The Fate of Destiny Part 35
May 2012
Max bathed his daughter in the kitchen sink, glancing at his sister every little while. They had made small talk all the while that she had been there. Isabel had a stack of legal documents in front of her. Every time she felt her brother’s eyes on her, she would look up to find him looking away. "What?"
"I didn’t say anything." Max shook his head and worked shampoo into Bethany’s hair.
"You keep looking at me like you want to ask me something." Isabel put down her pen. Max inched over so that he could see down the hallway. When he was satisfied that no one was there he went back to his task of rinsing the wriggling baby in his hands. "Max."
"Did... Is... Damn it." He muttered. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before pulling Bethany from the sink and wrapping her in a towel.
"Max." Isabel pressed.
"I think that..." He didn’t want to voice his suspicions but he had to. "I think that maybe... Liz and Michael might be having an affair."
"Why?" Isabel’s eyes went wide. She remembered what she had seen several weeks ago after her father’s funeral but she hadn’t wanted to believe it was anything as serious as Max was saying.
"I had a flash of them kissing... and it wasn’t the kind of kiss I would give you or mom. It was the kind of kiss I give Liz when nobody’s around." Max started drying and dressing Bethany, focusing on her so he wouldn’t totally lose his mind.
"Have you asked her about it?" She asked cautiously, debating on whether or not she should tell him what she had seen.
"No. What if I do and she thinks I’m accusing her? What if it was nothing but a fluke? My own imagination. She’ll hate me." Max sighed heavily.
"What if it’s true?" Max closed his eyes tightly, wishing that question away.
"You know something, don’t you?"
--
Liz hung up the phone and went into the kitchen and found all four eldest children doing their homework. "Hey guys. I ordered a few pizzas. How’re the projects coming?"
"I’m done." Daniel straightened up very proud of his accomplishment. "I did mine on Harriet Tubman. I even made a paper mâche sculpture... but I left it at school. Hey Mom, did you know that she got hit in the head with an iron helping people escape from a store?"
"Yes I did." Liz smiled. "Kathy?"
"I’m almost finished... I would have been done already but Jacobi Wilson stole my disk. I told Mr. Kinley but he didn’t believe me until Daniel made Jacobi confess." Kathy pouted.
"You didn’t hurt him, did you?" Liz turned to her son.
"Naw, he didn’t hurt him." Alex shook his head. "We threatened to make him eat dirt but lucky for us he doesn’t like to get his hair and clothes messed up."
"I can’t wait until school is finished." Emily whined but kept writing on her papers. "Then no more homework, no more teachers, papers, pencils or stupid Nicole Jansens."
"Nicole Jansen?" Liz furrowed her brow as she tried to figure out why that name was so familiar.
"Nikki." Kathy whispered with a frown. "I hate her."
"Kathleen Evans. Don’t say things like that." Liz admonished her.
"But Mom, she’s always trying to make Kathy cry. She says mean things about you and Dad and..." Danny trailed off. Liz got the picture. "The teachers don’t believe that Nikki picks on Kathy but she says bad words and calls you names."
"Why didn’t you tell me about this?" Liz knelt next to Kathy and hugged her.
"Nikki’s real mean." Emily started. "She said that if Kathy told you then she was going to hit her. Nikki said that her mom said that you were a b-i-c-h and that Kathy’s real mom was a... h... no... um.. h-o-a-r."
Liz took a minute to decipher Emily’s misspellings and gasped. It took another minute for her to realize who Nikki Jansen’s mother was. Pam Troy, or rather Pam Troy-Jansen. "None of you listen to what she says... okay?"
They all nodded. Alex suddenly sat up and changed the subject. "Hey Aunt Liz. I found this picture at my grandma’s."
He produced a picture that was almost in perfect condition. He passed it over the table. It was of Maria, Liz and Alex when they were all in the sixth grade. Liz smiled at the picture and noted how Alex Jr. had Alex Sr.’s knack for knowing just how to get away from upsetting topics.
"I remember this day. We were all at your grandparent’s house and your Aunt Maggie had just gotten a camera as her 16th birthday present. I think that year she wanted to be a photographer." Liz sighed wistfully. "The last time I saw this picture... it was taped to Alex’s computer."
"Yeah, that’s where I found it. Grandma let me hold his guitar. That is one sweet guitar. Dad is going to get me a tutor so I can learn to play like my father. Did he really have a band?"
Alex turned to his Aunt Liz for answers. "He sure did. It was called The Whits... and your mom was the lead singer for awhile." Liz stroked Emily’s hair. She barely noticed how the girl stiffened at the contact. "Okay, kids, finish up the homework before the pizza gets here."
Liz wandered down the hall; she checked in on Bethany and then continued down the hall to her bedroom. She picked up the phone and dialed the number from the parent sheet that went out every year to the parents on the PTA. "Pam? ... This is Liz Evans... I realize you might be very busy but I need a word with you... Well maybe if you spent a little more time watching your mouth around your daughter then I wouldn’t have to ask you to keep her away from my kids... How dare I? How dare you speak about Kathy’s mother that way? Have you no respect for the deceased? ... No one knows that more than I do but if my daughter or her friends come to me again with things about your daughter Nikki that I heard today, believe me, you will regret it." Click.
--
Isabel followed the sound of the guitar round the house before it finally registered where it was coming from. "Jim, I think they’re in the garage."
"Really..." He didn’t finish his thought. No one needed to hear that it was surprising that anyone was in the garage at all.
Jim Valenti shifted his granddaughter in his arms and followed Isabel out of the front of the Whitman home and around to the garage. It was open and there stood her son, guitar in hand and playing a song that his father had written for his mother when they were in high school.
Isabel couldn’t help but smile and join the small audience gathered just inside the garage. Sandra and Charles clapped their hands wildly when the song was over. Isabel hugged and kissed on her son, much to his embarrassment. They all filed out, except for Isabel, she stood glued to the spot where Alex must have been standing last. Before she knew it the flashes came.
[Alex moved the broom over the floor, muttering to himself. Then something hit his head. A rope. He tugged at it. It was tangled in the garage door opener. After a half-hearted struggle, he gave up and went back to sweeping.
"Aw damn it, Liz." He stopped, suddenly remembering that he was supposed to do something with her that day. Then he smacked his head. "Isabel."
Alex and Isabel were supposed to have a talk about her suspicions later that day as well. At that thought, he started whistling the song that he had written for her the year before.
"My two favorite ladies... pregnant." He sighed. He didn’t dare say out loud that he might be a father. That would jinx it. It was both a good thing and a bad thing. Bad thing because he was so young and he was leaving in the near future to finish school. That was good thing however because, he’d need to find a job to support his girlfriend and child... if there actually was one. Downside to the school thing would be missing part of the pregnancy, upside would be the certification to work practically anywhere... if he was smart about it, he could open his own store.
The thought of Isabel Evans carrying the child of Alexander Charles Whitman did things to him that just made him hope that she was. They could get married and raise their son. {Yeah, a son. Alexander Charles Whitman, Jr. has a nice ring to it. Or maybe even Alexander Charles Whitman II. Yeah that’s the name for a prince. My son, prince of Antar.} Alex chuckled to himself about his insane thoughts.
Isabel might not even be pregnant. Who knew if alien biology would even allow it? Granted, Max had said they were all very much human, just the soul was alien, but who really knew anything when it came to such matters? {Well, Liz is certainly proof that the men work just the same.}
"I’ll talk to Liz when she gets here. Then later Isabel and I will have a long talk." Alex told himself out loud. Then the rope hit him on the back of the head again. With a sigh, he resigned himself to get it unstuck. He tossed the broom aside and examined the garage door opener. The rope disappeared over the top of the door. He dragged the step stool over and began yanking at the rope, it gave a little, forming a loop just under the rail. Before he knew what was happening, he was falling and then he wasn’t.
His head was caught in the rope. Alex tugged at the rope but it wouldn’t give. He could get out if he could loosen the knot. Alex could barely feel the stool under his feet. Then he saw a shadow move into the garage out of the corner of his eye. "Liz? Is that you?"
The stool moved of its own accord back to its spot against the wall. Alex gasped for air as his weight tightened the rope. His eyes widened when the whir of the garage door sounded. His feet kicked wildly, the rope burned his neck. Just before he lost consciousness, a figure came into view and a voice met his ears.
"Vilandra will regret killing Vanessa for the rest of her life. Vanessa only wanted to help."
{Who the hell is Vilandra? Who’s there? Isabel! Liz! Mom! Dad! Maggie! Leave them alone!} The words never made it out of his mouth. The shadowed figure left the garage. Alex made one last attempt at struggling and one last attempt to call someone. His voice was the softest whisper.
"Isabel."]
Isabel gasped for air. She had felt every second of Alex’s death. With it came the knowledge that she had been responsible for his death after all.
TBC
Be back to post more in a couple of days.
The Fate of Destiny Part 181E CC/UC ADULT 09/02/10 COMPLETE
Moderators: Anniepoo98, Itzstacie, truelovepooh, Erina, Forum Moderators
Part 36
AN: So it was more than a few days. But I'm back. With two parts.
The Fate of Destiny Part 36
Isabel rushed past Valenti, muttering something about him getting Jr. and Liberty home. He called after her but she was already running down the street.
Isabel knew the route by heart. She had taken it every day for five months and then snuck off when she could after that. She couldn’t remember when exactly she stopped going but it had to have been sometime before she started seriously considering Kyle as a boyfriend.
She barely made it to the headstone before falling in a heap of tears. She lovingly touched the cool stone and let the tears fall down her face. "I’m sorry. I’m sorry. It was all my fault."
--
Kyle locked his gun in the cabinet and made his way through the house. Liberty was laying on a blanket with her bottle and Alex was wrestling with Valenti.
"Hey guys." He motioned for Alex to put a hold on his grandfather. "Where’s your mom?"
"Yeah, Isabel..." Jim and Alex suddenly stopped what they were doing. "I’d say she’s probably paying Alex a visit."
"What?" Kyle stopped his survey of the room and locked on his father’s eyes.
"We went to pick up Jr. here. He was giving a show in the garage."
"Yeah, Dad. I was awesome." Alex smiled a little then frowned. "Mom walked in after I was done and she got really quiet. Next thing we know, she ran down the street and never came back."
"It’s been a couple of hours..." Jim nodded to the door.
"I’ll go get her." Kyle nodded. "You on top of things, Pop?"
"Yeah, I got it." Jim waved his son off.
Kyle took his time getting to the cemetery. He remembered what it had been like in the year after Alex died. He and Isabel weren’t real close at the time but his father would tell him whenever he would have to tell her to go home.
After Isabel’s abortion, Kyle was there to listen to her talk about Alex and Jr. and whatever else was on her mind. He knew before he let himself fall for her that Alex Whitman would always be there even if he wasn’t actually.
"Isabel?" He whispered, she didn’t turn or sit up. Kyle knelt and took her into his arms. "What happened?"
"It was my fault." she rasped, her throat sore from sobbing. "I killed him."
"No, you didn’t." Stroking her hair, he settled himself on the ground.
"Yes, I did. They killed him because I killed Whittaker." Isabel’s shoulders hitched as she fought a fresh wave of sobs.
"How do you know that?" He kept his voice soft and soothing while they rocked.
"I had a vision. I saw it all... I felt him dying... It was my fault..."
"Sh. It’s okay. Sh..."
--
Liz leaned on her mother’s kitchen table, Bethany in her lap, drooling on her blouse. "Mom, can I ask you a question?"
"Ok. What about?" Nancy kept on folding towels.
"After Grandma Claudia died... was Dad... distant?" Liz traced a flower on the table cloth.
"Distant... Well... Your father was never one to just let all his feelings out. Do you remember how he locked himself in the bedroom with his guitar for hours at a time?" Nancy turned to catch her daughter’s nod. "He was like that a lot. He didn’t want to talk or work or... anything for weeks after... Are you and Max having problems?"
"Max doesn’t like to express his feelings regarding... death and God and all that goes with it. It just seems to me like he’s gotten worse recently." Liz sighed.
"Worse?"
"I don’t know. Maybe I’m just crazy but... I feel like it’s been such a long time since he’s kissed me or even hugged me. He doesn’t act too different, he’s always been guarded but it’s just more so now. He’s even stopped talking to Michael."
"I’m sure he’ll come around. Philip was the only father that Max knew... right?" Nancy tried to help her daughter find a way to deal with the situation.
"You’re right. In some ways, Phil meant more to Max because they weren’t blood. He’s never been able to fully understand why Phil and Diane loved him so much." Liz sighed again. She seemed to be doing a lot of that of late. "You’re probably right. He needs to deal with it in his own way."
--
"What’s that smell?" Emily wrinkled up her nose as she dropped her backpack.
"It’s ravioli." Michael scoffed and swatted at his daughter’s curls as she scooted past him.
"It smells." She sang at him. "Let’s order pizza."
"No. Besides, you’ll love this." He stirred the sauce and checked the pasta.
"If you say so." Emily hopped up on the counter with a bell pepper and chocolate syrup. "You’ve been cooking a lot."
"The ladies are teaching me at work. Don’t you like eating hot food without it being delivered?" He smirked, thinking on how the only thing he used to be able to make was spaghetti (consisting of elbow macaroni and a bottle of Ragu).
"It’s okay but I’d rather eat at Daniel’s."
"How is Aunt Liz?"
Emily stopped munching on her snack. She stared at her father for a long time in silence. She didn’t understand. "How come you never ask about Uncle Max?"
"What?" Michael didn’t even look up as he poured the stuffed pasta into a colander.
"Why are you always asking about Liz?" She put down her pepper carefully. "Did you and Max have a fight? He doesn’t call here anymore. You don’t tell stories about silly things he did in the hospital anymore."
"We didn’t have a fight. We’ve just been busy lately." Michael shook his head, avoiding his daughter’s accusing eyes. He hadn’t even realized that she noticed so much of a difference. He didn’t even know why Max was being so distant. Liz had mentioned it once a couple of weeks before that she had noticed a difference in Max. Neither of them knew what exactly had caused it.
"Is it because you kissed her?" Emily voice was so soft that Michael almost didn’t hear the question. "Is it?"
"Kissed who?" Michael really didn’t know what she was talking about.
"You kissed Aunt Liz. Is that why you and Uncle Max are fighting?"
"What?!" He furrowed his brow. To his knowledge, he and Liz had never kissed. The thought hadn’t even crossed his mind. {Liar, you’ve thought about it everyday, four times a day at least. Just touching her lips with yours is one of your biggest fantasies. Yeah, I would definitely remember if I had kissed her... but how would Em know about it?} "What are you talking about, Em?"
Michael turned off the stove and sat in a chair. This was just... out there. "Em?"
"I saw you. After the funerals, at Uncle Max’s... I saw you." She whispered. She didn’t even completely understand what it meant but she knew enough to know that boys got into fights at school when their girlfriends kissed someone else.
"What did you see?" Michael pressed.
"The second time that I went downstairs because I couldn’t sleep... I saw you kissing Aunt Liz in the den. Aunt Isabel saw, too." Emily couldn’t look at her father. "Why did you kiss her?"
Michael slumped in his chair, holding his head in his hands. He never could remember what happened that night and Isabel had always been vague with the details. Kyle was better but then Kyle had gone off much earlier than anyone else had. If Michael had indeed kissed Liz and if somehow Max found out... it would definitely explain so much. Liz had never mentioned anything about it, though. Wouldn’t Liz remember something?
"Are you sure that’s what you saw?" He asked softly.
"Yes. I know what I saw."
"Did you tell anyone?"
"No. Why?"
"I’m just asking." Michael finally stood. "I don’t know what happened, Em."
"Can’t you just tell him that you didn’t mean to? Maybe Aunt Liz has already said she’s sorry. When Danny and I fight... Alex always makes us talk to each other and then we say we’re sorry and then it’s all better." Emily rushed ahead.
"I’ll try. Um... Here’s money." He pulled out his wallet. "Order a pizza. I’m going to go look over some notes."
"Dad..." She was too late. He had laid down the money and disappeared into his room.
--
Max focused on every cut and organ and vein and vessel. Working kept his mind off things it shouldn’t be on. Sometimes he focused so hard that he barely heard the other doctor and nurses in the room.
"Oh please, Evans, stop making it look like you’re working. You know you could do it blindfolded." Dr. Nichols’ laugh was muffled by his mask.
"I know I could but could you? And would the hospital let me?" Max bantered back.
"If they knew anything about fun they would." Nichols peered into the open cavity. "I swear, I’ve never seen such clean surgeries as the ones I assist with you. I don’t know how you do it."
"Contrary to what most people believe, surgery is a gift. I have that gift. You can’t learn it... can you Bev?" Max called over his shoulder to the intern.
"No sir, ‘fraid not. Lucky to have gotten this far, Dr. Evans." The shy intern joked.
Max had to admit that the chatter and the task at hand were keeping his mind thoroughly occupied.
"You got kids, Bev?" Nichols asked the girl.
"Nope. No way would I have time with the way Evans runs me ragged." Bev groaned.
"See, another thing our Dr. Evans can do is juggle a brilliant career, a successful marriage and how many kids is it now? 12?" Nichols chuckled and began stitching up the cuts.
"Only feels like it. Just the three, actually." Max worked a kink out of his neck. "9, 8 and six months."
"Oh wow. You must be older than you look."
"I am... also had Danny the second semester of my freshman year." Max shook his head and went back to work. "He wants to be a surgeon like his old man."
"We’re talking future surgeon of the century, there folks." Nichols announced to the room. "With his father’s gift, his mother’s wit and tough skin from two sisters... he’ll be unbreakable... another plus, he looks like his mother rather than his father."
"Hey, hey. Enough. Leave Dr. Evans alone." Bev assisted by handing swabs and gauzes to her teachers.
"I fight my own battles, Bev." Max glanced up from what he was doing.
"Tell that to Mrs. Evans. We all know who wears the pants in that family." Nichols cracked again.
"Feel free to jump in at any time Bev." Max nudged the girl. "And I’ll have you know, Freddy, I wear the pants in my family... Liz prefers skirts."
Good-natured laughter erupted in the O.R. Max wished he could have enjoyed it. The mention of Liz had brought with it the image of her kissing his best friend in their den. He had avoided Michael at all costs the harder it got to deal with that knowledge. He had even noticed himself pulling away from Liz. Luckily for him, she seemed not to with all the chaos going into the end of school and preparations for graduation and summer school.
TBC
The Fate of Destiny Part 36
Isabel rushed past Valenti, muttering something about him getting Jr. and Liberty home. He called after her but she was already running down the street.
Isabel knew the route by heart. She had taken it every day for five months and then snuck off when she could after that. She couldn’t remember when exactly she stopped going but it had to have been sometime before she started seriously considering Kyle as a boyfriend.
She barely made it to the headstone before falling in a heap of tears. She lovingly touched the cool stone and let the tears fall down her face. "I’m sorry. I’m sorry. It was all my fault."
--
Kyle locked his gun in the cabinet and made his way through the house. Liberty was laying on a blanket with her bottle and Alex was wrestling with Valenti.
"Hey guys." He motioned for Alex to put a hold on his grandfather. "Where’s your mom?"
"Yeah, Isabel..." Jim and Alex suddenly stopped what they were doing. "I’d say she’s probably paying Alex a visit."
"What?" Kyle stopped his survey of the room and locked on his father’s eyes.
"We went to pick up Jr. here. He was giving a show in the garage."
"Yeah, Dad. I was awesome." Alex smiled a little then frowned. "Mom walked in after I was done and she got really quiet. Next thing we know, she ran down the street and never came back."
"It’s been a couple of hours..." Jim nodded to the door.
"I’ll go get her." Kyle nodded. "You on top of things, Pop?"
"Yeah, I got it." Jim waved his son off.
Kyle took his time getting to the cemetery. He remembered what it had been like in the year after Alex died. He and Isabel weren’t real close at the time but his father would tell him whenever he would have to tell her to go home.
After Isabel’s abortion, Kyle was there to listen to her talk about Alex and Jr. and whatever else was on her mind. He knew before he let himself fall for her that Alex Whitman would always be there even if he wasn’t actually.
"Isabel?" He whispered, she didn’t turn or sit up. Kyle knelt and took her into his arms. "What happened?"
"It was my fault." she rasped, her throat sore from sobbing. "I killed him."
"No, you didn’t." Stroking her hair, he settled himself on the ground.
"Yes, I did. They killed him because I killed Whittaker." Isabel’s shoulders hitched as she fought a fresh wave of sobs.
"How do you know that?" He kept his voice soft and soothing while they rocked.
"I had a vision. I saw it all... I felt him dying... It was my fault..."
"Sh. It’s okay. Sh..."
--
Liz leaned on her mother’s kitchen table, Bethany in her lap, drooling on her blouse. "Mom, can I ask you a question?"
"Ok. What about?" Nancy kept on folding towels.
"After Grandma Claudia died... was Dad... distant?" Liz traced a flower on the table cloth.
"Distant... Well... Your father was never one to just let all his feelings out. Do you remember how he locked himself in the bedroom with his guitar for hours at a time?" Nancy turned to catch her daughter’s nod. "He was like that a lot. He didn’t want to talk or work or... anything for weeks after... Are you and Max having problems?"
"Max doesn’t like to express his feelings regarding... death and God and all that goes with it. It just seems to me like he’s gotten worse recently." Liz sighed.
"Worse?"
"I don’t know. Maybe I’m just crazy but... I feel like it’s been such a long time since he’s kissed me or even hugged me. He doesn’t act too different, he’s always been guarded but it’s just more so now. He’s even stopped talking to Michael."
"I’m sure he’ll come around. Philip was the only father that Max knew... right?" Nancy tried to help her daughter find a way to deal with the situation.
"You’re right. In some ways, Phil meant more to Max because they weren’t blood. He’s never been able to fully understand why Phil and Diane loved him so much." Liz sighed again. She seemed to be doing a lot of that of late. "You’re probably right. He needs to deal with it in his own way."
--
"What’s that smell?" Emily wrinkled up her nose as she dropped her backpack.
"It’s ravioli." Michael scoffed and swatted at his daughter’s curls as she scooted past him.
"It smells." She sang at him. "Let’s order pizza."
"No. Besides, you’ll love this." He stirred the sauce and checked the pasta.
"If you say so." Emily hopped up on the counter with a bell pepper and chocolate syrup. "You’ve been cooking a lot."
"The ladies are teaching me at work. Don’t you like eating hot food without it being delivered?" He smirked, thinking on how the only thing he used to be able to make was spaghetti (consisting of elbow macaroni and a bottle of Ragu).
"It’s okay but I’d rather eat at Daniel’s."
"How is Aunt Liz?"
Emily stopped munching on her snack. She stared at her father for a long time in silence. She didn’t understand. "How come you never ask about Uncle Max?"
"What?" Michael didn’t even look up as he poured the stuffed pasta into a colander.
"Why are you always asking about Liz?" She put down her pepper carefully. "Did you and Max have a fight? He doesn’t call here anymore. You don’t tell stories about silly things he did in the hospital anymore."
"We didn’t have a fight. We’ve just been busy lately." Michael shook his head, avoiding his daughter’s accusing eyes. He hadn’t even realized that she noticed so much of a difference. He didn’t even know why Max was being so distant. Liz had mentioned it once a couple of weeks before that she had noticed a difference in Max. Neither of them knew what exactly had caused it.
"Is it because you kissed her?" Emily voice was so soft that Michael almost didn’t hear the question. "Is it?"
"Kissed who?" Michael really didn’t know what she was talking about.
"You kissed Aunt Liz. Is that why you and Uncle Max are fighting?"
"What?!" He furrowed his brow. To his knowledge, he and Liz had never kissed. The thought hadn’t even crossed his mind. {Liar, you’ve thought about it everyday, four times a day at least. Just touching her lips with yours is one of your biggest fantasies. Yeah, I would definitely remember if I had kissed her... but how would Em know about it?} "What are you talking about, Em?"
Michael turned off the stove and sat in a chair. This was just... out there. "Em?"
"I saw you. After the funerals, at Uncle Max’s... I saw you." She whispered. She didn’t even completely understand what it meant but she knew enough to know that boys got into fights at school when their girlfriends kissed someone else.
"What did you see?" Michael pressed.
"The second time that I went downstairs because I couldn’t sleep... I saw you kissing Aunt Liz in the den. Aunt Isabel saw, too." Emily couldn’t look at her father. "Why did you kiss her?"
Michael slumped in his chair, holding his head in his hands. He never could remember what happened that night and Isabel had always been vague with the details. Kyle was better but then Kyle had gone off much earlier than anyone else had. If Michael had indeed kissed Liz and if somehow Max found out... it would definitely explain so much. Liz had never mentioned anything about it, though. Wouldn’t Liz remember something?
"Are you sure that’s what you saw?" He asked softly.
"Yes. I know what I saw."
"Did you tell anyone?"
"No. Why?"
"I’m just asking." Michael finally stood. "I don’t know what happened, Em."
"Can’t you just tell him that you didn’t mean to? Maybe Aunt Liz has already said she’s sorry. When Danny and I fight... Alex always makes us talk to each other and then we say we’re sorry and then it’s all better." Emily rushed ahead.
"I’ll try. Um... Here’s money." He pulled out his wallet. "Order a pizza. I’m going to go look over some notes."
"Dad..." She was too late. He had laid down the money and disappeared into his room.
--
Max focused on every cut and organ and vein and vessel. Working kept his mind off things it shouldn’t be on. Sometimes he focused so hard that he barely heard the other doctor and nurses in the room.
"Oh please, Evans, stop making it look like you’re working. You know you could do it blindfolded." Dr. Nichols’ laugh was muffled by his mask.
"I know I could but could you? And would the hospital let me?" Max bantered back.
"If they knew anything about fun they would." Nichols peered into the open cavity. "I swear, I’ve never seen such clean surgeries as the ones I assist with you. I don’t know how you do it."
"Contrary to what most people believe, surgery is a gift. I have that gift. You can’t learn it... can you Bev?" Max called over his shoulder to the intern.
"No sir, ‘fraid not. Lucky to have gotten this far, Dr. Evans." The shy intern joked.
Max had to admit that the chatter and the task at hand were keeping his mind thoroughly occupied.
"You got kids, Bev?" Nichols asked the girl.
"Nope. No way would I have time with the way Evans runs me ragged." Bev groaned.
"See, another thing our Dr. Evans can do is juggle a brilliant career, a successful marriage and how many kids is it now? 12?" Nichols chuckled and began stitching up the cuts.
"Only feels like it. Just the three, actually." Max worked a kink out of his neck. "9, 8 and six months."
"Oh wow. You must be older than you look."
"I am... also had Danny the second semester of my freshman year." Max shook his head and went back to work. "He wants to be a surgeon like his old man."
