Always and Forever (AU M/L MATURE) Epilogue, A/N pg 9, 3/3

[Heavenli24]

Hey guys , before I reply to feedback, I just want to add a few comments of my own. First off, as I was writing the story, especially Max's parts, I didn't realise that he would come across as selfish, dense, less passionate or disrespectful towards Liz, because that certainly wasn't my intention. Believe me, I dislike those personality traits as much as you guys do, and not once did I consider that I might be writing him that way. I guess I underestimated the reaction to his actions.

When the storyline popped into my head back in September and as I planned the parts, the kiss wasn't supposed to become this big obstacle in the relationship - the general idea was that it was going to be a case of (from both sides)...'okay, so it was just a kiss; it's not the end of the world. It doesn't mean everything has to change' and at the end of the day it was just a tiny blip in Max and Liz's lives. I honestly had no idea that it would change your opinions of Max's character and his morals so much.

Unfortuately, I seem to have run into a brick wall with the Alex thing, because I agree with the feedback: Alex shouldn't have been at the wedding. However, I have adjusted the storyline slightly since the wedding scene in the Prologue. Originally (and up until a few weeks ago), the story was going to be much longer and I had a storyline involving Alex later in the fic - therefore, she needed to be at the wedding and also still friends with Max. However then I decided on a different ending (mostly due to time constraints - otherwise I'd still be writing this in a year's time), but I had already written Alex into the wedding scene and you had all read it - so now I've gotten a bit stuck with it:roll: !

I guess that's what happens when you start posting a story before you've finished writing it !

***

Thanks for all your comments though, I love to read them :

LairaBehr4 - Thanks .

Gaby7tvm (x2) - Perhaps she is, although maybe imagining life without Max is just too painful for her.

frenchkiss70 (x2) - I'm sure that we've all experienced a moment in our lives when we've just said ' screw it' and reached for that slice of chocolate cake/glass of wine etc. that we're not allowed and know we shouldn't have, but that doesn't necessarily make us bad people. Whilst I agree that Max should have stopped himself and thought of Liz before anything happened, but he experienced a laspe of judgement and went for the thing he knew he shouldn't have.

But why should Alex know what Max was really feeling towards her?

I was going with the assumption that when he and Alex talked things out, he would have admitted his mixed-up feelings and told her that he'd come to the realisation that he loved and needed Liz, not her.

guelbebek - Thanks .

Lizziebehr - Thanks . I think that Liz knows how much she needs Max and doesn't want to live without him, so she came to a compromise.

clueless - Thanks .

sunrise102 (x2) -

What's really getting to me at this point is how Alex was the one to offer to take a stay from Max as opposed to him offering first!!! He's all about "I'll do whatever it takes to earn back your trust" but where is the world did he say "I'll even keep my distance from her if that's what you want." Did I miss it?

Honestly, Max just didn't think to say it, but it doesn't mean that he wouldn't stop being friends with Alex immediately if Liz said the word.

Liz is entirely too forgiving. I mean, she didn't have to change the wedding date or anything. And hey let's not forget that she let Max invite his "friend" to their wedding!

Actually, I stumbled into a slight problem with this one (see the the beginning of this post), but the issue of Alex being at the wedding will come up in a couple of parts' time.

Sorry is this came off snarky or sarcastic. lol. It's not my intent to offend you in any way. In fact, you should take it as a compliment that you got such a strong reaction from me, not make do.

Thanks . I'm not offended, but sometimes reading everyone's comments can be hard (especially in the last few days because I've had a long, tiring week and am exhausted) because I never wanted any of you guys to feel that way about Max. However, had I planned for him to act that way, I'd probably be relishing in the comments right now !

I completely agree with you on the fact that Max and Liz's relationship will never be the same.

Remember, this is Max and Liz, our dreamers... I'd like to believe that their love is strong enough to overcome this.

Leigh - It seems maybe I'm being a little ambitious trying to merge more realistic situations with Max and Liz and their star-crossed love. Perhaps in RL, the guy would be dropped immediately for his actions, but I still have faith in the strength of Max and Liz's love for each other to be able to get through this and still be happy.

Wicked - Thank you, I'm glad you're enjoying the series .

The only thing I have a HUGE problem with and I find very unrealistic is the fact that even after Max kissed Alex and told Liz about it he still continues his friendship with Alex with no regard to how Liz might feel about that.

As I mentioned at the top, I have to apologise for that, because in order for my original storyline to occur, Alex needed to still be in Max and Liz's life and by the time I decided not to go with it, it was too late to change the earlier parts .

Sorry for the ramble just wanted to get it all out since I will most likely return to lurker status.

Please don't return to lurker status... all of us writers love to get feedback in any capacity. I was a lurker in another fandom for years, and I have to say that being an active member in Roswell fic, is much more fun .


***

Interlude Thirteen

Max

Present Day –Tuesday July 3rd 2007

Liz and I have been here in London for just over three months now and I have to say that, after a few weeks of adjusting and getting over the culture shock, we’re both thoroughly enjoying living in England. Granted, there are things we miss about New Mexico, namely the hot weather, the sunshine and the food, but there is so much culture and diversity here that you can never get tired of it. My new position as a researcher in publishing is much more satisfying than the job I was doing back in Santa Fe and Liz and I are enjoying having a little more money to spend, although most of it now has to go towards our living costs because everything is a lot more expensive here than back in the states.

However, both of us have managed to make some new friends; we often hang out with a few people from work, mostly Richard, who transferred from my office in Santa Fe, and his wife, Sarah, and also a guy called Tim from Reading (a medium-sized city about an hour west of London) and his girlfriend, Jessica. Tim has been filling us clueless Americans in on British etiquette and behaviour by taking us all out to bars and clubs around the city.

I do feel a little sorry for Liz, however, because now she’s in a similar boat to when we first got married. Her visa does not allow her to work here, so she has to spend her days entertaining herself whilst I’m at work. Luckily, though, our neighbours are really nice and she’s made some friends in our apartment block, who all like to get together for coffee and fun excursions around London while the men have to go to work. Apparently, she now belongs to their book club (which as far as I can tell, is more of a gossip club than anything else), their newly founded wine appreciation club and the local gym.

“Hey, Max, you coming for a pint down the Rat and Parrot?” asks Tim, as I close down my desktop and get ready to leave the office for the day.

“Not today, thanks, man,” I decline. “I need to get home; Liz and I have plans this evening.”

“Fair enough, mate,” he nods, before turning his attention to Richard on the other side of the room. “You up for it, Rich?”

“Sure,” nods Richard. “Just give me five minutes.”

“Bye, guys,” I tell them, as I grab my suit jacket and briefcase and head for the door. “See you tomorrow.”

Once outside the building, I pull off my tie and roll up my sleeves. Man, for a country that always seems to be cold and rainy, it’s uncharacteristically hot today. It’s only eighty-five degrees – which is nothing by New Mexico standards – but by the time I reach the tube station I’m sweating like a pig. For once, I am very appreciative of the fact that our office has air conditioning, because apparently not many buildings in England have it installed – according to Tim, it’s not worth the cost for only a few days of hot weather per year – which unfortunately makes even eighty-degree weather almost unbearable here.

As I ride the hot, stuffy, crowded tube train towards Clapham Common, I pass the time going over the plans for our first anniversary, which is coming up in a few days’ time. I’ve decided to make the most of the fact that we’re in Europe and I’ve arranged for a surprise weekend away in Paris for the two of us. I know it’s somewhere Liz has always dreamed of going, but was way too expensive and out of our budget before. However, living in the UK does certainly have its merits. For example, did you know that there is a cheap UK airline called easyJet, which offers round-trip flights to Paris for less than $100 each? Plus, it only takes an hour to get there – it’s incredible!

It’s going to be a surprise for Liz, so although I’ve revealed that I’m taking her away for the weekend, I’m not telling her exactly where we’re going until we get to the airport. We’ll leave right after I finish work on the Friday and our flight gets into Charles De Gaulle at about 9.30 pm. Since our anniversary isn’t until Sunday, I’ve arranged to take the day off work on Monday and we’ll fly back in the afternoon. I can’t wait to see the look on her face when I tell her she’s going to Paris.

With a smile on my face, I reach our apartment block and punch in the access code. We have to be careful with security around here because London is not the safest place in the world. You’d think that London would be a fairly safe place to live compared to some of the cities in the US, but apparently, after 9/11, it was eight times safer to walk the streets of New York than the streets of London. I climb the single flight of stairs up to our apartment and let myself in. Liz is watching TV, wearing just a tank top and a pair of shorts (it’s very hot in our apartment because of the distinct lack of air conditioning), so I drop my briefcase to the floor and join her on the couch.

“Hi,” I greet, as I kick my shoes off and relax against the soft cushions.

She doesn’t respond and I assume it’s because she’s absorbed in the latest episode of Neighbours – a light-hearted Australian soap that, despite its cheesiness, is actually really popular with the British public. Apparently, so Liz tells me, it’s the show that launched the careers of several big stars, including Russell Crowe, Kylie Minogue, Holly Valance, Natalie Imbruglia and Jesse Spencer – however, when I lean in to give her a kiss in greeting, I realise that she’s actually crying.

“Hey, what’s wrong,” I ask in concern, as I cup her jaw with my hand and turn her face towards me. She looks so sad and my heart sinks. “Lizzie?”

“Max, I –” she starts, her voice breaking, as the tears slide down her face.

”What is it?” I ask gently. “You can tell me.”

“I, um… I think I might be pregnant again,” she blurts out quickly, her face crumpling.

“Oh, Lizzie,” I murmur in understanding, pulling her close as she buries her face in my chest.

“I’m scared, Max. I’m so scared,” she cries, her voice muffled against me. “What if it happens again? I can’t do it again.”

“Hey, it’ll be okay,” I soothe, rubbing her back as she sobs. “I’m here for you and whatever happens, we’ll get through this together.”

“Okay,” she murmurs with a nod. “Okay.”

I press a gentle kiss to the top of her head, as she shifts to curl up against me and it is then that I realise how fast my heart is beating. My feelings are mixed right now, on the one hand, the possibility that I might really be having a child with Liz just fills me with joy, but on the other hand, I know how difficult it was for Liz to go through and deal with having a miscarriage last year and I’ll do anything in my power to prevent her hurting like that again.

“Well, I guess the first thing we should do is make an appointment to see the doctor,” I suggest softly. “Find out if you really are pregnant.”

“I already have,” she tells me with a sniff. “It was the first thing I thought of this morning when I realised that I was late. I have an appointment on Thursday morning.”

“Okay,” I nod. “Well, in that case, I’ll take the morning off and come with you.”

“Really,” she asks, looking up at me in surprise. “You can do that?”

“Sure,” I reply. “I’ll tell them it’s very important. I’m going to be with you every step of the way this time.”

