Part 57 – August 5, 2008
Liz woke to a glorious backrub. She kept her eyes closed and just enjoyed the hands on her back… until... "Ooh."
"Did I hurt you?"
"She kicked me good." Liz reached for his hands. "Bathroom."
Max was allowed to help her off the bed but she beat his hands off on her way down the hall. When she finally emerged, she threw her arms around him. "Happy Anniversary, Max."
"Happy Anniversary, Liz." He took a deep breath and just looked at her. "How are the legs?"
"Holding me up… and better than the doctors and you seem to believe. I feel strong. If you give me no other gift today… let it be that you don't hover and you let me be… just for today."
"Okay…" Max nodded and pointed to the shower. "Intercom on. Take a bath. I'll make breakfast."
"No bath time fun?" She snuck her hands into his robe.
"You're a minx."
"I'm just hot for my husband."
"I'd love to. You know I would but… you're going to blame me when you get out of the tub finally and no breakfast is waiting. Do I have to remind you of last week? Everyone's day off and you wanted to play and your meal got postponed by an hour…" He kissed her lips soundly. "Bath time fun or Tabasco flapjacks?"
"With lime zest and chocolate shavings?"
"For the flapjacks or the bath?"
"Does it matter?"
"You get started… I'll grab breakfast… and you can have it in the bathtub."
"You're too good to me."
"You okay? Back hurt?"
"No. Now go. You made a promise for breakfast in tub and you're gonna keep it." Liz shoved him towards the kitchen and turned around to get her water started. By the time she had found a way into the tub by herself and gotten settled, she was starving and Max was just appearing with a tray of misshapen pancakes with red swirls and flecks of green and brown on top. "You spoil me."
"You deserve it."
Liz started eating the second food was within reach, letting him get settled into the giant tub. "You're not going to eat?"
"You know… I can't… concentrate on food with those staring at me."
Liz glanced down at her chest. "These?"
"Yes, those. They taunt me. Everyday in those tops you wear. I honestly don't think I've eaten a full meal in months. I get distracted… staring back at them." Max scooted closer, taking her belly in his hands, gently splashing water over the mound. "When I'm not home… I think about them…"
"You sound almost afraid… they'll go away. You have to take advantage now." Liz told him around a mouthful of flapjack. "Then I'll be back to my training bra."
Kissing her neck, he let his hands roam over her body. Liz moaned and reached into the water for him. Soon, she lost all interest in her breakfast.
--
"Stop it." Liz shook her head.
"No, no. I like this very much."
"Why now?"
"I have pictures of young naked you. I have pictures of slightly older naked you and now I need pictures of pregnant naked you."
"I'm ready to pop, Max. Eight weeks and I will." She complained and wished she could roll over. "Shouldn't we put some clothes on today?"
"I hadn't planned on it." He grinned from behind his camera. "That's a sexy belly."
"It is not. Look at this thing. It has its own zip code." Liz propped herself up on a pile of pillows and ran her hands over her stomach. "And this thing." She poked her belly button. "Like a whatchamacallit. When I'm done, it'll stick all the way out."
"Which brings us back to…" Max set the camera down and reached into the nightstand for a notebook. "What do we name our child?"
"We can't use any name already in use."
"Okay so on the omit list we have… Anna, Kathryn, Grace, Isabel, Tess, Maria, Branda, Davis, Ophelia, Jacqueline… Nancy, Diane. That still leaves us with a large amount of names to choose from." Max sat on the bed close to his unborn child. "Listen, you, you hear anything you like, give Mommy a sign."
"My grandma's name was Claudia. My other grandma… still uses her name so Lynn is out."
"Lynn on the omit list. Why didn't she come to the wedding again?"
"Hates planes. Loves Florida… she did however provide for most of the china."
"Oh, the china we can't eat off of. Right." Max shifted closer to plant a kiss on her belly.
"List every ex-girlfriend you've ever had. I don't want our first child to have any of those names."
"You really want me to list those?"
"Yes. I met Sarah… she was a little old, don't you think?"
"I told you about her."
"Did not."
"Did too. The first time we met, the last night we spent together, I told you."
"They were all older." Liz mused aloud, tapping her fingers on her belly. "Ew… were you looking for a mother-figure?"
"Let's not analyze each other's exes… okay? Marine, doctor, lawyer… shall I go on?"
Liz watched his pen moving… and moving… and moving. "How many girls were there?"
"Let's not get into that now."
"You know who all my exes are."
"No, I don't." Max shook his head and handed her the omit-list. "There, I'm done."
"Max…" Liz looked over the list. "I liked that name."
"You're the one that said to do it." He grabbed the notebook to toss away but she jerked it out of his reach. "If we're gonna fight about it… let's not do it today."
"Okay. You're right. This is the omit-list." She stretched and grabbed the sheet to pull over her body. Max stopped her. "Hey, I'm cold."
"No… you're embarrassed but I love you and I love this." He kissed their unborn child. "Come on… Wanna call down? Have lunch prepared special?"
"Are we going to spend all day in the house?"
"No but I want you to be well rested for dinner tonight. Dinner, dancing…"
"Dancing with this?" She wrapped her hands around her belly. "Have fun."
"I plan to. You don't want to dance?"
"What am I going to wear? I've been in stretchy pants and muumuus for weeks."
"Who do you think you're married to?" Max hopped off the bed and opened the closet door. The dress hung on a model hangar. "Happy anniversary."
"Max…" Liz took a moment to get herself off the bed and waddled across to examine the dress. "It's so pretty…"
"Pretty? This is a gorgeous dress for my gorgeous wife and my beautiful daughter."
"You don't know she's beautiful."
"How could she not be? Have you seen her mother?"
"You're such a kiss ass, Max." She laughed and poked him in the side. "Are you afraid of me?"
"Poke while you can, tomorrow I start working out again."
"I thought you were almost done with the movies." She groaned.
"Almost." He promised. "Two more. I'll make him wait. Til… later."
"So you can leave me and Aubrey while she's up all night." Liz jabbed lightly as she reached for her robe.
"Barbara." Max reached for his phone.
"Caroline."
"De…" He glanced at the omit list. "Deana."
"Erica."
"F…Frieda." He stumbled for a usable name. F was a hard letter for girls.
"Georgia."
"Hannah."
"I… Imogene." Liz winced even as she said it.
"Jane."
"Karen."
"Laura."
"Melinda."
"nn… N… Naomi."
"Olga?"
"Patience." Max watched her face carefully. "Q is a hard letter."
"Quentin. Who says all names have to be single sex?"
"Clever girl. Roxanne."
"Serena."
"Tara."
"Ursula."
"Veronica."
"Willow."
"Gross… Xanthippe."
"Show off. Yvette."
"Zenaida." Max grinned at her triumphantly.
"That's not even a word." Liz shook her head at his.
"It is too. It's a Caribbean Dove." He grabbed her robe and wrapped it around her.
She wanted to stride out in pride but knew she could never pull it off and settled for the waddle that had become her new gait. "I think it's ridiculous."
"I think it's pretty."
"We're not naming our daughter Zenaida. Zenaida Evans. You would do that to our child? Do you hate her? Are you mad about the awkward positions? She can't help that."
"Now, you're being ridiculous. I think it's exotic."
"She'll get picked on."
"It doesn't HAVE to be Zenaida. It was the last name out of my mouth. I got Z."
"And Xanthippe? She's not a Greek tragedy."
"I could have said Xena but I like the bed. It's soft and that's where you sleep."
"Good move."
--
Liz paused to put mascara on. "I miss you, Mom, I do but I'll be fine having the baby up here."
"Can you check into a hospital or is that too… um, risky?"
"Well, Isabel had hers in a hospital."
"But Tess just had a baby and there were others, right?"
"Yes, they were born at the house in New Haven."
"Was there a doctor or someone to could deliver the baby?"
"Kal did."
"Would he be the one to do it then?"
"I don't. Kal's really protective of Max, he may just insist."
"Was he trained?"
"Well, no but he is programmed to ensure the safety of the royal line."
"It always sounds so ridiculous when you talk about stuff like that, Liz. Does that mean that my grandbaby will have royal duties?"
"Well, no. Technically, Zan is king and little Aja is the royal heir and all that hierarchal stuff falls on them."
"What if something happens and Max decides he wants it?"
"Max would never let that happen."
"Hi Mom." Max called into the speakerphone.
"Hi, Max, honey."
"How's Roswell?"
"Oh, you know… the same. We're all eagerly waiting the arrival of the baby."
"Won't be long. We're having baby name issues."
"He wants to name our daughter Zenaida." Liz cut in.
"I didn't say that. It was an alphabet game. It's what I came up with. You came up with Imogene."
"Oh, Liz, honestly." Her mother's voice scolded across the line. "Imogene."
"I is a hard letter. Isabel is on the omit list. Ida? Irene is out. Um… Imelda? I panicked." Liz tossed her lipstick at Max. "We're not naming our child after anyone we know so we have some limits."
"Who made up that rule? I think Nancy is a very good name."
"It is." Liz threw a wide-eyed wince to her husband. "But we don't want to make anyone feel bad by choosing someone over someone else… hence the rule."
"No name in use." Max confirmed.
"There's always Grandma Claudia… Great grandma Angela or Great grandma Bitsy."
"Bitsy?" Max froze and pinned Liz with a look and pointed to the omit list. She nodded.
"Well that was just a nickname. Her real name was Ramona."
"Mona Lisa, Mona Lis—" Max's horrible singing was interrupted when Liz slapped her hand over his mouth.
"If you can't play nice, go away. You're distracting me."
"Distracting? Liz, you shouldn't be working." Her mother scolded.
"She's getting ready for our evening out." Max explained as he sorted through his ties for something acceptable. "She insists she's fine and so for today, we're humoring her."
"I am not a china doll. Hello! Professional Whale Impersonator."
"She's beautiful. You should see her. Glowing. I'll take some more pictures today and send you some."
"That sounds great, Max. I'd really appreciate it."
"You think you and Jeff can take off the last week of October and the first week of November?" Max sat down to put on his shoes. "I can get a room fixed up for the two of you so you can be near to Liz and the baby."
"Oh, we'd love that… Jeff… Well, Jeff will just have to let Jose take over."
"Dad's the one that told me to take the scholarship to Harvard." Liz pointed out. "Max being up here just happened to be a bonus."
"I know, sweetie. We just miss you. What are your plans for tonight?"
"Dinner and a little dancing. You should see the dress that Max bought me. It's so gorgeous and it'll be such a shame that it's a maternity gown." Liz sighed heavily, staring at Max in the reflection of the mirror. "He spoils me."
"Must be nice. How's work been for him?"
"Still contracted to do a few more movies and then maybe he can concentrate on doing his gallery stuff. We're really hopeful."
"When did we get hopeful?" Max turned with a tie hanging over his shoulder. "It's like… far-cry, slim-possibility realm."
"I am always hopeful." Liz countered and batted her eyes at him.
"You're sneaky but your acting sucks. I'm going down to talk to Miles. You've got one hour." Max kissed her head and moved to the door. "Talk to you later, Mom."
"Bye, Max, honey."
--
Max watched Liz order her second entrée and just smiled. He was hitting the gym the next day for sure. Sympathy feedings were catching up with him. She looked embarrassed for all of seven seconds but then she sat up and cradled her stomach proudly. Max watched her eat until his phone rang. Groaning, he pulled out his phone. "It's Zan."
"Go on. Talk. I'm busy." Liz waved him off.
Max cleared his throat and hit the talk button. "It's my anniversary dinner, moron."
"Shit. Sorry. I forgot. Um… I'll call later. Early tomorrow okay?"
"Zan?"
"It's nothin’ that can't wait 12 hours. Promise. Enjoy yourself. Happy Anniversary, bro."
"Thanks." He closed the phone and stared at it. "That was weird."
"What did he want?"
"Nothing, apparently. Said he'd call back tomorrow when the day was a little less special."
"Want some? It's good." Liz held out her fork to him.
"It looks good but I've only got one stomach."
"One bite, Max. He sautéed it with habanero. It's so good."
Reluctantly he leaned forward to let her place a sauce-covered shrimp half in his mouth. It made his eyes close in absolute delight. "Oh man… They say oysters are an aphrodisiac but… um… mmmth."
"I know." Liz licked her lips and held out another bite. "It's great. This is my new favorite restaurant."
"This is my new favorite dish. I wish I had seen it sooner." Max glanced at the dance floor. "Do you want to try?"
"Um…" She eyed the other couples on the floor. She'd be the only pregnant gal on the floor. "I don't know."
"A slow song. I know you want to. It'll be fun." Max got to his feet. He rounded the table and held out his hand. "Mrs. Evans? A dance?"
"I'd love to." Somehow, after seven years of ups and downs, she managed a shy smile that made his heart thump louder than he thought possible. They had to stand hip to hip, his stomach to the side of hers but they managed to get close enough to dance. They danced a few songs before she turned her face to his. "Hey, what's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong." He shook his head at her. "Sometimes I just… realize how lucky I am… and just when I think I can't possibly love you any more… there goes my heart… skipping another beat.”
tbc
Where Once Stood Kings (Mature, Max) (Complete)
Moderators: Itzstacie, Forum Moderators
Part 58 – August 6, 2008
Max groaned and rolled over. Eyes closed he blindly reached for the phone. "Zan, this couldn't wait another hour or two?"
"Not so much. I put this off long enough. I got contacted last night."
"What?" That worked better than the darkest cup of coffee he'd ever had.
"It's not urgent but you really need to hear this." The weary alien cleared his throat. "Come up. Just for the day. I promise."
"Liz is still sleeping. I'll come up once I get her squared away."
"Just… I can't do this over the phone."
--
When Max walked into the apartment, he was tackled by three Zannamen children. "Uncle Max!"
"Hey, there. Aja, where's your dad?" Max asked as he bent to scoop Davis into his arms and to get the kids inside the apartment so he could shut the door.
"In his room. Come lookit. I got my own TV and my own playstation." Aja took his hand and tried to tug him along. Scott toddled along after them. "I got racing games and King Kong and one that gotta shoot airplanes."
"Alvaro Joaquin!" Brock called out from somewhere. "I thought I told you to stay in your room until it was clean."
"First and middle name. What did you do?" Max asked the boy.
"I was playin'." Aja scoffed. "I'm not done yet."
"A boy's playing is never done." Max announced as he entered the boy's room and found Brock picking up the gigantic mess Aja had left in his room.
"You got that right." She muttered and tossed a handful of action figures into a bin. "Can you believe how Zan spoils him?"
"Royal children get royally spoiled." Max kissed Davis's cheek, she jabbered nonsensical words at him as she played with his inside jacket pocket. "Where's the man?"
"Working out his stress." She groaned. "He's put a weight station in our bedroom."
"Oh you're kidding." Max shook his head. He couldn't defend Zan, it would only get him into more trouble. "You should have him in here cleaning up."
"Zan doesn't clean. Zan plays with Aja's toys."
Max bent to heft Scott into his other arm. He glanced around. "Where's Duke?"
"Dog walker." Brock straightened and tossed more toys into the bin. "Poor dog was neglected during the move and of course Zan thinks to take care of the dog. Doesn't seem to care about me having to take time off to help out with the kids because Ace is in Arizona with her boyfriend."
"Don't let him get away with so much."
"I don't." She forced a smile. "Why do you think he's working out his stress?"
"You cut him off?"
"Cut off his what?" Aja wiped at his nose, looking from adult to adult.
"The adults are talking, Aja, pick up your toys." Brock told him without missing a beat. Then she turned back to Max. "Go talk to him."
"Fine." Max sighed and blew a raspberry onto the cheek of each giggling twin before setting them on a clear area of Aja's bed. He wandered through the new apartment to find Zan in his bedroom pumping a serious amount of weight. "She wasn't kidding was she?"
"Yuck it up." Zan continued to pump his arms up and down, arms straining under twice his own body weight. "Listen, I'm glad you're here."
"What happened last night?" Max sat on the bed and waited.
"Doring contacted me. They got the whole Gaylis thing under control… the men are lookin' to Doring for answers." Zan set the bar on the rack and sat up, taking deep breaths. Zan looked worried and it didn't help to settle Max any. "I wanted to go over it with you before I gave him an answer. Kal doesn't care."
"What?"
"Doring has been gettin' pressure from the big wigs to… usurp but Doring bein' the guy he is… won't do it witout lettin' me in on it." He rubbed a towel over his face and chest, nearly snagging a piercing or two in the process.
"What's the plan?" Max didn't know what to think.
"I… uh… think I should let Doring have the wheel but still tell people I'm drivin' the bus. Nobody knows who he is, they won't follow him but the guys I left behind will. They'll follow him if it has my name on it." Zan seemed to be pleading with Max. "Unless you want it, man. I just… I can't think of leavin' now. Forget all the movie bullshit. Brock and the twins. Aja… I can't go back. Not now. I didn't even tell Brock what all was said."
"Will the sector lords fall in line?"
"Perlyni will. She's got a lot of pull. Doring, Perlyni, Hersi, Quonal… He's the guy to get the other Kings on board. Doring and Perylni can get Hersi… Hersi can get Quonal." Zan took a deep breath. "What I gettin' at is this… neither one of us want it. Doring can handle it. All we get is a beam down every once in a while to make sure we're down with what's goin' on. I trust Doring."
"What about those other guys?"
"Perlyni trusts Doring. Hersi and Quonal were… workin' with Perlyni when I was there. It's a pretty sweet deal. Everyone wants peace and they're gettin' it. I don't need to BE there… neither of us do. I kinda feel like a dick for wantin' to give it up though. Everythin' in me screams that I need to do it myself but I gotta be here."
Max lay back and thought it all over. It sounded so good. A world off his shoulders except when Doring needed advice. Never having to worry about taking his turn on the throne. Always being on Earth and able to take care of Liz and their daughter and any other children that came along. "Do you sincerely think it could work?"
"Only as long as Doring is my number one guy on Antar."
"Then I say… let's do it. Doring can be the new war commander. Our voice on Antar." Max felt the wrongness the second it was out of his mouth. "It doesn't make us cowards, right?"
"We fucked it up before. Maybe Doring can do better. Keep the peace. If it's best for everyone…"
"Tell Doring. Then we tell our wives."
--
Liz watched Max enter the house and sit at a table with one of his cameras and his collection of lenses. He fiddled and fiddled and his eyes shone brightly with tears. "Max? What did Zan have to say?"
"We handed it over, Liz." Max tossed a lens cap across the room. "I feel sick to my stomach about it but… I can't take it back now."
"Handed what over?" She rose carefully to get a better look at him.
"Antar." He sniffed loudly and uncharacteristically wiped his eyes on his sleeve. "To the good guys, sure but… it was given to us to protect."
"They were hoping you'd protect it and save it and it's safe now. Maybe you were never supposed to lead. Maybe this was the way it was supposed to be."
"I never wanted that life. From the day I made Kal tell me the truth, I've never wanted it. I wanted my life, however mediocre it was turning out to be, I never wanted that… and now that I don't have to have that… I feel guilty for giving it up. I still don't want it but it's mine. It's Zan's…"
"He feels the same way."
"Yeah." Max took a deep shuddering breath. "I mean… no one's going to go around touting the good news about King Doring but… he's the one making the calls. He's going to tell people King Zan wanted it that way." Another aching breath. "King Zan who can't be bothered to leave Earth to return to his people, giving orders to the new War Commander, who will keep everyone in line and keep the peace and… that should be good enough right? As long as they have peace and prosperity… it doesn't matter who's really making the decisions… right?"
October 31, 2008
Liz oohed and aahed over the twins in their costumes. Brock looked well rested for once. Just this moment, Aja was entertaining them both by trying to listen to Liz's belly. He'd adjust position occasionally, swearing if he found the right spot he could hear her. Brock leaned over to him. "You used to do that to me when I was pregnant."
"Nuh-uh…" He shook his head. "You wasn't never pregnant."
"I was too. Where do you think Scott and Davis came from?"
"From the store." He scoffed at her. "Daddy said."
"You don't remember?" Liz asked him. "You used to reach and reach up, because you were so short, and put your hand on her belly and tell her which baby was on which side."
"Nuh-uh."
"Yuh-huh." She tweaked his nose.
"No. She's too little. Not one baby could fit in her tummy."
Brock reached over to kiss his forehead. "Thank you for saying that."
"How does the baby get in there?" Aja rubbed Liz's belly.
"I think you need to go ask your Dad that." Brock pointed to where Zan was standing in front of the TV watching a game and talking on the phone to his agent at the same time. "He told you he got the twins at the store, he can tell you how a baby gets in the tummy."
Aja raced off and immediately started pulling on Zan's hand to get his attention. Zan was torn between his son, his agent and the game. When Aja finally got his question out, Zan looked panicked and quickly got off the phone and turned his full attention to his son, who had to repeat his question. Zan's head snapped to glare at the women, flipping them off behind Aja's back. Liz just laughed and turned to look at Brock whose eyes were on her husband, a kind of smoldering in them. When she was angry with him, her eyes burned. When she was enamored, her eyes were soft. This was somewhere in between. "Tell me your secret. Max told me you've had all three for months now."
"I went back to work, full time." Brock smiled lazily, those slow burning eyes still on her husband as he tried to explain to his seven year old just where babies came from. "Zan's had kid duty. He's learning the tricks of the trade… like Aja is a big time con artist."
"I hear you say that I haven't seen proof yet."
The redhead adjusted her costume discreetly and turned to face the pregnant woman. "When I get him, he tells me his mother lets him do all this stuff. I let him get away with a reasonable amount of it, you know… because I want him to like me. Then Zan gets home and gets conned into allowing more mischief. Of course we hear about it when Ace gets him back."
"Because he's really not allowed to do anything that you've let him do." Liz loved that kid, he had three parents to drive crazy. She knew Alex let him get away with absolutely everything.
"Right. I've been cracking down on him because I wouldn't ever let Scott or Davis get away with the same shenanigans. Zan overrides me when he's home but that's his problem. I realize he made some big mistakes where those two are concerned but… it's not really my problem. He wants me to watch Aja, I'll do it but my way. He's a great boy when he's behaving… so when he doesn't. I play mommy." She sighed heavily. "The headache has lessened since I went back to work. All I have to worry about is making sure we have arrangements when Kal wants Zan in a movie."
"How's his career coming? I haven't seen anything he's been working on."
"Actually… since he got back… he's improved a hundred percent. The scripts he brings home are so much better than that Bane movie." The redhead shook her head. She had fallen for the shallow actor he had been and now was married to the deep actor he was becoming. "That franchise? Oh my goodness, not literature but so deep if they don't shred it to hell in editing."
"Do you get jealous of the leading ladies? I get so… ugh… it's maddening when he tells me he's got to make out with some hot chick for a movie." Liz whined, holding her aching belly. "Even when we weren't really together and he had to. I swore I didn't care but I did."
"I'm mellowing out in motherhood. Zan loves me, he can't always say it but he does. He's also learning why sometimes I'm not in the mood when I've had the kids all day. I think last month we went… over a week without and he panicked. He got all romantic all of a sudden. Found a sitter, made reservations, bought me a fabulous dress. The works."
"Wow."
"Reporters took plenty of pictures, ran them all over. They didn't recognize me."
"Your aunt?"
"Went off on Zan until I cleared it all up. Felt good to stick her, old bat." Brock laughed.
"At least you're getting some. Doctor told me that I should restrict the amount of physical activity I participate in, especially sex. So annoying. I'm fine." Liz groaned and fell back into her mountain of pillows. "Do my shoes match?"
"Each other or your outfit?"
"Very funny." They sat in silence for a moment before Liz got the courage to ask. "How has Zan been doing? Max has been walking around like a zombie. The only way I can get a smile out of him is if it's baby stuff."
"He's taking it pretty hard… harder than even he thought he would. He didn't even tell me until it was done. I would not have made him do that."
"He can't bear to leave you. Max told me what Zan told him."
They both looked up when Kal, Tess and Drew walked into the house. Liz clapped a hand over her mouth. Max was leaping over furniture with his camera, snapping a picture the second he still. "I win!"
"What the hell are you talking about?" Kal glared, a baby bag on one shoulder and little Dev on the other.
"Oh, bring him here. I want to see him." Liz called out.
Max wound his film and took another picture. "You're just a crotchety old alien, Kal. Liz says you're just as human as the rest of us."
"Oh. He's so handsome." Liz cooed over the baby that Tess took from Kal and supported in her arms while Liz fussed. She rubbed her belly, heartburn making her uncomfortable. "He's going to look just like Drew."
"Here we go, he's waking up." Tess turned him so Liz could see his eyes. "Aren't they pretty?"
"Oh my goodness. They don't even look real." The mommy-to-be oohed. "Like… jewels or china doll eyes."
The boy started to cry. Tess held out her hand and Kal slapped a bottle into it. "He slept the whole way. He missed his normal feeding time."
Kal snatched a jack-o-lemon off the food table and found himself a seat, his eyes fixed on Liz the whole time. Max sat across from him as he rewound his film. "You took a day off?"
"I cleared my schedule for tonight. Didn't feel like working with all those brats knocking office to office." He shrugged, biting through the peel and sucking in the tart juice but he couldn't taste it like he once could.
Max turned his head. Kal was busy. This was a busy time. Taking an evening off could set him back a week. Max was still taking care of some things for the company and he knew for a fact Kal should have six meetings or phone conferences in the next six hours.
"Ah…" Liz sat up, gripping her stomach.
"It's show time." Kal took another bite of his lemon.
"You couldn't have warned us?" Max leapt to his feet.
"I showed up, didn't I?"
Max groaned and rolled over. Eyes closed he blindly reached for the phone. "Zan, this couldn't wait another hour or two?"
"Not so much. I put this off long enough. I got contacted last night."
"What?" That worked better than the darkest cup of coffee he'd ever had.
"It's not urgent but you really need to hear this." The weary alien cleared his throat. "Come up. Just for the day. I promise."
"Liz is still sleeping. I'll come up once I get her squared away."
"Just… I can't do this over the phone."
--
When Max walked into the apartment, he was tackled by three Zannamen children. "Uncle Max!"
"Hey, there. Aja, where's your dad?" Max asked as he bent to scoop Davis into his arms and to get the kids inside the apartment so he could shut the door.
"In his room. Come lookit. I got my own TV and my own playstation." Aja took his hand and tried to tug him along. Scott toddled along after them. "I got racing games and King Kong and one that gotta shoot airplanes."
