Roswell Fanatics

Part Thirty-one

"It was a nice ceremony, very pretty," Martine remarked casually to Kyle at the Valenti-DeLuca postnuptial party. (They had insisted on doing things differently, one example of which was choosing an alternative to the usual 'wedding reception.')

"Yeah," Kyle remarked fondly, wrapping an arm around his recent wife.

"Okay, so let me see if I have this straight," Martine continued as they watched the bride, groom, and other guests dancing some sort of ridiculous dance. "Jim was already my father-in-law. Amy DeLuca is now your stepmother and my stepmother-in-law, right?"

"Yeah," Kyle agreed absently, wondering just how long this would take her. She tended to get obsessed over minor details like that, but it was part of what he found charming about her.

"Maria is now your stepsister and my stepsister-in-law. When she has the baby, she'll be your stepniece and my stepniece-in-law..."

"I'm not sure that there's such a word as stepniece, but I get your point."

"And Michael is your stepbrother-in-law and... and mine too? I know that you don't combine 'in-law-in-law,' but can you collapse them, or..."

"Not sure about the general case, but here, I think that Michael is still just Michael," Kyle put in, and Martine laughed. "No matter what. Just 'Michael.'"

"Yeah, I guess that that does fit him," Martine admited. "Come on, we may at least try to dance."

"Do I have to??"

"Yes, you definitely do."

Kyle sighed, but not too loudly, as he was led off.

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"Yeah, Ben's nice," Liz admitted over the phone, keeping a watchful eye on her young daughter. "He's been great about helping me feel comfortable in the new place, and I definitely get the impression that he's not shy about the idea of seeing an older woman or single mother, as far as that goes. The problem is me - I like him, but moving on and actually dating, for the first time since... since Casey..."

"I definitely realize how hard that might be," Max told her. "If you think it might help as a training wheels thing, maybe you guys could double with me and Anita."

"Umm... *no*," Liz replied with hardly any pause. "Umm... well meant and thanks for offering, but I think that that would just be the weirdest, most awkward double date situation that I could possibly imagine, right?"

"Oh, yeah, okay," Max admitted in a small voice. "Gotcha, never going to bring it up again, moving along... umm, I dunno, maybe you should just try to find some way that might or might not lead to an opportunity, and see what happens. Like arranging for someone else to look after Beth so that you can take a night off, and then let Ben know."

"Hmm, yeah, that might work," Liz admitted. "Martine's been suggested that she's interested in getting some Beth time with Kyle actually, so..." Max made a kind of a half-gasp and half-chuckle. "What do you know about that, Mister Evans?"

"Well, nothing for sure. It's not like either of them said anything. But - well, when they had us over at their place on Saturday, I sort of got a flash from Martine when she brushed past me one time."

"And..." Liz prompted.

"Yeah, I think that she'll be getting a little one of her own in not too long. Maybe she doesn't even realize." Max sighed. "And... it just occured to me that there's no particular reason that she and Kyle would, umm, would have to come to me for nursing services and so on. First time anyone in the gang who's having a kid wouldn't."

"Well, you did heal Kyle," Liz pointed out. "We don't know if that's affected his genes at all..."

"Doesn't seem like much to worry about," Max said. "Your pregnancy with Beth was entirely textbook, and the mother's genes matter a lot more in cases like this." He sighed. "Of course, if they want my help, I'll be happy to offer, but I don't think that Martine is THAT comfortable with the alien stuff yet."

"I guess you might be right in that," Liz said. "Well, thanks for chatting. It was weird coming to you for advice about something like this, but..."

"But you didn't want to bother Maria, so close to her due date?" Max finished with a soft laugh.

"Hmm... actually, maybe I should - not necessarily bring her dating issues to help me out with, but - I remember on the day that Beth was born, I was so glad that Maria had come over and was having me help her with studying for some accounting stuff. Took my mind off of the waiting."

"Yeah, I guess that's something that we can all pitch in with," Max said.

"Good to check in first, and make sure that she's not busy with something at the time," Liz warned. "Did you know that she's been trying to write some new songs?"

"Yeah, Michael mentioned it - and about her temper if she gets interrupted just when she was making progress," Max admitted. "Well, I guess I'm going to go now."

"Ohh, got studying to do?" Liz asked.

"No... but I should call Anita."

"Oh, right. Well, gnight, talk to you soon," Liz told her friend. She sighed, cleared the line, went over to stroke Bethany's back, and then decided to dial Martine.

------------

"Hey Guerin," Steve Rooke said to Michael as he got back to his post from the can. "Umm, there's something that I have to say to you, and this is very awkward..."

"Heh?" Michael felt an odd twinge of uneasiness, but fought it down. "Just spit it out, whatever you're trying to say."

"Alright. You're suspended for three days."

"What??" Michael had definitely not expected that. "You're kidding."

"Not a bit, man. You have to leave the site now, and you are *not* going to be coming back in for a while..."

"Bull spit," he opined tersely. "Forgetting yourself, man, if you're serious about any of this! You CAN'T suspend me any more - I've been promoted above you."

"Yes, but I'm acting on behalf of a higher authority, who couldn't be here today."

"WHAT??" Michael nearly exploded with that word. "Okay, you're gonna tell me who, and RIGHT now... and WHY I'm being dumped out of here..."

Steve could no longer entirely keep his face straight. "Bud, it's your wife."

"Huh??" Suddenly something started to penetrate Michael's confused thoughts. "She's having the baby?"

"Yeah, man. Called your cell phone."

Michael's eyes narrowed, unimpressed. "The woman I love is giving birth to my baby, right now, and you're bothering me with stupid jokes, trying to make me think that I'd goofed up royal?" Steve shrugged.

"Sorry, man, but I've been planning that one for a little while and I couldn't resist when you didn't have your cell with you right at the moment. And it's not like you're missing too much at this point, man - trust me."

Michael had to admit that, since the other man had several children, and this would obviously be his first. "Did, did she say anything more about what was happening..."

"It was Maria - of course she did. Her water broke already - not much warning before that, apparently - and Kyle is taking her to the hospital. You can meet her there."

"Alright, well, thanks for that much, bud," Michael grumped, grabbing his jacket, his keys - and the aforementioned phone, before sweeping off as quickly as possible.

"Congratulations in advance, daddy!" Steve called out after him.

Michael just hoped that he was ready for this.

------------

"Come *on*, Maxwell," Michael nearly growled. "She - Maria's in pain - the woman that I love more dearly than anything else in this galaxy. And you're telling me that you can't do the same Antarian quiet birth technique on her that Liz and Isabel got??"

"Come on, Michael," Tess insisted. (She and JD had arrived about twenty minutes before, on a stream of discorporate molecules from North Vermont near the Canadian border.) "Some pain is part of the natural way that these things go. The doctors aren't worried - everything's progressing smoothly, and Maria's going to be fine. So will your daughter."

"But 'natural' wasn't good enough for Liz? For Isabel??" Michael insisted, shoving Max a little in his frustration.

"It's not -- none of this is just because it's Maria," Max muttered in a low voice, his look just as intent as Michael's, and that managed to distract his attention from aggressiveness. "I care about Liz and Isabel, I couldn't stand to see them hurting when I could do something to help them out, and it is *killing* me that I can't do the same thing once again. But - but the same doctor who was attending for Liz is there with Maria, and I think that he already suspects that something was a bit 'unusual' about Bethany's birth. If I show up, and the same strange things start to happen with Maria, then..."

"Okay, okay, sheesh, of course I get the point," Michael conceded ungraciously. "I... I knew that we should have set things up at the midwife's."

"But there, you'd have known that it would be the same people who had been attending Isabel and Caryn," JD pointed out.

"Yes," Michael whispered back. "But *they* weren't suspicious, right? Probably thought it was their calming energy that worked so well on Isabel. We could have risked a repeat." And he was already heading back towards the delivery room, aware that every minute that he was away from Maria's side, was probably making the experience worse for her, and that there was no reason to be staying away now that the issue had been decided.


Several hours later, Alex rushed quickly down the hospital corridor and poked his head into the room. "Maria?"

"Hey, bud, you missed it all this time," Maria said, grinning at him. "But you've got time to meet Kayla."

"Ahh, so you went with that?" he said, coming up close to the bed and peering at the little bundle in Maria's arms. "Don't they take her off to get examined and everything?"

"In a few minutes, yeah," Liz agreed. "Umm... out of curiosity, how did you get here, just now?"

"Yeah," Max agreed, blinking in surprise. Everybody had, by now, gotten used to the teleportation trick, but like all alien powers it had its rules, and one rule that had been inflexible so far was that it required at least two aliens co-operating to teleport anything - either on the sending end, the receiving end, or in transit. Isabel could presumably have used her powers, but she was only one, and every other alien in the group had been here in the private room before Alex showed up - not counting Langley, who Max didn't think would have dropped by at just that time, or... "Don't tell me that baby Caryn is already helping her Mommy out with teleportations!"

Alex raised his eyebrows. "Are you implying that I couldn't have driven all the way from Las Cruces to see Maria and make my case that long distance wouldn't keep me from upholding godfather duties?"

Tess chuckled. "Maybe, but when I talked to Isabel an hour ago, offering to help her with a jump, she said that you were still busy with an important client meeting. In that time, no you couldn't have driven."

"Okay, that's true," Alex finally admitted.

"So, what was it?" Michael asked. "Don't tell me that Isabel would have gone solo for this - not when it was you who was crossing over, and - and in a situation that isn't exactly a life or death crisis."

"No, it wasn't like that," Alex assured him, "and it wasn't our daughter helping out either, though we've been wondering when she'll be showing signs of her powers. There's somebody else who's showed up, and we've been sort of waiting for the right time to break the secret - I guess that this is it."

"Yeah, Isabel said something about how she'd be able to manage without me," Tess agreed, suddenly confused. "I didn't understand what she meant at the time, just figured that you'd be able to wait until she got ahold of one of the rest of us here."

"Is... is it..." Liz blurted out, feeling a sudden spate of hope that she couldn't put into words yet.

Alex smiled at her. "Somebody said to tell you 'Hi, cornball.'"

That left no doubt about it. "Ava?" Max muttered. "Are you sure? No chance that it's a shapeshifter or other alien impersonating her? I mean, Nicholas claimed that he'd - that he'd killed Ava I thought, and when we didn't hear from her for so long after he was gone..."

"Trying to make sure, and be careful, is the reason Isabel didn't want to say anything about her yet," Alex said softly. "And - and not wanting to get Liz's hopes up." Liz nodded slowly in response to that. "But - well, I think that Isabel is pretty sure now, or she wouldn't have let Ava help whoosh me. She - I think that she figured out how to test the mental seals, when it was done to all of you guys at the Convention, and she tested Ava's. It matched with Tess'."

"Huh," Tess muttered. "So what's Ava been doing all of this time?"

"Apparently, laying low, wondering if any other alien enemies would show up, with the idea that she could come out of hiding and..." A sudden stamp broke Alex off, and then there was a knock at the door. They all immediately returned to paying attention to the new baby before she was taken away for her shots and so on. Michael elected to follow and watch this process, so that at least one of them could keep Kayla in sight.

"Is there any more to the name, Maria?" Alex asked. "Kayla Guerin?"

"Kayla Iris Guerin-Deluca, I think," Maria recited.

"Yeah, that's nice," Liz said.

Alex turned to look at her. "Hey, who's looking after Beth Liz? And - and where's gramma DeLuca?"

Maria chuckled. "My mom insisted on driving down here the old fashioned way - she should actually be here in twenty minutes or so." Alex laughed appreciatively. "And Bethany is with the Evanses."

"Alright, good enough."

------------

"Hi there." Liz smiled shyly as she opened the door for Ben on what was to be their second date. Dinner and a movie had gone fairly well, if slightly stiffly on her part, a little over a week ago, and he had suggested, (before sweetly kissing her goodnight outside her door,) that perhaps next time they should spend time back at her place, with Beth, rather than worry about trying to find a babysitter. That had been before Kayla's grand and dramatic arrival, and Liz suspected that trustworthy babysitters among her circle were going to get even harder to find at this point, so she was fairly glad of this plan, if uncertain about...

"Hey Liz." Ben reached out to touch her hand with his for just a moment as he came in. "Nice place."

"Umm, thanks... and I guess I can't offer to take your coat because you just came from down the hall, and it's pretty warm out anyway." Liz rolled eyes at herself in the mirror. Just then, Bethany started to call out some sort of a joking rhyme in a fairly loud voice, giving Liz the cue that she had been fumbling for. "Well, you've met Beth around already, but I guess that this is the first time that either of you have had to really get to know each other." And she led him over to the small loveseat and made the introductions.

It was a very nice evening to spend with a new friend - making dinner as a co-operative thing, playng a card-and-board game later, (which Bethany wanted to join in with, but she couldn't quite understand the rules yet.) And after Liz's little girl had been put to bed, the kiss that they shared before saying goodnight was perfect, sweet and hot in equal measures, but there was a voice in the back of Liz's head that she couldn't entirely drown out.

Saying that this wasn't the right time - or the right man, no matter how nice Ben seemed, and that she was going to have to wait.