“Thank you,” she says, before settling down against my side once more.

“Anything for you, Lizzie,” I tell her honestly.

We sit together in comfortable silence for a few minutes. Liz turns her attention to the TV, whilst I mull over the news that Liz might be pregnant. If she is, I really hope that nothing bad happens this time. Although, Liz was obviously more affected by the loss of our child than I was, it still hurt me and it’s not something that I’d ever want to have to go through again. Unfortunately, thoughts of Liz’s miscarriage last March also bring back memories of that awful day when I kissed Alex. I have never regretted anything else more than I regret what I did to Liz and our relationship that day. As if Liz has read my mind, she suddenly speaks up.

“Max, I can’t stop thinking about what happened last time,” she confesses softly. “Not just the baby, but you…and Alex.”

I close my eyes as her words, “Lizzie, you know how sorry I am about what I did. I regret it with all my heart, but I love you so much and I’d hate for my stupid, pathetic mistake to come between us.”

“I know. I love you so much too and I’ve tried so hard to put it behind me, but sometimes I can’t help thinking about it,” she says softly.

“Liz, you’re the most important thing in the world to me; you’re my family and you come first,” I tell her earnestly. “Before we left New Mexico, I told Alex that it was best if we didn’t keep in contact anymore. I told her that it was unfair to you to remain friends with her and I should have realised that much, much earlier. I am so sorry for everything I’ve put you through because of her, but I promise you now that you are and will always be my priority; no matter what happens.”

“Thank you, Max,” she says when I finish speaking. “It’s going to be hard to forget about it altogether, but I am willing to live in the now and look forward to spending the rest of our lives together.”

“No, thank you Lizzie,” I murmur, taking her hand and lifting it to my lips. “For giving me another chance last year. I swear you won’t regret it.”

Instead of going out for the evening like we’d planned, Liz and I decide to stay in and enjoy each other’s company at home. I don’t think Liz is really in the mood to get dressed up and made up for a night out on the town and to be honest I had a pretty tiring day at work. We decide to have an early night and by ten o’clock, we’re curled up in bed together, talking softly about general things, like the fact that Michael and Maria have finally decided on the date for their wedding (the second Saturday in November) and the fact that my parents have been dropping hints about coming to visit, but we have no room to put them up in our apartment; until Liz eventually drifts off to sleep.

As I watch her, peaceful in sleep, I can’t help but pray that everything will be okay and that, if she is going to have a baby, it will be healthy and we won’t have to go through the pain of losing another child.

TBC…

[Heavenli24]

Hey guys, thanks for your feedback and comments :

Gaby7tvm - Yay! Thank you .

LairaBehr4 - Love you, too !

frenchkiss70 - Okay, I agree about the chocolate thing not being the same, I was having trouble coming up with a good comparison .
I guess I was thinking of the bigger picture, but Max was being selfish at that moment - he made the decision to push everything else to the back of his mind and go after what he wanted at that time. However, when I read everyone's feedback, I was just thinking about Max overall as a person - I don't see him as a selfish or self-centred person in general, but yes, in that moment, he was being selfish and now he's having to deal with the consquences of that. Maybe it's too optimistic, but I like to believe that Max and Liz would be able to get past something like this and be happy together in the future.

Emz80m - Thanks .

clueless - Thanks .

sunrise102 - Thanks .

Erina - Thanks - we don't know if there is a pregnancy yet .

Leigh - Thank you, I appreciate your comments . You haven't overstepped your bounds, but my concern has been whether my resolution of the situation will be enough to redeem Max.

I liked that he didn't have to discuss or agonize about the termination of his relationship with Alex. I'm glad Max got his priorities straight. I see Alex as a person who might be sad about this, but also understanding of the situation.

Honestly, I only see Alex as a friend to Max - she may have been attracted to him at first, but she dismissed that quickly. And as soon as Max had realised his mistake, she went right back to being a friend in his eyes - I guess that's why he remained friends with her, because that's all she really was.

I wonder if you underestimated the power of your own writing abilities. The scenes...especially the kissing scene....between Alex and Max were riveting.

I'll be honest - when I wrote the kissing scene, I did think, 'I wonder if this will cause a reaction, since it's not M/L?', but not once did I imagine the response from everyone!

On top of that, Alex seemed like a nice person which in turn put the onus on Max. Alex is a compelling character and sometimes I honestly felt she belonged with Max.

Perhaps Alex and Max could have been good together, but I'm a Dreamer and this is a Dreamer fic, so it's not even an option here .

veronica - Thank you - I'm glad you liked the stories. Next update coming up...



***

Part Twenty-Eight

Liz

Thursday June 8th 2006

Well, it’s finally here: my college graduation. I almost can’t believe I actually made it to this point after everything that’s happened over the last year and a half. There were several times during junior and senior year, when I was tempted to just give up on it all, but now that I’ve gotten through it all and finally made it to graduation, I’m determined not to let anything spoil this day.

Max is here, along with my parents and although he’s been doing everything he can think of to prove his love for me and we’re beginning to get back to normal again, I’ve still feeling a little awkward around him. Deep down, I know he is truly sorry and that he didn’t mean for anything to happen with Alex, but sometimes I just can’t help imagining the scene and I get an unwelcome mental picture of the two of them together. However, I am beginning to forgive him and I have to admit that it has been very hard to continue resisting him, when he sends me flowers every day and writes letters to me, confessing his love and going on to list every single thing that he loves about me. Last week, he even told me that he was willing to give up everything and everyone in connection with his time at UNM in favour of concentrating solely on me and it was at that point that I realised I couldn’t let him continue to give up everything else in his life just for me.

Since then, we’ve been working on getting things back on track and I think that this week has been a turning point for us. After all, Max has played a major part in helping me deal with everything that has happened and he, along with my friends and family, is the reason I’m here today. This week is the first time in almost a month that I’ve really felt positive and happy, and want I want more than anything in the world is to put the past behind us and look forward to our lives together. So, here we are, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, celebrating my graduation and beginning a new phase in our lives.

Although the actual commencement ceremony is today, my parents, Max and I have been here since Monday night, because the whole graduation process lasts for three days. On Tuesday afternoon, I attended the baccalaureate service in the Memorial Church, whilst mom, dad and Max listened to the address via speakers outside the church. After the service, our class pictures were taken and then we all went to the senior class family dinner and party in the evening.

Yesterday was Class Day, which involved a family picnic at noon, followed by the senior class day exercises, where they gave the undergraduate orations and awards. Our guest speaker this year was none other than the Seth MacFarlane, the creator of ‘Family Guy’… it was pretty funny, to say the least. This time, the evening saw us attending a concert given by the Harvard Band and the Glee Club.

Now it’s Thursday morning and the official commencement begins in less than two hours. Right now, I’m standing in front of the mirror in the bathroom of our hotel room, attempting to apply my make-up, although it’s not going so well because I’m nervous and my hand keeps shaking. Through the open door of the bathroom, I can see Max still asleep in the bed we’ve been sharing for the past three nights. He’s sprawled across the mattress as if he owns the whole bed. I stop what I’m doing for a moment to watch him.

It’s been a tough few weeks for us and despite all Max’s romantic gestures and efforts, we haven’t really spent that much time alone, nor have we broached the subject of the physical side of our relationship. I have to admit that I’ve been a little hesitant with allowing him close to me again, not because I don’t want him, because in spite of his actions, I can’t help being attracted to him, but because I’m still feeling somewhat fragile over the fact that he touched another woman. Although we have been sharing a bed this week, there’s still some distance between us and the whole thing has been a little strange for me.

However, looking at him now, his gorgeous face relaxed in sleep, it’s so easy to forget all the crap that’s happened lately and just see him as my husband to be, the love of my life. We have talked more about what happened with Alex and why he did what he did and I’ve made it perfectly clear that if he ever slips up again, with her or with anyone else, I’m not going to give him the benefit of the doubt again and we will be through.

He has sworn to me that he will never be so stupid as to look at another woman again and I really do believe him. The thing is, I know he’s the one for me and I know he’s the only person I want to spend the rest of my life with. If that kiss really was just a stupid mistake and it never happens again, then I don’t see the point in ruining our life-long friendship and four-year relationship because of it. I’m not really sure what my feelings about Alex are, but I believe that Max’s feelings for her and vice versa are purely platonic and for now, I have decided not to insist on Max terminating his friendship with her, despite the fact that he has offered to do so for the sake of our relationship. Although I may change my mind in the future.

With a sigh, I tear my eyes away from his sleeping form and return to getting ready for the day.

***

We arrive at the university at eight o’clock in the morning, in time for the senior chapel in Memorial Church and after various processions into the outdoor Tercentenary Theatre, the commencement ceremony begins at nine forty-five. As President Summers gives his speech and confers our degrees, I search the huge crowd for my friends; although it’s difficult to spot them, I finally manage to lay my eyes on both Becca and Jack, although all three of us are pretty spread out between the rows.

After the ceremony, it takes me several minutes to find my parents and Max amongst all the people. However, when I do, Mom and Dad can’t seem to stop hugging and congratulating me on graduating with honours, which prevents Max from saying anything, although he stands to the side with a huge grin on his face. When I can finally untangle myself from them, Max smiles warmly and wraps me up in a hug, pressing a kiss to the top of my head and whispering congratulations in my ear. When he releases me, I smile back and offer him my hand. He takes it and hand in hand, with my parents following, we make our way through the people to the luncheon being held at my undergraduate house, which is also where I pick up my official diploma.

After lunch, which is absolutely delicious, I spend some more time with my family before attending the afternoon exercises and by late afternoon, I’m feeling exhausted. However, my parents have one last surprise for me: they take us out for an expensive dinner in the city!

By the time we arrive back at the hotel, it’s after eleven and I’m half asleep; in fact, I spend the entire taxi journey back to Cambridge with my head resting on Max’s shoulder because I don’t have the energy to hold it upright. When we reach our rooms, Max and I say goodnight to my mom and dad and we arrange a time to meet in the morning so we can leave for the airport, before heading inside to bed.

The two of us get changed and washed for bed in silence. After all the activity of the last few days, I think making small talk, or any other kind of talk is just too much of an effort on either of our parts. However, when we finally climb under the covers and Max pats the space next to him, inviting me to curl up beside him, he finally breaks the silence. I’m slightly hesitant at first, but then I realise how much I need to feel his warm embrace after weeks of distance between us.

“I’m so proud of you, Lizzie. You made it: you’ve graduated from Harvard,” he murmurs softly, as I gently rest my head on his chest.

“Thank you,” I murmur back.

“Liz…?” he questions hesitantly, after a moment’s silence.

“Yeah?” I ask, turning my head to look up at him.

“I just want you to know that I love you, okay?” he murmurs. “I’m always going to love you. I can’t tell you enough how sorry I am for what I did, but I’m promising you now that I will never let anything come between us again.”