"Alvaro Joaquin!" Brock called out from somewhere. "I thought I told you to stay in your room until it was clean."
"First and middle name. What did you do?" Max asked the boy.
"I was playin'." Aja scoffed. "I'm not done yet."
"A boy's playing is never done." Max announced as he entered the boy's room and found Brock picking up the gigantic mess Aja had left in his room.
"You got that right." She muttered and tossed a handful of action figures into a bin. "Can you believe how Zan spoils him?"
"Royal children get royally spoiled." Max kissed Davis's cheek, she jabbered nonsensical words at him as she played with his inside jacket pocket. "Where's the man?"
"Working out his stress." She groaned. "He's put a weight station in our bedroom."
"Oh you're kidding." Max shook his head. He couldn't defend Zan, it would only get him into more trouble. "You should have him in here cleaning up."
"Zan doesn't clean. Zan plays with Aja's toys."
Max bent to heft Scott into his other arm. He glanced around. "Where's Duke?"
"Dog walker." Brock straightened and tossed more toys into the bin. "Poor dog was neglected during the move and of course Zan thinks to take care of the dog. Doesn't seem to care about me having to take time off to help out with the kids because Ace is in Arizona with her boyfriend."
"Don't let him get away with so much."
"I don't." She forced a smile. "Why do you think he's working out his stress?"
"You cut him off?"
"Cut off his what?" Aja wiped at his nose, looking from adult to adult.
"The adults are talking, Aja, pick up your toys." Brock told him without missing a beat. Then she turned back to Max. "Go talk to him."
"Fine." Max sighed and blew a raspberry onto the cheek of each giggling twin before setting them on a clear area of Aja's bed. He wandered through the new apartment to find Zan in his bedroom pumping a serious amount of weight. "She wasn't kidding was she?"
"Yuck it up." Zan continued to pump his arms up and down, arms straining under twice his own body weight. "Listen, I'm glad you're here."
"What happened last night?" Max sat on the bed and waited.
"Doring contacted me. They got the whole Gaylis thing under control… the men are lookin' to Doring for answers." Zan set the bar on the rack and sat up, taking deep breaths. Zan looked worried and it didn't help to settle Max any. "I wanted to go over it with you before I gave him an answer. Kal doesn't care."
"What?"
"Doring has been gettin' pressure from the big wigs to… usurp but Doring bein' the guy he is… won't do it witout lettin' me in on it." He rubbed a towel over his face and chest, nearly snagging a piercing or two in the process.
"What's the plan?" Max didn't know what to think.
"I… uh… think I should let Doring have the wheel but still tell people I'm drivin' the bus. Nobody knows who he is, they won't follow him but the guys I left behind will. They'll follow him if it has my name on it." Zan seemed to be pleading with Max. "Unless you want it, man. I just… I can't think of leavin' now. Forget all the movie bullshit. Brock and the twins. Aja… I can't go back. Not now. I didn't even tell Brock what all was said."
"Will the sector lords fall in line?"
"Perlyni will. She's got a lot of pull. Doring, Perlyni, Hersi, Quonal… He's the guy to get the other Kings on board. Doring and Perylni can get Hersi… Hersi can get Quonal." Zan took a deep breath. "What I gettin' at is this… neither one of us want it. Doring can handle it. All we get is a beam down every once in a while to make sure we're down with what's goin' on. I trust Doring."
"What about those other guys?"
"Perlyni trusts Doring. Hersi and Quonal were… workin' with Perlyni when I was there. It's a pretty sweet deal. Everyone wants peace and they're gettin' it. I don't need to BE there… neither of us do. I kinda feel like a dick for wantin' to give it up though. Everythin' in me screams that I need to do it myself but I gotta be here."
Max lay back and thought it all over. It sounded so good. A world off his shoulders except when Doring needed advice. Never having to worry about taking his turn on the throne. Always being on Earth and able to take care of Liz and their daughter and any other children that came along. "Do you sincerely think it could work?"
"Only as long as Doring is my number one guy on Antar."
"Then I say… let's do it. Doring can be the new war commander. Our voice on Antar." Max felt the wrongness the second it was out of his mouth. "It doesn't make us cowards, right?"
"We fucked it up before. Maybe Doring can do better. Keep the peace. If it's best for everyone…"
"Tell Doring. Then we tell our wives."
--
Liz watched Max enter the house and sit at a table with one of his cameras and his collection of lenses. He fiddled and fiddled and his eyes shone brightly with tears. "Max? What did Zan have to say?"
"We handed it over, Liz." Max tossed a lens cap across the room. "I feel sick to my stomach about it but… I can't take it back now."
"Handed what over?" She rose carefully to get a better look at him.
"Antar." He sniffed loudly and uncharacteristically wiped his eyes on his sleeve. "To the good guys, sure but… it was given to us to protect."
"They were hoping you'd protect it and save it and it's safe now. Maybe you were never supposed to lead. Maybe this was the way it was supposed to be."
"I never wanted that life. From the day I made Kal tell me the truth, I've never wanted it. I wanted my life, however mediocre it was turning out to be, I never wanted that… and now that I don't have to have that… I feel guilty for giving it up. I still don't want it but it's mine. It's Zan's…"
"He feels the same way."
"Yeah." Max took a deep shuddering breath. "I mean… no one's going to go around touting the good news about King Doring but… he's the one making the calls. He's going to tell people King Zan wanted it that way." Another aching breath. "King Zan who can't be bothered to leave Earth to return to his people, giving orders to the new War Commander, who will keep everyone in line and keep the peace and… that should be good enough right? As long as they have peace and prosperity… it doesn't matter who's really making the decisions… right?"
October 31, 2008
Liz oohed and aahed over the twins in their costumes. Brock looked well rested for once. Just this moment, Aja was entertaining them both by trying to listen to Liz's belly. He'd adjust position occasionally, swearing if he found the right spot he could hear her. Brock leaned over to him. "You used to do that to me when I was pregnant."
"Nuh-uh…" He shook his head. "You wasn't never pregnant."
"I was too. Where do you think Scott and Davis came from?"
"From the store." He scoffed at her. "Daddy said."
"You don't remember?" Liz asked him. "You used to reach and reach up, because you were so short, and put your hand on her belly and tell her which baby was on which side."
"Nuh-uh."
"Yuh-huh." She tweaked his nose.
"No. She's too little. Not one baby could fit in her tummy."
Brock reached over to kiss his forehead. "Thank you for saying that."
"How does the baby get in there?" Aja rubbed Liz's belly.
"I think you need to go ask your Dad that." Brock pointed to where Zan was standing in front of the TV watching a game and talking on the phone to his agent at the same time. "He told you he got the twins at the store, he can tell you how a baby gets in the tummy."
Aja raced off and immediately started pulling on Zan's hand to get his attention. Zan was torn between his son, his agent and the game. When Aja finally got his question out, Zan looked panicked and quickly got off the phone and turned his full attention to his son, who had to repeat his question. Zan's head snapped to glare at the women, flipping them off behind Aja's back. Liz just laughed and turned to look at Brock whose eyes were on her husband, a kind of smoldering in them. When she was angry with him, her eyes burned. When she was enamored, her eyes were soft. This was somewhere in between. "Tell me your secret. Max told me you've had all three for months now."
"I went back to work, full time." Brock smiled lazily, those slow burning eyes still on her husband as he tried to explain to his seven year old just where babies came from. "Zan's had kid duty. He's learning the tricks of the trade… like Aja is a big time con artist."
"I hear you say that I haven't seen proof yet."
The redhead adjusted her costume discreetly and turned to face the pregnant woman. "When I get him, he tells me his mother lets him do all this stuff. I let him get away with a reasonable amount of it, you know… because I want him to like me. Then Zan gets home and gets conned into allowing more mischief. Of course we hear about it when Ace gets him back."
"Because he's really not allowed to do anything that you've let him do." Liz loved that kid, he had three parents to drive crazy. She knew Alex let him get away with absolutely everything.
"Right. I've been cracking down on him because I wouldn't ever let Scott or Davis get away with the same shenanigans. Zan overrides me when he's home but that's his problem. I realize he made some big mistakes where those two are concerned but… it's not really my problem. He wants me to watch Aja, I'll do it but my way. He's a great boy when he's behaving… so when he doesn't. I play mommy." She sighed heavily. "The headache has lessened since I went back to work. All I have to worry about is making sure we have arrangements when Kal wants Zan in a movie."
"How's his career coming? I haven't seen anything he's been working on."
"Actually… since he got back… he's improved a hundred percent. The scripts he brings home are so much better than that Bane movie." The redhead shook her head. She had fallen for the shallow actor he had been and now was married to the deep actor he was becoming. "That franchise? Oh my goodness, not literature but so deep if they don't shred it to hell in editing."
"Do you get jealous of the leading ladies? I get so… ugh… it's maddening when he tells me he's got to make out with some hot chick for a movie." Liz whined, holding her aching belly. "Even when we weren't really together and he had to. I swore I didn't care but I did."
"I'm mellowing out in motherhood. Zan loves me, he can't always say it but he does. He's also learning why sometimes I'm not in the mood when I've had the kids all day. I think last month we went… over a week without and he panicked. He got all romantic all of a sudden. Found a sitter, made reservations, bought me a fabulous dress. The works."
"Wow."
"Reporters took plenty of pictures, ran them all over. They didn't recognize me."
"Your aunt?"
"Went off on Zan until I cleared it all up. Felt good to stick her, old bat." Brock laughed.
"At least you're getting some. Doctor told me that I should restrict the amount of physical activity I participate in, especially sex. So annoying. I'm fine." Liz groaned and fell back into her mountain of pillows. "Do my shoes match?"
"Each other or your outfit?"
"Very funny." They sat in silence for a moment before Liz got the courage to ask. "How has Zan been doing? Max has been walking around like a zombie. The only way I can get a smile out of him is if it's baby stuff."
"He's taking it pretty hard… harder than even he thought he would. He didn't even tell me until it was done. I would not have made him do that."
"He can't bear to leave you. Max told me what Zan told him."
They both looked up when Kal, Tess and Drew walked into the house. Liz clapped a hand over her mouth. Max was leaping over furniture with his camera, snapping a picture the second he still. "I win!"
"What the hell are you talking about?" Kal glared, a baby bag on one shoulder and little Dev on the other.
"Oh, bring him here. I want to see him." Liz called out.
Max wound his film and took another picture. "You're just a crotchety old alien, Kal. Liz says you're just as human as the rest of us."
"Oh. He's so handsome." Liz cooed over the baby that Tess took from Kal and supported in her arms while Liz fussed. She rubbed her belly, heartburn making her uncomfortable. "He's going to look just like Drew."
"Here we go, he's waking up." Tess turned him so Liz could see his eyes. "Aren't they pretty?"
"Oh my goodness. They don't even look real." The mommy-to-be oohed. "Like… jewels or china doll eyes."
The boy started to cry. Tess held out her hand and Kal slapped a bottle into it. "He slept the whole way. He missed his normal feeding time."
Kal snatched a jack-o-lemon off the food table and found himself a seat, his eyes fixed on Liz the whole time. Max sat across from him as he rewound his film. "You took a day off?"
"I cleared my schedule for tonight. Didn't feel like working with all those brats knocking office to office." He shrugged, biting through the peel and sucking in the tart juice but he couldn't taste it like he once could.
Max turned his head. Kal was busy. This was a busy time. Taking an evening off could set him back a week. Max was still taking care of some things for the company and he knew for a fact Kal should have six meetings or phone conferences in the next six hours.
"Ah…" Liz sat up, gripping her stomach.
"It's show time." Kal took another bite of his lemon.
"You couldn't have warned us?" Max leapt to his feet.
"I showed up, didn't I?"
November 1, 2008
Max couldn't breathe. She was so beautiful. So tiny. So helpless. So… new. For weeks he had doubted the decision he and Zan had made regarding their throne but this moment, in this moment, he knew that they had done the right thing. She had ten tiny fingers and ten tiny toes. Her mother's nose, his lips, a dusting of hair on her head that looked very light but Liz was saying something about it probably falling out. Her hand shook as she waved it around, her tiny fist clenched so tight. Gently, he brought his lips to her forehead.
"Max, you need oxygen." Zan whispered in his ear.
"Hoo." He breathed in and out quickly. "Right…"
Liz was asleep. She was tired and hurting but Miles had left to retrieve the doctor to check her out. Zan had done what he could for her but they were afraid it was something they couldn't see. A twinge was what she said but they weren't taking any chances.
Zan lifted Aja into his arms so the seven year old could see his new cousin. "Another girl. You got your hands full, little guy. You treat her like you would your sister. When she grows up, you look after her because you're the oldest. Understand? You the man."
"What's her name?"
"Don't know yet. Uncle Max can't talk."
"Cat get hims tongue?"
"I think so. Ask him."
"Uncle Max, what's you gonna name her?"
"I gotta… talk to her mother first. We never officially decided on a name." Max breathed softly, not wanting to disturb his daughter's sleep.
"How does that feel, Max?" Zan whispered, knowing his brother-dupe-friend was in a whole other world.
How did he feel? He was so full of emotion that he could barely decide just how he felt. "Like I waited my whole life for this moment."
"She's a punkin baby." Aja announced, making his father and uncle grin.
"Why do you say that?" Max looked up at the little boy.
"Cause Aunt Liz was a punkin belly yesterday when she says the baby's comin'."
Zan laughed and kissed his son's forehead. The boy hadn't bought his story about the store or the stork or even the real thing. Let him go on thinking baby's came in pumpkins, someday he'd learn to listen to his old man. "Maybe you're right."
"She has to be. Aunt Liz don't have a punkin belly no more."
"Okay. She's the punkin baby." Max nodded, his lips in a permanent smile.
"Name her." Aja leaned off his dad's shoulder to get a closer look. "How come she sleeps so much?"
"That's what babies do. You did too. Your mom told me." Zan hefted Aja up higher. "C'mon. Let's let Uncle Max alone for a while. Brock and the babies are gonna wake up soon. We'll get breakfast, together."
"How come Uncle Max was in there with Aunt Liz when the baby came and you wasn't there in the room when Scott and Davis came? Was you there when I came?"
"No." Zan shook his head. "I was… lookin' for your mom and I didn't know she had gone to have you yet. I shoulda been though. I had some stuff to do when the babies were born but I came back as fast as I could."
"Don't go away that far again."
"I won't. I promise." Zan seemed to think something over. "When we get back to the city… I'm gonna take you someplace special. Show you where I met your mom, where I went looking for her the day you came."
"Why?"
"I think you need to see it. You won't probably understand today but maybe when you get older."
"Yous sleepy, Daddy. You don't make any sense."
"I know."
--
Liz stretched and barely winced. A doctor had their daughter on the changing table looking her over. "Max?"
"Afternoon, Mommy." Max grinned at her. "Dr. Weston is going to look you over in a minute."
"Is something wrong?"
"No, Mrs. Evans. It's just a routine check up for newborns." Dr. Weston called over her shoulder.
"Who called a doctor?"
"Miles did. You said you felt a twinge."
"Max." Liz laughed at him. "I just gave birth to seven and a half pounds of your offspring. I do feel just a little sore. I'm certain it's perfectly normal."
"She's right. Still. I'm here to make sure." Dr. Weston swaddled the baby in her blankets. "I brought her paperwork for you fill out. Birth certificate and social security. I'm sure Dad can handle that while we look over Mom."
"I have my own doctor." Liz protested.
"Who is not available today." Max chided her and picked up his baby.
"Bring her here. I'm sure you've spoiled her plenty already."
"Your mom and dad should be here soon. I got them on the first flight of the morning. They're planning to stay a couple of weeks."
"Proud first time grandparents?" The doctor asked.
"They were supposed to come earlier but there was a small kitchen fire in their restaurant. They had to oversee the repairs." Liz explained and allowed the doctor to check her out before her daughter was placed in her arms for feeding.
"Well, mother and child are doing just fine. Her 'twinge' is normal, especially given the back problems she had during the pregnancy. I'm sure this pregnancy did nothing but strengthen her."
"You see. She's on my side." Liz whacked Max before turning adoring eyes on her daughter.
"So… Name."
Liz stared at Max, who stared back. "He knew. I don't know how but he knew to be here last night. He cares so much more than he lets on."
"I know. If you want to, we'll do it."
"Kayla Doring Evans." Liz whispered to her baby, her rousing baby who knew mom was near and would be fed soon.
"Really? After both of them?"
"Two reasons I can have what I want." Liz reached up to kiss Max when he knelt beside her bed.
"That's a beautiful name." Dr. Weston scribbled the name on the papers for the obviously distracted new parents.
"She misspelled it." Liz giggled and reached for the paper to verify. "Kayla Doreen."
"Hey, it sounds the same and who knows if Doring will ever find out about it." Max kissed his ladies and rose to take the paperwork from the doctor to fill out. "Thank you for coming. We realize it was inconvenient but I'd rather have her here. We've seen enough of hospitals for a lifetime."
"Well, your midwife sure knew what they were doing. I assume that's what happened?" Dr. Weston questioned the obviously wealthy man in front of her. There was no reason they shouldn't have gone to a hospital aside from some aversion that had something to do with Liz's back problems.
"My uncle has made it a habit to deliver our children. He knows what he's doing."
"Are you certain?"
"He's delivered… four children. One of them was breach. All are fine and healthy."
"Your uncle." She crossed her arms. "What is he? Some old country farmer who came to the states to make a living?"
"In a way." Max nodded, pen moving to fill out the necessary information.
"How'd make his fortune?"
"In movies. Name the movie and I'll tell you how he helped push it through." He handed her the papers and she looked them over, handing him the certificates. He waited and waited but the doctor seemed to want to say something. "It seems really odd the way we do things but we're not harmful. My uncle takes really good care of us."
"I try." Kal appeared in the doorway for the first time since he'd delivered the baby in the wee hours of the morning. "You name the kid yet, Kid?"
"Kayla Doreen." Liz told him. "Look Kayla, it's your uncle Kal."
"Don't bother her when she's eating." Kal waved them off and turned to the doctor. "Anything?"
"They're both fine." The doctor reassured him. "You've done a good job with no professional training."
"Training, smaining. I got a few kids to take care of and now they're having kids. I do what I can." He clapped Max on the back. "Congratulations, Kid."
"You don't want to hold her?" Liz piped up as she was closing her gown. "You'll have to do it now. My parents will be here soon enough and you'll have to battle my mother."
"I don't… hold newborns. Against my policy."
Max laughed. "What policy?"
"My policy against holding newborns." Kal turned his head to glare at Max.
"He's lying." Liz tossed over, her eyes on her baby, her beautiful baby girl. She handed her over when Max reached for her. Kal reluctantly held the baby in his arms and did his best to look annoyed.
"Kayla, meet your namesake." Max spoke softly to his daughter.
"Wasting a perfectly good girl with a name like that." Kal swallowed thickly. "You know… since I came here… I resigned myself to the fact I wasn't ever going to have a family like I would back home. When I took you kids in… I… was mostly annoyed. Having to fulfill my duty and all, having you kids cramp my style… Still, seeing these kids be born. It's like…"
For the first time in his life, Max saw Kal unable to form words. When he turned to look at Liz, she had tears in her eyes because she could hear in her head what Kal couldn't or wouldn't speak aloud. That he did have a family. That he was proud of his rag tag bunch of aliens, their spouses and their offspring. It took a moment for Kal to compose himself and hand the baby back to Max. "Do me a favor? Don't ever go back home. Not now that you got all this."
"You didn't hear?" Liz spoke up, still aware the doctor was in the room. "Max and Zan handed it over. They're never going back."
Kal let out a laugh and for the very first time, tears slid down his human face. He took a deep shuddering breath and turned to Max. "I'm proud of you, Kid. I got movies to make. I'm gonna take off."
Max and Liz watched him go, knowing he'd hide from the world awhile, to enjoy it like he probably hadn't allowed himself in all these years since the crash. When Kayla let out a wail, her parents rushed to tend to her. It was a bright and scary world and they were going to see to it that she lived every bit of it.
tbc
Max couldn't breathe. She was so beautiful. So tiny. So helpless. So… new. For weeks he had doubted the decision he and Zan had made regarding their throne but this moment, in this moment, he knew that they had done the right thing. She had ten tiny fingers and ten tiny toes. Her mother's nose, his lips, a dusting of hair on her head that looked very light but Liz was saying something about it probably falling out. Her hand shook as she waved it around, her tiny fist clenched so tight. Gently, he brought his lips to her forehead.
"Max, you need oxygen." Zan whispered in his ear.
"Hoo." He breathed in and out quickly. "Right…"
Liz was asleep. She was tired and hurting but Miles had left to retrieve the doctor to check her out. Zan had done what he could for her but they were afraid it was something they couldn't see. A twinge was what she said but they weren't taking any chances.
Zan lifted Aja into his arms so the seven year old could see his new cousin. "Another girl. You got your hands full, little guy. You treat her like you would your sister. When she grows up, you look after her because you're the oldest. Understand? You the man."
"What's her name?"
"Don't know yet. Uncle Max can't talk."
"Cat get hims tongue?"
"I think so. Ask him."
"Uncle Max, what's you gonna name her?"
"I gotta… talk to her mother first. We never officially decided on a name." Max breathed softly, not wanting to disturb his daughter's sleep.
"How does that feel, Max?" Zan whispered, knowing his brother-dupe-friend was in a whole other world.
How did he feel? He was so full of emotion that he could barely decide just how he felt. "Like I waited my whole life for this moment."
"She's a punkin baby." Aja announced, making his father and uncle grin.
"Why do you say that?" Max looked up at the little boy.
"Cause Aunt Liz was a punkin belly yesterday when she says the baby's comin'."
Zan laughed and kissed his son's forehead. The boy hadn't bought his story about the store or the stork or even the real thing. Let him go on thinking baby's came in pumpkins, someday he'd learn to listen to his old man. "Maybe you're right."
"She has to be. Aunt Liz don't have a punkin belly no more."
"Okay. She's the punkin baby." Max nodded, his lips in a permanent smile.
"Name her." Aja leaned off his dad's shoulder to get a closer look. "How come she sleeps so much?"
"That's what babies do. You did too. Your mom told me." Zan hefted Aja up higher. "C'mon. Let's let Uncle Max alone for a while. Brock and the babies are gonna wake up soon. We'll get breakfast, together."
"How come Uncle Max was in there with Aunt Liz when the baby came and you wasn't there in the room when Scott and Davis came? Was you there when I came?"
"No." Zan shook his head. "I was… lookin' for your mom and I didn't know she had gone to have you yet. I shoulda been though. I had some stuff to do when the babies were born but I came back as fast as I could."
"Don't go away that far again."
"I won't. I promise." Zan seemed to think something over. "When we get back to the city… I'm gonna take you someplace special. Show you where I met your mom, where I went looking for her the day you came."
"Why?"
"I think you need to see it. You won't probably understand today but maybe when you get older."
"Yous sleepy, Daddy. You don't make any sense."
"I know."
--
Liz stretched and barely winced. A doctor had their daughter on the changing table looking her over. "Max?"
"Afternoon, Mommy." Max grinned at her. "Dr. Weston is going to look you over in a minute."
"Is something wrong?"
"No, Mrs. Evans. It's just a routine check up for newborns." Dr. Weston called over her shoulder.
"Who called a doctor?"
"Miles did. You said you felt a twinge."
"Max." Liz laughed at him. "I just gave birth to seven and a half pounds of your offspring. I do feel just a little sore. I'm certain it's perfectly normal."
"She's right. Still. I'm here to make sure." Dr. Weston swaddled the baby in her blankets. "I brought her paperwork for you fill out. Birth certificate and social security. I'm sure Dad can handle that while we look over Mom."
"I have my own doctor." Liz protested.
"Who is not available today." Max chided her and picked up his baby.
"Bring her here. I'm sure you've spoiled her plenty already."
"Your mom and dad should be here soon. I got them on the first flight of the morning. They're planning to stay a couple of weeks."
"Proud first time grandparents?" The doctor asked.
"They were supposed to come earlier but there was a small kitchen fire in their restaurant. They had to oversee the repairs." Liz explained and allowed the doctor to check her out before her daughter was placed in her arms for feeding.
"Well, mother and child are doing just fine. Her 'twinge' is normal, especially given the back problems she had during the pregnancy. I'm sure this pregnancy did nothing but strengthen her."
"You see. She's on my side." Liz whacked Max before turning adoring eyes on her daughter.
"So… Name."
Liz stared at Max, who stared back. "He knew. I don't know how but he knew to be here last night. He cares so much more than he lets on."
"I know. If you want to, we'll do it."
"Kayla Doring Evans." Liz whispered to her baby, her rousing baby who knew mom was near and would be fed soon.
"Really? After both of them?"
"Two reasons I can have what I want." Liz reached up to kiss Max when he knelt beside her bed.
"That's a beautiful name." Dr. Weston scribbled the name on the papers for the obviously distracted new parents.
"She misspelled it." Liz giggled and reached for the paper to verify. "Kayla Doreen."
"Hey, it sounds the same and who knows if Doring will ever find out about it." Max kissed his ladies and rose to take the paperwork from the doctor to fill out. "Thank you for coming. We realize it was inconvenient but I'd rather have her here. We've seen enough of hospitals for a lifetime."
"Well, your midwife sure knew what they were doing. I assume that's what happened?" Dr. Weston questioned the obviously wealthy man in front of her. There was no reason they shouldn't have gone to a hospital aside from some aversion that had something to do with Liz's back problems.
"My uncle has made it a habit to deliver our children. He knows what he's doing."
"Are you certain?"
"He's delivered… four children. One of them was breach. All are fine and healthy."
"Your uncle." She crossed her arms. "What is he? Some old country farmer who came to the states to make a living?"
"In a way." Max nodded, pen moving to fill out the necessary information.
"How'd make his fortune?"
"In movies. Name the movie and I'll tell you how he helped push it through." He handed her the papers and she looked them over, handing him the certificates. He waited and waited but the doctor seemed to want to say something. "It seems really odd the way we do things but we're not harmful. My uncle takes really good care of us."
"I try." Kal appeared in the doorway for the first time since he'd delivered the baby in the wee hours of the morning. "You name the kid yet, Kid?"
"Kayla Doreen." Liz told him. "Look Kayla, it's your uncle Kal."
"Don't bother her when she's eating." Kal waved them off and turned to the doctor. "Anything?"