Liz was already tired of waiting around.

------------

The months drew on toward the holiday season once again. Tess and JD had been talking about coming back to Roswell for most of the month of December, and Liz had mentioned that if the pair did keep up their wandering, it would be a nice tradition to start, having them around their friends for the holidays. Isabel and Alex, on the other hand, had decided to spend Christmas at home, and with new friends from work, in Las Cruces, though Isabel insisted that they'd be heading down to Roswell for a New Year's Eve party of some description.

Michael and Maria had more than a few stressful, sleepless nights with their new little one, and that there was one rather loud exasperated shouting match, but soon a new kind of routine sorted itself out, and Michael mentioned that it seemed like Kayla had always been part of their family. Max mentioned to some of his other friends that he'd never seen the two of them look more madly in love with each other, or act sweeter.

Speaking of Max, he was now kept busy with helping out on baby duty in whatever time hadn't already been taken up with classes or his first job at the hospital. Anita seemed to have a standing invite to come along with Max and lend a hand of her own, which few of Max's friends could fail to notice. Liz felt particularly aware of Anita, especially since after her fourth date with Ben, she'd felt compelled to inflict the 'just friends' speech on him. To the surprise of everyone except possibly Ben himself, he and Liz actually *did* stay good friends.

Kyle and Martine made an announcement to the gang about having a little one of their own on the way a week and a half before Christmas, in the middle of an informal get-together over at Max's place. Actually, Maria hadn't been there, so the announcement wasn't made to the whole gang, but it was close enough and Michael told her when he called to say that he was heading back home.

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"I... I certainly never expected to be coming to you guys and asking what you thought about this," Max said, trying to get comfortable in his seat, though the discomfort certainly didn't have anything to do with the sofa in Michael's living room. (It was one that Maria had picked out, just before they got married.)

"Well, I was wondering if it'd be coming," Tess remarked idly. The roster of those present in the living room numbered as three - Tess, Max, and Michael - with Maria standing nearby in the kitchen holding her baby. Kayla was fussing quietly, and Max thought that maybe Maria's position in the apartment would vary with the baby's mood - if she really started crying, her mother would retreat to the bedroom, and if she fell asleep, Maria would come in and sit next to her husband. Just maybe. "A bit surprised that there aren't more people here - like Isabel, if only on a speaker phone, and Liz."

"I'll sort things out with my sister too," Max muttered. "If I need to. But I didn't want to wait for her to come for New Year's, and trying to arrange a conference with her being long-distance didn't seem that workable." Tess nodded acceptance. "As far as Liz - well, I guess I don't think of her as a primary in keeping the secret - any more. She's shared in it for a long time, but she's not, well..."

"Okay, let's leave that aside for now," Michael said. "First off - bottom line, I trust in your judgement, man. If you really think that it's the right time to tell Anita that you're an alien, then do it."

"Thanks," Max said. "I... I'm nervous about it, but I saw how upset Martine was that Kyle kept that part of his life hidden from her for so long, and how the longer he waited, the harder it was to confess. And he - well, he isn't even extraterrestrial, not nearly as much as I am."

"Yeah, that's true," Tess said slowly. "On the other hand - well, I'm going to repeat the advice I gave to Kyle about Martine when I'd only just met her. If this girl is 'the one', who you're going to share your life, then you have to tell her the truth. But if she's not the right girl, then you can't let her know the secret. And the tricky part is answering that question for sure."

"Oh, yeah," Max replied, rolling his eyes. "Like that doesn't put the pressure on." Tess did her best to look innocent, which as a rule didn't take Max in for long anymore. "And I don't suppose that any of this has anything to do with the notion that a certain single mother we all know very well might be 'the right girl' for me?"

Tess kept her innocent facade up quietly. Maria chuckled softly. She had drawn closer to the three of them, as her daughter calmed down slightly. "Ooh, speaking of Liz, did you hear that she's applied for courses at the college starting in January?"

"Don't change the subject, and yes, I'm very well acquainted with that fact," Max said, a touch of frost in his voice. "She was asking me my opinion on the biology and biochemistry courses that I've taken there, weeks ago." Maria nodded. "Come on, answer the question - do I have a full match-making conspiracy on my hands??"

"Umm, well, there haven't been any secret meetings that I got invited to," Michael said slowly, and the two girls shook their heads as well. "Nothing organized or active - and I don't think that any of us are going to interfere in your love life beyond nudging. But here's a pretty clear nudge - I do get the impression that the reason you and Liz didn't get back together back in May was down to two reasons. One was foolhardy pride, and the second was that you got a crush on a new girl just when Liz was ready to move on and put Casey's memory behind her."

There was an awkward silence in the room for a long moment. In the quiet, it seemed like all sorts of possible consequences were jostling each other in line - would Max reply with a flare of overrheated temper? Or Michael sense that he'd gone over the line and try to backpedal? Perhaps Maria would tell her husband off for interfering so overtly, and the volume of her tirade would wake up the baby...

But nothing so dramatic actually came to pass. Tess cleared her throat and said apologetically. "Maybe you shouldn't have said the C word, Michael. That, umm, being 'crush.' None of us can really characterize how true the feelings run between Max and Anita but them - I certainly wouldn't have liked hearing that word about JD, back when I was first coming to terms with..."

"Oh, that's different," Michael insisted. "Nobody could possibly have thought that..."

"Okay, let's call this off," Maria said, stepping in figuratively as peacemaker. "Max - as we said, it's your decision, and I hope that you won't put too much weight in our opinions - one way or another. And... maybe we should change the subject on that note."

"Yeah," Tess said. "Are you doing a big Christmas dinner thing at the Crashdown again, Maria?"

"Well, Liz and Jennifer are doing more for it than I am," Maria disclaimed, "but I'm still looking forward to it - should be a great feast, and we're hoping to raise some money for the Roswell food bank."

"Cool," Max said, relaxing somewhat into a smile.

-----------

"Hi, Isabel!" Michael exclaimed as he opened the door. "Alex, Caryn... how're you guys doing? Good trip?"

"Umm... about as good as could be expected," Alex said, rolling his eyes slightly. "Nice to see you, man."

"Yeah," Isabel agreed. "It's been too long - and happy Eve."

"Right," Michael said, hugging Isabel hello briefly. "Well, umm, you can take your daughter in to the little room at the end of the hall." Isabel raised an eyebrow. "We sortof thought that it might reduce the party disruption to group the girls together with a little supervision. Probably won't be all night, but..."

"Ooh, yeah, this is the first time that they'll all be together," Alex said, smiling. "If there's an unexpected lunar eclipse and a book of magic spells appears, levitating, out of nowhere, then I might honestly be a little bit freaked out." Isabel swatted him lightly on the chest. "I suppose there isn't much chance of that."

"Actually, I may just stay in the baby room for a while," Isabel added in offhandedly after a few seconds. "Haven't even met Kayla yet, and it's been too long since I saw Bethany. Can cover for somebody else on babysitting duty, maybe."

"I think that it's just Maria in there, she's good at watching over Beth," Michael replied. "But I'm sure she'd love the help and the company. Good enough."

"Alright." Alex transferred Caryn carefully over to his wife's arms with the grace of long practice. "I'll do the mingling for both of us, to start." But he stayed next to Isabel and his daughter until they got to the entrance of the small room, and waited outside for a little while, waving at Bethany through the gap left by a half-open door.


"Oh, hi Max - and Anita," JD said, coming out from the kitchen to stand next to the living room chairs. "Happy New Year's. How's it going?"

"Umm, pretty well, and thanks for asking," Anita said. "How's the grand road trip going? You and Tess certainly seem to drop by Roswell fairly often, considering some of the places I've heard about you going." Max gave JD a slight apologetic smile.

"Well, the key is in finding out how to grab discount standby plane tickets," JD said calmly. "And yeah, it's been great exploring with Tess. Just before coming back to Roswell for the holidays, we were going through the Virginias. Beautiful scenery around there."

"Oh, yeah, I believe it," Anita agreed. "I've always wanted to go off to the East coast."

"Did anybody ever tell you that Alex and Isabel honeymooned in South Carolina?" JD asked. Max's eyes bugged out a little at the casual mention of the word 'honeymoon' in front of his girlfriend, but Anita didn't catch it.

"Umm. I think that she said once that they went to the beach, but I was never sure why," Anita replied after a moment. "Well, if you were just home for the holidays, then what's next after tomorrow?"

"Tess wants to see California this time, and go up the Pacific coast," JD said with a broadening smile.

"Oooh. Going to go through Los Angeles and do all the tourist stuff in Hollywood?"

"Some of it, probably... but come on, you don't get to ask all of the questions here. How's the nursing program coming?"

"Umm... pretty well I suppose," Anita said, blinking. "I'm going to be working a student nursing placement in the hospital this term, which is probably going to be exhausting and more strenuous than anything I've been through - but I'm up for the challenge."

JD and Anita carried the conversation between themselves for about five more minutes, though Anita tried to get Max to contribute to the topic of their shared vocation, and then Tess came by to collect her boyfriend, saying that Kyle and Martine had something they wanted to ask him. "Hmm," Anita said in a low tone, as they headed away.

"Hm what?" Max whispered back, since he hadn't been sure what to make of that sound.

"I don't know," Anita said. "There's something a bit weird about JD, but I can't quite put my finger on it."

"He grew up in a kinduv weird patch of the boonies," Max blurted out. "Didn't see much of the human race until he was older. That might be it."

"Hmm," Anita said again, and then got up to get them both some punch.

-----------

"Ben!" Liz said, coming out of the spare room, where she'd been proudly watching over her darling girl and cuddling her spiritual neice from Las Cruces, and turned towards the front door of the fairly-crowded apartment. "What are you doing here? Thought you said you'd be at the campus party until..."

"Until tomorrow morning or something, yeah, I know that's what I told you," Ben said breathlessly. "I, umm... just a moment."

"Did you run up both flights of steps without breathing?" Liz asked, and he responded with a nod and head-tilt that she interpreted as 'pretty much, more or less.'

"I... I can't explain why I've come - not really," Ben said once he'd panted some, looking straight into her eyes. "I... I just couldn't go without seeing you tonight. Hope it's not too rude that I've crashed your friends' party or anything..."

"Um," Liz muttered, trying to think this through, because there was clearly more to it than met the eye. The old saw about being with the person who you kissed at the start of the New Year was the key - Ben was trying to send her a quiet signal that he still wanted to be that guy for her, even though she had gently and clearly rejected him before.

And she couldn't help but let her glance flick into the living room, where Max and Anita were chattering away with Isabel and Alex, about what she couldn't tell. But Max looked very much in love with Anita, and she obviously adored him. THEY would be kissing at midnight, sure enough.

And it wasn't like the superstition really meant anything beyond maybe January, Liz knew. Last year, in fact, she had flirted a kiss out of Max, 'just as friends' (yeah,) and it hadn't done her much good once Max had met Anita. Maybe her disclaimer had ruined the desired effect, becuase she still was friends with Max, more or less, despite everything that had happened.

So she smiled at Ben, once those thoughts had finished running through her head, which only took a second or two. "Yeah, sure. It'll be fine - Maria loves you, and Michael and the others will be interested in meeting you. Come on, let's get some punch."

"Alright," Ben said with a big grin.

Sure enough, everybody at the party was eager enough to get a look at 'Liz's Benjamin.' The story about how they'd met, with the can opener, had made the rounds, along with the fact that they'd been dating and that Liz had broken things off. But the significance of the way Liz stayed close to his side, and that Ben had chosen to crash a New Year's party where Liz would be, was lost on nobody - not even JD, who was getting better about reading subtle Earth cultural things of that sort.

And so, when midnight and the start of 2006 arrived, there were six couples participating in the ritual midnight kiss... and three very little girls who didn't really understand the significance of the moment and didn't let it interrupt their female bonding.

--------------

"Morning, Missus Whitman."

Isabel woke up with the momentary fright of being in an unfamiliar place, and the first thing she did was look around for Caryn. Then, as awareness of her surroundings returned, it occured to her that perhaps she should instead be wondering why her husband wasn't next to her on the futon.

"He's in the bathroom," Maria remarked, and Isabel put on her best thankful smile in reply. "The girls are all both sleeping like little angels - as if that fools anybody."

"Hehe, yep," Isabel remarked, sitting up and stretching a little. "Thanks again for letting us crash here. I know that you don't really have that much room for guests."

"Oh, hey, it's not a problem," Maria insisted. "I've been wanting to talk with you a little actually... since we're really the only two women in the world who can share about the difficulties of juggling raising a quarter-Antarian baby, and dealing with a husband who's not quite your species."

"Hmm." Isabel pondered that phrasing as she reached out for the mug that Maria was offering and brought it to her lips without even sniffing at it. Turned out to be a rich and creamy cafe latte. "Hey, this is good. I didn't know that you guys had bought a fancy coffee machine."

"Nah, we haven't really," Maria admitted, "Michael's just been experimenting with different applications of his powers. Maybe he'll be able to show you some of his tricks so that you can try them back home."

