” Maria said as she was loading up the dishwasher, “that no matter what occasion, no matter what the location, the men always manage to escape to another room while we are left to do this?”
“I know,” replied Paula. “Things haven’t changed for the last few hundred years, when the men would go to the smoking room and discuss politics, and the women would go to the sitting room and discuss babies. So much for women’s lib, huh? Oh, speaking of babies, Maria did I tell you that my sister is pregnant again?”
“Excuse me,” Liz said suddenly as she dropped a dishtowel and quickly left the room.
“Paula, I’ll be right back,” Maria said as she turned to follow down the hall after Liz. Coming to the bathroom she’d seen Liz go into, she stood by the door before knocking and listened to the muffled sounds of her best friend’s sobs. She turned the knob as she knocked and entered. “Chica, what’s wrong?” she said as she quickly moved to Liz’s side and wrapped her in a hug. “I knew something was wrong with you today. What’s going on?”
Liz got up and grabbed a tissue to blot her eyes. “Nothing, Maria. It’s nothing.”
“Don’t tell me nothing Liz. I’ve known you longer than anyone else. You never cry over nothing. Is everything all right with you and Max?”
At her question Liz began to sob all over again. “Oh, Chica, I’m sorry, I was just trying to get you to talk to me. I never thought anything could be wrong with you guys. I’m sorry, Liz. Talk to me sweetie.” Maria was holding Liz and smoothing her hand over her hair trying to soothe her.
After calming a little, Liz once again reached for a tissue. “It’s not what you think Maria. It’s just…I’m just…I don’t…” She was stumbling over her words, trying to decide if she should share her feelings with Maria. “Maria, I don’t want to hurt your feelings…”
Maria looked at her intensely for a moment before replying. “Liz, the only thing you could ever say to hurt my feelings is that you don’t want to be my friend anymore. Well, that and that you slept with Alex.” They both giggled slightly before she continued. “Talk to me Liz.”
Liz took a deep breath before she began. “Well, you know how Max and I have being trying for a baby since Valentine’s Day. Well, I got my period this morning, and…”
“Oh, sweetie,” Maria whispered as she pulled her into a hug. Maria understood all too well the trauma of infertility, having gone through it herself. “You didn’t want to tell me because of my whole thing?” she asked, and Liz nodded in agreement. “Liz, I accepted that I’ll never have kids a long time ago. Please don’t ever feel you can’t talk to me about it; I mean, who better to understand what you’re feeling?”
“Thanks Maria. I just didn’t want to open any old wounds for you. And I know I’m being ridiculous; we’ve only been trying for two months. It’s just…I know how badly Max wants this baby, and I don’t want to disappoint him. He’s just so wonderful and I just want to make him happy…” Her voice trailed off as tears started to roll down her cheeks once again.
“You do make him happy Liz. All you have to do is look at him to know how happy is being with you and Junior. You have to give this some more time.” As they continued to talk, Maria was able to calm her considerably.
Outside the door, however, was another story. Max sat slumped against the wall, head in hands, quietly crying after having heard the whole episode.
Easter fell in late April that year, and Alex’s brother’s family held their annual celebration at their home on the beautiful Navesink River with its breathtaking views of the New York City skyline. Liz and her son always had a standing invitation, as they had spent many holidays over the years with them. After hearing of Liz and Max Sr.’s reunion after so many years (without the alien details, of course,) they had excitedly prodded Maria to invite the whole Evans family to join them again.
On the trip up Max noticed that Liz seemed quiet and pre-occupied, but Maria’s non-stop chatter prevented him from discussing it with her, and before he knew it they were pulling into the Whitman’s driveway. His chuckling roused Liz from her musings and she smiled at him as they climbed out of the car. “What’s so funny, Max?”
“Oh, I was just thinking that there’s no way Alex can ever refute that that man,” he pointed at the couple emerging from the house, “is his brother.”
Alex over heard them giggling and joined in. “Yep, Nick & I are twins separated by three years,” he said as he embraced his brother and his sister-in-law. “Nick, Paula, I’d like you to meet Liz’s husband Max.”
“Max, it’s so nice to meet you. We’ve heard so much about you from Maria,” said Paula as she shook his hand. “Liz! It’s so nice to see you,” she added as she embraced her and then their son. “We’re so happy you could all join us this year. Please, come in. Liz, Maria, I’m so glad you’re both here, I need some help deciding on a dress to wear to a wedding next week…”
Paula’s voice faded away as she led them inside, the men all trailing behind them. Nick led them into the family room, which had a gorgeous view of the river and the skyline. It also had a wide screen television with a basketball game on, immediately drawing all of the male’s attention as they settled on the comfortable furniture. After catching up on family news, Maria laughed as she surveyed the men, all glued to the action on screen. “OK, sister-in-law-dear, use us in the kitchen,” she said as she pointed to Liz, “or my eyes will pop out of my head if I have to watch basketball!” The girls chuckled as they went off to assist Paula, the guys not even noticing their exit as they cheered after another score.
As they worked in the kitchen, Maria picked up on Liz’s distracted behavior. ‘Something’s up,’ she thought to herself just as her niece appeared in the doorway. “Jackie! I was wondering where you were,” she said as she hugged her. “You look wonderful, as always,” she added.
“This is why you’re my favorite aunt, Aunt Maria,” the young girl replied. “Aunt Liz, hi, it’s so nice to see you,” she said to Liz as she walked over to embrace her also.
“Jackie, my goodness, look at you, you’re so grown up!” Liz said. “I haven’t seen you in over two years! You are so beautiful!”
Jackie blushed at Liz’s compliments as her mother wrapped an arm around her shoulder and squeezed. “She turned eighteen a few weeks ago, girls. And her father is trying to figure out how to keep her locked away in her room for another eighteen years, right, honey?”
Jackie rolled her eyes as they all laughed. “Yeah, I think Daddy would be quite happy to see me die an old maid.”
“Have you decided on a college yet, Jackie?” Liz asked when they all finished laughing. “Graduation is just around the corner!”
“Actually, I decided to go to Riverton Aunt Liz. I’m going to live at home and commute to school.”
“Oh, that’s great!” Liz enthused. “I’ll get to see you on campus, hopefully. Max is commuting to RU too; he’s finishing up his second semester. You should talk to him about it.” Liz understood the reason Jackie had decided to stay at home. On September 11, 2001 Nick’s law office was located in the World Trade Center complex, and he had experienced first hand the abject horror of that terrible day. Paula and their kids had been frantic until he had finally been able to contact them and let them know he was OK. In the days that followed, their joy was tempered by the sorrow of losing so many dear friends and neighbors. Many of Jackie’s schoolmates had lost a parent in the disaster, and she had been deeply affected by it. Maria had told Liz how, although always close to her family before, she had become inseparable from them, especially her father. It was only natural that she had chosen a college close enough so she could remain at home.
“Where is Max? I wanted to say hi,” Jackie asked, her cheeks reddening slightly at the thought of seeing the boy she’d had a crush on since she was ten years old.
“Homer’s in the family room. Oh- we have to introduce you to his dad,” said Maria.
“Homer?” said Jackie, looking confused.
Liz chuckled as she explained. “It’s gotten kind of confusing having two Max’s around. Every time I call for one they both answer. So to make it easier for her, Maria decided to call my son Homer after The Simpson’s because that’s been his favorite show forever, and now we all use it because it is actually less confusing.”
“Yeah, now we only call him Max when he’s in trouble,” Maria said, grinning.
“Anyway, come with me sweetie, I’ll do the honors,” Liz said as she grabbed a tray of hors d’oeuvres for the hungry crew. Arriving in front of her husband she said, “Max, I’d like you to meet Jackie, Nick and Paula’s oldest child. Jackie, this is my husband Max.”
At the sound of her name, Max Jr. had turned his head to greet her also and froze in place. He couldn’t believe the difference in her appearance since he had seen her a few years before. The tomboy with the short red hair and braces had morphed into an auburn tressed beauty with gray-green eyes and a sweet, shy smile. He saw her shake his father’s hand and then watched as she turned toward him and her lips began to move. It took his brain a few seconds to register that meant she was talking to him. And that meant that he should answer her. But that meant that he would have to know what she said in the first place, and all he could seem to focus on were her pink-painted lips and how soft they looked.
Maria had followed the girls and was standing behind Alex’s chair observing the young man’s reactions to her niece’s arrival. She had never seen him take more than a passing glance at a girl before, and his obvious stare now was intriguing her.
Jackie’s greeting finally sunk in and Max was able to form a coherent reply. At least he thought he did, because at the moment all he could seem to focus on were the soft ringlets of her hair that hung midway down her back. Wait. She was saying something again. That’s what it meant when those soft pink lips were moving, right? “Um, I’m sorry, what did you say Jackie?”
“Your Mom told me that you were in your second semester at Riverton. I was wondering how you liked it?”
Max managed to keep it together and discuss the University with her for awhile. He gladly exchanged email addresses with her at Maria’s suggestion, and he promised to show her around and help her when she was ready to register for her classes.
The day progressed with both Maria and Max Sr. continuing to notice Liz’s distant demeanor. After dinner was finished, the guys went to shoot some pool and the women set about cleaning up the dishes.
“Why is it,” Maria said as she was loading up the dishwasher, “that no matter what occasion, no matter what the location, the men always manage to escape to another room while we are left to do this?”
“I know,” replied Paula. “Things haven’t changed for the last few hundred years, when the men would go to the smoking room and discuss politics, and the women would go to the sitting room and discuss babies. So much for women’s lib, huh? Oh, speaking of babies, Maria did I tell you that my sister is pregnant again?”
“Excuse me,” Liz said suddenly as she dropped a dishtowel and quickly left the room.
“Paula, I’ll be right back,” Maria said as she turned to follow down the hall after Liz. Coming to the bathroom she’d seen Liz go into, she stood by the door before knocking and listened to the muffled sounds of her best friend’s sobs. She turned the knob as she knocked and entered. “Chica, what’s wrong?” she said as she quickly moved to Liz’s side and wrapped her in a hug. “I knew something was wrong with you today. What’s going on?”
Liz got up and grabbed a tissue to blot her eyes. “Nothing, Maria. It’s nothing.”
“Don’t tell me nothing Liz. I’ve known you longer than anyone else. You never cry over nothing. Is everything all right with you and Max?”
At her question Liz began to sob all over again. “Oh, Chica, I’m sorry, I was just trying to get you to talk to me. I never thought anything could be wrong with you guys. I’m sorry, Liz. Talk to me sweetie.” Maria was holding Liz and smoothing her hand over her hair trying to soothe her.
After calming a little, Liz once again reached for a tissue. “It’s not what you think Maria. It’s just…I’m just…I don’t…” She was stumbling over her words, trying to decide if she should share her feelings with Maria. “Maria, I don’t want to hurt your feelings…”
Maria looked at her intensely for a moment before replying. “Liz, the only thing you could ever say to hurt my feelings is that you don’t want to be my friend anymore. Well, that and that you slept with Alex.” They both giggled slightly before she continued. “Talk to me Liz.”
Liz took a deep breath before she began. “Well, you know how Max and I have being trying for a baby since Valentine’s Day. Well, I got my period this morning, and…”
“Oh, sweetie,” Maria whispered as she pulled her into a hug. Maria understood all too well the trauma of infertility, having gone through it herself. “You didn’t want to tell me because of my whole thing?” she asked, and Liz nodded in agreement. “Liz, I accepted that I’ll never have kids a long time ago. Please don’t ever feel you can’t talk to me about it; I mean, who better to understand what you’re feeling?”
“Thanks Maria. I just didn’t want to open any old wounds for you. And I know I’m being ridiculous; we’ve only been trying for two months. It’s just…I know how badly Max wants this baby, and I don’t want to disappoint him. He’s just so wonderful and I just want to make him happy…” Her voice trailed off as tears started to roll down her cheeks once again.
“You do make him happy Liz. All you have to do is look at him to know how happy is being with you and Junior. You have to give this some more time.” As they continued to talk, Maria was able to calm her considerably.
Outside the door, however, was another story. Max sat slumped against the wall, head in hands, quietly crying after having heard the whole episode.
CHAPTER 3
As soon as Liz had started crying Max had felt it. Although he had taught Liz and their son how to ‘block’ each other from being able to read each other’s thoughts whenever they wanted to, strong emotions were very hard to disguise, and hers had seeped right into him. He had quickly excused himself and honed in on her location in the bathroom, and stood outside listening to her pour her heart out to Maria. And now he felt horrible. Like the biggest heal on the face of the earth. She was stressing out about becoming pregnant because she thought she’d disappoint him; because she knew how badly he wanted to have another child. She was crying because of him. After he’d promised her and their son that they’d never cry because of him again. The guilt crushed him like a grape in a wine press.
He heard them getting themselves together to exit, and thought she might be even more upset if she found him eavesdropping. He decided to talk to her about it later at home, in private, and quietly made his way back to the family room. His son gave him a questioning look but said nothing as he sat down on the couch across from him to watch Alex and Nick play pool.
A short while later the girls brought coffee and dessert to them, and when Liz sat down next to him, Max pulled her tightly against his side and placed a tender kiss on her head. She looked at him and smiled, his heart constricting even more when it didn’t quite make it to her eyes. For the rest of the evening they sat pressed together, appearing to everyone to just be happy newlyweds. Only Maria understood the façade her friend was displaying to hide her melancholy feelings.
They bid goodbye to their hosts later on, Max Jr. double-checking that he had Jackie’s email address written down correctly. Upon arriving home, he kissed his parents goodnight and went upstairs to his apartment, immediately sitting down in front of the computer and sending out a message.
Hi Jackie,
It’s me, Max. Well I guess you know that from my return address, huh. Anyway, just wanted to tell you to write or call anytime you have any questions about Riverton, and about registering for your classes. I learned a lot about how to get in classes that were supposed to be full last semester. Well, that’s all. Bye.
Max.
For the next 30 minutes he re-read what he’d sent to her about 10 times. ‘I can’t believe that’s what I wrote to her’, he thought. ‘She’s going to think I’m a complete dork. Which I am. Cause I’m nineteen and have never had a girlfriend. Cause I’m a dork.’
No, it’s because you’re an alien.
He suppressed that thought quickly. This girl had affected him like no other ever had, and he was more than willing to live in the land of denial, at least for a little while, and not deal with that ‘whole load of crap’, as he referred to it. He’d much rather concentrate on the image of her laughing eyes and wavy hair and…
‘You’ve got mail.’
His head shot up when he heard the familiar announcement. Was it from her? Did she get his message and send him one right back? Did she think it was stupid? That he was a dork? Was she thinking about him right now, like he was thinking about her? Was she wondering how she was going to avoid him on campus now that she knew he was a dork?
Was he ever going to open the email?
Taking a deep breath, he opened his mailbox and saw a reply from her address. ‘Well, here goes nothing,’ he thought as he clicked ‘open’.
Max,
Hi, it’s me, Jackie. (Sorry, I just couldn’t resist!) Thanks so much for your offer. I will definitely take you up on it, because I’m not really sure what classes I should take and which ones will be easier for me to get into. Also, I’ve only been to the campus once, so I’d love to see it again with you so I can learn where I’m going. I’ll be down to see Aunt Maria & Uncle Alex before graduation. I hope I’ll see you then.
Well, I have to go finish some homework. Thanks again. Write again soon!
Jackie
The smile spreading across his face could have lit the room on fire. ‘I’ll definitely take you up on it’. She wanted him to write to her again. She hoped she’d see him at Maria and Alex’s! This had to be the best Easter day of his life.
Forty-five minutes north of where he was sitting, Jackie was smiling as she stared at his message, thinking the same thing.
****************************
Liz turned off the light, crawled into bed and leaned over to kiss Max. “Goodnight sweetheart,” she whispered as she laid her head on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and began to slowly rub her back with one hand as the other ran through her hair. ‘Well, the shortest distance to a point is a straight line’, he thought as he decided to get right to what he want to tell her. “Liz, I overheard you telling Maria…I heard you two talking in the bathroom this afternoon.”
Liz rose up on her elbow and looked down at him for a second before answering. “What did you hear?”
“I heard you tell her that you’re worried that you might disappoint me because you’re not pregnant yet.” His eyes got cloudy and his voice softer as he caressed her cheek. “I heard you crying, Liz.”
She cast her eyes downward and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Max, I…”
“No, Liz,” he interrupted. “Please don’t say you’re sorry. I’M sorry. I never meant to make you feel that way. I don’t want you to ever feel that anything you do or don’t do…I don’t ever want you to think that if we don’t have another baby that I’ll be disappointed in you. That could never happen Liz. I love you so much. Please baby, you have to know that…” he swallowed as he rushed on with his thoughts. “You have to know that you and Max have made me happier than I ever imagined was possible. The only thing that matters to me is that you are both safe and happy. Everything else is unimportant to me. Yeah, another child would be wonderful, but if it doesn’t happen, that’s not going to change how I feel about our life. About us. I love you Liz. Nothing is ever going to affect that. Nothing.”
“Thank you,” she whispered as a tear ran down her cheek and rolled over his fingers. “And I, I know that,” she stuttered as she looked up into his eyes and smiled slightly. “I know that you won’t love me any less or anything. I just…I just really want this baby too Max. And this morning, when I knew I still wasn’t…I just let my hormones get the better of me, I guess. “
“Liz, please, I don’t want you to be worrying every month if you’re pregnant or not. If it happens, it happens. It will be like winning the lottery for the second time. And if it doesn’t, we already hit the jackpot once. OK?”
“OK,” she said, a genuine smile lighting her face as she leaned in for a kiss and then settled back into his arms, both of them drifting off to sleep in better spirits.
As soon as Liz had started crying Max had felt it. Although he had taught Liz and their son how to ‘block’ each other from being able to read each other’s thoughts whenever they wanted to, strong emotions were very hard to disguise, and hers had seeped right into him. He had quickly excused himself and honed in on her location in the bathroom, and stood outside listening to her pour her heart out to Maria. And now he felt horrible. Like the biggest heal on the face of the earth. She was stressing out about becoming pregnant because she thought she’d disappoint him; because she knew how badly he wanted to have another child. She was crying because of him. After he’d promised her and their son that they’d never cry because of him again. The guilt crushed him like a grape in a wine press.
He heard them getting themselves together to exit, and thought she might be even more upset if she found him eavesdropping. He decided to talk to her about it later at home, in private, and quietly made his way back to the family room. His son gave him a questioning look but said nothing as he sat down on the couch across from him to watch Alex and Nick play pool.
A short while later the girls brought coffee and dessert to them, and when Liz sat down next to him, Max pulled her tightly against his side and placed a tender kiss on her head. She looked at him and smiled, his heart constricting even more when it didn’t quite make it to her eyes. For the rest of the evening they sat pressed together, appearing to everyone to just be happy newlyweds. Only Maria understood the façade her friend was displaying to hide her melancholy feelings.
They bid goodbye to their hosts later on, Max Jr. double-checking that he had Jackie’s email address written down correctly. Upon arriving home, he kissed his parents goodnight and went upstairs to his apartment, immediately sitting down in front of the computer and sending out a message.
Hi Jackie,
It’s me, Max. Well I guess you know that from my return address, huh. Anyway, just wanted to tell you to write or call anytime you have any questions about Riverton, and about registering for your classes. I learned a lot about how to get in classes that were supposed to be full last semester. Well, that’s all. Bye.
Max.
For the next 30 minutes he re-read what he’d sent to her about 10 times. ‘I can’t believe that’s what I wrote to her’, he thought. ‘She’s going to think I’m a complete dork. Which I am. Cause I’m nineteen and have never had a girlfriend. Cause I’m a dork.’
No, it’s because you’re an alien.
He suppressed that thought quickly. This girl had affected him like no other ever had, and he was more than willing to live in the land of denial, at least for a little while, and not deal with that ‘whole load of crap’, as he referred to it. He’d much rather concentrate on the image of her laughing eyes and wavy hair and…
‘You’ve got mail.’
His head shot up when he heard the familiar announcement. Was it from her? Did she get his message and send him one right back? Did she think it was stupid? That he was a dork? Was she thinking about him right now, like he was thinking about her? Was she wondering how she was going to avoid him on campus now that she knew he was a dork?
Was he ever going to open the email?
Taking a deep breath, he opened his mailbox and saw a reply from her address. ‘Well, here goes nothing,’ he thought as he clicked ‘open’.
Max,
Hi, it’s me, Jackie. (Sorry, I just couldn’t resist!) Thanks so much for your offer. I will definitely take you up on it, because I’m not really sure what classes I should take and which ones will be easier for me to get into. Also, I’ve only been to the campus once, so I’d love to see it again with you so I can learn where I’m going. I’ll be down to see Aunt Maria & Uncle Alex before graduation. I hope I’ll see you then.
Well, I have to go finish some homework. Thanks again. Write again soon!
Jackie
The smile spreading across his face could have lit the room on fire. ‘I’ll definitely take you up on it’. She wanted him to write to her again. She hoped she’d see him at Maria and Alex’s! This had to be the best Easter day of his life.
Forty-five minutes north of where he was sitting, Jackie was smiling as she stared at his message, thinking the same thing.
****************************
Liz turned off the light, crawled into bed and leaned over to kiss Max. “Goodnight sweetheart,” she whispered as she laid her head on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and began to slowly rub her back with one hand as the other ran through her hair. ‘Well, the shortest distance to a point is a straight line’, he thought as he decided to get right to what he want to tell her. “Liz, I overheard you telling Maria…I heard you two talking in the bathroom this afternoon.”
Liz rose up on her elbow and looked down at him for a second before answering. “What did you hear?”
“I heard you tell her that you’re worried that you might disappoint me because you’re not pregnant yet.” His eyes got cloudy and his voice softer as he caressed her cheek. “I heard you crying, Liz.”
She cast her eyes downward and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Max, I…”
“No, Liz,” he interrupted. “Please don’t say you’re sorry. I’M sorry. I never meant to make you feel that way. I don’t want you to ever feel that anything you do or don’t do…I don’t ever want you to think that if we don’t have another baby that I’ll be disappointed in you. That could never happen Liz. I love you so much. Please baby, you have to know that…” he swallowed as he rushed on with his thoughts. “You have to know that you and Max have made me happier than I ever imagined was possible. The only thing that matters to me is that you are both safe and happy. Everything else is unimportant to me. Yeah, another child would be wonderful, but if it doesn’t happen, that’s not going to change how I feel about our life. About us. I love you Liz. Nothing is ever going to affect that. Nothing.”