"They're both fine." The doctor reassured him. "You've done a good job with no professional training."
"Training, smaining. I got a few kids to take care of and now they're having kids. I do what I can." He clapped Max on the back. "Congratulations, Kid."
"You don't want to hold her?" Liz piped up as she was closing her gown. "You'll have to do it now. My parents will be here soon enough and you'll have to battle my mother."
"I don't… hold newborns. Against my policy."
Max laughed. "What policy?"
"My policy against holding newborns." Kal turned his head to glare at Max.
"He's lying." Liz tossed over, her eyes on her baby, her beautiful baby girl. She handed her over when Max reached for her. Kal reluctantly held the baby in his arms and did his best to look annoyed.
"Kayla, meet your namesake." Max spoke softly to his daughter.
"Wasting a perfectly good girl with a name like that." Kal swallowed thickly. "You know… since I came here… I resigned myself to the fact I wasn't ever going to have a family like I would back home. When I took you kids in… I… was mostly annoyed. Having to fulfill my duty and all, having you kids cramp my style… Still, seeing these kids be born. It's like…"
For the first time in his life, Max saw Kal unable to form words. When he turned to look at Liz, she had tears in her eyes because she could hear in her head what Kal couldn't or wouldn't speak aloud. That he did have a family. That he was proud of his rag tag bunch of aliens, their spouses and their offspring. It took a moment for Kal to compose himself and hand the baby back to Max. "Do me a favor? Don't ever go back home. Not now that you got all this."
"You didn't hear?" Liz spoke up, still aware the doctor was in the room. "Max and Zan handed it over. They're never going back."
Kal let out a laugh and for the very first time, tears slid down his human face. He took a deep shuddering breath and turned to Max. "I'm proud of you, Kid. I got movies to make. I'm gonna take off."
Max and Liz watched him go, knowing he'd hide from the world awhile, to enjoy it like he probably hadn't allowed himself in all these years since the crash. When Kayla let out a wail, her parents rushed to tend to her. It was a bright and scary world and they were going to see to it that she lived every bit of it.
tbc
Part 59 – December 24, 2008
Part 59 – December 24, 2008
Liz watched Max change Kayla's diaper. He made funny faces to make the baby smile and grimaces at what he cleaned up. He blew raspberries on her belly and his face lit up at her baby laugh. Kayla happily kicked her legs, trying to avoid a new diaper. Eventually, Max got both the diaper and her clothes on for her first Christmas Eve. Liz snapped a picture, getting her husband's attention.
"What are you doing?"
"Getting a couple of shots of my two favorite people seeing as you haven't picked up the camera since the day she was born." She snapped off a few more after Max K-Yed a bow to the top of her head.
"I just don't want to miss a second." He kissed Kayla's bald head. "Not even to reach for the camera."
"Mom's itching to hold her so you better get out there." Liz kissed them both. "Ava's here."
"Did she yell at you?"
"She wanted to. She's really offended to be the only hybrid on the planet without children of her own."
"She's just adjusting to life." He nodded that he'd be there in a minute. He just wanted one more moment alone with his daughter before she got handed around like an appetizer for everyone to pinch and kiss. "Mommy restrained herself because Grandma pinches. It's okay. She loves you and that's why she's going to try to eat you."
--
Max rocked Kayla to sleep while everyone partied their hearts out. Zan was running himself ragged trying to keep up with his kids, and looked thoroughly pleased to be doing so. Tess had dressed up Dev in a baby Santa suit that Nancy and Diane kept oohing and ahing over. Jesse Jr. kept Isabel on her toes, running after him and grabbing things out of his hands. When he glanced at Brock, she was sipping a concoction that looked oddly familiar. She caught his eye and shook her head at him that no, it wasn't what he was thinking. Ava seemed disgusted at the sheer amount of children underfoot but she wasn't rude when the occasional child toddled over to her or a very mature sounding Damien Murphy tried to hit on her. Michael had herded his stepson away with an apology to her and a light-hearted scolding to his wife's child. Alex was explaining to Mr. Parker exactly what it was he did for a living but Mr. Parker seemed a little lost. Ace and Anna were competing in some sort of game that Max had never seen before, and it looked like Anna was losing. He couldn't feel sorry for her. Michael had griped that the girl had been beating everyone at it for weeks. Philip and Jesse were talking politics with Kal and their conversations never raised above a whisper despite what their faces showed. Liz and Maria got caught up on Roswell news with Kyle, who hadn’t the chance at the wedding. Poor Drew kept checking his cell phone but it never rang.
"Whitman!" Kyle clapped the tall man on the back when he joined them. "You cannot truly be with that beauty. Tell me the truth. Are you paying her?"
"No, Jackie and I are quite serious." Alex nodded proudly to himself, then beamed at Liz. "How long has it been?"
"Um…" Liz rolled her eyes back in her head. "They met last Fourth and I don’t know when you started flying her down but… it’s been a year and almost six months since you were first introduced by yours truly."
"So, you got some hot friends for me?" Kyle pleaded.
"Hey! Alex flew to New Haven to see me… three times and you? I had to get shot in the head and you only made it up once since I’ve been better."
"Blah, blah. Don’t use that old I-was-in-a-coma-and-couldn't-enjoy-your-company excuse crap. I was here and sitting by your bedside, missy." Kyle turned back to Alex, moving the conversation right along. "Is it true your woman is the inspiration for Death on Wheels? Vapor?"
"Well…" Alex opened and closed his mouth, turning bright red. "Not the inspiration for the game but I did need a model for the main character and… I kind of wanted to see her again…"
Kyle shook his head from side to side. "What gives? I saw the game you did before that and the chick didn’t have near as many clothes."
"Well, you see… um…" He continued to turn various colors of red. "Originally, yeah, she was gonna be skimpily attired but when it came to skinning on her outfit… I… we had Aja with us and… I was thinking that someday he could be like… my son and I would be the guy who put his half-naked mother in a video game. So… against much advisement from my peers… I put clothes on her."
"Touching… you wuss."
"I don’t know…" Maria cleared her throat. "As sexist as that story started, it’s a little sweet… it’s also not the only reason she’s with him." She met Alex’s eye. "The cameraman at the wedding did not delete that last bit."
Alex nearly chocked on his eggnog. "Ok… now that I’m completely mortified, I’m going to go hide behind my girlfriend."
"Oh, come on, Alex. I edited it myself and I’m the only one who has a copy of the original." Liz pleaded. "I only showed it to Maria."
"Which is pretty much like broadcasting it on CNN." Alex shook his head.
"Hey, Alex." Max called over softly. "I have it on pretty good authority that she could have any guy she wanted. All sizes, all races, all tax brackets. She really liked you that day you met or else she would have never told you her real name. She thought you were something special… and you proved it by not plastering her ass on a game that Aja will eventually get his hands on."
Billy slapped Maria’s ass when he joined them. "I wouldn’t mind if my lady were in a video game. Not that I spend any sort of time playing with the way she runs me ragged."
"Thanks for weighing in but I don’t need approval from anyone." Alex crossed his arms.
“Honey, we talked about the ass slapping.” Maria scolded and then lowered her voice. “Only at home.”
“Too much information, Maria.” Kyle scoffed and turned to Liz. “So seriously. Hook me up.”
“Rumor has it you hooked up enough at the wedding.” Liz reached down and took her baby from her protesting husband. “Go play.”
“But…”
“Look. Boys. Go. Play.” Liz shooed him off. “Fix Kyle up with someone.”
“Well, which one of my exes didn’t you hook up with at the wedding?” Max relented reluctantly.
“How do you people find out about this stuff?” Kyle crossed his arms. “It was three girls… seven tops.”
“How do you go from three to seven?” Maria demanded, slapping a hand across his chest.
“Sometimes… dates aren’t really dates. I travel a lot.” Kyle defended himself weakly.
“Oh, I see.” Liz nodded to Max and jerked her head over to where Ava was showing Kathryn one of her tattoos.
“Perfect.” Max nodded and rose to take Kyle by the shoulders. “You asked me once to set you up with some of my L.A. ladies… and you’ve been through them. Now, I’d like you to meet a New York lady. I’m actually surprised the two of you didn’t meet at the wedding but sometimes she disappears before you even realize she’s there.” The two stopped in front of Ava and Kathryn. “Ava, I don’t think you’ve met Kyle before. Don’t worry, he won’t try to tie you down. I think he only wants to get in your pants.”
“Max, I didn’t know you cared.” Ava smiled and turned her eyes on Kyle. “Shorter than I normally go but I’ll try him out.”
“Thanks.” Kyle said to Max and then tilted his head. “Huh? Short?”
“Don’t hurt him, he’s one of Liz’s friends.” Max instructed the punk.
“It’ll be the good hurt. I promise.” She bit her lip. “So, Kyle, tell me what is it you do.”
“I’m a sports writer. I travel quite a bit.” He explained briefly.
“Huh, thanks, Max.” Ava chucked him on the shoulder and focused her attention on Kyle. “Travel a lot… so you don’t like to get attached, right?”
Max burst out laughing and returned to his group. Liz looked proud of herself. “What?”
“They’re perfect for each other.”
“They’ll use each other until they get tired.”
“Uh-huh. They’re both ready to settle down.” Liz protested.
“It’s a bet then.” Alex nodded. “I give it three weeks. When the holidays are over, they’re over.”
“Til New Years.” Max shook his head.
“I’m going for the long shot.” Liz beamed proudly.
“Jesse!” Max called over. “You might want to get in on this. You might make your money back from the last bet.”
“What’s the bet?” Jesse rose and approached quickly, getting his wife’s attention. They listened while the bet was explained to them. “The end of the week. Kyle’s exploits are widely known.”
“So are Ava’s.” Isabel nodded. “She’ll get itchy. Three days.”
--
“Sh…” Max whispered as he cornered his wife in the laundry room. “Your mom has the baby.”
“In the laundry room, right.” Liz shook her head as she changed her blouse then proceeded to soak her first blouse in the sink.
“Come on, they’ll never miss us.” Max wrapped his arms around her middle and nuzzled her neck. “I’ll turn on the spin cycle.”
“Come on, we should get back out there. They know it doesn’t take two of us to change my blouse.” Liz tilted her head to the side to allow him more access.
“How long has it been, Liz? Middle of October? Here we are at Christmas… It’d be a nice gift.”
“Max, I want to but you know how I feel about doing it with my parents in the same building.”
“This is the laundry room, it’s hardly the same building. And look here, there’s a lock on the door. Come on… the girls don’t want to hide.” He gestured to the straining button between her breasts. “Let them out. Let them play.”
“They are not a separate entity. They are an extension of me.”
“Two very lovely extensions. Have I told you how smoking hot you look today?”
“Well, yes but I do enjoy hearing it.”
“You, my dear.” Max picked her up and set her on the folding table. “Are so smoking hot that I have had to resist the temptation to rip all your clothes off and have my way with you all day.”
“Really?” Liz tilted her head back to allow him to kiss her throat. “If we do this… it has to be quick and quiet, understand?”
“I think you’re forgetting something.”
“What’s that?”
“Grandma’s on duty. We can take our time and… um… some of us don’t recover as fast as others.” Max ran his hands up her legs. “This is supposed to be good, clean, naughty fun and you make it sound like a chore.” Nudged open her blouse. “Am I a chore?”
“Yes… but one I always enjoying doing.” She slid her hands down between their bodies to aid in the removal of obstructing clothes. “And you can take that anyway you see fit.”
--
Jeff took his granddaughter and fought the urge to tear up. This little girl might not be in existence if not for her brave father and her strong mother. Nancy handed him the burp-rag and kissed his cheek. “Honey?”
“I’m okay.” He cleared his throat. “She’s beautiful.”
“I keep trying to get her a job but her parents protest.” Kal smacked his cigar but didn’t light it. “I could have her private school tuition paid for in three years and Max won’t hear of it.”
“Are they considering private school?” Nancy turned. She was still a little uncomfortable around the man… alien but she knew he honestly thought he was doing right by his charges.
“I’ve got her on the waiting list for a few of the most progressive schools and all Max has to do is agree to it when the time comes. Michael won’t let me move the step-kids to better schools but Zan’s kids and this one are all going to the best schools we can afford and if we can’t afford them…”
“Max makes another movie?” Nancy pursed her lips to hide a smile.
“Precisely. I’m glad her grandparents are so sensible. That boy…” Kal rolled his eyes in a very human gesture of annoyance. “He’s got talent and what does he do? Throws it away because he fancies himself an artist. Zan’s got the bug. He can’t stop himself. Little Aja is going to be a star. Just watch and see.”
“Is he getting started?”
“I do have the issue of his mother to get around but I’m working on her.”
“Who’s working me?” Ace popped up. “Not you. My baby’s not making movies. You left Zan to grow up in a sewer and you got Max all turned around so he doesn’t know if he’s comin’ or goin’. My baby is going to go to school like a normal person. He’s gonna be a teacher or a doctor or a lawyer.”
“How are you going to pay for law school? I don’t pay you enough.” Kal excused himself from the Parkers to follow the young woman. “Let me take him under my wing. We’ll get him into some movies. Some kiddie modeling and he’ll pay for his own law school and we can add him to the long list of presidents who used to be actors.”
“I let you put him in that private school because I know what crappy public schools are in my neighborhood. Let him be him. He’s not a little Kal.”
“Did you ask him? Maybe he wants to.” Kal slowed when she did. She turned to face him. “All you have to do is ask him.”
“You probably already got to him.” She reached out and caught Zan as he passed them. “You hear this? He wants to put your son to work. You gon let him?”
“You leavin’ it up to me?” That put some pause in him. If he gave her the wrong answer, it was a pretty safe bet that Aja and Ace could end up permanent Arizona residents and he’d never see his son. She crossed her arms and waited for his answer. “He’s goin’ to school and he’s doin’ real good…”
“Right. So… you gonna let Kal turn him into you… who never returns phone calls for three days. You already spoil him rotten, you gonna just let him get more—“
Zan covered her mouth with his hand and turned to Kal. “He goes to school like a normal kid. Anything you want him to do comes in the summer. If he ever says he wants to stop, it stops.” He released her mouth. “Is that okay with you?”
“Yeah, it’s cool.” She rolled her eyes when he kissed her cheek and vanished. She glared at Kal. “He’s too charming for his own good.”
“Why are you blaming me?”
“I don’t know who else to blame. I never met his daddy, now did I?”
Zan snuck up on his wife and earned a smack on the chest when he scared the daylights out of her. His punishment was to rock both the babies to sleep while she answered Kyle’s questions. She pinched Zan. “Isabel set us up. She didn’t tell me that what I saw in the magazines was really him. I thought he dressed that way for the movie he was making.”
“Confusion on the first date?”
“Much. I open my door in what I figured would be a casual dress. Up for whatever he had planned. I figured dinner or a club, you know? Then he shows up in… well… pretty much this.” She pointed to his torn jeans and long sleeved shirt, his scuffed boots sticking out of his pants. “I felt a little overdressed. Then I got all snobby and defensive when he asked if he could come in.”
“I like you snobby and defensive.” Zan teased her, sleepy children in his arms trying desperately to stay awake.
“Anyway.” She spared him a glance. “He takes me to his ‘favorite spot’ and that turns out to be a taco stand.”
“So you’re in a mildly expensive dress eating tacos on the sidewalk.”
“Right. I was a little pissed and every time I met his eyes, he seemed to be laughing at me. So every second that passed, I got a little angrier. So I struggled to find something to talk about… but being a snob, I figured he must not be educated at all so I started with Isabel. Then I find out, oh… he doesn’t know her that well at all. I was about five seconds from calling it off and finding my own way home when he says, ‘I don’t do this much. Take pretty ladies out of penthouses. I know a club where we won’t get mugged… if you like to dance.’ So, I figured why not… I did beg Isabel to set me up with someone that I only knew of from a tabloid magazine.” She kissed Zan’s cheek and wiped off her lipstick. “Don’t go getting a big head on me. Not so sure I’d beg now.”
Zan grinned smugly at Kyle. “She loves me.”
“Where’s the rest of the story?” Kyle pressed. “Come on. My editor thinks that it’s all a show and if I provide enough details, I get a crack at an exclusive next month.”
“Is that why you wanted to know?” Maria whacked Kyle with a Santa hat.
“Please finish the story.” He shrugged it off.
“I had fun at the club and I let him take me home and the rest is history.” Brock rolled her eyes and took a seat so she could take one of the babies who were starting to weigh down Zan’s arms.
“When you say ‘I let him take me home’ whose home are you talking about and was it just a kiss at the door and goodnight?” Maria pressed because Kyle had lost interest. “Or did you even make it to the bedroom before you ripped his clothes off?”
“My mother-in-law is in earshot.” Zan gave Maria a stern gaze.
“So? My mother asks me if Billy knows how to push my buttons… but in a more personal and embarrassing way.” She shook her head at him. “It’s just a question, all right? I mean… everyone in here has seen your ass on TV, we didn’t know you’d be a prude about your sex life.”
“My ass has never been on TV.” Zan protested and remembered he was putting his kids to sleep and lowered his voice. “If you have to know, I took her home with me and we spent all night talkin'.”
“Talking… or… ‘talkin'’.” Maria probed further.
“Where’s Liz?” Zan demanded of his wife, who glanced around and frowned.
“Max is missing, too.” Brock took a breath as she did the math. “Oh…”
“What?” Maria followed Brock’s gaze but that only led her to the baby across the room.
“Kayla spit up. Liz had to change her shirt.”
“Is that a mommy thing? How does that answer the question?”
“It’s a new parent thing.” Zan shook his head and kissed his daughter’s forehead. “They haven’t slept since October… or done nothin’ else.”
“O---oh.” Maria got it. “Geez… no wonder they’re taking forever. Billy and I could have done it a few times already. They must be getting in as much time as possible.”
“Or making it count.” Brock blushed a bright red when her husband’s eyes fixed on her. Scott whimpering in his sleep got her attention before she could get lost in the burning in his eyes.
"You guys seen Kal?" Michael butt in.
"He was around a minute ago." Zan shrugged.
"My mom wanted to ask him a question." Michael shrugged. "New question… you seen my wife's kid? Yea high, thinks he's hot shit?"
"You checked next to the blonde?" Kyle pointed to Ava who looked like she was about to smack Damien across the face.
"That kid… I'm getting gray hair." Michael charged his way over, ignoring the look his wife gave him.
Tess dialed her phone quickly and dropped it in Drew's lap before carrying her son to his crib for a nap, just as Max and Liz emerged, looking happy and content and surprisingly rested. She bit back a smile when Max scooped up his camera and began making his way around the room, fiddling with the zoom and snapping off a roll of film.
Max snapped pictures of grandparents and proud parents and single twenty-somethings hitting it off. The kids ran around. The dog barked and whined from his penned in room. The lights and decorations, the food (or what was left of it). Drew's telephone reunion with his parents. His very sexy wife and their very beautiful girl. When he turned to snap off a picture of Kal, he found the alien was no longer in the house.
A moment later, Liz came to get him. "There's a package at the door that you need to sign for."
"What is it?"
"I don't know. They wouldn't let me sign for it, much less open it."
Max hung his camera over his shoulder and made for the door. The package was huge. Fifteen feet long and almost six feet high. Scribbling his signature, he stared at it for a good long while, drawing a crowd from inside the house. Not bothering to hide his powers, he cut a seam open and let the front fall off. His breath caught. He turned to Liz and she snapped off a picture of his face, a bright smile on hers. "You knew about this?"
"Of course." She pointed to a card sticking out of the X on the sign. "I think that's for you too."
Max fought tears as he grabbed the envelope and ripped it open. "It's from Kal." A card had Kal's name scribbled on the inside and under a flap was a check. Max couldn't breathe. Under the check was the lease to a shop in town. Max fell apart in front of the sign he'd just received. Max Evans Photography and Gallery.
"He thought you were ready." Liz whispered to him. "Are you happy?" All Max could do was nod. Then Tess knelt beside him and kissed his cheek.
Isabel looked to Jesse. "Did you know he wanted to do that?" Her husband shook his head.
Jeff cleared his throat. "He never thought he'd do it. Liz told me."
"Wow. Who knew a man could cry so hard." Maria whispered to her boyfriend.
"He's been waitin' a long time for this." Zan's voice caught their attention. "Leave him to it for a while. Come on. Back in the house."
Max took a while to catch his breath but finally he did. "He didn't stick around, did he?"
"I think he left before they got here." Liz nodded to him. "So, you're gonna do this?"
"Yeah." Max nodded and checked the card again. He kept looking for a contract he had to sign for a movie deal but there wasn't one. No strings attached. "Just when I start to think he can't possibly care about me and what I do…"
"I know." She leaned his head on her shoulder.
"He loves us, Max." Tess whispered. "Antarians aren't like Humans… he… just doesn't know how to tell us. He could have cut us loose when we turned 18… he could have given us away… he could have left us to die in that cave… but he took us home and he took care of us."
"All these years… I just… wanted him to tell me that he could agree with what I was doing…" Max sniffed.
"I know…" Liz nodded and kissed his head. "He… called me a week after Kayla was born. Asked if I thought you still wanted to do this. He didn't say anything else until two weeks ago. He asked me to look it over. See if you would like the font."
"It's perfect."
"Take a picture, Max. It's your life."
tbc
Now we're all caught up everywhere and I have yet to write Part 60 those it's been quite a while since this part was originally posted. I am trying. I think I thought there would only be two more parts but that could increase depending on how writing goes. '-) I guess we'll see.
Liz watched Max change Kayla's diaper. He made funny faces to make the baby smile and grimaces at what he cleaned up. He blew raspberries on her belly and his face lit up at her baby laugh. Kayla happily kicked her legs, trying to avoid a new diaper. Eventually, Max got both the diaper and her clothes on for her first Christmas Eve. Liz snapped a picture, getting her husband's attention.
"What are you doing?"
"Getting a couple of shots of my two favorite people seeing as you haven't picked up the camera since the day she was born." She snapped off a few more after Max K-Yed a bow to the top of her head.
"I just don't want to miss a second." He kissed Kayla's bald head. "Not even to reach for the camera."
"Mom's itching to hold her so you better get out there." Liz kissed them both. "Ava's here."
"Did she yell at you?"
"She wanted to. She's really offended to be the only hybrid on the planet without children of her own."
"She's just adjusting to life." He nodded that he'd be there in a minute. He just wanted one more moment alone with his daughter before she got handed around like an appetizer for everyone to pinch and kiss. "Mommy restrained herself because Grandma pinches. It's okay. She loves you and that's why she's going to try to eat you."
--
Max rocked Kayla to sleep while everyone partied their hearts out. Zan was running himself ragged trying to keep up with his kids, and looked thoroughly pleased to be doing so. Tess had dressed up Dev in a baby Santa suit that Nancy and Diane kept oohing and ahing over. Jesse Jr. kept Isabel on her toes, running after him and grabbing things out of his hands. When he glanced at Brock, she was sipping a concoction that looked oddly familiar. She caught his eye and shook her head at him that no, it wasn't what he was thinking. Ava seemed disgusted at the sheer amount of children underfoot but she wasn't rude when the occasional child toddled over to her or a very mature sounding Damien Murphy tried to hit on her. Michael had herded his stepson away with an apology to her and a light-hearted scolding to his wife's child. Alex was explaining to Mr. Parker exactly what it was he did for a living but Mr. Parker seemed a little lost. Ace and Anna were competing in some sort of game that Max had never seen before, and it looked like Anna was losing. He couldn't feel sorry for her. Michael had griped that the girl had been beating everyone at it for weeks. Philip and Jesse were talking politics with Kal and their conversations never raised above a whisper despite what their faces showed. Liz and Maria got caught up on Roswell news with Kyle, who hadn’t the chance at the wedding. Poor Drew kept checking his cell phone but it never rang.
"Whitman!" Kyle clapped the tall man on the back when he joined them. "You cannot truly be with that beauty. Tell me the truth. Are you paying her?"
"No, Jackie and I are quite serious." Alex nodded proudly to himself, then beamed at Liz. "How long has it been?"
"Um…" Liz rolled her eyes back in her head. "They met last Fourth and I don’t know when you started flying her down but… it’s been a year and almost six months since you were first introduced by yours truly."
"So, you got some hot friends for me?" Kyle pleaded.
"Hey! Alex flew to New Haven to see me… three times and you? I had to get shot in the head and you only made it up once since I’ve been better."
"Blah, blah. Don’t use that old I-was-in-a-coma-and-couldn't-enjoy-your-company excuse crap. I was here and sitting by your bedside, missy." Kyle turned back to Alex, moving the conversation right along. "Is it true your woman is the inspiration for Death on Wheels? Vapor?"
"Well…" Alex opened and closed his mouth, turning bright red. "Not the inspiration for the game but I did need a model for the main character and… I kind of wanted to see her again…"
Kyle shook his head from side to side. "What gives? I saw the game you did before that and the chick didn’t have near as many clothes."
"Well, you see… um…" He continued to turn various colors of red. "Originally, yeah, she was gonna be skimpily attired but when it came to skinning on her outfit… I… we had Aja with us and… I was thinking that someday he could be like… my son and I would be the guy who put his half-naked mother in a video game. So… against much advisement from my peers… I put clothes on her."
"Touching… you wuss."
"I don’t know…" Maria cleared her throat. "As sexist as that story started, it’s a little sweet… it’s also not the only reason she’s with him." She met Alex’s eye. "The cameraman at the wedding did not delete that last bit."
Alex nearly chocked on his eggnog. "Ok… now that I’m completely mortified, I’m going to go hide behind my girlfriend."
"Oh, come on, Alex. I edited it myself and I’m the only one who has a copy of the original." Liz pleaded. "I only showed it to Maria."
"Which is pretty much like broadcasting it on CNN." Alex shook his head.
"Hey, Alex." Max called over softly. "I have it on pretty good authority that she could have any guy she wanted. All sizes, all races, all tax brackets. She really liked you that day you met or else she would have never told you her real name. She thought you were something special… and you proved it by not plastering her ass on a game that Aja will eventually get his hands on."
Billy slapped Maria’s ass when he joined them. "I wouldn’t mind if my lady were in a video game. Not that I spend any sort of time playing with the way she runs me ragged."
"Thanks for weighing in but I don’t need approval from anyone." Alex crossed his arms.
“Honey, we talked about the ass slapping.” Maria scolded and then lowered her voice. “Only at home.”