"We’re talking future surgeon of the century, there folks." Nichols announced to the room. "With his father’s gift, his mother’s wit and tough skin from two sisters... he’ll be unbreakable... another plus, he looks like his mother rather than his father."
"Hey, hey. Enough. Leave Dr. Evans alone." Bev assisted by handing swabs and gauzes to her teachers.
"I fight my own battles, Bev." Max glanced up from what he was doing.
"Tell that to Mrs. Evans. We all know who wears the pants in that family." Nichols cracked again.
"Feel free to jump in at any time Bev." Max nudged the girl. "And I’ll have you know, Freddy, I wear the pants in my family... Liz prefers skirts."
Good-natured laughter erupted in the O.R. Max wished he could have enjoyed it. The mention of Liz had brought with it the image of her kissing his best friend in their den. He had avoided Michael at all costs the harder it got to deal with that knowledge. He had even noticed himself pulling away from Liz. Luckily for him, she seemed not to with all the chaos going into the end of school and preparations for graduation and summer school.
TBC
Part 37
The Fate of Destiny Part 37
"Mom, I’m fine. I’m just under a lot of stress." Isabel sighed and laid back on the bed.
"Honey, don’t push yourself too hard, it can’t be good for the baby." Diane brushed her daughter’s hair out of her face. "You never used to get sick."
"I’m not sick. Well, it’s just morning sickness... it’ll pass." She reassured her mother. "Kyle’s been great, Alex helps Jim around the house. They don’t let me do anything."
"Did Maury talk to you?" Diane finally mustered up the courage to talk about it.
"About what? I already told him that I’d be asking off again in September." She shifted on the bed to sit up straighter.
"Your father had meant to leave the firm to you but you’ll be so busy with the kids and you never went back to school..." Mrs. Evans took her daughter’s hand in hers. "Maury said that he would do it. You’ll keep working until the baby’s born and then we’ll see after your maternity leave..."
"I might not have graduated from law school but I am a certified paralegal and I have been studying. I could run circles around Maury in a courtroom." Isabel could not believe this was happening. "Whose idea was this? Yours or his?"
"I brought it up but he said he would take ov--"
"I’ll bet he did. I’ll bet Evans Law Offices are soon to become Ferrell and Sons. Am I right?" Isabel pulled out a folder from her nightstand and began reading over it. "Dad never actually specified who would follow him to the head of the office. I could do it."
--
"Isabel, are you sure that you can do this?" Kyle whispered.
"I know I can. Don’t say that it’ll stress me out too much. Mom already tried that angle." Isabel never looked up from her books.
"It’s just that with things the way they are..." he pleaded with her.
"Your dad loves taking care of the kids. It’s the only thing that he has to do anymore. I can work and be pregnant at the same time. Max and Liz can take care of their own problems... so can Michael."
"You never did tell me what was going on with them..."
"Maybe it’s because I’m not really sure myself."
--
"Daddy’s home." Kathy told her mother. Liz nodded, she had felt him when he had turned the corner two blocks down.
"You can wait for him but then it’s off to bed. Just one more day and then you can stay up late and sleep all morning." Liz kissed her daughter’s hair then sat at her grade book. "Where’s your brother?"
"He’s on the phone. He’s talking to Linda." Kathy made a face then stuck out her tongue.
"What’s wrong with Linda?" Liz stifled a laugh and picked up her pen.
"She’s stuck up."
"Is she?" Liz leaned forward to listen.
"She is. She always sits by herself and won’t let anyone but Daniel talk to her. She never plays with the rest of us because she doesn’t want to get her hair messed up. I don’t like her."
"Are you sure that you’re not jealous?" She shrugged her shoulders. "You’re not afraid that Daniel will stop paying attention to you?" Kathy just sat there and didn’t say a word. "I remember when your Aunt Isabel thought I was going to take away Daddy. She didn’t like me either."
"I just don’t like her."
"Maybe she’s shy."
"Mom..." Kathy groaned, then suddenly perked up. "Hi Daddy."
"Hey princess." Max strode into the room and kissed her cheek. "What are you still doing up?"
"Waiting for you. Goodnight Daddy." Kathy kissed her father and ran out the room.
"Tell Danny to get off the phone. Night sweetie." Liz called after her.
"She waited up for me?" Max whispered.
"She hasn’t seen you in almost a week." Liz muttered and went back to her calculator and grade book.
"What was that?" He sank into the chair across from her.
"You leave before the kids wake up, you don’t come home until they’re asleep. Only Bethany sees you... and the only reason I know that is because I’m not the one who gets up in the middle of the night to feed her and Janine says you go in to play with her at daycare." She let out a heavy sigh. "I know that you’ve got a lot on your mind but..."
"But what?"
"We miss you." Liz locked eyes with him. "I’m beginning to think I did something wrong. Did I?"
The silence was deafening. Liz watched him run a hand over his face. A look of betrayal crept into his eyes. Max looked so hurt. Liz didn’t know what was going on in his head for the first time since they’d been married.
"How long have you and Michael been sleeping together?" He finally asked. Liz’s jaw dropped open. The question shocked her to the point that she couldn’t form words. "How long has it been going on?"
"How could you even think that?" Liz hissed at him. "What in the world possessed you to assume something like that?"
"Are you?" Max asked again.
"Of course not!" She yelled at him and got out of her chair. "Is this what all this has been about?" All the dots were coming together. "You think that something’s been going on between me and Michael? That couldn’t be further from the truth. God Max! Why would you think something like that?"
"Did you kiss him?"
"No! I’ve never... Why am I defending myself?" She cast her glance heavenward. "How could you accuse me of something like this?"
"Maybe you kissing Michael in our den did the trick." Max could feel his jaw quivering. He knew that the vision was real, why was she denying it? Isabel had seen them.
"In the entire time that we have been married, I have never so much as kissed anyone but you." Liz felt the tears streaming down her face. {Why is he doing this to me?}
"Isabel saw you." He pressed.
"Saw what? I’ve never kissed Michael. Why don’t you believe me? I don’t even see Michael that way. He’s like a brother. He’s the best friend that I’ve had since Maria died. I could never see him that way and I would never do that to you. I love you." Liz was sobbing. She could see in his eyes that he didn’t believe her. A prickling feeling at the back of her mind let her know that Michael was near. He had probably felt her anguish at Max’s persistence.
"Liz, I’m just trying to figure out why you would lie to me. I had a vision. Isabel said she saw you. I watch the two of you together and it’s right there. You’re always touching and kissing on him. I’ve seen the way he looks at you. Stop lying."
"I have never lied to you. Never." She backed into a wall and leaned on it for support.
"Are you saying that Isabel is lying? That the vision that I had was a hallucination?" Max stood up and started pacing. "Huh?"
"I’m saying that you need to believe me."
The back door opening caught their attention. Michael walked carefully into the kitchen. He caught the obvious tension and the tears rolling down Liz’s face. "What’s going on here?"
"He thinks that you and I are having an affair." She sniffed and hugged herself.
"It’s not happening, Maxwell. I swear it." Michael locked eyes with Max.
"Isabel saw you." Max pressed.
"Emily saw too. It was entirely my fault. I took advantage of the situation. Liz doesn’t even remember that it happened." Michael stayed exactly where he was.
"What?" Liz pushed herself off the wall. "What are you talking about?"
"I don’t even know what happened myself but Emily wouldn’t lie about something like this." Michael’s gaze shifted to Liz and then back to Max again. "I’m sorry. It should have never happened."
"What are you saying?" Liz demanded.
"Emily told me what she saw. I asked Kyle what Isabel said. After we were talking... she saw us kissing in the den. I should have never done it. We were all drunk. I don’t know what got into me..." He trailed off. Liz stormed out of the room, the slamming of a door was the only indication that she had made it to the bedroom.
"How could you do this to me?" Max glared at his so-called best friend. "That woman friend you had been talking about... it was Liz?"
Michael’s lack of answer was the only answer that Max needed.
"Get out of my house."
Michael didn’t need another invitation to escape. Max didn’t watch him but knew he instant that he was out the door. Max slowly made his way down the hallway. He didn’t know if he should apologize to her or comfort her but he knew he had to do something.
The door was locked so he raised his hand to knock...
TBC
"Mom, I’m fine. I’m just under a lot of stress." Isabel sighed and laid back on the bed.
"Honey, don’t push yourself too hard, it can’t be good for the baby." Diane brushed her daughter’s hair out of her face. "You never used to get sick."
"I’m not sick. Well, it’s just morning sickness... it’ll pass." She reassured her mother. "Kyle’s been great, Alex helps Jim around the house. They don’t let me do anything."
"Did Maury talk to you?" Diane finally mustered up the courage to talk about it.
"About what? I already told him that I’d be asking off again in September." She shifted on the bed to sit up straighter.
"Your father had meant to leave the firm to you but you’ll be so busy with the kids and you never went back to school..." Mrs. Evans took her daughter’s hand in hers. "Maury said that he would do it. You’ll keep working until the baby’s born and then we’ll see after your maternity leave..."
"I might not have graduated from law school but I am a certified paralegal and I have been studying. I could run circles around Maury in a courtroom." Isabel could not believe this was happening. "Whose idea was this? Yours or his?"
"I brought it up but he said he would take ov--"
"I’ll bet he did. I’ll bet Evans Law Offices are soon to become Ferrell and Sons. Am I right?" Isabel pulled out a folder from her nightstand and began reading over it. "Dad never actually specified who would follow him to the head of the office. I could do it."
--
"Isabel, are you sure that you can do this?" Kyle whispered.
"I know I can. Don’t say that it’ll stress me out too much. Mom already tried that angle." Isabel never looked up from her books.
"It’s just that with things the way they are..." he pleaded with her.
"Your dad loves taking care of the kids. It’s the only thing that he has to do anymore. I can work and be pregnant at the same time. Max and Liz can take care of their own problems... so can Michael."
"You never did tell me what was going on with them..."
"Maybe it’s because I’m not really sure myself."
--
"Daddy’s home." Kathy told her mother. Liz nodded, she had felt him when he had turned the corner two blocks down.
"You can wait for him but then it’s off to bed. Just one more day and then you can stay up late and sleep all morning." Liz kissed her daughter’s hair then sat at her grade book. "Where’s your brother?"
"He’s on the phone. He’s talking to Linda." Kathy made a face then stuck out her tongue.
"What’s wrong with Linda?" Liz stifled a laugh and picked up her pen.
"She’s stuck up."
"Is she?" Liz leaned forward to listen.
"She is. She always sits by herself and won’t let anyone but Daniel talk to her. She never plays with the rest of us because she doesn’t want to get her hair messed up. I don’t like her."
"Are you sure that you’re not jealous?" She shrugged her shoulders. "You’re not afraid that Daniel will stop paying attention to you?" Kathy just sat there and didn’t say a word. "I remember when your Aunt Isabel thought I was going to take away Daddy. She didn’t like me either."
"I just don’t like her."
"Maybe she’s shy."
"Mom..." Kathy groaned, then suddenly perked up. "Hi Daddy."
"Hey princess." Max strode into the room and kissed her cheek. "What are you still doing up?"
"Waiting for you. Goodnight Daddy." Kathy kissed her father and ran out the room.
"Tell Danny to get off the phone. Night sweetie." Liz called after her.
"She waited up for me?" Max whispered.
"She hasn’t seen you in almost a week." Liz muttered and went back to her calculator and grade book.
"What was that?" He sank into the chair across from her.
"You leave before the kids wake up, you don’t come home until they’re asleep. Only Bethany sees you... and the only reason I know that is because I’m not the one who gets up in the middle of the night to feed her and Janine says you go in to play with her at daycare." She let out a heavy sigh. "I know that you’ve got a lot on your mind but..."
"But what?"
"We miss you." Liz locked eyes with him. "I’m beginning to think I did something wrong. Did I?"
The silence was deafening. Liz watched him run a hand over his face. A look of betrayal crept into his eyes. Max looked so hurt. Liz didn’t know what was going on in his head for the first time since they’d been married.
"How long have you and Michael been sleeping together?" He finally asked. Liz’s jaw dropped open. The question shocked her to the point that she couldn’t form words. "How long has it been going on?"
"How could you even think that?" Liz hissed at him. "What in the world possessed you to assume something like that?"
"Are you?" Max asked again.
"Of course not!" She yelled at him and got out of her chair. "Is this what all this has been about?" All the dots were coming together. "You think that something’s been going on between me and Michael? That couldn’t be further from the truth. God Max! Why would you think something like that?"
"Did you kiss him?"
"No! I’ve never... Why am I defending myself?" She cast her glance heavenward. "How could you accuse me of something like this?"
"Maybe you kissing Michael in our den did the trick." Max could feel his jaw quivering. He knew that the vision was real, why was she denying it? Isabel had seen them.
"In the entire time that we have been married, I have never so much as kissed anyone but you." Liz felt the tears streaming down her face. {Why is he doing this to me?}
"Isabel saw you." He pressed.
"Saw what? I’ve never kissed Michael. Why don’t you believe me? I don’t even see Michael that way. He’s like a brother. He’s the best friend that I’ve had since Maria died. I could never see him that way and I would never do that to you. I love you." Liz was sobbing. She could see in his eyes that he didn’t believe her. A prickling feeling at the back of her mind let her know that Michael was near. He had probably felt her anguish at Max’s persistence.
"Liz, I’m just trying to figure out why you would lie to me. I had a vision. Isabel said she saw you. I watch the two of you together and it’s right there. You’re always touching and kissing on him. I’ve seen the way he looks at you. Stop lying."
"I have never lied to you. Never." She backed into a wall and leaned on it for support.
"Are you saying that Isabel is lying? That the vision that I had was a hallucination?" Max stood up and started pacing. "Huh?"
"I’m saying that you need to believe me."
The back door opening caught their attention. Michael walked carefully into the kitchen. He caught the obvious tension and the tears rolling down Liz’s face. "What’s going on here?"
"He thinks that you and I are having an affair." She sniffed and hugged herself.
"It’s not happening, Maxwell. I swear it." Michael locked eyes with Max.
"Isabel saw you." Max pressed.
"Emily saw too. It was entirely my fault. I took advantage of the situation. Liz doesn’t even remember that it happened." Michael stayed exactly where he was.
"What?" Liz pushed herself off the wall. "What are you talking about?"
"I don’t even know what happened myself but Emily wouldn’t lie about something like this." Michael’s gaze shifted to Liz and then back to Max again. "I’m sorry. It should have never happened."
"What are you saying?" Liz demanded.
"Emily told me what she saw. I asked Kyle what Isabel said. After we were talking... she saw us kissing in the den. I should have never done it. We were all drunk. I don’t know what got into me..." He trailed off. Liz stormed out of the room, the slamming of a door was the only indication that she had made it to the bedroom.
"How could you do this to me?" Max glared at his so-called best friend. "That woman friend you had been talking about... it was Liz?"
Michael’s lack of answer was the only answer that Max needed.
"Get out of my house."
Michael didn’t need another invitation to escape. Max didn’t watch him but knew he instant that he was out the door. Max slowly made his way down the hallway. He didn’t know if he should apologize to her or comfort her but he knew he had to do something.
The door was locked so he raised his hand to knock...
TBC
Part 38
The Fate of Destiny Part 38
Liz sat on the bed ignoring knocks on both the door and the window. Angry tears streamed down her cheeks, sobs wracked her small body in the middle of the king sized bed.
So many thoughts raced through her head that it hurt. Michael said that they had kissed but the feelings prickling at the back of her head told her that while he didn’t remember, he wanted to. He had wanted to kiss her.
She was angry because Max had let it fester and then accused her of sleeping with someone else. He didn’t talk to her about it. He didn’t ask her. When he did, he had already assumed something was going on.
In her mind she replayed what she remembered of that night. In her mind, the three of them were talking, then Max was in the room, Michael wasn’t, then Isabel wasn’t, then they went to bed. Nowhere did it fit that the kiss had actually happened.
"Liz? Liz, please. Open the door." Max’s voice came through the door.
Liz glared at the door, wiped her eyes and then began getting ready for bed. Once she was comfortable, she opened the door and pushed past him.
"Liz. I’m sorry." He followed her back to the table where she sat and picked up her red pen and calculator. He knelt beside her chair. "Liz, please."
"I have work to do. Please leave me be." She whispered, never taking her eyes off her grade book. When he didn’t budge, she got to work. She never really needed the calculator but it occupied her hand. "Leave me alone, Max."
Finally he got to his feet. Bethany had started crying in the nursery. He started to go check on her but stopped. "I guess now I know how you felt when I kissed Tess while we were dating."
"The only difference is I never screwed Michael and I never accused you falsely of messing around with Tess." Her cold words wrapped around his heart as he went to tend to their daughter.
Liz made her way through six classes worth of students. All the while she desperately tried to ignore Max’s soft singing to Bethany down the hall. Tears blurred her vision but she refused to get up from the table.
"Mom?"
Liz snapped her head up. Daniel was standing on the other side of the table. Quickly, she wiped at her eyes and tried to smile. "Danny, what are you doing up? Did you need something?"
"Why were you and Dad fighting?" He asked cautiously.
"Don’t worry about it baby. Come on. I’ll tuck you in." Liz guided him up the stairs to his room.
Max watched them go, clutching Bethany to his chest. Anything would have been better than the cold shoulder. Shouting and hitting he could handle but not this. The reminder of what had happened with Tess stung him to the core. He hated reminders of that and Liz knew it.
--
Liz fixed breakfast in a haze, she hadn’t slept all night. After tucking Daniel into bed, she had gone to Kathleen’s room and watched her sleeping. She had stroked the young girl’s thick black hair and tan skin that were so much like her father’s and yet the reminder of the blue eyes beneath the lids remained.
[Liz touched the cool stone of the tombstone. It was plain and only held a name and date of death.
Tess Harding
July 20, 2003
She was careful not to disturb the freshly turned soil of the grave as she stepped back. "I know that we didn’t get along... heh, I guess that’s putting it lightly. I couldn’t even begin to understand what you felt for Max or what you felt for your baby..."
Liz knelt down at the foot of the grave. No one knew she was there in the middle of the night. Max had been so exhausted that he had fallen asleep before his head had even hit the pillow. She had just put the babies down before she left. She had some time still.
"I will promise you that I will take care of her as if she were my own. Did you even get to see her? I wish you had." She sighed. "I really am sorry that you died. She’s beautiful. She has your eyes. Bright blue eyes. She has black hair like Max but I know those curls will stick around. She’s so tiny. She’s perfect, Tess. I wanted you to know that... from one mother to another."]
"Mom, you’re burning the eggs." Kathy pointed to the stove.
"Oh!" Liz snapped out of her thoughts. She flipped the crunchy over-cooked eggs onto a plate. "Who likes extra-crispy, solid yolk eggs?"
"I’ll eat ‘em." Max muttered as he stumbled over to the table. He had crashed on the couch and gotten no sleep. Liz slammed the plate down in front of him and went back to make Kathy a fresh batch of eggs. "Thank you."
Liz didn’t answer him, didn’t even look at him. Daniel looked between his parents and reached for the ever-present bottle of Tabasco on the table.
"Daddy, guess what?" Kathy smiled brightly. "Mrs. Fiero wants me to join the choir next year. She thinks I have a pretty voice."
"And you do." He tweaked her nose before sticking his fork into his crunchy eggs.
Liz breezed around the table, plate in hand and snatched away the Tabasco before Max could get it. She dumped the remainder of the bottle on Kathy’s eggs and set the plate in front of her daughter. "Hurry up kids. Just five more hours and then you can forget all about school."
"Kay Mom." came the chorus.
"And remember, you wait until I get there. Whose turn to drive this morning?" Liz turned to Daniel. He was about to talk but then finished chewing to speak.
"Uncle Kyle said that he was going to pick us up in the squad car and that he’d run the lights when he dropped us off." The boy said as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Ain’t that cool?"
"Isn’t." She corrected him. "Yeah, it is."
"Mom, can I invite Julie and Barbara to spend the night?" Kathy piped up, setting her plate with its leftover Tabasco puddles next to her father’s plate. "We want to listen to the CD that Daddy bought me."
"Us. He bought it for us." Danny corrected her. "Who said you were going to listen to it tonight? What if I want to listen to it?"
"Then the four of you will listen to it together." Max intervened.
"By your answer, I take it that you are going to supervise the girls?" Liz bit out, rinsing the pan and sticking it in the dishwasher.
"I’ll do it." He nodded.
"If Kathy gets to invite Jules and Babs... Can I invite Jr. and Martin?" Danny hopped up from the table to put his plate in the sink.
"Ok." Max agreed but suddenly wished he hadn’t when Liz turned around. She raised an eyebrow. "I said I’d take care of it."
"If Jr. comes, Emily will feel left out. If Emily comes then Danny is going to want Sam to come over." Liz pursed her lips and waited.
"Can we invite Sam and Emily too?" Kathy hugged on her father’s arm. Max swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded uncertainly. Kathy squealed. "Thank you, Daddy!"
"Ok, kids. Go brush your teeth and wait for Uncle Kyle." Liz shooed them out of the kitchen. "Since you’re going to take care of it then you’ll need to take care of everything."
Max knew better than to speak so he just nodded his head and kept his eyes on his burnt eggs.
"Julie Tidmore’s parents are very strict. You’ll need to get their permission before the kids get out of school... by the way, I suggest you call all the parents before school lets out. You’ll need to clean the den and vacuum the couch and... we’ll need junk food for the kids." Liz leaned on the counter to think about what she actually needed to tell him. "Sam is allergic to nuts, chocolate and red 40--"
"Red 40?" Max asked cautiously. It sounded familiar but couldn’t remember where he’d heard it.
"Red 40. Food coloring. I wouldn’t worry about it too much. When you call Sally, she’ll give you a complete run down of what to do and not to do. Babs’ parents are Catholic and they’re going to ask to you make sure that she says her prayers and do not tell them that you don’t believe in God. They won’t let her come over if you do that. Keep an eye on Martin, he’s the instigator." Liz pushed herself away from the counter. "I’m going to be late. Don’t forget about Beth’s--"
"Pictures. I know. I’ll take her. I got it." Max immediately regretted the tone he had just used. It was deathly still in the kitchen until the minute blip of a police siren interrupted. Footsteps clamored down the stairs and the front door opened.
"Bye Mom! Bye Dad!"
"Bye Mama! Bye Daddy!" Then the door shut behind them.
"You couldn’t have the smallest amount of faith in me, could you?" Liz gave a strangled laugh. Neither one of them heard the door open again.
"I’m sorry." He sat at the table looking like a lost little boy.
"When you kissed Tess in high school, my heart broke. You told me I was the only one and then you kissed her. I tried to be understanding and I realized that she had tricked you. I didn’t blame you once I knew the truth." Liz shook her head. "When you slept with Tess... it took me awhile but I forgave you because I love you and... I knew that you would never intentionally hurt me. I knew that you didn’t know. She had tricked you again. It still hurt. It hurt like hell that she was going to have your baby.
"I love you and that’s how I made it through. I wanted to hate her but I couldn’t. I wanted to hate you and I never could." She struggled to keep the tears in. "When Kathy was born... I just... I couldn’t resent her because she was a piece of you, because she had lost her mother before knowing her, because you didn’t want to deal with the fact that I was not Kathy’s mother."
"Liz..." He tried to plead with her but was unsuccessful. They didn’t hear the door shut.
"No! The point is Max, I always had faith in you. When you unintentionally cheated on me due to alien powers, when you were jealous of my friends... I was always faithful and had faith in you and because Isabel told you she saw something... you just lost faith in me."
"Liz--"
"I’m not done. How could you even think that I would cheat on you? And with Michael? Never! It would never happen. I don’t know what’s going on in his head and I don’t know what’s going on in yours but I have never and I would never cheat on you. I don’t even know if this supposed kiss took place but if it had any meaning to me... don’t you think I would remember? Do you think that if I was involved with someone else that I would have made love to you all night like we did?" Liz took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I have to go to work now."
Max listened to her grab the keys off the counter and storm out of the house. He continued to stare at his cold, dry, half-eaten burnt eggs. How was he going to survive this?
He felt horrible for making Liz this way. He was angry at Michael but he would deal with that later. Then standing up, he realized that he wouldn’t be able to. He was supposed to call Michael to see if Emily could spend the night. "Damn it."
--
Isabel rubbed her eyes and poured another cup of coffee. She had been busy. First thing in the morning, she called up the New Mexico Law Board and coerced them into letting her take the Bar Exam. They didn’t want to administer the exam until she graduated from law school but using her astounding argumentative skills, she got her way. She simply told them that no one would have to know the circumstances of the exam and if she failed, it was her loss but if she passed... everyone won all around.
The phone rang and she reached over to answer it. "Evans’ Law Offices."
"Iz, there you are. Why are you working so early?" Max’s voice came over the phone.
"Hold on. Let me transfer you to my office and then we’ll talk." Isabel hit the button and took her coffee to her father’s office and shut the door behind her. "Okay."
"I got roped into letting the kids invite their friends over for a sleepover. Is that okay? Or is Jr. going to be at Chuck’s?"
"It’s fine. I’ll let Jim know." Isabel sank into the leather chair behind the desk and drew in the smell of her father’s office. "Why did you really call? If you look the way you sound... I’d have to say that you looked like shit."
"I probably do... I confronted Liz last night."
"You did?!" Isabel’s jaw hung open for a moment before she tried to talk again. "What happened?"
"We were wrong. Liz doesn’t remember kissing Michael. Michael burst in and said that... well, they aren’t having an affair but that doesn’t mean that Michael’s intentions were entirely honorable." There was silence on the line. "She’s not talking to me and when she does it’s very cold... before she left this morning, she chewed me out."
"Max, I’m so sorry but I did see what I said I saw."
"I know... I can’t lose her Iz. I can’t get her to let me talk to her. I know I was wrong... now." He took a shuddered breath. "I don’t know what to do."
"Grovel... maybe I should talk to her."
"Could you?"
"Yeah. Wanna hang out here? Or do you have to work?" Isabel checked her schedule, nothing too hectic.
"I’m busy. There’s gonna be like 10 kids here tonight and I volunteered to supervise. I just called about half the parents and I need the other half. Beth is taking pictures today. I have to do the shopping... and did you know that Sam Nunez is allergic to everything under the sun?"
"Yes, I did actually. I’ll talk to you later then."
"Later." He sighed then hung up the phone. Isabel put it down carefully. She had a feeling that it was going to be a very long day.
TBC
So I posted three parts. All you doubters... for shame.
Liz sat on the bed ignoring knocks on both the door and the window. Angry tears streamed down her cheeks, sobs wracked her small body in the middle of the king sized bed.