“Thank you,” she whispered as a tear ran down her cheek and rolled over his fingers. “And I, I know that,” she stuttered as she looked up into his eyes and smiled slightly. “I know that you won’t love me any less or anything. I just…I just really want this baby too Max. And this morning, when I knew I still wasn’t…I just let my hormones get the better of me, I guess. “
“Liz, please, I don’t want you to be worrying every month if you’re pregnant or not. If it happens, it happens. It will be like winning the lottery for the second time. And if it doesn’t, we already hit the jackpot once. OK?”
“OK,” she said, a genuine smile lighting her face as she leaned in for a kiss and then settled back into his arms, both of them drifting off to sleep in better spirits.
CHAPTER 4
Rated R
The ensuing month flew by with all in the Evans household preparing for final exams in one way or another. Jackie and Max had time to email only once, both being very busy with the end of school looming before them. The lack of time helped to keep Liz’s mind on something besides trying to conceive, but it wasn’t enough to lessen her disappointment when she got her period again the beginning of finals week. Max was extremely attentive, trying to make sure she didn’t slip into depression again, and everyone made it through the week intact and were glad when the semester finally came to an end.
Saturday morning of Memorial Day weekend dawned sunny and beautiful. Max and Liz were helping their son pack his truck for a weekend canoe trip with some of his friends up near the Delaware Water Gap. “Honey, are you sure you have enough food?”
“Mom, me and two armies couldn’t finish all of the food you packed!”
“Well,” his father said as he put his arm around his son’s shoulder, “feel free to leave the cinnamon buns and the chocolate chip peanut butter cookies here if you want.”
“Sorry Dad, I told Bob about the cookies and I’m not allowed on the trip unless they come with me.”
“Nice try Max,” Liz said as she pecked her husband on the cheek. “All right, I think we got everything in there. You’re picking up the lanterns from Alex, right?”
”Yeah, I’m stopping over there on my way to pick up Bob. I’d better get going if I don’t want to be late,” he added as he looked at his watch. “Bye Dad, thanks again for the new tent,” he said as he hugged his father goodbye.
“Have a good time son,” Max said as he returned the hug. “Call us tonight when you make camp.”
“Call us as often as you’d like to. Or as often as you think I’d like you to,” Liz said as she pulled him into a bear hug. “I love you.”
“I love you too Mom. I’ll see you Monday around dinner time, OK?” He kissed them each and then headed off to Maria and Alex’s to borrow some things.
“So,” Max said as he wrapped his arms around Liz’s waist from behind and began to nuzzle her neck with his lips. “What are we going to do with him gone for three whole days?”
“Well I did have a few ideas,” she replied as she turned in his arms and wrapped her own around his neck.
He bent forward to rest his forehead against hers as he smiled. “Care to share them with me?”
“Well, I could tell you, I suppose,” she said, kissing him softly and then wriggling out of his grasp. She grabbed one of his hands and began to tug him along as she walked backwards toward the front door. “But I think a visual demonstration might be a little more interesting.”
“Really…well, I have always been a fan of the visual arts. Especially when you’re the vision.” His last sentence came out as a growl as he reeled her back against his body and then lifted her up in his arms and made his way the final few feet to the door. When it flew open without him laying a hand on it Liz began to giggle. “What’s so funny beautiful?” he asked amusedly.
“Just thinking that those alien powers of yours sure are handy sometimes.”
“Oh yeah? Did I ever show you how I can fly?” Max began running as fast as he could toward their bedroom with Liz laughing all the way. Reaching their bed he tossed her on it, dove on top of her and began tickling her sides.
“Max! Max stop!” she giggled out as she tried to elude his wiggling fingers. Finally able to grab hold of both his hands she said “hey! This is supposed to be MY demonstration, remember?”
“Then I’m all yours. But I’ll warn you Dr. Evans,” he said as he lay back on the bed and watched her climb on top of him, “I’m a bit of a slow learner. You might have to show me a few times before I understand.”
“Don’t worry, Dr. Evans,” she answered as her thighs tightened around his hips and she ground herself down on him. “I’m prepared to do this over and over and over until you get it right.”
“Good,” he breathed out, his eyes rolling shut as she continued rocking on his hardness. “Really, really good.”
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxx
Meanwhile, as Max was pulling into Maria and Alex’s driveway he noticed another car in front of the house. ‘Wonder who’s here,’ he thought as he made his way through the garage and into the house via the kitchen door. “Aunt Maria, Uncle Alex? I’m here for the lan…terns.” His voice faltered as he turned the corner and came face to face with Jackie.
“Hi Max!” She leaned toward him a bit and added gleefully, “it’s me, Jackie!”
He blushed furiously at her reference to his first email, but more at her surprising presence. “Hi. I didn’t know you were here.”
“Yeah, Mom is borrowing some stuff from Aunt Maria, and I’m staying overnight.” Her voice faded away and he stood staring at her sparkling eyes and soft, wavy hair that framed her face so perfectly. The way the light illuminated the red tones in her brown hair made it seem like she was glowing, he thought. That, coupled with the beautiful soft pink tint in her cheeks…that blended so nicely with her soft pink lips…oh oh. She was looking at him like he was supposed to say something. “Overnight?” he repeated, hoping it would suffice.
“Yeah, for my birthday Aunt Maria is treating the two of us to a day at a spa. Then Uncle Alex and us are going out to dinner and we’re going to go see ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’ at the movies. They’ll bring me home tomorrow.”
“That sounds like fun,” he answered, getting lost in her eyes again.
Maria appeared behind her niece and immediately noticed the dreamy look on Max’s face and smiled to herself. She loved this boy like he was her own son, and wanted to see him happy and in love. In her opinion, he couldn’t find a better girl than Jackie. She was smart, funny, loved her family, and was one of the most genuinely compassionate people Maria had ever known. It was the proverbial perfect match, and Maria was more than happy to help inch it along. “Homer! Paula and Jackie just got here. I’m afraid that Alex didn’t have time to pull out the lanterns, but you know where they are. Why don’t you two go and find them?”
“OK,” they replied simultaneously, and then shyly smiled at each other when they realized they’d spoken at the same time. Max moved to the door and held it open so she could go first, and then he followed behind trying to think of something to say without sounding like an idiot. “You know, the Homer thing, that’s not my name…”
Shit. That had idiot written all over it. In capital freakin’ letters.
“Um, yeah, your Mom explained it to me at Easter.”
“Oh.” Say something. ANYTHING! “Yeah, they got tired of my Dad and I always answering together. When they would call. ‘Cause we have the same name.” Shit shit SHIT! Looking like an idiot would be an improvement right about now.
“Yeah, that’s gotta be annoying…” ‘Could he be anymore adorable’, she thought as she noticed his nervousness. “But, Homer? It’s, um, a little strange.”
He ducked his head as he nervously laughed. “Well, Aunt Maria did come up with it…” They softly chuckled as Max moved over to the cabinet where the lanterns were stored. As she helped him remove the boxes she said, “so camping, huh?”
“Yeah, my friends and I are canoeing from the Delaware Water Gap south. My friend Bob has done it with his family before, so he knows where to camp and stuff. It should be fun.”
“Yeah, it sounds fun.” There was some awkward silence as they both tried desperately to think of something to say.
“Oh! Did you register at Riverton yet?” Max asked her. Phew! He thought of something to say!
“I just sent in my acceptance letter; I haven’t registered for any classes, though. I was hoping you might still want to help me,” she said quietly.
“Absolutely!”
His enthusiastic reply made her warm inside. “Great!” she said. The ensuing silence wasn’t quite as awkward this time around. Just as Max was about to ask her something else, Maria came breezing through the door. “Did you find the lamps Homer? Oh, you did, good. Do you want to come in for a while?”
“No Aunt Maria, I have to get to Bob’s, we’re supposed to leave soon. Thanks for the lanterns.”
“Anytime, anytime. Jackie, would you help him carry them to his truck? Bye Honey, have fun,” she finished as she blew him a kiss and disappeared back inside the house.
Jackie followed him down the driveway and helped him pack them away. “Well, have fun. Email me when you get home and tell me all about it.”
“Yeah, OK,” he said, the calmness in his voice belying the flip-flops his stomach was currently doing. He climbed into the driver’s seat and she pushed the door closed for him. “It was nice to see you Jackie. Again. Nice to see you again.”
Just when had the ability to have a coherent conversation left him?
“I’ll email you when I get back,” he added. Man, her eyes were gorgeous.
“OK, great. Be careful. Don’t fall in, or anything.”
“I’ll try. Bye Jackie.”
“Bye Max.”
They stared at each other for a few moments before he smiled shyly, started the truck and then slowly backed out. He paused at the end of the driveway and waved, and received a bright smile and return wave. When Maria peered out the window, she saw the smiles on both of their faces as he pulled away, and she couldn’t have been happier.
Rated R
The ensuing month flew by with all in the Evans household preparing for final exams in one way or another. Jackie and Max had time to email only once, both being very busy with the end of school looming before them. The lack of time helped to keep Liz’s mind on something besides trying to conceive, but it wasn’t enough to lessen her disappointment when she got her period again the beginning of finals week. Max was extremely attentive, trying to make sure she didn’t slip into depression again, and everyone made it through the week intact and were glad when the semester finally came to an end.
Saturday morning of Memorial Day weekend dawned sunny and beautiful. Max and Liz were helping their son pack his truck for a weekend canoe trip with some of his friends up near the Delaware Water Gap. “Honey, are you sure you have enough food?”
“Mom, me and two armies couldn’t finish all of the food you packed!”
“Well,” his father said as he put his arm around his son’s shoulder, “feel free to leave the cinnamon buns and the chocolate chip peanut butter cookies here if you want.”
“Sorry Dad, I told Bob about the cookies and I’m not allowed on the trip unless they come with me.”
“Nice try Max,” Liz said as she pecked her husband on the cheek. “All right, I think we got everything in there. You’re picking up the lanterns from Alex, right?”
”Yeah, I’m stopping over there on my way to pick up Bob. I’d better get going if I don’t want to be late,” he added as he looked at his watch. “Bye Dad, thanks again for the new tent,” he said as he hugged his father goodbye.
“Have a good time son,” Max said as he returned the hug. “Call us tonight when you make camp.”
“Call us as often as you’d like to. Or as often as you think I’d like you to,” Liz said as she pulled him into a bear hug. “I love you.”
“I love you too Mom. I’ll see you Monday around dinner time, OK?” He kissed them each and then headed off to Maria and Alex’s to borrow some things.
“So,” Max said as he wrapped his arms around Liz’s waist from behind and began to nuzzle her neck with his lips. “What are we going to do with him gone for three whole days?”
“Well I did have a few ideas,” she replied as she turned in his arms and wrapped her own around his neck.
He bent forward to rest his forehead against hers as he smiled. “Care to share them with me?”
“Well, I could tell you, I suppose,” she said, kissing him softly and then wriggling out of his grasp. She grabbed one of his hands and began to tug him along as she walked backwards toward the front door. “But I think a visual demonstration might be a little more interesting.”
“Really…well, I have always been a fan of the visual arts. Especially when you’re the vision.” His last sentence came out as a growl as he reeled her back against his body and then lifted her up in his arms and made his way the final few feet to the door. When it flew open without him laying a hand on it Liz began to giggle. “What’s so funny beautiful?” he asked amusedly.
“Just thinking that those alien powers of yours sure are handy sometimes.”
“Oh yeah? Did I ever show you how I can fly?” Max began running as fast as he could toward their bedroom with Liz laughing all the way. Reaching their bed he tossed her on it, dove on top of her and began tickling her sides.
“Max! Max stop!” she giggled out as she tried to elude his wiggling fingers. Finally able to grab hold of both his hands she said “hey! This is supposed to be MY demonstration, remember?”
“Then I’m all yours. But I’ll warn you Dr. Evans,” he said as he lay back on the bed and watched her climb on top of him, “I’m a bit of a slow learner. You might have to show me a few times before I understand.”
“Don’t worry, Dr. Evans,” she answered as her thighs tightened around his hips and she ground herself down on him. “I’m prepared to do this over and over and over until you get it right.”
“Good,” he breathed out, his eyes rolling shut as she continued rocking on his hardness. “Really, really good.”
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxx
Meanwhile, as Max was pulling into Maria and Alex’s driveway he noticed another car in front of the house. ‘Wonder who’s here,’ he thought as he made his way through the garage and into the house via the kitchen door. “Aunt Maria, Uncle Alex? I’m here for the lan…terns.” His voice faltered as he turned the corner and came face to face with Jackie.
“Hi Max!” She leaned toward him a bit and added gleefully, “it’s me, Jackie!”
He blushed furiously at her reference to his first email, but more at her surprising presence. “Hi. I didn’t know you were here.”
“Yeah, Mom is borrowing some stuff from Aunt Maria, and I’m staying overnight.” Her voice faded away and he stood staring at her sparkling eyes and soft, wavy hair that framed her face so perfectly. The way the light illuminated the red tones in her brown hair made it seem like she was glowing, he thought. That, coupled with the beautiful soft pink tint in her cheeks…that blended so nicely with her soft pink lips…oh oh. She was looking at him like he was supposed to say something. “Overnight?” he repeated, hoping it would suffice.
“Yeah, for my birthday Aunt Maria is treating the two of us to a day at a spa. Then Uncle Alex and us are going out to dinner and we’re going to go see ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’ at the movies. They’ll bring me home tomorrow.”
“That sounds like fun,” he answered, getting lost in her eyes again.
Maria appeared behind her niece and immediately noticed the dreamy look on Max’s face and smiled to herself. She loved this boy like he was her own son, and wanted to see him happy and in love. In her opinion, he couldn’t find a better girl than Jackie. She was smart, funny, loved her family, and was one of the most genuinely compassionate people Maria had ever known. It was the proverbial perfect match, and Maria was more than happy to help inch it along. “Homer! Paula and Jackie just got here. I’m afraid that Alex didn’t have time to pull out the lanterns, but you know where they are. Why don’t you two go and find them?”
“OK,” they replied simultaneously, and then shyly smiled at each other when they realized they’d spoken at the same time. Max moved to the door and held it open so she could go first, and then he followed behind trying to think of something to say without sounding like an idiot. “You know, the Homer thing, that’s not my name…”
Shit. That had idiot written all over it. In capital freakin’ letters.
“Um, yeah, your Mom explained it to me at Easter.”
“Oh.” Say something. ANYTHING! “Yeah, they got tired of my Dad and I always answering together. When they would call. ‘Cause we have the same name.” Shit shit SHIT! Looking like an idiot would be an improvement right about now.
“Yeah, that’s gotta be annoying…” ‘Could he be anymore adorable’, she thought as she noticed his nervousness. “But, Homer? It’s, um, a little strange.”
He ducked his head as he nervously laughed. “Well, Aunt Maria did come up with it…” They softly chuckled as Max moved over to the cabinet where the lanterns were stored. As she helped him remove the boxes she said, “so camping, huh?”
“Yeah, my friends and I are canoeing from the Delaware Water Gap south. My friend Bob has done it with his family before, so he knows where to camp and stuff. It should be fun.”
“Yeah, it sounds fun.” There was some awkward silence as they both tried desperately to think of something to say.
“Oh! Did you register at Riverton yet?” Max asked her. Phew! He thought of something to say!
“I just sent in my acceptance letter; I haven’t registered for any classes, though. I was hoping you might still want to help me,” she said quietly.
“Absolutely!”
His enthusiastic reply made her warm inside. “Great!” she said. The ensuing silence wasn’t quite as awkward this time around. Just as Max was about to ask her something else, Maria came breezing through the door. “Did you find the lamps Homer? Oh, you did, good. Do you want to come in for a while?”
“No Aunt Maria, I have to get to Bob’s, we’re supposed to leave soon. Thanks for the lanterns.”
“Anytime, anytime. Jackie, would you help him carry them to his truck? Bye Honey, have fun,” she finished as she blew him a kiss and disappeared back inside the house.
Jackie followed him down the driveway and helped him pack them away. “Well, have fun. Email me when you get home and tell me all about it.”
“Yeah, OK,” he said, the calmness in his voice belying the flip-flops his stomach was currently doing. He climbed into the driver’s seat and she pushed the door closed for him. “It was nice to see you Jackie. Again. Nice to see you again.”
Just when had the ability to have a coherent conversation left him?
“I’ll email you when I get back,” he added. Man, her eyes were gorgeous.
“OK, great. Be careful. Don’t fall in, or anything.”
“I’ll try. Bye Jackie.”
“Bye Max.”
They stared at each other for a few moments before he smiled shyly, started the truck and then slowly backed out. He paused at the end of the driveway and waved, and received a bright smile and return wave. When Maria peered out the window, she saw the smiles on both of their faces as he pulled away, and she couldn’t have been happier.
CHAPTER 5
// means connection //
NC-17
Max’s eyes popped open as he awakened in an empty bed. He lazily yawned and stretched as he remained under the covers, and opened the connection between he and Liz. // Where are you, my beautiful, wonderful wife? //
// Good morning sleepyhead. I’m in the garage working out. Why don’t you get your cute butt out of bed and join me. //
// You think I have a cute butt, huh? // His smirk was evident to her and she smiled.
// Yes, I do, and if you want to keep it that way you should get out here and pump some iron. //
// Are you implying I’m getting soft? //
// I’m not the one who ate half a batch of chocolate chip peanut butter cookies in one sitting last night, am I? // Her giggles filled his head and now it was his turn to smile.
Max raised the sheet and grabbed some skin around his waistline. // Hmm, maybe you’re right. I’ll be right out. //
Max threw on a pair of shorts and trotted out to their garage, which Liz had converted to a workout room a few years prior. She was just finishing up working on the stationary bike as he came in and walked to where she was sitting. “So you decided to come and work off those cookies, huh?” she teased him.
He leaned over and kissed her good morning before replying. “If you weren’t such a great cook I wouldn’t have to come out here at all.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment, thank you.”
“Are you going to use this Honey?” he asked as he pointed at a weight bar he wanted to use for bench presses.
“No, it’s all yours, I’m going to work on the small bag.” Liz finished putting on her gloves and began working the small punching bag as Max lay down and began to lift, turning his head so he could watch her. He loved to watch her moving so quickly and gracefully around, expertly pummeling the bag, and watch her body as she worked it hard. He noted happily that right now, she glistened with a slight sheen and her cheeks reddened with her efforts as her tight tank top rode up to reveal her lower abdomen peaking out over the waistband of her shorts. Moving his eyes up again he noticed she was bra-less. His thoughts began straying far from the weight he was effortlessly pressing up and down, and caused a tent to form in his shorts. He was so easy when it came to her.
Liz was able to enjoy a view of her own as she came around the back of the bag, facing him as he lay shirtless lifting the heavy bar up and down, causing the muscles on his stomach to clench and relax, clench and relax. Her eyes drifted down to his growing arousal and her nipples hardened immediately. The evidence of his desire turned her on quickly, and she lost concentration for a moment and had to duck to avoid getting hit by the bag.
Max’s laughter caught in his throat before it escaped and changed into a groan as his eyes landed on her hard peaks, and he turned his head away from her to take a deep breath. When he turned back a moment later, she was standing next to him removing the boxing gloves.
“Need any help working out this muscle down here?” she said huskily as she reached down and stroked him over his clothes.
“It is important to work all of the, aahhh…all of one’s muscle groups…uuhhh…” He wanted to continue to banter with her, but lost the ability when she kneeled down and quickly slid her hand up the leg of his shorts and grasped his length. “Ooohhh, no underwear, I like,” she purred. After a few soft strokes she withdrew her hand, and he groaned as he felt her quickly pull his shorts off leaving him lying naked, face-up on the bench.
“See anything you like?” he breathed out as her heated gaze caused him to harden even more.
“Oh yeah,” she replied as she began to strip off her clothes. His cock twitched in response to her nudity and she felt her nipples tighten again in pleasure, causing him to lick his lips in anticipation. Suddenly feeling a bit wonton she began to run her hands over her body, sliding one up into her hair disheveling it as the other ran down over her stomach and outside over her hip. His eyes widened and then darkened, spurring her on to bring her hands to cup her full breasts and toy with her nipples. After a few moments she dragged one hand down toward her heat, and his eyes narrowed to slits as her fingers passed through her dark curls and entered her passage.
“How ‘bout you Max? Do you see anything you like?” Her voice was like a drug to him- low, thick, sexy; the voice of an aroused woman. But not just any woman. Liz. The love of his life. Who was pleasuring herself as he watched, knowing that she would soon pleasure him also. And she wanted to know if there was anything he liked?
“Everything.”
A feeling of power came over her at the sound of his choked answer. She withdrew her hands and swung a leg over his body so she was straddling him standing up. Bending over slightly, with one hand she grasped the weight bar he was still holding on to, and with the other walked her fingers over his chest. A provocative smile lit her face as her teasing voice spoke to him. “Maybe I should test you to see if you remember all of your lessons from yesterday.”
Not willing to give in too easily, he returned her smile as he answered, “by all means. Would you like me to start here?” His hands immediately let go of the bar and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her down onto his aroused form. He sat halfway up and attached his open mouth to her breast to devour her supple flesh. Her free hand speared into his hair as her hips began to move, rubbing her moistness over his hard member, stoking the fire in her body that was sweeping over her. He began toying with her nipple, sucking it hard while his tongue flicked over it, then holding it in his teeth as his tongue continued its magic. He switched mounds and the bulbous tip of his cock rubbed across her mound of nerves, causing her to moan loudly and constrain her movements to repeat the action over and over.
He released her breast to look at her, glorying in the way her head hung back and her hair was dangling all around her, and in the soft moans escaping her parted lips. Her pleasure gave him pleasure; her desire fed his desire. He had to taste her again and pulled her face toward him to attack her mouth. Liz eagerly returned the assault as she continued to work her clit over his throbbing head, her movements becoming quicker and more intense as the pleasure threatened to drown her. Suddenly he felt her nails dig into his back and he could feel her body shuddering as she wrenched her mouth away from his and he watched, mesmerized as she climaxed. Her whimpering corresponded with each contraction of her body, and as he observed the bliss washing over her, he was once again gripped by his overwhelming love for her. He lay back, cradling her against his heaving chest as she calmed; his body now screaming to be encased in her warmth.
“Liz…I need you…” he breathed out in a needy tone. Immediately he felt her velvet lips kiss his shoulder and begin to work their way to his neck, travel over his jaw, and move up to his ear.
“I need you too baby,” she whispered as she quickly moved over his raging hard-on and sank down on his girth.
“Uuuhhh…Liz…mmmhhh…” he moaned as she rode him, his hands aiding her by moving her hips to slam onto his thrusting cock. They moved together fast and hard, both desperately seeking release in the other. He felt his balls tightening and rasped out “Liz…I’m gonna…cum…”
Not wanting to be left behind, she lifted her torso off him to sit up, and plunged a finger into the top of her slit. She moaned wildly as she worked her clit furiously, and when she finally felt him explode inside of her, her entire body spasmed as she screamed out his name.