“Too much information, Maria.” Kyle scoffed and turned to Liz. “So seriously. Hook me up.”
“Rumor has it you hooked up enough at the wedding.” Liz reached down and took her baby from her protesting husband. “Go play.”
“But…”
“Look. Boys. Go. Play.” Liz shooed him off. “Fix Kyle up with someone.”
“Well, which one of my exes didn’t you hook up with at the wedding?” Max relented reluctantly.
“How do you people find out about this stuff?” Kyle crossed his arms. “It was three girls… seven tops.”
“How do you go from three to seven?” Maria demanded, slapping a hand across his chest.
“Sometimes… dates aren’t really dates. I travel a lot.” Kyle defended himself weakly.
“Oh, I see.” Liz nodded to Max and jerked her head over to where Ava was showing Kathryn one of her tattoos.
“Perfect.” Max nodded and rose to take Kyle by the shoulders. “You asked me once to set you up with some of my L.A. ladies… and you’ve been through them. Now, I’d like you to meet a New York lady. I’m actually surprised the two of you didn’t meet at the wedding but sometimes she disappears before you even realize she’s there.” The two stopped in front of Ava and Kathryn. “Ava, I don’t think you’ve met Kyle before. Don’t worry, he won’t try to tie you down. I think he only wants to get in your pants.”
“Max, I didn’t know you cared.” Ava smiled and turned her eyes on Kyle. “Shorter than I normally go but I’ll try him out.”
“Thanks.” Kyle said to Max and then tilted his head. “Huh? Short?”
“Don’t hurt him, he’s one of Liz’s friends.” Max instructed the punk.
“It’ll be the good hurt. I promise.” She bit her lip. “So, Kyle, tell me what is it you do.”
“I’m a sports writer. I travel quite a bit.” He explained briefly.
“Huh, thanks, Max.” Ava chucked him on the shoulder and focused her attention on Kyle. “Travel a lot… so you don’t like to get attached, right?”
Max burst out laughing and returned to his group. Liz looked proud of herself. “What?”
“They’re perfect for each other.”
“They’ll use each other until they get tired.”
“Uh-huh. They’re both ready to settle down.” Liz protested.
“It’s a bet then.” Alex nodded. “I give it three weeks. When the holidays are over, they’re over.”
“Til New Years.” Max shook his head.
“I’m going for the long shot.” Liz beamed proudly.
“Jesse!” Max called over. “You might want to get in on this. You might make your money back from the last bet.”
“What’s the bet?” Jesse rose and approached quickly, getting his wife’s attention. They listened while the bet was explained to them. “The end of the week. Kyle’s exploits are widely known.”
“So are Ava’s.” Isabel nodded. “She’ll get itchy. Three days.”
--
“Sh…” Max whispered as he cornered his wife in the laundry room. “Your mom has the baby.”
“In the laundry room, right.” Liz shook her head as she changed her blouse then proceeded to soak her first blouse in the sink.
“Come on, they’ll never miss us.” Max wrapped his arms around her middle and nuzzled her neck. “I’ll turn on the spin cycle.”
“Come on, we should get back out there. They know it doesn’t take two of us to change my blouse.” Liz tilted her head to the side to allow him more access.
“How long has it been, Liz? Middle of October? Here we are at Christmas… It’d be a nice gift.”
“Max, I want to but you know how I feel about doing it with my parents in the same building.”
“This is the laundry room, it’s hardly the same building. And look here, there’s a lock on the door. Come on… the girls don’t want to hide.” He gestured to the straining button between her breasts. “Let them out. Let them play.”
“They are not a separate entity. They are an extension of me.”
“Two very lovely extensions. Have I told you how smoking hot you look today?”
“Well, yes but I do enjoy hearing it.”
“You, my dear.” Max picked her up and set her on the folding table. “Are so smoking hot that I have had to resist the temptation to rip all your clothes off and have my way with you all day.”
“Really?” Liz tilted her head back to allow him to kiss her throat. “If we do this… it has to be quick and quiet, understand?”
“I think you’re forgetting something.”
“What’s that?”
“Grandma’s on duty. We can take our time and… um… some of us don’t recover as fast as others.” Max ran his hands up her legs. “This is supposed to be good, clean, naughty fun and you make it sound like a chore.” Nudged open her blouse. “Am I a chore?”
“Yes… but one I always enjoying doing.” She slid her hands down between their bodies to aid in the removal of obstructing clothes. “And you can take that anyway you see fit.”
--
Jeff took his granddaughter and fought the urge to tear up. This little girl might not be in existence if not for her brave father and her strong mother. Nancy handed him the burp-rag and kissed his cheek. “Honey?”
“I’m okay.” He cleared his throat. “She’s beautiful.”
“I keep trying to get her a job but her parents protest.” Kal smacked his cigar but didn’t light it. “I could have her private school tuition paid for in three years and Max won’t hear of it.”
“Are they considering private school?” Nancy turned. She was still a little uncomfortable around the man… alien but she knew he honestly thought he was doing right by his charges.
“I’ve got her on the waiting list for a few of the most progressive schools and all Max has to do is agree to it when the time comes. Michael won’t let me move the step-kids to better schools but Zan’s kids and this one are all going to the best schools we can afford and if we can’t afford them…”
“Max makes another movie?” Nancy pursed her lips to hide a smile.
“Precisely. I’m glad her grandparents are so sensible. That boy…” Kal rolled his eyes in a very human gesture of annoyance. “He’s got talent and what does he do? Throws it away because he fancies himself an artist. Zan’s got the bug. He can’t stop himself. Little Aja is going to be a star. Just watch and see.”
“Is he getting started?”
“I do have the issue of his mother to get around but I’m working on her.”
“Who’s working me?” Ace popped up. “Not you. My baby’s not making movies. You left Zan to grow up in a sewer and you got Max all turned around so he doesn’t know if he’s comin’ or goin’. My baby is going to go to school like a normal person. He’s gonna be a teacher or a doctor or a lawyer.”
“How are you going to pay for law school? I don’t pay you enough.” Kal excused himself from the Parkers to follow the young woman. “Let me take him under my wing. We’ll get him into some movies. Some kiddie modeling and he’ll pay for his own law school and we can add him to the long list of presidents who used to be actors.”
“I let you put him in that private school because I know what crappy public schools are in my neighborhood. Let him be him. He’s not a little Kal.”
“Did you ask him? Maybe he wants to.” Kal slowed when she did. She turned to face him. “All you have to do is ask him.”
“You probably already got to him.” She reached out and caught Zan as he passed them. “You hear this? He wants to put your son to work. You gon let him?”
“You leavin’ it up to me?” That put some pause in him. If he gave her the wrong answer, it was a pretty safe bet that Aja and Ace could end up permanent Arizona residents and he’d never see his son. She crossed her arms and waited for his answer. “He’s goin’ to school and he’s doin’ real good…”
“Right. So… you gonna let Kal turn him into you… who never returns phone calls for three days. You already spoil him rotten, you gonna just let him get more—“
Zan covered her mouth with his hand and turned to Kal. “He goes to school like a normal kid. Anything you want him to do comes in the summer. If he ever says he wants to stop, it stops.” He released her mouth. “Is that okay with you?”
“Yeah, it’s cool.” She rolled her eyes when he kissed her cheek and vanished. She glared at Kal. “He’s too charming for his own good.”
“Why are you blaming me?”
“I don’t know who else to blame. I never met his daddy, now did I?”
Zan snuck up on his wife and earned a smack on the chest when he scared the daylights out of her. His punishment was to rock both the babies to sleep while she answered Kyle’s questions. She pinched Zan. “Isabel set us up. She didn’t tell me that what I saw in the magazines was really him. I thought he dressed that way for the movie he was making.”
“Confusion on the first date?”
“Much. I open my door in what I figured would be a casual dress. Up for whatever he had planned. I figured dinner or a club, you know? Then he shows up in… well… pretty much this.” She pointed to his torn jeans and long sleeved shirt, his scuffed boots sticking out of his pants. “I felt a little overdressed. Then I got all snobby and defensive when he asked if he could come in.”
“I like you snobby and defensive.” Zan teased her, sleepy children in his arms trying desperately to stay awake.
“Anyway.” She spared him a glance. “He takes me to his ‘favorite spot’ and that turns out to be a taco stand.”
“So you’re in a mildly expensive dress eating tacos on the sidewalk.”
“Right. I was a little pissed and every time I met his eyes, he seemed to be laughing at me. So every second that passed, I got a little angrier. So I struggled to find something to talk about… but being a snob, I figured he must not be educated at all so I started with Isabel. Then I find out, oh… he doesn’t know her that well at all. I was about five seconds from calling it off and finding my own way home when he says, ‘I don’t do this much. Take pretty ladies out of penthouses. I know a club where we won’t get mugged… if you like to dance.’ So, I figured why not… I did beg Isabel to set me up with someone that I only knew of from a tabloid magazine.” She kissed Zan’s cheek and wiped off her lipstick. “Don’t go getting a big head on me. Not so sure I’d beg now.”
Zan grinned smugly at Kyle. “She loves me.”
“Where’s the rest of the story?” Kyle pressed. “Come on. My editor thinks that it’s all a show and if I provide enough details, I get a crack at an exclusive next month.”
“Is that why you wanted to know?” Maria whacked Kyle with a Santa hat.
“Please finish the story.” He shrugged it off.
“I had fun at the club and I let him take me home and the rest is history.” Brock rolled her eyes and took a seat so she could take one of the babies who were starting to weigh down Zan’s arms.
“When you say ‘I let him take me home’ whose home are you talking about and was it just a kiss at the door and goodnight?” Maria pressed because Kyle had lost interest. “Or did you even make it to the bedroom before you ripped his clothes off?”
“My mother-in-law is in earshot.” Zan gave Maria a stern gaze.
“So? My mother asks me if Billy knows how to push my buttons… but in a more personal and embarrassing way.” She shook her head at him. “It’s just a question, all right? I mean… everyone in here has seen your ass on TV, we didn’t know you’d be a prude about your sex life.”
“My ass has never been on TV.” Zan protested and remembered he was putting his kids to sleep and lowered his voice. “If you have to know, I took her home with me and we spent all night talkin'.”
“Talking… or… ‘talkin'’.” Maria probed further.
“Where’s Liz?” Zan demanded of his wife, who glanced around and frowned.
“Max is missing, too.” Brock took a breath as she did the math. “Oh…”
“What?” Maria followed Brock’s gaze but that only led her to the baby across the room.
“Kayla spit up. Liz had to change her shirt.”
“Is that a mommy thing? How does that answer the question?”
“It’s a new parent thing.” Zan shook his head and kissed his daughter’s forehead. “They haven’t slept since October… or done nothin’ else.”
“O---oh.” Maria got it. “Geez… no wonder they’re taking forever. Billy and I could have done it a few times already. They must be getting in as much time as possible.”
“Or making it count.” Brock blushed a bright red when her husband’s eyes fixed on her. Scott whimpering in his sleep got her attention before she could get lost in the burning in his eyes.
"You guys seen Kal?" Michael butt in.
"He was around a minute ago." Zan shrugged.
"My mom wanted to ask him a question." Michael shrugged. "New question… you seen my wife's kid? Yea high, thinks he's hot shit?"
"You checked next to the blonde?" Kyle pointed to Ava who looked like she was about to smack Damien across the face.
"That kid… I'm getting gray hair." Michael charged his way over, ignoring the look his wife gave him.
Tess dialed her phone quickly and dropped it in Drew's lap before carrying her son to his crib for a nap, just as Max and Liz emerged, looking happy and content and surprisingly rested. She bit back a smile when Max scooped up his camera and began making his way around the room, fiddling with the zoom and snapping off a roll of film.
Max snapped pictures of grandparents and proud parents and single twenty-somethings hitting it off. The kids ran around. The dog barked and whined from his penned in room. The lights and decorations, the food (or what was left of it). Drew's telephone reunion with his parents. His very sexy wife and their very beautiful girl. When he turned to snap off a picture of Kal, he found the alien was no longer in the house.
A moment later, Liz came to get him. "There's a package at the door that you need to sign for."
"What is it?"
"I don't know. They wouldn't let me sign for it, much less open it."
Max hung his camera over his shoulder and made for the door. The package was huge. Fifteen feet long and almost six feet high. Scribbling his signature, he stared at it for a good long while, drawing a crowd from inside the house. Not bothering to hide his powers, he cut a seam open and let the front fall off. His breath caught. He turned to Liz and she snapped off a picture of his face, a bright smile on hers. "You knew about this?"
"Of course." She pointed to a card sticking out of the X on the sign. "I think that's for you too."
Max fought tears as he grabbed the envelope and ripped it open. "It's from Kal." A card had Kal's name scribbled on the inside and under a flap was a check. Max couldn't breathe. Under the check was the lease to a shop in town. Max fell apart in front of the sign he'd just received. Max Evans Photography and Gallery.
"He thought you were ready." Liz whispered to him. "Are you happy?" All Max could do was nod. Then Tess knelt beside him and kissed his cheek.
Isabel looked to Jesse. "Did you know he wanted to do that?" Her husband shook his head.
Jeff cleared his throat. "He never thought he'd do it. Liz told me."
"Wow. Who knew a man could cry so hard." Maria whispered to her boyfriend.
"He's been waitin' a long time for this." Zan's voice caught their attention. "Leave him to it for a while. Come on. Back in the house."
Max took a while to catch his breath but finally he did. "He didn't stick around, did he?"
"I think he left before they got here." Liz nodded to him. "So, you're gonna do this?"
"Yeah." Max nodded and checked the card again. He kept looking for a contract he had to sign for a movie deal but there wasn't one. No strings attached. "Just when I start to think he can't possibly care about me and what I do…"
"I know." She leaned his head on her shoulder.
"He loves us, Max." Tess whispered. "Antarians aren't like Humans… he… just doesn't know how to tell us. He could have cut us loose when we turned 18… he could have given us away… he could have left us to die in that cave… but he took us home and he took care of us."
"All these years… I just… wanted him to tell me that he could agree with what I was doing…" Max sniffed.
"I know…" Liz nodded and kissed his head. "He… called me a week after Kayla was born. Asked if I thought you still wanted to do this. He didn't say anything else until two weeks ago. He asked me to look it over. See if you would like the font."
"It's perfect."
"Take a picture, Max. It's your life."
tbc
Now we're all caught up everywhere and I have yet to write Part 60 those it's been quite a while since this part was originally posted. I am trying. I think I thought there would only be two more parts but that could increase depending on how writing goes. '-) I guess we'll see.
Apparently all I needed was to write and Author's Note to get me going. '-)
Part 60 – April 20, 2009
Max sat in the green room flipping through a week-old tabloid with his face on the cover. It was kind of silly. Zan's vow-renewal photos had taken up much of the space but Kayla had been described as Max's miracle baby. He idly wondered if Kal had spread that rumor. Liz's smile on page 25 made him grin even now. Dropping the magazine, he picked up the next and almost snorted. Zan and Brock at the wedding, his hand on her stomach. There were arrows pointing and captions suggesting that she had put on some weight and that the cause was a pregnancy. She was going to be livid when she saw that.
Dropping that on the table, he rose and followed the a.p. to the sound stage. He waved to his fans and blew a kiss to Kayla and Liz in the front row. Kal was around somewhere but Max hadn't seen him much since before his birthday.
"Welcome Max Evans, everyone!" the host gestured to a seat, which Max took and tried to smile. The lights were really blinding. "So, Max, this movie was shot quite a while ago, wasn't it?"
"It was… Over the holidays 2005 into the beginning of 2006." Max nodded and felt incredibly stupid.
"Why did it take so long for this movie to be completed?"
"I'm not entirely clear. It's been three years since we wrapped up. We filmed in New Zealand, beautiful country by the way, and I know there were going to be some really high-tech effects put into place. I know there were budget problems while we filmed. They kind of sheltered us from that but we could tell. I think the money issue hit them in the middle of the effects process and it had to be postponed until the money could be found to complete."
"So the bigwigs really thought this would be something if they took it off the shelf and dusted it off to complete after… a year?"
"20 months on the shelf is what they told me. Kal Langley handpicked this project for me to do and he wouldn't have pushed so hard if he didn't think it would be worth it. He doesn't waste his time."
"I understand you were undergoing a sort of personal drama around that time. My predecessor attributes his bad timing and you as the reason I now have my job." There was a chuckle from the crowd.
"I won't comment on that but yeah… It was a really bad time for me and I channeled it, I guess, into my acting… which… let's face it… is not nearly professional on the best of days."
"I have friends who would beg to differ. Would you care to discuss that drama?"
"I don't care to but um… I just read a bit about it in a magazine in the green room just now." Max sat up a little and his eyes shot to his wife and child in the front row. "My fiancée and I had been involved in a shooting. I got away with just a flesh wound and some blood loss but she was in a coma for months. She scared us a few times... The whole time I was in New Zealand… I thought of her everyday… only I didn't know that she had woken up the very day I boarded my plane for the film." He felt his throat closing up but he couldn't stop talking. "It's been very hard but we're married now. Both healthy and strong and we have a little girl."
"Is that them?" Liz's eyes widened when she realized they had turned a camera to capture her and the baby. The host went on. "Well, those are two lovely ladies. I think we can forgive your rather stingy treatment on our movie lists if you've got that kind of distraction at home. How old is that darling?"
"Six months. Kayla and I have lots of fun together."
"That's right. I was talking to Kal Langley earlier today… he told me that you are a stay at home dad."
"I try to be. I haven't made a movie since she was born. Liz is the hard-worker in our house." Max smiled at his ladies, so very proud of them both.
"What does she do?"
"She's a micro-biologist. She does have a specialty but I have trouble pronouncing it, so I don't." He could feel Liz shaking her head at him when he turned back to the host to answer the question.
"Kal also told me that you were about to release a book. Tell us about that. You wrote something?"
"I'm not a writer. I'm a photographer. It's taken me quite a while to get into the position I wanted to be in with that. I opened a gallery in January… to display my past works. I've put together an album of my pieces designed as a sort of coffee table thing."
"Famous people?"
"One or two in there but it's mostly pictures I've taken since I was 16. Some models and some landscapes. We'll see how that goes. We're excited about it."
"So you just… take pictures?"
"I used to carry my camera everywhere. I take pictures of everything. I just started a personal album of Kayla and I'm sure I'll have to make copies for the proud grandparents."
May 29, 2009
Max lay on the carpet next to Kayla's blanket. He took out his camera and shot several of her sleeping. She’d wake soon and then she’d try to rock herself off that blanket but right now she was still. Liz straddled his waist and rested her chin on his shoulder. "She's going to grow up thinking she's the most beautiful thing on the planet."
"And rightly so."
"Max?"
"Yeah?"
"Let's go fool around."
"I hate to turn down an offer like that but we’re going to be in the middle of things when she wakes up." Max rolled over to hold his wife. "Next weekend, we get a babysitter and I’ll take you to a fabulous hotel room and you bring that lab coat."
"You’re so gross." She pinched him lightly then soothed it with a kiss. "I don’t want to be away from my baby, I just want a little time with my husband."
"I promise I'll make it worth your while if you'll let me bring my camera."
"You don't need any more pictures of me."
"I need all pictures of you."
The phone rang, making them groan but Liz got up to answer it while Max put away his camera and kept an eye on his dozing angel. Pieces of Liz's conversation drifted to his ears. "Congratulations! How far along? … You could be a little happier…"
Max's cell phone danced happily on the coffee table and he took his time getting up to answer it. "Hello?"
"Hey."
"Congratulations."
"Yeah. I was… callin' to tell you but I guess Brock beat me to it." Zan breathed out.
"They're talking now. Where are you?"
"Banished to the balcony until further notice. Her mom has the kids. Aja's gone to camp… and I'm in trouble."
"Because you didn't tell her or because she is at all."
"Tried to tell her that I cain't help it sometimes. Love her too much."
"And then she banished you to the balcony? Did she even leave you your dog for company?"
"That's why I'm out here? Duke's in trouble too. Ate her new shoes." Zan crossed his arms and slid up on the ledge to watch his wife moving around in their apartment. "She's smiling now though." He watched her move, watched her hand settle on her belly and her laugh at something Liz was saying. "And laughing. Your wife. Magic."
"That she is." Max leaned on the table to look at his wife, so animated on the phone.
"I didn't plan it. It just happened. I want that clear. She's happy now but once we take away Liz's influence, I'm still in the doghouse with Duke."
"How often do you have these… accidents, Zan?"
"I don't know. Not every time but… you know how it is. She's movin' around and you're watchin' and it hits you really hard that you love her and that she actually loves you back for some insane reason. I cain't help it."
"When you least expect it."
"Right…"
"How deep are you?"
"Well, I didn't even know she thought she was pregnant and you know I never know stuff. She goes into the bathroom and she comes out bitin' my head off. Accusin' me of plannin' this and I didn't."
"I hear you. You can't plan it. The stars have to be aligned. You've got to be in the mood, she's got to be in the mood. There have to be swimmers and eggs and all at the same time." Max nodded.
"Right."
"Boy or girl?"
"Don't know yet."
Part 60 – April 20, 2009
Max sat in the green room flipping through a week-old tabloid with his face on the cover. It was kind of silly. Zan's vow-renewal photos had taken up much of the space but Kayla had been described as Max's miracle baby. He idly wondered if Kal had spread that rumor. Liz's smile on page 25 made him grin even now. Dropping the magazine, he picked up the next and almost snorted. Zan and Brock at the wedding, his hand on her stomach. There were arrows pointing and captions suggesting that she had put on some weight and that the cause was a pregnancy. She was going to be livid when she saw that.
Dropping that on the table, he rose and followed the a.p. to the sound stage. He waved to his fans and blew a kiss to Kayla and Liz in the front row. Kal was around somewhere but Max hadn't seen him much since before his birthday.
"Welcome Max Evans, everyone!" the host gestured to a seat, which Max took and tried to smile. The lights were really blinding. "So, Max, this movie was shot quite a while ago, wasn't it?"
"It was… Over the holidays 2005 into the beginning of 2006." Max nodded and felt incredibly stupid.
"Why did it take so long for this movie to be completed?"
"I'm not entirely clear. It's been three years since we wrapped up. We filmed in New Zealand, beautiful country by the way, and I know there were going to be some really high-tech effects put into place. I know there were budget problems while we filmed. They kind of sheltered us from that but we could tell. I think the money issue hit them in the middle of the effects process and it had to be postponed until the money could be found to complete."
"So the bigwigs really thought this would be something if they took it off the shelf and dusted it off to complete after… a year?"
"20 months on the shelf is what they told me. Kal Langley handpicked this project for me to do and he wouldn't have pushed so hard if he didn't think it would be worth it. He doesn't waste his time."
"I understand you were undergoing a sort of personal drama around that time. My predecessor attributes his bad timing and you as the reason I now have my job." There was a chuckle from the crowd.
"I won't comment on that but yeah… It was a really bad time for me and I channeled it, I guess, into my acting… which… let's face it… is not nearly professional on the best of days."
"I have friends who would beg to differ. Would you care to discuss that drama?"
"I don't care to but um… I just read a bit about it in a magazine in the green room just now." Max sat up a little and his eyes shot to his wife and child in the front row. "My fiancée and I had been involved in a shooting. I got away with just a flesh wound and some blood loss but she was in a coma for months. She scared us a few times... The whole time I was in New Zealand… I thought of her everyday… only I didn't know that she had woken up the very day I boarded my plane for the film." He felt his throat closing up but he couldn't stop talking. "It's been very hard but we're married now. Both healthy and strong and we have a little girl."
"Is that them?" Liz's eyes widened when she realized they had turned a camera to capture her and the baby. The host went on. "Well, those are two lovely ladies. I think we can forgive your rather stingy treatment on our movie lists if you've got that kind of distraction at home. How old is that darling?"
"Six months. Kayla and I have lots of fun together."
"That's right. I was talking to Kal Langley earlier today… he told me that you are a stay at home dad."
"I try to be. I haven't made a movie since she was born. Liz is the hard-worker in our house." Max smiled at his ladies, so very proud of them both.
"What does she do?"
"She's a micro-biologist. She does have a specialty but I have trouble pronouncing it, so I don't." He could feel Liz shaking her head at him when he turned back to the host to answer the question.
"Kal also told me that you were about to release a book. Tell us about that. You wrote something?"
"I'm not a writer. I'm a photographer. It's taken me quite a while to get into the position I wanted to be in with that. I opened a gallery in January… to display my past works. I've put together an album of my pieces designed as a sort of coffee table thing."
"Famous people?"
"One or two in there but it's mostly pictures I've taken since I was 16. Some models and some landscapes. We'll see how that goes. We're excited about it."
"So you just… take pictures?"
"I used to carry my camera everywhere. I take pictures of everything. I just started a personal album of Kayla and I'm sure I'll have to make copies for the proud grandparents."
May 29, 2009
Max lay on the carpet next to Kayla's blanket. He took out his camera and shot several of her sleeping. She’d wake soon and then she’d try to rock herself off that blanket but right now she was still. Liz straddled his waist and rested her chin on his shoulder. "She's going to grow up thinking she's the most beautiful thing on the planet."
"And rightly so."
"Max?"
"Yeah?"
"Let's go fool around."
"I hate to turn down an offer like that but we’re going to be in the middle of things when she wakes up." Max rolled over to hold his wife. "Next weekend, we get a babysitter and I’ll take you to a fabulous hotel room and you bring that lab coat."
"You’re so gross." She pinched him lightly then soothed it with a kiss. "I don’t want to be away from my baby, I just want a little time with my husband."
"I promise I'll make it worth your while if you'll let me bring my camera."
"You don't need any more pictures of me."
"I need all pictures of you."
The phone rang, making them groan but Liz got up to answer it while Max put away his camera and kept an eye on his dozing angel. Pieces of Liz's conversation drifted to his ears. "Congratulations! How far along? … You could be a little happier…"
Max's cell phone danced happily on the coffee table and he took his time getting up to answer it. "Hello?"
"Hey."
"Congratulations."
"Yeah. I was… callin' to tell you but I guess Brock beat me to it." Zan breathed out.
"They're talking now. Where are you?"
"Banished to the balcony until further notice. Her mom has the kids. Aja's gone to camp… and I'm in trouble."
"Because you didn't tell her or because she is at all."
"Tried to tell her that I cain't help it sometimes. Love her too much."
"And then she banished you to the balcony? Did she even leave you your dog for company?"