"Alright," Isabel agreed. "So, lead me to my little baby first, and then we can talk."

Maria giggled, but when she led Isabel as far as the hallway, Alex bumped into his wife just outside the bathroom door, which led to a pretty lengthy period of affectionate distraction. Finally, Maria calmly and firmly pushed both Alex and Michael out of the apartment with coffee and crescent rolls, telling them to catch up on the guy bonding and not bug them for an hour. Isabel was still laughing softly as she got arranged in the living room with Caryn within easy reach and a plate full of Eggo blueberry pancakes balanced on one knee.

"So, how's it been going? I do remember when Caryn was only two month old - that was pretty much when she started figuring out a whole new bunch of ways to drive the two of us crazy." She cast a fond look at her mischievous little munchkin.

"Well, nobody ever said that being parents was going to be easy," Maria pointed out, looking at Kayla in her play crib. "That's not the point. We're holding together okay, and people like Liz and Max have been really good at saving my sanity sometimes."

"Yeah, I can believe that," Isabel agreed. "I sort of feel a bit jealous that we're so far away, that I went back to Las Cruces so soon after Caryn was born, and didn't get the benefit of a support system at that point, but that's the choice that we made." She sighed contentedly.

"By the way, what's happened with Ava?" Maria put in in a lower tone. "Alex said something when he came to the hospital, and then there was just nothing, no other word - and none of us really wanted to press you about it over the phone, but..."

"She just sort of took off again," Isabel said, shrugging. "Which I admit I can't quite figure, especially after Alex told her how much Liz was looking forward to seeing her. In fact, I sort of thought that she might be heading for Roswell, but apparently not if you have to ask. Yes, before you bring it up, I'm still sure that it's her, and that she wasn't under the influence of some evil alien power or whatever... I don't know her too well, but I do know that..."

"Sheez, I didn't even think of that one," Maria muttered.

"Yeah. She's playing something very close to her chest. Maybe there's some sort of danger that she doesn't even feel she can tell us about until later."

"Hmm... Martine's cousin, and anyone else in his group who's hunting for aliens?"

"Nah, I don't think that that fits - they're strictly small timers."

"Yeah, I suppose so," Maria muttered, though she didn't sound too convinced. "Oh - how's Alex doing with the work at home stuff? And your classes??"

"School's doing okay... I'm supposed to be doing a placement internship of clinical work... starting in a few days, actually. And Alex just loves being Mister Mom - seriously, you should see him, all..."

"Well, I'm not sure that I'll get the chance, anytime soon," Maria said. "But I want pictures - and video! Anything!!"

"Okay, I'll see what I can do," Isabel promised, taking a bite of two of her pancakes.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Part Thirty-two

There was, once again, an unexpected knock on Liz's door the day after the party. Smiling, she got up to see who it was she was answering. "Tess! JD! How are you guys! Is this the last chance I'll have to see you guys before you take off again?"

"Umm, not quite," Tess allowed, embracing Liz in friendly fashion. "We'll probably have a goodbye session up at Michael's in a few days, after we've finished packing up our stuff into storage." She held Liz's arms in her hands and stared into the young woman's deep brown eyes. "So, we're not interrupting anything? Like with Ben??"

"Tess!" Liz exclaimed, falling for the tease as thoroughly as ever. "Come on - he... um, he's either home or gone out, I'm not sure." Tess kept up the look just a bit longer, to see if she'd get any other results. "We, umm, we kissed for a few minutes on the couch after getting back from the Guerins', but that was it."

"For now," JD filled in with a knowing smile. "Even I could see the sparks that were flying when he showed up last night."

"I, I guess so," Liz said, heading back into the living room and sitting next to where Beth was snoozing. "It was really sweet, the way he swooped in just before midnight, because he wanted to be with me on New Year's..."

"Yeah, I thought so too," Tess agreed. "So, umm, is anything else up for you? I mean, I know you've got Beth to think of, and you're working at the Crashdown..."

"What do you mean, Tess?" Liz asked.

"Are you going to get involved in any of that save-the-planet stuff?" JD put in simply. "I mean, yeah, the prairie chicken crusade didn't work out so well, but you can't lose your faith that it's a good thing to get involved just because of one setback."

"I suppose you're right," Liz agreed.

"That was one of the possibilities I was thinking of," Tess admitted. "Or taking classes again - you may be a genius, but there's still a lot more that you could learn - about science, or maybe business classes like Maria. Maybe even early childhood education, since you're so great with your own little one, and babysitting Kayla etcetera."

"Yeah, I guess I do have a lot of options open to me," Liz admitted. "I've been concentrating on the basic three I guess, as you said." She sighed. "How are you guys doing for money, anyway? You never seem to settle in one place for long enough to work too much."

"Oh, we work a fair bit," JD put in. "Tess just doesn't like to talk about that part, because she doesn't think it's as much fun as wandering around doing touristy stuff."

"Really?" Liz looked back and forth between them. "What kind of jobs?"

"Depends on the town," Tess admitted. "I carry my teacher's certification, so I can often get a few days as an emergency substitute. JD drives cabs sometimes, or we both pick up work as customer clerks at the tourist attractions or local malls."

Liz smiled at the thought. "What was the craziest customer you've ever had to deal with?"

"Ooh, how do we pick?" JD laughed back, mulling over the question.

-----------

"...Oh, come on," the tall intern said as he entered the room, shaking his short red hair around slightly. "You can't tell me that wouldn't be a cool surgery to scrub in on."

"Seriously?" said one of his classmates, a young woman with her brown locks pinned up in a twist. Max didn't look up from where he was changing the sheets on the one unoccupied bed in the semi-private room. "I dunno, I assited Doctor Milner on a partial lung replacement a while ago - before you transferred into the program, and it wasn't that wild..."

"Yeah, seriously - the difference is..."

"And more importantly, you're avoiding what I was trying to tell you. You can't use a word like that to Terry's face, it's like..."

"Come on, Cathy, it was just guy stuff. He's being a little thin-skinned about it, but that doesn't mean that it was my fault."

"Thin-skinned? Pat, don't you realize that Terry is..."

"I'm sorry, are we doing rounds here or is this a gossip session?" The two interns spun around, surprised, as an imposing attending physician and several other interns stared at them from near the doorway. Max had to try hard to supress his chuckle to the point where it couldn't be heard.

"Umm... we're doing rounds," Cathy admitted. "Now, at least."

"Alright. Devlin, what can you tell us??"

Max's duties in that that room were complete not long after, and he didn't hesitate or look back as he left. Nor did any of the doctors, of whatever level of education and experience, pay the slightest attention to him - something that he knew he couldn't expect to change with his own education and training in the program. After a few other dirty jobs, he was finally able to make his way to a particular small conference room, where he knew there wouldn't be any social workers or patient's families at the moment, or important doctors consulting on difficult cases.

But there was a curvy girl with a full mass of dark hair, and wearing a nurse's uniform. "Hey, sweetie, I was worried you wouldn't make it - have you heard the latest from the soap brigade?"

Max smiled as he kissed Anita hello. It had been her original notion that the doings and goings-on of the melodramatic surgical interns at the small Roswell hospital had all the makings of a torrid late-night serial except the camerapeople to film them. "Um, I think I caught some of it from Pat and Cathy, when they didn't realize I was in the room, as usual. Something about Pat calling Terry something, and thinking he was oversensitive."

"The F-word," Anita supplied helpfully, wrapping an arm around Max's waist, and then got an unsatisfied expression on her face. "The two-syllable one - that's not related to the one-syllable one. Though it has a one-syllable short form of its own - sheesh, who'd have ever thought that euphemisms could be quite this murky? The one that was originally a word for a bundle of sticks??"

"Umm... ohh," Max said, interpreting the unsaid word at last, and suddenly realizing the point of something that Cathy had mentioned. "And I don't think that Pat realizes that Terry really is... umm, about how nice an evening he had last weekend with that nice GUY he met at the bar."

"Oooh, the plot thickens - maybe a bit too thick for me at this point." Anita sighed. "You know, you're lucky that you certified yourself, mister Patient Care Assistant. You're actually getting better experience at this point than the girls and I are..."

"Oh, you say that because you don't have to walk in my shoes," Max teased her back. "It's a lot of hard work, really. I'd definitely take a spot among the true nurses-in-training if I could at this point... not that anyone will likely give me the chance, now that I'm certified."

"Well, not this term," Anita put in, smiling just a bit. "Actually, I asked Miz Richester, and she said that you'd have to take at least one student-nurse term anyway, no matter how much experience the cert gives you." She sighed. "And we actually have a decent evening off tomorrow night - any idea where you want to go? That mexican-chinese place up on Nevada?"

Max's heart clenched just a little bit. The one time that he and Anita had tried to go to Senor Chao's, he'd felt haunted by Liz's memory the whole night, and he'd been sure that she'd picked up on the uncomfortable vibes. Maybe not - or maybe she'd forgotten about them, whatever. "Umm... I dunno, I'm not crazy about Chao's lately. How about we just... err, stay in?"

"Well, umm... that has possibilities. Your place or mine?"

"Either way. I... yeah, I think that my roommates won't be around, though I'm not completely sure. If the forecast still looks good for that, then maybe mine. Sound good?"

"Hmm... when do you *get* the forecast?" Anita asked curiously. Before Max could answer, she did a doubletake and looked at her watch. "Oh, crap - I was supposed to be back for pop orals three minutes ago! Byee!" Max managed to steal a very quick kiss as his girlfriend slipped out of the room, then sighed slightly and made with the scarce himself before anybody caught him where he shouldn't be. There were bedpans aplenty yetto empty.

------------

"Oh, no!" Liz exclaimed as she stepped over the threshold. "I... umm, I didn't realize that the composer was hard at work or anything. Umm - did I ruin your train of thought? We should get a little 'musician at work' light to put outside the door or something, since it leads right into the living room... and I'll stop with the ranting now and let you..."

"No, sheesh, come on - it's not like I even started to bite your head off, did I?" Maria replied, getting up from the little piano stool in front of the full keyboard synthesizer and hurrying over to side-hug her old friend, and to say hello to Beth as well. "Don't have anything particular I was working on, just riffin' on a few odd glimmers of tunes, and I don't mind at all getting distracted." Liz smiled a bit herself as Maria led her into the living room, and waved at Kayla, who seemed to actually be peacefully asleep. "That notion about the light seems good, though - if we can get it to work without ruining the walls, and if the stupid teenagers downstairs can't break the bulb just for the fun of it."

"Hmm, yeah," Liz said, thinking back to how much their perspective had been different when she and Maria had been the wild teenagers - though neither of them had ever gone in much for casual vandalism. (Well, there was that one incident with a can of black spray-paint and a particularly mean old neighbor's fence near the DeLuca house - one dark spring night in freshman year... but that wasn't too bad, was it?) "Does playing music help relax the baby?" she asked, gesturing to Kayla's bassinet.

"Maybe a little... not sure that I'd ever really thought about it," Maria admitted. "But music hath charms to soothe the savage beast, isn't that what they say??"

"Actually, it's 'soothe the savage breast,'" Liz countered confidently, "and maybe that version is better since I *know* you don't think of your precious little girl as a beast, no matter how exasperating she can be sometimes."

"Okay, yeah." Maria grinned. "So, what's new with you??"

"Not much... I've been looking through the ENMU course catalog, but there doesn't seem to be much too appealing for the summer term, so if I'm going back to school, it probably won't be 'til September." She sighed. "I dunno, does it seem weird that I want more to occupy me than the Crashdown? Mom and Dad thought it was enough for them - and I do feel honored that they trust us with something that they put so much of their lives into building..."

"Well, is there something that you want that your life right now isn't giving you?" Maria asked softly.

Liz had to think about that. What was it that she really wanted?? To be busy, doing good work, to love and to be loved - that much was obvious. Between the Crashdown, Bethany, her friends, and Ben, she was pretty well off there. A small part of her kept speaking out that it wanted Max, not Ben, but she squashed that voice and told it to not be so foolish. There were some things that she couldn't get for the wanting of them.

But there was indeed something else. "To learn, to be doing something that keeps my mind challenged - but I don't really need to be taking formal classes for that," she realized, smiling slightly. "There's so much that I could find out about just on the net or the library. I... I just need to make time for it... and not be afraid of asking for help. I mean, I wouldn't have any problem trying to get you or Max to babysit if I had a night class to go to, but..."

"Yeah, I know," Maria said, sighing slightly. "And you're away from your girl so much already, just from working in the Cafe. But I guess that's what being a mother is like in these days." She impulsively leaned over and hugged her friend. "And it won't be so long before she's going to preschool, starting to learn herself. Bethany's going to be a genius, just like her Mom is."

"Yeah, I think you're right," Liz admitted. "Ca- Casey was pretty darn bright too." She sighed. "Ooh... I still miss him, but it's kind of nice in a bittersweet way to actually say his name. I'm starting to see echoes of him in his daughter."

"I'd be worried if you couldn't," Maria admitted. "Heck, *I* can see some of his expressions in Beth, and I only really met him the once. I guess it's good that you have someone so special to remember him by, right?"

