Roswell Fanatics

And we’re off! After a silence of almost two years Twined Roads (or to say it better, his author), is ready to kick some ass!

Before I restart I would like to thank two special people.

The first person is BB (Nibbles2). She was my wonderful beta until she decided to say goodbye to the world of fanfiction. Thanks, girl! You probably won’t read this but I wish you the best in everything you do!

A second ‘thank you’ goes to Angel (ArchAngel1973) who said that she was honored to be my new beta. But in fact I felt very honored instead. I may never told you, Angel, but your ‘Full circle’ was one of the reasons I started writing!

And now I started to say thank you, I better keep going: rar1942, xilaj andNatalie36 surprised me enormously with their welcomes. I can only hope I can live up to your expectations!


Author’s note: Some sentences of the Pilot can be found in this chapter.


Chapter fifteen

He entered the hospital’s cafeteria after a very hectic Monday morning. And though he had tried to focus on his job, his mind had skipped away several times. As usual he scanned the place in a split second and almost immediately noticed the frame of the brunette moving slowly at the food counter. He had always been drawn to her for as long as he could remember. In the past he had fought against that feeling in every possible way. But today he wouldn’t. The promise he made to Michael had been more than a convenient excuse to talk to her again.

Liz studied the salads before picking the one with the warmed goat cheese, apple slices and crumbled nuts on top. She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn’t see him coming. From behind her a hand put a bowl of vanilla ice cream on her plate. Startled she looked right up into the face of the man she was puzzling over in her mind.

“Max!”

“Vanilla is your favorite, right?” he asked innocently. Without waiting for an answer, he took a tray for himself and loaded it with an Alien-burger and fries. “Not as good as at your folks place, but it fits the situation, don’t you think?”

The way he tried to play it cool perplexed her. Though she had cornered him the evening before last, his revelation had done more than just blown her socks off. Firing question after question at him, she had tried to unravel him and to her surprise he had let her. But she had seen his worries too. Not only in his answers but in his features too. Before she left his house, Max had made her promise to keep his secret. Completely confused by the overload of information and the out of the ordinary nature of it, she had only nodded her head.

“Can we talk?” His tone was cautious and gave her a glimpse of the unease behind his seemingly relaxed attitude.

Before she could answer him, Max just took her tray and motioned for her to follow him. In the most deserted corner of the cafeteria he led her to a table.

An uncomfortable vibe lingered between them while they both took a seat.

“Why?” Liz’s outspoken thought broke the silence.

Max shrugged. “I assumed you had more questions after last night. I do, anyway. ”

She nodded. Although she had barraged him with questions, some of the questions had consequently led to new ones.

“I can't imagine how you must feel right now. I mean, I've thought about telling you a thousand times-” His voice broke off.

The surprise was clearly written all over her face when her head snapped up. “You have, me? Why?”

“Because you’re you.”

His remark was trivial but said it all at the same time. Before she could enter into the discussion, he carried on. As if he was in a hurry to spill everything out before the moment was gone.

“I’m actually glad it’s out in the open now. It’s like something in my mind knew that it was for the best to heal Michael. Not only for his sake but mine too. That part of me knew you would see through my act. That you would notice what I did. You were always a very bright student.”

Liz scowled. “Why do you keep saying that? How do you know that?”

“What? That you were the smarty-pants of our class?”

She nodded. “How do you know every detail? Like how I adore vanilla.” she asked furthermore while she pointed to the bowl.

His eyebrows pulled down in a frown. “I was your lab partner, Liz. Don’t you remember?”

“I thought you were the one who had forgotten that particular detail. You ignored me our whole school period, just like you did the second I applied at the hospital. Why, Max?”

“Isn’t that obvious by now?” Max countered.

Confused, she stared at him. “No.”

Max gave her a significant look.

‘Oh.” Her cheeks flushed red when realization hit her. To cover her embarrassment, Liz tried to change the subject. “Max, who else knows this?”

Incomprehension was written clearly on his face. “What? That I find you…”

“No, no,” she immediately interrupted. She had the feeling her face was now as red as a tomato. “Who else knows you’re not… you know, not from around.” She whispered the last words.

He looked her right in the eyes. “No one.”

“What about your parents?”

Casually, Max played with his glass. “We don’t tell anyone. We sorta think our lives depend on it.”

“Oh.” For the second time in a couple of minutes his confession baffled her completely.