"That's why I'm out here? Duke's in trouble too. Ate her new shoes." Zan crossed his arms and slid up on the ledge to watch his wife moving around in their apartment. "She's smiling now though." He watched her move, watched her hand settle on her belly and her laugh at something Liz was saying. "And laughing. Your wife. Magic."
"That she is." Max leaned on the table to look at his wife, so animated on the phone.
"I didn't plan it. It just happened. I want that clear. She's happy now but once we take away Liz's influence, I'm still in the doghouse with Duke."
"How often do you have these… accidents, Zan?"
"I don't know. Not every time but… you know how it is. She's movin' around and you're watchin' and it hits you really hard that you love her and that she actually loves you back for some insane reason. I cain't help it."
"When you least expect it."
"Right…"
"How deep are you?"
"Well, I didn't even know she thought she was pregnant and you know I never know stuff. She goes into the bathroom and she comes out bitin' my head off. Accusin' me of plannin' this and I didn't."
"I hear you. You can't plan it. The stars have to be aligned. You've got to be in the mood, she's got to be in the mood. There have to be swimmers and eggs and all at the same time." Max nodded.
"Right."
"Boy or girl?"
"Don't know yet."
November 1, 2013
Max carefully combed the pigtails and carefully placed the bows and very carefully curled the ends. "Well?"
"When's Mommy coming home?" Little Kayla fought the urge to bounce while Daddy was combing her hair.
"After work. Don't worry, she'll be here in time for the party." Max turned his daughter and kissed her cheek.
"Daddy, don't. That's gross." She wiped her cheek with a grimace.
"Listen up, Kayla. I know we named you after Uncle Kal but you don't have to channel him."
"What?"
"Never mind. Go play. Don't get dirty." Max set her feet on the floor and she took off running. Taking a breath, he took a moment to straighten up her room before taking some dirty clothes down to the laundry room where he'd left his script. He read over a few lines as he sorted laundry but then he saw his daughter ride by on a dog and he had to go put her feet back on the ground. "Zan! You here!?"
"Sorry, man. Duke get into something?" Zan came around the corner. "What?"
"Just my kid nearly breaking her neck riding Duke like a horse." Max groaned but took a child from Zan's arms. "How's the movie going?
"I'm gonna kill Kal." Zan groaned and inhaled deeply. "Cake?"
"Baking. Tess will be back soon." Max nodded and took his niece from Zan. She was sleepy and pretending to be shy when just the weekend before, the little tyke had been singing at the top of her lungs for anyone who would listen. "Hey there, what's wrong?"
"Daddy says I cain't pway with Bitny at hers daddy's house."
"Why not?"
"Cause we hafta be here for Kaywa's birfday." Little Brett sniffed but didn't cry hugging her uncle around his neck.
"It's okay. You can play with Brittany some other day. Today, we're going to have a party with cake and toys." Max kissed her forehead before setting her on the ground.
"So, where's the little man?" Zan hopped up onto the counter and helped himself to some frosting.
"Taking a nap." Max blew out a breath. "I thought I could do this. I made two movies before Shane but… I can't even read my script now."
"Thought you were going to stop doin' that." Zan pointed a finger to his twins, who were trying to sneak past to the backyard. "If you get dirty before Mom shows up, I won't claim you."
"Where is Brock?"
"Shoppin' at that center… You know which one."
"Yeah." Max nodded that he did and hopped up on the counter to taste the frosting as well. "Liz loves that place."
"Birthday girl! Come here." Zan reached down and pulled the girl into his lap when she raced up. "You bein' good?"
"Uh-huh. Look it. Daddy got me a pretty new dress." She smiled brightly to sit and show off her ruffles.
"Very pretty, darlin'. How old?"
"Five."
"Gonna get lots of presents?"
"Yep!" Kayla bounced in his lap to kiss his cheek. "I'm gonna go play with Davis and Scott now."
"Don't leave out Brett!" Max called after her. She had escaped Zan's lap and was out the door in a blur of ruffles and curls. "I gotta check on the baby."
"I'll do it." Zan slid to his feet and caught the look on his brother's face. "I kinda miss it and Brock said absolutely no more." He shrugged as he backed out of the room. "I said I'd try to control myself."
Max just shook his head and got busy with the laundry once more. He was so engrossed in his script and the clothes that he didn't know anyone else had arrived until Devlin exploded into the laundry room. "Uncle Max! Mom said I gotta ask you if I can play with your videogames!"
"No shouting." Max rolled his eyes and gathered his script to join everyone else. "Only if you take turns." Tess was already putting the cake together in the kitchen. "Hey there, lovely."
"Who ate my frosting?" She asked without looking up from her art.
"It was Zan." Max kissed her cheek lightly. "Where's your human half?"
"He got held up. Kal's working on some big deal." Tess shrugged and smoothed the frosting over the cake and examined her tools. "So, did she decide? Clowns or balloons?"
"She changed her mind again. I think she wanted a pony."
"A pony it is." Tess nodded and dropped some dye in her leftover frosting. She hummed as she worked. Max studied his script half-heartedly and finally looked up at his sister. She just smiled and ducked her head. "I'm pregnant."
"Congratulations." Max moved around to hug her.
"When did he tell you?" Tess shoved him away playfully.
"Last week. I was just waiting to see when you were going to tell me."
"When are you going to tell Kal you're in his movie?"
"Thought about five minutes before first call." He smiled broadly and exited the kitchen to find his son. The tyke was playing with his Uncle Zan on the floor in the den. Colored rings and plastic spikes littered the ground around them. "Hey there, Shane." He scooped up his son to kiss his face. "Are we having fun?" All he got was a toothless smile. "How long have you been awake?"
"About an hour." Zan answered as he pulled the toys out from underfoot. "He had a bottle of water already."
"That's good. I gotta get him cleaned up before Liz gets home. You okay to wrangle the kids for dinner?"
"I'm on it." Zan nodded and paused before he left the room. "You okay, man?"
"Yeah. Feeling a little old today."
"You're only 30, man."
Zan got all the kids washed for dinner and had them help set the table. Max kept Shane on his hip while he moved around getting the finishing touches made to the table. The front door opened and Liz walked in with Brock.
"Happy Birthday, baby!" Liz exclaimed and swept their daughter into her arms.
"Mommy! You're here!" Kayla squealed happily.
"Of course I am. I told you I would be here in time for your party. Did I miss anything?"
"No. We's gonna eat now."
"Hey Brock." Max hugged the red-head and waited while Brock kissed and pinched Shane.
"Hey Max. Hey there handsome." Brock couldn't resist kissing Shane again.
"Mommy!" Brett called out. "Scott and Davis was mean to me!"
"No, we weren't." The twins exclaimed in unison. "We didn't touch her."
"Enough." Brock shushed them. "It's dinner time."
"Okay." Liz sat Kayla in her chair and took a seat next to her. "What are we having for dinner?"
"Pineapple and red pepper and tomato pizza!" Kayla whooped. "Aunt Tess said."
"And I never lie." Tess announced as she swept into the room to set two large pizzas on the table. "Perfect timing ladies."
"Where's Dad?"
"My plate is too small."
"I'm not hungry."
"I want cake."
Max let out a whistle to silence the loud children's voices. "Eat up, kids. Plates are all the same size. Cake comes after pizza and if you want cake, you have to eat pizza."
Liz leaned up to kiss her husband. "Hi. Sorry you got stuck with the fiesta planning." She took her son from Max and plastered his chubby face with kisses. "What did you do, grow while I was at work?"
"Daddy, my pizza's too hot." Kayla pouted. Max waved his fingers and the steam dissipated. She tested it with the tip of a finger before grabbing the slice and taking a huge bite. "Tonk oo."
"Don't talk with your mouth full." Liz chided lightly.
The kids got busy munching while the adults got caught up with each other. Max sat next to his wife and ate in peace while he could because at any second, Shane would start grabbing for Liz's dinner and would be handed off.
"Hey Dad. When is the new movie gonna be finished?" Scott picked at his pizza listlessly.
"Hopefully before Thanksgivin'." Zan answered his son. "What's up?"
"You said we could go see Aja if the movie got done in time."
Zan fell silent for a moment. Max thought he saw his eyes shine for moment before Brock took his hand in hers. "Yeah. If we get done next week, I'll make it happen."
"Cool." Scott went back to his pizza and shared a nod with his twin.
"How does he like it over there?" Liz asked carefully. "Sun Devils in his future?"
Zan sniffed slightly and dropped his slice of pizza. He wasn't really hungry anymore. "He says his private school in Phoenix is just like the one here. Said he got a tan last weekend if you can believe that. Tannin' in October. His agent is finding him small stuff that he can do on the weekends… it's easier since he's over nearer to L.A. now. Says Kal drops in once a month to see how he's doin'. He's thinkin' of joinin' the basketball team but that Ace doesn't want to see his grades drop. He doesn't even really think he'll make the team because he's so much shorter than everyone else."
"He also said he misses New York." Brock jumped in. "He hasn't had a Thanksgiving without Zan since he was four. Ace says he mopes around after school most days. The kids think he's stuck up. After the first week of school, he called crying to come stay with us, permanently."
"He's twelve. He's still young. He'll adjust." Liz offered weakly.
"He actually misses these guys if you can believe it." Zan tried to cheer up and chucked his second son on the shoulder. "These guys miss their big brother." He cleared his throat. "It's not even that he doesn't get a chance from the other kids… he's 12… and in high school."
"Oh, right…" Liz wished she could reach across the table to hug Zan. "In four years, you'll see. He'll graduate at 16 and go to college and no one will care about his first semester over there."
"I just wish I could have been there for his birthday. Alex tried to make it good for him but… I should have found a way to be there. Kal's just been ridin' my ass."
The doorbell rang, disrupting the conversation and getting the attention back on the birthday girl. Liz got up to answer it with Shane. Max scooted over to wipe pizza sauce off Kayla's face. She protested and turned her face away. "I can do it."
"Just come here." Max turned her face so he could get at the tomatoey smear.
Liz came back with a package. "Kayla, Uncle Kal sent you a present."
"Can I open it?" She bounced in her seat. "Can I? Just this one?"
"Just one." Max cleared his throat and took Shane so Liz could sit and finish eating. Everyone watched as Kayla ripped off the brown paper and tossed the card aside. Liz snatched that up and held onto it as Kayla worked on the birthday paper on the box. Inside was a shirt and pants.
"Aw man… Clothes." Kayla whined but pulled them out to show everyone.
Brock sat up and peered across the table. "Those are riding clothes."
"Riding what?" Max plucked the card out of Liz's hand and ripped it open. A picture fell out. "'To the birthday girl, One riding shirt and a pair of riding pants to go with your helmet and your very own pony waiting for you at the Equestrian Academy down the road. Love, Uncle Kal. P.S. Don't fall off.'"
"A pony!" Kayla exclaimed and rushed over to hug her parents. She picked up the picture and waved it around. "Uncle Kal got me a pony! Daddy! Let's go see her."
"Tomorrow." Max sighed. He was going to kill Kal. "Come on. We'll have some cake and then open the rest of your presents."
--
Max set down his camera and went to check on the ladies cleaning up in the kitchen. He kissed his wife and watched her rinse the pizza pans. "Are you going to let her?"
"I can't exactly tell her no, can I? He didn't even ask."
"It's not like it's a horse. It's a pony. I'm sure they have plenty of competent instructors and groomers or he would have never got her one." Max pleaded his daughter's case.
"You know, I was four when I took riding lessons… and Mom got me started on a horse." Brock leapt it. "Accidents do happen but if this is the Academy that I'm thinking of… it's very well-staffed and she would be lucky to get her pony stabled there."
"Do you own a horse?" Max crossed his arms at the red-head.
"Not anymore. We sold him when I got too busy to go out and ride him anymore. I had the same horse the whole time. We sent him to pasture in the country."
"She can try it." Liz cleared her throat. "She can only go when one of us is available to go with her. We'll go tomorrow to check it out but I make no promises. I can't believe she asked him for a pony… and that he got her one!"
"Liz, it'll be okay. Maybe she won't even like it." Max pulled her close and ignored Brock's snort before the woman exited the kitchen. "Maybe she'll get bored of it really fast."
"I'm going to have very strong words with that alien." Liz sighed and leaned back into her husband as she dried her hands.
"And I'm not going to stop you but… we can't tell her she can't try it. He put us on the spot. We'll go tomorrow… unless you have to go back to the lab."
"No. I got the message across that I am not to be disturbed this weekend for any reason, whatsoever." She kissed his lips softly. "How's the script coming?"
"I may actually get to finish reading it with you home."
"I don't think so, mister. When we aren't following ponies and changing diapers… you are going to be my little sex slave."
"I think I can deal with that."
"You really want to make that movie?"
"Need some new pictures. I've never been to Montana before. I hear the view is spectacular."
"When are they starting?"
"After the new year."
"Come on. Let's get to the party before our reputation takes another hit."
tbc
Max carefully combed the pigtails and carefully placed the bows and very carefully curled the ends. "Well?"
"When's Mommy coming home?" Little Kayla fought the urge to bounce while Daddy was combing her hair.
"After work. Don't worry, she'll be here in time for the party." Max turned his daughter and kissed her cheek.
"Daddy, don't. That's gross." She wiped her cheek with a grimace.
"Listen up, Kayla. I know we named you after Uncle Kal but you don't have to channel him."
"What?"
"Never mind. Go play. Don't get dirty." Max set her feet on the floor and she took off running. Taking a breath, he took a moment to straighten up her room before taking some dirty clothes down to the laundry room where he'd left his script. He read over a few lines as he sorted laundry but then he saw his daughter ride by on a dog and he had to go put her feet back on the ground. "Zan! You here!?"
"Sorry, man. Duke get into something?" Zan came around the corner. "What?"
"Just my kid nearly breaking her neck riding Duke like a horse." Max groaned but took a child from Zan's arms. "How's the movie going?
"I'm gonna kill Kal." Zan groaned and inhaled deeply. "Cake?"
"Baking. Tess will be back soon." Max nodded and took his niece from Zan. She was sleepy and pretending to be shy when just the weekend before, the little tyke had been singing at the top of her lungs for anyone who would listen. "Hey there, what's wrong?"
"Daddy says I cain't pway with Bitny at hers daddy's house."
"Why not?"
"Cause we hafta be here for Kaywa's birfday." Little Brett sniffed but didn't cry hugging her uncle around his neck.
"It's okay. You can play with Brittany some other day. Today, we're going to have a party with cake and toys." Max kissed her forehead before setting her on the ground.
"So, where's the little man?" Zan hopped up onto the counter and helped himself to some frosting.
"Taking a nap." Max blew out a breath. "I thought I could do this. I made two movies before Shane but… I can't even read my script now."
"Thought you were going to stop doin' that." Zan pointed a finger to his twins, who were trying to sneak past to the backyard. "If you get dirty before Mom shows up, I won't claim you."
"Where is Brock?"
"Shoppin' at that center… You know which one."
"Yeah." Max nodded that he did and hopped up on the counter to taste the frosting as well. "Liz loves that place."
"Birthday girl! Come here." Zan reached down and pulled the girl into his lap when she raced up. "You bein' good?"
"Uh-huh. Look it. Daddy got me a pretty new dress." She smiled brightly to sit and show off her ruffles.
"Very pretty, darlin'. How old?"
"Five."
"Gonna get lots of presents?"
"Yep!" Kayla bounced in his lap to kiss his cheek. "I'm gonna go play with Davis and Scott now."
"Don't leave out Brett!" Max called after her. She had escaped Zan's lap and was out the door in a blur of ruffles and curls. "I gotta check on the baby."
"I'll do it." Zan slid to his feet and caught the look on his brother's face. "I kinda miss it and Brock said absolutely no more." He shrugged as he backed out of the room. "I said I'd try to control myself."
Max just shook his head and got busy with the laundry once more. He was so engrossed in his script and the clothes that he didn't know anyone else had arrived until Devlin exploded into the laundry room. "Uncle Max! Mom said I gotta ask you if I can play with your videogames!"
"No shouting." Max rolled his eyes and gathered his script to join everyone else. "Only if you take turns." Tess was already putting the cake together in the kitchen. "Hey there, lovely."
"Who ate my frosting?" She asked without looking up from her art.
"It was Zan." Max kissed her cheek lightly. "Where's your human half?"
"He got held up. Kal's working on some big deal." Tess shrugged and smoothed the frosting over the cake and examined her tools. "So, did she decide? Clowns or balloons?"
"She changed her mind again. I think she wanted a pony."
"A pony it is." Tess nodded and dropped some dye in her leftover frosting. She hummed as she worked. Max studied his script half-heartedly and finally looked up at his sister. She just smiled and ducked her head. "I'm pregnant."
"Congratulations." Max moved around to hug her.
"When did he tell you?" Tess shoved him away playfully.
"Last week. I was just waiting to see when you were going to tell me."
"When are you going to tell Kal you're in his movie?"
"Thought about five minutes before first call." He smiled broadly and exited the kitchen to find his son. The tyke was playing with his Uncle Zan on the floor in the den. Colored rings and plastic spikes littered the ground around them. "Hey there, Shane." He scooped up his son to kiss his face. "Are we having fun?" All he got was a toothless smile. "How long have you been awake?"
"About an hour." Zan answered as he pulled the toys out from underfoot. "He had a bottle of water already."
"That's good. I gotta get him cleaned up before Liz gets home. You okay to wrangle the kids for dinner?"
"I'm on it." Zan nodded and paused before he left the room. "You okay, man?"
"Yeah. Feeling a little old today."
"You're only 30, man."
Zan got all the kids washed for dinner and had them help set the table. Max kept Shane on his hip while he moved around getting the finishing touches made to the table. The front door opened and Liz walked in with Brock.
"Happy Birthday, baby!" Liz exclaimed and swept their daughter into her arms.
"Mommy! You're here!" Kayla squealed happily.
"Of course I am. I told you I would be here in time for your party. Did I miss anything?"
"No. We's gonna eat now."
"Hey Brock." Max hugged the red-head and waited while Brock kissed and pinched Shane.
"Hey Max. Hey there handsome." Brock couldn't resist kissing Shane again.
"Mommy!" Brett called out. "Scott and Davis was mean to me!"
"No, we weren't." The twins exclaimed in unison. "We didn't touch her."
"Enough." Brock shushed them. "It's dinner time."
"Okay." Liz sat Kayla in her chair and took a seat next to her. "What are we having for dinner?"
"Pineapple and red pepper and tomato pizza!" Kayla whooped. "Aunt Tess said."
"And I never lie." Tess announced as she swept into the room to set two large pizzas on the table. "Perfect timing ladies."
"Where's Dad?"
"My plate is too small."
"I'm not hungry."
"I want cake."
Max let out a whistle to silence the loud children's voices. "Eat up, kids. Plates are all the same size. Cake comes after pizza and if you want cake, you have to eat pizza."
Liz leaned up to kiss her husband. "Hi. Sorry you got stuck with the fiesta planning." She took her son from Max and plastered his chubby face with kisses. "What did you do, grow while I was at work?"
"Daddy, my pizza's too hot." Kayla pouted. Max waved his fingers and the steam dissipated. She tested it with the tip of a finger before grabbing the slice and taking a huge bite. "Tonk oo."
"Don't talk with your mouth full." Liz chided lightly.
The kids got busy munching while the adults got caught up with each other. Max sat next to his wife and ate in peace while he could because at any second, Shane would start grabbing for Liz's dinner and would be handed off.
"Hey Dad. When is the new movie gonna be finished?" Scott picked at his pizza listlessly.
"Hopefully before Thanksgivin'." Zan answered his son. "What's up?"
"You said we could go see Aja if the movie got done in time."
Zan fell silent for a moment. Max thought he saw his eyes shine for moment before Brock took his hand in hers. "Yeah. If we get done next week, I'll make it happen."
"Cool." Scott went back to his pizza and shared a nod with his twin.
"How does he like it over there?" Liz asked carefully. "Sun Devils in his future?"
Zan sniffed slightly and dropped his slice of pizza. He wasn't really hungry anymore. "He says his private school in Phoenix is just like the one here. Said he got a tan last weekend if you can believe that. Tannin' in October. His agent is finding him small stuff that he can do on the weekends… it's easier since he's over nearer to L.A. now. Says Kal drops in once a month to see how he's doin'. He's thinkin' of joinin' the basketball team but that Ace doesn't want to see his grades drop. He doesn't even really think he'll make the team because he's so much shorter than everyone else."
"He also said he misses New York." Brock jumped in. "He hasn't had a Thanksgiving without Zan since he was four. Ace says he mopes around after school most days. The kids think he's stuck up. After the first week of school, he called crying to come stay with us, permanently."
"He's twelve. He's still young. He'll adjust." Liz offered weakly.
"He actually misses these guys if you can believe it." Zan tried to cheer up and chucked his second son on the shoulder. "These guys miss their big brother." He cleared his throat. "It's not even that he doesn't get a chance from the other kids… he's 12… and in high school."
"Oh, right…" Liz wished she could reach across the table to hug Zan. "In four years, you'll see. He'll graduate at 16 and go to college and no one will care about his first semester over there."
"I just wish I could have been there for his birthday. Alex tried to make it good for him but… I should have found a way to be there. Kal's just been ridin' my ass."
The doorbell rang, disrupting the conversation and getting the attention back on the birthday girl. Liz got up to answer it with Shane. Max scooted over to wipe pizza sauce off Kayla's face. She protested and turned her face away. "I can do it."
"Just come here." Max turned her face so he could get at the tomatoey smear.
Liz came back with a package. "Kayla, Uncle Kal sent you a present."
"Can I open it?" She bounced in her seat. "Can I? Just this one?"
"Just one." Max cleared his throat and took Shane so Liz could sit and finish eating. Everyone watched as Kayla ripped off the brown paper and tossed the card aside. Liz snatched that up and held onto it as Kayla worked on the birthday paper on the box. Inside was a shirt and pants.
"Aw man… Clothes." Kayla whined but pulled them out to show everyone.
Brock sat up and peered across the table. "Those are riding clothes."
"Riding what?" Max plucked the card out of Liz's hand and ripped it open. A picture fell out. "'To the birthday girl, One riding shirt and a pair of riding pants to go with your helmet and your very own pony waiting for you at the Equestrian Academy down the road. Love, Uncle Kal. P.S. Don't fall off.'"
"A pony!" Kayla exclaimed and rushed over to hug her parents. She picked up the picture and waved it around. "Uncle Kal got me a pony! Daddy! Let's go see her."
"Tomorrow." Max sighed. He was going to kill Kal. "Come on. We'll have some cake and then open the rest of your presents."
--
Max set down his camera and went to check on the ladies cleaning up in the kitchen. He kissed his wife and watched her rinse the pizza pans. "Are you going to let her?"
"I can't exactly tell her no, can I? He didn't even ask."
"It's not like it's a horse. It's a pony. I'm sure they have plenty of competent instructors and groomers or he would have never got her one." Max pleaded his daughter's case.
"You know, I was four when I took riding lessons… and Mom got me started on a horse." Brock leapt it. "Accidents do happen but if this is the Academy that I'm thinking of… it's very well-staffed and she would be lucky to get her pony stabled there."
"Do you own a horse?" Max crossed his arms at the red-head.
"Not anymore. We sold him when I got too busy to go out and ride him anymore. I had the same horse the whole time. We sent him to pasture in the country."
"She can try it." Liz cleared her throat. "She can only go when one of us is available to go with her. We'll go tomorrow to check it out but I make no promises. I can't believe she asked him for a pony… and that he got her one!"
"Liz, it'll be okay. Maybe she won't even like it." Max pulled her close and ignored Brock's snort before the woman exited the kitchen. "Maybe she'll get bored of it really fast."
"I'm going to have very strong words with that alien." Liz sighed and leaned back into her husband as she dried her hands.
"And I'm not going to stop you but… we can't tell her she can't try it. He put us on the spot. We'll go tomorrow… unless you have to go back to the lab."
"No. I got the message across that I am not to be disturbed this weekend for any reason, whatsoever." She kissed his lips softly. "How's the script coming?"
"I may actually get to finish reading it with you home."
"I don't think so, mister. When we aren't following ponies and changing diapers… you are going to be my little sex slave."
"I think I can deal with that."
"You really want to make that movie?"
"Need some new pictures. I've never been to Montana before. I hear the view is spectacular."
"When are they starting?"
"After the new year."
"Come on. Let's get to the party before our reputation takes another hit."
tbc
Part 61
Part 61 – November 28, 2014
Liz crossed her arms and glared at the alien sneaking lemons in her kitchen. "She is only five years old."
"What's so bad? She wanted a pony and I got her a pony." Kal scoffed at her.
"You aren't going to be the one taking her and watching her and scheduling her lessons next year when she's going to school full time."
"Can I have my lemonade?" He gestured to the path she blocked.
"No." Liz leaned back on the refrigerator.
"Did she like the pony?"
"Of course, she did. She's five and it was a frickin' pony."
"Did she like the lessons?"
"Yes but that's not the point, Kal. You're supposed to consult us BEFORE making a purchase like this for our child."
"You should have asked, Uncle Kal." Tess nodded, joining in the reprimand.
"Her being happy is beside the point, Kal. It's a pony. She has to learn to take care of it and learn to ride is and I am responsible for making sure she does."
"Max is the housewife. He'll do it." Kal rolled his eyes.
"He's leaving after Christmas to make your movie." Liz blurted out.
"Pardon me? Max hasn't made a movie for me since before Shane was born."
"Well, who is going to take Kayla to Equestrian lessons while Max is in Egypt?"
"He's doing the Egypt picture?"
"What is wrong with you? Are you deaf or dumb? Max is doing a movie for YOU! He's doing the Egypt picture! Who is taking Kayla to Equestrian lessons? Are you going to pick her up from pre-school and take her? Do NOT think those things at ME!"
"So he's going to make my movie?"
"Yes!"
"Then I'll take care of the kids while he's gone."
"Personally?"
"No so much."
"Then forget it."
"How am I going to make a movie in Egypt and take care of your kids at the same time?"
"Figure it out, genius."
Kal stood there for a moment and looked to Tess. "He's going to make the movie?"
"He's been carrying around that script for a month now." Tess shrugged. "I think that's a pretty sure indication. Then there’s that other one he was carrying around."
“Which other one?” Kal froze in his tracks.
“I don’t know. He was saying something about Montana at her party.”
