Roswell Fanatics

Jan:I really don't know why Max won't share the pies...just a quirk I guess?
LilLoucfer:Thanks...
Destiny:There are many passions on this earth!

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Chapter: 45

On Tuesday the estate was rapidly filling up with people and Liz and Max were as happy as two people could possibly be. All of the rooms were decorated with Autumn foliage and colorful flowers and Max told Liz that if she didn’t stop ordering flowers they would be putting the local mortuary out of business. She laughed at him and suggested he just curl up with a book and enjoy the scenery…he just shook his head and kept helping her with all of the work that he usually hired out. She was a bundle of nervous energy and could hardly sit still for one minute.

They had made an appointment with an OB/GYN for in the morning and Max was so excited that he couldn’t keep his hands off Liz…She was beginning to get a little irritated with him but he couldn’t help it. He just had to touch her…hug her, grab her hand, squeeze her as she walked by him. Even Olivia was getting concerned with his behavior. He was attentive before but the last couple of days he was becoming obsessive and she told him so. Max just grabbed her and gave her a big hug and Liz started giggling…

”Boy Liv, I’d watch it if I were you…he’s on a roll here.”

Olivia just shook her head and told Liz to take him upstairs and let him clean the bathrooms or something. Liz giggled again and said she’d find something to occupy him so she suggested they go work out for awhile, since all the manor was cleaned and shined from one end to the other…so they headed off to the gym for awhile. Olivia just rolled her eyes and said a silent ‘thank God’…

She and Liz had gone over the menu’s for the week…made tons of potatoes for Mr. Evans’ hash browns and Olivia had plenty of room set aside for Max’s 24 frozen pies. Liz told Olivia to take a couple home to her family for the holidays and Olivia wasn’t so sure she should. Liz told her it would be perfectly alright since she knew Mrs. Johnson and could very easily have a couple pies couriered here anytime Max felt the need for a sugar hit. Olivia laughed at Liz and said okay.

The pantries were all full and Liz was perfectly satisfied that they had more than enough to feed the army they were expecting.

She still wasn’t sure if her mother would come but she really didn’t care at this point…it wasn’t at all important and she had sat Max down and made it quite clear to him that the ‘magnificent seven’ would escort her down the aisle. Her Dad could have his place in the pew set aside for the Brides’ family but that was the extent of his participation. He never participated in anything in her life before and she wasn’t ready to get to know him right now. She would work on that at a later date, but not now. Max understood and went along with her wishes. She was right to a degree and Jeff had been very wrong to a degree but time would heal all wounds and it definitely wasn’t going to be this week. They were too happy to have anything upset them. So, on Wednesday morning the young couple headed out to the doctor’s office for their first official visit.

Liz had brought her medical records with her from Farmington and the doctor sat down with the young couple and read Liz’s history before doing any exams of her own. She talked with Liz about how far along she thought she was and Liz told her it couldn’t be anymore than five weeks or so because she had not been intimate before that time. The doctor raised an eyebrow at Liz and Max had to interject a word at this time. “Liz was a virgin up until five weeks ago doctor.” And the doctor looked almost shocked…Max smiled and nodded to the doctor acknowledging that he understood how she felt.

“Almost unheard of isn’t it?” He said…the doctor smiled at Max and shook her head in agreement. Liz looked at the two of them and couldn’t believe that they were so surprised.

“There are a lot of virgins out there.” Liz said…

”Not at your age there aren’t.” Max said.

And Liz said…”have you ever heard of nuns?”

Max chuckled…”Well, I’m not even sure all of them are virgins Liz.”

“Maxwell Evans, wash your mouth out with soap!” Liz was shocked and Max and the doctor both started to laugh.

Max pulled Liz into him and kissed her forehead…

”You are priceless sweet…please never change…okay?”

And then the doctor had Liz change into a gown…”I’m sure you know the drill Liz…everything off and in this case leave the gown open in the front for me…I’ll be right back” and Liz took her little gown that was the size of a postage stamp and proceeded to get undressed. Max held her clothes for her and she sat up on the examining table and put the paper blanket over her lap and waited. Soon there was a knock at the door and the doctor came back in with her white jacket on and took her seat at the foot of the table. She pulled the stirrups into position and had Liz lay down and put her heels in the stirrups and then took out the long crank type tool and Max about passed out. The doctor took one look at him and immediately got a concerned look on her face…

“Are you alright Max?” She asked and then Liz looked over at Max and almost started to laugh…but she knew better…she let the doctor deal with him.

“What are you going to do with that thing?” Max asked.

“What, this?” and the doctor held up the tool in her hand…

“Yes, that. What the hell is that anyway.” And the doctor smiled.

“Liz, do you mind if Max has a look with me?”

“No, not if it will make him feel better…go right ahead.” The scientist in her had no qualms about Max checking her out.

So the doctor had Max pull his chair around and when she inserted the instrument into Liz’s vagina Max got a first hand look at what the doctor was looking at and why. She explained everything she was looking for and told him that everything looked very normal…and when he and Liz got back from their honeymoon they could schedule another appointment and they would take their first look at the baby with a sonogram. Max was thrilled…he had no idea just how interesting all of this would be to him and he could only kiss Liz on the forehead before she even got up off the table. The doctor was elated that he was as interested as he was. Most men didn’t want to see any of this…some of them actually got sick from it. Not Max, he wanted in on every bit of this…it was his baby too and he couldn’t wait. That was the worst part of all of it…the waiting…he really wanted it to be now. Poor Max.

After they left the doctor’s office Max wanted to know if Liz needed or wanted anything and she told him she was fine and they could just head on home. After all everyone would be arriving shortly and they really should be there to greet them. You’re right Liz…let’s just get on home then. Should we plan lunch for everyone or just wait for dinner.

“Max, will you please just relax. They will probably eat lunch on the plane…we will have dinner in the dining room tonight just like we planned and tomorrow we will have brunch around 10:00 and dinner around 5:00. I figure with all of us it will probably take a good two hours or more to have dinner and I have hired some girls to come in and serve it for us and clean up afterwards.

I know, I’m not into hiring people to do things we can handle ourselves but in this case I think it’s warranted. I called the college and hired some of the students that weren’t going home for the holidays. I had Olivia and Margaret help me clean out the apartment over the garage and we set up four of the beds from the attic for them out there with Charley’s help. They are going to be here until Sunday afternoon and they are tickled pink to have someplace to go besides the dorms. I told them that when they were finished with the serving and cleaning up that they could have use of the swimming pool, and skating rink. I figured your dad would want his golf course and fishing pond for himself so I told them that these two places were off limits. They all seem very nice… I told them that we just needed them for dinners and they were free to eat here as well all they had to do was set the meals out and clean up afterwards.”

Max couldn’t believe it…she actually hired someone to do dishes. He looked over at her and smiled a great big smile and she said “What?”

And he told her she was starting to act like ‘one of the rich and famous’.

Liz looked at him and squinted her eyes and said “Shut up.”

And Max had to laugh at her.

LilLoucfer:I think it's a girl thing!
Destiny:You're probably right!
Ken:So true. After my husband passed away I took over the yard, half an acre, and when my arthritis got so bad that I had to hire someone to mow for me I was devastated. Not just because I had to hire someone but because it meant that I was beginning to show the signs of "My Golden Years, HAH!" I have the young boy next door do the weeding and pruning for me and it certainly isn't anything I'm proud of. I've thought about selling and getting a condo or something smaller but then I think about the 54 years of junk that I would have to get rid of and I would much rather die and let my kids throw it all out. I can't bring myself to do it. I learned a long time ago to NEVER tell them that I think something is nice...I'll wind up with it every time, bless their hearts, and then I have to find someplace to put it.
Natalie:Yeah...they are!!!

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Chapter: 46

When they arrived back at the estate Olivia informed her that the girls had arrived and she had them waiting in the small living room for their instructions. They all came in one VW and Liz got tickled when she saw it parked out back…it was so cute.

She and Max went into the living room and introduced themselves and the girls all stood and shook hands with their employer. They were shocked to see whose home they were in since everyone in Philadelphia was on the Philly’s band wagon.

Liz just giggled to herself and when they had calmed down to the point of being able to concentrate. She took them to the kitchen and explained what she wanted for this evening and tomorrow evening. Olivia showed them where the dishwasher supplies were…the trash containers and any other cleaning items they may need to do a good job. Then Liz took them to the butler’s pantry and told them how she wanted the table set…how many people to set up for and what china pieces and silverware to use. When she was satisfied that they were in tune with what was expected of them she took them to the apartment above the garage and showed them where they would be staying for the week-end. Then she pointed out the ice skating rink that was about a half mile through the path down to the right and that the swimming pool they could use was through the back door of the house and turn left…”You can’t miss it.”

The heaters on the outdoor pools have been turned way down and set up for the winter so if you want to swim you can do it inside. Just make sure you take your towels to the laundry room with you so they won’t just lay out back and get moldy. Oh, and there are plenty of new bathing suits in the dressing room so you don’t have to worry if you didn’t bring one, “If you use one it’s yours.” To say the young women were impressed was an understatement.

They just stood with their mouths open and their eyes wide. Liz looked at them and smiled…”It’s not that much honest. It’s just a house…we make it a home.” They all looked at her and smiled…they were told by Olivia that they would like her and she was right…they did.

“Oh, and girls, there is also a library in the house if you would like to read or something and…Mr. Evans has a tremendous selection of DVD’s that you can bring over to your place if you want to…and if you want snacks or anything for the evening when you come back over here just help yourself …oh, except for those damned pies in the freezer…he is very selfish about those pies…don’t touch okay. I don’t know if he’s serious or not but we don’t touch his pies.”


The girls actually laughed at that and Liz laughed with them…she shook her head and said “really” and they laughed harder.

“Well, I’ll just leave you to get settled, the key to the skating rink is hanging on the wall in that little cupboard by the garage door…it’s labeled and there are plenty of skates and also music. Make yourselves at home. Olivia has stocked your refrigerator and pantry for you but if you don’t find something you want just come over and we’ll take care of it. I have to get ready for the arrival of all of the company coming in from out of town so I will see you later. We will be eating around six this evening so I will expect to see all of you around 5:00…that should give the four of you plenty of time to set the table and get ready to serve.”