****

Tess blinked twice when she read the different official papers, reports and articles she had found in Michael Guerin’s old record West Roswell High had in its archives. Just to be sure she double checked by reading some parts out loud.

“Yesterday evening children were found wandering through the desert near Roswell, New Mexico. A couple brought two of them in, another boy was found several hours later by the police. They were taken to the local orphanage under the care of Social Services. If you have any information regarding these children or their disappearances, you can contact the authorities.”

She skipped a few pages before another part of the report attracted her attention.

“Withdrawn and unsociable. Doesn’t communicate. Offensive and rude. Negative recommendation for adoption.”

A few pages further she stopped again.

“The boy was relocated to another foster home after an encounter with his mentally unstable foster mother. The woman needed to be admitted. Said that the boy made the kitchen table fly, just by looking at it.”

While she was reading a picture whirled down to the floor. She pulled an escaped curl behind her ear while she tried to retrieve the picture. With a daunting smirk a young Michael Guerin looked right into the lens. A glance of recognition hit her hard. It made her flesh crawl while her heart pounded it her chest.

Oh My God! I found the others or at least one of them!

Tess tried to recollect one of the names. Hers had been Ava but the others skipped her mind.

“Come on, Tess! Think, girl! Think! What were their names? What did Nacedo call them again? Was there a Mouse?... No, no, it was Rath. Nacedo-“

Tess didn’t have any good memories of the man. She should’ve been happy that she was the one to be found by the man who was her only connection to her past, to the woman she was. But instead it had cost her five years of emotional blackmail and neglect. It had been a relief in every possible way when Nacedo had disappeared into thin air. Her adoption by the Hardings had saved her and her mental health in every possible way. What kind of cut up freak would she have turned into if she would have grown up with a heartless and obsessed son-of-a-bitch like Nacedo? She would’ve never enjoyed and valued something as precious as unconditional love.

More than fifteen years after her last encounter with Nacedo, she had finally found a sign of other aliens. A sign that maybe she wasn’t the only weirdo in the world. After Nacedo’s brainwash, ‘cause that’s how she felt about his persistent way of being, it had taken her a long time to trust other people, even her new family. Her confidence in mankind, or any kind for that matter, had been below zero. Nacedo had always lectured her about their weak, dumb, despicable and replaceable existence. After the umpteenth time that her foster family had stood up for her although she had made it really hard for them to love her, she had realised she had been wrong. That everything she had ever believed had been the other way around.

Tess didn’t know what to think anymore when she put the paperwork back in the file. What a coincidence! The first step to finding out her past was lying literally in the palm of her hands. If this Michael Guerin was indeed a piece of her origin, she had to be even more on guard in her research. How would he react to her presence? Or would he be as nuts as Nacedo had been? And would he know where the others were? If they even existed? God, so many questions!

Worried, she leaned against the window and closed her eyes.

You really did come back and started updating again.
I love it, but of course now I have to go back and read from the first because I have forgotten everything.
Thank you for an exciting new read.
Carolyn

Now I remember! And you finally did deliver with the promised dreamer part.
You have a clever way of introducing the characters a little at a time, and their background too.
Now I really can't wait to find out more about Maria's daughter.......and of course how Max and Liz will get along in the future.
Thanks again for coming back,
Carolyn

Max and Liz's conversation made me smile, especially Liz ending up as red as a tomato! I guess Liz got a little more information that she bargained for, but good for Max for finally being honest and giving Liz a clue to his feelings for her. Nice to revisit some of the pilot's lines with your twist on them. Now where do they go from here?

Eva wrote:What kind of cut up freak would she have turned into if she would have grown up with a heartless and obsessed son-of-a-bitch like Nacedo?

Great question! Hmm, I wonder.... I'm really glad that in your story Tess seems to be completely rational and had the huge benefit of growing up in a loving family. It's understandable that she has such mixed feelings about meeting Michael, and I wonder what his reaction will be when he finds out who and what she is.
So Nacedo just disappeared? It makes me wonder why and if all these years later he's going to turn up again...
Thank you for a great update. I'm really glad you've been able to dive back into this story, I've loved catching up with it and am looking forward to reading more! Alix

I just found this story, its a good distraction from trying to update my two stories. Lol I blame myself! But of course like everyone already knows, I love the dreamer storyline. But I do love this story all together and I hope you come back soon.
<3 Pom

@ Carolyn:

keepsmiling7 wrote:You really did come back and started updating again.

Yeah, I did. I didn’t believe it either. But I’m updating every other week though. Maybe that will give me more chances to continue.