“Max –” I start, but he cuts me off.

“I know that you’ve said you’re okay with me still being friends with Alex, but if at any time, you change your mind, all you have to do is say the word and I’ll stop seeing her completely,” he tells me earnestly.

I nod. “I’ll admit that there is a part of me that wants her out of your life for good,” I say softly. “But at the same time, I can’t deny that she’s a nice girl. I’m willing to tolerate your friendship for now, but there may come a time in the future when I feel differently.”

“I understand, Liz. But I can promise you now that whatever I thought I felt for her before, I don’t feel anymore. In fact, I’m not sure I ever actually felt anything for her in the first place. I was missing you and our closeness, and I guess my subconscious led me to think I was attracted to her.”

“You know what, Max?” I say then. “I can’t imagine ever being without you, so I’m willing to concentrate on our future and not on the past from now on. We’re getting married in a few weeks and we have our whole lives to prove our love to each other. As long as we’re honest and work hard at our marriage, then I don’t see why we can’t be happy together.”

“Thank you, Liz,” he murmurs sincerely. “Thank you for giving me another chance. I know I don’t deserve it, but thank you. I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure you always know how much I love you.”

I don’t reply with words, but instead respond by pressing a kiss to his cheek and tightening my arms around him. We fall asleep in each other’s arms, knowing that we’ve made mistakes, but at the same time vowing to stick together through whatever else we have to deal with.

TBC…

[Heavenli24]

Hey guys, thanks for your feedback :

LairaBehr4 - Thanks .

clueless - Thanks .

Natalie36 - Thanks .

Gaby7tvm (x2) - Thanks .

Remember that part of the reason we've only really seen Liz suffer is because the other stories were from her POV only. Believe it or not, when it was started, this story was supposed to be mostly fluff with the exception of a few parts in the middle!

frenchkiss70 - I guess there are different ways to look at the situation. Yes, your point about Max may be valid, but I've been trying to look at things from another perspective, in terms of Liz forgiving him and not breaking up with him. If I was in his shoes and had made a huge mistake like that, which should never have happened (switching genders, obviously), it would only make me more determined never to do it again. I would never think I had the right to betray the person I loved just because they would probably forgive me in the future - that's not the kind of person I am and I don't believe that Max is that kind of person either. He was a bastard for cheating on Liz, but he's learned from it and is now beginning to value Liz more than ever.

Leigh - You know, I've been staring at the screen for about 10 minutes and I still don't really know what to write here .

I guess all I can say is that, since I already know in my head how Max and Liz's lives will turn out in the future, I have trouble agreeing with your views on the current situation. I know that Max means what he's saying - in this story, the characters don't say things that they don't mean or that they don't fully believe in, so when Max says he's sorry etc., he means it - I wouldn't have written it otherwise.

Liz is doing what she believes is right for her in this situation - and she's entitled to make that decision, no matter whether others agree with it.

PS. I don't understand how Liz made a mistake, unless you count going back to Max a mistake.

Liz says.....We fall asleep in each other’s arms, knowing that we’ve made mistakes, but at the same time vowing to stick together through whatever else we have to deal with.

That was more of a passing comment, than a reference to a particular event . Perhaps I should have written 'we've made mistakes in the past' instead - Liz was talking generally about any and all mistakes either of them have ever made - she could even be referring to something that happened in the time between the first 2 stories that we didn't see.


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Part Twenty-Nine

Max

Monday June 13th 2006

“Liz!” I call, as I fling open the back door of the Crashdown and run inside. When I see no sign of Liz in the café, I quickly climb the stairs to her parents’ apartment. “Liz, are you here?”

“In the kitchen,” she calls from around the corner.

I grin and make my way into the Parkers’ kitchen. Liz is sitting at the breakfast table in her nightclothes (an old T-shirt of mine and a pair of pale-blue short-shorts) sipping a glass of orange juice, a half-eaten bowl of Frosted Flakes in front of her. As I come to a stop before the table and slide into the chair next to her, I can’t help but notice how gorgeous she looks this morning, with bare feet and no make-up on. With a grin, I lean close to her and take her glass from her hand, placing it down on the table. Gently cupping her neck, I capture her lips with my own in a gentle, but loving kiss.

Okay, so I know that things haven’t been as comfortable as usual between us since I finally plucked up the courage to confess what happened with Alex, but today I can’t help being spontaneous and showing her just how much I love her. Although I’ve been pretty much grovelling at Liz’s feet for the last few weeks, things are still a little strained between us, and rightly so, I guess. After all, I betrayed her trust and instead of nipping things in the bud the second I thought I felt something for Alex, I just let the attraction grow until it got out of hand.

However, that awful Sunday morning when I effectively cheated on Liz – although the fact that what I was doing was cheating didn’t even register at the time, I just wanted to alleviate and understand the itching feeling I got when I was around Alex – put things into perspective for me. The second that Alex’s lips left mine to answer Becca’s call was the moment that I realised I didn’t actually feel what I thought I did for her. I won’t deny that I didn’t enjoy kissing her or that I didn’t feel anything from the kiss, but to be honest; I think that my feelings really stemmed from not being able to see or spend time with Liz and I was lonely. I guess that I just needed someone and when I began to see my friend in a new light, I latched onto that feeling of excitement that accompanies a new crush and didn’t try to stop it.

If I’d been thinking clearly, I would have realised that allowing myself to feel those things for another woman was incredibly wrong and very unfair to Liz and I would have stopped it immediately. But I didn’t and now I have to pay the price for that. In fact, I’m very surprised that Liz was willing to forgive me so easily and also that she has not demanded I cut all ties with Alex, because I would in a heartbeat if she asked me to. After she told me to leave that day I confessed the truth to her, I spent the whole night out in the desert, contemplating the possibility that I really could have lost her. Everything came crashing down around me as I just sat on one of the rocks, my head in my hands, and cried. I cried for the hurt I had caused Liz, I cried for the mess I’d made of everything, I cried because of the guilt I felt for betraying Liz and for not confessing my betrayal as soon as it occurred and I cried for my unborn child, who never had the chance to live in this world.

Eventually, I fell asleep, exhausted from the multitude of emotions running through me, and when I woke, it was almost midday. By the time I made it back home, told my parents I’d stayed at Michael’s for the night rather than the desert and freshened up, it was almost dinnertime. My priority at that point, though, was to talk to Liz, apologise profusely for my wrongdoings and beg for her forgiveness. However, I arrived at the Crashdown to find she was not there. Her parents told me she was out shopping and would be home soon, if I wanted to wait, which I did, although I felt it was strange that she would be shopping that day.

When she finally arrived home I was both surprised and shocked to hear that she’d been to see Alex in Albuquerque, although I think I was even more shocked to discover that she was actually willing to overlook my indiscretion in favour of working on our relationship and building a life and a future together. I don’t think I could ever fully express the relief and gratitude I felt when she agreed to forgive me and I have spent the last few weeks doing everything I can to show her how much I love her and how truly sorry I am for ever doubting the strength of our bond.

“Wow, what was that for?” murmurs Liz, as our lips part, bringing me back to the present.

“What?” I reply, slightly dazed by the kiss, before the reason for my happiness returns to me and I grin, holding up the sheet of paper in my hand. “Oh, um… guess what?”

“What?” she questions, with a curious smile.

“This came this morning. It’s from Santa Fe,” I elaborate.

“Santa Fe? You mean… the job?” she asks in surprise.

“Yep,” I nod, unable to contain my smile. “I got the job.”

“Oh my God, that’s great!” she exclaims, jumping out of her seat and into my lap, as she throws her arms around me, her breakfast forgotten. “When do you start?”

“Not until August,” I tell her. “After we get back from the honeymoon.” She doesn’t know it yet, but I booked the honeymoon last week. Two weeks in Barbados. It’s going to be perfect – sun, sea and romance.

“Wow, this is so cool,” she says, kissing my lips quickly. “We’re actually growing up and starting real life!”

“Yeah, we are,” I chuckle, shaking my head at her reply. “And it’s going to involve a move up to Santa Fe.”

She pulls back to look at me, “I didn’t even think of that. Wow, we need to go apartment hunting, don’t we?”

“We do,” I reply, with a smile. “We should go up there in the next few days and see what we can find.”

“Sure,” she agrees. “Maybe we can spend a couple of days up there and get to know the town?”

“Sounds good,” I reply. “And we’ll have fun; although right now, I think this news calls for a celebration. Why don’t you go get dressed and we’ll go out for the day.”

“Okay,” she grins, giving me one more kiss before climbing off my lap. “Just give me ten minutes.”

I chuckle to myself as my eyes follow her retreating form. Ten minutes, my ass – it’ll be at least thirty minutes by the time she’s showered and gotten ready to leave. I clear away Liz’s breakfast things, disposing of the now very soggy and saturated Frosted Flakes and placing the empty bowl in the sink, before heading to the living room and watching some TV while I wait.

We spend the day having fun and making plans for moving to Santa Fe and starting our life together. I think that it’s really now beginning to sink in that in four and a half weeks, I’m going to be a married man! I keep waiting for the apparently not-uncommon cold feet and scared feelings to set in, but so far all I’ve been feeling is excitement. I’m really looking forward to the wedding and to being married to the woman I love most in the world.

I take Liz out for lunch at one of our favourite restaurants and then we go to the movies to see Disney’s ‘Cars’… cheesy I know, but it turned out to be a really fun film nonetheless. We finish off the day with a visit to Michael’s apartment to break the good news. It turns out that he, Izzy and Alex are hanging out in his apartment for the evening, so we get the chance to tell them all at the same time. When we break the news, my sister jumps up and flings her arms around both of us, whilst Alex and Michael give me the usual slap on the back and congratulations. We also use Michael’s phone to call Maria in New York and tell her the news over the speakerphone. We all stay up until the early hours of the morning and, as a tribute to old times, Liz and I crash on Michael’s couch together and Isabel and Alex sleep on a makeshift bed on the living room floor.

As I drift off to sleep, Liz spooned in my arms; I feel a sudden sense of belonging and also a return to what’s supposed to be. It suddenly feels like the last four years, with all of us scattered across the country, were some weird kind of strange, unreal existence; but now, everything is back to the way it should be. We’re (almost) all together again in Roswell and for right now, we’re exactly where we belong.

TBC…

[Heavenli24]

Hi everyone, thank you for your feedback :

LairaBehr4 - Thanks .

guelbebek - Thank you .

clueless - Thanks .

Erina - Thanks .

Leigh - Thank you - I'm glad you believed Max in this part. Actually the thought of Max going to see Alex before/after he told Liz the truth didn't even cross my mind!

dreamsatnight - Thank you .

We're almost at the end now... just a few more parts to go. The last part of the story will be posted by next weekend .


***

Part Thirty

Liz

Saturday July 15th 2006 – The Big Day

My eyes fly open at the sound of my alarm clock and I sit upright in bed with just one thought in my mind… I’m getting married today!