“Bye…” and they all headed to the car to get their luggage. They couldn’t believe the set up they had for the week-end and to get paid for it besides. They were determined to make an impression on this couple because they definitely wanted invited back. While they were busy getting their luggage a very nice young man came by driving a leaf sweeper and asked them if he could be of any help…they all looked at the young man and then one of the girls, Joanne, recognized him as a fellow student.

“Do you live here?” And Charley’s son blinked and looked at Joanne and said “yeah…over in the gardener’s house by the east gate. What are you doing here?”

“Oh, we’ve been hired to help with a couple of dinners over the holidays and we’ll be staying up there.” And she pointed to the apartment. Johnny looked up there and said “cool… you’re in for a treat working for these two. They’re really nice people.”

“Yeah, we already figured that out. What are you doing tonight…do you want to come over and watch a movie or something. We figure we should be back around 9:30 or 10:00 and we were told that when the cleanup was finished we were free to do whatever we wanted.”

“Really, then how about I invite a couple of buddies over and we go ice skating. The rink is beautiful, what do you say?” The girls all looked at each other and decided that since this was a working week-end that they really shouldn’t be partying and agreed not to do that. Johnny said okay, he would see them at school and put his lawn sweeper away and headed down the path toward his home. Joanne would really like to get to know him better but decided that this was not the time nor the place for it and headed up to the apartment to get settled in for the week-end. All four girls felt the same way…some other time, but not now.
Liz had just stepped out of the shower when she heard the ruckus downstairs…her heart stuck in her throat for just a minute. She had no idea whether her mother had come with her father or not…when she spoke with her dad last night he still wasn’t sure if Nancy would be coming with him. He wasn’t sure if she was feeling guilty or if she was on one of her holier than thou kicks but either way Jeffery Parker was going to Philadelphia to be with his only daughter…they had a lot of fences to mend and there was no time like the present to get started. It was good that there would be so many people around…it wouldn’t be uncomfortable for either of them.

Max greeted everyone and he was beside himself with happiness and pride. He was so happy that he had a place to make everyone comfortable and welcome. It just didn’t get any better than this. Amy DeLuca almost wet herself at the size of this place and Jeffery Parker was speechless. He had no idea that Max was this successful.

“Good God Max, are you printing your own money?” Max took Jeff’s hand and smiled…

”No…not really but sometime I look around and think maybe I should. Liz is still getting changed…she hired some college girls to help out this week-end and it took a little longer than anticipated to get them settled in…she’ll be right down. Come on in…we don’t need to stand out here on the porch.” And Max led them all into the main hallway… Amy, Jim and Jeff all stood there gaping like a bunch of displaced persons. Max grabbed Amy’s arm and said…”For God’s sake Amy, it’s just a room.”

“No Max, this is hardly ‘just a room’…get real here kid…this borders on a hotel lobby.”

Liz was walking down the stairway in her jeans, sweat shirt and fuzzy slippers and started to laugh…”Honest to God Amy…it is just a room.” And then Jeff took one look at his daughter and started to tear up…she looked so beautiful and so comfortable with all of this wealth and not the least bit intimidated by any of it. He was so proud of her. And then Liz caught sight of her dad and she gave him a great big smile and when she got to the bottom of the stairs she walked over and gave him a great big hug. “I’m so happy you came Dad…it’s so good to see you.” And Jeff’s heart broke…how could he have ever allowed that woman to mistreat this beautiful girl was beyond his wildest imagination.

Max was so proud of her…he now knew that she was not doing what she wanted to do on Saturday to hurt this man…she was doing what she wanted to do because it was her right and suddenly Max was comfortable with it.

After Everyone hugged Liz told them they could either go up and get settled or come into the living room…they all wanted to go up and get settled so Liz took Amy, Jim and her Dad up in the elevator to get them settled in their rooms since everyone else knew where they were headed and when they got off the elevator Amy started in again. Liz just giggled…

”Amy, it’s a long story and I will fill you in on how Max came to be the owner of this place…believe me it’s not as impressive as you might think…he bought it for back taxes and we think we are going to make it into a home for mentally challenged children. It will take quite awhile to get it operational but that’s what we are thinking of doing with it. In the meantime we can continue to have large family gatherings without giving it a second thought. It really is nice to be able to have all of you here under one roof and to know that you are all comfortable.”

“Comfortable is an understatement Liz…this borders on insanity. I didn’t know people really lived like this.”

“Well, keep in mind that it was once an ice skating school for young girls and each one of these bedrooms was a dormitory…then you will understand how it came to be.”

Jeff just stood and took it all in…he couldn’t believe that his daughter lived in a place like this. Then Amy piped up and said…

“I understand that you have a few places of your own in Connecticut.”

“Oh, I don’t have anything like this…I have two apartment complexes…each one has 12 units and then a four bedroom home in the suburbs. We are going to rent out the house until I decide what to do with it and I have one apartment that is close to the lab where I worked that I kept for myself. We are going to keep that one just as it is for when I have to go to Farmington on business. It’s a small one bedroom with a garage but it is very comfortable. I lived there before I bought the house.”

To say that Jeff was impressed with his daughter was an understatement. He was so proud of her and to think he didn’t even know her. But that was all going to change.

Liz put Amy and Jim in the room next to Michael and Maria and she set her dad up in the room she had when she first arrived. Everyone was all settled in where they were supposed to be and then Liz excused herself and headed for the back stair way to oversee the girls she heard come in.

Olivia was in the process of showing them the various refrigerators and which foods that would be served for this evenings meal when Liz showed up in her fuzzy slippers. The girls all gave her a big smile and she did likewise and then Liz told Olivia that it was time for her to get home to her family and start her own holiday celebration. Olivia gave Liz a great big hug and told her to relax and have a good time with the family. Liz assured her she would and told her that she would definitely see her on Saturday…Olivia told her she could count on that and then she bid the young crew of girls good bye and told them to enjoy their stay.

They said they were sure they would and then they got busy. They went directly to the butler’s pantry and started getting the linens and setting the table…Liz stood by and watched for a minute and when she was happy with what was going on she took herself off to the living room to join in the fun. Philip looked at his daughter-in-law to be and said…”Liz, I’m disappointed in you…I don’t get to set the table?”

“Oh Philip, I am so sorry…I’ll bet Joanne and the group would be more than glad to have you help them if you want to.”

Jeff, Amy and Jim had no idea what Philip was talking about and then Alex piped up and said…

“Liz makes everyone pitch in with the chores and the guy that sets the table gets to choose where you’re going to eat.”

They all laughed at Alex and then Isabelle said,

“No, it’s the truth…she works your ass off…seriously.” And they all really laughed.

“Then what are we all doing in here if there’s work to be done?” Jeff asked.

“Oh, she hired some young college girls to help this week-end.” Max added…”but I think we have to do breakfast…right honey.”

“right, so be prepared … tomorrow morning you all get to work your asses off.” And they all laughed again.

Soon Joanne came into the doorway and motioned to Liz who excused herself,

“Liz, the table is all set and we’d like your approval before we go any further.”

Liz followed Joanne to the dining room and it looked positively beautiful…Joanne had even taken the flowers out of the entry and put them on the buffet because they matched the arrangement on the table. Liz smiled at her and told her…

“Everything looks wonderful Joanne…I am glad you are enjoying this. I know I went nuts the first time I discovered that pantry as well…you go right ahead and do your own thing…we will enjoy the fruits of your labor.”

“I just wish we could use more of those serving platters in there…God, how can you stand not using all of this stuff…it’s wonderful.”

“I know, isn’t it? It was all here when Max moved in…can you believe it.”

“Honest…wow…who lived here?”

“It was a girls school…and what a school huh? I never went to any school like this.”

“God, me either. Anyway let us know when you’re ready to eat…we’re all set in the kitchen.”

“Okay…give me a minute to gather them all up and I’ll come and get you.”

“Hey, we found a bell…you want to use it?”

“Hell no! I don’t want to be ringing any bell for God’s sake! The only reason why I’m having help this week-end is because there are a couple people that are not family and I’m not comfortable putting them to work yet…but tomorrow is another story all together they are all going to help get thanksgiving dinner ready…and you girls are welcome to come over and help if you want to also. My dad and my friend Michael are both excellent cooks and Amy is a wonderful pastry chef so if you want to come and join in you’re welcome…we’ll probably have breakfast about 10:00 and then start dinner right after that…what do you say…”

“Sounds like a great idea to me…but when do you want to eat tonight?”

“We’ll be right in, start putting the plates on the table now if you want to.”

“Okay…see you in a minute and no bells?”

“No bells…” and they both laughed.

Liz called everybody to the dining room and soon they were all seated and enjoying a beautiful meal courtesy of Olivia. The girls did a beautiful job serving and then Liz had the girls bring out the warm blackberry pie and ice cream…Max actually looked like he was going to drool. Joanne looked at his face and then at Liz and had to leave the room…she knew what Liz meant about the pies. When Cynthia served Liz her pie Liz whispered in her ear…”You girls have to try some of this… it’s great.” And Cynthia gave Liz an ‘are you sure’ look and Liz nodded her assent…Cynthia smiled and headed back out of the dining room door with a big grin on her face…they were going to try Max’s pie.