They lay together in a clinch, their bodies violently trembling in the aftermath of their orgasms. As their breathing finally began to calm Liz began to giggle.
“What, baby,” Max drawled, still in a bit of a sexual fog.
Liz lifted up, crossed her arms across his chest, and leaned back down. “I was just thinking. We have now officially defiled every single piece of exercise equipment we own.”
His eyes remained closed as a large smile spread over his face. “Well, give me a few minutes, and we could start back at the top of the list.”
“Mmmm,” she murmured, her lips moving over his jaw to his mouth. In between kisses she mumbled “I like…the way…you…think…”
Max sat up, holding her tightly to him, not breaking the kiss. His hand released her body to tunnel through her hair, holding her head immobile as he thoroughly tasted her once more. When they broke apart for oxygen, he panted “ready, Rocky?”
Her answer came via their connection as she hungrily reclaimed his lips.
// Oh yeah. //
// means connection //
NC-17
Max’s eyes popped open as he awakened in an empty bed. He lazily yawned and stretched as he remained under the covers, and opened the connection between he and Liz. // Where are you, my beautiful, wonderful wife? //
// Good morning sleepyhead. I’m in the garage working out. Why don’t you get your cute butt out of bed and join me. //
// You think I have a cute butt, huh? // His smirk was evident to her and she smiled.
// Yes, I do, and if you want to keep it that way you should get out here and pump some iron. //
// Are you implying I’m getting soft? //
// I’m not the one who ate half a batch of chocolate chip peanut butter cookies in one sitting last night, am I? // Her giggles filled his head and now it was his turn to smile.
Max raised the sheet and grabbed some skin around his waistline. // Hmm, maybe you’re right. I’ll be right out. //
Max threw on a pair of shorts and trotted out to their garage, which Liz had converted to a workout room a few years prior. She was just finishing up working on the stationary bike as he came in and walked to where she was sitting. “So you decided to come and work off those cookies, huh?” she teased him.
He leaned over and kissed her good morning before replying. “If you weren’t such a great cook I wouldn’t have to come out here at all.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment, thank you.”
“Are you going to use this Honey?” he asked as he pointed at a weight bar he wanted to use for bench presses.
“No, it’s all yours, I’m going to work on the small bag.” Liz finished putting on her gloves and began working the small punching bag as Max lay down and began to lift, turning his head so he could watch her. He loved to watch her moving so quickly and gracefully around, expertly pummeling the bag, and watch her body as she worked it hard. He noted happily that right now, she glistened with a slight sheen and her cheeks reddened with her efforts as her tight tank top rode up to reveal her lower abdomen peaking out over the waistband of her shorts. Moving his eyes up again he noticed she was bra-less. His thoughts began straying far from the weight he was effortlessly pressing up and down, and caused a tent to form in his shorts. He was so easy when it came to her.
Liz was able to enjoy a view of her own as she came around the back of the bag, facing him as he lay shirtless lifting the heavy bar up and down, causing the muscles on his stomach to clench and relax, clench and relax. Her eyes drifted down to his growing arousal and her nipples hardened immediately. The evidence of his desire turned her on quickly, and she lost concentration for a moment and had to duck to avoid getting hit by the bag.
Max’s laughter caught in his throat before it escaped and changed into a groan as his eyes landed on her hard peaks, and he turned his head away from her to take a deep breath. When he turned back a moment later, she was standing next to him removing the boxing gloves.
“Need any help working out this muscle down here?” she said huskily as she reached down and stroked him over his clothes.
“It is important to work all of the, aahhh…all of one’s muscle groups…uuhhh…” He wanted to continue to banter with her, but lost the ability when she kneeled down and quickly slid her hand up the leg of his shorts and grasped his length. “Ooohhh, no underwear, I like,” she purred. After a few soft strokes she withdrew her hand, and he groaned as he felt her quickly pull his shorts off leaving him lying naked, face-up on the bench.
“See anything you like?” he breathed out as her heated gaze caused him to harden even more.
“Oh yeah,” she replied as she began to strip off her clothes. His cock twitched in response to her nudity and she felt her nipples tighten again in pleasure, causing him to lick his lips in anticipation. Suddenly feeling a bit wonton she began to run her hands over her body, sliding one up into her hair disheveling it as the other ran down over her stomach and outside over her hip. His eyes widened and then darkened, spurring her on to bring her hands to cup her full breasts and toy with her nipples. After a few moments she dragged one hand down toward her heat, and his eyes narrowed to slits as her fingers passed through her dark curls and entered her passage.
“How ‘bout you Max? Do you see anything you like?” Her voice was like a drug to him- low, thick, sexy; the voice of an aroused woman. But not just any woman. Liz. The love of his life. Who was pleasuring herself as he watched, knowing that she would soon pleasure him also. And she wanted to know if there was anything he liked?
“Everything.”
A feeling of power came over her at the sound of his choked answer. She withdrew her hands and swung a leg over his body so she was straddling him standing up. Bending over slightly, with one hand she grasped the weight bar he was still holding on to, and with the other walked her fingers over his chest. A provocative smile lit her face as her teasing voice spoke to him. “Maybe I should test you to see if you remember all of your lessons from yesterday.”
Not willing to give in too easily, he returned her smile as he answered, “by all means. Would you like me to start here?” His hands immediately let go of the bar and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her down onto his aroused form. He sat halfway up and attached his open mouth to her breast to devour her supple flesh. Her free hand speared into his hair as her hips began to move, rubbing her moistness over his hard member, stoking the fire in her body that was sweeping over her. He began toying with her nipple, sucking it hard while his tongue flicked over it, then holding it in his teeth as his tongue continued its magic. He switched mounds and the bulbous tip of his cock rubbed across her mound of nerves, causing her to moan loudly and constrain her movements to repeat the action over and over.
He released her breast to look at her, glorying in the way her head hung back and her hair was dangling all around her, and in the soft moans escaping her parted lips. Her pleasure gave him pleasure; her desire fed his desire. He had to taste her again and pulled her face toward him to attack her mouth. Liz eagerly returned the assault as she continued to work her clit over his throbbing head, her movements becoming quicker and more intense as the pleasure threatened to drown her. Suddenly he felt her nails dig into his back and he could feel her body shuddering as she wrenched her mouth away from his and he watched, mesmerized as she climaxed. Her whimpering corresponded with each contraction of her body, and as he observed the bliss washing over her, he was once again gripped by his overwhelming love for her. He lay back, cradling her against his heaving chest as she calmed; his body now screaming to be encased in her warmth.
“Liz…I need you…” he breathed out in a needy tone. Immediately he felt her velvet lips kiss his shoulder and begin to work their way to his neck, travel over his jaw, and move up to his ear.
“I need you too baby,” she whispered as she quickly moved over his raging hard-on and sank down on his girth.
“Uuuhhh…Liz…mmmhhh…” he moaned as she rode him, his hands aiding her by moving her hips to slam onto his thrusting cock. They moved together fast and hard, both desperately seeking release in the other. He felt his balls tightening and rasped out “Liz…I’m gonna…cum…”
Not wanting to be left behind, she lifted her torso off him to sit up, and plunged a finger into the top of her slit. She moaned wildly as she worked her clit furiously, and when she finally felt him explode inside of her, her entire body spasmed as she screamed out his name.
They lay together in a clinch, their bodies violently trembling in the aftermath of their orgasms. As their breathing finally began to calm Liz began to giggle.
“What, baby,” Max drawled, still in a bit of a sexual fog.
Liz lifted up, crossed her arms across his chest, and leaned back down. “I was just thinking. We have now officially defiled every single piece of exercise equipment we own.”
His eyes remained closed as a large smile spread over his face. “Well, give me a few minutes, and we could start back at the top of the list.”
“Mmmm,” she murmured, her lips moving over his jaw to his mouth. In between kisses she mumbled “I like…the way…you…think…”
Max sat up, holding her tightly to him, not breaking the kiss. His hand released her body to tunnel through her hair, holding her head immobile as he thoroughly tasted her once more. When they broke apart for oxygen, he panted “ready, Rocky?”
Her answer came via their connection as she hungrily reclaimed his lips.
// Oh yeah. //
CHAPTER 6
“Thanks again, Aunt Maria. I really loved my gift,” Jackie said as Maria and Alex climbed into their car to leave after taking their niece home on Sunday.
“Yes, thank you both for such a generous gift to Jackie,” said Nick, as he and his wife kissed them both goodbye.
“Yeah Maria, anytime you want to treat me like Queen for a day, I’m available,” joked Paula.
After thinking a moment, Maria replied “you know what, that’s a great idea. You, Liz and I should go into the City for girl’s day out. We could go to a spa, and a really expensive lunch. How ‘bout it.”
“Are you kidding? Name the date and time and I’m there!” Paula enthused.
“I’ll check what dates are good for Liz, but the next month or so is no good for me. Why don’t we try for the end of July?” Maria said.
“Sure, just remember the third weekend is Jackie’s graduation party, OK?”
“No problem, I’ll try for the weekend after that. We’re having dinner with Liz and Max tonight, so I’ll check with her and let you know. Oh, I’m excited, this will be fun!”
“Great, then call me next week,” said Paula as she stepped back from the car.
“I will. Take care guys, love you,” Maria called out as Alex began to back out of the driveway.
“Love you,” Alex also called out to the people waving to them. As he turned onto the street, he said to Maria “that sounds like fun, you three going to the City.”
“Yeah, it’ll be good for Liz’s nerves, too,” she thought aloud. Alex nodded in understanding, Maria having informed him of the tension Liz was putting herself under while trying to conceive a baby. No one knew better then the two of them the stress of that situation.
“Hey, I have another great idea,” Maria said. “You, Nick, and Max should have a boy’s day out the same day. Go fishing or something.”
“That is a great idea, babe. Let me know the date and I’ll see what’s going on. Maybe get tickets if the Yankees are in town. Max still hasn’t been to a game.”
“Good idea. And if you do go to a game, the six of us could meet somewhere for dinner. We could go to that new place in Chinatown that Sue from work has been talking about. Honey, remind me to bring this up tonight with Liz and Max, in case I forget.”
“OK. I’ll go on the Internet when we get home and see if there’s a ballgame that weekend.” After a moment he asked her, “so, did you decide if you’re going to say anything to Liz about Jackie and their son?” Maria had filled him in on the encounter she had witnessed the day before between them, and also included the scene she observed on Easter.
“I don’t know. On the one hand, I want to, but then I think that maybe I shouldn’t interfere and let her find out on her own. I just don’t know.”
“What are your reasons for not telling her?” Alex asked.
“Because I’m not sure how she’ll react. Max dating a someone- this is going to bring up a lot of issues for both of his parents. As much as I want this to happen, I also very much understand the seriousness of this situation.” She turned and looked at him and asked, “do you think I should tell them?”
Alex scratched his chin for a moment as he gave her question some thought. “As much as I think my niece could handle the whole thing, I don’t think I could honestly gage anyone’s reaction to finding out that there really are aliens among us, and that two of them happen to be our best friends.” He sighed before he continued. “I would love to see the two of them get together, though.”
“Me too,” Maria replied as she turned back to stare out of the windshield. “But I just don’t know.”
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
“…and then we spent the rest of the afternoon chasing the frog around the room!” Liz, Max, and Alex all laughed at another of Maria’s stories about the kids at her daycare center as they all enjoyed dinner together at one of their favorite restaurants.
“I keep telling her that one day all of the animals that have been brought in for show-and-tell and have gotten loose are going to come back and exact their revenge, like in a Stephen King novel,” Alex said. “You know, they’ll march in together and throw everyone in a giant cage while they get to eat milk and cookies.”
“Yeah,” Liz piped up, still laughing. “And then they’ll take a nap!”
As their laughter died down Alex looked at Maria and said, “so Honey, are you going to tell them about the brilliant idea you had this morning?”
“Oh oh, Max; this can’t be good,” Liz joked as she looked at Maria.
“Well ye of little faith, how does a Saturday trip to a salon in the City for some well deserved pampering and then a nice expensive lunch, and maybe a little shopping at Sacks or Barney’s sound to you? It would be you, me, and Paula, at the end of July.”
“I stand corrected, that sounds wonderful. I guess you had fun with Jackie yesterday, then, huh?”
“It was great, and when Paula mentioned she’d like to go too, I thought why not? We haven’t done anything like this in a really long time. And not to leave the boys out,” Maria said, turning to her husband and patting him on the shoulder, “Alex found out that the Yankees are playing that afternoon. So we thought that you guys and Nick could go to the game, and then we could all meet up for dinner in Chinatown.”
“Oh, I think that’s a great idea! What do you think Max?” Liz said as she rubbed her hand over his arm.
“Sounds good to me. I’d really like to see a game at Yankee Stadium.”
“Great!” Maria whipped out her pocket calendar and flipped through the pages. “OK, I was thinking of the last Saturday in July, because Jackie’s graduation party is the weekend before- you guys are going to that, right?”
“Yup, we’re going,” answered Liz as she continued to run her hand lightly up and down Max’s arm. As he watched her hand and its innocent movements, he recalled their activity in their gym earlier in the day and the not-so-innocent things she’d done to him with those hands.
“Is it hot in here?” he asked suddenly as his face flushed a bit.
“Actually, I think it’s a little cool,” Maria replied to him before continuing with her plans. “Well, Paula said that the date was good for her also, so I’m going to pencil this in for Saturday, July 30th. I’ll make the reservations for everything tomorrow,” Maria said as she finished writing.
“And as luck would have it, I see Rich Jenkinson from the History Department over there at the bar. His brother gets box seats through his job all of the time, and Rich told me if I ever wanted some tickets to let him know and he’d see what he could do. Let me go talk to him right now,” Alex said as he rose from the table and made his way over toward his colleague.
“While he’s doing that I’m going to the ladies room. Liz?” Maria raised her eyebrow to question if her friend wanted to go along.
“No thanks Maria, I’m fine.”
“OK, you two behave now,” Maria smirked as she left.
Liz giggled as she watched Maria walk away from them. She felt Max’s fingers close over her hand that was still absently stroking his arm, and as she turned back toward him and smiled he lifted her hand to his lips. “You know,” he said as he began to kiss each of her fingers, “if you keep doing that it’s going to be very hard for me to behave.”
“Who said I wanted you to behave?” Liz answered as she leaned in and kissed him. “In fact, I was counting on you not behaving later on when we get home,” she added suggestively.
“Count on it,” he mumbled right before he leaned in and kissed her again. As he pulled away he reached up to tuck her hair behind her ears and then gave her the smile that made her insides turn to goo every time. “Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight, Mrs. Evans?”
It was her turn to take his hand, moving it from her hair to her mouth so she could place a kiss on his palm. She sighed happily before saying “several times, but I never tire of hearing it.” She surrounded his hand with both of hers and brought it to rest in her lap as they gazed at each other, comfortable in the silence of their love, oblivious to the noise and activity of the busy restaurant crowd around them. That was how Alex found them a few moments later when he returned, ending their reverie as he slapped Max on the back and moved back to his seat. “It’s a done deal, my friend. Rich called his brother on his cell and he has a wedding to go to, so he’s not using the seats that day.”
“Great,” Max said as he tore his eyes from Liz’s face and looked at Alex. “Do you know who they’re playing?”
“Yes I do,” Alex replied, looking like the cat that ate the canary.
“You do what, Honey?” Maria asked him as she arrived back at the table.
“I happen to know that on July 30th, Max, my brother and I will be sitting in the box next to Steinbrenner’s box watching the Yankees and the Mets.”
“You’re kidding!” Liz said. “The Subway Series is that weekend? I would love to go to any of those games.”
“Yeah, me too,” Maria said. “Seats next to the owner’s box. That will be a great first game for you to go to, Max.”
“Well, don’t sulk my girls. I knew that you two would want to go, so I asked him if the seats were taken for the next day also, and he said the entire box was still available. So, I grabbed the tickets, and figured we could stay over at Nick and Paula’s that night, and then all of us, including the kids, can go to the Sunday game.”
“Honey that’s fantastic! What do you guys think,” Maria asked their friends.
“Are you kidding? We’re there!” said Liz quickly. “Oh, Max, I’m sorry; I didn’t ask you if that sounded OK to you.”
“I think it’s great. Max will be glad; he was talking about trying to get tickets for one of those games. Sounds like a great weekend all around.”
“Yes it does, thank you,” Maria said dramatically, “if I do say so myself.”
“And we have you to thank for it Sweetie,” Alex said as he leaned over and gave her a peck on the cheek. He looked over at the Evans’s and said, “I took care of the check, so if you are all ready, we can leave.”
“Alex you didn’t have to do that,” Max protested. “It was our turn, you paid the last time.”
“I did?” Alex stood up, looking at him in momentary confusion. “Oh well, you can get it the next couple of times then, Max.”
“I don’t know Alex,” Liz said as she stood also, “you’re starting to forget things, and your fortieth birthday is still almost a year away. Can a bald head and Depends be far behind?”
“Very funny Liz,” he retorted as they all made their way out of the restaurant laughing. “Just remember, forty is not that far away for any of you, either.”
“Honey I told you, Liz and I made a pact. At thirty-nine we start subtracting a year from our age, so we’ll never turn forty,” Maria said as she looped her arm through Alex’s. She turned to look back at Max and Liz, who were lagging behind them, arms around each other and giggling as they stole quick kisses while they walked through the parking lot. “Do you two want to go somewhere for a drink or coffee, or do you want to get home so you can make like bunnies,” she teasingly asked.
“Maria…” Liz was blushing as they arrived at the car.
// Bunnies. Tell her we want to do the bunny thing. //
Liz’s cheeks flamed at Max’s thoughts. As she tilted her face up to retort, she found him smiling innocently down at her, belying the words and images he was projecting to her. Without turning her head she answered Maria’s question.
“We’ll be going home, thanks.”
Maria laughed quietly as they all settled in their seats and Alex started the car.
“Some things never change.”
“Thanks again, Aunt Maria. I really loved my gift,” Jackie said as Maria and Alex climbed into their car to leave after taking their niece home on Sunday.
“Yes, thank you both for such a generous gift to Jackie,” said Nick, as he and his wife kissed them both goodbye.
“Yeah Maria, anytime you want to treat me like Queen for a day, I’m available,” joked Paula.
After thinking a moment, Maria replied “you know what, that’s a great idea. You, Liz and I should go into the City for girl’s day out. We could go to a spa, and a really expensive lunch. How ‘bout it.”
“Are you kidding? Name the date and time and I’m there!” Paula enthused.
“I’ll check what dates are good for Liz, but the next month or so is no good for me. Why don’t we try for the end of July?” Maria said.
“Sure, just remember the third weekend is Jackie’s graduation party, OK?”
“No problem, I’ll try for the weekend after that. We’re having dinner with Liz and Max tonight, so I’ll check with her and let you know. Oh, I’m excited, this will be fun!”
“Great, then call me next week,” said Paula as she stepped back from the car.
“I will. Take care guys, love you,” Maria called out as Alex began to back out of the driveway.
“Love you,” Alex also called out to the people waving to them. As he turned onto the street, he said to Maria “that sounds like fun, you three going to the City.”
“Yeah, it’ll be good for Liz’s nerves, too,” she thought aloud. Alex nodded in understanding, Maria having informed him of the tension Liz was putting herself under while trying to conceive a baby. No one knew better then the two of them the stress of that situation.
“Hey, I have another great idea,” Maria said. “You, Nick, and Max should have a boy’s day out the same day. Go fishing or something.”
“That is a great idea, babe. Let me know the date and I’ll see what’s going on. Maybe get tickets if the Yankees are in town. Max still hasn’t been to a game.”
“Good idea. And if you do go to a game, the six of us could meet somewhere for dinner. We could go to that new place in Chinatown that Sue from work has been talking about. Honey, remind me to bring this up tonight with Liz and Max, in case I forget.”
“OK. I’ll go on the Internet when we get home and see if there’s a ballgame that weekend.” After a moment he asked her, “so, did you decide if you’re going to say anything to Liz about Jackie and their son?” Maria had filled him in on the encounter she had witnessed the day before between them, and also included the scene she observed on Easter.
“I don’t know. On the one hand, I want to, but then I think that maybe I shouldn’t interfere and let her find out on her own. I just don’t know.”
“What are your reasons for not telling her?” Alex asked.
“Because I’m not sure how she’ll react. Max dating a someone- this is going to bring up a lot of issues for both of his parents. As much as I want this to happen, I also very much understand the seriousness of this situation.” She turned and looked at him and asked, “do you think I should tell them?”
Alex scratched his chin for a moment as he gave her question some thought. “As much as I think my niece could handle the whole thing, I don’t think I could honestly gage anyone’s reaction to finding out that there really are aliens among us, and that two of them happen to be our best friends.” He sighed before he continued. “I would love to see the two of them get together, though.”
“Me too,” Maria replied as she turned back to stare out of the windshield. “But I just don’t know.”
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
“…and then we spent the rest of the afternoon chasing the frog around the room!” Liz, Max, and Alex all laughed at another of Maria’s stories about the kids at her daycare center as they all enjoyed dinner together at one of their favorite restaurants.
“I keep telling her that one day all of the animals that have been brought in for show-and-tell and have gotten loose are going to come back and exact their revenge, like in a Stephen King novel,” Alex said. “You know, they’ll march in together and throw everyone in a giant cage while they get to eat milk and cookies.”
“Yeah,” Liz piped up, still laughing. “And then they’ll take a nap!”
As their laughter died down Alex looked at Maria and said, “so Honey, are you going to tell them about the brilliant idea you had this morning?”
“Oh oh, Max; this can’t be good,” Liz joked as she looked at Maria.
“Well ye of little faith, how does a Saturday trip to a salon in the City for some well deserved pampering and then a nice expensive lunch, and maybe a little shopping at Sacks or Barney’s sound to you? It would be you, me, and Paula, at the end of July.”
“I stand corrected, that sounds wonderful. I guess you had fun with Jackie yesterday, then, huh?”
“It was great, and when Paula mentioned she’d like to go too, I thought why not? We haven’t done anything like this in a really long time. And not to leave the boys out,” Maria said, turning to her husband and patting him on the shoulder, “Alex found out that the Yankees are playing that afternoon. So we thought that you guys and Nick could go to the game, and then we could all meet up for dinner in Chinatown.”
“Oh, I think that’s a great idea! What do you think Max?” Liz said as she rubbed her hand over his arm.
“Sounds good to me. I’d really like to see a game at Yankee Stadium.”