May 30, 2014
The Evans clapped proudly as the young woman crossed the stage to receive her diploma. They were, of course, drowned out by the Miles seated in the row in front of them.
--
Max shook hands with friends of the Miles family as they were introduced. Liz was somewhere chatting with Mrs. Miles. Finally, Max found the proud graduate. "So, I hear that someone is engaged."
"Yes, sir, Mr. Evans." She blushed a little, her eyes sliding to the young man talking with her father. "We want to get married next year."
"What other plans were you making?"
"Oh, I hear about my graduate study soon and I think I've got a scholarship in the bag. I had wanted to join the reserves but Mom said no." Patty Miles gushed to her father's employer. "Dad agreed. He wants me to pursue a minor in art to help him figure out what's going on in that gallery of yours."
"We could probably use you." Max laughed and pulled two envelopes from his pocket. "One is from Liz and I and the other is from Mr. Langley. Use it for college or for the wedding. Whichever."
Her jaw dropped as she ripped open the envelopes and stared at the numbers. "Oh, Mr. Evans! Thank you!" She hugged him quickly before rushing over to exclaim to her fiancé and her father.
Liz slipped her arms around her husband. "I remember meeting her. She was 16 and very responsible and very curious. Carefree, worry-free and had no clue the moron she was dating would dump her by Christmas."
"I met her when she was 13 or 14 and convinced that the world could no longer continue to spin because Buffy was off the air and Angel was getting canceled."
"She was a Buffy-girl?"
"Once upon a time, yes, Angela Miles was a Buffy-girl. Look who her mother is. She came out of the womb looking to kick some ass." Max waved to Miles who nodded in appreciation of the gift.
"I'm really surprised she didn't enlist. I think she had said she wanted to." Liz led her husband to the food table to find a nibble.
"Mary wouldn't have it."
"Ah… um… why not?"
"Angie wanted to join the reserves. I think it's a rivalry thing. Mary's never really left the Marines behind." He bid farewell to the Miles family and steered Liz out the door and down the street to their home where they had left Kal in charge of the little ones.
They found Kayla on a cell phone and Kal talking on two others while Shane stared up at them from the carpet where his toys were spread around. Kayla only waved to her parents. "Uncle Kal says no because the pictures don't look real enough. Theys look funny… he's busy and he said I hafta talk to you… They look stupid… Five… I don't wanna watch it. I don't like it… because I said. They look stupid." Finally the little girl got fed up and got to her feet. "Shut up, poopy head…" She handed the phone off to her father and skipped out of the room to find something else to amuse her.
"Hello?" Max sat to watch Liz get down on the floor to play with Shane. He listened for a bit. "What I think she was trying to say is that the CGI still looks plastiquey… I haven't seen it myself but as I understand it, she is your target audience. If she isn't amused by your little characters, then you've got a problem. These kids are exposed to better things now. Sesame street puppet strings are obvious and a turn off for adults. Your mistake is assuming children are stupid… I realize that but they notice more than you think… I am not saying to make it a movie with three-D glasses. That's hokey. Just smooth out your work. Kal isn't going to like it…"
Max followed Liz's gaze when she motioned him to turn around. Kayla had climbed into Kal's lap, and he had let her. He even handed off one of his phones to the girl so he could keep her small body from falling off.
"If Kal wants to put the decision in the hands of a five-year-old, you should take heed. Kal knows what he's doing." Max hung up the phone and joined his wife to watch the two Kals work. "She's good. She had him completely flustered."
"Look at her. I don’t think she's ever spent so much time with him and now look." Liz was awed by her little girl. "He's not even bothered by her."
"He got used to her in Egypt." Max nodded and kissed her lips softly. "How much did you miss us?"
"Oh, terribly. Next time, I get to go to Egypt, too. Was she horrible?"
"She loved it."
"I'll bet. It's good to have you home."
“Did you put in?” Max nuzzled her neck.
“I did. I’ll go spend a week in tranquility with you.” She brushed his lips softly.
Max jerked when he felt a bite on his leg. “Hey.” He reached forward for the baby. “Did you miss me? No need to bite.”
“He’s teething.” Liz sighed. “Show Daddy your teeth.” Shane refused so she tickled him into a laughing fit to show off his little white nubbin teeth.
“Those little things hurt my leg?” Max winced mentally at the thought. When he turned to Liz, he found her quiet and staring at their Kals working at the desk. “Liz?”
“Sh.” She whispered, watching Kal watch Kayla. “He’s wishing he had known to be closer to you and Tess. He loves her. He gets happy when she looks at him because she really likes him. Meanness and all.”
“Quit reading his thoughts.” Max whispered but couldn’t help feel a pang. He knew he had missed things growing up but he had figured aliens didn’t get those things. He hadn’t known those things could be taught or acquired. He swallowed down his grievances and looked down into the face that had given him all he had been missing. “Did I tell you? They cast my son in the movie.”
“Really? Who’d you get?”
Max burst out laughing. “Aja.”
“Really?”
“It starts filming before school lets out but his scenes won’t come until after, so it’s all good. It’s gonna be weird. I hope Zan doesn’t kick my ass.”
May 28, 2015
The noise from the audience died down and the host just stared at Max for a moment. “I love this movie. I’m not going to wait for you to bring it up. It comes out next Friday, nationwide, and I think it is your personal best and you know I love the one from a few years back. I don’t have you on this show often enough.”
“I had fun on this one. I had never really ridden a horse before. I actually had to take lessons from my daughter who was five at the time.” Max admitted.
“I find that hard to believe. You looked like a pro. I noticed something and I didn’t ask anyone yet but the young man who played your son bears a striking resemblance to you. I waited through the credits for his name. He was listed as Alvaro Acevedo… but the resemblance is remarkable.”
“It’s funny you should say that.” Max cleared his throat. “He’s here with me tonight. Maybe he should break the news.”
“Sure. I’d love to have him.”
“Aja?” Max turned to the front row where the teen was seated with Liz, Ace and Brock. He loped up onto the stage and took a seat between his uncle and the host.
“This is impromptu and a first for this show in my reign. Two interviews in one without the hassle of scheduling them that way. Alvaro Acevedo, how old are you?”
“I’m 13.” Aja cleared his throat as his voice cracked under the pressure.
“Max, you dog.”
“Ask him your question.” Max insisted.
“Alright. Alvaro is it?”
“I go by Aja.” The teen answered.
“Aja, what can you tell me about your relationship with Max Evans?” The host pressed.
“He’s my uncle.”
The audience roared with laughter when the host looked abashed. He propped his chin on his hand and shook his head. “I was asking for that. Assuming things the way I always do. So. Your father is none other than the great Zan.”
“I just call him Dad. Mom and Brock might not like it if we all started calling him the Great Zan.”
“What’s it like being the son of Emory ‘Zan’ Zannamen?”
“Pretty cool, I guess. My friends think it’s cool that he’s in all these action movies but what they think is cooler is my Mom is in Death on Wheels.” Aja shrugged hopelessly.
“Death on Wheels?” The host shook his head and looked to the producer, who shrugged.
“It’s a video game that came out a few years back.” Max explained. “Back when this kid was waist-high, his mother posed to be in a video game. It’s really popular with gamers.”
“Small world. A small, small world.” The host sat up. “So, you’re both in this cowboy movie. Best Western that I’ve seen in years playing father and son but really uncle and nephew. Was that hard?”
“Not really.” Aja took over the interview. “We keep pretty close. Uncle Max took me to Dad’s first premiere when I was four. I’ve been wanting to make a movie but I had to wait until something came up in the summer. Mom and Dad don’t want me to miss school.”
“I’m reading your stats here.” The host tapped a screen in front of him that no one else could see. “It has your birthday as September 11, 2001. Are you aware of the significance of that date?”
Max cleared his throat as a low warning to the host, who sat up to wait and see what Aja would say. Max flicked his gaze to the front row where Ace was bravely trying to show that it didn't matter to her what the date was or what had happened because that was the day her son was born. Aja furrowed his brow and looked to Uncle Max before opening his mouth. “I know that was a pretty horrific day. Mom and Dad were supposed to meet at the World Trade Center on the floor where they had originally met. Mom said it was pretty early in the morning and she had just gotten to the second or third floor when her water broke. She got rushed to the hospital. Dad was there looking for her but he had just missed the ambulance.”
“Holy Smokes! Are you telling me that Zan is one of the very few survivors of the 9/11 Tragedy?”
“He managed to get out before it collapsed. When I was seven, he took me to see the monument and he told me the story. I’m very lucky to be alive.”
“Wow. I just got chills. We will be right back with Max Evans and Alvaro Acevedo after a few messages from our sponsors.” When the cameraman motioned, the host leaned over the desk and looked the kid straight in the eye. “You’re a natural kid. You really know how to tell a story.”
“He’s only been hearing that story every year since he was seven.” Max snorted and ruffled his hair. “Aren’t you glad I made you come with me? Your dad’s gonna be proud of you.”
“Where are you living, Alvaro?” The host cleared his throat.
“Arizona.” Aja grumbled. “Call me, Aja, dude. Not even my mom calls me Alvaro. Not even when she's mad.”
“What’s wrong with Arizona?”
“It’s okay I guess but I miss New York. We moved to be where my step-dad works. He’s cool but I miss being around Dad.”
“He’s hardly been home this year from what I understand.” The host commented sympathetically.
“Yeah. He makes pit stops to see my games and for holidays but Brock and my brother and sisters are all in New York… so I pretty much only see him when he’s coming or going to a location.”
The cameraman motioned that the time was up and everyone straightened up. “Welcome back. Max Evans and Alvaro Acevedo starring in the new Western, Riding Out the Storms, where they portray Aaron and Hank Storm respectively. We were talking for a few minutes during the break. Our friend Aja, here, is a Sun Devil.”
“Now you’re trying to get me in trouble.” Aja laughed. “I cannot confirm or deny that statement. Dad always cheers on the Bruins when they play the Devils though.”
“That’s my influence.” Max admitted.
“Did you always want to act?”
“Well, it started out as a hobby. Commercials on weekends and school plays. I had a lot of extra time.”
“How’s that?”
“I skipped two grades early on and they didn’t want to move me up any more, so I picked up a weekend job and a weekday extracurricular. My grades never suffered so I just kept it up. I got into modeling a little bit. This is my first movie though.”
“Not your first movie set though?”
“No. We visited Dad a couple of times on location. Mom wasn’t always a fan but once she saw how much I liked it, she was okay with me going to acting camps and doing some mini-series type shows for Saturday mornings.”
“Would you listen to this kid? You’d think he was born to the biz and in a way he was. Famous father, apparently infamous mother, famous uncle and the absolutely famous great-uncle. You’ve been bugging me to call you Aja all night. Want to tell me why?”
“It’s a thing my mom did. My full name is Alvaro Joaquin Acevedo. A.J.A. are my initials. So she calls me Aja. Everyone calls me that.”
“Your girlfriends call you that?”
Aja blushed a bright red and accepted Max’s light punch on the shoulder. “I don’t have a girlfriend, yet. I’m a sophomore who’s younger than most of the freshman. It’s a little hard to date just now… and my mother would probably freak out.”
"I noticed that you were sitting with a row of ladies in the audience. I think I recognize Mrs. Evans." The camera swung around on the three ladies. Liz waved with a small smile. "Who else did you bring?"
"Dad couldn't be here. He's on location but my little brother is recording it for him. Right there next to Aunt Liz is Brock, my step-mom, and on the end there is my Mom. The most important lady in my life and my personal fan club." He joked.
"So everyone gets along okay?" The camera swung back around.
Aja stumbled for words for a moment. "Well, yeah. For as long as I can remember except the last two, we've always spent the 4th and Thanksgiving together."
"The last two years?"
"This last Thanksgiving we spent it at my step-dad's but Dad and Brock made it down. The weirdest part was how hot it was on Thanksgiving."
--
Max answered his phone on the third ring. The ladies were chatting with Aja as the limo took them to Brock's building. "Hello?"
"What happened?"
"You gonna be near a TV tonight?"
"Maybe."
"Aja just had his first late night television interview. He's a natural. Everyone loved him."
"That right? Is he there?"
"Yeah, let me pull him away from his fan club." Max tossed the phone to Aja who just stared at it for a moment. "Your dad."
Aja was quick to put it to his ear. "Hey… yeah, it was so awesome… And he asked about you, too… Yeah… Maybe."
Max took Liz's hand in his and squeezed. "You want to stick Kayla in acting?"
"No." Liz shook her head. "She's got her eye on producing."
TBC
Liz crossed her arms and glared at the alien sneaking lemons in her kitchen. "She is only five years old."
"What's so bad? She wanted a pony and I got her a pony." Kal scoffed at her.
"You aren't going to be the one taking her and watching her and scheduling her lessons next year when she's going to school full time."
"Can I have my lemonade?" He gestured to the path she blocked.
"No." Liz leaned back on the refrigerator.
"Did she like the pony?"
"Of course, she did. She's five and it was a frickin' pony."
"Did she like the lessons?"
"Yes but that's not the point, Kal. You're supposed to consult us BEFORE making a purchase like this for our child."
"You should have asked, Uncle Kal." Tess nodded, joining in the reprimand.
"Her being happy is beside the point, Kal. It's a pony. She has to learn to take care of it and learn to ride is and I am responsible for making sure she does."
"Max is the housewife. He'll do it." Kal rolled his eyes.
"He's leaving after Christmas to make your movie." Liz blurted out.
"Pardon me? Max hasn't made a movie for me since before Shane was born."
"Well, who is going to take Kayla to Equestrian lessons while Max is in Egypt?"
"He's doing the Egypt picture?"
"What is wrong with you? Are you deaf or dumb? Max is doing a movie for YOU! He's doing the Egypt picture! Who is taking Kayla to Equestrian lessons? Are you going to pick her up from pre-school and take her? Do NOT think those things at ME!"
"So he's going to make my movie?"
"Yes!"
"Then I'll take care of the kids while he's gone."
"Personally?"
"No so much."
"Then forget it."
"How am I going to make a movie in Egypt and take care of your kids at the same time?"
"Figure it out, genius."
Kal stood there for a moment and looked to Tess. "He's going to make the movie?"
"He's been carrying around that script for a month now." Tess shrugged. "I think that's a pretty sure indication. Then there’s that other one he was carrying around."
“Which other one?” Kal froze in his tracks.
“I don’t know. He was saying something about Montana at her party.”
May 30, 2014
The Evans clapped proudly as the young woman crossed the stage to receive her diploma. They were, of course, drowned out by the Miles seated in the row in front of them.
--
Max shook hands with friends of the Miles family as they were introduced. Liz was somewhere chatting with Mrs. Miles. Finally, Max found the proud graduate. "So, I hear that someone is engaged."
"Yes, sir, Mr. Evans." She blushed a little, her eyes sliding to the young man talking with her father. "We want to get married next year."
"What other plans were you making?"
"Oh, I hear about my graduate study soon and I think I've got a scholarship in the bag. I had wanted to join the reserves but Mom said no." Patty Miles gushed to her father's employer. "Dad agreed. He wants me to pursue a minor in art to help him figure out what's going on in that gallery of yours."
"We could probably use you." Max laughed and pulled two envelopes from his pocket. "One is from Liz and I and the other is from Mr. Langley. Use it for college or for the wedding. Whichever."
Her jaw dropped as she ripped open the envelopes and stared at the numbers. "Oh, Mr. Evans! Thank you!" She hugged him quickly before rushing over to exclaim to her fiancé and her father.
Liz slipped her arms around her husband. "I remember meeting her. She was 16 and very responsible and very curious. Carefree, worry-free and had no clue the moron she was dating would dump her by Christmas."
"I met her when she was 13 or 14 and convinced that the world could no longer continue to spin because Buffy was off the air and Angel was getting canceled."
"She was a Buffy-girl?"
"Once upon a time, yes, Angela Miles was a Buffy-girl. Look who her mother is. She came out of the womb looking to kick some ass." Max waved to Miles who nodded in appreciation of the gift.
"I'm really surprised she didn't enlist. I think she had said she wanted to." Liz led her husband to the food table to find a nibble.
"Mary wouldn't have it."
"Ah… um… why not?"
"Angie wanted to join the reserves. I think it's a rivalry thing. Mary's never really left the Marines behind." He bid farewell to the Miles family and steered Liz out the door and down the street to their home where they had left Kal in charge of the little ones.
They found Kayla on a cell phone and Kal talking on two others while Shane stared up at them from the carpet where his toys were spread around. Kayla only waved to her parents. "Uncle Kal says no because the pictures don't look real enough. Theys look funny… he's busy and he said I hafta talk to you… They look stupid… Five… I don't wanna watch it. I don't like it… because I said. They look stupid." Finally the little girl got fed up and got to her feet. "Shut up, poopy head…" She handed the phone off to her father and skipped out of the room to find something else to amuse her.
"Hello?" Max sat to watch Liz get down on the floor to play with Shane. He listened for a bit. "What I think she was trying to say is that the CGI still looks plastiquey… I haven't seen it myself but as I understand it, she is your target audience. If she isn't amused by your little characters, then you've got a problem. These kids are exposed to better things now. Sesame street puppet strings are obvious and a turn off for adults. Your mistake is assuming children are stupid… I realize that but they notice more than you think… I am not saying to make it a movie with three-D glasses. That's hokey. Just smooth out your work. Kal isn't going to like it…"
Max followed Liz's gaze when she motioned him to turn around. Kayla had climbed into Kal's lap, and he had let her. He even handed off one of his phones to the girl so he could keep her small body from falling off.
"If Kal wants to put the decision in the hands of a five-year-old, you should take heed. Kal knows what he's doing." Max hung up the phone and joined his wife to watch the two Kals work. "She's good. She had him completely flustered."
"Look at her. I don’t think she's ever spent so much time with him and now look." Liz was awed by her little girl. "He's not even bothered by her."
"He got used to her in Egypt." Max nodded and kissed her lips softly. "How much did you miss us?"
"Oh, terribly. Next time, I get to go to Egypt, too. Was she horrible?"
"She loved it."
"I'll bet. It's good to have you home."
“Did you put in?” Max nuzzled her neck.
“I did. I’ll go spend a week in tranquility with you.” She brushed his lips softly.
Max jerked when he felt a bite on his leg. “Hey.” He reached forward for the baby. “Did you miss me? No need to bite.”
“He’s teething.” Liz sighed. “Show Daddy your teeth.” Shane refused so she tickled him into a laughing fit to show off his little white nubbin teeth.
“Those little things hurt my leg?” Max winced mentally at the thought. When he turned to Liz, he found her quiet and staring at their Kals working at the desk. “Liz?”
“Sh.” She whispered, watching Kal watch Kayla. “He’s wishing he had known to be closer to you and Tess. He loves her. He gets happy when she looks at him because she really likes him. Meanness and all.”
“Quit reading his thoughts.” Max whispered but couldn’t help feel a pang. He knew he had missed things growing up but he had figured aliens didn’t get those things. He hadn’t known those things could be taught or acquired. He swallowed down his grievances and looked down into the face that had given him all he had been missing. “Did I tell you? They cast my son in the movie.”
“Really? Who’d you get?”
Max burst out laughing. “Aja.”
“Really?”
“It starts filming before school lets out but his scenes won’t come until after, so it’s all good. It’s gonna be weird. I hope Zan doesn’t kick my ass.”
May 28, 2015
The noise from the audience died down and the host just stared at Max for a moment. “I love this movie. I’m not going to wait for you to bring it up. It comes out next Friday, nationwide, and I think it is your personal best and you know I love the one from a few years back. I don’t have you on this show often enough.”
“I had fun on this one. I had never really ridden a horse before. I actually had to take lessons from my daughter who was five at the time.” Max admitted.
“I find that hard to believe. You looked like a pro. I noticed something and I didn’t ask anyone yet but the young man who played your son bears a striking resemblance to you. I waited through the credits for his name. He was listed as Alvaro Acevedo… but the resemblance is remarkable.”
“It’s funny you should say that.” Max cleared his throat. “He’s here with me tonight. Maybe he should break the news.”
“Sure. I’d love to have him.”
“Aja?” Max turned to the front row where the teen was seated with Liz, Ace and Brock. He loped up onto the stage and took a seat between his uncle and the host.
“This is impromptu and a first for this show in my reign. Two interviews in one without the hassle of scheduling them that way. Alvaro Acevedo, how old are you?”
“I’m 13.” Aja cleared his throat as his voice cracked under the pressure.
“Max, you dog.”
“Ask him your question.” Max insisted.
“Alright. Alvaro is it?”
“I go by Aja.” The teen answered.
“Aja, what can you tell me about your relationship with Max Evans?” The host pressed.
“He’s my uncle.”
The audience roared with laughter when the host looked abashed. He propped his chin on his hand and shook his head. “I was asking for that. Assuming things the way I always do. So. Your father is none other than the great Zan.”
“I just call him Dad. Mom and Brock might not like it if we all started calling him the Great Zan.”
“What’s it like being the son of Emory ‘Zan’ Zannamen?”
“Pretty cool, I guess. My friends think it’s cool that he’s in all these action movies but what they think is cooler is my Mom is in Death on Wheels.” Aja shrugged hopelessly.
“Death on Wheels?” The host shook his head and looked to the producer, who shrugged.
“It’s a video game that came out a few years back.” Max explained. “Back when this kid was waist-high, his mother posed to be in a video game. It’s really popular with gamers.”
“Small world. A small, small world.” The host sat up. “So, you’re both in this cowboy movie. Best Western that I’ve seen in years playing father and son but really uncle and nephew. Was that hard?”
“Not really.” Aja took over the interview. “We keep pretty close. Uncle Max took me to Dad’s first premiere when I was four. I’ve been wanting to make a movie but I had to wait until something came up in the summer. Mom and Dad don’t want me to miss school.”
“I’m reading your stats here.” The host tapped a screen in front of him that no one else could see. “It has your birthday as September 11, 2001. Are you aware of the significance of that date?”
Max cleared his throat as a low warning to the host, who sat up to wait and see what Aja would say. Max flicked his gaze to the front row where Ace was bravely trying to show that it didn't matter to her what the date was or what had happened because that was the day her son was born. Aja furrowed his brow and looked to Uncle Max before opening his mouth. “I know that was a pretty horrific day. Mom and Dad were supposed to meet at the World Trade Center on the floor where they had originally met. Mom said it was pretty early in the morning and she had just gotten to the second or third floor when her water broke. She got rushed to the hospital. Dad was there looking for her but he had just missed the ambulance.”
“Holy Smokes! Are you telling me that Zan is one of the very few survivors of the 9/11 Tragedy?”
“He managed to get out before it collapsed. When I was seven, he took me to see the monument and he told me the story. I’m very lucky to be alive.”
“Wow. I just got chills. We will be right back with Max Evans and Alvaro Acevedo after a few messages from our sponsors.” When the cameraman motioned, the host leaned over the desk and looked the kid straight in the eye. “You’re a natural kid. You really know how to tell a story.”
“He’s only been hearing that story every year since he was seven.” Max snorted and ruffled his hair. “Aren’t you glad I made you come with me? Your dad’s gonna be proud of you.”
“Where are you living, Alvaro?” The host cleared his throat.
“Arizona.” Aja grumbled. “Call me, Aja, dude. Not even my mom calls me Alvaro. Not even when she's mad.”
“What’s wrong with Arizona?”
“It’s okay I guess but I miss New York. We moved to be where my step-dad works. He’s cool but I miss being around Dad.”
“He’s hardly been home this year from what I understand.” The host commented sympathetically.
“Yeah. He makes pit stops to see my games and for holidays but Brock and my brother and sisters are all in New York… so I pretty much only see him when he’s coming or going to a location.”
The cameraman motioned that the time was up and everyone straightened up. “Welcome back. Max Evans and Alvaro Acevedo starring in the new Western, Riding Out the Storms, where they portray Aaron and Hank Storm respectively. We were talking for a few minutes during the break. Our friend Aja, here, is a Sun Devil.”
“Now you’re trying to get me in trouble.” Aja laughed. “I cannot confirm or deny that statement. Dad always cheers on the Bruins when they play the Devils though.”
“That’s my influence.” Max admitted.
“Did you always want to act?”
“Well, it started out as a hobby. Commercials on weekends and school plays. I had a lot of extra time.”
“How’s that?”
“I skipped two grades early on and they didn’t want to move me up any more, so I picked up a weekend job and a weekday extracurricular. My grades never suffered so I just kept it up. I got into modeling a little bit. This is my first movie though.”
“Not your first movie set though?”
“No. We visited Dad a couple of times on location. Mom wasn’t always a fan but once she saw how much I liked it, she was okay with me going to acting camps and doing some mini-series type shows for Saturday mornings.”
“Would you listen to this kid? You’d think he was born to the biz and in a way he was. Famous father, apparently infamous mother, famous uncle and the absolutely famous great-uncle. You’ve been bugging me to call you Aja all night. Want to tell me why?”
“It’s a thing my mom did. My full name is Alvaro Joaquin Acevedo. A.J.A. are my initials. So she calls me Aja. Everyone calls me that.”
“Your girlfriends call you that?”
Aja blushed a bright red and accepted Max’s light punch on the shoulder. “I don’t have a girlfriend, yet. I’m a sophomore who’s younger than most of the freshman. It’s a little hard to date just now… and my mother would probably freak out.”
"I noticed that you were sitting with a row of ladies in the audience. I think I recognize Mrs. Evans." The camera swung around on the three ladies. Liz waved with a small smile. "Who else did you bring?"
"Dad couldn't be here. He's on location but my little brother is recording it for him. Right there next to Aunt Liz is Brock, my step-mom, and on the end there is my Mom. The most important lady in my life and my personal fan club." He joked.
"So everyone gets along okay?" The camera swung back around.
Aja stumbled for words for a moment. "Well, yeah. For as long as I can remember except the last two, we've always spent the 4th and Thanksgiving together."
"The last two years?"
"This last Thanksgiving we spent it at my step-dad's but Dad and Brock made it down. The weirdest part was how hot it was on Thanksgiving."
--
Max answered his phone on the third ring. The ladies were chatting with Aja as the limo took them to Brock's building. "Hello?"
"What happened?"
"You gonna be near a TV tonight?"
"Maybe."
"Aja just had his first late night television interview. He's a natural. Everyone loved him."
"That right? Is he there?"
"Yeah, let me pull him away from his fan club." Max tossed the phone to Aja who just stared at it for a moment. "Your dad."