So many thoughts raced through her head that it hurt. Michael said that they had kissed but the feelings prickling at the back of her head told her that while he didn’t remember, he wanted to. He had wanted to kiss her.
She was angry because Max had let it fester and then accused her of sleeping with someone else. He didn’t talk to her about it. He didn’t ask her. When he did, he had already assumed something was going on.
In her mind she replayed what she remembered of that night. In her mind, the three of them were talking, then Max was in the room, Michael wasn’t, then Isabel wasn’t, then they went to bed. Nowhere did it fit that the kiss had actually happened.
"Liz? Liz, please. Open the door." Max’s voice came through the door.
Liz glared at the door, wiped her eyes and then began getting ready for bed. Once she was comfortable, she opened the door and pushed past him.
"Liz. I’m sorry." He followed her back to the table where she sat and picked up her red pen and calculator. He knelt beside her chair. "Liz, please."
"I have work to do. Please leave me be." She whispered, never taking her eyes off her grade book. When he didn’t budge, she got to work. She never really needed the calculator but it occupied her hand. "Leave me alone, Max."
Finally he got to his feet. Bethany had started crying in the nursery. He started to go check on her but stopped. "I guess now I know how you felt when I kissed Tess while we were dating."
"The only difference is I never screwed Michael and I never accused you falsely of messing around with Tess." Her cold words wrapped around his heart as he went to tend to their daughter.
Liz made her way through six classes worth of students. All the while she desperately tried to ignore Max’s soft singing to Bethany down the hall. Tears blurred her vision but she refused to get up from the table.
"Mom?"
Liz snapped her head up. Daniel was standing on the other side of the table. Quickly, she wiped at her eyes and tried to smile. "Danny, what are you doing up? Did you need something?"
"Why were you and Dad fighting?" He asked cautiously.
"Don’t worry about it baby. Come on. I’ll tuck you in." Liz guided him up the stairs to his room.
Max watched them go, clutching Bethany to his chest. Anything would have been better than the cold shoulder. Shouting and hitting he could handle but not this. The reminder of what had happened with Tess stung him to the core. He hated reminders of that and Liz knew it.
--
Liz fixed breakfast in a haze, she hadn’t slept all night. After tucking Daniel into bed, she had gone to Kathleen’s room and watched her sleeping. She had stroked the young girl’s thick black hair and tan skin that were so much like her father’s and yet the reminder of the blue eyes beneath the lids remained.
[Liz touched the cool stone of the tombstone. It was plain and only held a name and date of death.
Tess Harding
July 20, 2003
She was careful not to disturb the freshly turned soil of the grave as she stepped back. "I know that we didn’t get along... heh, I guess that’s putting it lightly. I couldn’t even begin to understand what you felt for Max or what you felt for your baby..."
Liz knelt down at the foot of the grave. No one knew she was there in the middle of the night. Max had been so exhausted that he had fallen asleep before his head had even hit the pillow. She had just put the babies down before she left. She had some time still.
"I will promise you that I will take care of her as if she were my own. Did you even get to see her? I wish you had." She sighed. "I really am sorry that you died. She’s beautiful. She has your eyes. Bright blue eyes. She has black hair like Max but I know those curls will stick around. She’s so tiny. She’s perfect, Tess. I wanted you to know that... from one mother to another."]
"Mom, you’re burning the eggs." Kathy pointed to the stove.
"Oh!" Liz snapped out of her thoughts. She flipped the crunchy over-cooked eggs onto a plate. "Who likes extra-crispy, solid yolk eggs?"
"I’ll eat ‘em." Max muttered as he stumbled over to the table. He had crashed on the couch and gotten no sleep. Liz slammed the plate down in front of him and went back to make Kathy a fresh batch of eggs. "Thank you."
Liz didn’t answer him, didn’t even look at him. Daniel looked between his parents and reached for the ever-present bottle of Tabasco on the table.
"Daddy, guess what?" Kathy smiled brightly. "Mrs. Fiero wants me to join the choir next year. She thinks I have a pretty voice."
"And you do." He tweaked her nose before sticking his fork into his crunchy eggs.
Liz breezed around the table, plate in hand and snatched away the Tabasco before Max could get it. She dumped the remainder of the bottle on Kathy’s eggs and set the plate in front of her daughter. "Hurry up kids. Just five more hours and then you can forget all about school."
"Kay Mom." came the chorus.
"And remember, you wait until I get there. Whose turn to drive this morning?" Liz turned to Daniel. He was about to talk but then finished chewing to speak.
"Uncle Kyle said that he was going to pick us up in the squad car and that he’d run the lights when he dropped us off." The boy said as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Ain’t that cool?"
"Isn’t." She corrected him. "Yeah, it is."
"Mom, can I invite Julie and Barbara to spend the night?" Kathy piped up, setting her plate with its leftover Tabasco puddles next to her father’s plate. "We want to listen to the CD that Daddy bought me."
"Us. He bought it for us." Danny corrected her. "Who said you were going to listen to it tonight? What if I want to listen to it?"
"Then the four of you will listen to it together." Max intervened.
"By your answer, I take it that you are going to supervise the girls?" Liz bit out, rinsing the pan and sticking it in the dishwasher.
"I’ll do it." He nodded.
"If Kathy gets to invite Jules and Babs... Can I invite Jr. and Martin?" Danny hopped up from the table to put his plate in the sink.
"Ok." Max agreed but suddenly wished he hadn’t when Liz turned around. She raised an eyebrow. "I said I’d take care of it."
"If Jr. comes, Emily will feel left out. If Emily comes then Danny is going to want Sam to come over." Liz pursed her lips and waited.
"Can we invite Sam and Emily too?" Kathy hugged on her father’s arm. Max swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded uncertainly. Kathy squealed. "Thank you, Daddy!"
"Ok, kids. Go brush your teeth and wait for Uncle Kyle." Liz shooed them out of the kitchen. "Since you’re going to take care of it then you’ll need to take care of everything."
Max knew better than to speak so he just nodded his head and kept his eyes on his burnt eggs.
"Julie Tidmore’s parents are very strict. You’ll need to get their permission before the kids get out of school... by the way, I suggest you call all the parents before school lets out. You’ll need to clean the den and vacuum the couch and... we’ll need junk food for the kids." Liz leaned on the counter to think about what she actually needed to tell him. "Sam is allergic to nuts, chocolate and red 40--"
"Red 40?" Max asked cautiously. It sounded familiar but couldn’t remember where he’d heard it.
"Red 40. Food coloring. I wouldn’t worry about it too much. When you call Sally, she’ll give you a complete run down of what to do and not to do. Babs’ parents are Catholic and they’re going to ask to you make sure that she says her prayers and do not tell them that you don’t believe in God. They won’t let her come over if you do that. Keep an eye on Martin, he’s the instigator." Liz pushed herself away from the counter. "I’m going to be late. Don’t forget about Beth’s--"
"Pictures. I know. I’ll take her. I got it." Max immediately regretted the tone he had just used. It was deathly still in the kitchen until the minute blip of a police siren interrupted. Footsteps clamored down the stairs and the front door opened.
"Bye Mom! Bye Dad!"
"Bye Mama! Bye Daddy!" Then the door shut behind them.
"You couldn’t have the smallest amount of faith in me, could you?" Liz gave a strangled laugh. Neither one of them heard the door open again.
"I’m sorry." He sat at the table looking like a lost little boy.
"When you kissed Tess in high school, my heart broke. You told me I was the only one and then you kissed her. I tried to be understanding and I realized that she had tricked you. I didn’t blame you once I knew the truth." Liz shook her head. "When you slept with Tess... it took me awhile but I forgave you because I love you and... I knew that you would never intentionally hurt me. I knew that you didn’t know. She had tricked you again. It still hurt. It hurt like hell that she was going to have your baby.
"I love you and that’s how I made it through. I wanted to hate her but I couldn’t. I wanted to hate you and I never could." She struggled to keep the tears in. "When Kathy was born... I just... I couldn’t resent her because she was a piece of you, because she had lost her mother before knowing her, because you didn’t want to deal with the fact that I was not Kathy’s mother."
"Liz..." He tried to plead with her but was unsuccessful. They didn’t hear the door shut.
"No! The point is Max, I always had faith in you. When you unintentionally cheated on me due to alien powers, when you were jealous of my friends... I was always faithful and had faith in you and because Isabel told you she saw something... you just lost faith in me."
"Liz--"
"I’m not done. How could you even think that I would cheat on you? And with Michael? Never! It would never happen. I don’t know what’s going on in his head and I don’t know what’s going on in yours but I have never and I would never cheat on you. I don’t even know if this supposed kiss took place but if it had any meaning to me... don’t you think I would remember? Do you think that if I was involved with someone else that I would have made love to you all night like we did?" Liz took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I have to go to work now."
Max listened to her grab the keys off the counter and storm out of the house. He continued to stare at his cold, dry, half-eaten burnt eggs. How was he going to survive this?
He felt horrible for making Liz this way. He was angry at Michael but he would deal with that later. Then standing up, he realized that he wouldn’t be able to. He was supposed to call Michael to see if Emily could spend the night. "Damn it."
--
Isabel rubbed her eyes and poured another cup of coffee. She had been busy. First thing in the morning, she called up the New Mexico Law Board and coerced them into letting her take the Bar Exam. They didn’t want to administer the exam until she graduated from law school but using her astounding argumentative skills, she got her way. She simply told them that no one would have to know the circumstances of the exam and if she failed, it was her loss but if she passed... everyone won all around.
The phone rang and she reached over to answer it. "Evans’ Law Offices."
"Iz, there you are. Why are you working so early?" Max’s voice came over the phone.
"Hold on. Let me transfer you to my office and then we’ll talk." Isabel hit the button and took her coffee to her father’s office and shut the door behind her. "Okay."
"I got roped into letting the kids invite their friends over for a sleepover. Is that okay? Or is Jr. going to be at Chuck’s?"
"It’s fine. I’ll let Jim know." Isabel sank into the leather chair behind the desk and drew in the smell of her father’s office. "Why did you really call? If you look the way you sound... I’d have to say that you looked like shit."
"I probably do... I confronted Liz last night."
"You did?!" Isabel’s jaw hung open for a moment before she tried to talk again. "What happened?"
"We were wrong. Liz doesn’t remember kissing Michael. Michael burst in and said that... well, they aren’t having an affair but that doesn’t mean that Michael’s intentions were entirely honorable." There was silence on the line. "She’s not talking to me and when she does it’s very cold... before she left this morning, she chewed me out."
"Max, I’m so sorry but I did see what I said I saw."
"I know... I can’t lose her Iz. I can’t get her to let me talk to her. I know I was wrong... now." He took a shuddered breath. "I don’t know what to do."
"Grovel... maybe I should talk to her."
"Could you?"
"Yeah. Wanna hang out here? Or do you have to work?" Isabel checked her schedule, nothing too hectic.
"I’m busy. There’s gonna be like 10 kids here tonight and I volunteered to supervise. I just called about half the parents and I need the other half. Beth is taking pictures today. I have to do the shopping... and did you know that Sam Nunez is allergic to everything under the sun?"
"Yes, I did actually. I’ll talk to you later then."
"Later." He sighed then hung up the phone. Isabel put it down carefully. She had a feeling that it was going to be a very long day.
TBC
So I posted three parts. All you doubters... for shame.
Part 39
AN: Just a thanks to everyone re-reading this monstrous fic and welcome all those just reading it for the first time. As of last night there are 100 posted parts, so we're about a third of the way through. '-) I cannot even begin to put an estimated end on it so I won't. '-) Here's Max paying his penance for being assumptive which we all know makes an ass... etc, etc.
The Fate of Destiny Part 39
Liz could barely see straight in any of her classes. Michael’s feelings of guilt were being transmitted through their connection and it was driving her crazy. She didn’t have anyone to talk to about any of this. Max was out of the question because she wasn’t done making him suffer for accusing her. Michael, well he just couldn’t be a friend at the moment... not if he was alluding to what she thought he was. Isabel was the one that started this thing and therefore Kyle would be on her side. There was no one she could talk to.
--
Max helped the photographer pose Bethany. With a sad smile, he noted that she was the spitting image of Liz. He took a step back so the picture could be taken. Beth was a little ham, she smiled and posed for the camera like she knew what she was doing.
Taking out his phone, he dialed a familiar number. Michael’s extension in his office at the hospital. He had to get it over with without raising his voice to his supposed friend.
"Michael Guerin."
"Michael." Max bit out.
"Max, hey. Listen I need to talk to you."
"I’m only calling for one reason. Kathy and Danny are inviting friends over and Emily’s invited. I’m just letting you know."
"Yeah, that’s fine. That’s fine but seriously, I need to talk to you."
"No you don’t." Max hung up the phone and turned his attention back to his daughter.
--
Michael clutched the bag in his hand and raised his hand to knock. She saw him before his fist could connect. Liz sighed and motioned for him to enter. "Michael."
"Hey." He held up the bag. "Emily’s things. I figured since you were picking her up anyway."
"Yeah, fine." She took the bag and slung it over the back of her chair with her purse. He continued to stand there. "What? I do have class."
"I need to talk to you." Michael whispered and took a step closer.
"You’re probably right." Liz conceded, not making eye contact. "Here and now, however, is neither the time nor the place."
"We can’t let this get out of hand, Liz." He hissed, glancing around to be sure that the kids weren’t listening. "You are my best friend."
"Yeah, a best friend that you just had to kiss." She hissed back. "I don’t even know what happened but whatever it was made my husband lose faith in me. I don’t even know who to be angry with."
"Liz, please. I didn’t mean it..."
"I just can’t deal with this now. Knowing that you feel something more for me is just... too much." She whispered. "I love Max with all my heart and soul... and no matter how angry I am at him right now... that is just not going to change."
"Right. Fine." Michael nodded and exited the room.
--
Isabel put her hand on the tenth book of the hour. She scanned its entire contents into her brain. She was going to pass the bar.
--
"Sh. Beth, sh. Daddy’s here. Daddy’s here." Max found it very difficult to get the shopping done with Bethany screaming for her mother. She had done just fine at the photographers but the moment that Max thought he was doing good, she just opened up and let loose. He tried desperately to remember the last song that he had heard Liz singing to her. He rolled his eyes when he realized what it was. The school song.
"First time father?" The woman down the aisle asked with a slight smile.
"Third, actually." Max shifted his daughter in his arms and began singing softly to her. "We share the days of laughter/ We share the nights of sorrow/ And in the morning after/ We face the bright tomorrow/ Side by side we’ll always stand/ Spirits flying high/ Long as I can hold your hand/ We’ll never say goodbye."
She quieted down and rested her head on her father’s chest. The vibration of his singing, lulling her to sleep.
"Very impressive." The woman nodded in appreciation.
Max just shrugged and began pulling items off the shelf and putting them into the basket, continuing to sing Bethany to sleep. "We walk the halls of learning/ And serve a proud tradition/ The flame of truth is burning/ To clarify our vision/ Look at how the future gleams/ Gold against the sky/ Long as I can share your dreams/ We’ll never say goodbye."
"West Roswell?" The woman seemed to be following him.
"Yeah." Max nodded and kept moving. When the woman followed, he knew something was up. "My wife sings the school song to our daughter and it usually calms her down."
"Oh, still married are you?"
"Very." Max nodded kept moving. Beth whimpered so he took up his singing again, ignoring looks from obviously single and childless men in the store. "There’s little to be sure of/ But we will last forever/ For now we know the pure love/ We feel when we’re together/ And if we should someday part/ We will not say die/ Long as you are in my heart/ We’ll never say goodbye."
"You don’t recognize me, do you?" She asked.
"Afraid I don’t and excuse me for saying so but you are making me very uncomfortable." He kept moving, grateful that she stayed behind this time.
--
"Okay. Do we have everyone?" Liz counted heads and only counted three. "Where’s Kathy?"
"Right here." She whispered from behind Liz.
"Hey, what’s wrong?" Liz brushed the black curls from her daughter’s face.
"Nothing." Kathy shook her head and climbed into the car.
--
Max groaned as he was ignored for the fifth time. Beth patted his face and opened her mouth. "Ahh. ahh."
"Not now." He groaned again but gave in, singing with the song playing over the intercom. "Amor prohibido murmuran por las calles/ Porque somos de distintas sociedades/ Amor prohibido nos dice todo el mundo/ El dinero no importa/ En ti y en mi/ Ni en el corazon/ oh. oh. Baby."
"Can we help you sir?" An annoyed pimply faced teenager raised an eyebrow at the older man singing very badly to his daughter.
"About time." Max set his child down on the counter. "This is what I need. It’s an advance order to be delivered later tonight."
"We can’t do that."
"Yes you can. I am paying beforehand... and don’t say you can’t because I will ask to talk to your manager and they will allow this, just like they have every other time." Max tilted his head at the boy.
"Okay."
"Right. I need 5 large pizzas to be delivered around 6 pm. Three of them will have pineapple, pepperoni and jalapenos. One will have pepperoni and mushroom and the last will be plain cheese. Do you got that?"
"Yes, sir."
"Alright then... aren’t you going to ask for my information?"
"Okay." The kid shrugged.
"Do you even work here?" Max asked impatiently. It never failed. Every time he was sent in or called in their order, he got the one incompetent fool in the entire bunch.
"Sometimes."
"Look, kid. I’m having a very bad day. It’s crowded in here and if you can’t do this, get someone else over here before I am forced to punch you in front of my daughter."
"Right. Eddie!" The kid walked off. Max groaned when Eddie decided to take his time. It was going to be an extremely long day.
--
Liz stepped into the house and was surprised to find it was virtually spotless. The furniture in the den had been rearranged to allow for horseplay and sleeping bags.
"Mom, we’re gonna play outside." Danny called out as they made their way through the house. Kathy was the only one who didn’t rush out the back door with the others.
"What’s wrong, baby?" Liz followed her daughter into the den.
"Nothing." The young girl mumbled and threw herself onto the couch, burying her face in the cushions.
"I don’t believe that. You said ‘nothing’ when I picked you up. What is it?" Liz pressed. She had never seen Kathy like this. Kathy sat up but didn’t look at her mother. "What is it?"
"Does Daddy love me?" Kathleen Evans asked softly, her bright blue eyes glittering with tears. "He’s never home anymore to play with me."
"Oh Kathy. Of course he does. Why would you think that he didn’t?" Liz pulled her daughter into her arms. "He loves you. You’re his little princess. He’s just been working a lot. You know that he helps people."
"Do you love me? As much as you do Daniel and Bethany?"
"Baby, yes, of course I love you. You are my little girl." She pressed a kiss to Kathy’s forehead and held her tighter. "Why are you asking me these things?"
"I heard you yelling at Daddy this morning." Kathy whispered against her mother’s lap and allowed her to stroke her hair, it calmed her down much more than her words had.
"Oh baby. I’m sorry."
"Didn’t Daddy want me? Didn’t he love Tess?" Liz couldn’t answer those questions so she just continued to listen and comfort the upset little girl. "Maybe if I wasn’t born then you and Daddy wouldn’t be fighting."
"No. No. Don’t say things like that." Liz whispered urgently. "We weren’t fighting about you. We’re not mad at you. I mad at him for something else. Okay?"
"You said that you didn’t want to like me... how come? Was I bad?"
"No. No baby." Liz sighed. "Tess and I weren’t very nice to each other. The whole time that I knew you were coming, I didn’t like it. It wasn’t nice of me but I couldn’t help it." She took a deep breath. "But the moment I held you, I knew that I was going take care of you and love you forever, just as if you were all mine."
"How come?"
"Because. Because you were a beautiful baby. Because Tess couldn’t be here for you. Because you are a piece of your father and that made you a piece of me too." Liz giggled. "You didn’t want to like me either. You didn’t want me to touch you for weeks after Daddy brought you home. You’d scream if I picked you up. Then one day {The morning after I had my third talk with Tess’s tombstone.} you didn’t cry when I held you... and Daddy was finally able to get some homework done."
"Why are you mad at him? Is it because she tricked him? How did she trick him?" The innocent questions pulled at Liz’s heartstrings, just making her want to cry. "Are you going to get a divorce like Priscilla Dominguez’s parents? Her daddy lives somewhere else."
"Kathy, you listen to me. Daddy said some... bad things to me and made me mad... We are not getting a divorce. I love Daddy." Liz closed her eyes and let a few tears slip out. "I love him so much sometimes that it hurts. He’s not leaving. I wouldn’t let him."
"Why?" Kathy felt all her fears being alleviated by her mother’s words.
"It would make me very sad if Daddy wasn’t here. Come lay down with me." Liz leaned back on the couch and held Kathy to her. "I’m going to tell you a story. You know that you, Danny, Beth and Daddy are different."
"Because we’re from Antar."
"Right. When Daddy and I were 16, we didn’t know each other too well. One day, I was working at Grampa’s restaurant. Daddy and Uncle Michael were sitting at the booth next to the window. Maria told me that Daddy was staring at me. I didn’t believe her because I didn’t think I was pretty enough for him to look at."
"You’re beautiful, Mama." Kathy hugged her mother tight.
"Thank you baby. Then a man pulled out a gun. I remember staring at the gun and knowing that he was going to shoot. I heard the gunshot and I swear my life passed before my eyes. Next thing I know... I’m lying on the floor and I’m bleeding. I was dying." Liz waited a moment.
"Daddy saved you."
"Yes, he did. He told me to look at him. Then I felt myself get better. Suddenly I was all better but I didn’t know what had happened. I couldn’t really believe it. He told me not to tell and I didn’t. I remember looking at myself in the mirror later. His silver handprint was right here." Liz pressed her daughter’s hand to her stomach. "That was the best day of my life, because if that day had never happened... I wouldn’t be alive.
"If that day had never happened then I would not have met my soul mate or fallen in love with him. I would never have gotten married or given birth to two children and fallen in love with a certain blue-eyed little girl." Liz sighed, remembering how it had all started. "That was the first day that I realized Daddy was someone special. I knew then that I would always be connected with him."
"You love Daddy because he saved your life." Kathy nodded, thinking she understood.
"Well yes but... that’s just the beginning. I love Daddy for more reasons than I can name and count." Liz glanced down at Kathy. "Do you feel better now?"
"Uh-huh."
"I don’t want you to worry about this anymore. I might be sad sometimes, Daddy too but we’ll never leave, either one of us. We’ll always be right here... both of us together. We’ll always love you. Okay?"
"Okay. Love you Mama." Kathy whispered.
"Love you too. Go play."
The two Evans females parted with kisses to foreheads and cheeks, oblivious to their audience.
--
Max’s head was spinning. There were children everywhere. They were singing and dancing and yelling and screaming. He felt like his head was going to explode. "Heads up!"
He spun around and caught the bottle of Excedrin Liz had tossed at him. He clutched the bottle to his chest and mouthed ‘thank you.’
"Have fun. I’m going to shower then I’ll take Bethany with me to bed." Liz called over her shoulder. Max glared at her for a minute. She was laughing at his pain. Sure he deserved it but... He sighed. At least she was talking to him.
"Okay, okay." Max raised his voice, getting the kids’ attention. Quickly he surveyed the room. Empty pizza boxes lie on the floor, coke cans teetered on the edge of tables and cushions were thrown haphazardly on the floor. "What say we clear the floor? Sam and Jr. pick up the pizza boxes. Danny and Martin grab the coke cans. Kathy and Babs are in charge of getting the sofas back in order. Jules and Em, get any other trash that you see and bring the cookies in from the kitchen."
The kids scurried around to get everything done. Max managed to open the Excedrin and pop a couple before deciding what to do next. "Okay, bring the sleeping bags over here. I’m going to tell you guys a story."
--
Liz could hear Max telling the kids the story of The Last Unicorn as she walked down the hall to collect her daughter. He did it complete with voices from the gravelly King Haggard to the goofy Smendrick to the soft-spoken Unicorn as well as Amalthea. He had them mesmerized.
When she walked into her own bedroom, she noticed the two roses resting on her pillow. Each rose had a note, unsigned but identifiable by the words. One was from Michael and the other from Max.
‘I’m sorry.’
‘Thank you... For every look, every touch, every kiss.
Thank you... for allowing me the past 10 years to watch you sleep.
Thank you... for giving me our children and for taking care of all of us.
Thank you... for loving me unconditionally though I don’t deserve it.
Thank you, Liz.’
"You are going to make this impossible." Liz whispered and lay down with Bethany to attempt sleep. With the door open, she could hear Max telling the story.
"And Haggard destroyed the clock, trapping the foursome in the cave of the Red Bull..."
"Four, Daddy? I thought it was just Schmendrick, Molly Grue and Amalthea."
"Hold on Kathy. I’m getting there. The Lady Amalthea saw Prince Lir in the shadows. He stepped forward, shaking his head, ‘and you would have left without me.’ he said. Amalthea answered him and only him. ‘I would have come back. I don’t know why I am here, or who I am. But I would have come back.’
‘No,’ he said, ‘You would never have come back.’ Just then Molly cried out for Schmendrick. Where was he? Didn’t they care about him? He stumbled into the cave with a cut on his forehead, claiming it wasn’t all that bad. The magician turned to Lir. ‘Tell me, how did you pass through the clock so easily? The skull said you didn’t know the way.’
‘What way’ Lir asked. ‘What was there to know? I saw where she had gone, and I followed.’" Max’s voice was filled with the awe of the lovelorn as he spoke Lir’s part in his own voice. She closed her eyes for just a moment and must have dozed off, for when she opened them again Max had moved on to another story.
"So she sent her children far away so they could go back and fight?" Danny whispered.
"That’s right. Of course by doing this they were ensuring the survival of their race." Max answered him. "Thing was, the ship they were on had something wrong with it and it crashed before it could reach its destination safely."
"What happened to them?" Jr. leaned forward on his knees, eager to hear what happened.
Max held Kathy in his lap, resting his head on hers every once in a while as he told the second story. The human guests had fallen asleep before the Unicorn had become Amalthea. Emily was sprawled on her bag, Danny using her stomach as a pillow. "Three of the crew died on impact but two remained as did the eight babies. They were still in their pods and so they didn’t get hurt."
Liz stood in the shadow of the doorway and listened to her husband tell the kids the true story of how they got where they were.
"Why did Zan die? He didn’t do anything wrong. He was just trying to protect his sister and his friends." Danny shook his head.
"These four weren’t as close as the other four but they were stronger and remembered a lot more." Max shrugged and kept talking, avoiding the names as much as possible, referring to them as King, Queen, Princess and Commander.
"But the King was already in love with someone else. Why would he have to marry the Queen?" Kathy asked softly.
"The Queen had been told many things and when she found the others, she wouldn’t believe anything they told her. Somehow she got her way though. The King’s love walked away and he was very nice to the Queen but he didn’t love her the way he loved the other girl." Max tried to explain. "Then the Queen ran away. She left a letter saying that she didn’t want to be around the rest of them."