Your comment made me smirk. It’s true. You did have to wait a very long time for your dreamer part. I’ll try to bring more, but like you said: I’m introducing everyone in bits and pieces.

@ Alix: I’m very happy you enjoyed the M & L- stuff. That means that his Candy heart can write other things too.

Ah, Tess! You may not know this but I took this challenge from killjoy (Rodney). The only thing he demands in all of his challenges is a nice Tess!
We will see her further on in the story. Promised!

@ Pom: Sorry for the distraction! But I know the feeling too, so I can only hope you’ll find the way back to writing again. Meanwhile I’ll try to entertain you. It will not always be a dreamer part but you’ll find Liz & Max a lot.



Chapter sixteen


As soon as the phone started ringing, she picked it up. “Good day, Toy House office, this is Mabel speaking.”

“Hello, Mabel.”

The woman almost dropped the phone the minute she recognised the voice. Quickly she scrambled to grab the receiver.

“Michael? Michael, is that really you?”

He heard a whispered “God, praise the Lord.” The enthusiasm and the clear worry in her voice warmed his heart. He wasn’t used to feeling like that. It even made him feel a bit uncomfortable.

“Michael??”

Mabel’s voice jolted him. With a joke he tried to pass the unease away. “Hey, hey, I’m still alive.”

“Listen, Michael, if you ever pull a stunt like that again, I swear to you I’ll lay you down over my knees and spank the hell out of you, you big stupid goofball! Do you hear me! You scared the hell out of me! What were you thinking?”

Her emotional outburst surprised him immensely. In his twenty-two years on earth this was the first time he had gotten a heart-warming lecture from someone. Ever. He had been insulted, ridiculed, sneered at, and most of the time just ignored. And then he wasn’t even thinking about the hell his last foster father had dragged him through. Outside of Isabel and Max nobody had really cared about him. Courtney had liked him but he hadn’t let her close enough to really care. Neither had she. They had just used each other in their search to find some security and family warmth. So Mabel’s concern made him even more speechless.

A long inhale was the only thing Mabel could hear. It made her heart crumble. Although Michael was her boss, the title didn’t suit him. Not only had Michael been the most peculiar boss she had ever seen in her thirty-year-long career, he had also been very persistent in the use of his name. In the beginning she had often called him ‘boss’ but he had made it pretty clear that she could stick that word where the sun didn’t shine for all he cared. She still couldn’t hide a smile when she thought back to that moment.
After a while she had seen him differently too. After working day in day out with the man, small details had given her glimpses of his scattered soul. It became clear that Michael didn’t trust people. He even kept his own family at arms’ length but he had never realised he wore every emotion in his eyes. Anybody who took a minute to see past his crankiness and rude behaviour could easily read his whole world in them.

He reminded her a lot at her first love. The one she had thought to live happily ever after with but who had died a week before their wedding.
So without any fuss, and certainly without his consent, she had taken Michael under her wing. Besides the usual office work, she had tried to look after him. The moments he was inspired and completely absorbed by the drawings he was creating the world went by him completely. So she had provided him with coffee and sandwiches, had seen that he took some rest when needed and went home in time to his family. After a while their collaboration had run like a well-oiled machine, in which her perfection and administrative skills had been very compatible with his general ship and business insight. Michael had realised that very quickly and had measured his uncommon view on matters and his architectural masterpieces with her calculations and her accuracy.

After the tragedy of last year she had felt it her duty to run the business so Michael had something to return to. But it had never crossed her mind that it would take him so long to find his way back. When days had become weeks and finally months her heart had sunk to the bottom. Finally she had arranged with Max to settle all current affairs within the year. If Michael didn’t return after that, she would put everything on hold indefinitely and start searching for a new job.

Though something in her had clung to the idea that life was hope, she had to keep a realistic look at the facts. Therefore she had started to round off a couple of days ago. And then, when she had thought it was completely over, he rang! Michael lived! Oh boy, and how! His voice and attitude indicated to her he was still the same person as he had been a year ago. The same person who would flee when things got personal. So she immediately changed her act.

“What do you want to hear then? Something professional like the facts and figures of the last quarter-”

“Mabel! Do I look like the kinda guy who cares about figures? Figures-”

“-are a necessary evil,” she completed the, for her, infamous and repeatedly said quote. “I know. When can I expect you back, Michael?”