Natalie:Thank you...
Destiny:Sure seems that way.
Janet:I think my husband would have been Max but I know for a fact that my sons would have hurled right on the spot. My oldest almost passed out when his first son arrived.
LilLoucfer:Thank you.
Ken: 1) I think funerals were family reunions at our house...we had 5 bedrooms that were always overflowing with people and my Aunt. and Uncle, who lived next door, took up the over flow. It was wild.
2) I worked in a lab when I was very young, as a typist, and i know how hard those doctors and techs worked. It was an education in itself...I almost changed my major until I found out what a cadaver was!!!
3) Athletics...major league games are best watched on TV, the arena's are so packed and the games so far away that you have to use the monitors to see what it actually going on. You haven't missed a thing, honest.
4) Ahhhh! The biggee!!! I don't think we are laid back so much. I don't mean to make light of the Church when I write about it in my stories. I mean nothing degrading when I take literary liberties and as far as the remark about the nuns, well I have too many cousins in the religious not to know that what I said was true. One of them is a widow with grandchildren and she is very happy where she is. It's a long story and someday maybe I'll write about it. Way back when, in the dark ages, some of us were "chosen" and not by God while others were discouraged to follow their calling. I don't want to get into a big religious discussion but what I have written is the truth as far as I know.
Kate:For some reason, in our family, the men were a lot like Jeff...we did have dinner together every night but children were to be seen and not heard...a very difficult task for me I might add.
Chula:We'll just have to wait and see...
Carrie: Thank you!!!

*~*~*

Chapter: 47

When Liz woke up on thanksgiving morning she tried to be very quiet so as not to wake the rest of the house including Max but to her surprise she was alone in their room. It was only 6:30 a.m. and no reason for anyone else to be up and about. She went to the dresser and got out some clean underwear and headed to the shower. After she had finished her morning routine she put a clean pair of jeans on and an old sweat shirt…donned her favorite fuzzy slippers and headed down the back stair case. There in the kitchen were five men…all wearing huge white aprons and hats fixing breakfast. Jeff had brought the aprons and hats with him as a joke…now he’s glad he did.

Philip was making orange juice…Max was making coffee…Alex was at the toaster and Michael and Jeff were at the stove preparing eggs, bacon, sausages and pancakes short order style. Liz looked at all of them and started giggling, it was a sight to behold and then Joanne, Cynthia, Bernadette and Claudine all came in from the dining room carrying large trays with serving platters. Liz looked at the girls and they all gave her a big smile and pointed to the dining room…Liz went in and the table had been extended to seat 16 and the buffet was all set up with various pastries and a beautiful flower arrangement. Diane and Izzy were carrying in more chairs from the storage room off the laundry room and Amy was right behind them along with Maria. They decided that the young four from college needed to be a part of the celebration. They could do the clean up but they also needed to join in. Liz was elated. Why hadn’t she thought of this…Maybe it was because she was so busy thinking of everything else.

“I’m not even going to ask what I can do to help…I’m just going to let you guys do your thing.” Liz ran to Max’s office and grabbed the digital camera and started to snap pictures like a wild woman…God, this was just too priceless…and then she turned around and headed right back to the kitchen to get her morning kiss from Max and hugs from the rest of her men. Life was good. Philip gave her his big bear hug and her dad was right beside him awaiting his turn…Oh this was wonderful, Liz couldn’t remember ever being this happy on a holiday. Oh God…wait til’ Christmas…this is going to be so great. And then she smiled her signature smile and looked at Max…wait til Christmas she thought and she scrunched up her little shoulders and headed for the kitchen table to take it all in. She had the five chef’s pose in their aprons and hats and she just kept smiling.

After they had all eaten their fill and the students had excused themselves to clear away the breakfast remains Liz asked if anyone would like to take a walk around the estate and enjoy the gardens…Amy, Jim and Jeff were all for it as well as Maria. She had not seen any of the outdoor areas when she was here before so they all bundled up for a nice walk before starting in on the Thanksgiving cook-off as Liz was now calling it.

In the meantime the girls were in the kitchen cleaning up and were actually enjoying themselves.

“Have you ever seen such a place in your life in a private residence. It’s like playing ‘Barbie’ for real.” Said Cynthia.

“I know…it almost makes me want to change my major to home economics…my mother would lose her mind in a place like this.” Piped up Joanne..

“Hey, do you think they would mind if we made a couple of dishes of our own for dinner. I have a great cranberry mold recipe of my grandmothers’ that I’ll bet everyone would like and everything is here that I would need…do you think I should ask?” Cynthia was really serious…she wanted to try out this kitchen and there was one particular serving dish in that butlers’ pantry that she had her eye on.

Joanne told her that she would run down the path and ask Liz if it would be okay for them to make some dishes for dinner…and she grabbed her jacket from the hook by the back door and took off on a dead run.

Soon she was jogging next to the group of sight seer’s and stopped next to Liz and motioned for her to stop for a minute. Liz looked over at Max and he just nodded and kept on walking…he wanted to make sure everything was okay so he sort of slowed down just in case he was needed and as soon as Joanne explained what she wanted Liz motioned for Max to keep on going…

Joanne explained the reason for her impromptu visit and Liz looked at her and grinned. “Hard not to stay out of there isn’t it?”

“God yes, if I lived here I would be cooking all day and exercising all night. Anyway, Cynthia wants to make her grandmothers’ recipe for cranberry something or other…I have a delicious recipe for a light vegetable platter and Claud and Bernie both want to do their favorite recipes as well…Claud wants to do the yams and Bernie has a soup that her family likes to serve with some sort of homemade noodles…Can we?”

“Of course you can…you can even start the damn turkey if you want to…it’s twenty five pounds so it will take some time to cook…figure it out and have a ball. Then when you’re ready we can all come down and have an ice skating party for a couple of hours before dinner. How does that sound?”

“Liz, I think this is turning out to be one of the best thanksgivings of my life, that’s what I think.”

“Good, we’ll see you when the tour is over…enjoy.” And with that Joanne started back to the house on a dead run. Liz just stood there and watched her…she definitely is an athlete…I wonder what sport she’s in? Liz thought. And then she in turn jogged up to the group and joined in the chatter along the path. When there was a lull in the conversation she announced to the entire bunch to walk slowly because they were going to be ‘busting their asses’ later. Amy, Jim, Jeff, Michael and Maria looked at her like she had lost her mind and the rest just groaned…they knew what she had planned and Max grabbed hold of his best friend and hugged her close and whispered…”is it safe?” She smiled and nodded yes and he was happy again. Life was great and getting better all the time.
Meanwhile back in the kitchen Joanne informed the girls that Liz had said they could make whatever they wanted to make and all four of them headed to the refrigerators…pantries and cupboards. They had pots, pans plates cutlery and everything under the sun out and on the island. They never dreamed last week that they would be having this much fun.

They all wanted to save enough money to get home for Christmas and had put their names on a bulletin board and also at the main office of the university for part time work never dreaming that something like this would come their way.

This was a dream come true. Cynthia found a silver tray that held a clear crystal plate that she could use for her cranberry mold, Claudine found a gorgeous soup tureen to use for her noodle soup after she made sure there was enough chicken in the freezer to use. She also decided to make her own noodles, oh this was great…then Bernadette went searching for the ingredients she needed for her mother’s favorite pumpkin roll and everything was there…this place was like a super market…all you had to do was start opening doors and stuff magically appeared.

When the hikers arrived back at the house there were wonderful smells permeating the entire building. Max looked at Liz and raised an eyebrow…

“The girls wanted to know if they could make some stuff for dinner…I told them to knock themselves out…it seems they took me at my word. I believe we are in for a treat, don’t you?”

“It certainly smells like it…shall we check it out?”

“Sure, let’s all go see what they’re up to.”

And so the entire entourage headed for the kitchen to see what surprises the girls had in store for them. In the glass enclosed refrigerator there was a beautiful cranberry mold setting up nicely…4 large pumpkin rolls displayed on a beautiful crystal platter and a vegetable platter displaying a large variety of fresh vegetables carved into beautiful patterns with a scrumptious looking dip in the center of all of it. The entire island was covered in home made egg noodles drying out and over on the counter was a large bowl containing a mixture of corn bread and dried cut up French bread, butter and spices cooking on the stove to be poured over the bread for stuffing. The turkey was sitting on a carving board all cleaned and ready to be stuffed and put into a huge roaster and there was one humongous pot of chicken and vegetables cooking on the back burner. Liz couldn’t believe her eyes…

“Have you girls left anything for us to do?”

“Well, you said Amy made great pumpkin pie and the potatoes need peeled for the mashed potatoes…we have the yams in the oven baking and then we can make the candy for them and the giblets are cooking for the gravy. I think that should cover it…oh, and the green bean casserole.”

Liz looked around at the rest of the group and decided to just let the girls finish up the dinner…there would be a very nice bonus on their pay checks for this and then she said…”Do we really need green beans with all of this?”

And everyone said “Yes!!!”

“Okay then, green beans too…now can we grab a sandwich or should we call out for pizza?”

The girls giggled and said “What kind of sandwiches do you want? We can make them for you.”

Liz told them to just relax and continue what they’re doing she would take care of it and headed to refrigerator number one and took a platter of cold cuts from it and headed to the sun porch…Max headed to the walk in pantry on the other side and grabbed paper plates and napkins and Isabelle took a tray and got the condiments from the fridge and Philip got the bread. Alex got a tray and went to the walk in and grabbed a large bunch of grapes and some bananas and headed to the sun porch with everybody else. Jeff, Nancy, Jim, Michael, Maria and Amy followed the rest of them in silent wonder and Diane just smiled at the whole group…Now Jeff knew what Isabelle meant about Liz working their asses off…she really didn’t but it certainly made life easy when everyone chipped in.

When they were all seated Liz motioned for the girls to come and join them and they all gave her a shy smile and did as requested. Then Liz had to ask..

“Joanne, what sport are you involved in?”

Joanne looked at her a little surprised and said “The swim team. How did you know?”

“Oh, no one runs the way you do unless they are an athlete…you weren’t even winded when you caught up with us and then you took off like a deer. I knew you

had to be involved in some sport.”

Joanne looked at her and then around the table…”We are all on the swim team. We all have scholarships and are working this week-end so we can afford to go home for the Christmas holidays. I live in Montana, Cynthia lives in Arizona, Claudine hails from Nebraska and Bernie hails from Okalahoma. We met at the University our first semester and have become fast friends. We thought we would be totally lost this week-end but you have made it a pure pleasure for us and we want to thank you so much for including us in your celebration.”