"Definitely."

"Huh." Maria made a curious face, and Liz looked over at her. "This may sound weird, but... but what are you going to tell her about her father when she gets old enough to ask? About how he died??"

"Wow, yeah," Liz sighed. "Probably depends... I think that I'd like to be telling her about how special Uncle Max, and Uncle Michael and the others are as soon as she's old enough to understand that it's a big secret, but maybe that's not important for that part of the story. That I loved her Daddy very much, that there was a bad guy who killed him on the day that we found out we were going to have a baby, and that there's no way he's ever going to be able to hurt anybody ever again." She sighed. "Too much for all at once?"

"I... I'm not sure," Maria admitted. "Depends on whether that will be the first time you talk about death with her. It's something that's hard for a little child to come to terms with, I seem to remember." Liz nodded somberly. "But you'll figure out the right thing to say a little closer to the right time, I'm sure." She stretched slightly. "While you're here, could you keep an eye on the girls for a bit? There's a few phone calls I want to make about the music thing, actually."

"Umm, sure, yeah," Liz said, nodding at Maria, She thought about hugging her again, but the other girl was already heading for the master bedroom by then.

-------------

"Oh, hi honey," Martine said as she came into the small apartment and saw the living room lights on - and the face that one lamp was half-shining on. "What're you doing still up?"

"Kinda had the notion that I wanted to wait for you to arrive," Kyle said, and she cocked her head slightly at her husband's reply. "Not sure why, except that it's been a long time since we've had a chance to talk. And I've been entertaining myself with this thing while waiting."

"Hmm?" Martine closed the door and headed far enough into the room to see what 'this thing' was - a little board game that Alex and Isabel had given them for Christmas - apparently the idea and researching the rules had been Alex's, and Isabel had crafted the board and the pieces herself. It had been a somewhat frustrating diversion for both of them - a diamond-shaped field full of six-sided spots that could be taken up by either a black or a white checker, with the two colors racing to be the first to connect the two opposite sides of the field marked with their color, through an unbroken chain of connecting checkers. "Playing both sides yourself?"

"Yeah, just trying out a few strategies and counterploys," he admitted, and got up to kiss her hello soundly. "So how was your class?"

"Not bad, except I had a bit of a hard time keeping my mind on the various kinds of predocumentary motions, or whatever." Martine sighed. "And... and it's oddly appropriate that you hung around, because there's something important that I do need to talk to you about." She sighed. "Umm, how do I put this - the pill apparently isn't perfect for me."

"Hmm?" Kyle took only a few seconds to follow that reference. "You mean that you're... we're going to..."

"I'm pretty freaked out about what it means," Martine quickly added, making Kyle blink. "Your friends... I know that several of them have had their first kids already, at our age, and Liz and Isabel seem to be doing great with their little girls. But... but I never expected to be a wife and a mother at twenty-two, and... and I'm not even sure how that sentence ends, or if it does."

"That's okay, dear, of course you're entitled to freak," Kyle said, reaching out to gently rub the back of her hand. Martine smiled and put her hand on his thigh over his dark pants. "Are you feeling like... like maybe you don't want to have the baby?"

"Oh, no!" Martine insisted. "Come on, no. Well, maybe just a little, you know. I mean... if either of us are a little worried about not being ready, then it'd just be natural for the thought to occur. But... even though I'm not anti-abortion, making that choice in this situation - terminating the glimmer of a life that's started deep inside me... I think I'm close enough to ready that we don't *need* to do that. Because no matter how young and small it is, that's a roll of the dice that won't... I mean, if we abort this baby, it's a person who'll never be born, and even if we have children later on, I think I'll never be able to stop thinking about the one that got away."

"Alright," Kyle said, smiling slightly at his wife's rambling soliloquy. "Well, what's next? I guess you should make a doctor's appointment - not that you necessarily need a doctor's test to be sure - but I mean, a consult is a good idea, just to make sure you're doing everything right and the baby will be healthy for the first stretch?"

"Umm, yeah, I guess that makes sense," she admitted. "Maybe I should call Maria and find out who she went to..." Martine clued in at this point that Kyle was shaking his head. "What?"

"Maria wouldn't have gone to a doctor, I don't think," Kyle pointed out, and she nodded and went 'oh' silently. "Because Michael's 'different', and little Kayla will be too - they couldn't take the chance of some blood test coming back wonky. Max did the mister Healer stuff for Maria and Isabel - and Liz too, I think, though maybe he didn't need to. We don't need to go to him, though, I think."

"And what if I want to?" When Kyle looked up at Martine, she was grinning. "Not saying that I do, just curious."

"Umm... up to him I guess," Kyle said. "But in the meantime, you didn't have much for dinner and I will *not* stand by and let my child starve!" Martine laughed out loud at this declaration. "There's leftover stewed beef and spaghetti in the fridge - whatcha say?"

"Nuke it up!" she said. "I can taste that gravy from the stew already."

"Alright," Kyle said, and went looking through the cupboard for a dinner bowl.

------------

"Hello?" Maria frowned slightly as she picked up the phone.

"Hi, Maria."

"Sorry, who's this?"

"Okay, now I've definitely been away for too long." The woman on the other end laughed slightly. "Isabel - Isabel Whitman, come on!!"

"Oh, right, hi Iz," Maria said. "Sorry, just - I know I should recognize your voice after all this time, just... things are kinduv crazy just now. I've got big news - in fact, I'd have been calling you guys with it in about ten minutes if you hadn't rung..."

"Really?" Maria hadn't heard the soft click of another extension picking up in the Whitman apartment, but she recognized Alex's voice easily enough. "Well, we've got big news too, and could try getting into a bragging contest about whose was bigger, but why don't you just go first?"

"Oh, really?" Maria hesitated. "No, actually, I want to hear what's up with you guys first."

"That's just because you think yours will be more dramatic if you save it for the topper," Isabel teased. "Judge the competition first and then adjust your strategy..."

"Come on guys, just tell me!" Isabel insisted.

There was a slight pause, and even though the possibility of it had run through her mind, Maria was nearly knocked off her feet when both of them recited in unison, "We're coming back to Roswell!"

"Really... oh my god, how??"

"It was Alex's friends at the start-up who came up with the idea of moving operations to Roswell," Isabel started. "A lot of them are from around here or have family in town, and there's lower rent for office space and local business development programs to attract small tech companies like theirs."

"Really? Yeah, I guess that there would be," Maria admitted, remembering that she'd heard about that sort of thing in her business classes and read about it on the newspaper web site.

"But things only just fell into place this afternoon, when Izzie got accepted for a clinical psych internship at the new hospital for the summer term," Alex filled in.

"Wow, congrats," Maria shouted into the phone. "Um, sorry if that was too loud. But... okay, wait a second, I'm trying to work out how much classes you still have, Izzie. Aren't you going to have to go back to Las Cruces sooner or later?" Maria still remembered how hard it had been for the two of them to be seperated last year, when Isabel took a semester back in Roswell, and did *not* want the Whitmans to have to go through that again - especially now that Caryn was getting a bit older. How far was she from her first birthday anyway??

"I've still got plenty of credits to take, yeah, but apparently I can do them all internet-correspondence," Isabel answered. "And then work on my PhD dissertation, but again - I'll have to take some short trips over to campus, but not spend weeks away from Roswell or anything."

"Well, that's great," Maria told them both. "It'll be great having you guys around."

"Yeah, I know," Alex said, with a laugh. "Umm, and it'll be amazing having time to spend with all of our friends again, of course." Pause. "So, what about *your* news now?"

"What? Oh, mine... doesn't seem like it compares at all." Maria laughed at herself. "Umm, you know that song I emailed you the link to?"

"Of course," Alex agreed, "It was great." Maria didn't volunteer any further info immediately. "If you didn't think I'd actually download it, then you don't know me so well anymore..."

"No, I knew that you'd listen to it," she assured him. "Well, it debuted at number thirty-seven on the most downloaded classical rock songs of the week list."

"Hey, wow!" Isabel exclaimed. "Where was this?"

"That big indie music sales website?" Alex guessed, and Maria made an affirmative noise. "Yeah, that's AMAZING for a dark horse. I... I never even knew that you'd gotten the single up for sale with them."

"Yeah, I umm... I thought I'd mentioned it." Maria thought about that. "Or I didn't want to until I knew that somebody would actually buy it."

"Well, that's great," Alex said. "Did you get the track produced in-studio, with the wedding money, then?"

"Well, yeah - what, did it sound like a home-made demo when you heard it?" Maria laughed.

"Guess I hadn't really thought it through," Alex admitted. "It sounded pretty professional, come to think about it, yeah."

"So when is the rest of the album going to be available?" Isabel asked.

"Oh, seriously?" Maria asked. Isabel and Alex both un-huh-ed approvingly. "Well, umm, I dunno - I'm trying to work on more songs, might give them a mini-album or whatever they used to be called..."

"An EP," Alex said helpfully.

"But you want whatever goes out there to be your best work?" Isabel finished.

"Yeah, that's it I guess. Umm - oh, hey, do you want to talk to Michael too?"

"Sure, I guess." Alex said. So they'd get to spring the news on him too. "Say hi to Kayla for me."

"Sure, and Kayla says hello to Caryn," Maria laughed, before handing the phone off to her husband.

-------------

"Yeah, definitely," Michael agreed, smiling at the animated face on the computer screen. "Maria's going to be so psyched to see you, Laurie."

"Me too," Laurie agreed, smiling that shy smile that always reminded Michael of the first evening that he'd spent at the Dupree estate. "Do you really think that you've managed to keep it a secret from her, though?"

"Hmm." Michael let himself ponder the question seriously. "A little hard to be sure, yeah, but I think that things are pretty tight. Of course, we haven't gotten up to the crunch point of any surprise party, which is feeding her the excuse that'll actually get her there."

"Okay, well - it should be a fun party anyway," Laurie pointed out. "This must be so amazing for her - becoming a rock star, no matter on how small a scale..."

"Well, even small scale star might be pushing it a bit," Michael admitted with a shrug. "But we're psyched that people seem to like the song. It was a big surprise the first time we heard it playing on the local radio station - somebody there had bought the track online, and they had an umbrella deal with the minor indie label that she signed with to handle the online sales, so the DJ didn't need to get specific permission before playing it on the air."

"Hmm." Laurie considered that. "Does she make any money from the radio play?"

"I don't think so - but it's free publicity," Michael pointed out. "It's kinduv funny - the station tried to get an interview, and when she turned them down, it seems to have given her some kind of 'mystery glamour' now."

"Why did she say no? Was she *trying* for that effect?"

"Nah, just said that she didn't want to get sucked into the publicity deal along with everything else that she hardly has enough time for." Michael smiled at the thought. "Hasn't stopped a few people from finding her and asking her for autographs though."

"Cool - I guess, unless she finds that annoying."

"No, it's been fun so far," Michael decided. "Oh, you said in your last email that you had some big news too. What's up?"

"Ohh... maybe I shouldn't say," Laurie replied, blushing slightly. "Wouldn't want to steal Maria's spotlight for the big party."

"Hmm?" Michael peered at the video image. "Okay, now I'm *really* curious." Laurie hesitated. "I can swear to secrecy if you want."

"Hmm... I'm not sure that I want you keeping any MORE secrets from your wife," she teased back.

"Hey, it's not like I'm even going to be telling her I was talking to you," Michael pointed out. "Come on, just tell me."

"Okay, but - yeah, be careful that this doesn't spread out of control at least," Laurie warned him with a sigh. "I... I'm going to be getting married!"

Michael blinked. "Oh - oh wow! So, umm... so Rich finally took the plunge, yeah??"

Laurie giggled. "What, you don't think that I'd have asked him?" Michael hemmed uncertainly. "Well, as it turns out, you're right on the specifics at least. Went down on one knee with the ring and everything."

"Yeah, like that's so impressive. I went down on one knee."

"After you left the ring in the wrong place and Maria discovered it by accident..."

"HEY! That was *coreographed* to look spontaneous..."

"If so, then I think it worked too well... oops. Code songbird."

"What?" The 'code' wasn't one that they'd agreed on beforehand, but Michael guessed at what it might mean in only a second and a half. However, he couldn't quite make up his mind to close the video chat window and cut Laurie off quickly enough.

"Hey, Laurie," Maria exclaimed as she headed into the living room. Michael must have been so distracted by the difference of opinion he was having with his sister that he hadn't heard the door - Laurie must have noticed some moviment out of the corner of her 'cam, but it hadn't been quite quick enough. "To what do we owe the pleasure?"

Michael froze, not sure what excuse to come up with. "Oh, I just wanted to check in with my brother and see how my niece has been lately," Laurie said breezily.

"What was that? I guess I'm too far away from the speaker," Maria complained. Michael repeated the excuse, wondering just how Laurie had *heard* what Maria was saying when she was so far from the microphone too. Then again, Maria had never generally had problems making herself heard...

------------

Michael was starting to think that the jig was up later that evening, when Maria came into the bedroom with the cordless phone in her hand and a puzzled frown on her face. "Liz said she wanted to talk to you."