“Well, that’s why I’m calling.” He hesitated what he was going to say to her. Michael had planned to dismiss the matter in a few words but her loyalty hindered him. Guilt crept over him. He owed her too much to do the lip service.

“Mabel, I know I made a mess out of everything and left you behind with the dump. I can’t say how much I appreciate your support. But I’m not coming back anytime soon. I’m in Roswell for the moment on a family matter.”

“No problem. I’m glad to finally hear your voice, you know. I can hold the fort a bit longer.”

Michael could hear she meant every word she was saying. “Are you insane? Take a break, Mabel! No wait, I order you to take a break! God knows you deserve it!”

“A break?”

“Yeah, you know: take a couple of weeks off. Go away for a holiday, visit some family, book a cruise or do whatever you women like to do.”

“Oh,” Mabel let out. It had been ages ago since her last holiday. Maybe it would do her good, certainly after this emotional day. But what could she do? Where could she go to?

Michael heard the hesitation in her voice. He knew her work meant the world to her. Hell, for all he knew, her work had been the only thing in her life. Just like it had been for him. “How does this sound? Start with this week, see if you find something to do or not. It’s Monday now. We’ll telephone each other Friday and figure out the puzzle.”

****

“Ok, again from the top. One, two, three!”

“Mum, mummy!” Emily’s squeal carried to the music room. After Uncle Kyle had collected her after school, she had been anxious to see her mother. The whole ride in the car she had squeezed the letter in her hands while answering her Uncle Kyle’s questions with one-word sentences. Her mum had to be the first to hear the news. So the second Kyle had unbuckled her car seat, she hurried inside as fast as her little legs could run.

“Hi kiddo,” Alex greeted her with a grin, “are you going to save me from your mother’s slavery?”

“Yeah, right!” Maria laughed when she gave him a friendly push.

“See?” Alex winked, “She’s already torturing me!”

But Emily had no interest in her Uncle Alex’s jokes. She immediately tried to seek her mother’s attention. “Mummy, we’re going to dance! Miss Izzy needs you.” And with that said she pushed a scrap of paper into Maria’s hands.

Carefully Maria unfolded the wrinkled and abused piece of paper and read it out loud. “Dear parents, for our annual Thanksgiving we’re performing a little show with your kids. Are you a handyman or woman? Or are you musical and would like to give us a little hand? We would welcome any help possible in our first meeting Tuesday evening at four p.m. Greetings, the kindergarten teachers.”

The note was just barely finished when Emily restarted her chatter. “We’re going to dance and sing. And you like that, huh? You could see my classroom. And Miss Izzy said they needed somebody for the music. Miss Izy was glad you would come. And-”

“Emily, honey, calm down, will you.” Maria knelt down in front of her girl. She caressed her hair. “So, you’re going to perform a show, huh? Whooaw!”

Emily nodded while she gleamed with pride. “But Miss Izzy has some problems with the music. She said it’s corned.”

Maria and Alex both looked at each other. “Corned?” They couldn’t help laughing with the word slip.

Uncomprehending, Emily glared at them. She didn’t understand their reaction to her important announcement.

“Oh, honey, we’re not laughing about your show or Miss Izzy. You said something funny, you know. Miss Izzy didn’t mean the music was corned but that it was corny.”

“Yeah, that was it!” Emily nodded enthusiastically but her eyebrows immediately pulled down into a frown. “But music can’t be corn, right?”

Maria smiled, “No, music can’t be corn. But it can be corny though. That means that the music sounds old. That it’s not beautiful anymore.”

“Oh! Is that why she needs you, Mommy?”

“I guess so. We’ll see. I’ll ask her when I see Miss Izzy. Cause I’m afraid I can’t make it to the first meeting.”

Emily’s lower lip started to tremble and slowly the waterworks were turned on. “But I promised you’ll be there.”

“I know, honey,” gently Maria wiped the first tears away, “and I’ll do what I can do help out. But I just can’t make it with this short notice. Miss Izzy will understand.”

One look at her four-year-old told her that her girl wasn’t taking the news very well. A similar memory of her youth came to mind when she saw the sadness in her daughter’s features. How many times had her own mom excused herself because she needed to work? And how many times she had felt rotten about it although she had known her mom had needed the pay check?
Her eyes rested a second on Alex when a new idea came to mind.

“But you know what? I’ll send my assistant! He’ll keep me posted and together we will work it out. The new album gives me a lot of obligations I can’t postpone and he’s as free as a bird. The three of us, “Maria pointed to Emily, Alex and herself,” can do this together. Isn’t that right, Uncle Alex?”