"So the King and his real love got married, right?" Emily pushed.
"They did. They were expecting a prince to come. They were so happy. The Princess had found her love. They wanted to get married but before they could, he was killed by the enemy, leaving her to await the arrival of her own baby prince. The Commander and his love soon expected a baby of their own."
"That’s a lot of babies." Alex Jr. sighed.
"It sure was. When no one was looking, the Queen came back. She tricked the King. She made herself look like his wife. She wanted her own baby and she got it. A princess, a true princess." Max kissed Kathy’s head and kept going. "Now, the King was angry when he found out, as was his wife."
"Did they kill her?" Danny asked, getting bored.
"No. They let her be. The King would visit the Queen every once in a while. When his son was born, he was so happy. After the prince came another prince from the Princess and then a daughter for the Commander. The day came when the true princess was born. The Queen had been sick and she died. The King tried to save her but it was too late."
"Why would he try to save her? He didn’t like her." Emily pondered aloud.
"He did like her, he just didn’t love her the way she wanted. He loved her like he did his sister, the princess. He could only ever love his wife." Max pushed on, to tell the rest of the story.
"Does the King ever go back to his mother? She’s been waiting a long time." Jr. commented.
"I don’t know. He’s been gone so long that he doesn’t know if he can ever go back. Maybe he will one day."
Liz smiled to herself and went back to bed. He was going to make it very hard for her to stay angry at him.
TBC
The Fate of Destiny Part 39
Liz could barely see straight in any of her classes. Michael’s feelings of guilt were being transmitted through their connection and it was driving her crazy. She didn’t have anyone to talk to about any of this. Max was out of the question because she wasn’t done making him suffer for accusing her. Michael, well he just couldn’t be a friend at the moment... not if he was alluding to what she thought he was. Isabel was the one that started this thing and therefore Kyle would be on her side. There was no one she could talk to.
--
Max helped the photographer pose Bethany. With a sad smile, he noted that she was the spitting image of Liz. He took a step back so the picture could be taken. Beth was a little ham, she smiled and posed for the camera like she knew what she was doing.
Taking out his phone, he dialed a familiar number. Michael’s extension in his office at the hospital. He had to get it over with without raising his voice to his supposed friend.
"Michael Guerin."
"Michael." Max bit out.
"Max, hey. Listen I need to talk to you."
"I’m only calling for one reason. Kathy and Danny are inviting friends over and Emily’s invited. I’m just letting you know."
"Yeah, that’s fine. That’s fine but seriously, I need to talk to you."
"No you don’t." Max hung up the phone and turned his attention back to his daughter.
--
Michael clutched the bag in his hand and raised his hand to knock. She saw him before his fist could connect. Liz sighed and motioned for him to enter. "Michael."
"Hey." He held up the bag. "Emily’s things. I figured since you were picking her up anyway."
"Yeah, fine." She took the bag and slung it over the back of her chair with her purse. He continued to stand there. "What? I do have class."
"I need to talk to you." Michael whispered and took a step closer.
"You’re probably right." Liz conceded, not making eye contact. "Here and now, however, is neither the time nor the place."
"We can’t let this get out of hand, Liz." He hissed, glancing around to be sure that the kids weren’t listening. "You are my best friend."
"Yeah, a best friend that you just had to kiss." She hissed back. "I don’t even know what happened but whatever it was made my husband lose faith in me. I don’t even know who to be angry with."
"Liz, please. I didn’t mean it..."
"I just can’t deal with this now. Knowing that you feel something more for me is just... too much." She whispered. "I love Max with all my heart and soul... and no matter how angry I am at him right now... that is just not going to change."
"Right. Fine." Michael nodded and exited the room.
--
Isabel put her hand on the tenth book of the hour. She scanned its entire contents into her brain. She was going to pass the bar.
--
"Sh. Beth, sh. Daddy’s here. Daddy’s here." Max found it very difficult to get the shopping done with Bethany screaming for her mother. She had done just fine at the photographers but the moment that Max thought he was doing good, she just opened up and let loose. He tried desperately to remember the last song that he had heard Liz singing to her. He rolled his eyes when he realized what it was. The school song.
"First time father?" The woman down the aisle asked with a slight smile.
"Third, actually." Max shifted his daughter in his arms and began singing softly to her. "We share the days of laughter/ We share the nights of sorrow/ And in the morning after/ We face the bright tomorrow/ Side by side we’ll always stand/ Spirits flying high/ Long as I can hold your hand/ We’ll never say goodbye."
She quieted down and rested her head on her father’s chest. The vibration of his singing, lulling her to sleep.
"Very impressive." The woman nodded in appreciation.
Max just shrugged and began pulling items off the shelf and putting them into the basket, continuing to sing Bethany to sleep. "We walk the halls of learning/ And serve a proud tradition/ The flame of truth is burning/ To clarify our vision/ Look at how the future gleams/ Gold against the sky/ Long as I can share your dreams/ We’ll never say goodbye."
"West Roswell?" The woman seemed to be following him.
"Yeah." Max nodded and kept moving. When the woman followed, he knew something was up. "My wife sings the school song to our daughter and it usually calms her down."
"Oh, still married are you?"
"Very." Max nodded kept moving. Beth whimpered so he took up his singing again, ignoring looks from obviously single and childless men in the store. "There’s little to be sure of/ But we will last forever/ For now we know the pure love/ We feel when we’re together/ And if we should someday part/ We will not say die/ Long as you are in my heart/ We’ll never say goodbye."
"You don’t recognize me, do you?" She asked.
"Afraid I don’t and excuse me for saying so but you are making me very uncomfortable." He kept moving, grateful that she stayed behind this time.
--
"Okay. Do we have everyone?" Liz counted heads and only counted three. "Where’s Kathy?"
"Right here." She whispered from behind Liz.
"Hey, what’s wrong?" Liz brushed the black curls from her daughter’s face.
"Nothing." Kathy shook her head and climbed into the car.
--
Max groaned as he was ignored for the fifth time. Beth patted his face and opened her mouth. "Ahh. ahh."
"Not now." He groaned again but gave in, singing with the song playing over the intercom. "Amor prohibido murmuran por las calles/ Porque somos de distintas sociedades/ Amor prohibido nos dice todo el mundo/ El dinero no importa/ En ti y en mi/ Ni en el corazon/ oh. oh. Baby."
"Can we help you sir?" An annoyed pimply faced teenager raised an eyebrow at the older man singing very badly to his daughter.
"About time." Max set his child down on the counter. "This is what I need. It’s an advance order to be delivered later tonight."
"We can’t do that."
"Yes you can. I am paying beforehand... and don’t say you can’t because I will ask to talk to your manager and they will allow this, just like they have every other time." Max tilted his head at the boy.
"Okay."
"Right. I need 5 large pizzas to be delivered around 6 pm. Three of them will have pineapple, pepperoni and jalapenos. One will have pepperoni and mushroom and the last will be plain cheese. Do you got that?"
"Yes, sir."
"Alright then... aren’t you going to ask for my information?"
"Okay." The kid shrugged.
"Do you even work here?" Max asked impatiently. It never failed. Every time he was sent in or called in their order, he got the one incompetent fool in the entire bunch.
"Sometimes."
"Look, kid. I’m having a very bad day. It’s crowded in here and if you can’t do this, get someone else over here before I am forced to punch you in front of my daughter."
"Right. Eddie!" The kid walked off. Max groaned when Eddie decided to take his time. It was going to be an extremely long day.
--
Liz stepped into the house and was surprised to find it was virtually spotless. The furniture in the den had been rearranged to allow for horseplay and sleeping bags.
"Mom, we’re gonna play outside." Danny called out as they made their way through the house. Kathy was the only one who didn’t rush out the back door with the others.
"What’s wrong, baby?" Liz followed her daughter into the den.
"Nothing." The young girl mumbled and threw herself onto the couch, burying her face in the cushions.
"I don’t believe that. You said ‘nothing’ when I picked you up. What is it?" Liz pressed. She had never seen Kathy like this. Kathy sat up but didn’t look at her mother. "What is it?"
"Does Daddy love me?" Kathleen Evans asked softly, her bright blue eyes glittering with tears. "He’s never home anymore to play with me."
"Oh Kathy. Of course he does. Why would you think that he didn’t?" Liz pulled her daughter into her arms. "He loves you. You’re his little princess. He’s just been working a lot. You know that he helps people."
"Do you love me? As much as you do Daniel and Bethany?"
"Baby, yes, of course I love you. You are my little girl." She pressed a kiss to Kathy’s forehead and held her tighter. "Why are you asking me these things?"
"I heard you yelling at Daddy this morning." Kathy whispered against her mother’s lap and allowed her to stroke her hair, it calmed her down much more than her words had.
"Oh baby. I’m sorry."
"Didn’t Daddy want me? Didn’t he love Tess?" Liz couldn’t answer those questions so she just continued to listen and comfort the upset little girl. "Maybe if I wasn’t born then you and Daddy wouldn’t be fighting."
"No. No. Don’t say things like that." Liz whispered urgently. "We weren’t fighting about you. We’re not mad at you. I mad at him for something else. Okay?"
"You said that you didn’t want to like me... how come? Was I bad?"
"No. No baby." Liz sighed. "Tess and I weren’t very nice to each other. The whole time that I knew you were coming, I didn’t like it. It wasn’t nice of me but I couldn’t help it." She took a deep breath. "But the moment I held you, I knew that I was going take care of you and love you forever, just as if you were all mine."
"How come?"
"Because. Because you were a beautiful baby. Because Tess couldn’t be here for you. Because you are a piece of your father and that made you a piece of me too." Liz giggled. "You didn’t want to like me either. You didn’t want me to touch you for weeks after Daddy brought you home. You’d scream if I picked you up. Then one day {The morning after I had my third talk with Tess’s tombstone.} you didn’t cry when I held you... and Daddy was finally able to get some homework done."
"Why are you mad at him? Is it because she tricked him? How did she trick him?" The innocent questions pulled at Liz’s heartstrings, just making her want to cry. "Are you going to get a divorce like Priscilla Dominguez’s parents? Her daddy lives somewhere else."
"Kathy, you listen to me. Daddy said some... bad things to me and made me mad... We are not getting a divorce. I love Daddy." Liz closed her eyes and let a few tears slip out. "I love him so much sometimes that it hurts. He’s not leaving. I wouldn’t let him."
"Why?" Kathy felt all her fears being alleviated by her mother’s words.
"It would make me very sad if Daddy wasn’t here. Come lay down with me." Liz leaned back on the couch and held Kathy to her. "I’m going to tell you a story. You know that you, Danny, Beth and Daddy are different."
"Because we’re from Antar."
"Right. When Daddy and I were 16, we didn’t know each other too well. One day, I was working at Grampa’s restaurant. Daddy and Uncle Michael were sitting at the booth next to the window. Maria told me that Daddy was staring at me. I didn’t believe her because I didn’t think I was pretty enough for him to look at."
"You’re beautiful, Mama." Kathy hugged her mother tight.
"Thank you baby. Then a man pulled out a gun. I remember staring at the gun and knowing that he was going to shoot. I heard the gunshot and I swear my life passed before my eyes. Next thing I know... I’m lying on the floor and I’m bleeding. I was dying." Liz waited a moment.
"Daddy saved you."
"Yes, he did. He told me to look at him. Then I felt myself get better. Suddenly I was all better but I didn’t know what had happened. I couldn’t really believe it. He told me not to tell and I didn’t. I remember looking at myself in the mirror later. His silver handprint was right here." Liz pressed her daughter’s hand to her stomach. "That was the best day of my life, because if that day had never happened... I wouldn’t be alive.
"If that day had never happened then I would not have met my soul mate or fallen in love with him. I would never have gotten married or given birth to two children and fallen in love with a certain blue-eyed little girl." Liz sighed, remembering how it had all started. "That was the first day that I realized Daddy was someone special. I knew then that I would always be connected with him."
"You love Daddy because he saved your life." Kathy nodded, thinking she understood.
"Well yes but... that’s just the beginning. I love Daddy for more reasons than I can name and count." Liz glanced down at Kathy. "Do you feel better now?"
"Uh-huh."
"I don’t want you to worry about this anymore. I might be sad sometimes, Daddy too but we’ll never leave, either one of us. We’ll always be right here... both of us together. We’ll always love you. Okay?"
"Okay. Love you Mama." Kathy whispered.
"Love you too. Go play."
The two Evans females parted with kisses to foreheads and cheeks, oblivious to their audience.
--
Max’s head was spinning. There were children everywhere. They were singing and dancing and yelling and screaming. He felt like his head was going to explode. "Heads up!"
He spun around and caught the bottle of Excedrin Liz had tossed at him. He clutched the bottle to his chest and mouthed ‘thank you.’
"Have fun. I’m going to shower then I’ll take Bethany with me to bed." Liz called over her shoulder. Max glared at her for a minute. She was laughing at his pain. Sure he deserved it but... He sighed. At least she was talking to him.
"Okay, okay." Max raised his voice, getting the kids’ attention. Quickly he surveyed the room. Empty pizza boxes lie on the floor, coke cans teetered on the edge of tables and cushions were thrown haphazardly on the floor. "What say we clear the floor? Sam and Jr. pick up the pizza boxes. Danny and Martin grab the coke cans. Kathy and Babs are in charge of getting the sofas back in order. Jules and Em, get any other trash that you see and bring the cookies in from the kitchen."
The kids scurried around to get everything done. Max managed to open the Excedrin and pop a couple before deciding what to do next. "Okay, bring the sleeping bags over here. I’m going to tell you guys a story."
--
Liz could hear Max telling the kids the story of The Last Unicorn as she walked down the hall to collect her daughter. He did it complete with voices from the gravelly King Haggard to the goofy Smendrick to the soft-spoken Unicorn as well as Amalthea. He had them mesmerized.
When she walked into her own bedroom, she noticed the two roses resting on her pillow. Each rose had a note, unsigned but identifiable by the words. One was from Michael and the other from Max.
‘I’m sorry.’
‘Thank you... For every look, every touch, every kiss.
Thank you... for allowing me the past 10 years to watch you sleep.
Thank you... for giving me our children and for taking care of all of us.
Thank you... for loving me unconditionally though I don’t deserve it.
Thank you, Liz.’
"You are going to make this impossible." Liz whispered and lay down with Bethany to attempt sleep. With the door open, she could hear Max telling the story.
"And Haggard destroyed the clock, trapping the foursome in the cave of the Red Bull..."
"Four, Daddy? I thought it was just Schmendrick, Molly Grue and Amalthea."
"Hold on Kathy. I’m getting there. The Lady Amalthea saw Prince Lir in the shadows. He stepped forward, shaking his head, ‘and you would have left without me.’ he said. Amalthea answered him and only him. ‘I would have come back. I don’t know why I am here, or who I am. But I would have come back.’
‘No,’ he said, ‘You would never have come back.’ Just then Molly cried out for Schmendrick. Where was he? Didn’t they care about him? He stumbled into the cave with a cut on his forehead, claiming it wasn’t all that bad. The magician turned to Lir. ‘Tell me, how did you pass through the clock so easily? The skull said you didn’t know the way.’
‘What way’ Lir asked. ‘What was there to know? I saw where she had gone, and I followed.’" Max’s voice was filled with the awe of the lovelorn as he spoke Lir’s part in his own voice. She closed her eyes for just a moment and must have dozed off, for when she opened them again Max had moved on to another story.
"So she sent her children far away so they could go back and fight?" Danny whispered.
"That’s right. Of course by doing this they were ensuring the survival of their race." Max answered him. "Thing was, the ship they were on had something wrong with it and it crashed before it could reach its destination safely."
"What happened to them?" Jr. leaned forward on his knees, eager to hear what happened.
Max held Kathy in his lap, resting his head on hers every once in a while as he told the second story. The human guests had fallen asleep before the Unicorn had become Amalthea. Emily was sprawled on her bag, Danny using her stomach as a pillow. "Three of the crew died on impact but two remained as did the eight babies. They were still in their pods and so they didn’t get hurt."
Liz stood in the shadow of the doorway and listened to her husband tell the kids the true story of how they got where they were.
"Why did Zan die? He didn’t do anything wrong. He was just trying to protect his sister and his friends." Danny shook his head.
"These four weren’t as close as the other four but they were stronger and remembered a lot more." Max shrugged and kept talking, avoiding the names as much as possible, referring to them as King, Queen, Princess and Commander.
"But the King was already in love with someone else. Why would he have to marry the Queen?" Kathy asked softly.
"The Queen had been told many things and when she found the others, she wouldn’t believe anything they told her. Somehow she got her way though. The King’s love walked away and he was very nice to the Queen but he didn’t love her the way he loved the other girl." Max tried to explain. "Then the Queen ran away. She left a letter saying that she didn’t want to be around the rest of them."
"So the King and his real love got married, right?" Emily pushed.
"They did. They were expecting a prince to come. They were so happy. The Princess had found her love. They wanted to get married but before they could, he was killed by the enemy, leaving her to await the arrival of her own baby prince. The Commander and his love soon expected a baby of their own."
"That’s a lot of babies." Alex Jr. sighed.
"It sure was. When no one was looking, the Queen came back. She tricked the King. She made herself look like his wife. She wanted her own baby and she got it. A princess, a true princess." Max kissed Kathy’s head and kept going. "Now, the King was angry when he found out, as was his wife."
"Did they kill her?" Danny asked, getting bored.
"No. They let her be. The King would visit the Queen every once in a while. When his son was born, he was so happy. After the prince came another prince from the Princess and then a daughter for the Commander. The day came when the true princess was born. The Queen had been sick and she died. The King tried to save her but it was too late."
"Why would he try to save her? He didn’t like her." Emily pondered aloud.
"He did like her, he just didn’t love her the way she wanted. He loved her like he did his sister, the princess. He could only ever love his wife." Max pushed on, to tell the rest of the story.
"Does the King ever go back to his mother? She’s been waiting a long time." Jr. commented.
"I don’t know. He’s been gone so long that he doesn’t know if he can ever go back. Maybe he will one day."
Liz smiled to herself and went back to bed. He was going to make it very hard for her to stay angry at him.
TBC
Part 40
The Fate of Destiny Part 40
June 2012
Liz stumbled through the front door and all she wanted to do was fall asleep. Summer school kids were the absolute worst. They didn't take anything seriously. Then again, there was a reason these kids were repeating the class in the first place. She stopped. The house was quiet, too quiet. "Kids!"
"Sh. You'll make noise." Max whispered from the living room.
"What?"
"It was absolutely quiet until you walked in shouting." He shrugged.
"Max--" She started to complain but he stopped her, making her head hurt just a little bit more than it already was.
"Your dad has them. He just got his hands on a brand new camera and about 20 rolls of film. He'll have them until tonight and then he's taking them over to my Mom's for the night." Max motioned for her to sit.
"Wow. I guess that's good." She nodded and sank down. The worry of cooking for the kids and making sure they stayed out of trouble was off her shoulders. She still had papers to grade and laundry to do and Max to stay away from.
Max shifted so that he was facing her. He reached out and rubbed the back of her neck, it was so tight. Liz sighed and turned so he had more access. She hated to admit it but she missed him touching her.
The last two weeks of May, Max had slept on the couch. That was fine with her but one morning after he had gotten home from the night shift, she just felt sorry for him.
[Max fell face first on the couch with every intention of falling asleep there. He could feel Liz standing over him. "Get up."
"MMM?"
"I said get up. Go take a shower and go to bed." She told him.
"Why?" Max barely lifted his head from the cushion.
"I... I'm having company over and you've got blood on your shirt. So in addition to cleaning up in here... I have to shampoo the couch as well." She had crossed her arms and waited for him to get off the couch. "You can't be asleep in here when people come over. Go."
He had nodded and gotten up. Before she could yell about the bloody mess he'd made on the couch, he waved his hand over it and the couch was spotless. It even smelled like strawberries.]
Liz rolled her head around as his hand worked its magic on the tense muscles. His other hand reached around and undid the top two buttons on her shirt, sliding her blouse back so he could massage her bare shoulders. It just felt so good.
She hadn't been sleeping well for those two weeks he'd been on the couch. Nightmares had come back. Dreams of seeing Alex dead, dreams of Max in the White Room, dreams of Copper Summit. Without Max sleeping beside her, they came. She put an end to that, very cleverly.
[Max was asleep in bed when she had walked in. It had gotten to where if no one was home when he got home, he went to bed in their bed. He would normally get up when the kids got home. Liz just needed a night of dreamless sleep. She lay beside him and fell asleep.
Hours before she was supposed to wake up, she felt him touch her. He stroked her face and kissed her forehead. She had drifted back off within seconds. When she woke up, he was gone but a white rose and a note were on his pillow. 'Thank you.'
When she saw him later that day, he had given her a look that asked the question. She simply replied. "I just didn't want to wake you. You have to work and those patients deserve an alert doctor."]
So they had gone back to sharing the bed but she continued to be cold to him. On the days she had been especially frosty, due to a bad mood or really nothing at all to do with him, she'd find a rose from him waiting on her pillow or on the dresser. The notes always said that she was wonderful and beautiful and he was undeserving of having her for his wife. Her heart always melted and she cried a tear or two. It always alleviated her bad moods.
She rarely cooked breakfast anymore, the house stayed clean but as to whether that was him or the kids she would never know. Liz suddenly realized something. "You stopped smoking."
"Nice of you to notice. I stopped about a week ago." Max whispered playfully. He untucked her blouse and slipped his hands up to massage her back. "Kathy's disappointed that I don't use her ashtray but she's glad that I don't stink anymore."
Liz arched her back as he hit the knot in the middle of her back. "God... that feels good."
Max grinned when she leaned back into him so he could knead it out. He rested his head against hers. Then he pushed her away. "Go take a bath."
"What?" She turned surprised. She had been perfectly comfortable where she was.
"Go take a bath. Just do it."
"Fine. Make me feel like I smell or something." Liz shoved herself up off the couch. She stared at him for a minute. Max was up to something, he had a twinkle in his eye and was trying to cover a smile.
"What? Just go." He urged her.
"When I find out what you're doing..." She warned him even as she continued further into the house. Her robe was hanging from the doorknob of the bathroom. She shrugged and walked in, bypassing the usual need to gather her things from the bedroom. It was only her and Max after all.
When she opened the door, she gasped. Candles filled the steamy air with the scent of roses and vanilla. The tub was filled with hot water and music was playing from a small stereo by the door. Max had put one of her Pure Mood CDs in, the rhythmic strum of guitar and beating of drums was so soothing. She didn't need any further encouragement.
Liz kicked off her shoes and got ready to enjoy a long bath. When she slipped into the scented water, she noticed the razor and her shaving lotion set on the side of the tub. "Max? What's going on?"
"Just relax a while and then make yourself beautiful." He called in through the door.
"What's going on?" She asked again.
"It's a surprise."
"Max. I'm really not in the mood."
"Trust me..." He tapped the door. "Don't worry about a thing."
"Trust me, he says." Liz mimicked. "Don't worry about a thing, he says. Make yourself beautiful."
Liz shut her eyes and relaxed into the tub. She wasn't going to worry about it. Hours later, she emerged from the bathroom in her robe. She was relaxed, showered, shaved, lotioned and ready for whatever it was Max was up to. When she stepped into the bedroom, her clothes were laid out... clothes she had never seen before.
"Do you like it?" Max appeared behind her. She crossed to the bed and picked up the dress.
"Max. This must have been so expensive. Too expensive." She turned with wide eyes. "Max..."
"When I went shopping for it... I had no clue what to get or even look for and then... I ran into Sydney Davis." He nodded at her surprised expression. "She was working in the store and she remembered me."
"She was only five when you healed her. How could she remember you?" Liz sank down on the bed.
"Liz, I healed her. If you hadn't known me when I healed you, could you still have picked me out of a crowd?"
"Of course..." She nodded. "Wow."
"Yeah, so she helped me find a dress and she gave me her employee discount. She told me that it no way repaid me for giving her her life but it was the absolute least that she could do. She said she's going into medical school." Max shrugged. "It totally blew my mind. I felt really proud of her. It's still hard to believe that because of me, she got to live and go to school. She's graduating top of her class at East. Brody's paying tuition so she'll be going to John Hopkins next year."
"That is so amazing, Max."
"Get dressed. I got us reservations for the best table in Roswell." With that he disappeared from the room.
"But I don't have shoes for this dress." Liz called after him.
"Look on the dresser!" He called into the room.
--
Michael stared at the phone. {Am I going to call or am I going to be chicken shit?} "Why can't I just pick up the damn phone and call over?"
"Daddy! You home?" Emily screamed.
"Yeah!" He called back.
"I brought Lynette and Caleb home... is that alright?"
"Yeah, just try to act like normal human beings and keep the noise down." Michael sat back and waited for the response with a smirk.
"Sorry, you need normal human beings for that."
Michael took a deep breath and picked up the phone. Ring one. {What am I going to even say?} Ring two. {It's not time yet. She won't talk to me.} Ring three. {Like he'll talk to me.} Ring four. "You've reached the Evans residence. We're not home right now but if it's a medical emergency, Dr. Evans can be reached through the hospital. Otherwise leave a message for Max, Liz, Danny, Kathy or even Beth after the beep."
"Damn it!" Michael slammed down the phone.
"Dad! We have company."
"Sorry!"
--
"Isabel, have you even eaten today?" Kyle asked over the phone.
"I ate." She lied.
"Take a break." He pleaded. Liberty had been crying for her mother but her mother was at work. Again. Like always. Granpa Jim had been able to settle her down but that usually only lasted for about 20 minutes. "The Bar will be there tomorrow."
"That's kinda the problem. I have to know this stuff... then I'll slow down." Isabel sighed into the phone. She glanced over at a picture of her family taken back in high school. Her parents looked so happy. Max looked sullen as always and she... looked guarded. Lightly, she touched her father's face. "I just need to finish. I'm already halfway through the material."
"Did you forget that your mother is coming over for dinner?"
"No. I'll be home in time."
"Promise?"
"Kyle... I'll be there."
"See you here then."
--
Liz stared at her reflection in the restaurant bathroom mirror. She could hardly believe that woman was her. That woman in the very expensive dress, all made up and looking beautiful. Had it really been so long since she dressed up? How did she not realize she had lost the weight from Bethany already? How was she able to look just as beautiful as those women out there without husbands and children? She wanted to cry but not sure exactly why or what for.
Dragging herself away, she made her way out to where Max waited. Dinner was great. He had made her promise to talk about anything at all... except the kids and the bills. Max rose from his seat as she approached. "Ready, beautiful?"