Oops. "Just to me?" he blurted out.

"Umm, no, she talked to me too," Maria admitted, and admitting that seemed to make her a bit less puzzled. (His reply would probably have made her even more suspicious if Liz HADN'T had anything to say to her old friend, though.) Michael took the phone, said hello, and watched out of the corner of his eye to make sure that Maria was leaving the room.

"Hi, Michael," Liz said, as he extended his powers from where he was reclining on the bed to close the bedroom door - just in case.

"What are you calling about?" Michael whispered into the phone, though he had a good idea of the general subject. "Acting unusually is not generally the best tack for arranging a surprise party - and however you asked for me, Maria obviously thought it unusual."

"Sorry," Liz mumbled. "I knew that she was balancing some books for the Cafe tonight, so I *hoped* you'd be a caring husband and pick up the phone first so she didn't have to disturb herself."

Ohh. Michael had indeed known that Maria was doing books, had thought about that when he'd heard the phone ring, but hadn't had an extension to pick up in the room and hadn't wanted to leave his daughter alone even for long enough to find one. (With a sweet smile on his face, he waved slightly at sleepy Kayla.) Plus...

"Well, maybe I thought it would be better if she disturbs herself, because it makes her take a break from all of those numbers," he said, and had to admit it didn't sound as convincing when he said the words out loud. "Okay, okay - so you didn't expect Maria to pick up herself, and maybe you panicked a bit. I guess I can understand that." He sighed. "But what was so important that you couldn't have just sent an email?"

"Umm... maybe it's not that critical." Liz sighed. "Just wanted to ask if it's okay to bring Ben."

"Well - of course, I assumed that he'd be coming along," Michael said, grinning. "Maria *loves* Ben. Heck, nobody really has a bad word about him."

"Not even... your oldest friend in the world?" Liz said, sounding almost slightly wistful.

"Well, I don't think Isabel knows him too well," Michael joked, "though that'll probably change. Did you know that she and Alex have put an offer in on a house down the street from the old DeLuca place??"

"Umm... yes I'd heard that," Liz admitted, "and Isabel is SO not who I meant, and I know you know that."

"Maybe," Michael hedged. "But it fits for her. I've really known Isabel for longer, even if only six or seven hours longer... and as far as anybody else knows, she's Max's big sister." Liz just sort of sighed. "No... no, Max hasn't ever badmouthed Ben around me, or even joked about him. Do... does some part of you wish that he had?"

"I... I honestly don't know anymore." Liz sighed. "It... it would make me seem incredibly shallow if I said that Ben wasn't the one who I really want... that I was settling for him because Max became unavailable... but I'm not sure I can honestly say that there's no truth to it."

"No, Liz," Michael countered. "Settling and being realistic isn't shallow... not if you really do like Ben for who he is, and you're trying to make 'settling' work instead of holding out in your heart for what you don't have." He sighed. "I mean, if you love Max and can't be with him, then does that mean that you should stay alone until that love dies away? I don't think so. Now, using a nice kid like Ben, only dating him to try and get a rise of of Max, make him jealous so that he dumps his new girlfriend and comes back to you, THAT would really be kinda shallow." He let that hang on the metaphorical line between them.

"Oh, geez, thanks," Liz said, laughing a bit wryly. "Well, no, I don't think that I'm doing that, though maybe it's something I need to be careful about if I'm hinting around wondering if Max has ever said something like that." She sighed. "Anita's coming too, right?"

"Well, of course, yeah." Michael sighed. "Is it really bad for you, seeing them together on occasions like this?"

"I... not really, I guess," Liz admitted. "I still feel that dichotomous impulse from the first time Max brought her over to meet us - was that really a year ago now? Where on the one hand, I want to hate her, and yet I can't because she's so sweet and so obviously in love with him and so nice to everybody."

"Right," Michael agreed uneasily. "Well, I guess I'll see you guys then?"

"Sure - see you tomorrow," Liz said, taking the hint. "My love to Maria and Kayla. Bye."

And as the phone clicked off, Michael started thinking about all that had changed in his own life in the past year or so... his marriage had definitely been in trouble, from neglect and overwork, until the two of them had started realizing that they needed to make more of an effort. And then, there was the newest member of his family...

Kayla woke up and let it be known, in no uncertain terms, that she was hungry.

TO BE CONTINUED....

Part Thirty-three

Liz held her breath as the telephone on her kitchen table rang. Maybe it was nothing to get anxious about - Maria calling to chat, or even Martine. But somehow she was sure that this was the call that she'd been waiting for all morning, the one that had sent her pacing about the apartment dozens of times, over and over...

Well, no point in panicking now. She picked up the receiver and put it to her ear. "Hello, Liz Parker speaking."

"Hi, Liz. This is George Luven, from Ecosphere Southwest."

"Hi George," Liz said, torn between hope and pessimism. Dod they call everybody who they passed on, or just send out emails?

"I was wondering if you could come in again - later today or tomorrow, if your schedule permits."

"Umm... yeah, I think that it permits this afternoon," she agreed, glad that she had already checked with her babysitter. "Come in again for... more interviews?"

It was an obvious fishing line and they both knew it, but George chuckled. "We'd like to make you an offer."

Liz couldn't quite stifle the 'yes!' that slipped from between her lips. "Alright, sounds great. Can't wait to see you." She hung up the phone and immediately looked around for Bethany, only to find her dear daughter standing about eight feet away and looking right at her. "Come on, honey, let's make some lunch and then we've got to get ready to go out. You're going to go see Amy."

"Okay," Bethany said, though she didn't seem to be too impressed with the idea. "What do you want for lunch?"

"Hmm... I can't think of anything particular," Liz said, playing the traditional game. "What about you?"

"Do we have any leftover catch-a-tour sauce from two nights ago?"

"Not unless you at least try to pronounce it better," Liz teased, sweeping Bethany up for a hug.

"Oooh, you're tough. Cacciator...ah?"

"I can never remember what vowel it ends on either," Liz admitted, and set Beth down on a kitchen chair, before checking on the sauce and putting some water on to boil. "What kind of pasta? All the spaghetti got eaten up - must've been a spaghetti monster."

"Some of those big tubes maybe." Liz nodded and went looking in the cupboard. "Why can't I go to the Evanses like Caryn and Kayla do? When you're busy, I mean."

Liz turned to look at her daughter curiously. "Missus and Mister Evans are very generous with their time, but Caryn is their granddaughter and Kayla... well, her Daddy is very close to their family too."

"And you're not, anymore?" Beth asked. After a moment, she seemed to switch tack without even commenting on it. "I'm happy that you got the job, Mommy."

"I am too, but it means that I'm going to have to be away more," Liz said regretfully. "Maybe if it would make it easier, I can get over my thing with Grampa and Gramma Evans. But I thought that you liked Amy."

"She's okay," Beth admitted. "I was just curious." She was quiet until the macaroni had been thrown in and come back to a boil. "What happened at the big party for Aunt Maria's music that was so bad?"

Liz dropped the slotted spoon that she'd been stirring the pasta with. "How - how did you know anything about that?"

"Well, I don't know much, which was why I asked," Bethany said. "Kayla said something about it, but she was even littler than I was back then, so she couldn't tell me much. I think that she heard her Mommy and Daddy talking about it or something."

"Yeah, I guess that's possible." For a moment, Liz remembered those days - back when little Kayla had only been, what, six or seven months old? And now she'd be getting a little brother in just a few weeks. "Umm... I'll tell you about it a bit later, or I'll try, okay sweetie? It's not a pasta-at-lunch kind of story to tell."

"Hmm... okay. What can I do to help?"

"Actually, I've got everything under control in here... set the table for us?" Bethany nodded eagerly, and took the dishes and cutlery that Liz set out for her.

Soon enough lunch was on the table, and mother and daughter were both eating. Beth was perennially almost standing up on her chair, interested in the trees moving in the breeze outside the window and the butterflys that came by occasionally, and just about anything she could see just as much as her pasta, but that was typical for her. "What are we going to do to celebrate, mommy?" she asked after being told to 'stick her butt back down' for the fourth time.

"Umm... I don't know, I haven't thought it through that far," she admitted. "We're supposed to go over to 'Uncle Kyle's place tonight for dinner, maybe they'll make a 'yay new job' occasion out of it."

"A *ce-le-bra-tor-y* thing, mom?" Bethany said, forking a pair of penne past a wide grin.

"Honestly, my darling, *where* do you learn fifty-cent words like that at your age?" Liz said, "Do you read the dictionary when I'm not looking or something like that?"

"Nah, it's still a bit too big for me to manage," she said offhandedly. "Yet. Sounds like a good idea for when I get a bit older. But in general - I think I pick a lot of them up from you, Mom. Some of the time when you don't realize I can hear you."

"Hmm, okay," Liz said, wondering silently how likely it was that Bethany really didn't know about the small paperback dictionary she still kept from her college days with Casey. "Fair enough."

"So it's Kyle - who isn't really my uncle though he's an old friend of yours... and Martine and twerpy Kevin?" Beth continued.

"Do not use words like that, young lady..."

"But he..."

"Part of being nice is not saying certain things even when you think they're true." Liz sighed. "Now come on, eat up or youre going to make me late."

About five minutes after Liz had finally got Beth out the door, two people came up to her front door, a man and a woman. The woman rang the bell, waited a while, and then lifted up one hand and held it about an inch from the door of the modest condo unit. She stood there for almost thirty seconds, cocking her head as if listening to something very far away, though the actual senses being employed were different.

"No, nobody home JD," Tess said, turning to her companion. "Maybe Liz and Beth are over at Maria's place."

-------------

"Liz here?" Maria asked, after the hellos had been said, and Kayla had shyly waved hello to the newcomers from a spot about halfway up the stairs of the new house. (Not brand new of course, but one that they'd only moved into a few weeks back.) "No, I haven't seen her since - well, day before yesterday I guess. But what's new with you guys? We haven't heard anything in nearly a month; I was starting to get worried that some bad'un had found you actually. How did you even... even find us here? I mean, I don't think Maria gave you the address or anything..."

"Max mentioned that it was on Tennessee crescent, and from there it was easy to sense you," JD put in softly, and Maria blinked and nodded. "Hmm... any idea where else she might be? Classes, or a play date for Beth?"

"No... I don't think she's been taking any classes since December - you were there for the grad party after she got her degree, right?" Tess nodded enthusiasticaly, and Maria hemmed and pondered a bit longer. "Bethany might be over with Sandra - she's been doing daycare for all of us lately, really good with the girls - but I'm not sure why, unless Liz just needed a bit of time to unwind or go shopping." And then Maria snapped her fingers. "Or - maybe she..."

"She could be shopping *with* Beth," JD suggested helpfully, and then realized that Maria was giving him a particularly powerful silent glare. "Whoops, I didn't mean to interrupt really."

"As I was trying to say," Maria continued, "Liz has been job hunting, and I think there was one that she was going to hear back from today or tomorrow. Maybe she got it, and is going in there to finalize the details."

"A job?" Tess repeated, somewhat doubtfully. "I mean - well, great for her of course, that goes without saying, but... what kind of job, do you... no, I guess maybe you wouldn't know all the details. I guess my first reaction was to be worried about Beth, which is silly I guess... I know that Liz does her best, and this Sandra person must be great if all of you mothers trust her. It's just... well, it would be different if she'd let Max help out, but..."

"I know," Maria agreed, and then smiled. "Of course, YOU've just about always been Bethany's third favorite person in the world, behind her Mom and Max. Definitely show me up in the 'favorite honorary aunt' category, and even beat out the friends of her own age I think. Of course, I'm not saying that you *have* to help Liz out with Beth, but..."

"Oh, come on, like I'd give up a chance to spend time with her - with any of the kiddies, I guess," Tess said and smiled. "Speaking of which - how are you doing? Guess you're not on bed rest or anything."

"Nope, Max says I'm coming along great." Maria's gait as she headed over to the table to sit down did seem a bit awkward, but she was definitely glowing with health at eight and a half months into her second pregnancy. "All the plans for the midwives' place are set this time, and after Isabel went through again I don't think they'll ever notice anything unusual."

"Oh, right, jeez," JD chimed in, pulling out a chair for himself and one for Tess. "I haven't seen Amanda since she was - well, this big or so." He gestured with his hands, indicating a size that was actually smaller than Isabel and Alex's second daughter had been at birth, Tess thought - with all those tall genes from each side. Caryn was definitely growing like a tree already. "How're they doing?"

"One thing I've gotta ask before we finish catching up," Maria said, suddenly very intent. "How long are you guys in Roswell for this time?"

"Um..." Tess took JD's hand, and looked sidelong at him, taking a breath before answering. "We - we think that we're coming back for good, or at least a good long time. The rest of the year for the VERY least."

"Oh, wow." This statement from the wandering hybrids definitely left quite an impression on Maria. "Well, then, you'll have plenty of time to go over and meet with the Evans-Whitmans and see for yourself, huh??"

"Heh," Tess said. "That doesn't let you off making with the details, DeLuca. And no faking labour to try to get out of it either!"