I almost can’t believe that it’s finally here; in just a few hours time I will no longer be Liz Parker, I will be Liz Evans and… I can’t wait! The ceremony is not until two pm, but my mother, Izzy and Maria have insisted that I get up at seven in order to give us enough time to get everything ready.

With a grin, I pull back the covers and climb out of bed. As I push my hair out of my eyes and head towards the bathroom, I can’t help but wonder what Max is doing right now. Is he as excited and nervous as I am? Or is he calm and collected? I bet he’s calm and collected.

“Lizzie, darling, are you up yet?” my mom calls from outside my bedroom door.

“Yeah, Mom, I’m up. I’ll be out in a minute,” I return with a chuckle, as I shake my head. In fact, I bet Max’s mom will be doing the exact same thing to him soon.

As I wash my face and brush my hair, I think back over the last few weeks. Since my graduation and Max’s job offer, Max and I have finally found our balance again and in the last few days, I’ve been really happy. I’ve been able to make my peace with Max and also with Alex, to some extent, and the last week has been great. Becca, Jack, Tim and Kelly arrived on Wednesday afternoon, followed shortly by Max’s old roommates, John, Pete and Mark. A couple of weeks ago, Max and I discussed bachelor and bachelorette parties and decided to hold a joint party for the both of us, with all our friends together instead of attending the typical pre-wedding festivities.

We invited everyone to stay with us in Roswell, so we could have the party a few days before the ceremony. We had a great evening; we were all together, with Maria, Michael, Isabel and Alex also in attendance along with our college friends. The only person absent was Alex. I might have agreed not to force her out of Max’s life, but that doesn’t mean I particularly want her at my bachelorette party. After all, she’s only attending the wedding because she was already invited and by the time I remembered that she was still supposed to be coming, I had so many other wedding things to worry about, that it was too much trouble to try to rearrange things.

Shaking my thoughts from my head, I suck in a breath as I look at my reflection in the mirror, a contented smile playing on my lips. I really can’t wait until this afternoon.

***

“Okay, so are we all ready?” wonders my mom frantically, as she paces around the salon. Her hair and make-up has already been done, so whilst the professional beauticians are making Maria, Isabel and I beautiful, she is running around us, like a madwoman, trying to make sure everything is in place for the ceremony.

“Mom, calm down, okay?” I tell her calmly, although inside I’m feeling anything but calm. “Everything’s fine. The flowers are sorted, the caterers are already setting up– ”

“And the groom is getting dressed as we speak,” interrupts Isabel, holding her cell phone up, to show us that she’s made contact with her mom. “Everything is running smoothly, Mrs. Parker.”

“Oh, I know, girls,” my mom sighs as she sinks into one of the reclining chairs beside us. “But there is just so much to think about today… Oh, my little girl is all grown up and about to get married,” she exclaims suddenly, after a brief contemplative silence.

“Mo-om,” I mutter, rolling my eyes.

“I know, I know, I’m embarrassing you, Lizzie,” she says. “It’s just that, I’m so proud of you. First you graduate from Harvard and now you’re getting married!”

“Thanks, Mom,” I smile. She returns the smile for a moment, before turning serious.

“Lizzie, I know the last few months haven’t been easy for you, what with the…miscarriage and… Max,” she says, hesitating slightly at the end, before getting her resolve back. “But I want you to know that your father and I love you and we just want you to be happy. So, I want your word for it: is marrying Max, despite everything, going to make you happy?”

“Mom,” I start softly. “I know Max isn’t perfect, but it was just one mistake. One.” I shake my head, “When I think about all the years we’ve known each other and loved each other… It’s so obvious; he is the only one for me. He makes me whole and I love him with all my heart. So, yes, marrying him will make me happy.”

“Then I’m happy for you, darling,” she says.

“Thank you, Mom,” I smile softly, before the salon attendant tilts my head up to apply my make up.

***

“Wow, you look so beautiful, Liz!” exclaims Maria, as I do a twirl for my bridesmaids in the bride’s room at the back of the church.

“You really do, Liz,” adds Isabel, with a smile. “It looks perfect on you.”

“Thank you,” I smile softly, as I come to a stop in front of the mirror and glance at my reflection.

Oh my God. Wow.

I can’t almost believe that’s really me. The dress actually looks even better than it did when I tried it on in the shop and went for fittings. Everything has just fallen into place and the picture in front of me is… well, amazing, to be honest.

The beauty salon did a wonderful job with my hair and make-up. My eyes look wide, yet smoky, my lips are accentuated perfectly by a pale pink lip-gloss and my hair falls loosely around my shoulders in big, soft curls. Some of the curls pinned back with small pink and white flowers, to match my bouquet and the whole effect just takes my breath away.

“Max is so gonna lose it, Liz,” states Maria bluntly. “I can’t wait to see the look on his face when you walk down the aisle in that.”

“Yeah…” I murmur, unable to take my eyes away from my reflection. I never thought I could look so… beautiful.

There’s a knock on the door then, and my mom pokes her head in, “Lizzie, are you girls ready? The service starts in five minutes.”

I take a deep breath and turn towards my best friend and my soon-to-be sister-in-law. The three of us share a moment, before grinning excitedly at each other and then frantically moving to pick up their bouquets. After one final shared look between us, we head out of the room and meet my dad just outside, who is waiting to escort me down the aisle.

“You look so beautiful, Lizzie,” he tells me, as he adjusts my veil to cover my face and then takes a step back to look at me. “My only child; all grown up and about to become someone’s wife. I can’t believe I’m really losing you today.”

“Oh, Dad,” I murmur gently, as I see the tears glistening in his eyes. “You’re not losing me. I’ll always be your little girl.”

“I know,” he says. “But I can’t help feeling like this is the end of a major part of our lives. In just a few hours, you won’t be my girl anymore; you’ll be Max’s. He’ll come first for you for the rest of your lives. I wish you both the best of luck.”

“Thank you, Dad,” I reply, trying my hardest not to cry at his words. I know that he pleased when he found out about Max’s indiscretion with Alex, but I’m happy that he’s agreed to let me live my own life and fight my own battles.

“Come on, then, little Lizzie,” he says, offering his arm to me as the strains of the organ starting up filter through to the back of the church. “Let’s get you married.”

***

Max

Saturday July 15th 2006 – The Big Day

Wow!

My jaw drops at the sight of Liz as she walks down the aisle towards me. She looks so absolutely, breathtakingly gorgeous, that for a moment, I forget to breathe. Instead, I just stand there, my mouth hanging open for I don’t know how long until Michael elbows me in the side and tells me not-so-nicely to get a grip. I shake my head slightly, but I still can’t take my eyes away from the vision of white before me.

God, I have never wanted anyone as much as I want this beautiful creature slowly gliding towards me, her arm linked with her father’s. I gulp as I realise that my body’s automatic reaction to her is not exactly appropriate in a church and I desperately try to get myself under control before she reaches me in front of the alter. As she draws closer to me, I can see her face more clearly beneath the veil and a joyful grin spreads across my face when our eyes lock. Happiness swells up inside me just watching her float down the aisle. She stops a couple of feet in front of me to slip her hand from her Jeff’s arm. He kisses her cheek, whispering something in her ear before giving her away and joining Nancy in the front pew. I can’t stop staring at Liz as she steps up beside me, and we share a brief moment, before turning to face the vicar.

The ceremony goes off without a hitch… well, except for the tiny one where I’m so nervous that I stumble over the correct lines halfway through… but apart from that, there are no problems and the moment where the vicar says ‘I now pronounce you man and wife’ is the happiest moment of my life. As I lift my hand to cup her cheek and lower my lips to hers, I whisper that I love her and she smiles the most amazing smile I’ve ever seen. The moment our lips meet, everything else disappears and all I can think about is the feel of her mouth against mine, and her soft skin beneath my hand. It’s only when Michael clears his throat that I remember where we are. As I reluctantly pull away, she murmurs ‘I love you, too’ and I can’t stop the grin from spreading across my face as I slip my hand in hers and we begin to walk back up the aisle as husband and wife.

As we walk, I notice Liz’s friends from Harvard, clapping soundly and congratulating us, whilst on the other side, my ex-roommates are cheering as if they were at a soccer match rather than a wedding. My gaze briefly locks with Alex’s as Liz and I pass, and she sends me a slight congratulatory nod and a warm, friendly smile as she claps. I nod back in agreement, thankful that there are no awkward feelings and that there is no danger of anything happening between us in the future.

I glance down at Liz to see her smiling ecstatically. I don’t think I’ve seen her this happy in a long time.

***

To be honest, the reception kind of flies by in a blur, with a few key moments standing out amongst the rest. I can vividly recall Michael and Maria’s beautiful heart-felt speeches, the moment we cut the cake and our first dance as husband and wife, but the rest has just fades into the background for me. However, I do seem to remember that Liz and I spent a lot of time dancing together and that about halfway through the evening, Liz stopped all pretence that we were going to be civilised and formal with our dancing and instead wrapped her arms around my neck. We held each other close like that for the remainder of the evening.

In fact, I’ve come to the conclusion that the reason the reception doesn’t particularly stand out in my mind is because it pales in comparison to our wedding night. Words can’t even describe the feelings that flow through my body as Liz and I make love for the first time as a married couple. Maybe it’s because of how beautiful Liz looks in her gorgeous white dress, or perhaps what it’s known to symbolise, but as soon as I laid eyes on her, standing next to the bed in our hotel room, I just had to worship her from head to toe.

Without allowing her hands anywhere near my own clothes, I reverently run my fingers along the curves of her body, before gently removing her dress. My breath catches in my throat when I have removed her dress and she stands before me in white lacy underwear, thigh-high stockings and white high-heels. It is at that point that I lose my control. I lift her into my arms and gently place her on the bed before worshipping her body with my hands and my mouth. She begs me to let her remove my tux, but I don’t allow her to until I’ve brought her to climax.

When I finally give in, she climbs above me and slowly unbuttons my shirt, taking her time to kiss whatever bare skin she can find and driving me absolutely crazy with desire in the process. When we finally came together as husband and wife, it was the most loving, passionate and also explosive sex I have ever experienced. We reach climax simultaneously and there is a brief moment, suspended in time, where we stare into each other’s eyes and the entire world disappears. It’s amazing.

I lose count of how many times we make love during the night, but when I wake up in the morning, with Liz, my wife, in my arms, I realise that I have never felt so sated, or exhausted, in my entire life.

***

Our honeymoon is absolutely perfect.

We spend most of our time in Barbados making love and relaxing in the sunshine, and there is nowhere else I would rather be right now. It’s so great to have two whole weeks together without the hassles of family or every day life and I guess by the end of the holiday, we’ve really gotten to know each other again. Not that we didn’t know each other before, obviously, but life has been so crazy in the last few months that having all this time alone has really allowed us to talk again.