"Yeah." Liz nodded. She let him guide her out of the restaurant and instead of getting the Jeep from the valet, Max led her across the street and into the park. "Where are we going?"
"I heard that there was a band set up in the park tonight. I thought you might like to listen." Max took her hand and led her deep into the park, the deeper they went the louder the music grew. "It's not anything new just something to celebrate by. May I have this dance?"
"Here?" Liz cocked an eyebrow at him then looked pointedly at the soft grass and earth they were standing in. Her heels sunk into the ground.
"Yes, here." He knelt to take off her shoes, sticking them in his jacket pockets. "Now, about that dance..."
"Alright then." She let him guide them in slow circles. "When did you learn to dance like this?"
"Bev, my intern, introduced me to her grandmother. Mrs. Collins won many a ballroom competition in her day. She loved to talk about that. She also loved to point out how I was her worse student ever." Max smiled sheepishly at his admission.
"What are we celebrating?" She whispered, blown away that he had actually taken dance lessons to please her. "You said this was good music to celebrate by."
"What ever do you mean?" Liz saw right through that mask of innocence on his face. Taking in her stern face for a moment, he sighed and caved. "I can't believe you don't remember."
"What?"
"11 years ago today." He stated firmly. It took Liz a moment to remember but, it was a good memory.
[Liz sighed then groaned. The incessant tapping at her window was getting a little annoying. She had to put a stop to it. She dragged herself out of bed and over to the window, pulling up the shade and opening the window. "What is it Max?"
"She's not coming back. She understands what you and I have. What we could have." He stated firmly, leaning in to see her more clearly. "Why don't you believe me?"
"She's your future, not me."
"No. I tried it. Ever since... you know... I've been with Tess. I've tried to care for her. I had fun... on occasion but I was never happy. She's not coming back and I can't deny that I still love you." Max pleaded with her.
"She's only been gone two weeks." Liz sighed. She couldn't look at him. If she did... she'd fall all over again. She couldn't let that happen. "She could come back. She has to come back."
"I don't care. Do you think she really loved me? She left a generic note to the group. I know you still love me. No matter what you've done and not done... I know that." Max turned her face up so he could look in her eyes. "Don't you think I know why you never had another boyfriend? Don't you think I know why you went with Kyle to prom? I know you aren't dating him so don't say any different."
Tears streamed down her face as she nodded, verifying what he was hoping was actually true. She still loved him. Nearly two years of avoiding him, of pushing away and now she was admitting that she loved him all the while. He knew that she could never lie to his face, looking in his eyes.
"If I go with you now. I seal our fate." Liz whispered, wiping away her tears.
"I sealed our fate three years ago, Liz. When I healed you, when I kissed you for the first time." Max pulled her out the window, hugging her to him. "We need to talk but it's late."
"Yeah." Liz slowly but surely pressed her lips to his, feeling her body heat up and feel for the first time since she had walked away from him. "Let's meet somewhere tomorrow night. I have to work all day."
"Michael's. Meet me at Michael's."]
"Next Wednesday will be 10 years to the day that Daniel Parker Evans was conceived." Max whispered in her ear, as she pulled herself against him fully while they danced. "One of the best days of my life."
"Do you realize that you're going to get lucky tonight?" Liz asked with a sigh.
"That's not what this is about..." He protested even though her question had stirred him up and made him remember that they hadn't been together in quite some time.
"Too bad. You are going to get laid and you are going to like it." She brought her arms around his neck and tilted her head back to look at him. "Can we go home now?"
TBC
June 2012
Liz stumbled through the front door and all she wanted to do was fall asleep. Summer school kids were the absolute worst. They didn't take anything seriously. Then again, there was a reason these kids were repeating the class in the first place. She stopped. The house was quiet, too quiet. "Kids!"
"Sh. You'll make noise." Max whispered from the living room.
"What?"
"It was absolutely quiet until you walked in shouting." He shrugged.
"Max--" She started to complain but he stopped her, making her head hurt just a little bit more than it already was.
"Your dad has them. He just got his hands on a brand new camera and about 20 rolls of film. He'll have them until tonight and then he's taking them over to my Mom's for the night." Max motioned for her to sit.
"Wow. I guess that's good." She nodded and sank down. The worry of cooking for the kids and making sure they stayed out of trouble was off her shoulders. She still had papers to grade and laundry to do and Max to stay away from.
Max shifted so that he was facing her. He reached out and rubbed the back of her neck, it was so tight. Liz sighed and turned so he had more access. She hated to admit it but she missed him touching her.
The last two weeks of May, Max had slept on the couch. That was fine with her but one morning after he had gotten home from the night shift, she just felt sorry for him.
[Max fell face first on the couch with every intention of falling asleep there. He could feel Liz standing over him. "Get up."
"MMM?"
"I said get up. Go take a shower and go to bed." She told him.
"Why?" Max barely lifted his head from the cushion.
"I... I'm having company over and you've got blood on your shirt. So in addition to cleaning up in here... I have to shampoo the couch as well." She had crossed her arms and waited for him to get off the couch. "You can't be asleep in here when people come over. Go."
He had nodded and gotten up. Before she could yell about the bloody mess he'd made on the couch, he waved his hand over it and the couch was spotless. It even smelled like strawberries.]
Liz rolled her head around as his hand worked its magic on the tense muscles. His other hand reached around and undid the top two buttons on her shirt, sliding her blouse back so he could massage her bare shoulders. It just felt so good.
She hadn't been sleeping well for those two weeks he'd been on the couch. Nightmares had come back. Dreams of seeing Alex dead, dreams of Max in the White Room, dreams of Copper Summit. Without Max sleeping beside her, they came. She put an end to that, very cleverly.
[Max was asleep in bed when she had walked in. It had gotten to where if no one was home when he got home, he went to bed in their bed. He would normally get up when the kids got home. Liz just needed a night of dreamless sleep. She lay beside him and fell asleep.
Hours before she was supposed to wake up, she felt him touch her. He stroked her face and kissed her forehead. She had drifted back off within seconds. When she woke up, he was gone but a white rose and a note were on his pillow. 'Thank you.'
When she saw him later that day, he had given her a look that asked the question. She simply replied. "I just didn't want to wake you. You have to work and those patients deserve an alert doctor."]
So they had gone back to sharing the bed but she continued to be cold to him. On the days she had been especially frosty, due to a bad mood or really nothing at all to do with him, she'd find a rose from him waiting on her pillow or on the dresser. The notes always said that she was wonderful and beautiful and he was undeserving of having her for his wife. Her heart always melted and she cried a tear or two. It always alleviated her bad moods.
She rarely cooked breakfast anymore, the house stayed clean but as to whether that was him or the kids she would never know. Liz suddenly realized something. "You stopped smoking."
"Nice of you to notice. I stopped about a week ago." Max whispered playfully. He untucked her blouse and slipped his hands up to massage her back. "Kathy's disappointed that I don't use her ashtray but she's glad that I don't stink anymore."
Liz arched her back as he hit the knot in the middle of her back. "God... that feels good."
Max grinned when she leaned back into him so he could knead it out. He rested his head against hers. Then he pushed her away. "Go take a bath."
"What?" She turned surprised. She had been perfectly comfortable where she was.
"Go take a bath. Just do it."
"Fine. Make me feel like I smell or something." Liz shoved herself up off the couch. She stared at him for a minute. Max was up to something, he had a twinkle in his eye and was trying to cover a smile.
"What? Just go." He urged her.
"When I find out what you're doing..." She warned him even as she continued further into the house. Her robe was hanging from the doorknob of the bathroom. She shrugged and walked in, bypassing the usual need to gather her things from the bedroom. It was only her and Max after all.
When she opened the door, she gasped. Candles filled the steamy air with the scent of roses and vanilla. The tub was filled with hot water and music was playing from a small stereo by the door. Max had put one of her Pure Mood CDs in, the rhythmic strum of guitar and beating of drums was so soothing. She didn't need any further encouragement.
Liz kicked off her shoes and got ready to enjoy a long bath. When she slipped into the scented water, she noticed the razor and her shaving lotion set on the side of the tub. "Max? What's going on?"
"Just relax a while and then make yourself beautiful." He called in through the door.
"What's going on?" She asked again.
"It's a surprise."
"Max. I'm really not in the mood."
"Trust me..." He tapped the door. "Don't worry about a thing."
"Trust me, he says." Liz mimicked. "Don't worry about a thing, he says. Make yourself beautiful."
Liz shut her eyes and relaxed into the tub. She wasn't going to worry about it. Hours later, she emerged from the bathroom in her robe. She was relaxed, showered, shaved, lotioned and ready for whatever it was Max was up to. When she stepped into the bedroom, her clothes were laid out... clothes she had never seen before.
"Do you like it?" Max appeared behind her. She crossed to the bed and picked up the dress.
"Max. This must have been so expensive. Too expensive." She turned with wide eyes. "Max..."
"When I went shopping for it... I had no clue what to get or even look for and then... I ran into Sydney Davis." He nodded at her surprised expression. "She was working in the store and she remembered me."
"She was only five when you healed her. How could she remember you?" Liz sank down on the bed.
"Liz, I healed her. If you hadn't known me when I healed you, could you still have picked me out of a crowd?"
"Of course..." She nodded. "Wow."
"Yeah, so she helped me find a dress and she gave me her employee discount. She told me that it no way repaid me for giving her her life but it was the absolute least that she could do. She said she's going into medical school." Max shrugged. "It totally blew my mind. I felt really proud of her. It's still hard to believe that because of me, she got to live and go to school. She's graduating top of her class at East. Brody's paying tuition so she'll be going to John Hopkins next year."
"That is so amazing, Max."
"Get dressed. I got us reservations for the best table in Roswell." With that he disappeared from the room.
"But I don't have shoes for this dress." Liz called after him.
"Look on the dresser!" He called into the room.
--
Michael stared at the phone. {Am I going to call or am I going to be chicken shit?} "Why can't I just pick up the damn phone and call over?"
"Daddy! You home?" Emily screamed.
"Yeah!" He called back.
"I brought Lynette and Caleb home... is that alright?"
"Yeah, just try to act like normal human beings and keep the noise down." Michael sat back and waited for the response with a smirk.
"Sorry, you need normal human beings for that."
Michael took a deep breath and picked up the phone. Ring one. {What am I going to even say?} Ring two. {It's not time yet. She won't talk to me.} Ring three. {Like he'll talk to me.} Ring four. "You've reached the Evans residence. We're not home right now but if it's a medical emergency, Dr. Evans can be reached through the hospital. Otherwise leave a message for Max, Liz, Danny, Kathy or even Beth after the beep."
"Damn it!" Michael slammed down the phone.
"Dad! We have company."
"Sorry!"
--
"Isabel, have you even eaten today?" Kyle asked over the phone.
"I ate." She lied.
"Take a break." He pleaded. Liberty had been crying for her mother but her mother was at work. Again. Like always. Granpa Jim had been able to settle her down but that usually only lasted for about 20 minutes. "The Bar will be there tomorrow."
"That's kinda the problem. I have to know this stuff... then I'll slow down." Isabel sighed into the phone. She glanced over at a picture of her family taken back in high school. Her parents looked so happy. Max looked sullen as always and she... looked guarded. Lightly, she touched her father's face. "I just need to finish. I'm already halfway through the material."
"Did you forget that your mother is coming over for dinner?"
"No. I'll be home in time."
"Promise?"
"Kyle... I'll be there."
"See you here then."
--
Liz stared at her reflection in the restaurant bathroom mirror. She could hardly believe that woman was her. That woman in the very expensive dress, all made up and looking beautiful. Had it really been so long since she dressed up? How did she not realize she had lost the weight from Bethany already? How was she able to look just as beautiful as those women out there without husbands and children? She wanted to cry but not sure exactly why or what for.
Dragging herself away, she made her way out to where Max waited. Dinner was great. He had made her promise to talk about anything at all... except the kids and the bills. Max rose from his seat as she approached. "Ready, beautiful?"
"Yeah." Liz nodded. She let him guide her out of the restaurant and instead of getting the Jeep from the valet, Max led her across the street and into the park. "Where are we going?"
"I heard that there was a band set up in the park tonight. I thought you might like to listen." Max took her hand and led her deep into the park, the deeper they went the louder the music grew. "It's not anything new just something to celebrate by. May I have this dance?"
"Here?" Liz cocked an eyebrow at him then looked pointedly at the soft grass and earth they were standing in. Her heels sunk into the ground.
"Yes, here." He knelt to take off her shoes, sticking them in his jacket pockets. "Now, about that dance..."
"Alright then." She let him guide them in slow circles. "When did you learn to dance like this?"
"Bev, my intern, introduced me to her grandmother. Mrs. Collins won many a ballroom competition in her day. She loved to talk about that. She also loved to point out how I was her worse student ever." Max smiled sheepishly at his admission.
"What are we celebrating?" She whispered, blown away that he had actually taken dance lessons to please her. "You said this was good music to celebrate by."
"What ever do you mean?" Liz saw right through that mask of innocence on his face. Taking in her stern face for a moment, he sighed and caved. "I can't believe you don't remember."
"What?"
"11 years ago today." He stated firmly. It took Liz a moment to remember but, it was a good memory.
[Liz sighed then groaned. The incessant tapping at her window was getting a little annoying. She had to put a stop to it. She dragged herself out of bed and over to the window, pulling up the shade and opening the window. "What is it Max?"
"She's not coming back. She understands what you and I have. What we could have." He stated firmly, leaning in to see her more clearly. "Why don't you believe me?"
"She's your future, not me."
"No. I tried it. Ever since... you know... I've been with Tess. I've tried to care for her. I had fun... on occasion but I was never happy. She's not coming back and I can't deny that I still love you." Max pleaded with her.
"She's only been gone two weeks." Liz sighed. She couldn't look at him. If she did... she'd fall all over again. She couldn't let that happen. "She could come back. She has to come back."
"I don't care. Do you think she really loved me? She left a generic note to the group. I know you still love me. No matter what you've done and not done... I know that." Max turned her face up so he could look in her eyes. "Don't you think I know why you never had another boyfriend? Don't you think I know why you went with Kyle to prom? I know you aren't dating him so don't say any different."
Tears streamed down her face as she nodded, verifying what he was hoping was actually true. She still loved him. Nearly two years of avoiding him, of pushing away and now she was admitting that she loved him all the while. He knew that she could never lie to his face, looking in his eyes.
"If I go with you now. I seal our fate." Liz whispered, wiping away her tears.
"I sealed our fate three years ago, Liz. When I healed you, when I kissed you for the first time." Max pulled her out the window, hugging her to him. "We need to talk but it's late."
"Yeah." Liz slowly but surely pressed her lips to his, feeling her body heat up and feel for the first time since she had walked away from him. "Let's meet somewhere tomorrow night. I have to work all day."
"Michael's. Meet me at Michael's."]
"Next Wednesday will be 10 years to the day that Daniel Parker Evans was conceived." Max whispered in her ear, as she pulled herself against him fully while they danced. "One of the best days of my life."
"Do you realize that you're going to get lucky tonight?" Liz asked with a sigh.
"That's not what this is about..." He protested even though her question had stirred him up and made him remember that they hadn't been together in quite some time.
"Too bad. You are going to get laid and you are going to like it." She brought her arms around his neck and tilted her head back to look at him. "Can we go home now?"
TBC
Part 41
The Fate of Destiny Part 41
Isabel rushed into the house and set down her things. "Sorry. Sorry. I lost track of time."
"Then it's a good thing we decided not to wait." Kyle shrugged and passed the mashed potatoes down the table to his stepson.
"Hi honey." Diane gave her daughter a smile. "Tough case?"
"No, no. I'm studying actually." Isabel finally managed to kiss her son, husband, daughter, father-in-law and mother before sitting down to eat something.
"Thought I was going to have to go down there and drag you away from those books." Jim joked.
"Mom, Lucy Ellington and Michelle Fires got into a fight at the swimming pool today." Alex Jr. piped up around his mouthful of meatloaf. "Danny and Kathy had to break it up. It was so funny because... Lucy tripped and fell in the pool and she took everyone with her."
"Hey chief. You wanna chew and swallow before telling your next story?" Kyle tossed the kid a look.
"Sorry." Jr. took a drink of his water and cleared his throat. "Are Aunt Liz and Uncle Max getting a divorce?"
"What?" Diane's eyes widened. "Jr. What would make you think that?"
"Kathy said that they've been fighting and that sometimes Uncle Max sleeps on the couch." Jr. shrugged his shoulders.
"Do you two know anything about this?" Jim turned to his son and daughter-in-law.
"It's nothing." Kyle shook his head. "There was a big misunderstanding and I'm sure they're working through it. This is Max and Liz we're talking about here. They can make it through anything."
"I'll talk to Daniel and Kathy when I go get them. Max didn't say anything to me when he asked me to take them for the night." Diane sighed and shook her head.
"Why are they staying with you, Mom?" Isabel wasn't too hungry, she just kept pushing her food around her plate. Kyle watched her but didn't say anything.
"Well, he told me that he was taking Liz out to dinner and that they needed the night off. I have to go pick them up at Jeff and Nancy's when I leave here." Diane pulled her napkin off her lap. "How have you been feeling, sweetie? Morning sickness?"
"She can't get sick if she doesn't eat." Kyle muttered. Isabel glared at him.
"I do eat, Kyle. Really, Mom, I've been doing fine. I take the bar next month and I've been doing real well with catching up where I left off." Isabel nodded and attempted to eat the mess she'd made on her plate.
"Don't push yourself honey." Diane got up and kissed her daughter. "I have to go. I'm sure those kids are driving the Parkers insane by now."
--
Michael didn't know how he got roped into it but he was playing Monopoly with his daughter and her friends. Lynette was whooping his ass. "Don't your parents miss you guys?"
"My parents don't give a crap as long as I'm not getting into trouble." The dark-haired girl replied.
"And my parents are happy if the cops don't bring me home." Caleb held out his hand for more of Michael's money.
"That's it. Emmy, baby, you can't play with these kids anymore." Michael grumbled as he shelled out the hundreds of dollars necessary to get him off the railroad.
"Why not? You were always in trouble when you were our age." Emily smiled sweetly.
"Who told you that?" Michael narrowed his eyes at his daughter.
"My mom." Lynette grinned. "She works down at juvvy. She said that you were always being brought in for something. Fighting, stealing, loitering... mostly fighting though. Sometimes truancy."
"Those files are supposed to be sealed." Michael groaned and got up. "Anyone? Pizza? Soda?" Then mumbled to himself, "Muzzle?"
--
Liz set the picture and her rose down on the dresser. Before they had left the park, a photographer had requested to take their picture. So Max bought a rose and helped her back into her shoes for the picture. She still wondered what Max had asked the guy because the photographer had moved them to another spot, switched cameras and taken another picture.
"You're beautiful." Max whispered into her ear. "12:01"
"Yeah, 10 years ago was the first time we made love." She sighed and leaned back into his arms. "Thank you for tonight. I really needed this."
"I think I needed it too." His lips brushed her temple.
"Ready for your reward?" Her voice thick with desire.
"Liz, I really need to tell you something." Max winced at the confusion in her reflection. He had spent the past month, week and two days planning what he would say to her. He led her to the bed to sit on its edge and knelt in front of her.
"Max?"
"I know you thought that I lost faith in you." Max stopped her before the anger in her eyes could reach her lips in angry words. "I've had so much time to think about this. I didn't lose faith in you. I lost faith in my ability to keep you. I lost faith in me. When I got that vision... I should have asked you..."
When she didn't say anything, he continued. "I think everyday about how lucky I am to have you here with me. About how I've screwed up your life. You could be at Harvard... making some break-through in science. You could have a normal life."
"I would be dead." Liz whispered.
"I know. Yeah, I know." He nodded and kept his eyes on his hands. "I just can't help but think that you deserve better than me."
"Max..." Max lifted his head to catch the tears in her eyes. "You are my life. No matter what... You are what's best for me. I wouldn't give up Daniel, Kathleen or Bethany for any Nobel prize." Liz took a deep breath. "I honestly don't remember what happened before we came in here that night. I would never even consider going to someone else for anything. I love you. I have a feeling I always did... even before I knew you.
"The way you did what you did, it hurt me. I can't ignore this feeling that I still get. That you don't trust me. I know that when I lied to you back in high school, it hurt you. It hurt me too..." Liz bit her lip. "Is this how we're going to live? Hurting each other and then reminding each other just how the other hurt us. I can't do this."
The room was bathed in silence. Liz could feel Max's frustration. She had fully intended on pretending everything was okay but now she knew that it couldn't be that way. It wouldn't work... it was a good thing he realized that. The radio snapped on across the room and music wafted out.
"In the beginning/ We were much too brave/ We had our love and we were saved."
"All that stuff you told me that morning... why have you been holding it in all this time?" Max whispered.
"We've come so far/ And that's not how we are no more/ Tell me why things have got to change." The radio continued to send out its song. "We held love in our hands/ Why we tore it apart/ I just don't understand."
"All night, I've watched you and listened to you and I can't help but think you haven't really been there." He continued. "I can't keep this up, Liz."
"Me either. You're right, though. I kept thinking about Daniel's burned hand, Kathy's identity crisis, Bethany's colic... then I would look at the woman at the table next to us and I knew that she was a little older than me and I knew that she didn't have children at home or at her mother's or mother-in-law's. I knew she didn't have a mother-in-law." Liz sniffed and forced herself not to start sobbing.
"There's a distance between us/ Now you feel so far away/ Oh the distance between us/ How did we ever get this way/ Oh baby don't slip away..."
"Liz?" He stroked her hands. "Do you really mean what you said? Are you sure you don't have regrets?"
She didn't know what to say to alleviate what he was obviously feeling.
"Now it's raining/ And I'm driving much too fast/ How can a city be so dark?" The song remained the only sound in the room. "There's this sensation/ Feeding on itself/ I've got to get to where you are. We held love in our hands/ Why we tore it apart/ I just don't understand."
Max felt his face crumple at her continued silence, he stopped trying to fight the sobs building in his chest. This was all his fault, the whole thing it was him.
"There's a distance between us/ Now you feel so far away/ Oh the distance between us/ How did we ever get this way/ Oh baby don't slip away..."
Liz's tears flowed free hearing his sobs and feeling his body jerk with them in front of her. She just couldn't form the words to say what she wanted to say.
"I want to reach out/ And pull you close to me/ Wanna make you remember/ Just how good it used to be..."
"How did this happen?" Max finally whispered. "When did we get to be strangers living in the same house, sharing a bed, raising kids? How did I get to know you inside and out and still not have a clue?"
It made Liz cry harder knowing what he meant and still not being able to say a word through her tears and anguish.
"There's a distance between us/ Now you feel so far away/ Oh the distance between us/ How did we ever get this way/ Oh baby don't slip away..."
--
Michael found himself sobbing at the foot of his bed. He had just been about to resign himself to another night of dreamless sleep when he had been overcome by the need to cry.
It was Liz. She was so overcome by so many emotions that her thoughts were being transmitted through their connection... even across town.
{Why can't I tell him that I need him? Why can't I tell him what he needs to hear? Why can't things go back? I love you Max. Hear me!}
Knowing the reason that she was upset made Michael curl into a ball and wait for it to be over. She had a monsoon raging inside her mind and he was the only outlet.
{Max, just hold me tighter. Don't you understand? No regrets. Never. No. Never. No. Never. Love you. Hold me. Forgive you. Always. Love you. Let me in. Yours, mine, forever, always. Yes. Let me in. Yes.}
{Love you. Love you. Mine. I'm yours. Don't let go, Liz. Don't give up on me.}
Michael snapped his head up. That was Max. It was Max. He could hear Max's thoughts. How?
--
Max took Liz in his arms. He just needed to hold her once more if this meant it was over. Just needed to touch the skin on her elbow one last time, feel her soft hair. Needed to memorize her scent.
Liz's frustration climbed as still the words to make things right eluded her. She couldn't speak... she'd have to show him. {Why can't I tell him that I need him? Why can't I tell him what he needs to hear? Why can't things go back? I love you Max. Hear me!}
Max thought he dreamed the feather-light kiss on his neck. He became vaguely aware that she was hugging him back.
{Max, just hold me tighter. Don't you understand? No regrets. Never. No. Never. No. Never. Love you. Hold me. Forgive you. Always.} Liz pulled him backwards and onto the bed with her. Her kisses trailed all over his neck and face. Hesitantly, he returned the love pecks, savoring each small kiss as if was the last.
Finally, she took his lips. There was only one way to show him, tell him, what it was she needed to. Their urgent kiss fired up the rest of their bodies. Her hands busied themselves with the buttons on his shirt, pushing it off his shoulders. {Love you. Let me in. Yours, mine, forever, always.}
Max's fingers disobeyed him and reached around to her dress zipper, sliding it down her body. Then he lifted away from her to slide the dress down her body. Once down, they ran up her body, caressing what they could.
Liz had his pants and boxers down in no time. She continued her assault on his mouth with her silent pleading {Let me in. Let me in.} Their hands fumbled with her bra, underwear and panty hose. Max gave up trying to resist, as this was what she obviously wanted.
Max broke their marathon kiss and locked eyes with hers. Then he saw her pleading and got lost in those brown depths. {Yes. Let me in. Yes.} He could hear her. He formed the connection as he shifted his body on top of her.
{Love you. Love you. Mine. I'm yours. Don't let go, Liz. Don't give up on me.}
Liz felt like jumping up and down that he had finally gotten it and formed the connection. {Never. Never give up on you. Won't ever let go.} The second their bodies joined, Liz upped their connection. She demanded he experience everything their 13 year relationship had brought her. Even as she felt their bodies sliding against each other, sweaty and seeking, rocking and moaning... he was living out their life together thus far through her eyes.
{I'm sorry. How? Why do you still love me so much? Nothing but pain. No. Happiness, pleasure. Why? How? How? Love you, Liz. Never stop.}
Max reversed the connection and sent the same 13 years back to her through his eyes. He barely even felt her nails drag down his back as he continued to move in and out of her. One thing mattered. Her. Liz felt the tears spilling down her face, whether they were Max's or her own, she couldn't tell.
{How can I still be so beautiful in your eyes? Never again will I doubt. Won't ever let you go. Promise. Love you, Max.}
As they came, the connection flared up and then fizzled down. They lay side by side for the longest time, just looking each other over, running their hands over familiar territory.
Max traced the curve of Liz's breasts, touching the marks where her breasts had swelled during pregnancy. His hand drifted further down, a finger swirled over the spot that had once been a bullet hole. Then the marks formed when her stomach had been twice round with his children. Her stomach was no longer firm but soft and evident that she often forgot to eat her breakfast and/or lunch. She was still the sexiest woman on the planet... or off it for that matter.