------------

"Stop building lego castles with my daughter, Uncle Max," Isabel said from the doorway. "You've got an overnight shift at the hospital and you're going to be late if you don't put your coat on right NOW."

"Okay, okay," Max said, tweaking little Caryn's nose, (but being careful not to 'steal' it.) He had come over for dinner with the Whitmans, and then gotten distracted after eating. "Thanks for the stew and everything."

"Oh, don't even worry about it," Isabel replied evenly. "Just have a good shift, and call me tomorrow about Lindsay?"

"Sorry, no matter how much you push me to 'think about it,' I don't think it'll change my answer," Max said. "I don't want to get involved with someone who works in the hospital again. Once was bad enough."

"Okay... fair enough, though it's not like you'd be seeing her nearly every day, like with -- with Anita. You've both been there for - well, for months at the minimum, and you haven't even..."

"We don't know if we've met yet, but we don't know each know who the other is," Max pointed out. "And that's not really the point somehow. Things would change once you introduce us." Isabel seemed a little dubious at that point, but she didn't argue because that would be slowing Max down when she'd already pointed out that he'd be late. "But your point is well taken. I'm ready, I want to start dating again - just not at work."

"Probably good," Isabel admitted. "Okay, go." He kissed her on the cheek and left.

"Oh, did we miss uncle Max?" Alex said when he came in from the kitchen.

"Oh, yeah, by a minute at least. He - um, well, he'd have given you both his love if he hadn't been in such a rush, I know." Isabel bent over the little one held tightly in her husband's arms. "Yes, your uncle Max loves you very much Mandy, you know he does. And he's definitely not the only one. But I do think that Max needs someone to love him back specially hard."

"This whole feud between Max and Liz has gone quite far enough," Alex railed uselessly. "Just the fact that it's gone on this long sort of proves that they still have feelings for each other."

"I don't think Max would even try to hide that he still cares about Liz," Isabel agreed. "But - but how long is he expected to wait around when she won't even see him or talk to him?"

"Well... it was an upsettig thing, and Liz - she's starting to come around, to admit that she judged the whole situation a bit too hastily," Alex said. "I think. But she can be pretty stubborn too." Isabel grumped, hardly satisfied by that. "Oh, speaking of Liz, apparently she's got a job as of today."

"Huh, how do you know that? Did she call here, or email you?"

"No, it's all indirect at this point," Alex put in. "Tony's brother works at this place, and - well, I guess she put me down as a character reference, even though we haven't really worked together in a very long time..."

"We both helped out with the prairie chicken thing," Isabel put in.

"Not as much as I wanted to, I didn't."

"So Tony's brother recognized your name?" Alex nodded. "What kind of a place is it?"

"Really great for her, I think - kind of an environmental research foundation."

"Cool." Isabel sighed slgithy, and looked around to make sure that Caryn was still building the castle walls higher. "So how's the coding for the new version coming through?"

"Pretty good," Alex said. "I got some of the bottom most database modules out to Ryan for the unit testing." Isabel nodded a bit blankly at that. "You want to get back to the clinic full time, huh?"

"Yeah, I do - I mean, it's been great to take some time off and stay around here with my family, but... I didn't realize how important the work was to me until now I guess."

"Well, you're welcome to..."

"No, we're sticking with the calendar," Isabel insisted. "It'd seem weird to be coming off of maternity earlier than I said, and even though you're great with the girls, I'm not going to leave you all alone with them just yet..."

"Mommy?"

Isabel grinned and kissed Alex on the cheek. "Coming honey." And she headed out into the living room to see what Caryn had called her about.

-----------

When Liz finally got to Kyle's place late that afternoon, she was definitely surprised to see that it was Tess who opened the door. "Congratulations, Liz!"

"Tessie!" Bethany exclaimed exuberantly, and rushed forward. Tess bent down and scooped her up just in time to keep the little girl from wrapping her little arms around her legs. "We didn't expect you back yet!"

"That - that's definitely an understatement," Liz admitted. "In fact..."

"Yeah, I know, you were starting to get worried that I hadn't called," Tess filled in. "Sorry. They don't let you take cell phones along to..."

"Congratulations for what?" Liz interrupted.

"Umm... I would have thought that was obvious - for getting the job at Ecosphere Southwest."

"How do you *know* about that already?" Liz made a half-hearted attempt to retrieve her daughter, but after Tess set her down on her feet, Beth squealed slightly and ran further ino the spacious flat, so Liz shrugged and stepped past Tess into the vestibule. "I hadn't told anybody that..."

"Just put the pieces together." Tess shrugged. "You mentioned to Kyle that you had a good feeling about the interview day before yesterday. Alex heard from a friend of a friend that somebody was offering you a job. And when you weren't HOME this afternoon when JD and I arrived in town, with nobody knowing where you'd have gone. I even tracked Sandra down, to make sure that Beth was with her, and..."

"She told you that I'd gone to accept a job?" Liz asked, a little unimpressed.

"No, but the way she *didn't* answer the question was pretty telling, to somebody with a lot of experience in secrets." Tess gave a big sigh. "Come on, where's my hug, girlfriend? Aren't you happy to see me or something?"

Liz laughed and embraced Tess. "Yeah I am, actually. And how l--"

"Staying around for a good long time - probably a year or more," Tess said. "We've had too much of wandering, JD and I have. Figured that we needed to get back to our roots, here in Roswell, with the rest of the crew."

"So when's the ceremony?" Liz asked teasingly.

"Ooh? Umm, no, that's not really the reason that - well, I guess I can't speak for JD, but if something like that's on his mind..."

"He hasn't *asked* you yet," Liz said, playfully stressing the key word.

"Not even hinted, really... ooh, speak of the alien." JD entered from the living room, with Beth toddling back a little way behind him, and Liz gave him a friendly hug too. "Well, it's great to see you guys again, and exactly what is this thing that you've been doing where cell phones aren't allowed?" She considered that a moment, trying to come up with a good guess. "Were you on some reality tv show or something like that? Survivor, big brother, the amazing race??"

"No, sheesh, come on, you would never catch me near even one of those crapfests," Tess declared fervently.

"And this is the language you use around my little girl?" Liz teased.

"Oh, come on, she's gonna learn the words eventually..."

"Yeah, but that's kind of what I'm worried about..." Liz sighed. "Well, okay, if it wasn't that, then..."

"Sort of an organized desert pilgrimage tour," JD put in. "A little bit too mystic for me, but fun."

"Which desert, then? And you *could* have at least sent and email or left a message before you started so that none of us worried," Liz replied.

"In California, between Sacramento and the mountains. It was a bit of an impulse thing, but I do see what you mean about making a point of sending *some* kind of word. Anyway, the whole thing took five days going and six coming back, and you weren't allowed to carry anything but water, a really tiny package of food, enough material to make a very rough sort of tent, and a bit of bedding..."

"Liz!" Kyle called from the dining room. "Come on and bring our prodigals in here to tell their story so that I can hear it okay too, huh?"

"Yeah, come on guys," Liz said. "Where's Kevin at, anyway?" And she looked around, as if expecting Kyle and Martine's son to show up now that she had named.

"He's off with Martine in the guest room," JD said quietly. "Got a bad boo-boo from what I understand."

"Ahh," Beth said, nodding with all the experience of boo-boos that her advanced years had given her. "Uncle Kyle, great to see you and what's for dinner?"

-------------

Michael rang the Whitmans up after finishing dinner, and Alex picked up. "Oh, hey - did you want the lady of the house??"

"Oh, not so much that I can't chat with you," Michael replied, and they both laughed briefly. "How's things been going? Up for softball with the guys again this week?"

"Yeah, sure I guess, it'd be nice to join the group regularly," Alex admitted. "Sitting and working in front of a laptop all day, I don't really get enough exercise or anything."

"Even when you have to run around keeping Caryn from getting into mischief?" Michael teased. "Or is that Isabel's job as long as she's still on maternity?"

"Yeah, that's pretty much it," Alex admitted. "I know that she wants to go back to the clinic - but I have to admit that I'm a little s-- err, nervous. Staying home with just one little girl was something that I was able to manage, but a toddler and a two-month old at the same time, and trying to get work done at the same time?"

"Yeah, I don't envy you," Michael put in. "Glad that Maria's willing to stay out of the cafe and do the full-time mom thing for a while, even if that sounds so chauvinistic of me to say."

"Yeah, I mean... kids bring so much great stuff into our lives, but there are never enough hours in the day huh?" Michael grunted an acknowledgement. "Okay, how are things doing down at the plant?"

"Boring... and very secure," Michael joked. "Okay, I'll take Isabel now."

"Gee, thanks," Alex said. "Oh, one thing before I go find her... any word from Tess? I know you'd probably have mentioned..."

"Oh, man, didn't she call you or drop by?" Michael said. "I didn't think that it'd still be news to you by this point."

"Huh?" Alex hesitated only a moment, and then called out, "Izzie darling? Pick up the phone!" Returning the receiver to its usual position, (he'd adjusted things so as not to deafen Michael with his shout,) he calmly clarified, "Tess is here in Roswell? I mean, I guess if you mentioned the possibility of her dropping by, then..."

"Yeah, she definitely showed up this afternoon - and JD as well, though that's not much of a surprise that they'd be together," Alex laughed appreciatively. "I didn't spend too much time with her, because they left soon after I got home - think that she'd spent a while catching up with Maria, but still.. it's kinduv weird that nobody else let you know. I know that she wanted to find out where Liz was..."

"Probably at her new office," Isabel put in.

"Yeah, hi Iz, and the ladies figured that much out themselves," Michael reported. "Well, I did want to let you guys know that, but I don't really want to keep talking about..."

"How are they doing?" Isabel put in quickly. "Why didn't we hear from her in so long? How long are they going to be..."

"NO," Michael told her firmly. "She'll be around soon, Isabel, and then you can get all the questions to your answers firsthand..."

"What about the answers to her questions?" Alex put in.

"Quiet, you! Actually... you can take your chances with Maria and questions and answers... but not until AFTER I've had a chance to talk with you about other stuff, Isabel."

"You're playing a bit of a dangerous game, Guerin," she teased him. "But okay, what do you want to know?"

"How about the latest adventures of Mandy?" he put in, laughing softly.

-----------

"Is it a bit later now, Mommy?" Bethany asked as she snuggled into her bed. "I've been waiting for later all day, and I'm sorry if I wasn't supposed to ask, but..."

"Erm, what was..." Liz was about to say 'what was I supposed to do later', and then it came to her - the question about Maria's party, all that time ago, and the unspoken question about herself and Max. "Well, I guess I could tell you a bit about it, but it's still kind of hard on me, to be honest, darling, so I'm sorry if I stop halfway through and leave you even more confused."

"Yeah, alright I guess. What's the start?"

"Well... the party was for Maria, because she'd made some music that a lot of people turned out to like. I still like it a lot, and I'll let you hear some of it tomorrow if you like. Also it sort of ended up being a 'welcome home' deal for Isabel and Alex and Caryn, because they'd been living in a town several hours drive down the road from Roswell, Las Cruces, where Alex's company started, and where Isabel was going to school to learn how to be a certain kind of a doctor." Beth nodded. "A bunch of people were there - lots of Maria's friends, music people and people who worked for us at the Crashdown, and so on. Kyle and Martine were there, and so was Kevin in a way, because this was when Kyle and Martine knew that they were going to have a baby but before he was born yet."

"He was growing inside her, right?" Bethany put. "In her... not tummy - her ab-do-men. Right?"

"Yes, definitely," Liz said, wondering how long it would be before Beth picked up the word uterus or something of the sort, especially considering that her friends were still having kids. "Like Maria and the new little brother for Kayla that she'll probably have in a few weeks or so."

"Got the scene, more or less," Beth said. "Were Tess and JD there?"

"Actually, no, it was short notice and they couldn't make it back to town," Liz said. "As well as all the other people you know and some others that you don't - well, both Max and me brought a special friend to the party. Max's friend was another nurse he knew, named Anita, and she's not really an important part of the story. My friend was named Ben, and he was somebody who I met because he lived next door to us back then. In fact..." She chuckled. "I met him because after we'd moved in, I needed to borrow a can opener to get something for you to eat and calm you down?"

"Really?" Beth asked, her eyes widening slightly. Liz nodded. "Okay, so what happened at the party?"

Liz tried to say something, but for the longest time the words wouldn't come out of her. "I... I'm not sure how to explain it, even now. Ben - Max hurt him, I guess. He didn't exactly mean to do it straight out, but - but I guess I'm still very angry about what happened, and because of it - I decided that it wasn't a good idea for either of us to spend much time with Max anymore." She had an odd urge to bolt out of the room, but as she sat on the edge of the bed her legs felt too weak to. "I - I'm sorry, muppet. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything at all."

"No, I - thanks for explaining that much to me," Beth said. "Maybe tomorrow night we'll be able to get a bit further without you getting scared, mommy."

She couldn't help but laugh at that response. "Maybe, sweetie. Now go to bed." She hugged her little girl, and that seemed to give her enough strength to get up and leave the room. She wondered if Beth would have nightmares of Max hurting her or other people she knew, now that Liz had mentioned that.