Alex scratched his head. “I guess so.”

“You said you needed a new project in your life. Well, here’s your chance.”

Maria saw he was still doubtful. She knew from experience that she couldn’t let him dwell on it. And it was true, this little project would do him good. Give him more opportunities to experience real life again. It would be good for his music too. So with a, “That’s settled then!” she ended his doubts.

Hey Eva! So nice to read two parts at once! I missed part 15 but its not so bad bc now, I have two to read!

Happy to read this Tess is a better one as the one from the show, who I wished, sometime, to strangle wih my hands!

Anyway, loved how Max is going behind Liz, even if she couldn't even remember him... Anyway, she wouldn't have seen him, she was too busy with her head in hers books!

Thanks Eva and I am looking impatiently for more! EVE

Loved the update.....
And I admire you as you face Killjoy's challenge to make Tess nice. Don't know if I could ever do that,
sorry Rodney!
Carolyn

@ Eve: Thanks! Indeed, the Tess in the show was really a serpent. But I truly believe she could’ve turned out otherwise if she had grown up elsewhere. So that’s how I’m writing her.

I think you’ve misread the things about Liz & Max a bit. She certainly recognised Max, he was her high school crush. But he ignored her the whole time, trying to push his own feelings away. And that raised questions cause he showed her now that he knew every single detail about her.

@ Carolyn: Thanks!


Chapter seventeen


Absentmindedly and on autopilot he stacked the wood blocks behind the garden house. Making a few too many mistakes than he was pleased with. He had the intention of keeping the big pieces of timber aside so he could keep the bare wood for the constructing of the playground and flowerbeds. He cursed out loud when he missed again.

“She’s not going to keep you around if you keep screwing things up.”

Michael looked up for a second but refocused when he noticed the smug face of his brother. “Maxwell,” he grunted. “Keeping an eye on the misfit?”

His unwelcome greeting made Max smile. This was the Michael he knew and it pleased him more than words could say.

The spontaneous laughter undermined Michael’s frustrated mood. After throwing the last brick on the pile, he wiped his hands off on the sides of his trousers. Nonchalant, he leaned against the stack.

“So, what brings you here if you’re not babysitting me?”

Although Michael had nailed his reason for visiting, he wasn’t about to admit it out loud. “I just wanted to see for myself that Isabel left you in one piece.”

Michael smirked. “She tried but this stonewall can handle more than hurricane Isabel. I’m not sure though if she will leave you standing upright if your little doctor fucks up.”

“She won’t,” Max assured him. “That’s the second reason I came by. I talked to Liz yesterday and she understands the necessity of keeping our origin to herself. So we’re good.”

“For now.”

Max would’ve laughed about Michael’s dry comment but somehow he sensed a double meaning in them. “Come on, what’s wrong? I can tell something’s bothering you,” he urged his brother to go on.

Instead of answering, he countered with another question. “What do you think about Emily?”

“Maria’s little girl?”

Michael nodded. “There’s something peculiar about her.”

“Besides the fact that she’s a cutie?” Max tried to laugh it away. The seriousness in Michael’s eyes made him hold his horses “What is it?”

“She can change things, Max, just by using her mind.”

From all the things he could’ve said, this was the least expected. “What? How? What did you see, Michael?”

He scratched his eyebrows, thinking about the way he should say it. But there was no other way, so he just told it like it was. “Yesterday evening I saw her changing the channels of the TV set, just by thinking about it.”

“Are you sure she didn’t trick you?”

“Positive! I accidently bumped into her in the living room. She was just staring at the screen while the channels kept alternating until she found her favourite program. The remote control was laying a couple of feet away on the end table.”

Max cursed.

“That’s exactly the way I reacted.” And that wasn’t even an underestimation. The moment he had understood what his eyes were seeing, he had swiftly turned around. The words “What the fuck!” had been tumbling around his head non-stop since then.

“ You know, we were the same when we were younger. I’m telling you, Max, the kid is alien.”

He had thought all night about this fact. “Which leads me to several other questions: Who is she? Or more important whose is she? Did she come to this world like us or was she born here? And, honestly? I’m thinking the last thing. So who’s the father? I’m sure as hell not. But this morning I asked Maria about it.”

“What did you do?” Max’s voice raised higher when he heard the possible mess Michael could’ve gotten them in. Again.

“Hey, I can be subtle.”

Max quirked an eyebrow.