Liz followed the line of his chest down to his smooth stomach. The six-pack long gone, replaced by the beginnings of a fatherly gut. He hadn't worked out in so long, cigarettes ruining his diet, and his binging right along with her during her pregnancy with Bethany had begun its toll on his body. She predicted he would gain more weight now that he had stopped smoking. He was still the sexiest man in the universe.
"Thank you." Max whispered and pulled his wife close.
"Thank you." Liz whispered back to her husband as they both drifted off to sleep.
--
The calm of the night irked Michael to no end. His connection with Liz was gone... completely. The familiar sounds seemed duller somehow without the light buzz at the back of his brain. Emily's radio played softly from her room down the hall as she slept. The busy street outside was quiet for once. His eyes fluttered closed and he slipped off into sleep.
There were so many things to think about but he would do that tomorrow. Tomorrow. Tomorrow he would talk to someone. Anyone. Whoever would let him.
--
Isabel's eyes fluttered open to find Kyle's blue eyes on her face. He leaned over her. "I knew you were faking."
"Kyle, it's late."
"Take tomorrow off. Study here if you have to."
"All the books are at the office."
"Then take a break." He whispered, his eyes pleading with her. "Something's wrong and I don't want anything to happen."
"Nothing's wrong."
"Isabel, when you were pregnant with Liberty, you couldn't keep your hands off me." He pointed out. "I'm not complaining, just taking note that you haven't been interested since you've been pregnant this time."
"Nothing's wrong." She insisted even as their hands met over her stomach.
"I hope not. My son is important to me. I don't want anything to happen to either of you. Just take tomorrow off. Rest. Let Max check you out." Kyle pleaded with his wife. "Dad will be happy to wait on you hand and foot so let him tomorrow."
"Okay. Okay. I'll take tomorrow off." Isabel finally said. "I'll stay home. Happy?"
"I guess this will do for now. I worry about you and the baby."
"I know. I promise, after the bar... I'll slow down."
--
"Daniel?"
"What?"
"Don't worry about Mom and Dad."
"Who said I was worried?" Danny glared at his sister in the dark of his father's old bedroom.
"I know you. They won't get divorced, Mom said." Kathy whispered.
"I wasn't worried." There was silence for a moment. "She really told you that?"
"Uh-huh."
"Okay. Go back to sleep."
TBC
Isabel rushed into the house and set down her things. "Sorry. Sorry. I lost track of time."
"Then it's a good thing we decided not to wait." Kyle shrugged and passed the mashed potatoes down the table to his stepson.
"Hi honey." Diane gave her daughter a smile. "Tough case?"
"No, no. I'm studying actually." Isabel finally managed to kiss her son, husband, daughter, father-in-law and mother before sitting down to eat something.
"Thought I was going to have to go down there and drag you away from those books." Jim joked.
"Mom, Lucy Ellington and Michelle Fires got into a fight at the swimming pool today." Alex Jr. piped up around his mouthful of meatloaf. "Danny and Kathy had to break it up. It was so funny because... Lucy tripped and fell in the pool and she took everyone with her."
"Hey chief. You wanna chew and swallow before telling your next story?" Kyle tossed the kid a look.
"Sorry." Jr. took a drink of his water and cleared his throat. "Are Aunt Liz and Uncle Max getting a divorce?"
"What?" Diane's eyes widened. "Jr. What would make you think that?"
"Kathy said that they've been fighting and that sometimes Uncle Max sleeps on the couch." Jr. shrugged his shoulders.
"Do you two know anything about this?" Jim turned to his son and daughter-in-law.
"It's nothing." Kyle shook his head. "There was a big misunderstanding and I'm sure they're working through it. This is Max and Liz we're talking about here. They can make it through anything."
"I'll talk to Daniel and Kathy when I go get them. Max didn't say anything to me when he asked me to take them for the night." Diane sighed and shook her head.
"Why are they staying with you, Mom?" Isabel wasn't too hungry, she just kept pushing her food around her plate. Kyle watched her but didn't say anything.
"Well, he told me that he was taking Liz out to dinner and that they needed the night off. I have to go pick them up at Jeff and Nancy's when I leave here." Diane pulled her napkin off her lap. "How have you been feeling, sweetie? Morning sickness?"
"She can't get sick if she doesn't eat." Kyle muttered. Isabel glared at him.
"I do eat, Kyle. Really, Mom, I've been doing fine. I take the bar next month and I've been doing real well with catching up where I left off." Isabel nodded and attempted to eat the mess she'd made on her plate.
"Don't push yourself honey." Diane got up and kissed her daughter. "I have to go. I'm sure those kids are driving the Parkers insane by now."
--
Michael didn't know how he got roped into it but he was playing Monopoly with his daughter and her friends. Lynette was whooping his ass. "Don't your parents miss you guys?"
"My parents don't give a crap as long as I'm not getting into trouble." The dark-haired girl replied.
"And my parents are happy if the cops don't bring me home." Caleb held out his hand for more of Michael's money.
"That's it. Emmy, baby, you can't play with these kids anymore." Michael grumbled as he shelled out the hundreds of dollars necessary to get him off the railroad.
"Why not? You were always in trouble when you were our age." Emily smiled sweetly.
"Who told you that?" Michael narrowed his eyes at his daughter.
"My mom." Lynette grinned. "She works down at juvvy. She said that you were always being brought in for something. Fighting, stealing, loitering... mostly fighting though. Sometimes truancy."
"Those files are supposed to be sealed." Michael groaned and got up. "Anyone? Pizza? Soda?" Then mumbled to himself, "Muzzle?"
--
Liz set the picture and her rose down on the dresser. Before they had left the park, a photographer had requested to take their picture. So Max bought a rose and helped her back into her shoes for the picture. She still wondered what Max had asked the guy because the photographer had moved them to another spot, switched cameras and taken another picture.
"You're beautiful." Max whispered into her ear. "12:01"
"Yeah, 10 years ago was the first time we made love." She sighed and leaned back into his arms. "Thank you for tonight. I really needed this."
"I think I needed it too." His lips brushed her temple.
"Ready for your reward?" Her voice thick with desire.
"Liz, I really need to tell you something." Max winced at the confusion in her reflection. He had spent the past month, week and two days planning what he would say to her. He led her to the bed to sit on its edge and knelt in front of her.
"Max?"
"I know you thought that I lost faith in you." Max stopped her before the anger in her eyes could reach her lips in angry words. "I've had so much time to think about this. I didn't lose faith in you. I lost faith in my ability to keep you. I lost faith in me. When I got that vision... I should have asked you..."
When she didn't say anything, he continued. "I think everyday about how lucky I am to have you here with me. About how I've screwed up your life. You could be at Harvard... making some break-through in science. You could have a normal life."
"I would be dead." Liz whispered.
"I know. Yeah, I know." He nodded and kept his eyes on his hands. "I just can't help but think that you deserve better than me."
"Max..." Max lifted his head to catch the tears in her eyes. "You are my life. No matter what... You are what's best for me. I wouldn't give up Daniel, Kathleen or Bethany for any Nobel prize." Liz took a deep breath. "I honestly don't remember what happened before we came in here that night. I would never even consider going to someone else for anything. I love you. I have a feeling I always did... even before I knew you.
"The way you did what you did, it hurt me. I can't ignore this feeling that I still get. That you don't trust me. I know that when I lied to you back in high school, it hurt you. It hurt me too..." Liz bit her lip. "Is this how we're going to live? Hurting each other and then reminding each other just how the other hurt us. I can't do this."
The room was bathed in silence. Liz could feel Max's frustration. She had fully intended on pretending everything was okay but now she knew that it couldn't be that way. It wouldn't work... it was a good thing he realized that. The radio snapped on across the room and music wafted out.
"In the beginning/ We were much too brave/ We had our love and we were saved."
"All that stuff you told me that morning... why have you been holding it in all this time?" Max whispered.
"We've come so far/ And that's not how we are no more/ Tell me why things have got to change." The radio continued to send out its song. "We held love in our hands/ Why we tore it apart/ I just don't understand."
"All night, I've watched you and listened to you and I can't help but think you haven't really been there." He continued. "I can't keep this up, Liz."
"Me either. You're right, though. I kept thinking about Daniel's burned hand, Kathy's identity crisis, Bethany's colic... then I would look at the woman at the table next to us and I knew that she was a little older than me and I knew that she didn't have children at home or at her mother's or mother-in-law's. I knew she didn't have a mother-in-law." Liz sniffed and forced herself not to start sobbing.
"There's a distance between us/ Now you feel so far away/ Oh the distance between us/ How did we ever get this way/ Oh baby don't slip away..."
"Liz?" He stroked her hands. "Do you really mean what you said? Are you sure you don't have regrets?"
She didn't know what to say to alleviate what he was obviously feeling.
"Now it's raining/ And I'm driving much too fast/ How can a city be so dark?" The song remained the only sound in the room. "There's this sensation/ Feeding on itself/ I've got to get to where you are. We held love in our hands/ Why we tore it apart/ I just don't understand."
Max felt his face crumple at her continued silence, he stopped trying to fight the sobs building in his chest. This was all his fault, the whole thing it was him.
"There's a distance between us/ Now you feel so far away/ Oh the distance between us/ How did we ever get this way/ Oh baby don't slip away..."
Liz's tears flowed free hearing his sobs and feeling his body jerk with them in front of her. She just couldn't form the words to say what she wanted to say.
"I want to reach out/ And pull you close to me/ Wanna make you remember/ Just how good it used to be..."
"How did this happen?" Max finally whispered. "When did we get to be strangers living in the same house, sharing a bed, raising kids? How did I get to know you inside and out and still not have a clue?"
It made Liz cry harder knowing what he meant and still not being able to say a word through her tears and anguish.
"There's a distance between us/ Now you feel so far away/ Oh the distance between us/ How did we ever get this way/ Oh baby don't slip away..."
--
Michael found himself sobbing at the foot of his bed. He had just been about to resign himself to another night of dreamless sleep when he had been overcome by the need to cry.
It was Liz. She was so overcome by so many emotions that her thoughts were being transmitted through their connection... even across town.
{Why can't I tell him that I need him? Why can't I tell him what he needs to hear? Why can't things go back? I love you Max. Hear me!}
Knowing the reason that she was upset made Michael curl into a ball and wait for it to be over. She had a monsoon raging inside her mind and he was the only outlet.
{Max, just hold me tighter. Don't you understand? No regrets. Never. No. Never. No. Never. Love you. Hold me. Forgive you. Always. Love you. Let me in. Yours, mine, forever, always. Yes. Let me in. Yes.}
{Love you. Love you. Mine. I'm yours. Don't let go, Liz. Don't give up on me.}
Michael snapped his head up. That was Max. It was Max. He could hear Max's thoughts. How?
--
Max took Liz in his arms. He just needed to hold her once more if this meant it was over. Just needed to touch the skin on her elbow one last time, feel her soft hair. Needed to memorize her scent.
Liz's frustration climbed as still the words to make things right eluded her. She couldn't speak... she'd have to show him. {Why can't I tell him that I need him? Why can't I tell him what he needs to hear? Why can't things go back? I love you Max. Hear me!}
Max thought he dreamed the feather-light kiss on his neck. He became vaguely aware that she was hugging him back.
{Max, just hold me tighter. Don't you understand? No regrets. Never. No. Never. No. Never. Love you. Hold me. Forgive you. Always.} Liz pulled him backwards and onto the bed with her. Her kisses trailed all over his neck and face. Hesitantly, he returned the love pecks, savoring each small kiss as if was the last.
Finally, she took his lips. There was only one way to show him, tell him, what it was she needed to. Their urgent kiss fired up the rest of their bodies. Her hands busied themselves with the buttons on his shirt, pushing it off his shoulders. {Love you. Let me in. Yours, mine, forever, always.}
Max's fingers disobeyed him and reached around to her dress zipper, sliding it down her body. Then he lifted away from her to slide the dress down her body. Once down, they ran up her body, caressing what they could.
Liz had his pants and boxers down in no time. She continued her assault on his mouth with her silent pleading {Let me in. Let me in.} Their hands fumbled with her bra, underwear and panty hose. Max gave up trying to resist, as this was what she obviously wanted.
Max broke their marathon kiss and locked eyes with hers. Then he saw her pleading and got lost in those brown depths. {Yes. Let me in. Yes.} He could hear her. He formed the connection as he shifted his body on top of her.
{Love you. Love you. Mine. I'm yours. Don't let go, Liz. Don't give up on me.}
Liz felt like jumping up and down that he had finally gotten it and formed the connection. {Never. Never give up on you. Won't ever let go.} The second their bodies joined, Liz upped their connection. She demanded he experience everything their 13 year relationship had brought her. Even as she felt their bodies sliding against each other, sweaty and seeking, rocking and moaning... he was living out their life together thus far through her eyes.
{I'm sorry. How? Why do you still love me so much? Nothing but pain. No. Happiness, pleasure. Why? How? How? Love you, Liz. Never stop.}
Max reversed the connection and sent the same 13 years back to her through his eyes. He barely even felt her nails drag down his back as he continued to move in and out of her. One thing mattered. Her. Liz felt the tears spilling down her face, whether they were Max's or her own, she couldn't tell.
{How can I still be so beautiful in your eyes? Never again will I doubt. Won't ever let you go. Promise. Love you, Max.}
As they came, the connection flared up and then fizzled down. They lay side by side for the longest time, just looking each other over, running their hands over familiar territory.
Max traced the curve of Liz's breasts, touching the marks where her breasts had swelled during pregnancy. His hand drifted further down, a finger swirled over the spot that had once been a bullet hole. Then the marks formed when her stomach had been twice round with his children. Her stomach was no longer firm but soft and evident that she often forgot to eat her breakfast and/or lunch. She was still the sexiest woman on the planet... or off it for that matter.
Liz followed the line of his chest down to his smooth stomach. The six-pack long gone, replaced by the beginnings of a fatherly gut. He hadn't worked out in so long, cigarettes ruining his diet, and his binging right along with her during her pregnancy with Bethany had begun its toll on his body. She predicted he would gain more weight now that he had stopped smoking. He was still the sexiest man in the universe.
"Thank you." Max whispered and pulled his wife close.
"Thank you." Liz whispered back to her husband as they both drifted off to sleep.
--
The calm of the night irked Michael to no end. His connection with Liz was gone... completely. The familiar sounds seemed duller somehow without the light buzz at the back of his brain. Emily's radio played softly from her room down the hall as she slept. The busy street outside was quiet for once. His eyes fluttered closed and he slipped off into sleep.
There were so many things to think about but he would do that tomorrow. Tomorrow. Tomorrow he would talk to someone. Anyone. Whoever would let him.
--
Isabel's eyes fluttered open to find Kyle's blue eyes on her face. He leaned over her. "I knew you were faking."
"Kyle, it's late."
"Take tomorrow off. Study here if you have to."
"All the books are at the office."
"Then take a break." He whispered, his eyes pleading with her. "Something's wrong and I don't want anything to happen."
"Nothing's wrong."
"Isabel, when you were pregnant with Liberty, you couldn't keep your hands off me." He pointed out. "I'm not complaining, just taking note that you haven't been interested since you've been pregnant this time."
"Nothing's wrong." She insisted even as their hands met over her stomach.
"I hope not. My son is important to me. I don't want anything to happen to either of you. Just take tomorrow off. Rest. Let Max check you out." Kyle pleaded with his wife. "Dad will be happy to wait on you hand and foot so let him tomorrow."
"Okay. Okay. I'll take tomorrow off." Isabel finally said. "I'll stay home. Happy?"
"I guess this will do for now. I worry about you and the baby."
"I know. I promise, after the bar... I'll slow down."
--
"Daniel?"
"What?"
"Don't worry about Mom and Dad."
"Who said I was worried?" Danny glared at his sister in the dark of his father's old bedroom.
"I know you. They won't get divorced, Mom said." Kathy whispered.
"I wasn't worried." There was silence for a moment. "She really told you that?"
"Uh-huh."
"Okay. Go back to sleep."
TBC
Part 42
The Fate of Destiny Part 42
Michael listened to Liz's voice on the answering machine for the fifth time since he had given up trying to sleep. The song playing rang in his ears as he struggled to leave a message on her machine. "Liz... umm... hey."
Then words failed him as the song took over his head.
"I just..." Michael sighed as words kept themselves out of his reach. "It's just that..."
"I just need to hear you, Liz." Michael finally gave up and hung up the phone. Shaking his head he lay back down on the bed. The silence in his head was killing him.
--
Liz rolled onto her stomach when the answering machine turned on at five in the morning. Michael's voice came over the line. Music played in the background. "Liz... umm... hey."
"I know you thought it best/ That we spend a little time apart/ But one night without you/ Is so much for my head/ I know I promised not to call/ Sorry but I didn't have a choice/ I just had to hear your voice."
The song tore at her heart. Did he know what he was doing to her?
"I just..." She could hear the pleading in those two words.
"Oh please don't be mad at me/ Cause I really did the best I could/ Not to dial your number/ But I didn't do much good/ Hung up the phone so many times/ 'Til I really didn't have a choice/ I just had to hear your voice."
"I had to know that you're okay/ I couldn't get to sleep this way/ And I had to hear you say hello/ I had to/ Because I love you so..."
"It's just that..." To her, he sounded like she had the night before when she was trying to talk to Max.
"I know you thought it best/ That we spend a little time apart/ But I had to hear your voice/ Though I know it just wasn't right/ I just had to hear your sweet voice.../ Tonight."[/I]
"I just need to hear you, Liz."
Liz felt a tear slip out of her eye. She knew what he was talking about. It was lonely in her head with out their connection. She... she had Max and that made it not as lonely but Michael didn't have anyone.
She pulled the sheet up her body just as the bed shifted under Max's weight. He moved closer to her. "Who was it?"
"Michael."
"What did he want?"
"We need to talk to him." Liz turned on her side to face him. "He's hurting and he's alone and... our connection broke."
"It broke?" Max asked softly, running his fingers up her arm. "How... how strong was it?"
"Usually we could feel what each other was feeling inside. If we were feeling it strong enough, we could feel each other across town." She whispered and fought the emptiness in her head. "It was like a crackling sensation at the back of my head, it made everything more real and now..."
"What?"
She ran her fingers over his chest. "Sensations are a bit duller. Sounds a little muted. Like... like some part of me was removed. I lived with Michael inside my head for so long..."
"That's why you never told me anything. You had Michael to talk to. You told him everything." Max whispered with a sigh. {I can't believe I never realized it.} "He understood because he could feel what you were feeling."
"Yeah... and vice versa." she nodded. The two lay together in silence for a long time. Slowly light filtered in the window, letting them know that it was morning. Liz ran her fingers down his stomach and poked him sharply.
"Hey, cut it out." Max pinched her butt.
"Sorry but I couldn't resist. It's becoming rather Pillsbury-like." She grinned at his glare. "Soft and springy."
"I am not fat."
"Never said you were. Besides I like it. Some women find a belly on a man a turn off... which works for me because they keep their hands off you." Liz ran her hands possessively over his body.
"When do you want to go get the kids?" Max asked suddenly, changing the subject.
"Let them stay... I want you all to myself. I never want to leave this bed again." She stretched and scooted as close as possible to her husband.
"My poor mother... with our kids... all three of them and no help. It's a wonder she survives."
"We've got good kids. Danny reminds me so much of you." Liz smiled and tucked her head into his neck. "He's always looking after everyone. Kathy is a little actress, our own very drama queen. Emily is the instigator. It's always her mess and the other always get roped along. Alex is... just like his father. I can't wait until Bethany can develop a personality of her own."
"Me either. You know... we make beautiful children. Did you see Beth's pictures?" Max gestured to the dresser. "She just hammed it up for the photographer and... I just had a hard time picking which ones I wanted."
"That's it. I miss our kids. Let's go get them." Liz sat up and pressed a kiss to his nose.
--
Isabel lay alone in her bed and felt suddenly glad that she had let Kyle talk her into staying home. She was feeling a little dizzy and all she had done was sit up to take a drink of water and then laid back down.
"Mom?" Alex poked his head into the room. Then he pushed open the door and carefully walked in with a tray. "Dad says not to let you get up today."
"What's this?" She couldn't keep a smile off her face at the sight of misshapen pancakes and slightly browned eggs.
"Breakfast, Grandpa Jim supervised but I made it myself." He beamed, his blue eyes lighting up as he set the tray in her lap. "No powers."
"I'm sure that I'm going to love every bit of this." She picked up her fork and dug in. "What are you going to do today?"
"Probably go swimming. Granpa Jim is setting up the wading pool in the back for Berty. So... Dad said you would tell me what you saw." Alex quickly brought up the subject.
"What I saw?" Isabel's gaze dropped to her food.
"He said you would tell me... about my dad." He turned to gaze out the window. "What happened to him? I know he died but no one talks about it... and if they do, the second they know I'm there they stop."
"Baby, it's just that no one knew what happened and the way I found out... well, I just can't go telling everyone different." She reached over and touched his arm. "Alex..."
"What?"
"Do you want to me to hold you?" Isabel pursed her lips to keep the smile off her face when he made a disgusted face. Yeah, right. A nine year old would just let his mother hold him like he was a baby. "Put this tray on the nightstand and come here."
Reluctantly, Alexander Charles Whitman Jr. did as told. He climbed onto the bed next to his mother and let her put an arm around him. He let her kiss his forehead and pinch his cheek. "Mom..."
"Okay. I'll tell you. I want you to know that anything you hear about your daddy isn't true... especially when they talk about how he died." Isabel felt the tears spring to her eyes.
"Aunt Liz has a bunch of pictures from when they were little, my age. She says I look just like him." He whispered and rested his head on her shoulder.
"You do. You look just like him. Exactly like him. You act like him too. I'll tell you what really happened..."
--
Diane watched her son and his wife travel up the front walk with their arms wrapped around each other tight. Perplexed, she thought over what Jr. had asked the night before. Surely they hadn't had any problems.
They walked into the house and glanced around. Max called out. "Where is everybody?"
"In here." Diane called out.
"Da!" Bethany cried out from where she sat in the kitchen surrounded by pots and pans. Max and Liz walked in looking as if they were attached at the hip.
"The kids are in Isabel's room watching cartoons." Diane lifted her mug to her mouth and took a sip of coffee.
"I'll go get their things together." Liz disappeared down the hallway, leaving Max to scoop up their daughter. He took a seat at the table with his mother.
They sat staring across the table for a few minutes before Max decided to speak. "We didn't really get to talk when I asked you to look after the kids. How-- How have you been?"
"Ok, I guess. I miss him. I guess I get a little better everyday but sometimes I just don't know what to do with myself in this house by myself. I wish that you hadn't moved out... cause then I'd have the kids to look after, Bethany to take care of." Diane's gaze dropped to her wedding band. "I can't go to work anymore. There's just no point. The reason I went into law was to be with your father."
"Mom..." Max reached out to hold her hand.
"I adored your father all the way through high school and then I begged my parents to follow him to law school. We were engaged his last year and my last three years of college." She thought back to the days when she was young and beautiful with interested guys lined up around the corner but the only one she had eyes for was Philip Evans. "He got a job, after I graduated... we got married. We were married for quite a few years before we found the two of you and that was one of the happiest days of my life."
Max squeezed her hand and listened to the obvious love his mother had had for his father. He was beginning to understand what it had been like for his parents.
"And the two of you made him more and more proud everyday. Even when..." She wouldn't even say it. It would just make Max feel bad. "Even then, he was so proud of you for the way you handled things. You knew what you could do and you asked for help when you needed it."
"I just wanted to be a good son." Max felt his throat tighten as he thought of all the ways he had let down his father.
"You were. You are, Max. I just want you to know that we never thought of you as adopted or someone else's children. We always thought of you as ours. I'm here if you need someone... to talk to about anything." She squeezed his hand and watched her son kiss his daughter's head.
"I... I get sad when I think of how Bethany won't ever know what he was like. If we have more kids, they won't ever be held by him." Max closed his eyes against the stinging in his eyes. "I love you, Mom."
"I love you, Max. You make me proud."
Liz stood in the doorway and hated to interrupt the moment. Her Max was opening up little by little to everyone around him and the thought made her happy. She had seen how hurt Diane would get when Max would shrug things off as unimportant or weasel his way out of talking about his feelings with her.
"Is there anything you want to talk to me about?" Diane reached out to her son and begged him to let her in. "About Liz?"
"It's nothing, Mom. We... We had a few problems but we're working them out. It'll be okay. I just have to make sure I'm home to deal with things." He whispered and looked his mother in the eye. "I can't hide at work. A couple weeks ago, Kathy stayed up an hour past her bedtime to kiss me goodnight and I realized that I hadn't seen her in four days. Four days, Mom. She was sleepy, her eyes were falling closed on her and she forced herself to stay awake just for one minute to kiss me and tell me she loved me." Max shook his head. "Danny says that he's the man of the house, that he takes care of everyone when I'm not home and that is... all the time."
"Max..." Diane whispered comfortingly. "Don't beat yourself up. You're just trying to make sure you take care of your family."
"I know but... with all the things that are going on with Kathy and Danny, I need to be there. Liz and I were barely on speaking terms last week... and the kids notice. I know they do." He took a deep breath and continued. "I overheard Liz comforting Kathy one day. She thought I didn't love her. That conversation should never have happened. I have to make an effort to be there for all of them."
"Jr. asked us last night if the two of you were getting a divorce. I didn't realize things were that bad."
"Mom, they're not bad... not anymore but... I guess we skipped too many steps when we created this family that we forgot to be there for each other... that we were friends before we were married and had kids."
Liz felt the tears welling up in her eyes as she listened in on the conversation between mother and son. They all had to make the effort. With family... and friends.
--
Michael sat beside the complex pool and attempted to tan on his one day off in who knows how long. Emily and her friends were splashing around in the mid-morning sun before it got too hot to be outside. Roswell's June sun would see to it that it would be unbearably hot around 11:30.
Michael smirked under his dark sunglasses at his daughter who was sneaking up on the boy that lived four apartments down from theirs. Poor kid was about to get the snot beat out of him.
A shadow fell over his slowly cooking body before its owner sat beside him. "I didn't know you had the day off. I stopped by the hospital but you weren't there."
Michael didn't turn to face her when he finally greeted her. "Hey Liz."
TBC
Michael listened to Liz's voice on the answering machine for the fifth time since he had given up trying to sleep. The song playing rang in his ears as he struggled to leave a message on her machine. "Liz... umm... hey."
Then words failed him as the song took over his head.
"I just..." Michael sighed as words kept themselves out of his reach. "It's just that..."
"I just need to hear you, Liz." Michael finally gave up and hung up the phone. Shaking his head he lay back down on the bed. The silence in his head was killing him.