A few days into the trip, Liz tells me that she’s willing to forget about the whole Alex thing and instead concentrate on the positive things in our lives, which I really appreciate. She has made it perfectly clear that if anything ever happens again, she will kick me out and I have no intention of that happening again. Ever. In fact, I am now more determined than ever to show her what she means to me and I intend to spend the rest of our lives loving her and only her.

Our honeymoon draws to a close and we begin to mentally prepare ourselves for life back in Santa Fe. On our last night, I decide to take Liz out for a very special evening, involving a romantic candlelit dinner, salsa dancing and a passionate night of lovemaking. That night, I fall asleep with a huge, contented smile on my face and an overwhelming sense of belonging in my heart.

When it’s time to go, we leave our hotel hand in hand, happy and content, and looking forward to our life together as husband and wife.

TBC…

[Heavenli24]

Hey guys, thanks for the feedback :

Erina - Thanks .

Smac - Thanks . The idea for the joint bachelors parties actually came from my friend - she and her fiance had a 'Sten Do' (Stag and Hen Do) before their wedding. We spent a weekend in a cottage in Wales - 16 guys and 4 girls!

I didn't want Max actions to be the cause of a big rift between him and Liz - it was something that happened, something they had to deal with together and get past so they could be happy in the future.

sweetbrowneyes - Thanks - the story's not quite over yet... 3 more parts to go (including this one) .

Gaby7tvm - Yay! Thank you .

guelbebek - Thanks .

Natalie36 - Thanks . Yes, although Liz was willing to forgive him, she definitely won't tolerate Max doing it again.

flyawayraven - Thank you . I think Alex would have understood completely if Liz had told her not to attend the wedding, but I don't think she would have wanted the extra stress of reorganising anything just beforehand.

confusedfool - Thanks .

clueless - Thanks .

Addicted2AmberEyes - Thank you .

LairaBehr4 - Thanks .


A/N: Since we reached the wedding in Part 30, the remainder of the story will consist of Interludes, set in the present day.

***

Interlude Fourteen

Liz

Saturday July 14th 2007 – Present Day

“Oh my God, I can’t believe this!” I exclaim, as I take another glance at view from our hotel window, before turning to my husband, who is sitting up in bed and in the process of rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “We’re in Paris, Max!”

“I know,” he smiles as he climbs out of bed and grabs a pair of sweatpants. I suck in a breath at the brief sight of his naked body before he pulls the pants up over his hips. He makes his way over to me and slides his arms around my waist from behind so we can admire the Eiffel Tower together. “So, are you enjoying your anniversary so far?” he murmurs, resting his chin on my shoulder.

“I love it,” I declare. “But, I still can’t get my head around the fact that we’re celebrating our first anniversary in Paris, of all places.”

“It’s amazing isn’t it,” he agrees. “One more thing to add to the pros of living in London… we have the rest of Europe right on our doorstep.”

“Yeah,” I reply with a soft smile.

As we stand together in comfortable silence, my mind begins to wander to something that’s been niggling at me for the last few days: I still haven’t received the results of the blood test I had done last week… you know, the one that will tell me whether I’m pregnant or not. They said that the results would be back within a week, but it’s been almost nine days and still no word. I even gave the doctor’s office my new cell phone number in case I wasn’t home when they called, but there’s been nothing yet.

“You okay?” asks Max after a moment, as he tightens his grip around my waist and nuzzles his nose against my neck.

“Yeah, I guess,” I murmur. “I’m just anxious about the test results.”

“Hey,” he says gently. “I’m nervous too, but I’m sure there’s just been a delay at the lab or something and that’s why they haven’t called yet.”

“Yeah,” I reply softly, as he turns me around in his arms.

Truth is, I really don’t know if I want the results to be positive or negative. Max and I have done a lot of talking in the last few days and we’ve come to the conclusion that we’d both love to have a baby, but there’s still a part of me, albeit not as large a part as their used to be, that is scared. The thing I fear most right now is going through the pain of another miscarriage and part of me is terrified that if I am pregnant, something will go wrong again and I won’t be able to survive it a second time. However, on the other hand, I’ve kind of gotten used to the idea that in a few month’s time, I could be a mother and I don’t quite know what my reaction will be if the test is negative.

“Hey, it’s gonna be okay,” murmurs Max gently, tilting my chin up with his fingers and placing a soft, gentle kiss to my lips.

When he pulls back, I look up into his eyes and nod my head in agreement.

“It’s gonna be okay,” I repeat

This time, I’m the one to initiate the kiss, as I wrap my arms around him tightly. We lose ourselves in the sweet, yet still passionate embrace, neither of us willing to let go. Unfortunately, letting go is necessary a couple of minutes later, when my cell phone begins to ring. I extract myself from my husband’s arms, sending him an apprehensive look as I move to pick up the phone from where it sits on the bedside table. Is this the call we’ve been waiting for?

***

Max

I chew on my lip anxiously when Liz picks up her phone, gives me an affirmative nod and speaks into the mouthpiece. It’s the doctor’s office.

The call only lasts about a minute and as she listens to the words of the caller and occasionally nods or murmurs a ‘yes’ or an ‘okay’ her expression gives nothing away. By the time she hangs up and places the phone back down on the table, I can barely contain my nervousness. She turns to face me.

“Well?” I question worriedly.

She takes a deep breath and walks towards me, before coming to a stop about a foot away. She looks up into my eyes and drops the bombshell.

“I’m pregnant.”

Wow. She’s pregnant; we’re pregnant; we’re going to have a baby… Aren’t we?

Liz’s expression is blank and I can’t tell whether she’s happy about the news, or if instead she’s scared stiff.

“You’re pregnant?” I confirm. She nods. “Is that… good or bad?” I question hesitantly, as I take her hands in mine and rub my thumbs over her knuckles in assurance.

“Oh, God… Max, I don’t know...” she sighs.

She looks so lost and fragile that I can’t stand it any longer. I extract my hands from hers and engulf her in a warm, comforting hug.

“I… I guess it has to be good,” she murmurs against my chest. “Because whether I’m ready for this or not, I’m having a baby. We’re having a baby, Max.”

“Hey,” I murmur softly, as I caress her hair with my hand. “I am going to take every precaution possible to make sure nothing happens to you or to the baby this time, okay?”

“Okay,” she murmurs, lifting her head. “Okay. God, this is so overwhelming.”

“I know,” I say gently, tracing her cheek with my hand. “I know it is. But we just have to think positive from now on. We’ll do everything we can to make sure you’re both strong and healthy. But you know what, Lizzie? I think you’re gonna make a wonderful mom.”

She smiles a teary smile, rising up on tiptoes to press a kiss to my lips. “Thank you, Max. You’re right, I just need to be strong about this…oh, and by the way, I think you’re gonna make a brilliant father too.”

I smile, tightening my arms around her, “Well then, in that case, we’re gonna be the best parents ever.”

“Yeah,” she replies, her expression brightening a little. “You do know that, even though I’m scared about this, I really want this baby, don’t you?”

“I do,” I tell her softly. She’s told me many times over the years, even when we were only in Junior high, that one of her dreams was to have children someday, so I know what this means to her. In fact, it means just as much to me as it does to her. I’ve always imagined having a baby with Liz and now that it’s actually happening, bar any major complications, I’m ecstatic. “I’m feeling scared too, but I want to have children with you so much, Lizzie and this is great news.”

“Yeah, it is,” she nods, and I see the resolve returning to her body. I’m glad; she deserves to be happy about this.

“And great news like this,” I continue, hoping to maintain her positive feelings “Deserves a celebration, don’t you think?”

“What did you have in mind?” she questions with a widening smile.

“Well,” I begin, lowering my lips to her cheek. “I was thinking maybe a romantic boat ride along the Seine…” I move to her other cheek, “…followed by an even more romantic dinner at a little Parisian bistro…” before placing a trail of tiny kisses down the side of her neck, “…and then perhaps a tour of la Tour Eiffel itself.”

“Wow,” she breathes, her eyes drifting closed as I nip at her flawless skin with my teeth. “That sounds perfect.”

“But first,” I interrupt slyly. “Perhaps you’d be interested in a little ravishing from your very sexy husband.”

“Oh really?” she mutter, her head falling back, exposing more of her smooth skin to my hungry gaze. I can’t get enough of her. “Well, when you see him, please let him know that I’m looking for him.”

“Oh, ha ha,” I grin against her neck, my hand travelling down to cup her backside and hoist her into my arms.

Her arms wrap around my neck and our lips meet in a passionate embrace as I carry her to the bed. We sink down against the soft pillows and I take my time in showing her exactly how much I love and desire her.

***

Liz

“This is the life,” I sigh, stretching my legs out on the white chair in front of me and resting my head on Max’s shoulder.

“It is, isn’t it?” he replies, his arm draped around me.

We’re currently taking in the sights of the Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris and the Musée de Louvre from one of the Bateaux-Mouches on the River Seine – I’ve been reading French version of the tourist guide… can you tell? – and everything is so beautiful and amazing to see, that the almost gripping fear that I felt when my cell phone rang this morning is barely a whisper at the back of my mind.

“Hey, you remember the last time we were sitting like this on a boat?” I ask Max innocently.

“How could I forget?” he states dryly. “That was the day I told you my most embarrassing secret and you refused to confess yours in return.”

Of course, we’re talking about the summer we got together when we were travelling around the country in Max’s old jeep. A smile tugs at my lips as I recall the day we visited Memphis, Tennessee and took a steamboat tour of the Mississippi River…

Wow, can you believe that almost five years have passed since that day?

Oh my God!

I sit up suddenly as I remember something important and turn to Max in excitement.

“Liz?” he questions, looking concerned.

“Max, do you realise what today is?”

“What do you mean?” he scrunches his face up in thought. He looks so cute when he’s confused.

“It’s five years to the day since our first kiss!” I exclaim.

“It is?” he asks looking sceptical.

I sigh, lightly smacking his arm to show my disbelief, “Don’t you remember? We were in San Francisco with Alex and Izzy; we dropped them home and then, when we got back to our room, you kissed me against the back of the door.”

“Yeah, that’s right. Man, that was a good kiss,” he says, recognition flickering in his eyes for a moment, before he sends me a weird look. “How do you remember this stuff?”

“How do you not?” I return, with a huff of pretend exasperation.

“I’m a guy,” he shrugs. “We don’t remember important dates. It’s like a biological thing or something.”

“You do know you’re talking to a girl who has a degree in Biology, don’t you? She knows when you’re making stuff like this up” I remind him, raising one eyebrow.

“Damn, foiled again!” he exclaims, with a grin.

“Yep, too right,” I state. “So you can’t try to fool me with biological guy stuff anymore, Okay? ’Cos it won’t work.”