Then again, considering how calmly Beth had taken it, maybe Liz would do better to worry about her own dreams tonight. She shook her head and went off to the kitchen to clean up a bit.


TO BE CONTINUED...

Okay, first off, sorry that it's been so long since I've really contributed to this. And thanks to Gale and SK at Stringing words for helping me get back on track, and inspiring the Beth/Max scene. Unfortunately, I can't indulge their wishes for a Dreamer reunion just yet...

Part Thirty-four

Early the next morning, somewhere in that dead zone that lies somewhere between one-thirty and three AM, Maria pulled up a chair to the desk and started to surf the net without any real enthusiasm.

There were a few posts on a message board about the regional rock scene, ('regional' being defined as the southeast quadrant of the state, beyond the suburbs of the big city - or half the congressional district,) that made her smile wistfully, and she 'de-lurked' long enough to post to one of them, say hi to some old friends, and offer an anecdote from her college days as a bona-fide attempt to stay on topic.

Next stop was a statewide website about the food-hospitality-tourism business, and it had a reminder about a really exciting restaurant convention in Las Cruces the week after next, which she wouldn't be able to attend for two or three reasons. That unintended nudge upset her enough that Maria might have left the computer entirely in frustration, except that Kayla cried out from her lap and about a minute was spent rocking and comforting the little girl. After that time had elapsed, another small window had emerged on its own volition to the computer screen. Did the site now have pop-up ads, to add insult to insult? No, it was just a chat conversation, from one of the handful of people digitally trusted to start such a dialog without explicit permission. The screen name was Martine Valenti's.

MofRoswell82: Hey, Maria.
I actually thought that my buddy list would be empty until Max finished his shift - if he logs on.
What keeps you on the computer so late into the night?

VibesGDL: Hehe.
Oh, I just got on a few minutes ago, myself.
Wasn't able to get to sleep, much as I'd like to.

MofRoswel82: Oh. Are you feeling, um, uncomfortable, physically?
Or is it something emotional bugging you?

VibesGDL: Mostly it's my dear boy kicking and Kayla being vocal. Not really uncomfortable as much as distracting.

MofRoswell82: Yeah, I guess I can appreciate that.
But then, it sounds like the kids are both just taking after their parents.

VibesGDL: Meaning that I talk a lot and Michael gets restless?
Hmm...

MofRoswell82: I was thinking of your singing more than anything else, actually.

VibesGDL: Oh, right.
Well, whichever way, I guess you have a point.
How was the big dinner with Tess, JD, Liz, and Bethany?

MofRoswell82: Pretty good, except that Kevin didn't do so well with all of the company.

VibesGDL: Well, he doesn't know his Auntie Tess so well yet I guess.

MofRoswell82: Yeah, Auntie Tess.
A bit more literally than the honorific usually gets thrown around for you crew, huh?

VibesGDL: Huh?
Oh, right.
Yeah, I guess we are all 'aunt' and 'uncle' to each others kids, (when we're speaking to each other,) but - even though Kyle and Tess only met when they were seventeen, you're right.
That kind of bond won't ever end.
In their hearts, they'll always be brother and sister I guess.
The fact that I really am Kyle's stepsister now doesn't register the same way somehow.

MofRoswell82: Happened too late, maybe.
After you and Kyle had already established your relationship as friends.

VibesGDL: And moving away from home helped make it less immediate too.

MofRoswell82: (nods)
So, I wonder if Tess and JD coming back to Roswell might mean that there'll be another little one on the way.

VibesGDL: They didn't say anything about that, did they?

MofRoswell82: No, I just wondered.

VibesGDL: Well, wondering is okay, but maybe you shouldn't ask Tess any leading questions about that sort of thing.

MofRoswell82: Why not?

VibesGDL: (Pauses.)
I really shouldn't say, if Kyle hasn't told you.

MofRoswell82: Come on now, after a thing like that...

VibesGDL: Yeah, I know, I know.
You kind of need to know now.
Okay - Tess and JD have been trying to have a child for years now. Since a little before you and Kyle got engaged.

MofRoswell82: Really, that long?
That would be - right after that convention thingee?

VibesGDL: Pretty much, yeah.

MofRoswell82: Through all the travelling - and without anything being said about marriage as far as I've heard...

VibesGDL: (shrugs)
It's not like they couldn't come back home to have the baby if she had conceived.
And in terms of the marriage thing, I think it might be a different cultural attitude.

MofRoswell82: Well, maybe - I didn't think that - that people from Maine were so different from us in terms of family values.

VibesGDL: Hah.
No, I guess that they're not in general terms.

MofRoswell82: Like encouraging that a child shoud be conceived and born into a married couple if possible?

VibesGDL: Yeah, all other things being equal.
I guess maybe it's personal as much as cultural.
But the impression I get - neither Tess or JD has said this straight out, but Michael thinks I'm probably right...

MofRoswell82: Yeah?

VibesGDL: Is that JD didn't want to 'tie Tess down' to him if he can't father a child for her, because he knows that she wants kids.

MofRoswell82: Oh.
He thinks that he's the problem?

VibesGDL: Well, yeah.
Or at least that it'd be better with somebody - 'normal.'
The genetic math does kind of add up.

MofRoswell82: But, well, even I can tell that Tess wouldn't want to have kids with anybody else.
Even if she can't have them with JD.
She's crazy about him.

VibesGDL: Yeah, I think I agree.
Maybe JD's coming around on that one himself, at least.

MofRoswell82: You mean, that they might be getting married, now?

VibesGDL: We'll see.
THAT one you're allowed to - well, to bug JD about.

MofRoswell82: Okay. On that permissive note, I think I'm going to head off. Oh, how are Kayla and Andrew behaving themselves?

Maria smiled at the mention of the tentative name for her unborn son - well, her proposed name. Michael was still trying to lobby for 'Brandon.' She hadn't thought that Martine would remember her mentioning that. Maybe she should have expected it, though - Martine usually was *thoughtful* in litte ways like that.

VibesGDL: Kayla isn't quite so loud, but little Andrew's still in a field-goal kind of mood.
Are you heading off to bed now at least?

MofRoswell82: No, I only wish.
Got some more studying to do.
We're supposed to have a test on interstate contracts tomorrow evening in Oxton's class. He's tough.

VibesGDL: Well, remember that being rested well helps for classes too.
Have to say, when I first met you I never pictured you going the lawyer route.

MofRoswell82: Yeah, me neither, huh.
But I'm really getting into this now.
Finishing off paralegal was just a way of trying to make a bit more money, or so I said at the time.
And then I realized I couldn't stop without learning more.
So to recap, I'm off, and yes, I won't stay up too much longer.

VibesGDL: Okay, see you - in a few days?

MofRoswel82: *nods*

As Martine's icon went to 'Really busy, don't say hi,' Maria wondered how the other young mother found time for her evening pre-law classes, and decided that she would keep up the vigil to see if Max Evans appeared online once he'd returned home from his shift at the hospital. While waiting, she surfed through a games site, found this intutive color block pattern matching thing, and was surprised by how engrossing it was - enough that she was very startled to get another instant message.

EvNurseMan: Hey, how're you doing?

VibesGDL: Not too bad, Max.
In fact, I should probably go to bed soon, since I'm feeling sleepy enough to just sleep through the kicking.

EvNurseMan: Alright.
The other one behaving okay?

VibesGDL: Actually, yes.
She was being loud earlier, but I guess Kayla tired herself out too.

EvNurseMan: Weird, I kinduv thought so.
Don't ask me why.

VibesGDL: Okay, I won't.
Did you have a chance to catch up with the prodigals today?

EvNurseMan: Actually, yeah, JD chased me down in between rounds at the hospital.

VibesGDL: That doesn't exactly sound like usual JD behaviour.

EvNurseMan: No, I guess it wasn't.

VibesGDL: Well, is something up?
Or something wrong??

EvNurseMan: I wouldn't say wrong, but 'up' probably describes it.

VibesGDL: Wild guess - something about asking Tess to marry him?

EvNurseMan: Oh, so we're both rather intuitive tonight.

VibesGDL: Oh, you have no idea how much.
Don't tell me yet.
Let's see... he probably wouldn't be asking formal permission from you - that's Jim's place if it's anybody.

EvNurseMan: Okay.

VibesGDL: Was he just looking for general advice?
Or jumping the gun and asking for a best man?

EvNurseMan: A little of both, and something entirely different too.

VibesGDL: Really?

EvNurseMan: Yeah, I wouldn't have been his best first choice for advice anyway.
Since I haven't ever proposed to anyone, successfully or not, and I don't really know Tess that well anymore, better than Liz, Kyle, or even Isabel do.
Not sure about you.

VibesGDL: Yeah, it's been a lot of years since our 'sorority days,' but I do remember a few of the things she mentioned when she was on bridesmaid duty for my own nuptials.
But what's the something different?

EvNurseMan: Something - different, from back home.
Something that he thought Tess wouldn't mind, might even get a kick out of.

VibesGDL: Oh, guess I should've expected a bit of that.

EvNurseMan: Yeah - seems like a fun one, too.
Traditionally, a suiter chooses his 'first advocate', the equivalent of a best man, when he first makes plans to ask for a young lady's hand.
The advocate can advise on anything to do with the process, and even take an active part in the marriage offer.
So, just for instance, if JD wants to pull a surprising and inventive proposal, I can arrange to meet Tess by asking for her help with something completely different, and since she doesn't even know I'm the advocate, she won't be expecting anything JD-related.

VibesGDL: I... I think I get it; very vaguely like luring someone to a surprise birthday party.
Except that then, it isn't one person who's known to be involved, just a particular day that the surprisee may well be expecting something on.

EvNurseMan: Maybe a little, yeah.

VibesGDL: Well, we'll talk later about that, but I can't really keep my eyes open much longer.
Aside from JD, how was work?

EvNurseMan: Alright.
A bit lonely, in that I don't really have anyone on this shift who I have a nice, friendly relationship with.

VibesGDL: Aw, that sucks.

EvNurseMan: Yeah, but what canya do?
Well, I'll head off and let you get to bed.
Remember, your next checkup is tomorrow afternoon.

VibesGDL: Yes, doctor nurse.
I've got the reminder set on my phone.

EvNurseMan: Good enough.
Have nice dreams.

VibesGDL: You too.

And she signed off and headed back away from the computer before anything else could reel her in.

------------

Kyle knocked on the the motel room door at eight-thirty the next morning, with Kevin standing next to him. "Okay, we're here," he said, once she opened the door. "What's the big priority?"

"Oh, my," was her first response. "Um, I didn't realize that you'd be... no, I guess that Martine's already headed for work, huh?" Both of the Valenti guys nodded soberly. "Well, gosh... you could have emailed back or something. I could have come by there just as easily."

"No, I wanned ta see... where you lived, Aunt Tess," Kevin mumbled. Tess smiled and squatted down to meet her nephew on something more like an equal level.

"We're not going to be living here for long, little guy," she said. "JD and I, that is. You and your Dad aren't living here at all, because you already have a home. But - well, we just got back to Roswell yesterday, so we don't have a real home I guess. We'll find somewhere, but this kind of place where people can stay for a while when they don't have anywhere else, it's nice enough at that."

"Yah," Kevin said, nodding. "Daddy - Daddy 'splained all that. But I wanned ta see."

"Sure!" And with that, Tess stood back and let Kevin toddle into the room - well, he toddled for about a few steps, fell, caught himself, and chose to keep crawling since he was already in that position. Tess awwed slightly and met Kyle's eyes. His mouth had a smile of pride, but he had been watching her too.

"If you didn't keep going off to exotic places, then he wouldn't have grown so much since you last saw him," he pointed out, "but that's a bit unfair of a nag, since you've already said you'll be staying a while this time. I'm glad to hear it." Tess spread out her arms, and he gave her a warm brotherly hug. "And - exactly what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Well, let's see." Tess led him over to a small round table near the motel room window, making sure that there was a seat where he could keep an eye on his curious son. "I... I think that there's something JD isn't telling me about why he wanted to come back to stay here. He slipped out for over an hour in the middle of the night, and didn't tell me about it this morning. That's why I suggested that he should go out job hunting this morning."

"So that we could meet in private?" Kyle said, and Tess made a half-nod. "Come on, you can't believe that JD is seeing somebody else, or that whatever this secret is, it..."

"Oh, no, of course not," she insisted hastily. "Probably it's something that he wants to surprise me with, that I'll quite enjoy. But... but I can't just sit here, knowing that there's something that I don't know, and that I'll find out about it when the time is right."

"You're not built that way?" Kyle asked doubtfully.

"No, at least, I don't think it's about me. But JD and I - our relationship doesn't work like that. There's kind of an affectionate challenge thing in anything we do, and I'm quite sure that this is somewhere that it applies and is relevant. If he's trying to keep something a secret from me, and I've found out enough to suspect that, I should continue investigating to find out the whole of it. If he still manages to pull off the surprise, then the fact that I've been trying will make the denouement all the sweeter - for both of us."

"And if you succeed in finding out early and spoiling the party?" Kyle asked.