“Great!” Maria whipped out her pocket calendar and flipped through the pages. “OK, I was thinking of the last Saturday in July, because Jackie’s graduation party is the weekend before- you guys are going to that, right?”
“Yup, we’re going,” answered Liz as she continued to run her hand lightly up and down Max’s arm. As he watched her hand and its innocent movements, he recalled their activity in their gym earlier in the day and the not-so-innocent things she’d done to him with those hands.
“Is it hot in here?” he asked suddenly as his face flushed a bit.
“Actually, I think it’s a little cool,” Maria replied to him before continuing with her plans. “Well, Paula said that the date was good for her also, so I’m going to pencil this in for Saturday, July 30th. I’ll make the reservations for everything tomorrow,” Maria said as she finished writing.
“And as luck would have it, I see Rich Jenkinson from the History Department over there at the bar. His brother gets box seats through his job all of the time, and Rich told me if I ever wanted some tickets to let him know and he’d see what he could do. Let me go talk to him right now,” Alex said as he rose from the table and made his way over toward his colleague.
“While he’s doing that I’m going to the ladies room. Liz?” Maria raised her eyebrow to question if her friend wanted to go along.
“No thanks Maria, I’m fine.”
“OK, you two behave now,” Maria smirked as she left.
Liz giggled as she watched Maria walk away from them. She felt Max’s fingers close over her hand that was still absently stroking his arm, and as she turned back toward him and smiled he lifted her hand to his lips. “You know,” he said as he began to kiss each of her fingers, “if you keep doing that it’s going to be very hard for me to behave.”
“Who said I wanted you to behave?” Liz answered as she leaned in and kissed him. “In fact, I was counting on you not behaving later on when we get home,” she added suggestively.
“Count on it,” he mumbled right before he leaned in and kissed her again. As he pulled away he reached up to tuck her hair behind her ears and then gave her the smile that made her insides turn to goo every time. “Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight, Mrs. Evans?”
It was her turn to take his hand, moving it from her hair to her mouth so she could place a kiss on his palm. She sighed happily before saying “several times, but I never tire of hearing it.” She surrounded his hand with both of hers and brought it to rest in her lap as they gazed at each other, comfortable in the silence of their love, oblivious to the noise and activity of the busy restaurant crowd around them. That was how Alex found them a few moments later when he returned, ending their reverie as he slapped Max on the back and moved back to his seat. “It’s a done deal, my friend. Rich called his brother on his cell and he has a wedding to go to, so he’s not using the seats that day.”
“Great,” Max said as he tore his eyes from Liz’s face and looked at Alex. “Do you know who they’re playing?”
“Yes I do,” Alex replied, looking like the cat that ate the canary.
“You do what, Honey?” Maria asked him as she arrived back at the table.
“I happen to know that on July 30th, Max, my brother and I will be sitting in the box next to Steinbrenner’s box watching the Yankees and the Mets.”
“You’re kidding!” Liz said. “The Subway Series is that weekend? I would love to go to any of those games.”
“Yeah, me too,” Maria said. “Seats next to the owner’s box. That will be a great first game for you to go to, Max.”
“Well, don’t sulk my girls. I knew that you two would want to go, so I asked him if the seats were taken for the next day also, and he said the entire box was still available. So, I grabbed the tickets, and figured we could stay over at Nick and Paula’s that night, and then all of us, including the kids, can go to the Sunday game.”
“Honey that’s fantastic! What do you guys think,” Maria asked their friends.
“Are you kidding? We’re there!” said Liz quickly. “Oh, Max, I’m sorry; I didn’t ask you if that sounded OK to you.”
“I think it’s great. Max will be glad; he was talking about trying to get tickets for one of those games. Sounds like a great weekend all around.”
“Yes it does, thank you,” Maria said dramatically, “if I do say so myself.”
“And we have you to thank for it Sweetie,” Alex said as he leaned over and gave her a peck on the cheek. He looked over at the Evans’s and said, “I took care of the check, so if you are all ready, we can leave.”
“Alex you didn’t have to do that,” Max protested. “It was our turn, you paid the last time.”
“I did?” Alex stood up, looking at him in momentary confusion. “Oh well, you can get it the next couple of times then, Max.”
“I don’t know Alex,” Liz said as she stood also, “you’re starting to forget things, and your fortieth birthday is still almost a year away. Can a bald head and Depends be far behind?”
“Very funny Liz,” he retorted as they all made their way out of the restaurant laughing. “Just remember, forty is not that far away for any of you, either.”
“Honey I told you, Liz and I made a pact. At thirty-nine we start subtracting a year from our age, so we’ll never turn forty,” Maria said as she looped her arm through Alex’s. She turned to look back at Max and Liz, who were lagging behind them, arms around each other and giggling as they stole quick kisses while they walked through the parking lot. “Do you two want to go somewhere for a drink or coffee, or do you want to get home so you can make like bunnies,” she teasingly asked.
“Maria…” Liz was blushing as they arrived at the car.
// Bunnies. Tell her we want to do the bunny thing. //
Liz’s cheeks flamed at Max’s thoughts. As she tilted her face up to retort, she found him smiling innocently down at her, belying the words and images he was projecting to her. Without turning her head she answered Maria’s question.
“We’ll be going home, thanks.”
Maria laughed quietly as they all settled in their seats and Alex started the car.
“Some things never change.”
CHAPTER 7
NC-17
“Good night, I’ll call you tomorrow Maria,” Liz called out as Alex and Maria waved goodbye after dropping Max and Liz home. She turned to Max and squeezed his hand as he pulled her along to their front door. As he held it open for her she stepped inside and pulled him in behind her and said with a large smile, “so, bunnies, huh?”
Max’s smile matched hers as they made their way through the house toward the bedroom. “Well, you know I’ve always been partial to small, soft things with great big eyes.”
Reaching their room she turned to him and playfully put her hands on her hips. “Are you telling me I have big ears and a big fluffy butt?”
“No,” he said as he slid an arm around her waist and pulled her against him. His other hand combed through her hair as he stared at her a moment before a smirk appeared on his face. “Your ears aren’t that big.”
Her eyebrow arched but her smile did not fade when she reached up to grasp both of his ears. “Excuse me, if you want to talk about ear size…”
“No, I really don’t,” he interrupted as he swooped down upon her lips. Her hands moved into his hair and she enjoyed the feeling of the soft strands falling through her fingers. He had grown it longer again, the way it was when he had first returned from Antar to find her, after having cut it after their wedding. Though she said nothing, he had known immediately when he had walked in the door that she was not pleased with the shorter length. He had to tickle the truth out of her, and when she finally admitted that she preferred ‘cool, ponytail dude Max’, he knew he wouldn’t be letting anyone with scissors near his head for a long time. He’d shave his head bald and paint it purple if that’s what she liked.
Liz ended the kiss and said a little breathlessly, “I’m going to go get ready for bed. Why don’t you do the same?” and then stepped away from him.
Max watched her go into the bathroom and shut the door. He turned down the bed covers and then stripped naked, folding his clothes and placing them neatly on a chair. Just as he was about to slide under the sheets, an idea popped into his head, and he headed over to his clothes dresser instead. He pulled open a small drawer and pulled out a pile of his socks, and with an impish grin began placing them all around their room- on top of the furniture, on the floor, on the chairs, everywhere. When finished, he waived his hand over each one, and when he heard the bathroom door opening he grabbed the last sock, worked some more magic, and jumped into the bed.
Liz couldn’t help humming as she brushed her hair in the mirror. They were having a wonderful weekend, spending every minute together laughing and talking and touching and loving. Now she was hurrying through her nightly regime, eager to return to his arms, to feel his skin, to taste his lips. ‘It’s amazing’, she thought as she pulled off all of her clothing and slipped into a short silk robe; ‘the more we make love the more I want him. He’s turned me into a nympho!’ She blushed slightly at the thought and wondered if there would ever come a time in the future when she wouldn’t be consumed by desire for him. ‘I hope not!’ she giggled to herself as she shut off the light and opened the door.
Upon entering their bedroom she gasped “Max!” and raised her hand to her mouth as she surveyed the scene. He had filled the room with stuffed animals. Bunnies, to be exact. They were perched on every available space in all sizes and colors; peering at her from the top of the furniture, hanging out of open drawers, looking up at her from the carpet. Tall bunnies, short bunnies, fat bunnies, skinny bunnies, brown bunnies, white bunnies, bunnies, bunnies, bunnies!
She finally looked over at him, sitting up in bed with a twinkle in his eye. “You’ve been busy!” she said laughingly as she picked up one rabbit and walked toward him.
“Well, I didn’t want you to forget our theme tonight,” he said.
She sat on the bed facing him, one leg tucked under her, the other hanging over the side. “So you decided to turn our bedroom into a stuffed animal zoo?” she asked as she tickled his nose with the toy in her hand.
“Well, just for a little while. I thought this might be a little more romantic.” As he finished speaking he raised his arm and slowly waived his hand in a circular motion. One by one the bunnies changed into large vases of deep red roses, filling the room with their heavenly scent. She turned her head to see what he was doing and gasped at the multitude of flowers throughout the room. When he was finished he snapped his fingers and the bedside lamp went out and all of the candles Liz kept in the room were lit, bathing them in a lovely, soft light. She turned back to him, her eyes glowing.
“I know white roses are your favorite,” he said quietly, “but red stands for love, and I wanted to fill the room with love the way you fill my heart.”
“Oh Max,” she whispered as tears began to form. Liz thought if it was possible, her heart would literally melt at that moment with the love she felt for this wonderful man, her perfect husband who never ceased to amaze her. “You…you…” Unable to speak further she leaned in to kiss him while moving her hand down to the bed beside his thigh, to lean on it for balance. She stopped short and looked down when she felt a large lump under the sheets. “What’s that?” she asked, her voice still thick with emotion.
“Oh,” he said, “just another little friend for you.” He pulled out a large stuffed bunny and grinned sheepishly. “I thought you might like to keep one.”
“Why don’t we put these,” she said as she took the toy from his hand and the one she was still holding and leaned over the side of the bed, “down here.” She propped them up on the floor next to the nightstand and then turned back to him and smiled. “Now where were we?”
Max placed a hand on each sleeve of her robe and slowly began to move them up over the soft silk as he sat up more fully to bring his body closer to hers. He let them slide over her shoulders and up her neck until they moved into her hair and were cupping the back of her head. Staring at her lips he said with a smile, “I believe we were here,” and then he connected them with a kiss.
Liz’s head was swimming instantly under the power of his kiss, and she let her hands wander over his back to enjoy the feeling of his smooth, warm skin. As they moved down lower a thrill went through her as she realized he was completely naked. She pulled away from his lips and slid her hands up to his shoulders and then down his arms before standing. She untied the sash holding her robe closed, leaving the garment to drape open and reveal a tantalizing view of her body to him. She remained that way for a few moments, keeping her eyes locked on his before reaching up to gently push the robe from her shoulders, the silky material slithering down her body to pool around her feet. She continued to stand before him as he drank in the sight of her, her body flushing with desire as she observed his obvious reaction to her nudity.
Max could barely breathe. While he enjoyed it anytime she was naked, watching her undress for him always brought forth the strongest reaction from him. Beside the fact that he thought she was absolutely gorgeous, to know that she had never done this for anyone else, had never wanted to do it for anyone else, and that she was baring herself to him, was mind blowing. He would always feel unworthy of her love, and to receive the gift of herself would always be beyond anything he could ever express to her. But he knew that he’d die trying.
Liz placed her knee on the bed next to him and said in a low voice, “are you going to move over so I can join you?”
He reached out to take her hand and brought it to his lips. Placing a reverent kiss on it, he held on to it as he replied in an equally husky tone, “in a minute.”
Her temperature elevated another few degrees as he continued his perusal of her body, appreciating every hill and valley; eyes lingering in one area before moving on to relish another. When she finally could wait no longer, she whimpered “Max,” and he slid over, pulling her in after him. Before she had a chance to settle, he was wrapping his arms around her, seeking out her lips and pressing her down onto the bed with the weight of his body. Her arms rose to rest around his shoulders, remaining there as he began to kiss his way down her throat to taste her pulse point. A soft moan escaped her lips as her neck arched, giving him more skin to move his mouth over, and her eyes rolled shut at the feeling of his tongue tracing the path his lips had just descended.
At the loss of his touch her eyes opened to find him gazing at her. “Do you know,” he said in tone filled with awe, “I mean really know, just how happy you’ve made me?” He paused a moment as he brushed a few strands of hair off of her face. “I wake up every morning and go to bed every night amazed that after our separation, after everything, you still want to be with me. You’ve taught me the true meaning of love. Without you and Max, my life wouldn’t be worth living.” He paused again to swallow the lump forming in his throat. “You’re my sun and moon. My breath and heartbeat. You’re my everything. I love you Liz.” His last sentence was whispered against her lips right before he kissed her gently, trying to convey to her the depth of his feelings.
He pulled away when he tasted the wetness of her tears as they rolled down her face. As he began to kiss them away, her emotion-choked voice filled his heart. “My Max, my love.”
“I love you Liz,” he said again as he took her lips once more.
Their hands roamed reverently over each other’s bodies, their lips following the same trail when they could bear to interrupt their kissing. They were content to take their time, delighting in the soft sounds and warmth of emotion flowing over them; reveling in a love so rare it had traveled across the galaxies to be.
When Max’s mouth finally found her breast Liz’s entire body bowed off of the bed. He did not hurry his pace though; his mouth leisurely licked and sucked her nipples as his hands continued playing over her body, eventually finding their way to her very wet center. As his finger slid inside he moved back up to kiss her passionately, and when he added two more fingers a moment later he felt an intense rush of love and desire surge from her as their connection fell completely open.
He pulled away panting for air, and remained hovering above her as the sight of her as she tossed her head to and fro and gyrated her hips against his hand captivated him. It was at these times, when their connection was unimpeded and she gave him free reign over her mind and body, that he felt both powerful and humble, mighty and meek; like the king he was and the shy, wide-eyed boy he had once been. Her complete and total trust in him when she was at her most vulnerable helped to heal a deep pain in his soul, born from a time when he and his two young companions could not afford the luxury of trusting anyone. Being ‘different’ had made Max feel unworthy of trust, friendship, love. Until Liz. Every good and decent thing in his life could be traced back to her.
He could not wait a moment longer to be joined with her, and so he withdrew his fingers and moved between her legs. A desperate moan of “noooo…” was torn from her at the loss of his touch, and he quickly kissed her hard as his hands tunneled into her hair. He broke apart from her to breathe out, “don’t worry baby, I’ve got you,” as he slid inside of her warmth.
Loud groans accompanied their coupling as Max set a slow pace, their eyes locking together, both trying to drown in the other, breaking their gazes only long enough to drop kisses over the other’s body. As the exquisite moments flowed together passion began to overtake her, and Liz clutched at his back as her legs reflexively tightened around his waist and her hips moved faster. Unable to speak, he heard her heated voice beating through their connection.
//Max…harder…faster…more…yes, yes…Oh Max, yes…//
Her whole body throbbed in sexual pleasure as he thrust into her at a rapid pace, and when she came he was rewarded with the sweetest sound he knew. The love of his life moaning his name over and over as her orgasm engulfed her. It was enough to drive him to the edge, and at the familiar tightening in his sac his movements became frantic until finally his release flooded into her. It was him who was now unable to speak, but she could hear him clearly.
// Liz…Liz…Liz…I love you…Liz…//
It was a while before they were able to separate, and when they did Max didn’t go far, moving his body to her side but still laying partially across her, his head resting on her chest. His hand lazily drew circles over her belly as she threaded her fingers through his hair, both of them quietly reveling in the afterglow; a faint, intangible current still humming between them and absently going unnoticed by the lovers.
As sleep began to overtake them, Max muttered “Liz?”
“Yeah, baby,” she sleepily replied.
“I’m gonna need some new socks.”
A faint giggle could be heard before they both drifted off, still wrapped in each other’s arms.
Still oblivious to the soft, happy tone whispering through their love.
NC-17
“Good night, I’ll call you tomorrow Maria,” Liz called out as Alex and Maria waved goodbye after dropping Max and Liz home. She turned to Max and squeezed his hand as he pulled her along to their front door. As he held it open for her she stepped inside and pulled him in behind her and said with a large smile, “so, bunnies, huh?”
Max’s smile matched hers as they made their way through the house toward the bedroom. “Well, you know I’ve always been partial to small, soft things with great big eyes.”
Reaching their room she turned to him and playfully put her hands on her hips. “Are you telling me I have big ears and a big fluffy butt?”
“No,” he said as he slid an arm around her waist and pulled her against him. His other hand combed through her hair as he stared at her a moment before a smirk appeared on his face. “Your ears aren’t that big.”
Her eyebrow arched but her smile did not fade when she reached up to grasp both of his ears. “Excuse me, if you want to talk about ear size…”
“No, I really don’t,” he interrupted as he swooped down upon her lips. Her hands moved into his hair and she enjoyed the feeling of the soft strands falling through her fingers. He had grown it longer again, the way it was when he had first returned from Antar to find her, after having cut it after their wedding. Though she said nothing, he had known immediately when he had walked in the door that she was not pleased with the shorter length. He had to tickle the truth out of her, and when she finally admitted that she preferred ‘cool, ponytail dude Max’, he knew he wouldn’t be letting anyone with scissors near his head for a long time. He’d shave his head bald and paint it purple if that’s what she liked.
Liz ended the kiss and said a little breathlessly, “I’m going to go get ready for bed. Why don’t you do the same?” and then stepped away from him.
Max watched her go into the bathroom and shut the door. He turned down the bed covers and then stripped naked, folding his clothes and placing them neatly on a chair. Just as he was about to slide under the sheets, an idea popped into his head, and he headed over to his clothes dresser instead. He pulled open a small drawer and pulled out a pile of his socks, and with an impish grin began placing them all around their room- on top of the furniture, on the floor, on the chairs, everywhere. When finished, he waived his hand over each one, and when he heard the bathroom door opening he grabbed the last sock, worked some more magic, and jumped into the bed.
Liz couldn’t help humming as she brushed her hair in the mirror. They were having a wonderful weekend, spending every minute together laughing and talking and touching and loving. Now she was hurrying through her nightly regime, eager to return to his arms, to feel his skin, to taste his lips. ‘It’s amazing’, she thought as she pulled off all of her clothing and slipped into a short silk robe; ‘the more we make love the more I want him. He’s turned me into a nympho!’ She blushed slightly at the thought and wondered if there would ever come a time in the future when she wouldn’t be consumed by desire for him. ‘I hope not!’ she giggled to herself as she shut off the light and opened the door.
Upon entering their bedroom she gasped “Max!” and raised her hand to her mouth as she surveyed the scene. He had filled the room with stuffed animals. Bunnies, to be exact. They were perched on every available space in all sizes and colors; peering at her from the top of the furniture, hanging out of open drawers, looking up at her from the carpet. Tall bunnies, short bunnies, fat bunnies, skinny bunnies, brown bunnies, white bunnies, bunnies, bunnies, bunnies!
She finally looked over at him, sitting up in bed with a twinkle in his eye. “You’ve been busy!” she said laughingly as she picked up one rabbit and walked toward him.
“Well, I didn’t want you to forget our theme tonight,” he said.
She sat on the bed facing him, one leg tucked under her, the other hanging over the side. “So you decided to turn our bedroom into a stuffed animal zoo?” she asked as she tickled his nose with the toy in her hand.
“Well, just for a little while. I thought this might be a little more romantic.” As he finished speaking he raised his arm and slowly waived his hand in a circular motion. One by one the bunnies changed into large vases of deep red roses, filling the room with their heavenly scent. She turned her head to see what he was doing and gasped at the multitude of flowers throughout the room. When he was finished he snapped his fingers and the bedside lamp went out and all of the candles Liz kept in the room were lit, bathing them in a lovely, soft light. She turned back to him, her eyes glowing.
“I know white roses are your favorite,” he said quietly, “but red stands for love, and I wanted to fill the room with love the way you fill my heart.”
“Oh Max,” she whispered as tears began to form. Liz thought if it was possible, her heart would literally melt at that moment with the love she felt for this wonderful man, her perfect husband who never ceased to amaze her. “You…you…” Unable to speak further she leaned in to kiss him while moving her hand down to the bed beside his thigh, to lean on it for balance. She stopped short and looked down when she felt a large lump under the sheets. “What’s that?” she asked, her voice still thick with emotion.
“Oh,” he said, “just another little friend for you.” He pulled out a large stuffed bunny and grinned sheepishly. “I thought you might like to keep one.”
“Why don’t we put these,” she said as she took the toy from his hand and the one she was still holding and leaned over the side of the bed, “down here.” She propped them up on the floor next to the nightstand and then turned back to him and smiled. “Now where were we?”
Max placed a hand on each sleeve of her robe and slowly began to move them up over the soft silk as he sat up more fully to bring his body closer to hers. He let them slide over her shoulders and up her neck until they moved into her hair and were cupping the back of her head. Staring at her lips he said with a smile, “I believe we were here,” and then he connected them with a kiss.
Liz’s head was swimming instantly under the power of his kiss, and she let her hands wander over his back to enjoy the feeling of his smooth, warm skin. As they moved down lower a thrill went through her as she realized he was completely naked. She pulled away from his lips and slid her hands up to his shoulders and then down his arms before standing. She untied the sash holding her robe closed, leaving the garment to drape open and reveal a tantalizing view of her body to him. She remained that way for a few moments, keeping her eyes locked on his before reaching up to gently push the robe from her shoulders, the silky material slithering down her body to pool around her feet. She continued to stand before him as he drank in the sight of her, her body flushing with desire as she observed his obvious reaction to her nudity.
Max could barely breathe. While he enjoyed it anytime she was naked, watching her undress for him always brought forth the strongest reaction from him. Beside the fact that he thought she was absolutely gorgeous, to know that she had never done this for anyone else, had never wanted to do it for anyone else, and that she was baring herself to him, was mind blowing. He would always feel unworthy of her love, and to receive the gift of herself would always be beyond anything he could ever express to her. But he knew that he’d die trying.
Liz placed her knee on the bed next to him and said in a low voice, “are you going to move over so I can join you?”
He reached out to take her hand and brought it to his lips. Placing a reverent kiss on it, he held on to it as he replied in an equally husky tone, “in a minute.”