He chuckles, sliding his arm around me once again as we settle back against the chairs and bask in the warm sun.

“Man, it seems like such a long time ago, doesn’t it?” he says a moment later. “Leaving high school, going on our trip, starting college.”

“Yeah, it does,” I agree softly, adding, “And think of everything that’s happened since then.”

“Yeah… it’s been a long road.”

“We got through it though, in the end,” I say.

“We did,” he agrees with a thoughtful nod. “I know I’ve made mistakes, one that I probably didn’t deserve your forgiveness for, but–”

“It’s in the past now, Max,” I cut him off with a finger to his lips. “What’s important is that we’re together and happy.”

He nods, adding, “And now we’re a family.”

“Yes we are,” I reply in confirmation, lowering my hand to my belly, where our child is growing.

Max covers my hand with his own, lowering his head to capture my lips in a kiss full of passion, love and promise. And I realise, as we embrace on the famous River Seine in Paris, that my life is finally complete. I have everything I ever wanted or could have dreamed of… a life in Europe, a loving husband and a baby on the way… hopefully.

And do you know what the most important thing of all is?

I’m happy.

TBC…

[Heavenli24]

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Okay, we're down to the last couple of parts now...the Epilogue will be posted in a couple of days .


***

Interlude Fifteen

Max

Present day – Friday October 19th 2007

“Are you sure you’re okay?” I ask worriedly for the third time since we left the airport thirty minutes ago.

“Yes, Max,” replies Liz, in a tone that implies she’s beginning to lose her patience with me. “I’m fine.”

“You’re not feeling nauseous or dizzy or anything?” I question, just to make sure.

“Bloody hell, Max! Just concentrate on the driving, would you?” she cries in exasperation. I wince at both her tone and her use of the British slang that she seems to have picked up so easily over the last few months.

“Hey, I can’t help it if I worry about you, okay?” I respond as calmly as I can. It’s been a long journey and I guess we’re both tired and on edge right now.

“God, I’m pregnant, not on my deathbed,” I hear her mutter under her breath as she turns to look out of the window.

With a small sigh, I turn my attention back to the road. We’ve just arrived into Albuquerque International from Heathrow (via Dallas) and are now on our way down to Roswell in a rented car. We’re here for Michael and Maria’s wedding, which is due to take place tomorrow afternoon (that is, as long as everything runs smoothly and neither the bride nor the groom gets last-minute cold feet).

Liz is now just over four-months along and she’s just started to show. Although the doctor has given her the all clear so far and says that the baby is strong and healthy, I can’t help worrying about her all the time. I know that Liz doesn’t like it that I fuss over her so much, but the first trimester was so nerve-wracking for us, that when she successfully made it past the 12-week mark, I vowed to take the absolute best care of her that I could for the rest of her pregnancy.

The journey continues in silence, as I concentrate on the road and Liz watches the passing scenery. More than an hour passes before I break the silence to ask Liz if she needs a bathroom stop. However, when I turn my head towards her and open my mouth to speak, I realise that she’s fallen asleep. Rather than wake her, I decide to forego the bathroom stop and continue on towards Roswell instead. As I drive, I can’t help stealing glances in her direction. She looks so beautiful when she’s relaxed in sleep, her chest rising and falling steadily, and as I watch her, a swell of emotion builds in my chest. It’s hard to describe exactly what I feel, but it’s kind of a swirling mixture of love and happiness and pride and passion for her.

I know that if she were awake right now, she would probably be snapping at my concern and calling me overprotective, but to be honest, I don’t care. Okay, so maybe I am being a little overprotective of her, but can you blame me? I just want her to be safe and happy. After all, she is carrying our child inside her womb, which in itself is good enough reason to look after her, but add to that the fact that we lost a baby last year and you have one worried and concerned Max.

Liz is still fast asleep when I pull into my parent’s driveway two and a half hours later, although I’m not surprised, since it is after midnight and we’ve been travelling for twenty hours now. Plus, we’re both still on London time, which makes it seven am Saturday morning according to our body clocks. I cut the engine and let my gaze settle on Liz for a few seconds, the sight of her sleeping bringing an involuntary smile to my face. Out of the corner of my eye, I see movement from inside the house and realise that my parents are probably still waiting up for us to arrive, so I slip out of the car and make my way around to the passenger side.

Careful not to disturb Liz, I open her door, unfasten her seatbelt and scoop her into my arms, as she mumbles incoherently and snuggles against my chest. I nudge the door closed with my foot and carry Liz towards the house. My mom greets me at the front door, takes one look at Liz asleep in my arms and gestures towards the stairs. I nod, carry her up to my old room and gently place her prone form on the bed. I press a gentle kiss to her forehead, before heading downstairs to grab our bags from the car and greet my mom properly. However, I’m so exhausted that less than ten minutes later, I collapse next to Liz on my old bed, both of us completely fully clothed, and I’m fast sleep within moments.

Maria and Michael’s wedding the next afternoon is wonderful. Liz and Isabel are Maria’s bridesmaids (I gather that the three of them made a pact back in high school, that they would be each other’s bridesmaids when they got married) and Alex and I share the role of best man. Despite the long-standing on again-off again nature of Maria and Michael’s relationship, they are both surprisingly confident and self-assured as they recite their vows to each other and I can’t keep the smile off my face. I always knew those two were meant for each other.

After the ceremony, the girls gush over Maria’s dress (which, by the way, she looks great in) and Liz’s pregnancy, whilst Alex and I congratulate Michael on the big day. However, I can’t stop my attention from wandering towards Liz and the way her face glows and her smile lights up her face as she talks. My heart swells with love for her and our baby. I really hope everything goes smoothly for her, for us, over the next five months.

***

Friday March 7th 2008

With a slight yawn, I fill the kettle with water and switch it on. While I wait for it to boil, I find myself looking out of the window at the trees and bushes surrounding Clapham Common.

“Morning,” comes Liz’s sleepy voice from behind me.

“Morning,” I turn away from the window to see her shuffling awkwardly into the kitchen, one hand resting on her protruding belly, the other holding onto the doorframe. I rush to help her sit down at the kitchen table.

“Are you okay?” I question worriedly, as we share a gentle kiss and I slip into the chair beside her.

“I’m fine,” she murmurs tiredly. “Just aching and tired right now. But, I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up, Max.”

“I know,” I nod sympathetically, brushing her hair back off her forehead with my fingers. “I know you’re sore and uncomfortable, but there’s not long left to go. You can do this, I know you can.”

She’s due in just over a week’s time and we’re both pretty tense right now. So far, almost everything about the pregnancy has gone smoothly, but I guess a lot can happen in a week and we’re trying not to get too worried about the possibility of something going wrong.

“Thank you,” she murmurs, as she shifts to rest her head on my shoulder. I slide my arm around her and let her relax against me. “I’m just fed up of not getting any sleep and being all clumsy and getting these stupid false contractions all the time.”

“Hey,” I soothe, as she sucks in an unsteady breath. “It’s okay. I know it’s hard now, but just think, in a few days time all of this discomfort will be worth it. You and I will be parents to a beautiful little baby boy or girl.”

We decided against finding out the sex of the baby in advance, because we wanted to be surprised. I know Liz wants a little girl, but to be honest, as long as the baby is healthy, I don’t really care whether it’s a boy or a girl.

“Yeah,” she mumbles against my shoulder. “I know, but I’m just having trouble looking that far ahead when my back aches and I have to pee every twenty minutes!”

I can’t help the small smile that appears on my face at her words, but at the same time, a sense of overwhelming guilt spreads through me. I’m responsible for this; I’m the one who put her in this position. It’s my fault she’s not sleeping and in uncomfortable pain.

“I’m sorry, Lizzie,” I murmur.

“It’s not your fault, Max,” she says, lifting her head, to look up at me. “I’m just cranky today.”

“Still…”

We sit in silence for a few moments, before Liz jerks her head up, “Max, what time is it… Don’t you have to leave for work?”

“Oh, crap,” I mutter as I glance at the clock. “I’m going to be late.”

I extract myself from her and stand up, quickly walking over to the now-boiled kettle and setting about making Liz her morning cup of herbal tea.

“Max, don’t worry about that,” she scolds me from the table. “Just go and get ready.”

“No,” I reply, pouring her drink and carrying it over to her. “You are my priority right now.” I place the mug down in front of her. “But, um… now I have to go.”

I hear her chuckling after me, as I practically run into our bedroom and grab my things for work. Two minutes later, I am back in the kitchen again to say goodbye to her.

“Okay, I really have to go now. Are you sure you’re gonna be okay her today?” I question anxiously.

“I’ll be fine, Max,” she says. “Mandy from next door is coming over to keep me company, so stop worrying so much, okay?”

“Okay,” I mutter, although it’s more to placate her than actual truth. “But you have my number. If anything happens, anything at all, you call me and I’ll come right home.”

“I will,” she says with a nod. I lean forward and press my lips to hers for a quick, yet urgent kiss.

“Thank you,” I tell her sincerely. “I’ll be home as soon as I can after work,” I promise, giving her another soft kiss, before she just about pushes me out of the kitchen.

Eventually, I leave for work, but find myself worrying about her all the way there. I’m still feeling troubled when I reach the office and take a seat behind my desk. I don’t know why, but today seems different, like something big is going to happen. I’m trying to be optimistic, but somehow I can’t help thinking it’s going to be bad.

***

As I’d predicted it, the call comes at eleven forty-five; it’s Mandy, our next-door neighbour.

“Max,” she cries down the phone. “Max, you have to come home. It’s Liz, I think she’s gone into labour.”

”She’s…?” I question faintly, my mind going blank for a moment. This isn’t supposed to be happening for another week. “Mandy, is she there with you now? Can I talk to her?”

“Um, she’s in pain, Max,” she hesitates, but then I hear a frantic sound in the background. “Wait, she’s begging me for the phone. Here you go, Max.”

“Lizzie?” I question anxiously. “Are you okay? What’s going on?”

“Max, it hurts,” her tearful voice comes across the line. “My water just broke and I think I’m having contractions.”

“How far apart?” I ask, trying to stay calm, but not having much luck.

“Um, about ten minutes,” she says, her breath hitching as she speaks.

“Okay, Lizzie, can you ask Mandy to get you to the hospital? Maybe call a cab or an ambulance or something?”

“Can’t you come with me?” she asks tearfully.

“I would if I could, Lizzie, but you need to get there as soon as you can and we’d just be wasting time if I came home to get you. It’ll be quicker if I meet you at the hospital. Look, I’m gonna leave now and I’ll see you soon, okay?”

“Okay,” she whispers. “Max, I’m scared.”

“I know you are, baby,” I say softly. “I am too, but we’re gonna get through this just fine, I’m sure of it. I love you.”

“I love you, too,” she replies.