“Oh girls, we are only too happy to share with you. What year are you in?”

“We are all sophomores. We really don’t have a lot of time for socializing since we are doubling up on some of our units in order to finish school sooner and to get on with our careers.”

This sounded so familiar to Liz…”What are your majors?”

“Well, I’m leaning toward the medical field, I haven’t really decided where to go with it yet but that seems to be my goal at the moment.” Joanne answered…then Cynthia piped up and said she thought she would be going into psychiatry or psychology…she wasn’t really sure, it all depended on the scholarships and finances. Then Bernadette took her turn and said she was also interested in the medical field as well but thought she would like to concentrate more along the lines of psychiatric nursing. Claudine was also interested in the medical field as well but she leaned more toward research.

Liz looked at Max and they both knew what they had to do…these girls definitely needed to be able to attain their goals without worrying about finances. What goes around comes around they were told and they knew they were looking at some serious young women here. Wonderful serious young women. Philip, Diane, Alex and Isabelle all had the same ideas as Max and Liz and they knew with all of them working together things would work out fine for this group of young women.

After Lunch everyone grabbed something and put it away…Liz gave her dad a trash can liner and Jeff promptly started putting the paper plates and napkins in the trash and they all headed to the kitchen…Cynthia took the yams out of the oven and sat them on the counter to cool and Joanne started to stuff the turkey…Michael got the big roaster ready and soon the bird was in the oven and the group was all headed to the ice skating rink for a fun afternoon. It was now about 1:00…they figured they should be ready for dinner about 7:00 or so.

Joanne asked Liz if they could invite Johnny and Liz said of course…why not ask Charley and Margaret as well…so she gave a call over to the gardeners’ house and found out that Johnny had some friends over from school who hadn’t gone home for the holidays either and Liz asked all of them to come ice skating. The rink was packed with people of all ages and everyone was having a wonderful time. Especially the young college students who thought they would be working all week-end.

Liz was so happy that they were able to do all of this that she was almost in tears and Max was so happy to have her in his life that he was almost in tears. They just held onto to each other and skated to the music playing in the background each in their own little world.

Natalie:Thank you...
Jan:Sorry, One of my best friends' name is Janet so it's an easy mistake to make...I'll try, but promise you won't get angry if I err...okay?
Kate:I understand perfectly and thank you.
RoswellianBamafan:Thank you...I'm so glad you're getting the gist. We weren't a wealthy family but we shared everything we had and I have to share something with you, your f.b. reminded me of it. I grew up with my grandparents and an aunt and uncle and every holiday and family gathering there was an extra place set at the table for the traveler. My grandmother always felt that if a stranger ever needed a meal one would be ready at our table. I just remembered that. I don't know where the idea came from but maybe they did it in Ireland where she was born, she never said.

*~*~*

Chapter: 48

Back in Roswell there was a very lonely woman sitting in the back of the small chapel of the Catholic Church. The pastor had come in to check the candle situation and noticed Nancy Parker. He knew of Nancy’s problems… he had been working with her along side the therapist to help her see the error of her ways for weeks.

She really couldn’t be held totally responsible for her actions since her mother had treated her practically the same way she had treated Liz. The guilt she felt for having given in to Jeff the night of her prom triggered everything and sent her over the edge.

She really did love Liz she just never knew how to show her. The priest sat down in the pew in front of Nancy and asked her what she was doing here on Thanksgiving, shouldn’t she be with her family? She just looked up at the kind old gentleman and started sobbing uncontrollably. She told him that Jeff had flown to Philadelphia to be with Liz and Max’s family for the week-end, she told him of the wedding plans for Saturday and she told him that she just couldn’t face her daughter knowing what she had done to her and how wrong she had been. The old priest got up from his seat and moved in next to Nancy and hugged her close and left her cry it all out. And when she had finished sobbing he gave her the handkerchief out of his pocket to wipe her eyes and said…”Do you feel better now?”

“Yes father, some. I just wish I had the courage to face her, to tell her how much I truly love her and how sorry I am.”

“Well, I don’t know Liz that well anymore Nancy but I did know her a long time ago and I don’t think she could have changed all that much…I am sure, if you go to her that she will accept you. You say Jeff is in Philadelphia?”

“Yes, he flew out yesterday with the Evans’ and Valenti’s.”

“Have you heard from him?”

“Yes, he called last night and told me he wished I had gone with them. Liz looks wonderful and I really should see the lifestyle she has. Apparently Max is quite a wealthy young man, which really doesn’t surprise me, most athlete’s are.”

Father smiled at her and said…”Aren’t you the least bit curious about her?”

“Of course I am father… but not about her lifestyle really…After the past few weeks I have thought of nothing but her, how wrong I have been with her and when you get right down to it just how wrongly I was treated father. I can’t believe how stupid I have been for so many years.”

“Well Nancy, when you don’t share your thoughts with other people you can’t expect to know how act or how to be able to choose what you feel is normal or abnormal. It seems to me that you have led a very lonely existence…not socializing with many others nor having close girlfriends to share your thoughts with so you were left with what you were taught…be it right or wrong it’s all you knew. Now you are working toward a more healthy life and you will be happier, trust me.

Now, how about you come with me and join us for thanksgiving dinner. I am having a group of friends over and after that we will talk some more about this pending wedding, okay?”

“Yes father, I think I would like that.” And so Nancy went to dinner with the kind old priest feeling much better than she had an hour ago.

Back in Connecticut Kyle made his way up the steps to the large hospital and took his bouquet of autumn flowers and headed to the front desk.

“Hi, I’m here to have dinner with Tess Harding…I set It up earlier this week with the administration and they said it would be fine.”

“Of course Mr. Valenti, Tess is expecting you… go right up.” And Kyle headed for the elevator that took him to the third floor. When he arrived at the desk he saw Tess waiting for him all dressed in a nice dress and her hair all done up and she had some make up on. He was so happy to see that she had taken some time to fix herself up. He went right over to her and gave her a kiss on the cheek and handed her the flowers. She smiled up at him and said

“thank you Kyle, they’re beautiful.”

Kyle smiled and said “You’re very welcome Tess, you look really nice today.”

She smiled again and stood and took his hand and led him to the dining room situated in the center of the third floor. It had been set up special for today and a lot of the inmates had family visiting them for dinner. Kyle was so happy that he had asked permission to do this, she deserved to have someone with her for thanksgiving …he felt so sorry for her and then she took his hand and smiled again…

“Kyle, was I always this nutty?”

Kyle looked at her in disbelief…”Tess, I never thought you were ‘nutty’…”

Tess started to giggle…”I guess you brought out the ‘normal’ in me then.”

Kyle started chuckling too…”I guess.”

And then they had a very nice meal and visit…Kyle felt quite good when he left the hospital and so did Tess…maybe someday she would be able to figure out just why she acted so weird…but right now she was just glad to be getting help.
Back at the estate the ice skaters returned about 5:00 p.m. and started for the kitchen…Joanne and the girls all stopped them dead in their tracks.

“Huh-uh…we’re going to do this for you now go and relax and we’ll take care of everything…okay?”

“Well, okay, but if you need any help with anything just let us know.” And with that Liz told everyone that she was going upstairs and soak in a vat of hot bubbles. They all laughed at her and then the rest of the women got these strange looks on their faces and remembered the silver baskets of bubble baths on the tubs and they all headed for the stairs at the same time. The men stood there watching a retreating body of women and headed to the living room and the big screen TV…bet any amount of money there was a football game on somewhere…you could count on it.

Liz snuck down the back stairs with four bottles of very expensive bubble bath and sat it on the counter…”Hey girls…you can treat yourselves to some bubbles as well if you want to.” They all looked at the bottles and said “Thanks…we will.” And as soon as Bernie and Claud had the potatoes peeled they headed over to the apartment above the garage for their baths…leaving Joanne and Cynthia to finish up the green bean casserole and the yam casserole. After Bernie and Claud returned all cleaned up and ready for dinner Joanne and Cynthia headed over to get their bubble baths and change clothes. They got a whiff of Bernie and Claud and could hardly wait to try this stuff out. Bernie told them to wait until they tried it…the smell was one thing but the oils were something else. Oh they liked this place more and more.
After Liz got out of the huge tub she wrapped a towel around herself and headed for the bed to lie down for a little while. She was feeling just a little drowsy. It wasn’t long before Max peaked his head in to make sure she was alright and he looked at the small figure all curled up under the covers and kicked off his shoes and joined her. He laid down on top of the covers and pulled her in closer to him and nuzzled her head under his chin and fell right to sleep with her.

Max’s mom walked past their room on her way to the back stairs and saw the two of them cuddled up and pulled the bedroom door closed so they wouldn’t be disturbed. She continued on down the stairs with a big smile on her face…they are so cute she thought to herself.

When she arrived in the kitchen all four of the girls had changed their clothes and were dressed quite nicely for dinner. They had everything under control and Diane was very pleased with all of them. She informed them that she wished they lived in Roswell, she would love to have them work for her and they all smiled and thanked her for her kindness. It meant a lot to them to know that their work was appreciated even if it was a lot of fun.

When Diane entered the living room she found Philip dozing in one of the chairs and Michael stretched out in the recliner…she shook Philip and grabbed hold of Michaels shoe and shook him awake and told them that dinner would be ready shortly…both men got up and headed for the stairs. Neither had realized that they were sleeping alone and Diane just smiled at them. It had been a long day already. By 6:45 they were all showered and ready for the feast the young women had prepared.
By 7:00 p.m. Cynthia was ready to put the soup into the tureen and serve it up. She had placed the soup bowls next to the soup tureen for Liz to ladle out and pass around the table. That way it wouldn’t get too cold while they served everyone. Liz was very impressed with the thought the girls had given to everything and told them as much.