"It doesn't have to be a spoilage," she argued. "At the very least, he'll know he has to try harder last time."

"And so, you're recruiting me to do a little espionage, or counter-espionage, or something of the sort?" Kyle asked. "See if I can figure out what he's up to, who he's working with, if anybody..."

"Huh," Tess said suddenly. "You think that he might have already gotten to somebody else? I... I suppose that it only makes sense. But he's not as close to anyone here in Roswell as I am to you."

"No," Kyle said. "But still - he did get to know Max and Michael pretty well when they were training for the conference. I'll drop by the Guerins' first and see if I can hook any leads."

"Alright." Tess grinned. "But not right away. You can hang for a bit, or... or is there someplace you want to go, Kev? Someplace you can show me?"

Kevin immediately looked up from the mini-fridge and smiled a beam even brighter than his Auntie's. "The bark?"

Kyle laughed. "Sure, I think that she's seen your favorite park already, but she hasn't seen how good you are at going down a slide, little man." Kevin rushed over as Tess gathered a few things and put them into a bag. As they were leaving, Kevin had to ask, "Daddy, why don't Auntie Tess and Uncle JD have to make their bed before they go?"

Tess immediately burst out laughing. Kyle groaned softly. "It's part of the deal with a motel, Kyle. When you're gone in the middle of the day, they have people who come in and make the beds and clean the room."

After a few seconds of considering, Kevin followed up with the expected, "Can't we move into a motel??"

-------------

That day, after Liz and Beth Parker's conversation about Max, Liz didn't say anything more about it, and Beth didn't press her mommy with questions. However, appearances to the contrary, she didn't forget about the subject, and come to one of those resolutions that settle so quickly and simply on very intelligent children her age. The decision that Bethany arrived at was that if Mommy didn't want to see or talkto Max herself, then Beth should find him and get his side of the story directly.

Of course, this was something much more easily said than done, even for a little girl so bright. For one thing, she didn't really know where Max lived or spent his time, except that he worked at the hospital, which was such a busy and sometimes scary place that Beth decided she really didn't want to wander around there looking for him. Also, she didn't really want to bug him while he was working.

But then, there were less direct methods that were open to her.

First off, Beth managed to carelessly suggest to her Mom that she could be babysat over with Uncle Alex and Caryn. This was a good idea on its own sake, because she really liked both of them, and was even starting to grow slightly fond of Caryn's drooling little brother Andrew in a vague way, (which was more than Caryn would admit herself,) but also Caryn's mommy, Aunt Isabel, was Max's sister, and so Caryn probably knew more about her Uncle Max. Beth suspected that there was some scheduling that went on around Aunt Isabel's place to make sure that Uncle Max was never over at the same time as Liz or Beth.

Once she had a chance to ask, some of the pieces fell into place. Caryn mentioned that she'd been to Uncle Max's place sometimes, an apartment sort of like the one that Beth and her mom shared, but not quite as big, and with a 'lelivator' to take people up about aa dozen floors. (The Parker place front door was only nine steps up from the street.) However, disappointingly, Caryn couldn't explain much about where the apartment building, was, except her parents turned left, (which was north,) out of the driveway when going that way, and that the drive took 'about three songs most of the time' - which sounded like nine to fifteen minutes. Certainly much too far for Beth to walk without her Mommy knowing that she was going.

I should probably emphasize at this point that Bethany didn't realize that what she had planned in slipping off wasn't 'naughty' in her mind, or something that she realized would distress her mother, or she would never have considered it no matter how curious she was about Max - well, maybe consider it for a few seconds at a time, but never actually do it. Liz had told her firmly about not talking to strangers, but no matter how long it had been since she'd seen Max Evans, he wasn't a stranger in her mind. 'Don't wander off' hadn't been stressed nearly as much with Beth, since she hadn't much of a restless or impatient personality,and even this didn't really register in connection with Bethany's mission - she couldn't be wandering when she had an objective this important, could she?

It took some questioning of Uncle Alex while he was paying half of his attention to writing some 'codes' on the computer before Beth saw her opportunity to create a decent plan though - a reference to Max spending a bit of time every day in a place very close to her home, where she and Mom had walked together before. Beth was very sure that she could remember the way, and that she could get there without becoming too tired. Now she just had to wait until tomorrow.

----------

"Hey, JD!"

To say that JD was surprised to see Isabel walking up to him at the sit-down deli would be an understatement. At first, he was only faintly amused by the coincidence. And then, everything that he had been talking about with Isabel's sister Max the night before, (or in the small hours of the morning, depending on when you drew the dividing line,) came back to him. If Tess had seen some hint of what they were planning, she'd be trying to spy out the details, and not necessarily by herself. If he could recruit Max, (not that she necessarily knew that part,) then Tess could recruit her friends already. Had she already 'gotten to Isabel'?

"Hello yourself," he managed to say, feeling as if his teeth were tripping over a gigantic swelled tongue. "What's bringing you by here?"

"Oh, meeting with a friend from the clinic," she answered casually. "She suggested this place - I've never heard of it before."

"Me neither, I guess," JD admitted honestly enough. "Was just trying my luck at the local taxi company," he pointed across the way to the dispatcher's building, beyond which was 'UFO cab's auto yard. "And I thought I needed a sandwich."

"Ooh. Not much luck with the job hunt?" Isabel asked sympathetically.

Something about the tone of her voice pinged on JD's mental warning sensors even more strongly. "Where's your friend, anyway?"

Isabel frowned slightly at the abruptly irrelevant question, "I don't know, to be honest, okay? Leeanne waid that she'd be here a minute ago, but she's often late, so I'm not too worried about it myself. Any other questions?"

"Well, since since you asked for them - are you back at work? I thought..."

"No, I'm not, but we're talking about some prep stuff for when I DO go back to the clinic."

Now JD was starting to think that his suspicions had been spurious and groundless. "Sorry Isabel. Umm... well, they didn't offer me a job, but there might be some openings next week, so it's half a loaf or somewhat less. Gotta keep pounding the pavement, huh?"

"Well, I'm afraid I can't say much from personal experience," Isabel admitted with an apologetic shrug. "But I wish you the best of luck. Is Tess going to be looking for work too?"

"We really need to do the rounds and go to dinner with you guys, huh?" JD realized. "And the Guerins as well. Let's see. Tess mentioned trying the substitute teacher authorities and so on. Not sure if she was going to go today or not." As he said that, something flashed through JD's mind that connected the question to his secret plans - numerous references in American culture to married or engaged couples having arguments over whether the woman would continue to work. JD didn't think that would be an issue for them - he knew how important working was to Tess - teaching work when she could get it, but any ort of work. He'd endorse her decision whether she wanted to stay in the workforce or if she was willing to give it up.

Then again, since JD didn't really have any highly marketable skils, things might be very tight if Tess did... and then there was the unspoken possibility of children. For all the time that they'd tried to have kids, JD supposed that he'd never really thought of how the dollars and cents would balance out if Tess had to go to bed rest during her pregnancy, like some of her friends had - and then, with another little mouth to feed...

"Oh, hey, listen," Isabel said. "There's Leeanne, finally." She pointed to a young woman with platinum blond curls just entering the deli. "How's tomorrow at five?"

"For what?" JD called as Isabel already backed away and turned on her heel.

"Dinner with Alex and the kids, of course," she said over her shoulder. "Remember to tell Tess!"

JD sighed, made a mental note, and returned his attention to what was left of his sandwich.

-----------

The next morning, Max was almost as startled to see a very young girl with a frazzled mess of curly dark hair climb up into the chair opposite him in the coffee shop. "Max - d'you know who I am?"

It was only a moment before he made the connection. "Bethany Parker, I presume... so nice to see you again, it's been a long time."

"Yeah, I know." Bethany looked around the nearby tables a bit awkwardly - only her head and shoulders poked up above the table level.

"I can see if they'll get a booster seat for you," Max offered.

"Well, thanks - but I think I'm okay for now."

"Alright. Cherry fizz soda?"

"Yes! How did you..." Beth trailed off after a moment, then finished with, "um, remember?"

Max nodded, but didn't bother actually answering the question of how he'd remembered. The glass of fizzy drink was procured, and when it became clear that Bethany couldn't really reach it and drink it well from where she was sitting, a slightly higher chair was arranged for her convenience - not a typical 'baby high chair' - just a chair with a seat that was about five inches higher than normal. "So what brings you here?" Max asked, smiling at her. It was nice of Liz to have arranged this, he decided, and wondered where she was hiding, and how much self-restraint she'd had in not showing herself. But then, that was presumably how strong her feelings about not interacting with him herself went. Did she know just how much he missed having little Beth in his life, though, to have figured out that he'd be here and dropped Beth off...

"I... I wanted to ask you about the Benjamin thing," Beth said in a low voice. "About what REALLY happened, the night of Aunt Maria's music party. Your side of the story."

"Oh." Max's face fell, but the question was one that deserved an answer, after all. "Well, it started a bit crazily. It was one of those kinds of parties where everybody was helping out with the snacks and so on, Ben was using a big butcher's knife to slice up vegetables to put on a platter..." Bethany made a face. "Well, maybe when you grow a bit bigger you'll learn to appreciate veggies as something other than a maternal order. Maybe not - we'll see. But - the knife must have slipped in his hand, and he cut himself pretty badly, and passed out by the time Maria had got him bandaged and back into one of the bedrooms. And - well, you know how Aunt Isabel, and Uncle Michael and Aunt Tess - are... kind of different."

'Alien powers.' Bethany just mouthed the words at him. "Yeah. Isabel's talking about teaching Caryn how to use her own 'differences' in a little bit. Right now, she's supposed to pretend very hard to be normal, no matter what."

"Okay, yeah," Max said. "Well - I'm like them too, and one of my differences can help people who are hurt - or at least, it helps most of the time." He let out a long sigh. "Liz *asked* me to help Benjamin, so that he wouldn't have to go to an emergency room and wait to get treated. Nobody but - but those who know about us had seen how badly he was hurt, as it happened."

"You didn't MEAN to hurt him worse," Beth said quietly, focusing her eyes directly at him.

"No, no I didn't," Max whispered back. "I... I can't explain what happened, it's never happened before or since. It was... was either like there was some kind of resistance inside him, or something was hurting him the more he was exposed to my... talents. When - when Maria realized that something was going wrong, she insisted on leaving her own party to drive him to the hospital." Max shook his head. "Liz was FURIOUS at me, and wouldn't listen that I - I hadn't done it on purpose. I'm not sure that I did it at all, but..."

"But - but you didn't like that Mom had a special friend like Ben," Bethany said, her voice sounding more than a little odd. "Even though you had - had Anita. Deep down, maybe you wonder if you could have *wanted* to hurt Ben, instead of helping him, if that meant that he wouldn't be in the way between you and mom." She sighed. "And instead, she's not even talking to you."

"Bethany... how could you tell all that?" Max asked. Even for an unusually smart girl, it was a very mature and nuanced observation, and more than a little eerily perceptive. Just how much had Liz told her about - about Benjamin, and Anita, and how the relationships had stood on that fateful night?

"I... I'm not sure," Beth answered, sounding a little scared and sad about it. "Can - can we talk about something else now, please?"

"Sure - how's school going?" Max asked, and for a while they were able to talk fairly calmly about such things in their lives - Max's job, and Maria's new baby, and Beth's attempts to make friends in class, outside the 'group' of kids of her mom's old friends.

Once the cherry fizz, and Max's cappucino were gone, he pushed out his chair slightly. "Okay, I need to get on the move again," he said. "Where's your mom, anyway? Time to go back to her."

"Oh, Mom's at work already."

"Huh?" The truth refused to dawn on Max for a long while. "Am I supposed to take you back to a babysitter then?"

"If you like. Kelly is back at the appartment, or was when I left."

And then, realizations started to crash over Max like tidal force waves. "You... you just left the apartment - without telling the babysitter?" He couldn't imagine that the girl would have been okay with Beth coming to meet him like this."

Beth scoffed slightly. "She'd finished the cleaning and was watching some television."

Max rolled his eyes to the heavens. "She... she's going to be frantic by now. She's probably called your Mom already, and when SHE finds out..."

"Why would they be upset? I wasn't talking to a stranger or anything."

For a second, Max was too stunned by that remark to do anything, then he started hustling Beth off her chair and fumbling money out of his wallet. For a moment, he was tempted to just send her up the walk to the building. Certainly if she had gotten across the street to the coffee shop, she could get that far safely. But - but there was no good in postponing the reckoning. He didn't think that he could persuade Beth to leave his name out of the explanations of where she had gone - not with the kind of maternal pressure Liz would be able to bring to bear if she suspected any such evasions or fractions of the truth. And - and once it was clear that he'd tried to hide his involvement, Liz would have something else to blame him for.

No, even if it weren't for all of that, Max would have to bring Beth all the way back and face the music. He might be able to get away with pulling the 'I'm late for work' card at a critical moment, but a delay was all that was likely to buy him.

After all this, I may just WISH that Liz was still pretending I didn't exist, he thought to himself as they left the shop.

TO BE CONTINUED...