I ask her to pass the phone back to Mandy and she agrees to make sure Liz gets to the hospital. Five minutes after I’ve hung up the phone, I’ve spoken to my boss and am on the way to the hospital.

***

Eighteen hours later

“Wow,” I breathe, as I gaze down at the beautiful creature settled in Liz’s arms.

“Wow is about right,” she smiles tiredly, and I stroke her hair back from her face, which is shining with sweat from exhaustion.

It’s now six am on Saturday morning and it’s been a difficult few hours. The labour lasted a gruelling sixteen hours and I spent the whole time at Liz’s side, cursing myself for ever getting her into this position. However, any animosity that existed between us (well, on her part, mostly) disappeared the moment the final push was over and we heard the loud cry of our newborn baby.

“Yeah,” I murmur, staring down at my son in awe. My son, a perfect mix of both Liz and I… I almost can’t believe this is really happening. I am a father… and it’s the most perfect feeling in the world. “So, what are we going to name him?”

“Oh, Max, I don’t know,” she looks up at me in obvious distress. “I was so convinced it was going to be a girl that I didn’t really spend much time thinking about the boy’s names.”

I chuckle, “Well, then, it’s a good thing I did. What do you think about Andrew? ”

“Nuh,” she wrinkles her nose up and shakes her head in the negative. “He doesn’t look like an Andrew to me. Maybe… Joshua?”

“Ergh, no, um… bad memories of a boy from kindergarten,” I tell her. “What about James?”

“Hmm, maybe,” she ponders. “But I’m not sure.”

“Wait, what do you think of Matthew… Matt, for short?” I say then.

“Matt Evans… that’s not bad; and maybe James for his middle name,” she murmurs. “Matthew James Evans… How’s that?”

“I like it,” I say with a smile, before looking down at our son. “Welcome to the world, Matthew James Evans.”

We sit in silence for a few minutes, just watching him sleep, before the nurse comes in to take him for a check up and help Liz to move out of the delivery room and onto the maternity ward. When she’s settled and while we wait for the nurse to bring little Matthew back in, we discuss our plans for the next few days and weeks. It turns out that in the UK, not only do working mothers get several weeks of paid maternity leave (although since Liz isn’t working, that doesn’t really benefit us), but I am also entitled to two weeks paternity leave to help her out – some kind of equal rights thing, allowing the men to help take care of the baby too. I’m glad that I can get the time off, because it means Liz doesn’t have to go through everything on her own at first.

After a few minutes of talking, I can see Liz yawning and trying not to fall asleep, so I tell her to go ahead and relax and that I’d make sure everything was okay with Matthew. I slip my hand in hers and gently stroke her hair as she closes her eyes and drifts off to sleep.

Poor thing; I can’t even imagine how exhausted she must be right now.

I’m still watching her sleep ten minutes later when the nurse returns with Matthew, who is fast asleep too. She gently hands him to me and I simply sit next to Liz’s bed, with my son in my arms. I feel a swell of pride in my chest as I take in his soft features. He has Liz’s nose and mouth and a shock of dark hair on his head. Liz said earlier that he has my eyes, but I just don’t see it; I’m just grateful he didn’t get my ears.

As I stare down at him, I feel a tear begin to roll down my cheek. I’m a husband and a father and it’s the most wonderful feeling in the world.

TBC…

[Heavenli24]

Hey guys, thank for the feedback, I really appreciate your thoughts :

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Well, this is it, the final part - I hope you all enjoyed reading this story . I just want to say thank you to LairaBehr4 for agreeing to beta it for me and for listening to all my thoughts about it .


***

Epilogue

Liz

Monday April 25th 2011 – Three Years Later

“Mummy, I wanna hold Lucy!” cries Matt, holding out his chubby arms to me.

“Not right now, Matty,” I tell him gently, shifting his baby sister in my arms as she latches onto my breast. “Lucy’s hungry and I need to feed her. You can hold her when she’s done, okay?”

I bite my lip as the inevitable pout settles over his childish features and he begins to whine. I hate having to say no to him when he gives me that face.

“But Mummy, I want to!” he cries, his face scrunching up in annoyance. “Daddy lets me.”

“Oh, Matty,” I shake my head, smothering a chuckle as I try to explain the situation to him. “That’s because Daddy doesn’t have to give Lucy her milk, sweetie. You can hold her when she’s finished, okay?” I tell him, reaching out to ruffle his dark locks affectionately.

He reluctantly agrees and instead moves to the other side of the room to play with his fire truck toy. I watch him with a smile on my face; he looks so much like Max and I almost can’t get my head around the fact that together we made him… along with the gorgeous little girl I’m holding in my arms right now. Lucy Abigail Evans is almost ten weeks old (she was born the day after Valentine’s Day) and the most beautiful baby girl either Max or I have ever laid eyes on. Max insists that she looks just like me, but I’m not so sure; I actually think she takes after Isabel more than me, but Max is convinced that that’s not true because both Lucy and Matt have the same dark hair and eyes as us.

Matt occupies himself with his trucks and as Lucy suckles contentedly at my breast, I let my mind wander. A feeling of happiness and fulfilment settles over me, bringing a smile to my face as I think about my life…our life… here in England. It’s been four years since we moved over here with Max’s job and I can honestly say that I love it here. After Matt was born, we realised that our one-bed apartment in the middle of the city was not exactly big enough or suitable for raising a child, so when he was six months old we moved to a larger apartment further out of the city, which is much more suited for families. It means a longer commute for Max each day, but he insists he doesn’t mind the extra travelling as having a decent place to live is more important than taking a few extra minutes to get into work every day.

Although we’ve been very happy here, that’s not to say that our lives have run completely smoothly over the last three years – it was a hard struggle those first few months after we had Matt. I hadn’t realised how difficult it was going to be trying to raise a baby without the help of my parents and with Max back at work. Not to mention the differing healthcare systems and practices in England compared to back home. Both my parents and the Evans’ did come to visit in the first few weeks and were a big help, but there was so much to get used to and until that point I hadn’t fully comprehended the extent of taking care of a newborn. However, Max was great with Matt, just like he is now with Lucy, and was a huge help to me when he wasn’t at work. In fact, we really do make a good team together on the children front. Max just adores Matt and Lucy and dotes on them practically 24/7 and I just love watching him interact with them, playing cars with Matt or talking baby talk to Lucy.

Lucy finishes feeding and as I lift her up to my shoulder to burp her, I hear the sound of a key turning in the front door. I grin; Max is home from work. Matt obviously hears it too, because his head whips round and he stands up with a shout of “Daddy!” and watches the living room doorway expectantly. Sure enough, a few seconds later, my husband appears in the living room with a smile on his face.

“Daddy!” cries Matt again excitedly and begins to run toward Max, who bends down and holds his arms out to catch him.

“Hey there, sport,” he chuckles, shooting me a grin as he lifts Matt into his arms for a hug. “You been a good boy for Mommy today?”

“Yep,” states Matt proudly. “The best.”

“Is that so?” replies Max, glancing at me. I smile and nod in return.

“He’s been great today, haven’t you, Matty?”

“Uh huh,” he looks at me innocently. Actually, there was a tiny incident this morning involving a tantrum over yoghurt, but apart from that, he’s been pretty good.

Max carries him over to the couch and takes a seat next to me, settling Matt in his lap and stroking the top of Lucy’s head affectionately before kissing me softly.

“Good day?” I ask, shifting Lucy in my arms as she begins to whimper.

“Ugh,” he makes a face, as Matt begins protesting and fidgeting in his lap. Max lowers him to the floor so he can play with his toys instead. “It was okay, just… full of meetings and things.”

“Nice,” I make a face.

“But,” he continues, his smile returning. “There’s something I need to talk with you about.”

“Yeah?” I ask curiously, lightly bouncing Lucy in my arms as she begins to get restless.

“So, I’m taking you out for dinner tonight so we can talk without interruption.”

“Dinner? Tonight?” I question with a frown. “What about Matt and Lucy? We can’t go anywhere without them.”

“That’s where Mrs. Thomas from upstairs comes in,” he grins. “She’s agreed to babysit tonight so we can have some time to ourselves.”

“Really?” I smile. “That’s so kind of her. What time is she coming over?”

“About seven-thirty,” he replies. “The table’s booked for half-eight.”

I smile at his use of the very British phase. It took me a while after we moved here to realise that half-eight meant eight-thirty (as in halfway between eight and nine).

“Okay, great,” I tell him with a grin, leaning up to kiss him again. “But first, we have to get these two to bed. You mind getting Matt ready while I put Lucy down?”

“Of course I don’t mind,” he says, as if I’ve just asked a stupid question. He loves spending time with Matt when he gets home from work. “Just let me get out of this suit and I’ll run his bath.”

“Thanks.”

In my arms, Lucy’s fussing begins to turn into unhappy cries and I adjust her position against me once more. I don’t think she’ll last much longer staying here on the couch, so I move to get up.

“You okay?” asks Max in concern, holding out a finger for Lucy to grab hold of.

“I’m fine, but this little one’s gonna start screaming any second, so I’d better get her down.”

“Oh, okay,” he murmurs, his gaze fixed on Lucy’s shock of dark hair and her delicate features. He’s mesmerised by her and it brings a smile to my face.

We share a moment together, both gazing down at our precious second-born, until Matt notices that we’re not paying attention to him and latches onto Max’s leg, jumping up and down anxiously.

“Daddy, daddy, look at my trucks!” he shouts excitedly.

Max quickly snaps out of his daze and turns his attention to our son.

“Wow, your trucks?” he asks, a hint of wonder in his voice. “Can I see them?”

“Uh huh,” nods Matt, tugging on Max’s arm impatiently; Max shoots me a grin as he allows himself to be dragged across the room to Matt’s toy corner.

I watch them interact for a couple of seconds, before Lucy alerts me to the fact that she’s really not happy, and so I stand up and carry her towards her room. I lay her down on the changing table and as I go about changing her diaper and getting her ready for bed, I listen to the sounds of Max and our son having fun together in the other room.

It takes a while but by seven o’clock, I’ve finally managed to get Lucy down to sleep. On my way to our bedroom, I stop in the bathroom doorway to observe Max, now dressed in sweatpants and a T-shirt, trying to persuade Matt not to splash him with bath water. I shake my head and chuckle to myself as I leave them to it and go to find something to wear for dinner. As I pick out an outfit, I find myself wondering what Max wants to talk to me about. From his tone of voice earlier, it didn’t sound like anything bad, but at the same time, it must be important if he wants to discuss it over dinner.

***

Mrs. Thomas arrives at seven-thirty sharp and by seven-forty, after giving her our cell phone numbers and also instructions for Matt and Lucy in case they wake up, we’re on our way out to dinner. Max takes me to our favourite restaurant, this lovely Mexican place in Camden, which is actually surprisingly busy for a Monday night, but luckily we are seated in a quiet corner, away from the large, noisy party of twelve who are occupying the front of the restaurant.