“If I want to.” Michael proceeded with a wink. “Anyway, I asked her casually why Emily’s father wasn’t around. Turns out there isn’t a father. She adopted Emily a couple of days after she was born.”

“Adopted?” Max’s exclamation echoed not only Michael’s words but his worries too.

“So, that leaves us three options: you, Isabel or some other alien we know nothing about. And I don’t wanna think that. So please tell me, Max: When did you became father?”

“You gotta be kidding me, right?”

“Do you see me laughing?” In his straightforward way his demanding look balanced on the limits of manners.

It made Max’s eyes lighten. “No, of course she isn’t mine. We vowed that we wouldn’t tell a thing about our origins. We don’t even know exactly where they lay anyway. So for me, a relationship was totally out of the question.”

Michael opened his mouth to react but Max didn’t leave him an opportunity. “And no, I didn’t sleep around.”

“So, we can cross you out too. That leaves us Isabel and some unknown ‘ET phone home’ kinda guy.”

“Do you hear yourself talking?”

“What?” Michael snapped, “I’m just laying out the facts, Maxwell. What other possibilities do you see? Did you see Isabel a lot during her modeling carrier?”

“I didn’t think so,” Michael snorted when Max didn’t react. “Next question: when are you going to ask her about Emily?”

Max immediately shook his head. “No, no, no! You don’t have to look at me for this one! I saved your ass a million times in the past and although I’m very curious about this too, you’re on your own this time.”

“But at last we’ve got a lead. If Emily isn’t Isabel’s, there has to be someone out there who is like us. Someone who can maybe tell us more about where we come from.”

“I said: forget it! I’m not breaking my neck. It’s only going to get strangled anyway. You want to? Well, ask her yourself.”

Max looked at his brother. He recognized his brooding and at the same time impatient look. The look Michael had carried around most of his high school years. At that time he hadn’t always understood why Michael was so obsessed with finding out more about their origins. Ok, he had his questions too, but never the same desire.

To his surprise he had found the reason just a few days ago when he had healed Michael. Wide-eyed he had learned the hard way that the word ‘desire’ or better ‘being desired’ had been the key word when Michael’s emotions and memories had literally slammed the truth into his clueless mind. His flesh still crawled and he cursed himself for not seeing beyond the surface. As a child Isabel and he had thought Michael had a home, just like they had. Granted, it hadn’t been the cozy, warm home where you felt as desired as they had. It hadn’t never been a secret that Hank and Michael had collided a lot. So most of the time Michael had slept in a sleeping bag on the floor. But they hadn’t been the easiest people to live with either. But he had never seen signs that Michael had been going through hell.

Max laid his hand on Michael’s shoulder. “Michael, please don’t go there. I know it has always attracted you. But you were in a rotten place then. God, if I knew back then what you were going through.-”

Michael’s eyes flashed angrily as he hissed: “Max-”

“No, Michael, let me finish, just for once. Think about what you’re putting at stake here. In the past it was only us. But now there’s possibly a little girl involved. A girl who’s completely innocent. A girl who’s living in a warm and stable home where she’s desired by her family.”

When he saw his words hit their mark, Max continued in a softer tone. “Look, I agree with you to a certain level. If Emily is alien, it could give us more information about ourselves. But don’t barge in on this one. We’ll see when the time is right if Isabel knows more. If not, we’ll see it then. We’ve got to take baby steps here. For Emily’s sake. And for ours too.”

Confronted with the reason in Max’s argument, he could only agree.

****

It had been a long time since he had entered his old school. It felt like time hadn’t changed a thing as he observed the building. The closer he came to the entrance, the more differences he saw from his old days though. Without a problem he found his way to the kindergarten. The rooms and corridors were more colorful than he had imagined them.

He knocked carefully but when he didn’t hear a reaction, he hesitantly entered the classroom. On his right he saw a cozy sitting area with colorful little chairs and cushions. The rest of the room was divided by different play areas. Although the place was stuffed with toys, it still had a neat view. Together with the well-thought out and bright sketches on the walls, it invited everyone to come in and play along.

A blonde woman was arranging some papers when he stepped in. He couldn’t mask his surprise when she turned her head.

“You?”

But before Isabel could respond, other parents and volunteers stepped in. The professional in her immediately took over. “Welcome!” she smiled to each one while guiding them to the sitting area.

Now you have me on the edge of my seat.......I can't wait to find out the real story behind Maria's daughter!
Thanks for the update,
Carolyn