Her temperature elevated another few degrees as he continued his perusal of her body, appreciating every hill and valley; eyes lingering in one area before moving on to relish another. When she finally could wait no longer, she whimpered “Max,” and he slid over, pulling her in after him. Before she had a chance to settle, he was wrapping his arms around her, seeking out her lips and pressing her down onto the bed with the weight of his body. Her arms rose to rest around his shoulders, remaining there as he began to kiss his way down her throat to taste her pulse point. A soft moan escaped her lips as her neck arched, giving him more skin to move his mouth over, and her eyes rolled shut at the feeling of his tongue tracing the path his lips had just descended.
At the loss of his touch her eyes opened to find him gazing at her. “Do you know,” he said in tone filled with awe, “I mean really know, just how happy you’ve made me?” He paused a moment as he brushed a few strands of hair off of her face. “I wake up every morning and go to bed every night amazed that after our separation, after everything, you still want to be with me. You’ve taught me the true meaning of love. Without you and Max, my life wouldn’t be worth living.” He paused again to swallow the lump forming in his throat. “You’re my sun and moon. My breath and heartbeat. You’re my everything. I love you Liz.” His last sentence was whispered against her lips right before he kissed her gently, trying to convey to her the depth of his feelings.
He pulled away when he tasted the wetness of her tears as they rolled down her face. As he began to kiss them away, her emotion-choked voice filled his heart. “My Max, my love.”
“I love you Liz,” he said again as he took her lips once more.
Their hands roamed reverently over each other’s bodies, their lips following the same trail when they could bear to interrupt their kissing. They were content to take their time, delighting in the soft sounds and warmth of emotion flowing over them; reveling in a love so rare it had traveled across the galaxies to be.
When Max’s mouth finally found her breast Liz’s entire body bowed off of the bed. He did not hurry his pace though; his mouth leisurely licked and sucked her nipples as his hands continued playing over her body, eventually finding their way to her very wet center. As his finger slid inside he moved back up to kiss her passionately, and when he added two more fingers a moment later he felt an intense rush of love and desire surge from her as their connection fell completely open.
He pulled away panting for air, and remained hovering above her as the sight of her as she tossed her head to and fro and gyrated her hips against his hand captivated him. It was at these times, when their connection was unimpeded and she gave him free reign over her mind and body, that he felt both powerful and humble, mighty and meek; like the king he was and the shy, wide-eyed boy he had once been. Her complete and total trust in him when she was at her most vulnerable helped to heal a deep pain in his soul, born from a time when he and his two young companions could not afford the luxury of trusting anyone. Being ‘different’ had made Max feel unworthy of trust, friendship, love. Until Liz. Every good and decent thing in his life could be traced back to her.
He could not wait a moment longer to be joined with her, and so he withdrew his fingers and moved between her legs. A desperate moan of “noooo…” was torn from her at the loss of his touch, and he quickly kissed her hard as his hands tunneled into her hair. He broke apart from her to breathe out, “don’t worry baby, I’ve got you,” as he slid inside of her warmth.
Loud groans accompanied their coupling as Max set a slow pace, their eyes locking together, both trying to drown in the other, breaking their gazes only long enough to drop kisses over the other’s body. As the exquisite moments flowed together passion began to overtake her, and Liz clutched at his back as her legs reflexively tightened around his waist and her hips moved faster. Unable to speak, he heard her heated voice beating through their connection.
//Max…harder…faster…more…yes, yes…Oh Max, yes…//
Her whole body throbbed in sexual pleasure as he thrust into her at a rapid pace, and when she came he was rewarded with the sweetest sound he knew. The love of his life moaning his name over and over as her orgasm engulfed her. It was enough to drive him to the edge, and at the familiar tightening in his sac his movements became frantic until finally his release flooded into her. It was him who was now unable to speak, but she could hear him clearly.
// Liz…Liz…Liz…I love you…Liz…//
It was a while before they were able to separate, and when they did Max didn’t go far, moving his body to her side but still laying partially across her, his head resting on her chest. His hand lazily drew circles over her belly as she threaded her fingers through his hair, both of them quietly reveling in the afterglow; a faint, intangible current still humming between them and absently going unnoticed by the lovers.
As sleep began to overtake them, Max muttered “Liz?”
“Yeah, baby,” she sleepily replied.
“I’m gonna need some new socks.”
A faint giggle could be heard before they both drifted off, still wrapped in each other’s arms.
Still oblivious to the soft, happy tone whispering through their love.
CHAPTER 8A
“Man it’s hot!”
“Dad, you’re from New Mexico, this weather shouldn’t bother you,” Max said to his father as the Evans family walked to their car.
“It’s hot there, but this humidity is worse than any heat I remember,” his father answered. “Don’t you think so Honey?”
“Yeah, as hot as it would get out west, at least you could breathe,” Liz said in reply as she stretched up to kiss her son on the cheek. “I’ll see you two later.” She turned to kiss her husband goodbye also. They were going over to Maria’s to help Alex set up for the annual Fourth of July party being held later that day. Every year, they would invite family and friends to enjoy a barbecue at their house on the water, where the small fireworks display run by a town across the river from them could be seen at night.
// Do you have enough cash, babe? // Max asked through their connection as she kissed him.
// Yeah, I should have plenty, and if not, I’ll just use the debit card, // Liz signaled back. While her husband and son were busy with Alex, she and Maria were going to purchase life vests for the three of them. After much debate between the two of them, Max and Liz had purchased a Waverunner as a surprise for their son as a reward for achieving a 4.0 average in both semesters of his first year at Riverton University. Liz had initially been opposed to the idea, saying it was an expensive item and she didn’t agree with spoiling children with lavish material gifts. After all, Max had to pay for half of the price of his car and foot the bill for his car insurance and ‘entertainment’ expenses, she reasoned. What kind of signal would this be sending? After much cajoling and then outright begging, his father had finally won her over, saying that the price of it was probably far less than what he would have spent over the seventeen years of their son’s life he had been absent for, and that they could more than afford to pay cash for it. When he played the guilt card by adding that Max deserved it for not only his efforts at school but just for being an amazing son, and then threw in how he hadn’t had a chance to spoil him all those years (‘not that I would have, of course, but you know, just that I couldn’t, Liz’), Liz reluctantly consented. The marina they had ordered it from had called the previous evening with the news that the machine had been delivered, and now she too was excited. They were going to give it to him at Maria’s party in the afternoon.
“OK sweetheart, we’ll see you later,” Max said as he kissed his wife goodbye and then climbed into the car. Liz waived goodbye to them and then hurried back into the house. There was something she had to do before Maria arrived. Something important. Something almost too exciting for her to hope for.
-----------------------------------------
“Hey guys! How are you?” Maria asked as the two Evans males walked through her kitchen door.
“Good Aunt Maria. Oh, is that your famous potato salad you’re working on there?” Max said as he quickly stuck a finger in the bowl for a taste.
“How is it?” she asked him.
“Mmm, needs Tabasco, but otherwise, it’s perfect,” he replied.
“Well, the bottle will be out on the table so you’ll just have to add it on your own later. Why don’t you go out back and start helping Alex move the tables before you eat it all,” she said as she playfully slapped his hand away as he was stealing another taste.
“OK. Are you coming Dad?”
“Yeah, I’ll be there in a second. I want a taste too,” his father said as he winked at Maria. They watched as Max opened the French doors and walked out onto the deck. When the door shut Maria quickly asked, “so what time are you bringing it here?”
“It’s already in the water and tied up at the marina, which is right around the bend up the river. I thought I’d disappear at some point and just come riding up to your dock on it. What do you think?"
“I think he’s going to faint! Liz and I are picking up a giant bow for you to put on it. We’ll put it in the trunk of my car, so take that one so you’ll have the bow. I’ll leave the keys under the floor mat.”
“OK, that’ll work. Listen, are you sure you and Alex don’t mind us docking it here? I don’t want to impose on you guys,” Max asked.
“Do I have to slap you for asking such a stupid question? We have the extra slip, and besides, it will keep our Jet Ski company,” she teased. “Seriously Max, it will be safer here than at the marina were hundreds of strangers come and go. We don’t mind at all.”
“Thanks Maria. You guys are the best,” Max said as he kissed her on the cheek.
“Yes, we are,” she joked. “OK, this salad is done; I’m gong to clean up here and go pick up Liz. I can’t wait to see his face. Oh, I’d better pick up some extra film; I want to catch his expression when you tell him. I’m so excited!”
“Yeah, I am too. He is such a great kid. I’d better get out there before he thinks something’s up in here. Catch you later Maria, thanks again,” he said as he pecked her other cheek.
Maria quickly washed her dishes, grabbed her purse and headed off to Liz’s. The door was open when she arrived, so she let herself in and called out to her friend. “Liz? You ready? Liz? Where are you?”
“I’m in the bathroom, I’ll be out in a minute,” came a faint reply.
Maria walked toward the bathroom door as she started speaking. “I’m really excited about this Waverunner for Max. I can’t wait to see his reaction. We have to get vests for all three of you so you can all go out on it today.” When she stopped talking, she thought she heard a muffled sob, and then definitely heard the water go on and off quickly, and a muffled “oh God.” She tapped on the door and asked, “Liz, are you OK?”
After a moment the door slowly opened and her appearance both alarmed and bewildered Maria. Liz was as white as a ghost and tears were rolling down her cheeks, but a beaming smile shone on her face.
“What’s going on, are you OK?” Maria asked again as she took hold of one of her friend’s arms.
Liz held up a blue and white stick and said, “I’m pregnant Maria,” just before fainting into Maria’s arms.
“Oh God! Liz! What’s wrong!” Maria tried to grapple with the dead weight of the petite girl, and finally managed to loop her arms around Liz’s chest from behind and drag her the short distance into her bedroom. She fell back onto the bed and then maneuvered Liz off of her until she was lying on the bed. “Liz!” she began calling as she gently slapped her in the face. “Liz, wake up, wake up. Liz, sweetie, wake up.” Maria was getting nervous. Her friend had rarely ever been ill, and the few times she was, one of the Max’s was there to fix her up. Just as that thought occurred to her the telephone started ringing, which seemed to cause Liz to stir a little. Maria concentrated on bringing Liz around while she listened to the answering machine pick up and record a very nervous sounding husband.
“Liz! Are you there? I felt something and neither of us can connect with you. Are you there? Liz??”
“Liz, sweetie, come on, wake up,” Maria said as Liz’s eyes began to flutter open.
“Wh…what…what happened?” she asked confusedly.
“You fainted and I dragged you in here. Do you feel OK? Can you try to get up?” Maria supported Liz’s back with her arm as she assisted her to sit up.
“I’m kinda dizzy. Could you get me a glass of water please?”
“Yeah, don’t move, OK?” Maria said as she hurried out of the room.
// LIZ!! Liz are you there, are you OK? //
// Mom, are you all right? What’s going on? //
She clearly heard her husband and son’s psychic calls. // I’m fine guys. //
// Liz, what happened, we both felt something from you, are you OK? Where are you? // Her husband sounded frantic, and she immediately felt bad for upsetting them.
// I’m at home and I’m fine. Maria startled me when I came out of the bathroom and I tripped and fell. I’m sorry you were worried. //
Maria returned with the glass of water and saw Liz holding her head in her hands. “Do you have a headache? Do you want some aspirin?”
“No, Max and Max are freaking out in my head and I’m trying to calm them down.” She returned to concentrate on sending them both feelings of calmness. // Really guys, I’m fine. Maria and I are getting ready to leave as we speak. //
// Are you sure? We could be home in two minutes Mom. // Her son was no less troubled by what they had felt.
// Really, everything’s all right. You guys help Alex and we’ll be there in a little while. I love you both. // If possible, more than ever at this moment, she added silently.
// All right babe. ‘Call’ if anything’s wrong, OK? // Max would never learn to be calm when it came to His Liz.
“OK, Maria, I think I’ve got them calmed down. Thanks for the water,” she said as she took a long drink.
“Your color looks much better and your temperature seems to be fine,” she said as she felt Liz’s forehead.
“Yeah, I feel much better, actually. Thanks Maria, I’m glad you were here.”
“So am I.” After a pause, a smile spread across her face and Maria asked, “so, am I allowed to be happy about that little stick you were waving around before you fainted yet?”
The look on Liz’s face warmed Maria’s heart, and she couldn’t help the tears that came as her friend threw her arms around her neck and exclaimed, “oh Maria! I’m going to have another baby!” The two friends laughed and cried as they hugged the stuffing out of each other.
“I’m so happy for you Liz. Oh, I’m going to be an Aunt all over again!” She pulled away and suddenly became more serious. “Wait a second, are you really OK? Why do you think you fainted?”
“Well, I felt a little bit nauseous this morning so I didn’t eat anything. And I was really nervous how the test would come out. Maybe the two things combined with the heat and humidity, and then finding out I was pregnant was overwhelming? I don’t really know, but I do feel OK. Actually, I’m kinda hungry now; do you mind if I eat a quick bowl of cereal before we leave?”
“Of course not, in fact it will give me time to calm down,” Maria replied as they rose and made their way to the kitchen. “You sit, I’ll get it,” she told Liz, and set about filling a bowl with cereal and milk. “Here you go. Here’s a banana too, if you want it.”
“Thanks Maria,” she said as she sliced the fruit into her cereal.
Maria poured them both a large glass of orange juice and then sat down as Liz began to eat. “So, can I assume that Max had no idea you were taking that test this morning, otherwise he would’ve been here?”
“Yeah, I didn’t want to get his hopes up. I really only thought it might be possible since yesterday. I’ve been slightly nauseous for the past few mornings, but it was really no big deal so I didn’t think anything about it. Then yesterday afternoon, I dug out my work calendar to look at something, and it dawned on me that my period was late. I hadn’t realized it because I haven’t looked at that thing since school let out. So I told Max I was running out for some milk last night and bought the test.”
“So then I’m the first to know? Oh, Liz, just like with Max,” Maria said, her eyes fogging up a bit at the memory of Liz’s bittersweet discovery many years ago, after Max had left for Antar and Liz’s parents had been killed.
Liz reached over and squeezed Maria’s hand as the old friends shared a quiet look of understanding. The happiness of the current moment could not be suppressed though, and a smile bloomed on her face once more. “I can’t wait to tell him, Maria.”
“Oh, I wish I could be there. I have a feeling some more fainting may occur! When do you think you’ll tell him?”
“Tonight, I guess after we get home from your house. I don’t want to do it in front of a crowd!”
Maria polished off the rest of her juice before asking, “what about Homer? When will you tell him?”
Liz’s expression sobered a bit. “I don’t know. This is the first I’ve thought about it. Do we tell him right away, or wait a little while to make sure things are going well? I guess Max and I will have to talk it over tonight, too.”
Maria eyed her a moment. “Liz, how do you think he’s going to take the news? Are you prepared for him to be not-so-thrilled?”
Liz looked at her blankly. “I…I…why, do you think he’s going to be really upset?”
“I’m not sure. But you’d better be prepared for the possibility. Not only has he been the only child, he has been the complete and total focus of your life until last year, and then he became the complete and total focus of his mother and father’s lives. He’s never had to compete for any attention, even from me. Not to mention the fact that at his age, he may not be thrilled about thinking about just how you got pregnant, if you get my drift.”
“Come on Maria, we’re married, he knows we make love, he’s not a child.”
“Yes he is, Liz; he’s your child. He will always be your child, and you will always be his mommy whom he has idolized since the day he was born. Don’t you remember being grossed out when you were younger at the realization that your parents had sex? I mean, I’m nearly forty years old, and the thought that my mother and Jim do it still kinda freaks me out. I think you should be prepared for him being a little squeamish at the least, and possibly a lot more than that.”
Liz pondered Maria’s comments a minute. “Well, if you really think so, I’ll bring it up with Max tonight.”
“I’m just saying I think you should be prepared for the possibility. You know that saying Alex’s dad always uses: prepare for the worst, hope for the best. And Liz, even if he does get upset, it will pass. He accepted his father's reappearance in your lives and he’ll deal with this too. I just don’t want you to be blindsided if he’s less than enthusiastic when you tell him the news.”
“You’re right, as usual. You have no idea how much those words scare me,” she teased her friend as she rose from the table to rinse out her empty bowl. “OK, now I feel much better. Let’s go get those life jackets! At least I know he’s going to love that surprise.”
“Man it’s hot!”
“Dad, you’re from New Mexico, this weather shouldn’t bother you,” Max said to his father as the Evans family walked to their car.
“It’s hot there, but this humidity is worse than any heat I remember,” his father answered. “Don’t you think so Honey?”
“Yeah, as hot as it would get out west, at least you could breathe,” Liz said in reply as she stretched up to kiss her son on the cheek. “I’ll see you two later.” She turned to kiss her husband goodbye also. They were going over to Maria’s to help Alex set up for the annual Fourth of July party being held later that day. Every year, they would invite family and friends to enjoy a barbecue at their house on the water, where the small fireworks display run by a town across the river from them could be seen at night.
// Do you have enough cash, babe? // Max asked through their connection as she kissed him.
// Yeah, I should have plenty, and if not, I’ll just use the debit card, // Liz signaled back. While her husband and son were busy with Alex, she and Maria were going to purchase life vests for the three of them. After much debate between the two of them, Max and Liz had purchased a Waverunner as a surprise for their son as a reward for achieving a 4.0 average in both semesters of his first year at Riverton University. Liz had initially been opposed to the idea, saying it was an expensive item and she didn’t agree with spoiling children with lavish material gifts. After all, Max had to pay for half of the price of his car and foot the bill for his car insurance and ‘entertainment’ expenses, she reasoned. What kind of signal would this be sending? After much cajoling and then outright begging, his father had finally won her over, saying that the price of it was probably far less than what he would have spent over the seventeen years of their son’s life he had been absent for, and that they could more than afford to pay cash for it. When he played the guilt card by adding that Max deserved it for not only his efforts at school but just for being an amazing son, and then threw in how he hadn’t had a chance to spoil him all those years (‘not that I would have, of course, but you know, just that I couldn’t, Liz’), Liz reluctantly consented. The marina they had ordered it from had called the previous evening with the news that the machine had been delivered, and now she too was excited. They were going to give it to him at Maria’s party in the afternoon.
“OK sweetheart, we’ll see you later,” Max said as he kissed his wife goodbye and then climbed into the car. Liz waived goodbye to them and then hurried back into the house. There was something she had to do before Maria arrived. Something important. Something almost too exciting for her to hope for.
-----------------------------------------
“Hey guys! How are you?” Maria asked as the two Evans males walked through her kitchen door.
“Good Aunt Maria. Oh, is that your famous potato salad you’re working on there?” Max said as he quickly stuck a finger in the bowl for a taste.
“How is it?” she asked him.
“Mmm, needs Tabasco, but otherwise, it’s perfect,” he replied.
“Well, the bottle will be out on the table so you’ll just have to add it on your own later. Why don’t you go out back and start helping Alex move the tables before you eat it all,” she said as she playfully slapped his hand away as he was stealing another taste.
“OK. Are you coming Dad?”
“Yeah, I’ll be there in a second. I want a taste too,” his father said as he winked at Maria. They watched as Max opened the French doors and walked out onto the deck. When the door shut Maria quickly asked, “so what time are you bringing it here?”
“It’s already in the water and tied up at the marina, which is right around the bend up the river. I thought I’d disappear at some point and just come riding up to your dock on it. What do you think?"
“I think he’s going to faint! Liz and I are picking up a giant bow for you to put on it. We’ll put it in the trunk of my car, so take that one so you’ll have the bow. I’ll leave the keys under the floor mat.”
“OK, that’ll work. Listen, are you sure you and Alex don’t mind us docking it here? I don’t want to impose on you guys,” Max asked.
“Do I have to slap you for asking such a stupid question? We have the extra slip, and besides, it will keep our Jet Ski company,” she teased. “Seriously Max, it will be safer here than at the marina were hundreds of strangers come and go. We don’t mind at all.”
“Thanks Maria. You guys are the best,” Max said as he kissed her on the cheek.
“Yes, we are,” she joked. “OK, this salad is done; I’m gong to clean up here and go pick up Liz. I can’t wait to see his face. Oh, I’d better pick up some extra film; I want to catch his expression when you tell him. I’m so excited!”
“Yeah, I am too. He is such a great kid. I’d better get out there before he thinks something’s up in here. Catch you later Maria, thanks again,” he said as he pecked her other cheek.
Maria quickly washed her dishes, grabbed her purse and headed off to Liz’s. The door was open when she arrived, so she let herself in and called out to her friend. “Liz? You ready? Liz? Where are you?”
“I’m in the bathroom, I’ll be out in a minute,” came a faint reply.
Maria walked toward the bathroom door as she started speaking. “I’m really excited about this Waverunner for Max. I can’t wait to see his reaction. We have to get vests for all three of you so you can all go out on it today.” When she stopped talking, she thought she heard a muffled sob, and then definitely heard the water go on and off quickly, and a muffled “oh God.” She tapped on the door and asked, “Liz, are you OK?”
After a moment the door slowly opened and her appearance both alarmed and bewildered Maria. Liz was as white as a ghost and tears were rolling down her cheeks, but a beaming smile shone on her face.
“What’s going on, are you OK?” Maria asked again as she took hold of one of her friend’s arms.
Liz held up a blue and white stick and said, “I’m pregnant Maria,” just before fainting into Maria’s arms.
“Oh God! Liz! What’s wrong!” Maria tried to grapple with the dead weight of the petite girl, and finally managed to loop her arms around Liz’s chest from behind and drag her the short distance into her bedroom. She fell back onto the bed and then maneuvered Liz off of her until she was lying on the bed. “Liz!” she began calling as she gently slapped her in the face. “Liz, wake up, wake up. Liz, sweetie, wake up.” Maria was getting nervous. Her friend had rarely ever been ill, and the few times she was, one of the Max’s was there to fix her up. Just as that thought occurred to her the telephone started ringing, which seemed to cause Liz to stir a little. Maria concentrated on bringing Liz around while she listened to the answering machine pick up and record a very nervous sounding husband.
“Liz! Are you there? I felt something and neither of us can connect with you. Are you there? Liz??”
“Liz, sweetie, come on, wake up,” Maria said as Liz’s eyes began to flutter open.
“Wh…what…what happened?” she asked confusedly.
“You fainted and I dragged you in here. Do you feel OK? Can you try to get up?” Maria supported Liz’s back with her arm as she assisted her to sit up.
“I’m kinda dizzy. Could you get me a glass of water please?”
“Yeah, don’t move, OK?” Maria said as she hurried out of the room.
// LIZ!! Liz are you there, are you OK? //
// Mom, are you all right? What’s going on? //
She clearly heard her husband and son’s psychic calls. // I’m fine guys. //
// Liz, what happened, we both felt something from you, are you OK? Where are you? // Her husband sounded frantic, and she immediately felt bad for upsetting them.