After the waiter has shown us to our table and taken our drinks order (a pint of lager for Max and a white wine spitzer for me – which I have to assure Max is fine for me to drink even though I am breastfeeding at the moment), I look across the table at Max.

“Not that I’m not happy to be taken out for dinner, but what’s all this in aid of?” I ask.

He shrugs, “Well, firstly, I thought it would be nice to have some time alone since we’ve been so busy lately with Matt and Luce…”

“And secondly?” I prompt, with a smile

He returns the smile, albeit with a slightly sheepish expression, “Secondly… um, something came up at work today that I want to ask you about and I thought, why not talk over a nice dinner at our favourite restaurant?”

I look at him in puzzlement, “Max, what’s going on? Why do I feel like you’re trying to butter me up?”

“Maybe because I am,” he grins.

“Really?” I question suspiciously.

“Yeah,” he replies, his gaze leaving mine as we notice the waiter returning with our drinks. “But, let’s order first, okay?”

“Sure,” I reply, now intrigued by his secrecy.

We quickly rattle off our orders to the waiter, not even opening the menus, since we already know exactly what we want to eat, and then relax in our seats as we wait for the food. I take a quick glance around the room and when I turn back to Max to comment on the shear number of customers this evening, I find him staring at me, his gaze intense.

“Have I told you yet how beautiful you look tonight?” he murmurs and I feel myself blush under his intense scrutiny; never mind that we’ve been married for nearly five years now, he still has the ability to make me feel self-conscious like that.

“Hmm,” I pretend to think. “Not that I recall.”

“Well then, Lizzie, you look absolutely breathtaking,” he smiles, reaching over to take my hand in his.

I shift, slightly uncomfortable with my appearance.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” he questions in concern.

“Nothing,” I shrug. “I guess I just don’t feel that beautiful right now. I’m still carrying extra baby weight around and I haven’t worn a dress like this in months.”

He runs his gaze over the strappy black dress I’m wearing and nods appreciatively.

“You look great, Lizzie. You’re perfect as you are,” he tells me sincerely. “And I love you so much.”

“Thank you,” I murmur softly. “I love you too… and by the way, you look great as well.”

He really does. He decided to go smart-casual this evening, so he’s wearing smart jeans and a striped shirt with the top buttons undone. He looks hot. We share a smile and make small talk until our food arrives. Eventually, Max brings up the subject of what happened at work today.

“Lizzie?” he starts, somewhat hesitantly.

“Yeah,” I ask, taking a bite of fajita.

“Are you happy here? In England, I mean?”

“Yeah,” I say, as if it should be obvious. “Of course I am, you know that. Max, what’s this about?”

“The meetings at work today… well, basically, they’re doing some reshuffling within the company and opening some new branches and the boss has given me a couple of options regarding my job.”

“Options?” I wonder.

“Yeah,” he says, playing with his fork. “And I want to get your thoughts on them.”

“Okay, so what are the options?”

“Okay, option number one: I stay at the London offices and keep my current position in the department; option number two: I take a slightly higher position at one of the new UK branches in the south west, which would mean moving out of London; or option number three: we can go back home. They’ve offered me a different position at the offices back in Santa Fe.”

“Wow,” my eyes widen, slightly overwhelmed by the choices.

“Yeah,” he says. “Hence my question before. Would you like to move back home again or are you happy here?”

I take a few moments to consider the choices before saying anything.

“Well,” I start. “It has been hard being so far away from our families and everyone, especially since Maria’s pregnant now and Isabel and Alex are getting married, but at the same time… I really do love it here, Max.”

“I know what you mean,” he nods. “I miss everyone back home too, but I feel settled here now.”

“Yeah,” I agree. “And if we went back, we’d be taking Matt away from everything he knows.”

“That’s true,” agrees Max. “So, am I right in thinking that option number three is out?” I nod in response. “So then, we need to decide between the other two.”

“Well, I’d be lying if I said that I thought London was the best place to raise a family,” I admit.

“Yeah, me too,” says Max. “It’s so crowded and noisy here, not to mention expensive.”

“We could get a house instead of just an apartment if we left the city,” I point out. “And the schools can be much safer in other places.”

“Yeah,” he nods. “So, are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“I think so,” I tell him. “We’re going for option number two?”

“We’re going for option number two,” he confirms.

We sit in silence for a moment, letting the idea sink in.

”Wow,” I breathe eventually. “We’re really gonna do this?”

Max nods. “Yeah,” he murmurs, his tone slightly awed.

“So, when will all this happen, I mean, how long do we have to get organised?”

“Not for a few more months,” he reassures me. “It’s only in the planning stages right now.”

“Okay, that’s good… Wow,” I say again after a pause.

“Yeah,” Max chuckles. “It’s exciting though, isn’t it?”

“Yep. Very,” I agree enthusiastically.

We share a happy look and a smile before returning to our rapidly cooling dinner, talking more about Max’s meetings today and the job changes as we eat. Once dinner is over and we’ve left the restaurant, Max slips his arm around me and I rest my head on his shoulder as we walk towards the tube station and head home to relieve Mrs. Thomas of babysitting duty.

***

“Okay, Lucy is finally asleep again,” I sigh, as I shut the bedroom door behind me and turn to face Max, who is sitting on the bed waiting for me. We came home to find her screaming her lungs out in Mrs. Thomas’ arms and it’s taken more than half an hour to get her to calm down and back to sleep again. I make my way across the room to our bed.

“That’s good,” agrees Max, his lips curling up in a soft smile as his gaze lingers on my body as I walk towards him. When I reach the bed, he slides his hands around my waist and pulls me to him so that I’m standing between his legs. “Now we can get down to business.”

“Max!” I admonish, my eyes widening at his blatant come-on, but at the same time, I slip my arms around his neck. “Is that all you ever think about?”

“I can’t help it,” he shrugs mischievously. “It’s your fault for looking so gorgeous and ravishing all the time.”

I avert my eyes for a moment at the compliment. Whilst I know that Max loves me unconditionally, I’ve been feeling self-conscious about my body ever since Lucy was born. I’m still about twenty pounds heavier than before I got pregnant again and even though Max insists that I’m still beautiful to him, I’m a little leery about being naked in front of him. Although we have been intimate a few times in the last couple of weeks, I’ve been making him turn out the light first – something I feel silly for doing but I can’t seem to help it.

“Hey,” says Max, lifting my chin up with his finger so that I my eyes meet his. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I say. “I just…”

“Oh, Lizzie,” his expression quickly becomes one of understanding, “you know how much I love you, and a few extra pounds doesn’t matter to me one bit. You’re still every bit as sexy as you were five years ago and honestly, I don’t think there’ll ever be a time that I don’t find you sexy.”

I smile, his soft, heartfelt words causing my worry to dissipate, “Thank you.”

“No, thank you,” he returns. “You’ve given me everything I could have ever hoped for… love, happiness, marriage and two absolutely breathtakingly gorgeous children. There is no way I could love you any less, just because you happen to be a little bit heavier right now. You’ve just had a baby, it’s only natural that your body changes slightly because of that.”

I stare down into his eyes, unable to form coherent words. There is so much love in his gaze that I feel almost overwhelmed, and all I can do to show him exactly what I’m feeling is lower my lips to his in a passionate kiss, pouring all of my emotions and feelings into it. Max moans as I slip my tongue into his mouth and his arms tighten around me, his fingers grasping at the silky material of my dress. He breaks the kiss for a moment to look up at me and I find myself lost in his loving gaze as his hands move up to the straps on my dress and he slips them down my arms. My eyes close again and I let my head fall back at the feel of Max’s warm fingers lightly caressing my skin as he lowers the zipper on my dress and lets it slide down to my hips.

I stand before him on shaky legs as he walks his fingers across my stomach, which unfortunately is much flabbier than I’d like right now, and up towards my bra-covered breasts. I brace my hands on Max’s shoulders as he unclasps my bra and then grins appreciatively as he cups my breasts in his hands; I guess that’s one good thing about having a baby – my usually meagre chest has temporarily increased by about two cup sizes… much to Max’s delight. Within moments, our eyes meet again and we draw together again. Caught up in our embrace, I step out of my dress and we fall back against the mattress, our kisses becoming more frantic.

Max divests me of the remainder of my clothes (tights and panties) and spends several long minutes worshipping every inch of my body, leaving me gasping with need. I try to pull at his shirt, to rid him of that barrier between us, but he waves my hands away, instead moving down my stomach, pressing gentle, delicate kisses to my skin until he reaches my inner thighs. I clutch at his hair as he expertly proceeds to bring me to the ultimate pleasure and, for some reason that is unknown to me, it seems more intense and more meaningful than ever.

When I’ve recovered from his ministrations, I return the favour, tugging at Max’s clothes until he’s naked before me, before I bestow on him the same intimate attention that he’s been giving me. I shower his body with love and affection until he’s gasping for breath and begging for release. He murmurs my name in a breathy moan, his fingers clutching at my hips as I straddle him. I lean down to kiss him deeply, before I lowering myself onto him. I sigh into his mouth as he fills me up and I shudder at the feel of him inside me; nothing in the world could compare to the experience of making love with Max Evans. We love each other ardently and passionately, savouring every moment of it, making each second count. After all, with two young children, we don’t often get the chance to take our time in the lovemaking department, so we make the most of the time we do have together.

Afterwards, I collapse against Max’s chest, breathing heavily, and he buries his hands in my hair, stroking tenderly. A blanket of calm settles around us as we exchange gentle kisses and whispers of love. We talk softly about our future here in England and our love for each other. Unfortunately, I then make the mistake of mentioning that both Matt and Lucy are sleeping well tonight and as if on cue, the sound of childlike whimpers and cries filter into our room. It’s Matt.

I groan, burying my head in Max’s chest, before leaving the warmth of his arms to go and attend to our son. I catch him watching me as I pull one of his T-shirts over my head and grab my robe. We share a tender smile, before I slip out of the room to find out what’s wrong with Matt. It turns out that he’s had a nightmare about a tiger being under his bed, so I give him a cuddle and assure him that there’s no tiger under his bed, or anywhere else in his room, before sitting with him, stroking his hair until he falls back to sleep. I check in on Lucy, who luckily is sleeping peacefully, before returning to our bedroom.

Careful not to disturb either of the kids again, I pry open the door, slip inside our room and then gently close the door behind me. Looking over at Max, I find him fast asleep on his back, obviously exhausted from our earlier activities. The sight of him brings a smile to my lips as I slip out of my robe and climb into bed.

I cuddle up next to Max, his arm sliding around my waist, holding me close, as I relax against him.

“I love you,” I whisper, placing a soft kiss on his cheek, before I give into exhaustion. I fall asleep thinking about how lucky we are to have each other and our children, and also how excited I am about our future together as a family.

The End