The table was beautifully set and the silver and crystal looked positively elegant. And the smells coming from the kitchen were unbelievable. The young women had prepared a feast fit for a king. Jeff had only one wish…he truly wished that Nancy would have come with him. He understood but he truly wished she was here. Before Liz dished out the soup she asked everyone to hold hands and the asked Philip if he would say the blessing. Philip was honored to be asked and said as much. After the blessing they all sat down and Liz took the lid from the tureen and started passing bowls of soup to the guests at her table. She looked down to the other end and smiled at her husband to be. This was one of the happiest moments of her life and she wanted Max to know this. She blew him a kiss and everyone smiled at the two young people and melted. They were beautiful together…that’s for sure.

The rest of the evening went perfect and the food the young women prepared was out of this world. The cranberry mold was wonderful…the vegetable tray was positively awesome as well as the turkey, dressing, gravy, mashed potatoes and even the green bean casserole. The pumpkin roll was as good as any pumpkin pie ever was and everyone complimented the young women…they couldn’t sing their praises enough. And soon they were all retired in the large living room watching a movie before heading up to bed.

The girls came in and joined them for awhile and then told them they thought they would head on over to the apartment for the night. They thanked everyone for a great thanksgiving and told them they would see them tomorrow…Liz told them to come over for breakfast if they wanted to and they said if they were up they would…and then they were off. Liz felt good about hiring them…they fit right in with everyone and it was nice to share the holiday with them as well.

Soon she bid everyone goodnight and kissed Max on the forehead and said she would see him tomorrow…he looked up at her and said…

”Nah…I think I’ll come with you…good night everyone and thank you so much for coming and sharing this holiday with us. It was wonderful to have all of you here. See you in the morning…not too early I hope.” And they all said goodnight and wished them well.

When they got to the stairs Max lifted Liz into his arms and carried her all the way to their room and laid her on the bed and helped her out of her clothes…

“I was hoping you would come with me.” She said and smiled at Max.

“You were huh? Well I was waiting for you to decide to come up here for quite awhile now…”

“Why didn’t you say something? I would have come up after dinner if you would have told me.”

“Well, I thought we should act a little civil don’t you think?”

“Yeah, I guess…now, don’t you think one of us is just a little over dressed?”

“Well, maybe just a little.” And with that Max stripped out of his clothes and was under the covers with Liz in no time at all. “How are you feeling?”

“Just a little tired but fine…and I don’t think the baby has me tired…I think it’s all of the excitement. I loved the breakfast uniforms…they were priceless.”

Max chuckled…”yeah your dad really surprised all of us with those…I thought they were pretty cool myself.”

“Wait til you see the pictures…I’m doing an album for everyone with the help of Alex…he’s going to stop at the hobby shop tomorrow when you guys are out getting your tuxes and work on them later this afternoon before the rehearsal tonight. Do you think we should invite the girls to the wedding?”

“Yes, I think they would like that…maybe we can let Charley take the escalade and they could all ride together…I think Joanne would like that, don’t you?”

“Oh you caught that action did you? I think you’re right! Give him a call in the morning and ask him before we suggest anything okay?”

“Okay...” and then Max pulled her in closer and kissed her forehead as his hands took on a journey of their own…

He took his time and cherished every inch of her body and she enjoyed each and every caress and every kiss he gave her. She was far more in tune with his touches than she was a few weeks ago and she chalked it up to the pregnancy, she definitely was enjoying Max’s attentions. If today was any indication of what their life was going to be like it definitely was going to be wonderful. She could hardly wait to get started, Saturday couldn't get here fast enough!

Jan:Thanks...I know what you mean about feeling like you've done something wrong when someone uses your full name...my kids felt the same way...I usually used both of their given names when they were in trouble. Ginger is pretty much Ginger no matter how you look at it so I never knew by my name, it was always the tone of the voice.
Destiny: thanks...you're going to have to leave me a little msg. when you update on AU w/aliens...I hardly ever look at that site...I know, I'm bad, sorry...but I'm current with the one you had going over at Chronicles so update away.
Natalie: Yes it is! that's why it's called "DREAMER"...

*~*~*



Chapter: 49

The next morning was a repeat of yesterdays breakfast only it was a little later in the day…not at 7:00 a.m. Liz’s dad was in full cook mode with his apron and hat as was Michael. They had music coming in from the stereo system and Philip was taking care of the juice…he elected himself the official juice man and Alex was the official toast man. The four girls were busy setting the table in the dining room because they loved the butlers’ pantry and the rest of the women were having their morning coffee on the sun porch and enjoying the squirrels playing in the trees. Max motioned Liz over to him as he filled the coffee pot for the second time and she ambled over next to him and stood on her tiptoes to get her morning kiss…Max smiled down at her and then whispered in her ear to go in and talk to the girls about coming to the wedding…she smiled and nodded and headed right into the dining room.

“Hey…good morning…the table looks beautiful…and by the way, you probably know that Max and I are getting married tomorrow over at SS. Peter and Paul’s cathedral at 6:00 o’clock and then there’s a nice dinner dance planned at the Hilton and we were wondering if you would like to come as our guests. Charley, Margaret and Johnny will be glad to have you go with them if you would like to come.”

Joanne looked at the other girls and then they all looked terrified…Joanne understood exactly what the problem was and she immediately said…”We don’t have anything to wear to something like that Liz…we would be like fish out of water.”

“Nonsense…if that’s all that’s bothering you let me take care of it for you…You go to the boutique in the mall after lunch and tell them who you are…they will be expecting you and you pick out something that you would never buy for yourselves. And I insist that you do not look at the price tags on anything…you just have a ball choosing something and get the accessories that go with it. Consider it a Christmas gift…you have more than earned it. And I won’t take no for an answer…we really want you to come and share in our happiness…will you do that for us?”

The four girls looked at each other and wondered what in the hell they landed into…no one in their right mind does this for perfect strangers.

Liz read their expressions pretty good and told them straight out…

“Look, when I was your age I was in college on scholarships with no one, and I mean no one but Max to talk to…I do not want anyone to ever have to live like that, ever. And if I can bring some happiness and joy into someone else’s life then I will do it. I only hope that I am always in a position to do it…now will you come to my wedding and share in my happiness with me and if all it is going to take is the price of a dress to get you there then so be it.”

The four girls looked at the petite young woman standing there and all four approached her and gave her a big hug…”Of course we’ll come but we’ll go over to the dorm and get something that we already have…okay?”

“Only if you want to because I truly want to give you a Christmas present, and I would be honored if you would go to the boutique and get something.”

“No, we’ll wear our own clothes…and we will be honored to attend your wedding. Tell Charley we will be ready to leave when they are.”

And Liz smiled and said great. About that time the dining room started filling up with people carrying all kinds of food and everyone was seated and enjoying another meal at the Evans’ home.

After breakfast the men all headed to the showers to get ready for their fittings at the tux shop…Liz and the ladies all headed up to the attic with the ironing board and iron and the four college students headed to the kitchen to clean up after breakfast. After the dishes were all loaded in the dishwashers and everything had been washed down they headed over to the apartment and got their coats and purses and were off to the dorms to get some dressy clothes.

They all had nice dresses for special occasions and were quite certain that they would be suitably dressed for the occasion. Then they headed back to the estate to get ready for the lunch brigade. They were informed that there would be no formal dinner this evening and they could just heat up leftovers or make something different for them selves if they wanted because the whole group had rehearsals at the cathedral at seven and they would be eating after that.

So they decided to make a nice lunch for the entire group with the leftover turkey and soup. Soup and sandwiches with cranberry mold and leftover veggie’s really sounded good…so when the women came down to the kitchen to start on some lunch the girls had beat them to it. Liz just smiled at them and asked if they had a chance to go the dorm. Joanne smiled and said “mission accomplished.” And Liz just grinned at her and mouthed a nice big ‘thank you’. All four of the girls smiled and got busy setting the table again. Liz told them they didn’t have to use the dining room for all of the meals and they all said, but we love it in there…”Well, if you love it in there then so be it…we will eat in there. After all the person setting the table gets to choose where we eat…it’s a rule of the house.”

Amy looked at her and said…”You have rules?”

And Liz grinned at her and said…”You have to have rules Amy.” And everyone laughed at her.

Soon the familiar noise from the hallway alerted Liz that the gate was opening…sure enough it wasn’t five minutes later than all the men came in with their tuxes hanging on hangers. Liz smiled at all of them and pointed to the elevator…then she said…”Max, where are you going to sleep tonight?”

Max stopped dead in his tracks and said “HUH!!!”

Everyone started laughing at him and then Maria popped in and said…”Michael and Max can share and Me and Liz can share”…

And Max said “Like hell…” and now the place was mayhem…

“But Max, you can’t see me before the wedding….”

“I won’t see you before the wedding Liz…but the wedding isn’t until 6:00 p.m. and if you think I am going into hiding until 6:00 p.m. tomorrow night you’re nuts…now we’ll have no more talk of me or Michael sharing a bed…is that clear…does everyone understand this…”

“Yes m’lord.” And Liz curtsied, putting her hand demurely under her chin…. Then Max looked at her and said “You…cut that out. It’s not funny Liz.”

“Yes m’lord.”

And then Max handed his tux to his dad and Liz took off on a dead run…Philip opened the elevator door and took the tuxes and hung them on the rail and led everyone to the pool…

Isabelle, Alex, Diane and Philip knew what was coming but the rest just followed, even Joanne and the group followed and pretty soon Liz passed them on a dead run and Max was right on her heels. She was over his shoulder in nothing flat screaming and laughing…”I’m sorry Max…honest I won’t do it again…”

“You said that the last time Liz and I let you get away with it but not this time” And into the pool she went only this time Max got a big surprise…Liz grabbed hold of his belt and he went flying in with her.

Philip applauded…”Way to go Liz” and Max came up sputtering right along with her.

“Truce you big bully.” And Liz was laughing so hard she cold hardly get herself to the side of the pool…Max looked at her in shock and then started laughing right along with her…”Truce. Chalk one up for you…now lets get dried off and eat some lunch.”

Jeffery couldn’t believe the playfulness of these two…Philip was right, they belonged together…if only Nancy could be here to enjoy this. He really loved his wife but he would no longer tolerate her behavior.