// I’m at home and I’m fine. Maria startled me when I came out of the bathroom and I tripped and fell. I’m sorry you were worried. //
Maria returned with the glass of water and saw Liz holding her head in her hands. “Do you have a headache? Do you want some aspirin?”
“No, Max and Max are freaking out in my head and I’m trying to calm them down.” She returned to concentrate on sending them both feelings of calmness. // Really guys, I’m fine. Maria and I are getting ready to leave as we speak. //
// Are you sure? We could be home in two minutes Mom. // Her son was no less troubled by what they had felt.
// Really, everything’s all right. You guys help Alex and we’ll be there in a little while. I love you both. // If possible, more than ever at this moment, she added silently.
// All right babe. ‘Call’ if anything’s wrong, OK? // Max would never learn to be calm when it came to His Liz.
“OK, Maria, I think I’ve got them calmed down. Thanks for the water,” she said as she took a long drink.
“Your color looks much better and your temperature seems to be fine,” she said as she felt Liz’s forehead.
“Yeah, I feel much better, actually. Thanks Maria, I’m glad you were here.”
“So am I.” After a pause, a smile spread across her face and Maria asked, “so, am I allowed to be happy about that little stick you were waving around before you fainted yet?”
The look on Liz’s face warmed Maria’s heart, and she couldn’t help the tears that came as her friend threw her arms around her neck and exclaimed, “oh Maria! I’m going to have another baby!” The two friends laughed and cried as they hugged the stuffing out of each other.
“I’m so happy for you Liz. Oh, I’m going to be an Aunt all over again!” She pulled away and suddenly became more serious. “Wait a second, are you really OK? Why do you think you fainted?”
“Well, I felt a little bit nauseous this morning so I didn’t eat anything. And I was really nervous how the test would come out. Maybe the two things combined with the heat and humidity, and then finding out I was pregnant was overwhelming? I don’t really know, but I do feel OK. Actually, I’m kinda hungry now; do you mind if I eat a quick bowl of cereal before we leave?”
“Of course not, in fact it will give me time to calm down,” Maria replied as they rose and made their way to the kitchen. “You sit, I’ll get it,” she told Liz, and set about filling a bowl with cereal and milk. “Here you go. Here’s a banana too, if you want it.”
“Thanks Maria,” she said as she sliced the fruit into her cereal.
Maria poured them both a large glass of orange juice and then sat down as Liz began to eat. “So, can I assume that Max had no idea you were taking that test this morning, otherwise he would’ve been here?”
“Yeah, I didn’t want to get his hopes up. I really only thought it might be possible since yesterday. I’ve been slightly nauseous for the past few mornings, but it was really no big deal so I didn’t think anything about it. Then yesterday afternoon, I dug out my work calendar to look at something, and it dawned on me that my period was late. I hadn’t realized it because I haven’t looked at that thing since school let out. So I told Max I was running out for some milk last night and bought the test.”
“So then I’m the first to know? Oh, Liz, just like with Max,” Maria said, her eyes fogging up a bit at the memory of Liz’s bittersweet discovery many years ago, after Max had left for Antar and Liz’s parents had been killed.
Liz reached over and squeezed Maria’s hand as the old friends shared a quiet look of understanding. The happiness of the current moment could not be suppressed though, and a smile bloomed on her face once more. “I can’t wait to tell him, Maria.”
“Oh, I wish I could be there. I have a feeling some more fainting may occur! When do you think you’ll tell him?”
“Tonight, I guess after we get home from your house. I don’t want to do it in front of a crowd!”
Maria polished off the rest of her juice before asking, “what about Homer? When will you tell him?”
Liz’s expression sobered a bit. “I don’t know. This is the first I’ve thought about it. Do we tell him right away, or wait a little while to make sure things are going well? I guess Max and I will have to talk it over tonight, too.”
Maria eyed her a moment. “Liz, how do you think he’s going to take the news? Are you prepared for him to be not-so-thrilled?”
Liz looked at her blankly. “I…I…why, do you think he’s going to be really upset?”
“I’m not sure. But you’d better be prepared for the possibility. Not only has he been the only child, he has been the complete and total focus of your life until last year, and then he became the complete and total focus of his mother and father’s lives. He’s never had to compete for any attention, even from me. Not to mention the fact that at his age, he may not be thrilled about thinking about just how you got pregnant, if you get my drift.”
“Come on Maria, we’re married, he knows we make love, he’s not a child.”
“Yes he is, Liz; he’s your child. He will always be your child, and you will always be his mommy whom he has idolized since the day he was born. Don’t you remember being grossed out when you were younger at the realization that your parents had sex? I mean, I’m nearly forty years old, and the thought that my mother and Jim do it still kinda freaks me out. I think you should be prepared for him being a little squeamish at the least, and possibly a lot more than that.”
Liz pondered Maria’s comments a minute. “Well, if you really think so, I’ll bring it up with Max tonight.”
“I’m just saying I think you should be prepared for the possibility. You know that saying Alex’s dad always uses: prepare for the worst, hope for the best. And Liz, even if he does get upset, it will pass. He accepted his father's reappearance in your lives and he’ll deal with this too. I just don’t want you to be blindsided if he’s less than enthusiastic when you tell him the news.”
“You’re right, as usual. You have no idea how much those words scare me,” she teased her friend as she rose from the table to rinse out her empty bowl. “OK, now I feel much better. Let’s go get those life jackets! At least I know he’s going to love that surprise.”
Chapter 8B
An hour and a half later the girls pulled into Maria’s driveway. They were barely out of the car when Max came trotting out the front door toward his wife. “There you are! I’ve been worried.”
“Max, you knew we were going to the grocery store to pick up the steaks for the party after we got the vests,” Liz said as he pulled her into a hug.
“I know, but I didn’t see you after you fell before. Are you sure you’re all right?” He had pulled away from her and was looking her up and down, checking for any damage.
“Max, I told you, I’m fine. Now stop eyeballing me and grab a bag; we bought a lot of stuff.”
Maria shook her head and laughed to herself at the scene. ‘Oh, he is not going to let her breathe while she’s pregnant,’ she thought. Alex appeared at the door then, and she called out to him “Honey there’s two more bags in the back seat, would you mind getting them?”
“Sure,” he replied as he held the door open for the three of them and then went to the car. When he joined them in the kitchen he found them looking outside at Max as he was attempting to get some umbrellas set up around the deck. “So, did you get the life jackets?” he asked as he put the bags down on the counter.
“Yes. They’re in the trunk of my car. Before Max leaves to bring the Waverunner here, he’s going to put them in the garage,” Maria answered.
“I can’t wait to see his face, he’s going to be totally blown away,” said Alex.
‘He’s not the only one who will be blown away today,’ thought Liz happily. “I know. After how much I was against this, I have to say that I can’t wait to give it to him now.” They ceased talking as he entered the house.
“Hi Mom. What did you get at the food store?”
Maria laughed out loud as she finished emptying the packages. “Homer, you have a one-track mind. We bought steaks, some sausages, hot dogs, and hamburgers. Why don’t you be a good boy and help me make up the burgers, and Alex can start the charcoal and we’ll do up a few before everybody else gets here.”
He dutifully assisted her while Alex went out to the grill, and Max and Liz began stocking the buffet table with all of the paper goods that would be needed for the day. Maria watched them through the glass doors and smiled. When a small pang of envy interrupted her thoughts, she chastised herself immediately. She was so happy for her friends, she genuinely was. Any feelings of jealousy would not be tolerated. She wouldn’t allow it.
“Aunt Maria, am I making these the right size?” Max said as he held up a hamburger for her inspection.
“What? Oh, um, actually they’re a little too big. Make them about this size,” she said as she refocused her thoughts on the task at hand. “Yeah, that’s better. This way the outsides won’t burn before the insides are cooked.” They continued on in silence a few minutes, Maria watching him out of the corner of her eye, wondering if Alex had told him who was coming over that afternoon. “So, did Alex fill you in on today’s guest list?”
“No, is it the usual crowd?”
“Yeah, pretty much. A few neighbors, two girls that work for me and their families, Professor Jenkins, the guy that got the baseball tickets for us, with his family. Oh, and Nick and Paula of course.” She conveniently left out who would be tagging along with them, wondering if he would take the bait.
“Oh.” One, two three… “So, will, uh, Jackie be with them?”
Maria couldn’t help but smile as she looked over at him as he nervously mangled some meat. “Sure, all three girls are coming, too. Why did you want to know?”
“Just, ah, just curious. OK, looks like we’re finished,” he said, quickly trying to change the subject.
Maria threw away the meat wrappers and joined him at the sink to wash her hands. “Just curious, huh?” she said in a teasing tone.
He blushed profusely and began stuttering through what he thought was an explanation. “Yeah, uh, well, she wanted to know about classes, you know, at Riverton, and we, um, we’ve, uh, been emailing each other, you know, so I can help her out.”
“So, did you email each other while they were in Seattle?” Paula’s sister lived in the city, and after all three of their daughter’s finished out the school year they had gone out for a three week visit, and had just recently returned. Maria’s smile grew even wider as she watched his face redden even more. “I’m going to take that pretty shade of red on your cheeks as a yes,” she teased.
As he opened his mouth to answer her, a voice called out “hello, anyone home?” from the direction of her garage. A moment later, the door opened and the subjects of their conversation walked in. “Maria, Max, how are you?” Nick asked as he hugged his sister-in-law and then shook Max’s hand. “I hope you don’t mind us showing up early. I left early, thinking there’d be a lot of traffic, and no one was on the road!”
“Of course not,” Maria replied as she hugged them all. “You guys know you’re the real reason I married your brother,” she joked. She couldn’t help but notice her niece’s eyes trained on something, make that someone, over her shoulder. She turned around to find Max still red as a beet, staring at Jackie. Oh yeah, she thought; they have it bad. As she hugged her she whispered in her ear, “go say hi before he faints.” She pulled away and almost laughed out loud. Jackie was now even redder than Max. “Come on guys,” she said to the others, “Alex, Max, and Liz are out on the deck. Let’s go say hi and you can regale us with tales of the Pacific Northwest.” Maria led them outside, leaving the two blushing young adults alone in the kitchen.
Jackie couldn’t speak. Why did her Aunt say that? Did she know something? Had Max told her something? Like maybe he liked her? Could that be at all possible, a gorgeous, smart, sweet guy like Max, attracted to her?
Max was trying to untie his tongue. It seemed to have swelled to some gargantuan proportions in three seconds flat and it was keeping him from properly greeting the pretty girl in front of him. They both stood there staring at each other, nervously twisting their hands, trying to choke out a ‘hello’. Max finally managed to calm down enough to stutter out “ha…hi Jackie.”
Hearing his voice gave her a little confidence and she replied, “hi Max; it’s nice to see you.”
“It’s great to see you.” Ok, Max, calm down, try and act like a normal human-alien hybrid.
He said great. Great to see you. Like he thought it was great to see me. Could that mean he thinks it’s great to see me??
They stared at each other another few moments before he found his voice again and continued. “Oh, um, how was your trip? Your emails sounded like you were having fun.”
“Yeah, it was. My cousins took us all over Seattle. I think if I never have another cup of coffee it will be too soon.”
More silence.
“Burgers,” Max suddenly spit out, and then stopped.
“Burgers?” Jackie repeated after he didn’t elaborate.
“Uh, I mean, are you hungry, cause Aunt Maria and I made burgers. To grill. And eat.” Well, that ought to kill any chance I had of impressing her with my command of the English language.
“Not really,” Jackie replied. She didn’t think she could get any food past the knot in her stomach. “But we could go outside. If you’re hungry. To get a burger.” Com-plete sen-ten-ces, Jackie.
“Um, OK.” Max held the door open for her, and as she scooted past him he caught a whiff of her perfume. Vanilla musk. Yum.
“Jackie, hi sweetheart,” Alex said as he spotted his niece and walked over to give her a hug. “Would you like a hot dog or a hamburger?”
“No thanks Uncle Alex,” she said as she sat down at the table making sure to choose a seat that had an empty chair next to it.
“I’ll take a burger Uncle Alex,” Max said as he wandered over to the grill. He looked around the deck as Alex put the hamburger on a roll and finally looked at his mother. “Where’s Dad, Mom?”
“Oh he’s around somewhere,” she said vaguely as she stood and turned away from him, not wanting to betray her excitement at what was about to happen.
“Here you go Max,” Alex quickly said to divert his attention. “The Tabasco sauce is on the table over there,” he added while he pointed toward another table.
“Thanks Uncle Alex,” he said, and then made his way to fix his burger. When he was done he walked over to the table where everyone was seated and deposited himself in the available chair next to Jackie, wondering just how he was going to concentrate on his food and not her long, tan, shapely legs peaking out from her shorts.
“You like hot and spicy, huh,” she said as she watched him bite into the fat sandwich. When he looked at with a questioning look, she added, “Tabasco. You put it on your burger.”
“Oh, yeah,” he said as he wiped his face with a napkin, not wanting to embarrass himself by looking like a pig while he ate. “Yeah, I do. So does my Dad.”
“Speaking of your Dad, I do believe I see him now,” Maria interrupted as she stood and looked out toward the water. Everyone quickly followed her lead, having been filled in on what was to happen while Max and Jackie had still been inside.
Max turned around to see what they were all looking at. “Where? Why would Dad be in the water?”
“He’s not exactly in the water Honey,” Liz said as she grabbed his hand and pulled him over to the dock. A few seconds later the Waverunner they were all staring at made its way closer to them, and Max squinted his eyes to get a better look.
“That guy looks like Dad,” he said to Liz.
“That guy is Dad, Honey,” she replied as she squeezed his hand tighter and began waving to her husband wildly with the other.
“Whose Jet Ski is he on, Aunt Maria’s is right here.”
His father pulled up to the dock and threw a line up to Alex who quickly tied up the craft. He grinned up at his son, who was looking at him with a very confused expression on his face. “Dad whose Jet Ski is that and why are you riding around with a bow on it?”
Max climbed up onto the dock and grabbed Liz’s other hand as they shared a secret look. He reached over and handed the key to his son as he said, “it’s got a bow on it because it’s a gift. For you.”
They all stood there grinning at him as he looked at the machine, then at his parents, then back at the Jet Ski, still obviously confused. “What?”
“It’s yours Max,” Liz said. “From Dad and I, for your great grades. And for being one amazing son.”
Max’s eyes almost popped out of his head as he stared at her, then his father, then the Waverunner, and finally back to his mother with his mouth hanging open. “For me?”
FLASH! Maria started snapping pictures a mile a minute. “I knew he’d be speechless!” she said. “Oh, Alex, would you go get the other life vests out of the garage Honey?” Alex jogged away, leaving Max still flummoxed.
“Are you being serious?” Max said as he pointed at the Jet Ski. “This is for me?”
“It sure is. Of course, it represents your birthday, Christmas, and graduation gifts for the next ten years,” joked his father. “We decided you had earned the right to be spoiled a little bit.”
“Very spoiled,” Liz added with a smile.
“I…I…don’t know what to say…this is unbelievable. Thank you. So much!” He finally started to snap out of his stupor and he threw his arms around his mother and then his father. “I can’t believe this.”
“Get on it Max, so I can take your picture,” Maria said.
He climbed down onto the craft, surveying it as he sat, and then looked up at his parents with a beaming smile covering his face. “Thank you,” he said again.
Maria caught sight of Jackie out of the corner of her eye as the young girl watched him, obviously very happy for him, and just as obviously smitten with him. Right then Alex returned with the jackets, which gave her an idea. As Liz was handing Max his new life preserver, Maria said “Max you can’t go out by yourself on your maiden voyage, you have to take a passenger.” She took the smallest life vest from Alex and said, “Jackie, you’re the only one who’ll fit in this besides Liz. Why don’t you climb down there with Captain Max.”
‘Thank you Aunt Maria,’ Max thought to himself.
“Oh, um, well, don’t you want to go Aunt Liz?” Jackie said, a bit embarrassed. She didn’t want Max to feel pressured into having to take her for a ride if he didn’t want to.
“Oh Sweetie, I don’t feel like getting wet right now, and I didn’t bring my bathing suit. You go ahead,” an oblivious Liz said to her.
‘Thank you Mom,’ he silently added.
Jackie slipped on the vest and then made her way down the ladder and on to the back of the Waverunner. “OK you two, look at me and wave,” called Maria as she started snapping more photos.
“OK Max, start ‘er up and take her out for a spin,” said his father as he clapped his hands together in anticipation.
“OK,” said Max as he turned the key. The machine roared to life and he called out to Jackie “hold on to me tightly” as he began to maneuver out of the boat slip.
‘Gladly,’ she thought as she wrapped her arms around his waist, making his smile widen even more, and pulled away to the cheers of their families.
Max was standing behind Liz with his arms wrapped around her as they watched their son ride off. “I think he likes it,” he said facetiously.
She turned in his arms and kissed him on the cheek. “That’s an understatement, I’d say. How much do you want to bet that we don’t see him too much for the rest of the afternoon?”
“I’m going to bet you don’t see him much all summer,” joked Maria as they all began to make their way back to the table.
The afternoon passed pleasantly with more friends joining them as the day progressed. Max played tour guide, gladly taking different people for rides to show off his new toy. Jackie joined him again later in the day after dinner had been served. Max purposely took his time on that ride, showing her the waterfront and sharing childhood stories of times spent there learning to swim and water ski with Liz, Maria and Alex. She soaked it all in, enjoying his glibness. He had always been quiet and reserved with her, even in his emails. To listen to him now, easily conversing and laughing with her, was making her happier than she’s been in a long time. Maybe ever.
They returned to the party reluctantly as the sun began to set, knowing that the fireworks would soon begin. Max climbed off first and then held out his hand to assist her. They stood there in silence for a moment, both of them staring down at their joined hands, fireworks going off in their minds. Max finally snapped back to reality and blushed furiously as he dropped her hand, afraid she would think him an idiot for holding on to it for so long.
Jackie quietly sighed as he released his hold on her hand. It had totally enveloped her own small one and had felt soft and warm and wonderful. They made their way across the lawn to the deck where the younger kids were lighting sparklers and everyone was having a good time.
“So Homer did you run out of gas yet?” Maria teased.
“No, but it is down a half tank,” he answered as he sat down next to his mother and kissed her cheek. “Thanks again Mom.”
“Actually it was all your dad’s idea Sweetie. I was against it. He had to do a lot of convincing to get me to change my mind.”
Max looked at his father who was sitting on the other side of his mom. “Dad, not that I’m complaining, but why? I’ve always gotten good grades.”
“I know Max, but I wasn’t here all those times you did,” he quietly replied. “I saw how much you loved using Maria and Alex’s last summer, and I just wanted to give you something I knew you’d enjoy. Besides,” he finished with a smile, “it does have one string attached. Mom and I get to use it too.”
“I think that’s doable,” Max said as he smiled back at his dad. “Seriously Dad, I don’t know how to thank you.”
“Just keep on being the wonderful person you are Max. You’re everything a father could hope for in a son.”
Liz’s eyes teared up as she watched the exchange between the two loves of her life. Her hand unconsciously moved to lay on her stomach as she joyously thought, ‘and soon we’ll all have a new love in our lives.’
“Looks like the show’s starting,” Alex said as they all heard the first ‘boom’ of the fireworks going off. The children all ran to sit along the bulkhead as the adults moved their seats to get a better view down the river toward the area the display was being shot off. After another quiet “thanks again guys,” Max nonchalantly made his way to sit next to Jackie.
“Where do you want to sit babe,” Max asked his wife as they stood up to move.
“Um…oh, how ‘bout we go and sit on Maria’s swing? We’ll have a perfect view,” Liz answered. Alex had given Maria a four-foot wooden bench swing for their last anniversary, and had hung it from a large old oak tree in the far corner of their backyard that looked out over the river.
“Good idea,” he said as he grabbed her hand and they walked away from the rest of the partyers and took their seat. Max tucked her under his arm as she lay her head on his shoulder and they began to gently swing back and forth. “There’s another benefit to this location besides the great view, you know,” he said as he planted a kiss on top of her head.
“What’s that?”
“I can kiss you without an audience,” he said playfully, and then tilted up her chin to demonstrate his point.
He pulled away and they smiled at each other as Liz said, “since when did an audience ever stop us?”
“Nothing, and no one, will ever stop me from showing you how much I love you Liz. Never.” He leaned in to kiss her again, more possessively this time, and as the kiss deepened his free hand moved to rest on her tummy. At his touch a surge of love and excitement coursed from Liz to Max through their connection, and when she pulled away from his lips she knew she couldn’t wait a second longer to tell him.
“Max,” she began as she placed her hand over his that was still on her stomach. “I have to tell you something. Something wonderful.”
Max didn’t know what her news might be, but whatever it was it must be amazing, because he thought she had never looked more beautiful than at that moment. She was glowing, absolutely luminescent; her smile was large and her eyes were glossy as she gazed at him with so much love his heart ached in his chest. “What Liz?”
Her smile grew even brighter as she whispered, “I’m pregnant Max. We’re going to have another baby.”
Max felt like all of the air had been sucked out of his lungs and that his heart had actually stopped beating. All the blood in his body was rushing through his ears like thunder. A baby. A little combination of him and Liz wrapped up in a precious little package. A chance for him to experience all he had missed with their son. Bedtime stories, nursery rhymes, tiny little feet learning to walk. Their baby.
“Max, are you OK?” Liz asked nervously. He had gone pale and wasn’t talking. Had he changed his mind about wanting another child?
He began to find his voice and answered her. “How is it, that every time I think I can’t possibly love you anymore, you prove me wrong?” He paused a moment as he looked down and began to caress her flat belly. “You’re giving me a baby Liz,” he whispered in awe before folding her in his arms and hugging her tightly. “Thank you, my precious, precious love.”
Joy filled her as she remained in the cocoon of his arms, and when she felt his tears fall on to her skin, hers soon followed. They remained locked together, whispering words of love and devotion in between kisses as fireworks burst overhead, an appropriate adornment for their happy celebration.
An hour and a half later the girls pulled into Maria’s driveway. They were barely out of the car when Max came trotting out the front door toward his wife. “There you are! I’ve been worried.”
“Max, you knew we were going to the grocery store to pick up the steaks for the party after we got the vests,” Liz said as he pulled her into a hug.
“I know, but I didn’t see you after you fell before. Are you sure you’re all right?” He had pulled away from her and was looking her up and down, checking for any damage.
“Max, I told you, I’m fine. Now stop eyeballing me and grab a bag; we bought a lot of stuff.”
Maria shook her head and laughed to herself at the scene. ‘Oh, he is not going to let her breathe while she’s pregnant,’ she thought. Alex appeared at the door then, and she called out to him “Honey there’s two more bags in the back seat, would you mind getting them?”