Aja was quick to put it to his ear. "Hey… yeah, it was so awesome… And he asked about you, too… Yeah… Maybe."
Max took Liz's hand in his and squeezed. "You want to stick Kayla in acting?"
"No." Liz shook her head. "She's got her eye on producing."
TBC
Part 62
Part 62 – June 8, 2024
The sun was bright and Max dozed in the shade of an umbrella, listening to his daughter boss around a crew who had probably wanted to string her up two hours ago. Zan plopped down next to Max and tried to brush the dust from his head. "Most teenagers start wit directin' a school play. Yours hadda start with a full-fledged movie."
"Most teenagers don't have a financial backer at the age of 15."
"Why are you here, anyway?" Zan took Max's lemonade and drank down half of it.
"Child labor laws."
"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Kayla's loud voice caught their ears. "Have you any idea who I am?" She approached an actress who was clearly bored and not bending to whim. "You are an actress. You act. You take direction from…? That's right the director. That's me. If you can't take direction, get the hell off of my set!"
The actress stormed over to Max and Zan. "I cannot work under these conditions."
Max and Zan looked at each other and shrugged. "You gon hafta take that up wit someone in charge."
"Are you not the producers?" She demanded.
"No. We're not." Zan shook his head and took another sip of Max's lemonade. "I'm the star. He's the father of your director."
"She's a child." She protested. "Someone has to be in charge."
"She's in charge." Max insisted. "This is her project. She's got the money, the experience and Kal Langley gave her the project. You either talk to her or to your agent. Talking to me doesn't do you any good."
"There's… nothing I can do for you?" She reached out to touch Max's shoulder.
"I'm married. Happily. Please don't touch me." Max jerked out of her reach.
"I'm gonna hafta call security." Zan got to his feet and disappeared.
"I'm not working with a child." The actress spat and stormed off. "Nobody tells Julia Roberts to work with a five-year-old director but I have to?!"
Kayla stalked over and before she could say a word, Max handed her the stack of casting potentials. "I hope she wasn't your first choice."
"I've got a week to find a replacement for Kal's go-to gal. I hate her. I didn't want her in my movie." She flipped through the headshots and plucked out the one she wanted. "Could you? I have to get this crew into shape. They wouldn't be acting like children if I were 30."
"Do you want me to go stand behind you and look imposing?"
"No. I can do it myself." She stormed off, yelling at people left and right.
Max pulled out his cell phone and dialed the agency number. "Yes, I'm calling on behalf of Kayla Evans. Your client auditioned for a role… right. The role is open again and Ms. Evans has expressly asked for your client… We're clearing out a trailer for her as we speak. She has a week to learn her lines. I hope that isn't a problem… Excellent."
--
Max slipped an arm around his wife when he found her. "When did you get here?"
"A few minutes ago. How is everything going?" Liz peered into the distance where filming was taking place.
"She really is a smaller, female Kal… and it's very scary that our genes created that." He murmured into her ear. "Where's Shane?"
"In Zan's trailer." She whispered and pulled Max into a chair. "We missed you. How much longer?"
"They have to reshoot the first five scenes before the week is out so we'll lose some time but if the replacement shows up sooner, then we'll be back on schedule." He brushed her hair out of her face. "She's a natural though. Once the cast realized she was serious, they watched for Zan's lead and Zan is treating her the way he would Kal. The crew is still grumbling because her demands are so very specific but they're dealing."
"She should be at home calling boys." Liz sighed but she was proud of her little girl. Her smile faded. "She doesn't know yet, right?"
"No. She hasn't said, at least." Max shook his head. It bothered him more than a little to lie to his daughter but she had begged and pleaded for this for too long to stop it in the middle because Kal couldn't find the physical strength to make it out of bed. He called to check up and Kayla never seemed to notice how tired he sounded.
September 12, 2024
Aja and Kayla took to the podium with big natural smiles and read off the monitor. "We are accepting this award on behalf of Uncle Kal, who is on location in Budapest. He would have liked to have been here but he could not get away as the riots have closed down most airports."
"I spoke to Uncle Kal just this morning." Kayla cleared her throat. "He assured me that everyone is doing fine and they don't predict that the riots will spread far enough to endanger the lives of any cast and crew."
"Uncle Kal would like to thank his many cast and crew members on this venture, all too numerous to name but no one less deserving of credit than the next." Aja finished and led his cousin from the stage, where her smile faded immediately.
--
Max sat behind his daughter in the screening room to watch her movie. "How's it coming?"
"Okay." She shrugged and leaned forward on the seat in front of her. "The acting is okay and the light is good but I need to do the score and I don't really feel like it."
"You're up kind of late. I think it is officially the 13th, now." He commented. If he hadn't been up to check on Kal, he probably wouldn't have noticed that she wasn't in bed.
"Aja said Doring called Uncle Zan."
"I see." He wondered at what point in the evening the young man had told Kayla. She had been moody all evening but that wasn't any different than she had been since returning from location to start school.
"Does he have to go?" Kayla turned to her father. "I'm not done with him yet. He promised we'd get to make a movie together."
"He's getting sick, Kay…" Max reached to wipe her tears away. "He just needs to go for a little while. To see if they can help him."
"I don't want him to go."
"If he stays, he could die and it won't be pretty." He knew his eyes were getting wet but he couldn't care just now. "You don't want that for him."
"Why did he lie to us for so long?" She wiped at her eyes furiously, choosing anger over tears yet again.
"He doesn't want to go either. He's afraid that they'll execute him for not doing his job."
"So he could die even if he does go?" Her brown eyes told him that she hated him before she turned around to face her movie once more.
"As far as I'm concerned, he more than did his job. Zan will vouch for him. Zan will keep him safe."
"Daddy… I want to go with him."
"No." He willed her to look at him but she kept her face forward.
"Why?"
"You have school."
"That is so lame." She scoffed at him and curled up on her seat.
"You'll see, it'll be like he's off on location and Doring is going to keep us apprised of the situation the whole time."
"What if Doring has turned?"
"Then he wouldn't be helping us."
"Dad, do something." She sighed heavily, tears streaming freely from her eyes. The anger and denial losing out to the pain she felt in her heart every time she looked at her beloved Uncle Kal and saw his emaciated body in bed. Budapest. Right. He had never left Cambridge.
"We are. Zan is taking him back to find out what's wrong with him. He'll be back by next summer, guarantee it. He'll be here for the premiere."
"And what if he's not? What am I supposed to do without him?"
"You take over. You make all the movies he's got lined up. You know he's grooming you to take over his company." He leaned forward and nudged her. "It's not the end of the world."
"You don't know. No one's ever died on you."
"And no one has died on you yet. I almost lost your mother and that ripped me to shreds. Ask Aunt Tess or Aunt Brock. Uncle Zan was on Antar, we were afraid that any day we'd get the report that he'd died. I sat next to her bed and cried every night, praying she wouldn't leave me and I almost lost your cousin, Davis. All at the same time. Don't tell me that I don't know what you're feeling." He stroked her hair, his little girl was almost grown up. "I almost lost Kal once myself."
"You did?"
"Yeah. The day Mom and I got married, our enemies came to get us. Little piece of shit named Nicholas kidnapped us, thinking he had Uncle Zan. It was scary how close I came that time to losing your mother and my own life."
"What happened?"
"Kal, Zan, Michael, Isabel, Tess came to the rescue. They made us wreck and we got out but Nicholas had a hold of me. Mom got to safety and I looked at Zan. I told him to do it. To kill me if he had to… It was just a look but I couldn't let your mother die. Before anyone could move, Kal stepped in and shifted and killed Nicholas. He hadn't left his human form in 60 years. It could have killed him but he did it anyway. He… he scared me I was scared that he had damaged himself too badly to ever shift again but he did. It was two months, almost three before he had the strength to do it but he did. And maybe this is a repercussion of what he did but… I care, Kayla. I don't want him to go. That was the day I realized how much I loved Kal. He raised me."
"It's just hard." She sat up to face her father once more. "I just feel like no one understands."
"I know you do."
September 14, 2024
Liz kissed her husband's face when he came down for breakfast. Shane was shoveling cereal down his throat like crazy. "Slow down."
"Torri and Irene are coming over later."
"They're not here yet, slow down." Liz glanced at the table. "Where's your sister?"
"In Kal's room." Max answered instead. "She's showing him the movie since he won't see it until after it comes out. She's still got a lot of work to do and… this is their thing."
“Uncle Max.” Davis bounded into the room and came to a halt on her tiptoes, hugging her uncle. “Can I take the convertible to go pick up Dad?”
“I’m driving.” Scott protested as he stole a bite from Liz’s plate.
“Please, Uncle Max.” She squeezed him hard, almost making him spill his coffee. “I’ll take real good care of it and I promise it’ll come back in one piece.”
“Like the Aston Martin?” Scott snorted.
“That only happened because Daddy never lets me drive anywhere.”
“What happened to the Aston Martin?” Max looked down into his niece’s guilty face. “Please tell me that it’s still in one piece.”
“Technically, yes… but… it’s kind of… smushed.” She backed away with her hands in front of her, motioning him not to jump to conclusions. “It wasn’t my fault. Daddy never showed me where the emergency brake was.”
“She snuck out of the apartment to take it for a joyride and wrapped it around a pole trying to avoid a homeless guy.” Scott snickered and caught the keys when Max tossed them over.
“Uncle Max, come on. I can’t learn to drive if no one lets me.”
“You crashed the Vanquish. You don’t get another chance so quickly.” He kissed her forehead and pushed her towards the table. “Come on. Eat something.”
The kitchen grew more and more crowded. Shane hovered by the phone. Scott and Davis bickered over who was actually driving to the airport. Then Michael showed up with Kathryn and Gracie, who got Davis and Scott riled up over their college rivalry. Damien and Anna showed up a beat later, talking on cell phones. Aja popped in to grab something to eat and then disappeared again. When he re-emerged, he had Kayla under his arm.
Liz took her daughter into her arms and hugged the crap out of her. “How is he?”
“Asleep. He likes the movie though.” That felt like such a lame thing to say.
“He’ll be okay.” Aja promised. “I’m a little scared though. I kind of remember him being gone, Dad.”
“Scott.” Max cleared his throat. “It’s nearly eleven. You two need to go pick them up at the airport now.”
“We’re going.” Scott grabbed his sister, who smacked him for making her spill her juice.
“And Davis doesn’t drive!” He called after them.
“Hello!” Tess called in as she opened the front door. Tori bounded into the kitchen and then disappeared with Shane to play. Tess, Drew and Devlin entered the kitchen a moment later. “How is he?”
“He’s resting.” Liz kissed Kayla’s hair.
“I’m gonna go see him.” Devlin disappeared out the door.
“Is Isabel still coming?” Tess wedged herself into a seat at the crowded table. Max just nodded.
“Jesse Jr. had a game this morning. They’ll be over soon. Shane said they were on their way before he vanished on me.”
“Who are we missing?” Drew looked around the faces that were solemn.
“Ava… she’s not coming.” Liz shook her head. “Kyle’s working and she thinks Erin might be sick.”
“Michael! You never call me.” Isabel erupted into the room, Irene in tow. “Irene, don’t get dirty. I don’t know how you and Shane do it but every time you play, you ruin your clothes. Michael, don’t hide from me.”
“I wasn’t hiding.” He scoffed at her. “I don’t know if you noticed, it’s a little crowded in here. Where’re the Jesse’s?”
“Talking to Scott outside.”
“He’s still here?” Max weeded his way through the crowd to the front door. “Scott! Don’t make your parents wait!”
“I’m not hungry.”
“You have to eat.”
“What’s that?”
“How’s it been?”
“Good.”
“Where have you been?”
“The report!”
“Whose car?”
“She did what?”
“No running!”
The kitchen dissolved into flurries of conversation. Liz held onto her distraught daughter and tried to keep up with who was talking to her when and where. Then Aja was there. “Come on. Uncle Kal says you have to learn to drive.”
“I don’t feel like it.” Kayla protested.
“Aren’t you tired of go-carting around the studio? Come on.” Aja pulled her up out of her seat. “I’ll teach you standard. Come on. Uncle Kal said.”
--
Max wrapped his arms around his upperbody, trying not to wave them around and get Kayla to stop, even when he could hear that she was stripping his gears. He was going to kill Aja. Finally, they came to a stop at his feet. Kayla didn’t look any happier when she climbed out from behind the wheel. “Are you done taking out your mood on my car?” She rolled her eyes and hopped up on the hood. “Come on. Talk to me.” Nothing. Aja climbed out of the car and waved at his father when their car pulled up. Zan, Brock, Scott, Davis and Brett disappeared into the house. “I’ll let you go with us, tonight.”
“Do you promise?”
“Yes. I’ll let you stay with him until they have to go.”
TBC
The sun was bright and Max dozed in the shade of an umbrella, listening to his daughter boss around a crew who had probably wanted to string her up two hours ago. Zan plopped down next to Max and tried to brush the dust from his head. "Most teenagers start wit directin' a school play. Yours hadda start with a full-fledged movie."
"Most teenagers don't have a financial backer at the age of 15."
"Why are you here, anyway?" Zan took Max's lemonade and drank down half of it.
"Child labor laws."
"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Kayla's loud voice caught their ears. "Have you any idea who I am?" She approached an actress who was clearly bored and not bending to whim. "You are an actress. You act. You take direction from…? That's right the director. That's me. If you can't take direction, get the hell off of my set!"
The actress stormed over to Max and Zan. "I cannot work under these conditions."
Max and Zan looked at each other and shrugged. "You gon hafta take that up wit someone in charge."
"Are you not the producers?" She demanded.
"No. We're not." Zan shook his head and took another sip of Max's lemonade. "I'm the star. He's the father of your director."
"She's a child." She protested. "Someone has to be in charge."
"She's in charge." Max insisted. "This is her project. She's got the money, the experience and Kal Langley gave her the project. You either talk to her or to your agent. Talking to me doesn't do you any good."
"There's… nothing I can do for you?" She reached out to touch Max's shoulder.
"I'm married. Happily. Please don't touch me." Max jerked out of her reach.
"I'm gonna hafta call security." Zan got to his feet and disappeared.
"I'm not working with a child." The actress spat and stormed off. "Nobody tells Julia Roberts to work with a five-year-old director but I have to?!"
Kayla stalked over and before she could say a word, Max handed her the stack of casting potentials. "I hope she wasn't your first choice."
"I've got a week to find a replacement for Kal's go-to gal. I hate her. I didn't want her in my movie." She flipped through the headshots and plucked out the one she wanted. "Could you? I have to get this crew into shape. They wouldn't be acting like children if I were 30."
"Do you want me to go stand behind you and look imposing?"
"No. I can do it myself." She stormed off, yelling at people left and right.
Max pulled out his cell phone and dialed the agency number. "Yes, I'm calling on behalf of Kayla Evans. Your client auditioned for a role… right. The role is open again and Ms. Evans has expressly asked for your client… We're clearing out a trailer for her as we speak. She has a week to learn her lines. I hope that isn't a problem… Excellent."
--
Max slipped an arm around his wife when he found her. "When did you get here?"
"A few minutes ago. How is everything going?" Liz peered into the distance where filming was taking place.
"She really is a smaller, female Kal… and it's very scary that our genes created that." He murmured into her ear. "Where's Shane?"
"In Zan's trailer." She whispered and pulled Max into a chair. "We missed you. How much longer?"
"They have to reshoot the first five scenes before the week is out so we'll lose some time but if the replacement shows up sooner, then we'll be back on schedule." He brushed her hair out of her face. "She's a natural though. Once the cast realized she was serious, they watched for Zan's lead and Zan is treating her the way he would Kal. The crew is still grumbling because her demands are so very specific but they're dealing."
"She should be at home calling boys." Liz sighed but she was proud of her little girl. Her smile faded. "She doesn't know yet, right?"
"No. She hasn't said, at least." Max shook his head. It bothered him more than a little to lie to his daughter but she had begged and pleaded for this for too long to stop it in the middle because Kal couldn't find the physical strength to make it out of bed. He called to check up and Kayla never seemed to notice how tired he sounded.
September 12, 2024
Aja and Kayla took to the podium with big natural smiles and read off the monitor. "We are accepting this award on behalf of Uncle Kal, who is on location in Budapest. He would have liked to have been here but he could not get away as the riots have closed down most airports."
"I spoke to Uncle Kal just this morning." Kayla cleared her throat. "He assured me that everyone is doing fine and they don't predict that the riots will spread far enough to endanger the lives of any cast and crew."
"Uncle Kal would like to thank his many cast and crew members on this venture, all too numerous to name but no one less deserving of credit than the next." Aja finished and led his cousin from the stage, where her smile faded immediately.
--
Max sat behind his daughter in the screening room to watch her movie. "How's it coming?"
"Okay." She shrugged and leaned forward on the seat in front of her. "The acting is okay and the light is good but I need to do the score and I don't really feel like it."
"You're up kind of late. I think it is officially the 13th, now." He commented. If he hadn't been up to check on Kal, he probably wouldn't have noticed that she wasn't in bed.
"Aja said Doring called Uncle Zan."
"I see." He wondered at what point in the evening the young man had told Kayla. She had been moody all evening but that wasn't any different than she had been since returning from location to start school.
"Does he have to go?" Kayla turned to her father. "I'm not done with him yet. He promised we'd get to make a movie together."
"He's getting sick, Kay…" Max reached to wipe her tears away. "He just needs to go for a little while. To see if they can help him."
"I don't want him to go."
"If he stays, he could die and it won't be pretty." He knew his eyes were getting wet but he couldn't care just now. "You don't want that for him."
"Why did he lie to us for so long?" She wiped at her eyes furiously, choosing anger over tears yet again.
"He doesn't want to go either. He's afraid that they'll execute him for not doing his job."
"So he could die even if he does go?" Her brown eyes told him that she hated him before she turned around to face her movie once more.
"As far as I'm concerned, he more than did his job. Zan will vouch for him. Zan will keep him safe."
"Daddy… I want to go with him."
"No." He willed her to look at him but she kept her face forward.
"Why?"
"You have school."
"That is so lame." She scoffed at him and curled up on her seat.
"You'll see, it'll be like he's off on location and Doring is going to keep us apprised of the situation the whole time."
"What if Doring has turned?"
"Then he wouldn't be helping us."
"Dad, do something." She sighed heavily, tears streaming freely from her eyes. The anger and denial losing out to the pain she felt in her heart every time she looked at her beloved Uncle Kal and saw his emaciated body in bed. Budapest. Right. He had never left Cambridge.
"We are. Zan is taking him back to find out what's wrong with him. He'll be back by next summer, guarantee it. He'll be here for the premiere."
"And what if he's not? What am I supposed to do without him?"
"You take over. You make all the movies he's got lined up. You know he's grooming you to take over his company." He leaned forward and nudged her. "It's not the end of the world."
"You don't know. No one's ever died on you."
"And no one has died on you yet. I almost lost your mother and that ripped me to shreds. Ask Aunt Tess or Aunt Brock. Uncle Zan was on Antar, we were afraid that any day we'd get the report that he'd died. I sat next to her bed and cried every night, praying she wouldn't leave me and I almost lost your cousin, Davis. All at the same time. Don't tell me that I don't know what you're feeling." He stroked her hair, his little girl was almost grown up. "I almost lost Kal once myself."
"You did?"
"Yeah. The day Mom and I got married, our enemies came to get us. Little piece of shit named Nicholas kidnapped us, thinking he had Uncle Zan. It was scary how close I came that time to losing your mother and my own life."
"What happened?"
"Kal, Zan, Michael, Isabel, Tess came to the rescue. They made us wreck and we got out but Nicholas had a hold of me. Mom got to safety and I looked at Zan. I told him to do it. To kill me if he had to… It was just a look but I couldn't let your mother die. Before anyone could move, Kal stepped in and shifted and killed Nicholas. He hadn't left his human form in 60 years. It could have killed him but he did it anyway. He… he scared me I was scared that he had damaged himself too badly to ever shift again but he did. It was two months, almost three before he had the strength to do it but he did. And maybe this is a repercussion of what he did but… I care, Kayla. I don't want him to go. That was the day I realized how much I loved Kal. He raised me."
"It's just hard." She sat up to face her father once more. "I just feel like no one understands."
"I know you do."
September 14, 2024
Liz kissed her husband's face when he came down for breakfast. Shane was shoveling cereal down his throat like crazy. "Slow down."
"Torri and Irene are coming over later."
"They're not here yet, slow down." Liz glanced at the table. "Where's your sister?"
"In Kal's room." Max answered instead. "She's showing him the movie since he won't see it until after it comes out. She's still got a lot of work to do and… this is their thing."
“Uncle Max.” Davis bounded into the room and came to a halt on her tiptoes, hugging her uncle. “Can I take the convertible to go pick up Dad?”
“I’m driving.” Scott protested as he stole a bite from Liz’s plate.
“Please, Uncle Max.” She squeezed him hard, almost making him spill his coffee. “I’ll take real good care of it and I promise it’ll come back in one piece.”
“Like the Aston Martin?” Scott snorted.
“That only happened because Daddy never lets me drive anywhere.”
“What happened to the Aston Martin?” Max looked down into his niece’s guilty face. “Please tell me that it’s still in one piece.”
“Technically, yes… but… it’s kind of… smushed.” She backed away with her hands in front of her, motioning him not to jump to conclusions. “It wasn’t my fault. Daddy never showed me where the emergency brake was.”
“She snuck out of the apartment to take it for a joyride and wrapped it around a pole trying to avoid a homeless guy.” Scott snickered and caught the keys when Max tossed them over.
“Uncle Max, come on. I can’t learn to drive if no one lets me.”
“You crashed the Vanquish. You don’t get another chance so quickly.” He kissed her forehead and pushed her towards the table. “Come on. Eat something.”
The kitchen grew more and more crowded. Shane hovered by the phone. Scott and Davis bickered over who was actually driving to the airport. Then Michael showed up with Kathryn and Gracie, who got Davis and Scott riled up over their college rivalry. Damien and Anna showed up a beat later, talking on cell phones. Aja popped in to grab something to eat and then disappeared again. When he re-emerged, he had Kayla under his arm.
Liz took her daughter into her arms and hugged the crap out of her. “How is he?”
“Asleep. He likes the movie though.” That felt like such a lame thing to say.
“He’ll be okay.” Aja promised. “I’m a little scared though. I kind of remember him being gone, Dad.”
“Scott.” Max cleared his throat. “It’s nearly eleven. You two need to go pick them up at the airport now.”
“We’re going.” Scott grabbed his sister, who smacked him for making her spill her juice.
“And Davis doesn’t drive!” He called after them.
“Hello!” Tess called in as she opened the front door. Tori bounded into the kitchen and then disappeared with Shane to play. Tess, Drew and Devlin entered the kitchen a moment later. “How is he?”
“He’s resting.” Liz kissed Kayla’s hair.
“I’m gonna go see him.” Devlin disappeared out the door.
“Is Isabel still coming?” Tess wedged herself into a seat at the crowded table. Max just nodded.
“Jesse Jr. had a game this morning. They’ll be over soon. Shane said they were on their way before he vanished on me.”
“Who are we missing?” Drew looked around the faces that were solemn.
“Ava… she’s not coming.” Liz shook her head. “Kyle’s working and she thinks Erin might be sick.”
“Michael! You never call me.” Isabel erupted into the room, Irene in tow. “Irene, don’t get dirty. I don’t know how you and Shane do it but every time you play, you ruin your clothes. Michael, don’t hide from me.”
“I wasn’t hiding.” He scoffed at her. “I don’t know if you noticed, it’s a little crowded in here. Where’re the Jesse’s?”
“Talking to Scott outside.”
“He’s still here?” Max weeded his way through the crowd to the front door. “Scott! Don’t make your parents wait!”
“I’m not hungry.”
“You have to eat.”
“What’s that?”
“How’s it been?”
“Good.”
“Where have you been?”
“The report!”
“Whose car?”
“She did what?”
“No running!”
The kitchen dissolved into flurries of conversation. Liz held onto her distraught daughter and tried to keep up with who was talking to her when and where. Then Aja was there. “Come on. Uncle Kal says you have to learn to drive.”
“I don’t feel like it.” Kayla protested.
“Aren’t you tired of go-carting around the studio? Come on.” Aja pulled her up out of her seat. “I’ll teach you standard. Come on. Uncle Kal said.”
--
Max wrapped his arms around his upperbody, trying not to wave them around and get Kayla to stop, even when he could hear that she was stripping his gears. He was going to kill Aja. Finally, they came to a stop at his feet. Kayla didn’t look any happier when she climbed out from behind the wheel. “Are you done taking out your mood on my car?” She rolled her eyes and hopped up on the hood. “Come on. Talk to me.” Nothing. Aja climbed out of the car and waved at his father when their car pulled up. Zan, Brock, Scott, Davis and Brett disappeared into the house. “I’ll let you go with us, tonight.”
“Do you promise?”
“Yes. I’ll let you stay with him until they have to go.”
TBC
Part 63
Part 63 – September 15, 2024
Kayla sat beside the stretcher while they waited for the ship to lower to the ground. "I'm gonna score the movie but I'll hold off on releasing it until you get back."
"You have until June to score and do the final edits. I want it on screen July 4th, just the way we planned, whether I make it back or not." Kal shook his head at her. "You'll see. It won't be a huge success but no one will underestimate Kayla Evans again." He cleared his head and tried to sit up but four hands pushed him back down. "You were right on that bottle blonde. She would have screwed up your movie."
"You gonna trust me not to screw up any of your projects?"
"Maybe."
"Kal." Max interjected softly. "It's time to go."
November 1, 2024
Max tugged his daughter out onto the dance floor. They had rented a hall. Had invited all of her friends but she was still upset about Kal leaving. "You aren't having fun."
"I don't want to." She pouted but rested her head on her father's shoulder.
"There's some guy that has been trying to talk to you all night. Want me to kick him out?"
"Yes. It's Barry and I hate him. He thinks because he's the captain of everything that I have to melt at his feet."
"Then why did you ask mom to invite him?"
"Because he's cute but he's not amusing me today."
"I can't help you be happier unless you want to be happier." He rubbed her back lightly. "But I can tell you that hiding from everyone now… you'll regret it later."
"How do you know that?"
"I spent way too long hiding behind a camera, Kayla. It felt good when I learned to spend some time in front of it."
"But you're a photographer."