Jan:Something I really try, not always successfully, is to find something good in everyone.
Natalie:It's tough changing old habits...sometimes it takes years and even then it doesn't work.
Destiny:It will all work out...honest!
LilLoucfer:Sometimes we only have to look as far as our hearts and ignore the media...they don't print the good stuff because it doesn't sell...
Ken:Yes they are...only a few chapters to go and then I think I might do a sequel, don't know for sure...

*~*~*

Chapter: 50

(The Rehearsal)

All too soon they were at the cathedral and the ‘magnificent seven’ were all scrubbed and decked out in their finest. Liz was so proud to have them there and she introduced them to her father and her best friends and they were perfect little gentlemen. They practiced seating Amy and Diane, Isabelle and Maria took their little arms as well and allowed them to lead them down the aisles to their seats. They understood that they would be seating a lot more people tomorrow and were asked if they minded doing this because they didn’t have to if they didn’t want to…They all said they wanted to do this and then they headed to the back of the church where Liz was waiting.

Michael was Max’s best man and Alex was Maria’s escort. The three men stood at the front of the church and six of the young boys all took their places and preceded Liz down the aisle. Jeremy held Liz’s arm and there were three young boys on each side of the white runner. Liz had to order three runners down the center aisle because the cathedral was so large. Then Liz started her walk with Jeremy holding her arm…she was so proud of him…

When they got to the altar and the monsignor asked “who gives this woman to this man?” all seven little boys said in unison…”we do your honor”…and they brought the place down…Anne and Kadee wanted to die and Liz just giggled…she motioned for the boys to come to her and she whispered…you don’t have to say your honor…just say “we do”…

“But Liz, it’s more respectful to say “your honor”…then Liz nodded in understanding…they weren’t trying to be funny…they wanted to be correct and respectful…

“Okay guys…instead of saying your honor say ‘we do monsignor’”

She nodded yes and they thought about it for a minute and nodded in agreement…they all turned around and said in unison…”we do monsignor.” The monsignor looked at the boys and smiled and then Jeremy gave Liz’s hand to Max and they proceeded to get on with the rehearsal. After everyone understood what their duties were they all headed to Luigi’s for some great Italian food and a good time.

Around 11:00 it was decided that tomorrow was going to be a big day and then Pete wanted to know where Max was staying tonight and Max gave him a look that practically sent chills down his spine.

Liz looked at Pete and smiled…

”We have all been informed that Max is spending the night in his own bed and not with Michael or anyone else…he has informed us that at six o’clock tomorrow he will lay his eyes on his bride for the first time ‘as his bride’ but nothing will change between now and tomorrow.”

Then Pete took hold of Max by the shoulders and said

“Hey buddy…look here…we don’t mess with tradition…you’re coming home with us and there’s not a damned thing you can say about it. Kiss Liz goodnight and she can bring your tux to the church tomorrow and you can change in the men’s room.”

Then Michael piped up and said it wouldn’t be necessary…his bag was packed already and in the trunk along with his tux. Max looked at Michael and Michael said,

“Hey man, it’s tradition…now get your ass in Pete’s car and we’ll see you tomorrow. Good night man.”

Then Max, with a scowl on his face, thanked Michael and kissed Liz good night and told her he would be thinking of her all day…


“Me too Max…I’ll miss you. Be good and listen to Pete and Anne okay?”

“Yes mother”…and Max bid everyone goodnight and went home with Pete and Anne.

“I really didn’t think it would work.” Liz said as she got in the car…

”Neither did I.” Said Diane…

”I don’t think any of us did.” Said Maria and Isabelle just said…

”Amen.” Then Amy piped up with

“Liz? I was wondering…” and Liz stopped her dead in her tracks…

”Don’t even say it Amy…I’m too happy right now and nothing about tomorrow will be changed…got it.”

“Got it.” And they drove home in silence. Liz knew what her old friend was going to say about the ‘magnificent seven’ and she would not let anyone put a damper on her big day. It was settled.
The next morning Liz woke up at 9:00 a.m. and couldn’t believe how late she had slept. She hadn’t done that in years. She felt really rested though and was looking forward to having a wonderful day. She got up and went into the bathroom and took a quick shower and washed her hair. She would work her magic on it later and then she found some jeans and a sweat shirt, put those fuzzy slippers on her feet and went in to make her bed. She decided to strip the sheets and send them down with the dirty towels and underwear from the bathroom and then she took clean sheets from the linen closet and made up the bed. She opened her bedroom door only to run into her dad coming down the other end of the hall…”Good morning dad…are you just getting up also.”

“Oh no Liz…I’ve been up for awhile now. I was talking to your Mom…just checking in to see how she was doing.”

Liz shook her head in acknowledgement and walked over to the laundry chute, threw all the dirty clothes down the opening and then put the basket in the dumb waiter and sent it down to the laundry room as well. This gave her a chance to think about what to say to her dad…

”Oh, how’s she doing?”

This was her first encounter with her father alone. Then she motioned him into her and Max’s rooms… she took her dad past the bedroom and into the little sitting room with the fireplace. She picked up the remote and lit the automatic log and motioned for her dad to sit down. Jeffery sat in one of the overstuffed chairs and Liz took the one opposite him and they sat for a minute before Jeffery spoke…

“She’s doing better Liz, she’s trying very hard to learn new ways and it isn’t easy for her. I will not make excuses for either one of us…there aren’t any but we are both trying.

Father O’Brien is working closely with the therapist trying to understand how her religious logic is all messed up and then I have to go with her occasionally to help understand my part in her problems as well. My passiveness and willingness to just let her run amok didn’t help a damned thing either. So between the two of us we managed to really screw things up…but hopefully we can fix it in time.

I am only happy that you were able to grow up fairly normal in spite of us Liz and I thank God every day for Max Evans and his family…they have been your family forever…they have been the family we should have been Liz and I can only say I am so sorry that we hurt you. You’ll never know how sorry I am.” Jeff was practically in tears.

“Dad, I know you’re sorry and I am sorry for you but you have to know that I don’t hold any grudges…the only thing I ask of you is that you understand me and my feelings. I can’t feel close to you, I want to but I can’t…Dad, I don’t know you. I am sure you are a wonderful caring person but I don’t know this first hand. You are welcome in my home anytime you want to come, so is mom if she can behave herself. But Dad, you have to know that I will never let her belittle me or degrade me ever again. Max will not tolerate this from her either and Dad, I will not prevent him from stopping her and as long as she knows this she is welcome here as well. We don’t want our families alienated from us, we want our children to know their grandparents and to be a part of our lives…but there has been enough unhappiness to last me a lifetime and I don’t want anymore. Does this make sense to you?”

“Yes Lizzie, it makes perfect sense and I won’t let your mother ever hurt you again, trust me. It’s time for us to build some sort of relationship with each other and to get to know each other and I think we can, what do you say?”

“I say it’s about damn time Dad.” And Liz got up and walked over and gave her dad a kiss on the top of his head and told him it was time to go get some breakfast…she was starved. He just laughed at her and then asked about the laundry…

“Come check this out Dad, you won’t believe this place….”

“Oh yes I will Liz…even if it is unbelievable.”

Liz giggled at her dad’s remark and explained the laundry chute, the dumb waiter and by that time they were down stairs and standing in the laundry room. Jeff looked around in amazement. “Liz, I don’t think Roswell’s Laundromat is this big.”

“I wouldn’t know dad but I wouldn’t be surprised. If we do start a children’s facility here we will probably need to add another couple washers and another dryer just to keep up with sheets and bedding.”

“You’re serious aren’t you?”

“Oh yes Dad, Max is working on his doctorate in psychology at Penn State, his new classes start in January and he’s been working on his thesis. He is using my experience as part of his paper…We want to help people with problems like Tess before they have a chance to develop into dangers to society…I feel that there could be a genetic defect causing these problems and If I can get my company in on the bandwagon we may be able to get funding through them to conduct enough studies to find a cause and possibly a cure, if not a cure at least something that will help. And maybe we can use the talents of Joanne, Cynthia, Claudine and Bernie. Max and I didn’t really get into it too deeply Thursday night but we might be able to help the girls with some of their finances and then have them work here with the children after they graduate…they would be paid of course, but we would like to use their talents. We really like them.”

Jeff just stood there and listened to his daughter speak and was truly amazed at her maturity and wisdom. How is it that he never took the time to realize her genius. She is truly magnificent he thought as he watched her sort clothes and load washing machines…he just shook his head and then Diane poked her head into the laundry room and told them breakfast was ready…She looked at Liz and started laughing…

Liz looked at Diane and said “What?”

“Check out the bride would you…washing clothes like Cinderella.” Liz just laughed and said “Come on…let’s eat.” And they headed to the kitchen where everyone but Max was loading their plates…God, 6:00 o’clock can’t get here soon enough she thought. Then she reached for the phone…Isabelle grabbed it and said…

”Who’re you calling?” And gave Liz that ‘behave yourself or else’ look.

Liz looked at her and said sheepishly…”Max.”

“Huh-uh…put it down.” Isabelle had one eyebrow raised in her ‘don’t even think about it’ look…

So Liz put the phone down and took her plate to the table and sat down like a good girl and ate her breakfast. Everyone tried to keep the conversation going and worked on keeping her busy but it didn’t work…finally she said she was going to go upstairs and take a nap…

Isabelle looked at her and said… “No phone calls Lizzy girl…”

“Okay, okay, no phone calls…good night.” And with that she headed back up the stairs and set her alarm for 3:00 o’clock just in case she did fall asleep. She was a little tired…she was sure it was more mental than physical but she was still tired.
Meanwhile back in Roswell a little Toyota was speeding it’s way to the Las Cruces airport to make the noon flight to Philadelphia. She would arrive at about 4:30 and by the time she got her luggage and caught a cab she should be at the cathedral by 6:00…she only hoped she made it on time.
Pete and Anne were doing their damnedest to control Max. Pete had never seen him like this….

”what if she changes her mind Pete?”

“Max, are you insane? She’s adores you…it’s not going to happen …relax. We will be at the church at 5:45 like we were told and she will be there…my God man, relax already.”