--
Liz rolled onto her stomach when the answering machine turned on at five in the morning. Michael's voice came over the line. Music played in the background. "Liz... umm... hey."
"I know you thought it best/ That we spend a little time apart/ But one night without you/ Is so much for my head/ I know I promised not to call/ Sorry but I didn't have a choice/ I just had to hear your voice."
The song tore at her heart. Did he know what he was doing to her?
"I just..." She could hear the pleading in those two words.
"Oh please don't be mad at me/ Cause I really did the best I could/ Not to dial your number/ But I didn't do much good/ Hung up the phone so many times/ 'Til I really didn't have a choice/ I just had to hear your voice."
"I had to know that you're okay/ I couldn't get to sleep this way/ And I had to hear you say hello/ I had to/ Because I love you so..."
"It's just that..." To her, he sounded like she had the night before when she was trying to talk to Max.
"I know you thought it best/ That we spend a little time apart/ But I had to hear your voice/ Though I know it just wasn't right/ I just had to hear your sweet voice.../ Tonight."[/I]
"I just need to hear you, Liz."
Liz felt a tear slip out of her eye. She knew what he was talking about. It was lonely in her head with out their connection. She... she had Max and that made it not as lonely but Michael didn't have anyone.
She pulled the sheet up her body just as the bed shifted under Max's weight. He moved closer to her. "Who was it?"
"Michael."
"What did he want?"
"We need to talk to him." Liz turned on her side to face him. "He's hurting and he's alone and... our connection broke."
"It broke?" Max asked softly, running his fingers up her arm. "How... how strong was it?"
"Usually we could feel what each other was feeling inside. If we were feeling it strong enough, we could feel each other across town." She whispered and fought the emptiness in her head. "It was like a crackling sensation at the back of my head, it made everything more real and now..."
"What?"
She ran her fingers over his chest. "Sensations are a bit duller. Sounds a little muted. Like... like some part of me was removed. I lived with Michael inside my head for so long..."
"That's why you never told me anything. You had Michael to talk to. You told him everything." Max whispered with a sigh. {I can't believe I never realized it.} "He understood because he could feel what you were feeling."
"Yeah... and vice versa." she nodded. The two lay together in silence for a long time. Slowly light filtered in the window, letting them know that it was morning. Liz ran her fingers down his stomach and poked him sharply.
"Hey, cut it out." Max pinched her butt.
"Sorry but I couldn't resist. It's becoming rather Pillsbury-like." She grinned at his glare. "Soft and springy."
"I am not fat."
"Never said you were. Besides I like it. Some women find a belly on a man a turn off... which works for me because they keep their hands off you." Liz ran her hands possessively over his body.
"When do you want to go get the kids?" Max asked suddenly, changing the subject.
"Let them stay... I want you all to myself. I never want to leave this bed again." She stretched and scooted as close as possible to her husband.
"My poor mother... with our kids... all three of them and no help. It's a wonder she survives."
"We've got good kids. Danny reminds me so much of you." Liz smiled and tucked her head into his neck. "He's always looking after everyone. Kathy is a little actress, our own very drama queen. Emily is the instigator. It's always her mess and the other always get roped along. Alex is... just like his father. I can't wait until Bethany can develop a personality of her own."
"Me either. You know... we make beautiful children. Did you see Beth's pictures?" Max gestured to the dresser. "She just hammed it up for the photographer and... I just had a hard time picking which ones I wanted."
"That's it. I miss our kids. Let's go get them." Liz sat up and pressed a kiss to his nose.
--
Isabel lay alone in her bed and felt suddenly glad that she had let Kyle talk her into staying home. She was feeling a little dizzy and all she had done was sit up to take a drink of water and then laid back down.
"Mom?" Alex poked his head into the room. Then he pushed open the door and carefully walked in with a tray. "Dad says not to let you get up today."
"What's this?" She couldn't keep a smile off her face at the sight of misshapen pancakes and slightly browned eggs.
"Breakfast, Grandpa Jim supervised but I made it myself." He beamed, his blue eyes lighting up as he set the tray in her lap. "No powers."
"I'm sure that I'm going to love every bit of this." She picked up her fork and dug in. "What are you going to do today?"
"Probably go swimming. Granpa Jim is setting up the wading pool in the back for Berty. So... Dad said you would tell me what you saw." Alex quickly brought up the subject.
"What I saw?" Isabel's gaze dropped to her food.
"He said you would tell me... about my dad." He turned to gaze out the window. "What happened to him? I know he died but no one talks about it... and if they do, the second they know I'm there they stop."
"Baby, it's just that no one knew what happened and the way I found out... well, I just can't go telling everyone different." She reached over and touched his arm. "Alex..."
"What?"
"Do you want to me to hold you?" Isabel pursed her lips to keep the smile off her face when he made a disgusted face. Yeah, right. A nine year old would just let his mother hold him like he was a baby. "Put this tray on the nightstand and come here."
Reluctantly, Alexander Charles Whitman Jr. did as told. He climbed onto the bed next to his mother and let her put an arm around him. He let her kiss his forehead and pinch his cheek. "Mom..."
"Okay. I'll tell you. I want you to know that anything you hear about your daddy isn't true... especially when they talk about how he died." Isabel felt the tears spring to her eyes.
"Aunt Liz has a bunch of pictures from when they were little, my age. She says I look just like him." He whispered and rested his head on her shoulder.
"You do. You look just like him. Exactly like him. You act like him too. I'll tell you what really happened..."
--
Diane watched her son and his wife travel up the front walk with their arms wrapped around each other tight. Perplexed, she thought over what Jr. had asked the night before. Surely they hadn't had any problems.
They walked into the house and glanced around. Max called out. "Where is everybody?"
"In here." Diane called out.
"Da!" Bethany cried out from where she sat in the kitchen surrounded by pots and pans. Max and Liz walked in looking as if they were attached at the hip.
"The kids are in Isabel's room watching cartoons." Diane lifted her mug to her mouth and took a sip of coffee.
"I'll go get their things together." Liz disappeared down the hallway, leaving Max to scoop up their daughter. He took a seat at the table with his mother.
They sat staring across the table for a few minutes before Max decided to speak. "We didn't really get to talk when I asked you to look after the kids. How-- How have you been?"
"Ok, I guess. I miss him. I guess I get a little better everyday but sometimes I just don't know what to do with myself in this house by myself. I wish that you hadn't moved out... cause then I'd have the kids to look after, Bethany to take care of." Diane's gaze dropped to her wedding band. "I can't go to work anymore. There's just no point. The reason I went into law was to be with your father."
"Mom..." Max reached out to hold her hand.
"I adored your father all the way through high school and then I begged my parents to follow him to law school. We were engaged his last year and my last three years of college." She thought back to the days when she was young and beautiful with interested guys lined up around the corner but the only one she had eyes for was Philip Evans. "He got a job, after I graduated... we got married. We were married for quite a few years before we found the two of you and that was one of the happiest days of my life."
Max squeezed her hand and listened to the obvious love his mother had had for his father. He was beginning to understand what it had been like for his parents.
"And the two of you made him more and more proud everyday. Even when..." She wouldn't even say it. It would just make Max feel bad. "Even then, he was so proud of you for the way you handled things. You knew what you could do and you asked for help when you needed it."
"I just wanted to be a good son." Max felt his throat tighten as he thought of all the ways he had let down his father.
"You were. You are, Max. I just want you to know that we never thought of you as adopted or someone else's children. We always thought of you as ours. I'm here if you need someone... to talk to about anything." She squeezed his hand and watched her son kiss his daughter's head.
"I... I get sad when I think of how Bethany won't ever know what he was like. If we have more kids, they won't ever be held by him." Max closed his eyes against the stinging in his eyes. "I love you, Mom."
"I love you, Max. You make me proud."
Liz stood in the doorway and hated to interrupt the moment. Her Max was opening up little by little to everyone around him and the thought made her happy. She had seen how hurt Diane would get when Max would shrug things off as unimportant or weasel his way out of talking about his feelings with her.
"Is there anything you want to talk to me about?" Diane reached out to her son and begged him to let her in. "About Liz?"
"It's nothing, Mom. We... We had a few problems but we're working them out. It'll be okay. I just have to make sure I'm home to deal with things." He whispered and looked his mother in the eye. "I can't hide at work. A couple weeks ago, Kathy stayed up an hour past her bedtime to kiss me goodnight and I realized that I hadn't seen her in four days. Four days, Mom. She was sleepy, her eyes were falling closed on her and she forced herself to stay awake just for one minute to kiss me and tell me she loved me." Max shook his head. "Danny says that he's the man of the house, that he takes care of everyone when I'm not home and that is... all the time."
"Max..." Diane whispered comfortingly. "Don't beat yourself up. You're just trying to make sure you take care of your family."
"I know but... with all the things that are going on with Kathy and Danny, I need to be there. Liz and I were barely on speaking terms last week... and the kids notice. I know they do." He took a deep breath and continued. "I overheard Liz comforting Kathy one day. She thought I didn't love her. That conversation should never have happened. I have to make an effort to be there for all of them."
"Jr. asked us last night if the two of you were getting a divorce. I didn't realize things were that bad."
"Mom, they're not bad... not anymore but... I guess we skipped too many steps when we created this family that we forgot to be there for each other... that we were friends before we were married and had kids."
Liz felt the tears welling up in her eyes as she listened in on the conversation between mother and son. They all had to make the effort. With family... and friends.
--
Michael sat beside the complex pool and attempted to tan on his one day off in who knows how long. Emily and her friends were splashing around in the mid-morning sun before it got too hot to be outside. Roswell's June sun would see to it that it would be unbearably hot around 11:30.
Michael smirked under his dark sunglasses at his daughter who was sneaking up on the boy that lived four apartments down from theirs. Poor kid was about to get the snot beat out of him.
A shadow fell over his slowly cooking body before its owner sat beside him. "I didn't know you had the day off. I stopped by the hospital but you weren't there."
Michael didn't turn to face her when he finally greeted her. "Hey Liz."
TBC
Part 43
The Fate of Destiny Part 43
"What's the what?" Michael continued to stare at the pool where the kids were screaming their heads off in a water fight.
"I got your message." Liz knew better than to look at him and try to read his face for emotion or even a flicker of what he was thinking. "Max and I made up last night."
"I know." he whispered and sat up.
"I miss it."
"Do you?"
"Yes. I do." Liz finally turned to him. "You are my best friend. I know that all this has just been awkward and strange but it doesn't change the fact that you're my friend. Losing the connection, it hit me this morning. It hit me hard. I realized how much I've missed you."
"Look... about the... thing... I never meant to act on it because I knew that..." Michael swallowed, trying desperately to wet his suddenly dry throat to eek out the words that were trying to escape him. "I know you love Max."
"Michael, I just don't understand this. All those women you were dating..." Liz shook her head and cast a glance back towards the car.
"I didn't even like most of them. I kept comparing them to you. I kept asking myself if they were worthy enough to stand in your shadow." Michael kept talking rapidly, knowing if he were going to talk at all it would be now. "The first test was to bring out Em's picture. The first thing anyone would ask was if she was my niece or my sister. Strike one. The next thing was 'oh, where's your wife?' I would just say dead and the conversation would end there. Strike two. At the end of the night, they would want me to go home with them and when I declined, the pout was strike three."
"How is that a comparison to me?" Liz whispered softly, turning to watch his face closely.
"You didn't even think when Max brought Kathy home. You knew you were going to raise her like your own. You try to get him to talk about her because you know that he needs to. You understand that there are more important things than who you sleep with at night. None of those women saw beyond that I was a man with a steady job." Michael sighed and turned away from her. "I... that next day after that night in your... I stopped by during my lunch hour and I heard you talking to Kathy. If I wasn't sure that you'd never give up Max for me before... right that second I was."
"Michael... I'm not perfect. I was terrified when Max brought Kathy home. I couldn't believe that I was going to care take of two babies at the age of 19. I... pretend to care what Max thinks of Tess just so I can hear him say that he doesn't... even though I know he does... I let myself be tricked into that same illusion that he pulls around himself." Liz felt the tears pricking at her eyes. "Michael... I am far from perfect."
"If you didn't have Max... would you?" He stared at his feet and waited for her answer.
"I can't pretend. I do know that any woman would be lucky to catch your eye, though. You are a good man and a great father. You deserve to be happy... it just can't be me, Michael." Liz touched his arm and was relieved when he didn't pull away. "You are always going to be my best friend."
"Thanks." He nodded and took her hand in his. "You know, it's kinda peaceful without your scientific thought process making all that racket."
They both started laughing and hugged. "I really did miss you."
"I missed you too."
--
Max pushed the stroller down the street in front of him and kept an eye on his two eldest children as they window shopped for their mother's birthday present. "We don't have much time. Your mom said she wasn't going to be gone very long."
"It has to be perfect, Daddy." Kathy pressed her face against a window, examining the display.
"Yeah, Dad." Danny pointed to a bouquet of flowers. "You can get her those, Dad."
"Ok." Max bit back a smile. "I'll think about it."
The foursome continued on down the street, looking in more windows and gathered more ideas. Then Max saw it in the jewelry store window. He supposed that normally it would make a better mother's day gift but he knew that Liz would love it anyway. A cluster of stones; aquamarine, ruby and topaz. Odd to find those specific three stones together but there they were. The blue stone and the red stone sat on either side of the topaz, enriching its orange color. It was perfect.
"Kathy, what you do think of that one? Sixth from the top in the fourth row." Max pointed the pendant.
"That's pretty, Daddy. Momma's gonna love it." She awed over the pretty piece of jewelry.
"Let me see." Danny gently pushed his sister out of the way. "Dad, why that one?"
"Well, the blue stone is for yours and my birthday. The orange one is for Beth's and that red one is for Mom and Kathy's." Max explained and made for the door.
"Me and Momma have the same stone?" Kathy's eyes widened. Her eyes lit up. "Wow. I didn't think we... never mind."
Max noted his daughter's train of thought. They went inside the jewelry store and he instructed the two of them to watch their sleeping sister while he talked to the salesman. At one point the salesman found a clever way to find Kathy's ring size without rousing her curiosity.
As Max was waiting for the man to come back with his credit card, he heard the entrance door ring. Immediately, he cast a glance at his children. He kept an eye on them out of the corner of his eye. This strange feeling was coming over him and he just wished the salesman would hurry up.
"Oh my goodness, what a beautiful baby." A female voice rang out, very sweet, almost melodic. "Is this your baby sister?"
"Yes." Danny answered, looking the woman over before searching for his father.
"What's her name?" The woman asked.
"Bethany Parker Evans." Kathy beamed with pride.
Inwardly, Max groaned. He would have to have a talk with his daughter concerning strangers. He turned to watch the woman that hovered near his children. She was just close enough to make him nervous but not close enough to be a threat.
"I'll bet the two of you are the best older brother and sister that a baby could ask for."
"Uh-huh. Sometimes, Momma and Daddy let me help change her." Kathy smiled. "You're pretty... almost as pretty as my momma."
"Kathy, shut up." Danny nudged her.
"Stop touching me, Danny." She hissed back.
Max took his credit card back from the salesman, signed his name on the receipt and took two small boxes into his pocket. He couldn't get out of the store quick enough. That woman was giving him strange vibes. Max strode over and took hold of the handle to the stroller. "Come on, kids. We're out of here."
"What's your name?" Kathy asked the woman still knelt near them.
"Oriel." Out rolled the name in a thick French accent.
"Dr. Evans... your license." The salesman held up the piece of plastic. Max nodded to his son to retrieve said identification.
The strange woman stood and faced Max. She looked oddly familiar and... beautiful, actually. She had deep brown hair pulled up on top of her head, little wisps falling in her face, her sparkling blue eyes were so piercing. She appeared to his age. "Dr. Evans, you have such beautiful children. You and your wife must be very proud."
"We are, thank you." Max nodded stiffly and made for the door with his children. Kathy gave a little wave as she was ushered out.
"Bye Kathy. Danny. Bethany." Oriel called after them. She stood there staring after the foursome. It took her a moment to realize that the salesman was trying to get her attention.
--
Alex hugged his mother and listened to the silence. He knew that she was waiting for him to react to the truth about his father's death but he didn't know how. He had never known his namesake. Everyone said he looked exactly like his daddy. They said he acted just like good ol' Alex. For as long as he could remember, Kyle was there. Kyle was his father as far as he was concerned.
"Baby?" Isabel whispered. Her son hadn't said a word since she stopped talking.
"I'm thinking." He whispered back and lay his head on his mother's chest like he used to when he was smaller. "You loved my daddy?"
"Yes. I did. I didn't think I would love anyone else ever again." She rubbed his back lightly.
"Then why did you marry Dad?" He asked softly.
"It just happened so slowly. He was a very good friend for a long time and before I knew it... I was head over heels in love."
--
Liz glanced at her watch and made to get up. "I'll talk to him, Michael."
"He's not going to talk to me... and why should he? I just screwed up again... story of my life." Michael flicked a pebble across the walkway.
"Max loves you like a brother." Liz insisted, giving his hand a squeeze. "I'll talk to him."
"Go ahead and try. I'm not expecting anything." Michael scrambled to his feet and cupped his hands over his mouth. "Em! Come on! Dry off and we'll go by the Crashdown for some lunch!"
"'Kay, Dad!" Came the giggly shout from the pool.
"Exhibit number one." Liz pointed to the pool. "That alone proves you aren't a screw up."
"Thanks." They hugged lightly.
"I gotta go pick up Max and kids downtown. I'll see you around."
"Ok."
"I mean it Michael. I will." Liz pointed a finger at him as she walked away.
"Later!" Michael called over his shoulder. "Em! Let's go!"
TBC
"What's the what?" Michael continued to stare at the pool where the kids were screaming their heads off in a water fight.
"I got your message." Liz knew better than to look at him and try to read his face for emotion or even a flicker of what he was thinking. "Max and I made up last night."
"I know." he whispered and sat up.
"I miss it."
"Do you?"
"Yes. I do." Liz finally turned to him. "You are my best friend. I know that all this has just been awkward and strange but it doesn't change the fact that you're my friend. Losing the connection, it hit me this morning. It hit me hard. I realized how much I've missed you."
"Look... about the... thing... I never meant to act on it because I knew that..." Michael swallowed, trying desperately to wet his suddenly dry throat to eek out the words that were trying to escape him. "I know you love Max."
"Michael, I just don't understand this. All those women you were dating..." Liz shook her head and cast a glance back towards the car.
"I didn't even like most of them. I kept comparing them to you. I kept asking myself if they were worthy enough to stand in your shadow." Michael kept talking rapidly, knowing if he were going to talk at all it would be now. "The first test was to bring out Em's picture. The first thing anyone would ask was if she was my niece or my sister. Strike one. The next thing was 'oh, where's your wife?' I would just say dead and the conversation would end there. Strike two. At the end of the night, they would want me to go home with them and when I declined, the pout was strike three."
"How is that a comparison to me?" Liz whispered softly, turning to watch his face closely.
"You didn't even think when Max brought Kathy home. You knew you were going to raise her like your own. You try to get him to talk about her because you know that he needs to. You understand that there are more important things than who you sleep with at night. None of those women saw beyond that I was a man with a steady job." Michael sighed and turned away from her. "I... that next day after that night in your... I stopped by during my lunch hour and I heard you talking to Kathy. If I wasn't sure that you'd never give up Max for me before... right that second I was."
"Michael... I'm not perfect. I was terrified when Max brought Kathy home. I couldn't believe that I was going to care take of two babies at the age of 19. I... pretend to care what Max thinks of Tess just so I can hear him say that he doesn't... even though I know he does... I let myself be tricked into that same illusion that he pulls around himself." Liz felt the tears pricking at her eyes. "Michael... I am far from perfect."
"If you didn't have Max... would you?" He stared at his feet and waited for her answer.
"I can't pretend. I do know that any woman would be lucky to catch your eye, though. You are a good man and a great father. You deserve to be happy... it just can't be me, Michael." Liz touched his arm and was relieved when he didn't pull away. "You are always going to be my best friend."
"Thanks." He nodded and took her hand in his. "You know, it's kinda peaceful without your scientific thought process making all that racket."
They both started laughing and hugged. "I really did miss you."
"I missed you too."
--
Max pushed the stroller down the street in front of him and kept an eye on his two eldest children as they window shopped for their mother's birthday present. "We don't have much time. Your mom said she wasn't going to be gone very long."
"It has to be perfect, Daddy." Kathy pressed her face against a window, examining the display.
"Yeah, Dad." Danny pointed to a bouquet of flowers. "You can get her those, Dad."
"Ok." Max bit back a smile. "I'll think about it."
The foursome continued on down the street, looking in more windows and gathered more ideas. Then Max saw it in the jewelry store window. He supposed that normally it would make a better mother's day gift but he knew that Liz would love it anyway. A cluster of stones; aquamarine, ruby and topaz. Odd to find those specific three stones together but there they were. The blue stone and the red stone sat on either side of the topaz, enriching its orange color. It was perfect.
"Kathy, what you do think of that one? Sixth from the top in the fourth row." Max pointed the pendant.
"That's pretty, Daddy. Momma's gonna love it." She awed over the pretty piece of jewelry.
"Let me see." Danny gently pushed his sister out of the way. "Dad, why that one?"
"Well, the blue stone is for yours and my birthday. The orange one is for Beth's and that red one is for Mom and Kathy's." Max explained and made for the door.
"Me and Momma have the same stone?" Kathy's eyes widened. Her eyes lit up. "Wow. I didn't think we... never mind."
Max noted his daughter's train of thought. They went inside the jewelry store and he instructed the two of them to watch their sleeping sister while he talked to the salesman. At one point the salesman found a clever way to find Kathy's ring size without rousing her curiosity.
As Max was waiting for the man to come back with his credit card, he heard the entrance door ring. Immediately, he cast a glance at his children. He kept an eye on them out of the corner of his eye. This strange feeling was coming over him and he just wished the salesman would hurry up.
"Oh my goodness, what a beautiful baby." A female voice rang out, very sweet, almost melodic. "Is this your baby sister?"
"Yes." Danny answered, looking the woman over before searching for his father.
"What's her name?" The woman asked.
"Bethany Parker Evans." Kathy beamed with pride.
Inwardly, Max groaned. He would have to have a talk with his daughter concerning strangers. He turned to watch the woman that hovered near his children. She was just close enough to make him nervous but not close enough to be a threat.
"I'll bet the two of you are the best older brother and sister that a baby could ask for."
"Uh-huh. Sometimes, Momma and Daddy let me help change her." Kathy smiled. "You're pretty... almost as pretty as my momma."
"Kathy, shut up." Danny nudged her.
"Stop touching me, Danny." She hissed back.
Max took his credit card back from the salesman, signed his name on the receipt and took two small boxes into his pocket. He couldn't get out of the store quick enough. That woman was giving him strange vibes. Max strode over and took hold of the handle to the stroller. "Come on, kids. We're out of here."
"What's your name?" Kathy asked the woman still knelt near them.
"Oriel." Out rolled the name in a thick French accent.
"Dr. Evans... your license." The salesman held up the piece of plastic. Max nodded to his son to retrieve said identification.
The strange woman stood and faced Max. She looked oddly familiar and... beautiful, actually. She had deep brown hair pulled up on top of her head, little wisps falling in her face, her sparkling blue eyes were so piercing. She appeared to his age. "Dr. Evans, you have such beautiful children. You and your wife must be very proud."
"We are, thank you." Max nodded stiffly and made for the door with his children. Kathy gave a little wave as she was ushered out.
"Bye Kathy. Danny. Bethany." Oriel called after them. She stood there staring after the foursome. It took her a moment to realize that the salesman was trying to get her attention.
--
Alex hugged his mother and listened to the silence. He knew that she was waiting for him to react to the truth about his father's death but he didn't know how. He had never known his namesake. Everyone said he looked exactly like his daddy. They said he acted just like good ol' Alex. For as long as he could remember, Kyle was there. Kyle was his father as far as he was concerned.
"Baby?" Isabel whispered. Her son hadn't said a word since she stopped talking.
"I'm thinking." He whispered back and lay his head on his mother's chest like he used to when he was smaller. "You loved my daddy?"
"Yes. I did. I didn't think I would love anyone else ever again." She rubbed his back lightly.
"Then why did you marry Dad?" He asked softly.
"It just happened so slowly. He was a very good friend for a long time and before I knew it... I was head over heels in love."
--
Liz glanced at her watch and made to get up. "I'll talk to him, Michael."
"He's not going to talk to me... and why should he? I just screwed up again... story of my life." Michael flicked a pebble across the walkway.
"Max loves you like a brother." Liz insisted, giving his hand a squeeze. "I'll talk to him."
"Go ahead and try. I'm not expecting anything." Michael scrambled to his feet and cupped his hands over his mouth. "Em! Come on! Dry off and we'll go by the Crashdown for some lunch!"
"'Kay, Dad!" Came the giggly shout from the pool.
"Exhibit number one." Liz pointed to the pool. "That alone proves you aren't a screw up."
"Thanks." They hugged lightly.
"I gotta go pick up Max and kids downtown. I'll see you around."
"Ok."
"I mean it Michael. I will." Liz pointed a finger at him as she walked away.
"Later!" Michael called over his shoulder. "Em! Let's go!"
TBC
Part 44
The Fate of Destiny Part 44
"Mama. We met a pretty lady in the jewelry store when Daddy bought your present." Kathy announced when she saw her mother at the car.
"Kathy!" Max chided but couldn't keep the chuckle out of his voice.
"Yeah, Kathy. That's supposed to be a surprise for her birthday." Danny whined.
"Oh? I got a present?" Liz smiled coyly at her husband, letting him kiss her neck when he reached her. "And what did I get?"
"You have to wait for your birthday, Mama." Kathy shook her head and giggled. "Anyways, Mama, I was telling you about the pretty lady. Her name is O-ree-el. She has long brown hair like you and blue eyes like me."
"She was real nosy." Danny wrinkled up his nose. "Kathy said she was as pretty as you but no one is as pretty as you."
"Thank you, baby." Liz bent down and kissed his head.
"No, Daniel. I said she was almost as pretty as Mama." Kathy stuck out her tongue at her brother.
"Enough." Max finally broke in. "Children, in the car." He unbuckled his drowsy daughter from her stroller seat and handed her to Liz. "I'll drive back."
"Max. What's wrong?" Liz whispered. She had noticed he seemed a little withdrawn since returning with the kids.
"It's probably nothing." Max drew her closer to him as the older kids climbed into the car. "I just got this weird feeling. That woman. I've seen her before. Let's talk about this later, ok?"
"Ok." Liz nodded and went to strap Bethany into her car seat.