"But now… I take landscapes. I've stopped stealing moments that aren't mine."
--
Brock shook her head and let Duke II lead her to his preferred toilet. Liz hugged the redhead. "Thanks, Liz. I just… feel so bad wishing it wasn’t him up there."
"I know."
"And Davis never calls me. She's way too busy. Scott calls me every Tuesday and Thursday between classes but I never see him and it's never for more than a few minutes. Brett is growing up so fast. Before I know it, she'll be out of the house, too."
"He'll be back soon." Liz promised and helped hold back Duke II from chasing after a bitch. "I thought you got him fixed."
"I actually can't remember." Brock braced herself and whistled sharply, breaking the dog's thought process. "The first Duke never gave me this much trouble when it came to chasing after the dames." She leaned down to ruffle his fur. "I'll have to look though his papers."
"Duke." Liz knelt to address the dog. "Do your business so we can get back to the party." He gruffed at her, seemingly knowing that if he barked at her, he'd get reprimanded by his mistress. "You're on my time mister. No time to go chasing tail."
"I miss Duke number one." Brock whined and gently tugged on his leash. "He was fully trained before I took over his walks." She sighed when Duke II finally squatted to do his business. "Zan didn't bond so well with this one. He was still depressed about the first Duke."
"Duke the first lived a long time. 18 years. For a dog… that's like… 126. Geez. He did live a long time."
"But this one hasn't gotten depressed like the other Duke. It used to make me so sad. He would put his head on the bed where Zan's feet would have been. It was different, too. When Zan was on location, he'd mope a little but nowhere near as bad as when Zan was gone." Brock sighed heavily. "Did I tell you that he visits that dog, still? He got us plots out there. It's so depressing but he said he wanted to make sure that when he goes, he can still have his right-hand man. It's gonna be me, Zan and Duke I for all eternity."
"He really loved that dog."
--
Max supervised the cake and the distribution of ice cream. Teenagers were everywhere. Shane walked around with his MP3 player and ignored it all. Shaggy hair in his face, you could barely tell there was a boy in there. Max mimicked scissors across the boy's forehead. "You want me to cut that so you can eat?"
"My hair isn't too long." The shaggy dog mumbled.
"Are you going to sit there and sulk all night?"
"I'm gonna have some cake." Max furrowed his eyebrows at the boy. Was he talking in slow motion. "Dad?" Shane pulled his hair out of his eyes. "Dad." He waved his hand in front of his eyes. "Kayla!"
Before he knew it, several large teens were helping him to sit and someone had run out to collect his wife. As soon as it had come on, it was gone. He bent and took deep breaths with his head between his knees.
"Max! What happened?" Liz slid beneath him and picked up his head. "Kids, give him some room." The teens backed off a bit. "I said go. I've got it from here."
"Come on. He's okay." Kayla got her friends out of the way.
"Max…" Liz peered up into his face. "What happened?"
"I just… stopped moving and everyone sounded funny…" Max fought the urge to throw up.
"He completely zoned out. It was scary." Shane offered. "One minute he was bugging me about my hair and the next he was just standing there."
"Max?" Liz cupped his face in her hands. "What happened?"
"I think something's going on. I haven't felt like this since the last time Zan was up there."
“This happened the last time?” Liz gently pushed him back into a sitting position. “When?”
“It was Christmas… it happened twice. I got really dizzy and I passed out. It was because they put him in an escape pod. I… don’t think they’d do that this time… and he probably just got there.” Max let her look him over but he was feeling better.
“You don’t think maybe he was using his powers? Didn’t he say he felt you when you used yours.”
“It’s possible.”
“Daddy…” Kayla stood behind her mother with her arms crossed self-consciously. “Are they okay?”
“I’m sure they’re fine.” Dad smiled up at her. “Go on. Join your party. I’m okay and I’m sure Uncle Kal is fine.”
“But- ”
“Go.” Max gestured to her friends. “Have fun. It’s an order.” Max and Liz watched their daughter fake her way through the rest of her party. Even Shane had managed to find something fun to do but even though Kayla was smiling and laughing, none of it reached her eyes.
December 20, 2024
Max held onto to the door but tried to relax. “Okay. Davis, gently, put your foot on the clutch and tap the brake just long enough to shift into reverse. It should be a fluid motion.”
The grinding caught his ears but he tried not to cringe. “Like that?”
“That’s good.” He lied.
“Daddy’s coming home soon, right?” She asked while she quickly reversed the process to finish parallel parking, this time without any stress on the gears.
“I think so.”
“I met a guy and I want your opinion but I don’t think he should meet you before he meets Dad.” Davis explained quickly and turned to her uncle. “So. How’d I do?”
“Better… what’s this about a guy on the horizon?”
“It’s not a big deal. Scott already met him and hates him. He’s such a pain. I’m five minutes older. You’d think some guy was stealing me away or something.”
“You shared a womb with him. He’s just protective of his next door neighbor.”
“Maybe but I am old enough to make my own decisions.”
“So what was the other thing you wanted to talk to me about?” Max prodded gently as she readied the car to take off again.
“I’m switching majors.”
“Why?”
“English is fine and I’ll probably still take some courses just for me but… I don’t know… I’ve been trying to ease Mom into it but I think I need to make my case to Dad first.”
“What is it you now aspire to become?”
“It’s just… I have a lot of interests and I don’t want to waste away in English classes and literature when I know all that stuff. Those are such bird courses. I was thinking maybe I could take some fashion classes or something until I know what I want.”
“You want to become a fashion designer?”
“I don’t know. I was going to wait until after next semester, so I could talk Mom and Dad into it, first.”
“Have you spoken to your advisors yet?”
“I wanted to be sure I could pull it off at home before I went to the advisers. I don’t like wasting my time.”
“How about we put this on hold until you get us home?” Max gestured to the steering wheel. “Remember, gently ease into one gear and then the other. Ease. Fluid movements.”
“Ugh… Okay.” Davis refocused her attention to the pedals at her feet and the gearshift in her hand.
--
“Shane!” Liz called out into the cold. “Get in the house! It’s freezing!”
“Come on! There’s nothing to do in there!” He called back from where he was riding a small snowmobile over the dunes in their huge backyard. “You said I couldn’t play video games all day during vacation. What am I supposed to do?”
“Now, I’m saying it’s way too cold to be riding that thing in this weather! Get in the house!” Liz waited until he had parked the snowmobile and covered it before she told him how he would be filling his time. “Mrs. Mackey will be here in ten minutes for your violin lesson.”
“Mom.” Shane groaned.
“You’re getting better and you want to show up Aunt Tess when she gets here, right? A little competition to show she’s not the only one with musical talent in this family.”
“I’ve got a duet that’ll blow her socks off… on both the violin and the piano.”
“There’s my evil little boy. Come on.” Liz stood aside so he could enter and remove his snow gear. “Don’t forget to put your boots over the grate. I don’t want any icy puddles in here.”
She turned when Max and Davis entered the house and waved. Max immediately headed for the kitchen. “We need some spicy hot chocolate. It’s cold out.”
“On the stove.” Liz called back.
“Uncle Max?” Davis’s voice drifted back to Liz, who turned and quickly charged into the kitchen. There she found Davis helping Max to the floor. “He just got dizzy all of a sudden.”
“Max?”
“I guess they’re on their way home.”
TBC
Kayla sat beside the stretcher while they waited for the ship to lower to the ground. "I'm gonna score the movie but I'll hold off on releasing it until you get back."
"You have until June to score and do the final edits. I want it on screen July 4th, just the way we planned, whether I make it back or not." Kal shook his head at her. "You'll see. It won't be a huge success but no one will underestimate Kayla Evans again." He cleared his head and tried to sit up but four hands pushed him back down. "You were right on that bottle blonde. She would have screwed up your movie."
"You gonna trust me not to screw up any of your projects?"
"Maybe."
"Kal." Max interjected softly. "It's time to go."
November 1, 2024
Max tugged his daughter out onto the dance floor. They had rented a hall. Had invited all of her friends but she was still upset about Kal leaving. "You aren't having fun."
"I don't want to." She pouted but rested her head on her father's shoulder.
"There's some guy that has been trying to talk to you all night. Want me to kick him out?"
"Yes. It's Barry and I hate him. He thinks because he's the captain of everything that I have to melt at his feet."
"Then why did you ask mom to invite him?"
"Because he's cute but he's not amusing me today."
"I can't help you be happier unless you want to be happier." He rubbed her back lightly. "But I can tell you that hiding from everyone now… you'll regret it later."
"How do you know that?"
"I spent way too long hiding behind a camera, Kayla. It felt good when I learned to spend some time in front of it."
"But you're a photographer."
"But now… I take landscapes. I've stopped stealing moments that aren't mine."
--
Brock shook her head and let Duke II lead her to his preferred toilet. Liz hugged the redhead. "Thanks, Liz. I just… feel so bad wishing it wasn’t him up there."
"I know."
"And Davis never calls me. She's way too busy. Scott calls me every Tuesday and Thursday between classes but I never see him and it's never for more than a few minutes. Brett is growing up so fast. Before I know it, she'll be out of the house, too."
"He'll be back soon." Liz promised and helped hold back Duke II from chasing after a bitch. "I thought you got him fixed."
"I actually can't remember." Brock braced herself and whistled sharply, breaking the dog's thought process. "The first Duke never gave me this much trouble when it came to chasing after the dames." She leaned down to ruffle his fur. "I'll have to look though his papers."
"Duke." Liz knelt to address the dog. "Do your business so we can get back to the party." He gruffed at her, seemingly knowing that if he barked at her, he'd get reprimanded by his mistress. "You're on my time mister. No time to go chasing tail."
"I miss Duke number one." Brock whined and gently tugged on his leash. "He was fully trained before I took over his walks." She sighed when Duke II finally squatted to do his business. "Zan didn't bond so well with this one. He was still depressed about the first Duke."
"Duke the first lived a long time. 18 years. For a dog… that's like… 126. Geez. He did live a long time."
"But this one hasn't gotten depressed like the other Duke. It used to make me so sad. He would put his head on the bed where Zan's feet would have been. It was different, too. When Zan was on location, he'd mope a little but nowhere near as bad as when Zan was gone." Brock sighed heavily. "Did I tell you that he visits that dog, still? He got us plots out there. It's so depressing but he said he wanted to make sure that when he goes, he can still have his right-hand man. It's gonna be me, Zan and Duke I for all eternity."
"He really loved that dog."
--
Max supervised the cake and the distribution of ice cream. Teenagers were everywhere. Shane walked around with his MP3 player and ignored it all. Shaggy hair in his face, you could barely tell there was a boy in there. Max mimicked scissors across the boy's forehead. "You want me to cut that so you can eat?"
"My hair isn't too long." The shaggy dog mumbled.
"Are you going to sit there and sulk all night?"
"I'm gonna have some cake." Max furrowed his eyebrows at the boy. Was he talking in slow motion. "Dad?" Shane pulled his hair out of his eyes. "Dad." He waved his hand in front of his eyes. "Kayla!"
Before he knew it, several large teens were helping him to sit and someone had run out to collect his wife. As soon as it had come on, it was gone. He bent and took deep breaths with his head between his knees.
"Max! What happened?" Liz slid beneath him and picked up his head. "Kids, give him some room." The teens backed off a bit. "I said go. I've got it from here."
"Come on. He's okay." Kayla got her friends out of the way.
"Max…" Liz peered up into his face. "What happened?"
"I just… stopped moving and everyone sounded funny…" Max fought the urge to throw up.
"He completely zoned out. It was scary." Shane offered. "One minute he was bugging me about my hair and the next he was just standing there."
"Max?" Liz cupped his face in her hands. "What happened?"
"I think something's going on. I haven't felt like this since the last time Zan was up there."
“This happened the last time?” Liz gently pushed him back into a sitting position. “When?”
“It was Christmas… it happened twice. I got really dizzy and I passed out. It was because they put him in an escape pod. I… don’t think they’d do that this time… and he probably just got there.” Max let her look him over but he was feeling better.
“You don’t think maybe he was using his powers? Didn’t he say he felt you when you used yours.”
“It’s possible.”
“Daddy…” Kayla stood behind her mother with her arms crossed self-consciously. “Are they okay?”
“I’m sure they’re fine.” Dad smiled up at her. “Go on. Join your party. I’m okay and I’m sure Uncle Kal is fine.”
“But- ”
“Go.” Max gestured to her friends. “Have fun. It’s an order.” Max and Liz watched their daughter fake her way through the rest of her party. Even Shane had managed to find something fun to do but even though Kayla was smiling and laughing, none of it reached her eyes.
December 20, 2024
Max held onto to the door but tried to relax. “Okay. Davis, gently, put your foot on the clutch and tap the brake just long enough to shift into reverse. It should be a fluid motion.”
The grinding caught his ears but he tried not to cringe. “Like that?”
“That’s good.” He lied.
“Daddy’s coming home soon, right?” She asked while she quickly reversed the process to finish parallel parking, this time without any stress on the gears.
“I think so.”
“I met a guy and I want your opinion but I don’t think he should meet you before he meets Dad.” Davis explained quickly and turned to her uncle. “So. How’d I do?”
“Better… what’s this about a guy on the horizon?”
“It’s not a big deal. Scott already met him and hates him. He’s such a pain. I’m five minutes older. You’d think some guy was stealing me away or something.”
“You shared a womb with him. He’s just protective of his next door neighbor.”
“Maybe but I am old enough to make my own decisions.”
“So what was the other thing you wanted to talk to me about?” Max prodded gently as she readied the car to take off again.
“I’m switching majors.”
“Why?”
“English is fine and I’ll probably still take some courses just for me but… I don’t know… I’ve been trying to ease Mom into it but I think I need to make my case to Dad first.”
“What is it you now aspire to become?”
“It’s just… I have a lot of interests and I don’t want to waste away in English classes and literature when I know all that stuff. Those are such bird courses. I was thinking maybe I could take some fashion classes or something until I know what I want.”
“You want to become a fashion designer?”
“I don’t know. I was going to wait until after next semester, so I could talk Mom and Dad into it, first.”
“Have you spoken to your advisors yet?”
“I wanted to be sure I could pull it off at home before I went to the advisers. I don’t like wasting my time.”
“How about we put this on hold until you get us home?” Max gestured to the steering wheel. “Remember, gently ease into one gear and then the other. Ease. Fluid movements.”
“Ugh… Okay.” Davis refocused her attention to the pedals at her feet and the gearshift in her hand.
--
“Shane!” Liz called out into the cold. “Get in the house! It’s freezing!”
“Come on! There’s nothing to do in there!” He called back from where he was riding a small snowmobile over the dunes in their huge backyard. “You said I couldn’t play video games all day during vacation. What am I supposed to do?”
“Now, I’m saying it’s way too cold to be riding that thing in this weather! Get in the house!” Liz waited until he had parked the snowmobile and covered it before she told him how he would be filling his time. “Mrs. Mackey will be here in ten minutes for your violin lesson.”
“Mom.” Shane groaned.
“You’re getting better and you want to show up Aunt Tess when she gets here, right? A little competition to show she’s not the only one with musical talent in this family.”
“I’ve got a duet that’ll blow her socks off… on both the violin and the piano.”
“There’s my evil little boy. Come on.” Liz stood aside so he could enter and remove his snow gear. “Don’t forget to put your boots over the grate. I don’t want any icy puddles in here.”
She turned when Max and Davis entered the house and waved. Max immediately headed for the kitchen. “We need some spicy hot chocolate. It’s cold out.”
“On the stove.” Liz called back.
“Uncle Max?” Davis’s voice drifted back to Liz, who turned and quickly charged into the kitchen. There she found Davis helping Max to the floor. “He just got dizzy all of a sudden.”
“Max?”
“I guess they’re on their way home.”
TBC
Part 64
Part 64 – February 14, 2025
Max shook his head as he watched them through the monitor in another room. Three Zannamen children nodding to questions like pros.
"Daddy does spoil us pretty rotten." Davis nodded with an enigmatic smile that had become her signature when dealing with her father's fame. "But he makes us appreciate it. He had it hard growing up… he keeps us grounded but he doesn't…"
"He lets us dream and he supports us but he also makes sure we're a little realistic. We know he's the famous one. He's earned the acclaim and the fans… but we enjoy his umbrella sometimes." Scott added.
"None of you aspire to fame?" the interviewer paused and looked from face to face. They could be models at the very least but none of them had set foot in front of a camera when it hadn't pertained to their famous father.
"I don't know about that but I'm not an actress." Davis shrugged delicately, her mother's daughter all the way.
"Yeah, acting's not for me." Scott shook his head.
"I don't know. It can be fun but my schedule's too busy." Brett leapt in, having been largely ignored. "Aja's the star, anyway."
"Any resentment towards him?"
All three turned into studies in disgust that the interviewer could think to ask such a question. "No, he's the best big brother a girl could have."
"Yeah, he's cool."
"Aja's alright when we see him. He works a lot and he's going to school, now." Brett shrugs as she leans on her big brother, who wraps an arm around her shoulder.
"So you're all close?"
"Well, yeah." Scott nodded. "Brat is still in high school but it's only a 3 year age difference. Aja lived in New York until Davis and I were seven. He was over all the time. Dad's been pretty good about organizing holidays and vacations so we stay close."
"Is Brett the only carrot top?"
"Yes. These two are losers." Brett boasted before Scott put her in a headlock.
"So, think you could swing us an interview with dear old dad?"
"You'll have to go through his publicist." Scott shook his head and quickly kissed his sister's mussed head. "We don't negotiate for him."
Max cleared his throat and waved to the production manager. A few moments later, the interviewer picked up his head. "Well, that's all the time we have, I guess. Thank you kids for the interview."
--
Liz greeted Max when they arrived at the hotel. "Where're the kids?"
"Kayla's on the phone with her boyfriend or the composer, I forget which, and Shane is… I don't know. I think he found an arcade." Liz rolled her eyes but kissed her husband anyway. "Happy Valentine's day."
"Yes, happy Valentine's day. Scott has agreed to play chaperone so we can go out and play tonight."
"Sounds great."
"Hey Aunt Liz!" Brett called in, interrupting the moment. "Think me and Kayla can check out a show—"
"Not a chance." Liz didn't even look. "Your mother will be by later and she will expect you to be here."
March 16, 2025
Brock paced the office. "He was back by this time last time."
"But he left a lot later than he did the last time." Max tried to calm her down but she wouldn't be calmed.
"It's my husband. The father of my children."
"I know."
"I just want him home. Haven't you felt anything?"
"Not in a while." He finally admitted. "It does worry me too but I have to have faith that he's coming back."
"And I'm trying to do the same but… I just have this sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach." She took a seat to sip her coffee but it had gone cold. She was grateful when Max leaned over to reheat it. "He's coming back. If he wasn't, he'd find a way to let us know."
"Zan made a lot of friends up there. If he wasn't coming back, they'd kill him for us." Max leaned on her desk. "He's probably busy with whatever is going on. Maybe there's been trouble brewing and he's putting any unrest to… you know… rest."
"Maybe."
--
Max took the contracts from Miles to look over. He barely even glanced at them before signing. After school, Kayla entered the office, dropped her books on the floor and sat down at the desk to read over what he'd been doing all day. She was silent for a long time before she began weeding out the contracts. "Some of these are worth negotiating over. You could run up the price easily."
"Okay." Max took the stack from her and began making phone calls. "Any suggestions while I have the big boys on the line?"
"I'll do it." She sighed and took the phone from him. "Dad… have you…?"
"No. Nothing in a while."
Then she was busy dialing and negotiating. Shredding invalid contracts as new terms and prices were made. Max worked at the desk, making his own phone calls as necessary and handing off assignments to Miles every so often.
"Do you want to go for a drive?"
"No."
"Not even in one of Kal's fun cars?"
"No." Kayla grunted and threw herself into the work, turning her back on her father.
Max pulled her back into his arms. "He'll be okay."
May 30, 2025
Liz turned when her daughter entered the kitchen and nearly spit coffee all over her printouts. "What did you do to your hair?"
"It was time for a change." Kayla shrugged and her shoulders never came into danger of meeting the new length of her hair.
"I know that you've directed, produced and scored a movie. I know you're also part time executive of a major production company but you are still underage and you're still obligated to discuss major changes in your appearance with your parents."
"It's just hair. It will grow back."
"Max!" Liz called out of the room. Her sleepy husband emerged a few moments later. "Look at what your daughter has done."
Max had to pry open his eyes but still, he had to sip his wife's coffee to see precisely what his daughter had done. Her hair was short. Very short. "Okay. I thought I told Shane to cut his hair."
"I needed a change."
"But I loved your hair." Max rubbed the last of the sleep from his eyes. "Mom loved your hair… and the… escort…" Her eyes flicked up to his for a moment and suddenly Max understood. "What happened?"
"What?" Liz blinked at them. Then she gasped. "What happened?"
"He dumped me. Okay? He said I was weird. He didn't get my movie and then he dumped me. So I cut my hair. Are we done?" She grabbed a peach from the bowl and waved. "Miles is taking me to work."
"It's not work. It's part-time!" Max called after her. "She needs a hobby."
TBC
Max shook his head as he watched them through the monitor in another room. Three Zannamen children nodding to questions like pros.
"Daddy does spoil us pretty rotten." Davis nodded with an enigmatic smile that had become her signature when dealing with her father's fame. "But he makes us appreciate it. He had it hard growing up… he keeps us grounded but he doesn't…"
"He lets us dream and he supports us but he also makes sure we're a little realistic. We know he's the famous one. He's earned the acclaim and the fans… but we enjoy his umbrella sometimes." Scott added.
"None of you aspire to fame?" the interviewer paused and looked from face to face. They could be models at the very least but none of them had set foot in front of a camera when it hadn't pertained to their famous father.
"I don't know about that but I'm not an actress." Davis shrugged delicately, her mother's daughter all the way.
"Yeah, acting's not for me." Scott shook his head.
"I don't know. It can be fun but my schedule's too busy." Brett leapt in, having been largely ignored. "Aja's the star, anyway."
"Any resentment towards him?"
All three turned into studies in disgust that the interviewer could think to ask such a question. "No, he's the best big brother a girl could have."
"Yeah, he's cool."
"Aja's alright when we see him. He works a lot and he's going to school, now." Brett shrugs as she leans on her big brother, who wraps an arm around her shoulder.
"So you're all close?"
"Well, yeah." Scott nodded. "Brat is still in high school but it's only a 3 year age difference. Aja lived in New York until Davis and I were seven. He was over all the time. Dad's been pretty good about organizing holidays and vacations so we stay close."
"Is Brett the only carrot top?"
"Yes. These two are losers." Brett boasted before Scott put her in a headlock.
"So, think you could swing us an interview with dear old dad?"
"You'll have to go through his publicist." Scott shook his head and quickly kissed his sister's mussed head. "We don't negotiate for him."
Max cleared his throat and waved to the production manager. A few moments later, the interviewer picked up his head. "Well, that's all the time we have, I guess. Thank you kids for the interview."
--
Liz greeted Max when they arrived at the hotel. "Where're the kids?"
"Kayla's on the phone with her boyfriend or the composer, I forget which, and Shane is… I don't know. I think he found an arcade." Liz rolled her eyes but kissed her husband anyway. "Happy Valentine's day."
"Yes, happy Valentine's day. Scott has agreed to play chaperone so we can go out and play tonight."
"Sounds great."
"Hey Aunt Liz!" Brett called in, interrupting the moment. "Think me and Kayla can check out a show—"
"Not a chance." Liz didn't even look. "Your mother will be by later and she will expect you to be here."
March 16, 2025
Brock paced the office. "He was back by this time last time."
"But he left a lot later than he did the last time." Max tried to calm her down but she wouldn't be calmed.
"It's my husband. The father of my children."
"I know."
"I just want him home. Haven't you felt anything?"
"Not in a while." He finally admitted. "It does worry me too but I have to have faith that he's coming back."
"And I'm trying to do the same but… I just have this sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach." She took a seat to sip her coffee but it had gone cold. She was grateful when Max leaned over to reheat it. "He's coming back. If he wasn't, he'd find a way to let us know."
"Zan made a lot of friends up there. If he wasn't coming back, they'd kill him for us." Max leaned on her desk. "He's probably busy with whatever is going on. Maybe there's been trouble brewing and he's putting any unrest to… you know… rest."
"Maybe."
--
Max took the contracts from Miles to look over. He barely even glanced at them before signing. After school, Kayla entered the office, dropped her books on the floor and sat down at the desk to read over what he'd been doing all day. She was silent for a long time before she began weeding out the contracts. "Some of these are worth negotiating over. You could run up the price easily."
"Okay." Max took the stack from her and began making phone calls. "Any suggestions while I have the big boys on the line?"
"I'll do it." She sighed and took the phone from him. "Dad… have you…?"
"No. Nothing in a while."
Then she was busy dialing and negotiating. Shredding invalid contracts as new terms and prices were made. Max worked at the desk, making his own phone calls as necessary and handing off assignments to Miles every so often.
"Do you want to go for a drive?"
"No."
"Not even in one of Kal's fun cars?"
"No." Kayla grunted and threw herself into the work, turning her back on her father.
Max pulled her back into his arms. "He'll be okay."
May 30, 2025
Liz turned when her daughter entered the kitchen and nearly spit coffee all over her printouts. "What did you do to your hair?"
"It was time for a change." Kayla shrugged and her shoulders never came into danger of meeting the new length of her hair.
"I know that you've directed, produced and scored a movie. I know you're also part time executive of a major production company but you are still underage and you're still obligated to discuss major changes in your appearance with your parents."
"It's just hair. It will grow back."
"Max!" Liz called out of the room. Her sleepy husband emerged a few moments later. "Look at what your daughter has done."
Max had to pry open his eyes but still, he had to sip his wife's coffee to see precisely what his daughter had done. Her hair was short. Very short. "Okay. I thought I told Shane to cut his hair."
"I needed a change."
"But I loved your hair." Max rubbed the last of the sleep from his eyes. "Mom loved your hair… and the… escort…" Her eyes flicked up to his for a moment and suddenly Max understood. "What happened?"
"What?" Liz blinked at them. Then she gasped. "What happened?"
"He dumped me. Okay? He said I was weird. He didn't get my movie and then he dumped me. So I cut my hair. Are we done?" She grabbed a peach from the bowl and waved. "Miles is taking me to work."
"It's not work. It's part-time!" Max called after her. "She needs a hobby."
TBC