“Okay…I’m relaxed…see.” Pete looked at his friend and he was shaking like a leaf.

“Max, I swear, I would get you drunk if it was any other circumstances … but you have to relax, you’re going to have a stroke if you don’t”

“Okay, okay…let’s play cards or something.”

“okay, cards it is.” And Pete went looking for a deck of cards.

Anne just stood there shaking her head. She couldn’t believe that Mr. Joe Cool himself was acting like a basket case. Maybe separating the two of them wasn’t such a good idea after all…Isabelle said Liz was doing everything in her power to sneak a phone call, they probably should have just left the two of them show up at the church together and tradition be damned. Oh well…it’ll work out.
Liz’s alarm went off at 3:00 just like it was supposed to and she was so glad that she had set it…she did fall asleep. She took her engagement ring off and went to the safe and removed the wedding rings she slipped the solitaire into the wedding jacket and took Max’s wedding band and headed down the hall. She knocked on Isabelle’s door and Alex came out with his pants on and his shirt hanging open and Liz handed him Max’s wedding band to give to Isabelle, then she went over to Maria’s room and knocked quietly and Michael came out dressed about the same way as Alex and Liz smiled up at her old friend and held our her hand…Michael looked down at her and winked…you can have them back in about two and a half hours…Liz looked up into Michaels eyes and smiled. “Thank you Michael, I needed that.” Michael bent over and took his old friend into a fierce hug and whispered…”Be happy Lizzy, you deserve it.” He put the rings in his pants pocket and kissed her on the head and closed his door. Alex smiled at her as she padded down the hall to her own room and then he handed Max’s ring to Isabelle…and she smiled and told him to put it in his pocket for her and he did. This was a good day.

Liz went up to the attic and brought her gown and the rest of her things to her room. She sat at the dressing table in the bathroom and took the curling iron and started doing her hair and before the iron was heated Maria came in and picked it up for her.

“Remember Liz, we used to do this for each other all of the time.”

“I remember Maria, but don’t go too crazy…I want to look like me today.”

“Oh, I promise you Liz, you will look like you…now Up or Down?”

“I think pulled back and long…no?”

“I think we’ll try a couple of ways and see which looks best…we have time.”

“Okay.”

So Maria worked with Liz’s hair and she pulled it up…it looked great…she pulled it back, it looked great…then she asked, “How does Max like it?”

“Hell, I never asked…Oh wait…he wanted it down for the prom…down I guess.”

“Back and down it is.”

And when Maria was finished Liz’s hair looked beautiful.

Then Liz brought out the new makeup she purchased the other day when she was out shopping and started to apply the foundation…Isabelle and Maria were both in Liz’s room by now and both girls wanted to try this new stuff…it looked so light and natural. Liz handed over the jar and both Isabelle and Maria couldn’t get over how nice this stuff felt…”Where did you get this Liz?”

“At that little boutique in the mall. They had a demonstrator there the other day and I tried some. It’s really nice isn’t it?”

“It’s wonderful…I’m going to go get Mom and Amy…they need to try this.”

“But is it the right shade?”

“Hey, they can always wash it off.” Maria said…

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” And pretty soon Liz’s bathroom was full of women applying makeup…believe it or not…they all looked great in it…and soon all Liz had to do was put her gown on. She decided to put it on at the church in the brides room…so she put her gloves around the hanger in a plastic bag and Isabelle carried her veil downstairs to the waiting Limo…Liz threw on a pair of jeans and windbreaker over her bustier, Maria grabbed her shoes and she carried her gown in the garment bag and they were all on their way. Michael, Philip, Jim and Jeff all followed in the truck and Charley and the group were in the Escalade.

Philip still hadn’t seen his wife’s dress…she got dressed in Liz’s room and Liz helped her with her hair…it was in a very pretty French twist. Was he in for a surprise. All of the women thought she looked radiant.

Natalie:Thank you
Destiny:I'm on my way...
Jan:Always the thinker...
LilLoucfer: IT'S HERE!!!!
Ken:You're a great dad! Just don't lose your way, your jobs not done. For some reason it never is when you have kids.

*~*~*

Chapter: 51

By 5:30 everyone was being ushered into the church and Liz was seated in the bride’s room waiting for things to get started. She looked like a vision. Her dress fit her to perfection and Isabelle could have sworn that she had had a boob job…that bodice was really filled out today.

Isabelle and Maria were as beautiful as ever in their dresses which complemented each other perfectly and each one wore a single rose tinted to match their bouquets in her hair. Liz carried white roses and she had a single white silk rose attached to the crown of her veil which came right down to below her chin, touching her shoulders…just enough to cover her face. At about 5:55, there was a knock at the door and Philip came to escort Diane down the aisle…He did a double take and he got a lump in his throat such as he hadn't had in years…

“Diane, you are absolutely the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.” He said in all sincerity.

None of the girls felt the least bit slighted by his remark… she was stunning.

Amy and Jim had already gone down the aisle and Jeffery was seated in the second row from the altar on the left side of the cathedral. The first pew was reserved for the “magnificent seven”, Isabelle and Maria. It was thought that the girls would better deal with any problems that might arise. Michael and Alex would sit alone in the first row on the right.

Liz walked out behind Isabelle and when she looked over at the side entrance of the church she lifted her veil and took a closer look at the woman standing over there and almost started to cry. She motioned for Jeremy to come to her and he was at her side immediately…she pointed to the woman standing by the suitcase and Jeremy nodded…Liz whispered something to him and Nancy never took her eyes off Liz. God she is beautiful Nancy thought silently.

Jeremy went over to Nancy and held out his little arm to her…Nancy looked at the young boy and then to Liz…Liz nodded to her mother and Nancy allowed the young boy to escort her down the center aisle and seat her next to her husband. She had purchased a beautiful pink suit when Jeff had told her she was invited to the festivities but it had taken her until this morning to make up her mind to come. She looked beautiful and Max, Michael and Alex all stood there dumbfounded. Then Diane and Philip looked over at Jeff and smiled. He had tears in eyes. Amy and Jim were overjoyed and soon the music started. Liz reached up and put her veil back into place, Isabelle checked her out and smiled and squeeze her hand as Maria started down the aisle.

The entire congregation stood to watch the bridal party and to get a look at the bride. The cathedral was packed with sports figures, doctors, lawyers and even some media managed to slip in. And Max, well he was beside himself with happiness.

Soon Isabelle followed Maria’s lead and then the traditional wedding march began…

the six little boys preceded down the aisle with Liz…three on each side and Jeremy held Liz’s arm in his just as his uncle Max had shown him last night and when the seven little boys got to the front of the church the monsignor smiled down at all of them and asked in a very clear and audible voice

“Who gives this woman to this man?” And all seven said in unison…

”We do monsignor… your honor… sir.” And Liz cracked up…if there were tears in the audience they were all gone now…The monsignor looked at them and smiled…Jeremy gave Liz’s hand to Max and the service began.

Max was so nervous he could hardly repeat his vows and when Liz said her vows to Max she reached up and held the side of his face to make sure he heard every word because she meant them from the bottom of her heart. Nancy had no idea what was going on but she was certainly impressed. She never questioned a thing…she was just happy that she decided to come and participate in this happy occasion.

When the monsignor introduced Mr. and Mrs. Maxwell Evans to the congregation and told Max he could kiss his bride Max took Liz in his arms and kissed her till she thought she would never be able to breathe again and everyone in the church applauded. Then they were off to a party. Max couldn’t take his eyes off Liz…he was, without a doubt, the happiest groom that ever lived.

When they formed the reception line Liz proudly put her arms around her mother and introduced her to everyone she knew. Jeff was so proud of her and he was so happy that Nancy had come, she would never know just how important all of this was to him as well as to Liz.

When Joanne and the girls came through the line Liz gave them a huge hug and thanked them so much for all of their help and then she told them that as soon as she and Max returned from their honeymoon she would like to talk to them before they headed home for the holidays…they all said they would definitely call her before they left Philadelphia and moved on to meet the rest of the party whom they all knew except for Nancy. They had no idea why Nancy just showed up today but figured she had business or something…no one was any the wiser.

As a surprise to Max and Liz Maria sang “I Shall Believe” and the band’s lead singer sang backup for her…it was Max and Liz’s favorite song when they were in high school and Maria thought it very appropriate for the occasion. Liz got all teary eyed and Max damn near lost it as well. Only a few in the reception hall knew of it’s significance but it was very emotional for both Max and Liz.

Destiny:Woo Woo!!! You're right...
LilLoucfer:Very unconventional but I wanted to make a statement without being over bearing...I thought it turned out cute...
Ken:Thank you...I know it's turning into a "Chick Flick" but my brother liked it so I guess it's okay.
Kate:I'm sure you'll find the right person to give you away...Hey, how about an ex---now there's a plot!!!
Natalie: I think, when I figure out the sequel, the Nancy drama will be addressed.Once Liz becomes a mother feelings will start to change within her I believe.
Jan:Thanks, I don't know where the idea came from but when I thought of it I loved it. I think it made a nice statement without throwing stones at her dad by choosing another adult male to walk her down the aisle. I felt this was more subtle...maybe? Hell, I don't know!!!

*~*~*

Chapter: 52

Max took Liz to the Mediterranean for their honeymoon…he was the only one who knew where they were going besides his travel agent and Liz was flabbergasted. She didn’t think they would be taking a honeymoon until some later date being it was so close to Christmas.

“Don’t you want to go Liz?” Max asked in an almost disappointed voice.

“Of course I want to go Max…but what about Christmas?” She was Concerned…

“Liz, Christmas is going to come around whether we’re here or there or elsewhere. It’s only for 2 weeks…you can shop to your hearts content while we’re there…just think of the unique Christmas presents you can buy.” He added very enthusiastically. That did it! It didn’t take her long at all to get packed when they got home from the reception. She could hardly sleep she was so excited…and then, on Friday afternoon they were on their way.