--
Kyle watched his wife examine her reflection. Her hands rubbed her stomach. She had lost weight due to lack of food in recent months but she was beginning to show. Isabel unzipped her jeans and gingerly touched her bump. Her son. "Hey Kyle, Jr. I'm your mommy. We're going to be together soon. Four months."
"All of us." Kyle whispered as he wrapped his arms around her. She barely turned to look at him as his face buried itself in her hair. "How quiet was your day?"
"Almost too quiet. Alex and I talked, we played with Berty in the pool. Your dad made us lunch. I took a nap and I dreamed about you." She whispered and grasped his arms.
"You did?" He felt her slip her fingers between his and pull his hand downward. "What kind of dream?"
"The good kind." She licked her lips as both their hands disappeared into her underwear. She had been thinking about him ever since she had woken up from her nap. Isabel rubbed his fingers down between her folds. Taking over, Kyle sought out her clit and rubbed circles around it. "Oh yeah... uh... yeah that feels good."
"How can one day of rest do this to you?" Kyle murmured into her hair. Last year for nine months, his wife was insatiable and then their daughter was born. Just now, going into her fifth month did her sexual cravings catch up with her. He recalled a night where she sought him out at the station to fulfill her needs. "But I guess that's what makes you special."
"I think a day without work was all I needed to focus." She breathed out, her chest heaving and her body shaking with desire. "Kyle, I love you."
"Love you, too, Iz." He pulled her body back against his so he could lift her up slightly.
"Your dad is going to make the rounds with the kids. Take them for dinner and ice cream, maybe to see Chuck... they won't be back for three hours, tops." Isabel arched her back and urged his hand to use more force.
"I'm all yours."
"Good." She let him tease her to the brink before escaping his grasp. "On your back soldier."
"Oh? Are we getting bossy?" Kyle grinned and backed into the bed. "You feel better for one day and suddenly you're wearing the pants?"
"Oh you bet, Officer Valenti. I order you to surrender." Isabel shimmied out of her jeans and tossed them aside. "You and I need to get to business. I am four months behind on my sexual cravings... we have some catching up to do."
"Yeah?" His fingers flew down the front of his shirt, unbuttoning it and shrugging it off his shoulders. Her shirt flew over their heads and landed on the doorknob. Isabel's hands immediately went for his belt buckle. Together they got the belt and the gun safely onto the nightstand before tackling his pants.
She wretched his undershirt in two before pushing him back on the bed. Kyle slipped his hands down and slid her panties down her legs. She climbed up on top of him and bent her head to taste the skin on his stomach. Just as her lips connected, a knock reached their ears.
"Kyle, Isabel... I'm taking off with the kids now." Jim called through the door.
"Kay Dad!" Kyle called back. They waited four seconds and heard a 'bye' from Jr. and the baby gurgling before footsteps traveled down the hall. Once the front door shut, they were back in action.
Kyle sat up and trailed his lips across her shoulder. His hands ran up her sides to cup her full breasts, swollen with milk for their son to come in four months. Kissing the tips of each, he pulled her closer and brought his hardening member into contact with her soft thighs. A hand went down to cover his unborn son.
Isabel's hands ran over her husband's body, tracing every muscle that she'd not touched in so long. "If I ever throw myself into work again... shoot me."
"Never." Kyle shook his head and lifted her hips up over his erection. Slowly she sank down, breathing deeply. Suddenly, Kyle found himself flat on his back, Isabel's hand holding him in place as she rocked in a slow motion over him. Every movement of her hips rippled up her body, stretching and arching her back, undulating her shoulders and throwing her head back.
Kyle had to struggle to catch his breath as she controlled every one of their movements. All he could do was rest his hands on her hips. She was determined to drag it out for both of them. Her eyes fluttered closed and her mouth dropped open.
Ring.
Without even thinking, Isabel arched her back and reached behind her for the phone. "Hello?"
"Iz, I gotta talk to you."
"You will hang up this... phone right now, Maxwell Evans." Isabel gasped out.
"It's important."
"Not at this particular moment. You will now hang up the phone and not call me again until tomorrow."
"Iz."
"If you don't hang up that phone... NOW... I will personally see to it that you will never have children again... got it?"
"What's wrong with you?"
"Max." She growled.
"Night, Iz." She hit the button with her thumb and tossed the phone aside.
"What did he want?" Kyle gasped out as her hips began flying, picking up the speed and force with which they came together.
"Later. Stop talking."
--
Max stared at the phone before replacing it on the cradle. "That was really weird."
"What is?" Liz shook up a bottle of Gatorade and Tabasco for Bethany as she moved around the kitchen.
"I called Iz and she wouldn't even talk to me. She sounded kinda funny." Max scratched his head and pulled his wife to his side.
"Question... Is Kyle home? If he is... are the kids home?" Liz raised an eyebrow at her husband before kissing his lips softly. "If the answers are yes and no... I know what she was doing."
"Liz!" Max groaned and buried his face in her hair. "Couldn't you have kept that to yourself?"
"No." She shook her head and hopped up on the counter. "What is it? Usually you notice if Isabel is... busy. Did it not click that she's pregnant and has a night alone with Kyle?"
"It's just... that woman." Max leaned back between her legs, stroking her knees as he looked down the hall into the den where his older children were playing. "I didn't want her near the kids and she just... like the moment she walked into that store she went for them. By the time I got us out of there, she knew all their names."
"What is it?" Liz whispered, knowing that this was something major. It had obviously been bugging him since that morning.
"I think I saw her at the grocery store back right after you stopped talking to me." Max sighed and rested his head on her shoulder, still watching Kathy make her brother laugh. "I got this funny feeling from her then. She kept following me through the store and asking me questions about Beth and you... I didn't pay attention at the time because all I could think about was you."
"Max." Liz prodded him to get to the point.
"I... She's just strange. She's obviously a beautiful woman." He received a sharp poke in the side. "In a world where she is just beautiful and you are absolutely gorgeous."
"Better." Liz kissed his temple and followed his gaze to their children.
"Something about her eyes is very familiar. I don't know what to make of it because I know I've never met anyone named after a bird... or anyone that was French for that matter." Max sighed heavily. "The way she looks at me... like she expects me to suddenly remember her when I know... I know I don't. Those feelings I get from her... it's like..."
"Like what?"
"When... when Tess first came to town. We all felt this pull to her in the beginning. It wasn't until a little later that the dreams started. This feels like that initial pull." Max turned his head to look at her out of the corner of his eye.
"You think she's Antarian?" Liz whispered, not daring to voice her fears about that prospect.
"It's a possibility... which is why I wanted to talk to Isabel. I don't know if she's good or bad or what." Max turned his hands to caress her thighs on either side of his body. He just wanted to sink back into her and never come out again. "What do you think? Danny didn't like her too much."
"Did you ask Kathy?" Liz nudged her face into his neck.
"No, why?"
"I mean. Sure, Danny didn't like her but Danny is a highly suspicious little boy... just like his daddy. He is also only half of what you are. I'm still having trouble figuring this out because you are an Antarian/Human hybrid and our kids have a little more Human in them... But Kathy is full Antarian/Human hybrid... like you." Liz pointed out and both their gazes turned to their blue-eyed daughter. "I would trust her instincts but they clash with yours because she obviously adores Oriel."
"You know... I never thought of Kathy as being more alien than Danny... not once." Max mused aloud. He really should have thought of that sooner. Kathy was definitely more alien than any of the other kids. The only other one that would have had just as much alien as Kathy was... Michael and Isabel's child but that one had never been born. Kathy had an edge on literally every child on Earth. "But I can't just use my daughter as an alien detector."
"I'm not saying that. I'm just suggesting that you talk to the kids about any feelings they got off this Oriel woman." She wrapped her arms around him, clasping her hands around Beth's bottle over his chest. "Give me a ride to Beth?"
"Aren't you a little old for piggy-back rides?" Max chuckled and gave his wife a half-smile.
"Are you calling me old? I'm not 29 yet, old man. By the way, you never showed me my present." Liz pouted and gave him puppy dog eyes.
"If I show you Kathy's present... will you be satisfied for the moment?" He gripped her legs and hoisted her up onto his back.
"Yes." She nodded and held on tighter. Max crossed the kitchen and reached under the sink, behind a pipe and pulled out a small box. "You hid her present under the sink?"
"Behind the pipes so that you and other nosy little girls wouldn't find it." He opened the box from her and Liz nearly fell of his back.
"You bought her a ruby? That's real isn't it? It's a real ruby." Liz squealed.
"It's a tiny one." Max nodded slowly.
"Are you sure she'll be able to take care of a real ruby ring?" Liz's wide eyes examined the small ring.
"She turns nine in two weeks, Liz." He protested.
"You never bought me a ruby... and I turn 29 in nine days." She scoffed at him.
"Just you wait for your present. You'll love it." Max's eyes softened considerably before he spoke again. "Liz, you didn't see the look in her eyes when I told her that she had the same birthstone as you. It's just a chip and it's simple. When she outgrows it, we'll put it on a chain. Trust me when I say that this is the perfect gift for her this year... especially this year."
"Okay." Liz nodded and rubbed her nose against his. "Okay."
After returning the ring to its hiding place, the couple made their way into the den to join their children. Danny watched his parents cuddle up on the couch. His father held his mother and his mother held his baby sister. They kissed and whispered to each other.
Danny knew he was watching something special. Other kids' parents didn't do that... but other kids' parents weren't so young or the rulers of a planet in a galaxy far away. Still, he knew it was special and he was happy that they were like that again. Danny knew his parents had a tendency to gross out other kids as well as their parents. Rolling the dice, he quickly moved his piece around the monopoly board so Kathy could take her turn.
"Daddy?"
"What, baby?" Max tore his gaze away from Liz to see what his daughter wanted.
"Do you think Oriel will be able to find us?" Kathy bought four hotels before turning to her father. "She shouldn't be alone."
"Why?" Max started to sit up. Liz's eyes widened and flicked between father and daughter.
"It's not good to be alone. She's been looking for us for a long time... I could tell. She wants a family."
--
Michael picked at his milkshake on his bike and waited for Emily to finish her dinner at the bench nearby. The Space Burger probably wasn't the best place for dinner but Michael really didn't feel like cooking. Emily glared at the cup in his hands. "Daddy, you have to eat."
"I ate earlier."
"You ate an Unidentified Fried Oblong for lunch and you didn't even finish it." She wrinkled up her nose at the thought of the fried burrito covered in cheese. "You didn't eat breakfast."
"Are you my mother?" Michael leaned forward and stared into her little face.
"You don't have a mother." She shook her head at him and made another face. "You're supposed to eat. In health we learned that everyone has to take in a certain amount of calories in everyday and that UFO is not even healthy."
"Healthy? It's summer, Em. No one talks about school in the summer." He scratched at his eyebrow and tilted his head at her. He started to say something else when long brown hair caught his attention. For a split second he thought it was Liz but then she turned and he was met with a pair of blue eyes. A shiver ran through his body. "Let's go, Em."
"Good. I hate this food." She tossed her carton of food into the trashcan and grabbed her helmet to hop onto the bike. "What is with you today? What did Aunt Liz tell you?"
"Nothing. Let's go." Michael couldn't help the strange feeling he was getting off that blue-eyed brunette.
"Did you say you were sorry?" Emily climbed onto the bike and held onto her father in preparation of their take off.
"Yeah. I did. Let's go home. I got ice cream last night." Michael revved the engine and popped the kickstand. "Let's go."
They roared off and out of sight of the blue-eyed brunette staring after them.
--
Isabel curled up next to her worn out husband and kissed his shoulder. "I'm sorry."
"For what?" Kyle whispered hoarsely.
"For not talking to you. I know that... that's how things got for your parents before your mom left... I didn't mean to scare you." She noted how he held his breath for a minute and let it out slowly. "I did scare you... didn't I?"
"Just a little. You tell me everything and then suddenly you just closed in on yourself. I think it's an Antarian trait. I saw Tess do it, Michael constantly does it... you and Max... it gets dangerous when you two do it." He stroked her hair back out of her face. "I never want to see the Evans that we went to high school with. He was deadly and he never even knew it."
"I'm sorry. I'm just... I need something of Dad to keep and our place was work. I'm just trying to keep it an Evans firm."
"I know. You need that... just... I worry about you, we all do. Promise me that you'll slow down. One day's rest is not going to get you better." Kyle kissed her forehead.
"I'll try but I have to pass the bar and I have to try my first case before the baby's born so I can keep the firm." Isabel sighed heavily as she remembered all the studying she had left to do. She was only halfway through her father's case files. She smiled softly when his hand came to rest on their son.
"You really want to name this kid after me and Dad?" Kyle whispered in awe.
"Wouldn't want to break up a set."
TBC
Yes, I did just post five parts in a row. Trying to write some actual stuff this week so I'll leave it here until next week. '-)
"Mama. We met a pretty lady in the jewelry store when Daddy bought your present." Kathy announced when she saw her mother at the car.
"Kathy!" Max chided but couldn't keep the chuckle out of his voice.
"Yeah, Kathy. That's supposed to be a surprise for her birthday." Danny whined.
"Oh? I got a present?" Liz smiled coyly at her husband, letting him kiss her neck when he reached her. "And what did I get?"
"You have to wait for your birthday, Mama." Kathy shook her head and giggled. "Anyways, Mama, I was telling you about the pretty lady. Her name is O-ree-el. She has long brown hair like you and blue eyes like me."
"She was real nosy." Danny wrinkled up his nose. "Kathy said she was as pretty as you but no one is as pretty as you."
"Thank you, baby." Liz bent down and kissed his head.
"No, Daniel. I said she was almost as pretty as Mama." Kathy stuck out her tongue at her brother.
"Enough." Max finally broke in. "Children, in the car." He unbuckled his drowsy daughter from her stroller seat and handed her to Liz. "I'll drive back."
"Max. What's wrong?" Liz whispered. She had noticed he seemed a little withdrawn since returning with the kids.
"It's probably nothing." Max drew her closer to him as the older kids climbed into the car. "I just got this weird feeling. That woman. I've seen her before. Let's talk about this later, ok?"
"Ok." Liz nodded and went to strap Bethany into her car seat.
--
Kyle watched his wife examine her reflection. Her hands rubbed her stomach. She had lost weight due to lack of food in recent months but she was beginning to show. Isabel unzipped her jeans and gingerly touched her bump. Her son. "Hey Kyle, Jr. I'm your mommy. We're going to be together soon. Four months."
"All of us." Kyle whispered as he wrapped his arms around her. She barely turned to look at him as his face buried itself in her hair. "How quiet was your day?"
"Almost too quiet. Alex and I talked, we played with Berty in the pool. Your dad made us lunch. I took a nap and I dreamed about you." She whispered and grasped his arms.
"You did?" He felt her slip her fingers between his and pull his hand downward. "What kind of dream?"
"The good kind." She licked her lips as both their hands disappeared into her underwear. She had been thinking about him ever since she had woken up from her nap. Isabel rubbed his fingers down between her folds. Taking over, Kyle sought out her clit and rubbed circles around it. "Oh yeah... uh... yeah that feels good."
"How can one day of rest do this to you?" Kyle murmured into her hair. Last year for nine months, his wife was insatiable and then their daughter was born. Just now, going into her fifth month did her sexual cravings catch up with her. He recalled a night where she sought him out at the station to fulfill her needs. "But I guess that's what makes you special."
"I think a day without work was all I needed to focus." She breathed out, her chest heaving and her body shaking with desire. "Kyle, I love you."
"Love you, too, Iz." He pulled her body back against his so he could lift her up slightly.
"Your dad is going to make the rounds with the kids. Take them for dinner and ice cream, maybe to see Chuck... they won't be back for three hours, tops." Isabel arched her back and urged his hand to use more force.
"I'm all yours."
"Good." She let him tease her to the brink before escaping his grasp. "On your back soldier."
"Oh? Are we getting bossy?" Kyle grinned and backed into the bed. "You feel better for one day and suddenly you're wearing the pants?"
"Oh you bet, Officer Valenti. I order you to surrender." Isabel shimmied out of her jeans and tossed them aside. "You and I need to get to business. I am four months behind on my sexual cravings... we have some catching up to do."
"Yeah?" His fingers flew down the front of his shirt, unbuttoning it and shrugging it off his shoulders. Her shirt flew over their heads and landed on the doorknob. Isabel's hands immediately went for his belt buckle. Together they got the belt and the gun safely onto the nightstand before tackling his pants.
She wretched his undershirt in two before pushing him back on the bed. Kyle slipped his hands down and slid her panties down her legs. She climbed up on top of him and bent her head to taste the skin on his stomach. Just as her lips connected, a knock reached their ears.
"Kyle, Isabel... I'm taking off with the kids now." Jim called through the door.
"Kay Dad!" Kyle called back. They waited four seconds and heard a 'bye' from Jr. and the baby gurgling before footsteps traveled down the hall. Once the front door shut, they were back in action.
Kyle sat up and trailed his lips across her shoulder. His hands ran up her sides to cup her full breasts, swollen with milk for their son to come in four months. Kissing the tips of each, he pulled her closer and brought his hardening member into contact with her soft thighs. A hand went down to cover his unborn son.
Isabel's hands ran over her husband's body, tracing every muscle that she'd not touched in so long. "If I ever throw myself into work again... shoot me."
"Never." Kyle shook his head and lifted her hips up over his erection. Slowly she sank down, breathing deeply. Suddenly, Kyle found himself flat on his back, Isabel's hand holding him in place as she rocked in a slow motion over him. Every movement of her hips rippled up her body, stretching and arching her back, undulating her shoulders and throwing her head back.
Kyle had to struggle to catch his breath as she controlled every one of their movements. All he could do was rest his hands on her hips. She was determined to drag it out for both of them. Her eyes fluttered closed and her mouth dropped open.
Ring.
Without even thinking, Isabel arched her back and reached behind her for the phone. "Hello?"
"Iz, I gotta talk to you."
"You will hang up this... phone right now, Maxwell Evans." Isabel gasped out.
"It's important."
"Not at this particular moment. You will now hang up the phone and not call me again until tomorrow."
"Iz."
"If you don't hang up that phone... NOW... I will personally see to it that you will never have children again... got it?"
"What's wrong with you?"
"Max." She growled.
"Night, Iz." She hit the button with her thumb and tossed the phone aside.
"What did he want?" Kyle gasped out as her hips began flying, picking up the speed and force with which they came together.
"Later. Stop talking."
--
Max stared at the phone before replacing it on the cradle. "That was really weird."
"What is?" Liz shook up a bottle of Gatorade and Tabasco for Bethany as she moved around the kitchen.
"I called Iz and she wouldn't even talk to me. She sounded kinda funny." Max scratched his head and pulled his wife to his side.
"Question... Is Kyle home? If he is... are the kids home?" Liz raised an eyebrow at her husband before kissing his lips softly. "If the answers are yes and no... I know what she was doing."
"Liz!" Max groaned and buried his face in her hair. "Couldn't you have kept that to yourself?"
"No." She shook her head and hopped up on the counter. "What is it? Usually you notice if Isabel is... busy. Did it not click that she's pregnant and has a night alone with Kyle?"
"It's just... that woman." Max leaned back between her legs, stroking her knees as he looked down the hall into the den where his older children were playing. "I didn't want her near the kids and she just... like the moment she walked into that store she went for them. By the time I got us out of there, she knew all their names."
"What is it?" Liz whispered, knowing that this was something major. It had obviously been bugging him since that morning.
"I think I saw her at the grocery store back right after you stopped talking to me." Max sighed and rested his head on her shoulder, still watching Kathy make her brother laugh. "I got this funny feeling from her then. She kept following me through the store and asking me questions about Beth and you... I didn't pay attention at the time because all I could think about was you."
"Max." Liz prodded him to get to the point.
"I... She's just strange. She's obviously a beautiful woman." He received a sharp poke in the side. "In a world where she is just beautiful and you are absolutely gorgeous."
"Better." Liz kissed his temple and followed his gaze to their children.
"Something about her eyes is very familiar. I don't know what to make of it because I know I've never met anyone named after a bird... or anyone that was French for that matter." Max sighed heavily. "The way she looks at me... like she expects me to suddenly remember her when I know... I know I don't. Those feelings I get from her... it's like..."
"Like what?"
"When... when Tess first came to town. We all felt this pull to her in the beginning. It wasn't until a little later that the dreams started. This feels like that initial pull." Max turned his head to look at her out of the corner of his eye.
"You think she's Antarian?" Liz whispered, not daring to voice her fears about that prospect.
"It's a possibility... which is why I wanted to talk to Isabel. I don't know if she's good or bad or what." Max turned his hands to caress her thighs on either side of his body. He just wanted to sink back into her and never come out again. "What do you think? Danny didn't like her too much."
"Did you ask Kathy?" Liz nudged her face into his neck.
"No, why?"
"I mean. Sure, Danny didn't like her but Danny is a highly suspicious little boy... just like his daddy. He is also only half of what you are. I'm still having trouble figuring this out because you are an Antarian/Human hybrid and our kids have a little more Human in them... But Kathy is full Antarian/Human hybrid... like you." Liz pointed out and both their gazes turned to their blue-eyed daughter. "I would trust her instincts but they clash with yours because she obviously adores Oriel."
"You know... I never thought of Kathy as being more alien than Danny... not once." Max mused aloud. He really should have thought of that sooner. Kathy was definitely more alien than any of the other kids. The only other one that would have had just as much alien as Kathy was... Michael and Isabel's child but that one had never been born. Kathy had an edge on literally every child on Earth. "But I can't just use my daughter as an alien detector."
"I'm not saying that. I'm just suggesting that you talk to the kids about any feelings they got off this Oriel woman." She wrapped her arms around him, clasping her hands around Beth's bottle over his chest. "Give me a ride to Beth?"
"Aren't you a little old for piggy-back rides?" Max chuckled and gave his wife a half-smile.
"Are you calling me old? I'm not 29 yet, old man. By the way, you never showed me my present." Liz pouted and gave him puppy dog eyes.
"If I show you Kathy's present... will you be satisfied for the moment?" He gripped her legs and hoisted her up onto his back.
"Yes." She nodded and held on tighter. Max crossed the kitchen and reached under the sink, behind a pipe and pulled out a small box. "You hid her present under the sink?"
"Behind the pipes so that you and other nosy little girls wouldn't find it." He opened the box from her and Liz nearly fell of his back.
"You bought her a ruby? That's real isn't it? It's a real ruby." Liz squealed.
"It's a tiny one." Max nodded slowly.
"Are you sure she'll be able to take care of a real ruby ring?" Liz's wide eyes examined the small ring.
"She turns nine in two weeks, Liz." He protested.
"You never bought me a ruby... and I turn 29 in nine days." She scoffed at him.
"Just you wait for your present. You'll love it." Max's eyes softened considerably before he spoke again. "Liz, you didn't see the look in her eyes when I told her that she had the same birthstone as you. It's just a chip and it's simple. When she outgrows it, we'll put it on a chain. Trust me when I say that this is the perfect gift for her this year... especially this year."
"Okay." Liz nodded and rubbed her nose against his. "Okay."
After returning the ring to its hiding place, the couple made their way into the den to join their children. Danny watched his parents cuddle up on the couch. His father held his mother and his mother held his baby sister. They kissed and whispered to each other.
Danny knew he was watching something special. Other kids' parents didn't do that... but other kids' parents weren't so young or the rulers of a planet in a galaxy far away. Still, he knew it was special and he was happy that they were like that again. Danny knew his parents had a tendency to gross out other kids as well as their parents. Rolling the dice, he quickly moved his piece around the monopoly board so Kathy could take her turn.
"Daddy?"
"What, baby?" Max tore his gaze away from Liz to see what his daughter wanted.
"Do you think Oriel will be able to find us?" Kathy bought four hotels before turning to her father. "She shouldn't be alone."
"Why?" Max started to sit up. Liz's eyes widened and flicked between father and daughter.
"It's not good to be alone. She's been looking for us for a long time... I could tell. She wants a family."
--
Michael picked at his milkshake on his bike and waited for Emily to finish her dinner at the bench nearby. The Space Burger probably wasn't the best place for dinner but Michael really didn't feel like cooking. Emily glared at the cup in his hands. "Daddy, you have to eat."
"I ate earlier."
"You ate an Unidentified Fried Oblong for lunch and you didn't even finish it." She wrinkled up her nose at the thought of the fried burrito covered in cheese. "You didn't eat breakfast."
"Are you my mother?" Michael leaned forward and stared into her little face.
"You don't have a mother." She shook her head at him and made another face. "You're supposed to eat. In health we learned that everyone has to take in a certain amount of calories in everyday and that UFO is not even healthy."
"Healthy? It's summer, Em. No one talks about school in the summer." He scratched at his eyebrow and tilted his head at her. He started to say something else when long brown hair caught his attention. For a split second he thought it was Liz but then she turned and he was met with a pair of blue eyes. A shiver ran through his body. "Let's go, Em."
"Good. I hate this food." She tossed her carton of food into the trashcan and grabbed her helmet to hop onto the bike. "What is with you today? What did Aunt Liz tell you?"
"Nothing. Let's go." Michael couldn't help the strange feeling he was getting off that blue-eyed brunette.
"Did you say you were sorry?" Emily climbed onto the bike and held onto her father in preparation of their take off.
"Yeah. I did. Let's go home. I got ice cream last night." Michael revved the engine and popped the kickstand. "Let's go."
They roared off and out of sight of the blue-eyed brunette staring after them.
--
Isabel curled up next to her worn out husband and kissed his shoulder. "I'm sorry."
"For what?" Kyle whispered hoarsely.
"For not talking to you. I know that... that's how things got for your parents before your mom left... I didn't mean to scare you." She noted how he held his breath for a minute and let it out slowly. "I did scare you... didn't I?"
"Just a little. You tell me everything and then suddenly you just closed in on yourself. I think it's an Antarian trait. I saw Tess do it, Michael constantly does it... you and Max... it gets dangerous when you two do it." He stroked her hair back out of her face. "I never want to see the Evans that we went to high school with. He was deadly and he never even knew it."
"I'm sorry. I'm just... I need something of Dad to keep and our place was work. I'm just trying to keep it an Evans firm."
"I know. You need that... just... I worry about you, we all do. Promise me that you'll slow down. One day's rest is not going to get you better." Kyle kissed her forehead.
"I'll try but I have to pass the bar and I have to try my first case before the baby's born so I can keep the firm." Isabel sighed heavily as she remembered all the studying she had left to do. She was only halfway through her father's case files. She smiled softly when his hand came to rest on their son.
"You really want to name this kid after me and Dad?" Kyle whispered in awe.
"Wouldn't want to break up a set."
TBC
Yes, I did just post five parts in a row. Trying to write some actual stuff this week so I'll leave it here until next week. '-)