“Sure,” he replied as he held the door open for the three of them and then went to the car. When he joined them in the kitchen he found them looking outside at Max as he was attempting to get some umbrellas set up around the deck. “So, did you get the life jackets?” he asked as he put the bags down on the counter.
“Yes. They’re in the trunk of my car. Before Max leaves to bring the Waverunner here, he’s going to put them in the garage,” Maria answered.
“I can’t wait to see his face, he’s going to be totally blown away,” said Alex.
‘He’s not the only one who will be blown away today,’ thought Liz happily. “I know. After how much I was against this, I have to say that I can’t wait to give it to him now.” They ceased talking as he entered the house.
“Hi Mom. What did you get at the food store?”
Maria laughed out loud as she finished emptying the packages. “Homer, you have a one-track mind. We bought steaks, some sausages, hot dogs, and hamburgers. Why don’t you be a good boy and help me make up the burgers, and Alex can start the charcoal and we’ll do up a few before everybody else gets here.”
He dutifully assisted her while Alex went out to the grill, and Max and Liz began stocking the buffet table with all of the paper goods that would be needed for the day. Maria watched them through the glass doors and smiled. When a small pang of envy interrupted her thoughts, she chastised herself immediately. She was so happy for her friends, she genuinely was. Any feelings of jealousy would not be tolerated. She wouldn’t allow it.
“Aunt Maria, am I making these the right size?” Max said as he held up a hamburger for her inspection.
“What? Oh, um, actually they’re a little too big. Make them about this size,” she said as she refocused her thoughts on the task at hand. “Yeah, that’s better. This way the outsides won’t burn before the insides are cooked.” They continued on in silence a few minutes, Maria watching him out of the corner of her eye, wondering if Alex had told him who was coming over that afternoon. “So, did Alex fill you in on today’s guest list?”
“No, is it the usual crowd?”
“Yeah, pretty much. A few neighbors, two girls that work for me and their families, Professor Jenkins, the guy that got the baseball tickets for us, with his family. Oh, and Nick and Paula of course.” She conveniently left out who would be tagging along with them, wondering if he would take the bait.
“Oh.” One, two three… “So, will, uh, Jackie be with them?”
Maria couldn’t help but smile as she looked over at him as he nervously mangled some meat. “Sure, all three girls are coming, too. Why did you want to know?”
“Just, ah, just curious. OK, looks like we’re finished,” he said, quickly trying to change the subject.
Maria threw away the meat wrappers and joined him at the sink to wash her hands. “Just curious, huh?” she said in a teasing tone.
He blushed profusely and began stuttering through what he thought was an explanation. “Yeah, uh, well, she wanted to know about classes, you know, at Riverton, and we, um, we’ve, uh, been emailing each other, you know, so I can help her out.”
“So, did you email each other while they were in Seattle?” Paula’s sister lived in the city, and after all three of their daughter’s finished out the school year they had gone out for a three week visit, and had just recently returned. Maria’s smile grew even wider as she watched his face redden even more. “I’m going to take that pretty shade of red on your cheeks as a yes,” she teased.
As he opened his mouth to answer her, a voice called out “hello, anyone home?” from the direction of her garage. A moment later, the door opened and the subjects of their conversation walked in. “Maria, Max, how are you?” Nick asked as he hugged his sister-in-law and then shook Max’s hand. “I hope you don’t mind us showing up early. I left early, thinking there’d be a lot of traffic, and no one was on the road!”
“Of course not,” Maria replied as she hugged them all. “You guys know you’re the real reason I married your brother,” she joked. She couldn’t help but notice her niece’s eyes trained on something, make that someone, over her shoulder. She turned around to find Max still red as a beet, staring at Jackie. Oh yeah, she thought; they have it bad. As she hugged her she whispered in her ear, “go say hi before he faints.” She pulled away and almost laughed out loud. Jackie was now even redder than Max. “Come on guys,” she said to the others, “Alex, Max, and Liz are out on the deck. Let’s go say hi and you can regale us with tales of the Pacific Northwest.” Maria led them outside, leaving the two blushing young adults alone in the kitchen.
Jackie couldn’t speak. Why did her Aunt say that? Did she know something? Had Max told her something? Like maybe he liked her? Could that be at all possible, a gorgeous, smart, sweet guy like Max, attracted to her?
Max was trying to untie his tongue. It seemed to have swelled to some gargantuan proportions in three seconds flat and it was keeping him from properly greeting the pretty girl in front of him. They both stood there staring at each other, nervously twisting their hands, trying to choke out a ‘hello’. Max finally managed to calm down enough to stutter out “ha…hi Jackie.”
Hearing his voice gave her a little confidence and she replied, “hi Max; it’s nice to see you.”
“It’s great to see you.” Ok, Max, calm down, try and act like a normal human-alien hybrid.
He said great. Great to see you. Like he thought it was great to see me. Could that mean he thinks it’s great to see me??
They stared at each other another few moments before he found his voice again and continued. “Oh, um, how was your trip? Your emails sounded like you were having fun.”
“Yeah, it was. My cousins took us all over Seattle. I think if I never have another cup of coffee it will be too soon.”
More silence.
“Burgers,” Max suddenly spit out, and then stopped.
“Burgers?” Jackie repeated after he didn’t elaborate.
“Uh, I mean, are you hungry, cause Aunt Maria and I made burgers. To grill. And eat.” Well, that ought to kill any chance I had of impressing her with my command of the English language.
“Not really,” Jackie replied. She didn’t think she could get any food past the knot in her stomach. “But we could go outside. If you’re hungry. To get a burger.” Com-plete sen-ten-ces, Jackie.
“Um, OK.” Max held the door open for her, and as she scooted past him he caught a whiff of her perfume. Vanilla musk. Yum.
“Jackie, hi sweetheart,” Alex said as he spotted his niece and walked over to give her a hug. “Would you like a hot dog or a hamburger?”
“No thanks Uncle Alex,” she said as she sat down at the table making sure to choose a seat that had an empty chair next to it.
“I’ll take a burger Uncle Alex,” Max said as he wandered over to the grill. He looked around the deck as Alex put the hamburger on a roll and finally looked at his mother. “Where’s Dad, Mom?”
“Oh he’s around somewhere,” she said vaguely as she stood and turned away from him, not wanting to betray her excitement at what was about to happen.
“Here you go Max,” Alex quickly said to divert his attention. “The Tabasco sauce is on the table over there,” he added while he pointed toward another table.
“Thanks Uncle Alex,” he said, and then made his way to fix his burger. When he was done he walked over to the table where everyone was seated and deposited himself in the available chair next to Jackie, wondering just how he was going to concentrate on his food and not her long, tan, shapely legs peaking out from her shorts.
“You like hot and spicy, huh,” she said as she watched him bite into the fat sandwich. When he looked at with a questioning look, she added, “Tabasco. You put it on your burger.”
“Oh, yeah,” he said as he wiped his face with a napkin, not wanting to embarrass himself by looking like a pig while he ate. “Yeah, I do. So does my Dad.”
“Speaking of your Dad, I do believe I see him now,” Maria interrupted as she stood and looked out toward the water. Everyone quickly followed her lead, having been filled in on what was to happen while Max and Jackie had still been inside.
Max turned around to see what they were all looking at. “Where? Why would Dad be in the water?”
“He’s not exactly in the water Honey,” Liz said as she grabbed his hand and pulled him over to the dock. A few seconds later the Waverunner they were all staring at made its way closer to them, and Max squinted his eyes to get a better look.
“That guy looks like Dad,” he said to Liz.
“That guy is Dad, Honey,” she replied as she squeezed his hand tighter and began waving to her husband wildly with the other.
“Whose Jet Ski is he on, Aunt Maria’s is right here.”
His father pulled up to the dock and threw a line up to Alex who quickly tied up the craft. He grinned up at his son, who was looking at him with a very confused expression on his face. “Dad whose Jet Ski is that and why are you riding around with a bow on it?”
Max climbed up onto the dock and grabbed Liz’s other hand as they shared a secret look. He reached over and handed the key to his son as he said, “it’s got a bow on it because it’s a gift. For you.”
They all stood there grinning at him as he looked at the machine, then at his parents, then back at the Jet Ski, still obviously confused. “What?”
“It’s yours Max,” Liz said. “From Dad and I, for your great grades. And for being one amazing son.”
Max’s eyes almost popped out of his head as he stared at her, then his father, then the Waverunner, and finally back to his mother with his mouth hanging open. “For me?”
FLASH! Maria started snapping pictures a mile a minute. “I knew he’d be speechless!” she said. “Oh, Alex, would you go get the other life vests out of the garage Honey?” Alex jogged away, leaving Max still flummoxed.
“Are you being serious?” Max said as he pointed at the Jet Ski. “This is for me?”
“It sure is. Of course, it represents your birthday, Christmas, and graduation gifts for the next ten years,” joked his father. “We decided you had earned the right to be spoiled a little bit.”
“Very spoiled,” Liz added with a smile.
“I…I…don’t know what to say…this is unbelievable. Thank you. So much!” He finally started to snap out of his stupor and he threw his arms around his mother and then his father. “I can’t believe this.”
“Get on it Max, so I can take your picture,” Maria said.
He climbed down onto the craft, surveying it as he sat, and then looked up at his parents with a beaming smile covering his face. “Thank you,” he said again.
Maria caught sight of Jackie out of the corner of her eye as the young girl watched him, obviously very happy for him, and just as obviously smitten with him. Right then Alex returned with the jackets, which gave her an idea. As Liz was handing Max his new life preserver, Maria said “Max you can’t go out by yourself on your maiden voyage, you have to take a passenger.” She took the smallest life vest from Alex and said, “Jackie, you’re the only one who’ll fit in this besides Liz. Why don’t you climb down there with Captain Max.”
‘Thank you Aunt Maria,’ Max thought to himself.
“Oh, um, well, don’t you want to go Aunt Liz?” Jackie said, a bit embarrassed. She didn’t want Max to feel pressured into having to take her for a ride if he didn’t want to.
“Oh Sweetie, I don’t feel like getting wet right now, and I didn’t bring my bathing suit. You go ahead,” an oblivious Liz said to her.
‘Thank you Mom,’ he silently added.
Jackie slipped on the vest and then made her way down the ladder and on to the back of the Waverunner. “OK you two, look at me and wave,” called Maria as she started snapping more photos.
“OK Max, start ‘er up and take her out for a spin,” said his father as he clapped his hands together in anticipation.
“OK,” said Max as he turned the key. The machine roared to life and he called out to Jackie “hold on to me tightly” as he began to maneuver out of the boat slip.
‘Gladly,’ she thought as she wrapped her arms around his waist, making his smile widen even more, and pulled away to the cheers of their families.
Max was standing behind Liz with his arms wrapped around her as they watched their son ride off. “I think he likes it,” he said facetiously.
She turned in his arms and kissed him on the cheek. “That’s an understatement, I’d say. How much do you want to bet that we don’t see him too much for the rest of the afternoon?”
“I’m going to bet you don’t see him much all summer,” joked Maria as they all began to make their way back to the table.
The afternoon passed pleasantly with more friends joining them as the day progressed. Max played tour guide, gladly taking different people for rides to show off his new toy. Jackie joined him again later in the day after dinner had been served. Max purposely took his time on that ride, showing her the waterfront and sharing childhood stories of times spent there learning to swim and water ski with Liz, Maria and Alex. She soaked it all in, enjoying his glibness. He had always been quiet and reserved with her, even in his emails. To listen to him now, easily conversing and laughing with her, was making her happier than she’s been in a long time. Maybe ever.
They returned to the party reluctantly as the sun began to set, knowing that the fireworks would soon begin. Max climbed off first and then held out his hand to assist her. They stood there in silence for a moment, both of them staring down at their joined hands, fireworks going off in their minds. Max finally snapped back to reality and blushed furiously as he dropped her hand, afraid she would think him an idiot for holding on to it for so long.
Jackie quietly sighed as he released his hold on her hand. It had totally enveloped her own small one and had felt soft and warm and wonderful. They made their way across the lawn to the deck where the younger kids were lighting sparklers and everyone was having a good time.
“So Homer did you run out of gas yet?” Maria teased.
“No, but it is down a half tank,” he answered as he sat down next to his mother and kissed her cheek. “Thanks again Mom.”
“Actually it was all your dad’s idea Sweetie. I was against it. He had to do a lot of convincing to get me to change my mind.”
Max looked at his father who was sitting on the other side of his mom. “Dad, not that I’m complaining, but why? I’ve always gotten good grades.”
“I know Max, but I wasn’t here all those times you did,” he quietly replied. “I saw how much you loved using Maria and Alex’s last summer, and I just wanted to give you something I knew you’d enjoy. Besides,” he finished with a smile, “it does have one string attached. Mom and I get to use it too.”
“I think that’s doable,” Max said as he smiled back at his dad. “Seriously Dad, I don’t know how to thank you.”
“Just keep on being the wonderful person you are Max. You’re everything a father could hope for in a son.”
Liz’s eyes teared up as she watched the exchange between the two loves of her life. Her hand unconsciously moved to lay on her stomach as she joyously thought, ‘and soon we’ll all have a new love in our lives.’
“Looks like the show’s starting,” Alex said as they all heard the first ‘boom’ of the fireworks going off. The children all ran to sit along the bulkhead as the adults moved their seats to get a better view down the river toward the area the display was being shot off. After another quiet “thanks again guys,” Max nonchalantly made his way to sit next to Jackie.
“Where do you want to sit babe,” Max asked his wife as they stood up to move.
“Um…oh, how ‘bout we go and sit on Maria’s swing? We’ll have a perfect view,” Liz answered. Alex had given Maria a four-foot wooden bench swing for their last anniversary, and had hung it from a large old oak tree in the far corner of their backyard that looked out over the river.
“Good idea,” he said as he grabbed her hand and they walked away from the rest of the partyers and took their seat. Max tucked her under his arm as she lay her head on his shoulder and they began to gently swing back and forth. “There’s another benefit to this location besides the great view, you know,” he said as he planted a kiss on top of her head.
“What’s that?”
“I can kiss you without an audience,” he said playfully, and then tilted up her chin to demonstrate his point.
He pulled away and they smiled at each other as Liz said, “since when did an audience ever stop us?”
“Nothing, and no one, will ever stop me from showing you how much I love you Liz. Never.” He leaned in to kiss her again, more possessively this time, and as the kiss deepened his free hand moved to rest on her tummy. At his touch a surge of love and excitement coursed from Liz to Max through their connection, and when she pulled away from his lips she knew she couldn’t wait a second longer to tell him.
“Max,” she began as she placed her hand over his that was still on her stomach. “I have to tell you something. Something wonderful.”
Max didn’t know what her news might be, but whatever it was it must be amazing, because he thought she had never looked more beautiful than at that moment. She was glowing, absolutely luminescent; her smile was large and her eyes were glossy as she gazed at him with so much love his heart ached in his chest. “What Liz?”
Her smile grew even brighter as she whispered, “I’m pregnant Max. We’re going to have another baby.”
Max felt like all of the air had been sucked out of his lungs and that his heart had actually stopped beating. All the blood in his body was rushing through his ears like thunder. A baby. A little combination of him and Liz wrapped up in a precious little package. A chance for him to experience all he had missed with their son. Bedtime stories, nursery rhymes, tiny little feet learning to walk. Their baby.
“Max, are you OK?” Liz asked nervously. He had gone pale and wasn’t talking. Had he changed his mind about wanting another child?
He began to find his voice and answered her. “How is it, that every time I think I can’t possibly love you anymore, you prove me wrong?” He paused a moment as he looked down and began to caress her flat belly. “You’re giving me a baby Liz,” he whispered in awe before folding her in his arms and hugging her tightly. “Thank you, my precious, precious love.”
Joy filled her as she remained in the cocoon of his arms, and when she felt his tears fall on to her skin, hers soon followed. They remained locked together, whispering words of love and devotion in between kisses as fireworks burst overhead, an appropriate adornment for their happy celebration.
CHAPTER 9
Liz emerged from the fog of sleep slowly, the warm memories of the previous night replaying in her mind. Upon their arrival home from the party, Max had carried her inside after having recalled her ‘fall’ in the afternoon. He had predictably freaked out after she admitted that she had actually fainted, and despite her vocal protests he picked her up in the driveway and ferried her inside with their son staring after them, muttering something about PDA’s and young eyes. He had gently laid her on their bed and proceeded to thoroughly check her over while she tried to distract him to no avail. When he was done he climbed into bed, intent on just holding her all night, afraid she might still be weak. After a little bit of convincing using her lips and hands, he finally believed she was fine, and he made love to her which such gentleness, trying to convey to her how precious she was to him, that neither could withhold tears when their climaxes washed over them. She had fallen asleep with him sweetly kissing her tummy, and now she was awakening in the very same fashion.
She finally opened her eyes to see the top of his head as he placed feather-light kisses over her belly while he whispered “hello, baby. I love you.”
“I love you too Daddy,” she responded, and as he raised his head, she thought she had never seen his smile so bright or his eyes so at peace.
He stretched out next to her, drew her into the circle of his arms and leaned his forehead against hers. “Daddy. I like the sound of that.”
Her hand ran through his hair and she smiled back at him, unable to contain the joy bursting from every pore in her being. “I like the sound of it too.”
They lay together quietly savoring the beauty of the moment, being thankful for the blessing God had sent them. After a while, Max couldn’t help himself and asked “do you feel OK? Are you dizzy or anything?”
She smiled at him, knowing that this was just the first time of the million she would be hearing that question from his lips. “I feel fine Darling. Absolutely perfectly fine.”
“Good,” he said, the crease in his brow easing as he smiled again. Suddenly another thought came to him. “Liz? I remember you saying once that you felt connected to Max when you were pregnant with him. Do you feel anything now?”
She placed a hand over her stomach as she concentrated. “Um, I wouldn’t call it a connection yet, but I do feel something. It’s kind of, like, a feeling, an energy. It’s hard to explain. I didn’t really feel a strong connection to Max until about the fourth month or so, so it will probably be a while.”
“What did it feel like? With Max?” he asked.
“A very strong bond. I guess like the energy I feel now but much more personified. It really bloomed after he was born.” A serene smile shone on her face at the fond memories. “When Maria put him in my arms and our eyes met, I knew he recognized me. I could feel it. I felt all of his emotions when he was an infant. It was a great ‘alarm’ system,” she chuckled. “I’d wake up in the middle of the night knowing he was hungry before he did.” Her fingers reached up and traced over his cheek as she continued. “I can’t wait for you to experience it all Max. It’s so wonderful.”
“Me too,” he whispered, obviously in awe of what was to come for them. The sound of the upstairs shower invaded the silence, and reminded Liz they still had to discuss telling their son.
“Honey, when do you want to tell Max about the baby?”
“Um…well, I think we should tell him right away. This is happening to all of us. Besides, I think he’ll figure out something’s going on pretty quickly; both of our emotions are very high, and he’s bound to feel something through the connection. And I doubt that I’ll be able to wipe the smile off of my face very easily,” he added as he kissed her forehead. “When did you want to tell him?”
“Well, I think you’re right, it should be right away. But Maria made some good points yesterday about us being prepared for a cool reception to the news.”
“She thinks he’s going to be upset?”
“Well, what she was stressing was that we needed to be prepared for that possibility. It might be weird for him at first to think about us having sex-“
“Making love,” Max corrected her.
“Making love,” she repeated quietly before kissing him. “And he’s also been an only child for nineteen years. What if he’s jealous of sharing us with a baby? I’m not saying I think he’s definitely going to feel this way, but Maria’s right, we need to be aware that it could happen.”
“OK,” he said, “then we’ll just have to be sure to let him know how much we love him when we tell him.”
“He knows that, and we’ll tell him, of course; just please don’t get upset if he doesn’t jump up and down about it, OK?”
“OK, he said again. “So when do you want to tell him?”
“Well, I’m betting he’ll be heading over to take the Waverunner out shortly, so maybe we should get dressed and do it before he leaves?”
“Sounds good to me,” he answered as he rose and held out his hand to help her up. They washed up and dressed, and were just about to go upstairs when he appeared.
“Hi Mom, Dad. I’m going to take the Waverunner out, do you guys want to come?”
“No Honey, but could we talk to you for a sec?” Liz said as she motioned for him to sit down. “We have something to tell you Max.”
“Well if the smiles on your faces are any indication, it must be good news,” he said.
“It is, the best,” his father replied. He nodded at Liz as he took her hand in his, encouraging her to continue.
“Max, Honey, you know how much we both love you, right?” She was suddenly nervous at what his reaction might be.
“You’re kidding, right?” he joked. “Of course I know that. I love you guys too.”
“OK, well then, here it is. Max, Honey, we…I-I mean me…I mean I..”
“Max, your mom is pregnant. We’re going to have a baby. You’re going to be a brother,” his father announced when Liz couldn’t seem to spit the words out.
They both watched as his eyes grew to large round circles. “A baby?” he repeated as he looked at them. “Wow.” He was pensive as he took in the news, not really sure what to make of it yet.
Liz watched him carefully, trying to discern how he felt. After a few seconds he looked at her with narrowed eyes. “Does this have anything to do with you falling yesterday?”
“No Honey,” Liz said, fibbing slightly. “I am fine. I feel great.”
“OK. Well, congratulations then,” he said as he rose and moved to hug her.
“Thank you Sweetie,” she said, returning his embrace.
“Look at it this way Max,” said his father as they hugged, “at least you won’t have to share your toys.”
“Yeah,” he said as he half-laughed. “Um, OK then, if that’s all I’m going to go take out the Jet Ski, if that’s OK with you guys?”
“Sure Sweetie, we’ll see you later,” Liz said as she rubbed her hand over his arm. They watched him leave the house and then she turned to her husband. “Well I think that went pretty good.”
“Yeah, he seems a little stunned but I don’t think he was upset,” he replied as they watched him drive away.
As Max drove off his head was spinning like crazy. A baby. How was he going to relate to a baby? He had spent very little time in his life around small children. He knew that they needed a lot of attention and care. Would his mom expect him to help take care of it? He didn’t know that his parents had wanted to have a baby. Why did they want more kids at their age? Aren’t they too old to be…having…yuck. YUCK. ‘Don’t go there Max. Don’t go there,’ he thought. He knew his parents were very affectionate; hell you’d have to be deaf, dumb and blind not to notice all of the kissing, touching, and hugging; the whispered words and secret smiles. But he had prudently never carried his thoughts any further than just seeing it as an acknowledgement of their love. Even though he knew what was happening, he didn’t want to know. “Well, it should be interesting,” he muttered to himself as he pulled in Maria’s driveway.
Inside the house Maria was hanging up the phone after briefly speaking to Liz. She had wanted to alert Maria and Alex to the fact that they had told their son about the baby and that he seemed to be fine. She walked outside to greet him as he walked into the backyard. “Morning Homer. I figured you’d be here bright and early to play with your new toy.”
“Hi Aunt Maria,” he said as he kissed her hello. “Well, I don’t want Mom and Dad to think I don’t like it,” he joked.
“Judging by your reaction yesterday, I don’t think that’s a problem. I’m taking the film to get developed today; I hope the pictures all come out. I think I got some good shots. Especially of you and Jackie,” she said as she nudged his arm with her shoulder as they walked over toward the dock. His face colored immediately at her teasing. “She’s a great girl, Max,” she said a bit more seriously.
“Yeah, she is,” he replied shyly. As close as he was to Maria, he had never discussed girls with her before. Because there hadn’t been any to discuss.
“I think she likes you, too, you know.”
His head whipped around to look at her carefully. “Why? I mean, why do you say that?”
“I can tell by the way she looks at you, the way she acts around you. The same way I can tell that you like her.”
“Oh.” He was quiet while he tried to absorb the fact that the girl who had been occupying his thoughts for awhile now might feel something for him also. “Do you really think she likes me?” he asked, still unsure that it could be possible.
Maria took his face in her hands to force him to look at her. “Yes, I do. Why wouldn’t she? You are handsome, athletic, smart, sweet…you are a very special person Max, and whoever wins your heart is going to be one lucky girl.”
He ducked his head as she release it and blushed at her compliments before she asked him “how do you feel about her?”
His expression soured as his head hung lower. “Does it really matter? I can’t just ask her out and pretend everything’s normal. I can’t just say, ‘hey, you want to go to the movies, and oh by the way, I’m an alien’, can I?”
Pain stabbed through Maria’s heart as he finally admitted out loud what was preventing him from taking a step into the world of romance. “Oh Honey,” she said as she drew him into a hug, “I know that your heritage throws a wrench into things…” She paused as he gave her a look with an eyebrow raised. “OK, a really, really BIG wrench. But that doesn’t mean that it’s impossible. Your father and mother went through all of this too. He spent his life staring at her from a distance because he was afraid of the same thing. She dealt with it. I dealt with it; so has Alex, and Kyle, and Jim…I know it’s a huge deal Max, but it’s not insurmountable. Don’t give up on what could be the most wonderful thing that there is to experience. Love.”
He listened to her intently, as he always did. Maria had been his confident and best friend since the day he was born, and he valued her advice as much as he did his parents counsel. As much as he wanted to believe her, his fears gripped him unmercifully. “I…I don’t know Aunt Maria. What if I ended up…you know, falling in love with her, and I told her, and she freaked out. What if she told someone about us. You know what that could mean for us. I…”
“You want to protect your family and you don’t want to get hurt,” she interrupted. “That’s understandable. But if you don’t take chances in life Max, then are you really living? Were you expecting to go through your entire life alone? Never loving someone?”
He didn’t answer her. He couldn’t. That pain was far to personal to share with anyone, even her.
She grasped his face again and said gently, “Max, Jackie is my favorite niece. I think the world of her, of you both, and yes, I would love to see you two get together. So would Alex. How would she react to the alien thing? I don’t know, but knowing the person she is, I don’t believe that she would betray a sacred confidence like that. You wouldn’t cross that bridge alone, either. Your mom, dad, Alex and I would all be there to help explain the gravity of the situation to her. But who’s to say you would even get to the point where you’d have to tell her? You might date for a while and it might not work out. A million different things could happen.”
“I don’t think that would happen Aunt Maria,” he said, referring to them not working out. “I really like her. A lot. A whole lot,” he finished, finally admitting his feelings out loud.
“That’s great Max,” she said with a large smile. “Look, I’m not trying to pressure you into anything…OK maybe I am a little,” she laughed as he looked at her with another raised eyebrow. “I just don’t want you to dismiss the possibility sharing your life with someone. It took a gigantic leap of faith for your father to make that decision, and look at what resulted. Have you ever known a happier man?”
“No, especially now…” he trailed off, not knowing if Maria was aware of Liz’s pregnancy.
“You mean because of the baby,” she stated. “Yeah, I know,” she said to answer his questioning look. “How do you feel about it?”
“OK I guess. I mean, it’s not like I can do anything about it. Not that I would want to…I mean…it just IS. As long as their happy I can deal. What do you think?”
“I’m thrilled I’m going to be an Aunt again, even though you’ll always be my favorite,” she said as she pinched his cheek in jest. “It will be nice for your dad to be able to experience all of the things he missed with you.”
“Yeah,” he said, feeling a twinge of jealously at the thought.
“Babies are a happy thing Max. You’ll see.”
“MARIA! Telephone,” Alex called out from the open kitchen window. “Hey Max.”
“Hi Uncle Alex,” Max replied as he waved.
“OK Sweetiepie, have fun out there, be careful. I love you,” she said as she quickly kissed him before running back to the house.
“Love you too,” he called to her before climbing down the dock to use his Waverunner.
Alex watched him from the window as Maria finished up her call. She joined him and said, “he seems to have taken the baby news pretty well.”
“Good, that’s good,” Alex said as he turned to look at her. A thought had been nagging at him since she’d told him of Liz’s pregnancy the previous night, and he just couldn’t let it go. “You seem to have taken it well too.”
“What? Sure, why wouldn’t I?” she asked in confusion.
Alex studied her a moment, choosing his words carefully. “I just thought that hearing that Liz is having another baby might bring up some old issues for you.”
“No, Alex, that’s not…” she tried to wave him off, but he had seen a brief look of guilt in her eyes before she had turned away from him.
“Maria, you don’t have to be ashamed of your feelings. Especially with me.” He put his arms around her waist and forced her to look at him. “Talk to me babe.”
She looked at him a moment before bursting into tears. “I’m…a terrible…person…” she choked out between sobs.
“No you’re not Honey,” he said as he rubbed her back and tried to calm her. “You are a fantastic person. You are the most amazing woman I’ve ever known. It’s OK to be normal Maria.”
“What do you mean?” she said, wiping her eyes and trying to get herself under control.
“I mean that it would be perfectly normal for you to feel sad or envious of Liz experiencing, for the second time, something that you can’t, and maybe still want. If that’s how you do feel.”
She sighed loudly and wiped at her eyes again. “I really am so happy for them Alex. Really. They both wanted this, and they deserve it after all they’ve been through. Max especially, after having missed out on his sons whole childhood…”
“But…”
“But, I guess I do feel…like you said, Liz is getting to have a second child. We never got to have even one, before my stupid screwed up body ruined our chances,” she said disgustedly.
“Hey,” he said somewhat sternly to make sure she was listening to him. “It is not your fault that you were born with some gynecological problems. Nor is it your fault that you had to have a hysterectomy. We’ve talked about this Maria. I’ve never cared about anything besides your health. Us not having kids is a complete non-issue with me.”
“I know, I know,” she said as she sighed again. “I don’t know why I feel this way; it’s not like I didn’t know they were trying to conceive. It’s not a surprise. I guess it’s like you said, it just brought up old issues. I’ll be fine.”
Alex looked at her a long moment before saying, “really? Are you sure it’s not something else? Something bigger?”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you want us to have kids Maria? I mean, like adopt?”
“What? Do you want to adopt a child?”
“No, I’m asking you if that’s what you want to do. I feel the same way that I did ten years ago. I’m perfectly happy with the way things are now, and I’d be perfectly happy if we adopted a child.” He picked up her hand and placed a kiss on the back of it before he continued. “I just want you to know that I am open to discussing the subject if that’s what you want.”
Maria wound her arms around her husband’s neck and hugged him tightly. “I love you so much,” she said. “I don’t think that’s necessarily what I want to do, at least right now, but thank you so much for saying that.” After a short while she pulled back and smiled at him. “You’re always the calm eye in the middle of my storm.” She kissed him and they hugged again, Maria giving a silent prayer of thanks for the marvelous man she had married.
Liz emerged from the fog of sleep slowly, the warm memories of the previous night replaying in her mind. Upon their arrival home from the party, Max had carried her inside after having recalled her ‘fall’ in the afternoon. He had predictably freaked out after she admitted that she had actually fainted, and despite her vocal protests he picked her up in the driveway and ferried her inside with their son staring after them, muttering something about PDA’s and young eyes. He had gently laid her on their bed and proceeded to thoroughly check her over while she tried to distract him to no avail. When he was done he climbed into bed, intent on just holding her all night, afraid she might still be weak. After a little bit of convincing using her lips and hands, he finally believed she was fine, and he made love to her which such gentleness, trying to convey to her how precious she was to him, that neither could withhold tears when their climaxes washed over them. She had fallen asleep with him sweetly kissing her tummy, and now she was awakening in the very same fashion.
She finally opened her eyes to see the top of his head as he placed feather-light kisses over her belly while he whispered “hello, baby. I love you.”
“I love you too Daddy,” she responded, and as he raised his head, she thought she had never seen his smile so bright or his eyes so at peace.
He stretched out next to her, drew her into the circle of his arms and leaned his forehead against hers. “Daddy. I like the sound of that.”
Her hand ran through his hair and she smiled back at him, unable to contain the joy bursting from every pore in her being. “I like the sound of it too.”
They lay together quietly savoring the beauty of the moment, being thankful for the blessing God had sent them. After a while, Max couldn’t help himself and asked “do you feel OK? Are you dizzy or anything?”
She smiled at him, knowing that this was just the first time of the million she would be hearing that question from his lips. “I feel fine Darling. Absolutely perfectly fine.”
“Good,” he said, the crease in his brow easing as he smiled again. Suddenly another thought came to him. “Liz? I remember you saying once that you felt connected to Max when you were pregnant with him. Do you feel anything now?”
She placed a hand over her stomach as she concentrated. “Um, I wouldn’t call it a connection yet, but I do feel something. It’s kind of, like, a feeling, an energy. It’s hard to explain. I didn’t really feel a strong connection to Max until about the fourth month or so, so it will probably be a while.”
“What did it feel like? With Max?” he asked.
“A very strong bond. I guess like the energy I feel now but much more personified. It really bloomed after he was born.” A serene smile shone on her face at the fond memories. “When Maria put him in my arms and our eyes met, I knew he recognized me. I could feel it. I felt all of his emotions when he was an infant. It was a great ‘alarm’ system,” she chuckled. “I’d wake up in the middle of the night knowing he was hungry before he did.” Her fingers reached up and traced over his cheek as she continued. “I can’t wait for you to experience it all Max. It’s so wonderful.”
“Me too,” he whispered, obviously in awe of what was to come for them. The sound of the upstairs shower invaded the silence, and reminded Liz they still had to discuss telling their son.
“Honey, when do you want to tell Max about the baby?”
“Um…well, I think we should tell him right away. This is happening to all of us. Besides, I think he’ll figure out something’s going on pretty quickly; both of our emotions are very high, and he’s bound to feel something through the connection. And I doubt that I’ll be able to wipe the smile off of my face very easily,” he added as he kissed her forehead. “When did you want to tell him?”
“Well, I think you’re right, it should be right away. But Maria made some good points yesterday about us being prepared for a cool reception to the news.”
“She thinks he’s going to be upset?”
“Well, what she was stressing was that we needed to be prepared for that possibility. It might be weird for him at first to think about us having sex-“
“Making love,” Max corrected her.
“Making love,” she repeated quietly before kissing him. “And he’s also been an only child for nineteen years. What if he’s jealous of sharing us with a baby? I’m not saying I think he’s definitely going to feel this way, but Maria’s right, we need to be aware that it could happen.”
“OK,” he said, “then we’ll just have to be sure to let him know how much we love him when we tell him.”
“He knows that, and we’ll tell him, of course; just please don’t get upset if he doesn’t jump up and down about it, OK?”
“OK, he said again. “So when do you want to tell him?”
“Well, I’m betting he’ll be heading over to take the Waverunner out shortly, so maybe we should get dressed and do it before he leaves?”
“Sounds good to me,” he answered as he rose and held out his hand to help her up. They washed up and dressed, and were just about to go upstairs when he appeared.
“Hi Mom, Dad. I’m going to take the Waverunner out, do you guys want to come?”
“No Honey, but could we talk to you for a sec?” Liz said as she motioned for him to sit down. “We have something to tell you Max.”
“Well if the smiles on your faces are any indication, it must be good news,” he said.
“It is, the best,” his father replied. He nodded at Liz as he took her hand in his, encouraging her to continue.
“Max, Honey, you know how much we both love you, right?” She was suddenly nervous at what his reaction might be.
“You’re kidding, right?” he joked. “Of course I know that. I love you guys too.”
“OK, well then, here it is. Max, Honey, we…I-I mean me…I mean I..”
“Max, your mom is pregnant. We’re going to have a baby. You’re going to be a brother,” his father announced when Liz couldn’t seem to spit the words out.
They both watched as his eyes grew to large round circles. “A baby?” he repeated as he looked at them. “Wow.” He was pensive as he took in the news, not really sure what to make of it yet.
Liz watched him carefully, trying to discern how he felt. After a few seconds he looked at her with narrowed eyes. “Does this have anything to do with you falling yesterday?”
“No Honey,” Liz said, fibbing slightly. “I am fine. I feel great.”
“OK. Well, congratulations then,” he said as he rose and moved to hug her.
“Thank you Sweetie,” she said, returning his embrace.
“Look at it this way Max,” said his father as they hugged, “at least you won’t have to share your toys.”
“Yeah,” he said as he half-laughed. “Um, OK then, if that’s all I’m going to go take out the Jet Ski, if that’s OK with you guys?”
“Sure Sweetie, we’ll see you later,” Liz said as she rubbed her hand over his arm. They watched him leave the house and then she turned to her husband. “Well I think that went pretty good.”
“Yeah, he seems a little stunned but I don’t think he was upset,” he replied as they watched him drive away.
As Max drove off his head was spinning like crazy. A baby. How was he going to relate to a baby? He had spent very little time in his life around small children. He knew that they needed a lot of attention and care. Would his mom expect him to help take care of it? He didn’t know that his parents had wanted to have a baby. Why did they want more kids at their age? Aren’t they too old to be…having…yuck. YUCK. ‘Don’t go there Max. Don’t go there,’ he thought. He knew his parents were very affectionate; hell you’d have to be deaf, dumb and blind not to notice all of the kissing, touching, and hugging; the whispered words and secret smiles. But he had prudently never carried his thoughts any further than just seeing it as an acknowledgement of their love. Even though he knew what was happening, he didn’t want to know. “Well, it should be interesting,” he muttered to himself as he pulled in Maria’s driveway.
Inside the house Maria was hanging up the phone after briefly speaking to Liz. She had wanted to alert Maria and Alex to the fact that they had told their son about the baby and that he seemed to be fine. She walked outside to greet him as he walked into the backyard. “Morning Homer. I figured you’d be here bright and early to play with your new toy.”
“Hi Aunt Maria,” he said as he kissed her hello. “Well, I don’t want Mom and Dad to think I don’t like it,” he joked.
“Judging by your reaction yesterday, I don’t think that’s a problem. I’m taking the film to get developed today; I hope the pictures all come out. I think I got some good shots. Especially of you and Jackie,” she said as she nudged his arm with her shoulder as they walked over toward the dock. His face colored immediately at her teasing. “She’s a great girl, Max,” she said a bit more seriously.
“Yeah, she is,” he replied shyly. As close as he was to Maria, he had never discussed girls with her before. Because there hadn’t been any to discuss.
“I think she likes you, too, you know.”
His head whipped around to look at her carefully. “Why? I mean, why do you say that?”
“I can tell by the way she looks at you, the way she acts around you. The same way I can tell that you like her.”
“Oh.” He was quiet while he tried to absorb the fact that the girl who had been occupying his thoughts for awhile now might feel something for him also. “Do you really think she likes me?” he asked, still unsure that it could be possible.
Maria took his face in her hands to force him to look at her. “Yes, I do. Why wouldn’t she? You are handsome, athletic, smart, sweet…you are a very special person Max, and whoever wins your heart is going to be one lucky girl.”
He ducked his head as she release it and blushed at her compliments before she asked him “how do you feel about her?”
His expression soured as his head hung lower. “Does it really matter? I can’t just ask her out and pretend everything’s normal. I can’t just say, ‘hey, you want to go to the movies, and oh by the way, I’m an alien’, can I?”
Pain stabbed through Maria’s heart as he finally admitted out loud what was preventing him from taking a step into the world of romance. “Oh Honey,” she said as she drew him into a hug, “I know that your heritage throws a wrench into things…” She paused as he gave her a look with an eyebrow raised. “OK, a really, really BIG wrench. But that doesn’t mean that it’s impossible. Your father and mother went through all of this too. He spent his life staring at her from a distance because he was afraid of the same thing. She dealt with it. I dealt with it; so has Alex, and Kyle, and Jim…I know it’s a huge deal Max, but it’s not insurmountable. Don’t give up on what could be the most wonderful thing that there is to experience. Love.”
He listened to her intently, as he always did. Maria had been his confident and best friend since the day he was born, and he valued her advice as much as he did his parents counsel. As much as he wanted to believe her, his fears gripped him unmercifully. “I…I don’t know Aunt Maria. What if I ended up…you know, falling in love with her, and I told her, and she freaked out. What if she told someone about us. You know what that could mean for us. I…”
“You want to protect your family and you don’t want to get hurt,” she interrupted. “That’s understandable. But if you don’t take chances in life Max, then are you really living? Were you expecting to go through your entire life alone? Never loving someone?”
He didn’t answer her. He couldn’t. That pain was far to personal to share with anyone, even her.
She grasped his face again and said gently, “Max, Jackie is my favorite niece. I think the world of her, of you both, and yes, I would love to see you two get together. So would Alex. How would she react to the alien thing? I don’t know, but knowing the person she is, I don’t believe that she would betray a sacred confidence like that. You wouldn’t cross that bridge alone, either. Your mom, dad, Alex and I would all be there to help explain the gravity of the situation to her. But who’s to say you would even get to the point where you’d have to tell her? You might date for a while and it might not work out. A million different things could happen.”
“I don’t think that would happen Aunt Maria,” he said, referring to them not working out. “I really like her. A lot. A whole lot,” he finished, finally admitting his feelings out loud.
“That’s great Max,” she said with a large smile. “Look, I’m not trying to pressure you into anything…OK maybe I am a little,” she laughed as he looked at her with another raised eyebrow. “I just don’t want you to dismiss the possibility sharing your life with someone. It took a gigantic leap of faith for your father to make that decision, and look at what resulted. Have you ever known a happier man?”
“No, especially now…” he trailed off, not knowing if Maria was aware of Liz’s pregnancy.
“You mean because of the baby,” she stated. “Yeah, I know,” she said to answer his questioning look. “How do you feel about it?”
“OK I guess. I mean, it’s not like I can do anything about it. Not that I would want to…I mean…it just IS. As long as their happy I can deal. What do you think?”
“I’m thrilled I’m going to be an Aunt again, even though you’ll always be my favorite,” she said as she pinched his cheek in jest. “It will be nice for your dad to be able to experience all of the things he missed with you.”
“Yeah,” he said, feeling a twinge of jealously at the thought.
“Babies are a happy thing Max. You’ll see.”
“MARIA! Telephone,” Alex called out from the open kitchen window. “Hey Max.”
“Hi Uncle Alex,” Max replied as he waved.
“OK Sweetiepie, have fun out there, be careful. I love you,” she said as she quickly kissed him before running back to the house.
“Love you too,” he called to her before climbing down the dock to use his Waverunner.
Alex watched him from the window as Maria finished up her call. She joined him and said, “he seems to have taken the baby news pretty well.”
“Good, that’s good,” Alex said as he turned to look at her. A thought had been nagging at him since she’d told him of Liz’s pregnancy the previous night, and he just couldn’t let it go. “You seem to have taken it well too.”
“What? Sure, why wouldn’t I?” she asked in confusion.
Alex studied her a moment, choosing his words carefully. “I just thought that hearing that Liz is having another baby might bring up some old issues for you.”
“No, Alex, that’s not…” she tried to wave him off, but he had seen a brief look of guilt in her eyes before she had turned away from him.
“Maria, you don’t have to be ashamed of your feelings. Especially with me.” He put his arms around her waist and forced her to look at him. “Talk to me babe.”
She looked at him a moment before bursting into tears. “I’m…a terrible…person…” she choked out between sobs.
“No you’re not Honey,” he said as he rubbed her back and tried to calm her. “You are a fantastic person. You are the most amazing woman I’ve ever known. It’s OK to be normal Maria.”
“What do you mean?” she said, wiping her eyes and trying to get herself under control.
“I mean that it would be perfectly normal for you to feel sad or envious of Liz experiencing, for the second time, something that you can’t, and maybe still want. If that’s how you do feel.”
She sighed loudly and wiped at her eyes again. “I really am so happy for them Alex. Really. They both wanted this, and they deserve it after all they’ve been through. Max especially, after having missed out on his sons whole childhood…”
“But…”
“But, I guess I do feel…like you said, Liz is getting to have a second child. We never got to have even one, before my stupid screwed up body ruined our chances,” she said disgustedly.
“Hey,” he said somewhat sternly to make sure she was listening to him. “It is not your fault that you were born with some gynecological problems. Nor is it your fault that you had to have a hysterectomy. We’ve talked about this Maria. I’ve never cared about anything besides your health. Us not having kids is a complete non-issue with me.”
“I know, I know,” she said as she sighed again. “I don’t know why I feel this way; it’s not like I didn’t know they were trying to conceive. It’s not a surprise. I guess it’s like you said, it just brought up old issues. I’ll be fine.”
Alex looked at her a long moment before saying, “really? Are you sure it’s not something else? Something bigger?”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you want us to have kids Maria? I mean, like adopt?”
“What? Do you want to adopt a child?”
“No, I’m asking you if that’s what you want to do. I feel the same way that I did ten years ago. I’m perfectly happy with the way things are now, and I’d be perfectly happy if we adopted a child.” He picked up her hand and placed a kiss on the back of it before he continued. “I just want you to know that I am open to discussing the subject if that’s what you want.”
Maria wound her arms around her husband’s neck and hugged him tightly. “I love you so much,” she said. “I don’t think that’s necessarily what I want to do, at least right now, but thank you so much for saying that.” After a short while she pulled back and smiled at him. “You’re always the calm eye in the middle of my storm.” She kissed him and they hugged again, Maria giving a silent prayer of thanks for the marvelous man she had married.