They bid the family good bye and Liz gave her Mom an extra special hug and told her to nose around the house… she said…

“It’s absolutely amazing.” Liz knew that her mother was trying and if she could try to improve herself Liz would do her best to help her. After all that is what she and Max intended to do…although there would always be some restrictions, Liz couldn’t help it.

Nancy said “I can see that, and I will Liz…thank you.” Nancy knew she didn’t deserve the attention that Liz was giving her but she truly loved it and was beginning to feel very good about it all.

Liz looked at her mother and told her the same thing Max had said to her…”Mom you don’t have to thank me…just enjoy.” And with that Max and Liz were on their way.
When Max and Liz returned home from their honeymoon they were amazed at how many wedding presents were in the entry. You couldn’t get through the place for packages. Liz looked at Max and said…

”I thought we made it clear that we didn’t want any presents.” Max looked at her and grinned…

“I guess people didn’t give a shit what we wanted.” Max returned…

And Liz started laughing…”where are we going to put all of this stuff Max?”

“I have no clue Liz.”

And then Olivia came through the door with another big box… She set it down and went over and gave Liz a great big hug and Max got one as well…

”You two look happy and rested.”

“Well, we were until we saw all of this…My God we’re going to have to hire someone to open all of these.”

Olivia laughed at her and said, “I didn’t know where else to put them.”

Then Liz suggested…”why don’t we put them up in the attic and then we can go through them at our leisure and write thank you notes as we open them?”

“Great, I’ll get Charley and Johnny to come over and haul them up there for you…how’s that?” Max said with a grin…

“God Max, it sounds so blasé but I don’t know what else to do about all of it.” Liz was feeling guilty about the whole ordeal…

“Liz, it’s not blasé, it’s realistic. Now let’s get our bags upstairs and get settled okay?”

“Okay…and Liv…it’s so good to see you, thank you for taking care of all of this for us.” Liz sighed, ‘what a mess’ she thought to herself.

“You’re welcome Liz and I never got a chance to tell you at the wedding but I thought you were the most beautiful bride I have ever seen.”

“Amen to that…” Max added and Liz blushed and thanked both of them…”I think you’re both prejudiced.”

And Max agreed with her and then he took their suitcases upstairs and Liz followed.

After they got all unpacked Liz asked Max what they were going to do for Christmas and he asked her what she would like to do…

“I don’t know…at first I thought I might like to go to Roswell but now that we’re home I think I want to celebrate Christmas here. Can we invite everybody back for Christmas too?” She asked with a little sigh in her voice.

“Sweetheart, we can do whatever you want to do…now by everybody…do you mean everybody that was here for thanksgiving?”

“Yes…and I want to have a tree trimming party for the kids too. What do you say.”

“I say okay…but we’ll have to do it soon because I’m sure that Pete, Josh, John and Jay all have families they would like to spend time with too.”

“Okay, I’ll give Anne and Kadee a call right now and see what we can come up with.”

“Fair enough and I’ll give Charley a call and I’ll help load the presents upstairs… are you sure you’re up for all of this?”

“Of course I am Max…I’m fine.”

So Max got hold of Charley and between the three men they had the attic loaded with wedding presents in no time. Max read some of the cards as they carried boxes to the elevator and some of these people he hardly knew…he was beginning to wonder if maybe they hadn’t brought home the wrong people’s presents. God, I wonder if that’s what happened he thought…and then decided that Liz probably knew those other people. Good Lord, what if it really was true though. He ran that idea past Charley and Johnny and they started laughing at him…

”Max, for an intelligent man you surely do come up with some strange ideas.” Charley said as he continued to load the elevator for the third time.

In the meantime Liz had talked to Anne, Kadee, Susan and Marge and all four women said that this week-end would be the best time to have a tree trimming party and what time. Liz thought for a minute and wanted to know if they could come over about ten in the morning and plan on staying all day. The parents wouldn’t have to stay if they didn’t want to but she wanted the kids to decorate outside too. Anne told her she needed her head examined and Liz told her that the boys always listened to her and then Anne laughed…”yeah, like they did at the wedding?” And Liz really laughed at that…

”Oh Anne, that was priceless…they really thought they were being respectful…honest. They didn’t do that to be funny…I swear they didn’t. Jeremy was so sincere when he told me that he thought the monsignor should be honored. He just didn’t associate the words with the meanings …believe me I loved it. Honest!”

Anne said “Whatever Liz…I still think you’re nuts but yeah, they can come and spend the entire day…as a matter of fact I’ll be looking forward to it and I know the rest of the girls will as well. Maybe we can get some Christmas things done in peace. We’ll see you then.” And they signed off. Liz was elated.

Liz went up to the attic and found Max, Charley and Johnny stacking wedding presents all over the place…

“Oh Max…leave room to get the Christmas decorations out of the other room honey…the boys will be here Saturday for a decorating party and we want to be able to get to the stuff easily.”

“Just how much decorating do you plan on doing Liz?”

“Just as much as I can Max…”

Charley and Johnny looked at Max and started to rearrange things so that there would be room for Christmas stuff…Max started to help, he knew it would be futile to argue with her. Today was Wednesday and they had til’ Saturday for her to get to the mall with the truck and buy everything in sight. This should be interesting to say the least.

When Charley and Max came back up with another load of boxes they saw a light on in the other room and when Max looked in Liz was on the floor with an extension cord and she was surrounded by strings of lights checking them all out. She had boxes of spare bulbs she managed to find and was replacing burned out bulbs as intensely as she used to conduct experiments in the lab in high school. Max just looked in, shook his head and walked off to get more boxes. Charley looked in and followed suit.

“You know Max…Margaret found that it was cheaper to just buy more lights than it was to buy just the bulbs.”

Max looked at Charley and winked…”Let her alone Charley, as long as she’s doing that she’s leaving us alone.”

Charley nodded and followed Max back to the elevator and started to help Johnny unload more presents…

”Johnny, how many more are down there?” Max asked and Johnny looked at Max and grinned…

”Well, I thought that this was the last load but the UPS guy just drove up as I was getting into the elevator. I don’t know what the guy had but there was a shit load of packages.”

“Oh for God’s sake”…then Max laughed…

”Liz bought some stuff while we were gone and had it shipped…maybe that’s what it is…Christ, I hope so…we’re going to have to hire a crew of stenographers to write thank you notes…either that or have carpal tunnel surgery when we’re done with this.”

Both men laughed at Max and headed back down in the elevator…Max told them they could go on home he could finish up with the new stuff…he peaked in at Liz who was still intent on checking out light bulbs and he bent over and kissed the top of her head and told her he was going down stairs for a minute…she said “uh huh” and kept on screwing in light bulbs. Max chuckled to himself and figured she would be busy for two days at the least.
When Max got down to the main floor he discovered that the boxes that had been delivered were in fact the things they had shipped home. Liz had done a lot of Christmas shopping in the Mediterranean and at least they didn’t have that to worry about so much now that they were home. All they had to do was wrap the stuff up and get the tree assembled.

He knew there was a huge 16 foot tree in the attic and it was one of those pre-lit things so all Liz would have to do would be to have the kids put the decorations on it. I wonder what she’ll put on it he thought…As a matter of fact there were several trees in the attic… or maybe she might want a real tree…we’ll see when she gets finished testing light bulbs. ‘As a matter of fact I’ll go up and help her and we can talk about it. That will be fun now that the entry is all cleared out.

It will be fun to have a Christmas decorating party with the kids too. I wonder what it will be like next Christmas with our own little one to share Christmas with…he or she will be about 6 months or so by then’…Max got a very far away look in his eyes and he couldn’t wait to get back upstairs to his little wife and her light bulbs.

Olivia poked her nose out into the entry and asked Max if they would be wanting lunch anytime soon and Max said he’d call her on the intercom as soon as he got back up to the attic…she smiled and said great…and Max loaded the elevator with the UPS delivery and headed back up to see Liz.
By Saturday Liz had the 16 foot tree set up in the grand hall as she called it and boxes of decorations sitting everywhere. She had a nice live 8 foot tree in the small living room and two 12 foot artificial trees on the veranda, one on each side of the double entry doors. She had a huge wreath on each of the entry doors and she had boxes of lights for the kids to drape all over the fence poles at the front gate. She had wreaths in all of the bedroom windows…she had Charley string lights all around the perimeter of the house…upstairs and down. Charley hired a construction crew of men to come in with a bucket to put up the lights around the roof and Max just shook his head and scratched behind his ear. She was definitely losing her mind he thought.

When Kadee dropped off all the kids on Saturday she just stood back and laughed at Max…

“You know she’s nuts don’t you?” And Max laughed with her…

”I’m beginning to think so.” He said. And she was off…

”have fun Max…and don’t kill anybody.”

“I won’t…enjoy your day off.” He said.

“Oh, I intend to, believe me…I’m off to the spa to have a massage and then a manicure and then a pedicure and then I may even get my hair done.” Max laughed at her and she drove off to enjoy her day. All of the women took turns watching all of the kids so that they could have a day of pampering but today they were all headed in the same direction to have a girls day and they were thrilled that Max and Liz wanted to spend the day with the boys. The boys were just as happy to be with Max and Liz too…they all liked Liz a lot and they’ve always liked Max.

The minute Liz saw them she gave them all a big hug and asked them what they should do first…they took one look at the humongous tree in the entry and asked what she wanted done with that. She showed them all of the boxes and then explained her plans for outside and thought maybe they should start out there before it got dark…the boys agreed and they each picked up a box of lights and headed to the front door. Liz asked if they would rather ride down to the gate because they needed to take a ladder with them and they thought about it for a minute and then asked,

“Can we sit in the back of the truck?”

Liz said “Sure, I’ll even sit back there with you.”

Now Max knew she was nuts…but then he thought about it for a minute and realized that there was no way she would let them ride back there alone so he got the truck out of the garage…loaded the boxes of lights inside the truck and loaded the kids and Liz in the truck bed with the ladder and headed down the driveway to the front gate.

It took the boys about two hours to string the lights around the poles and across the top of the gate while Max and Liz sat in the truck bed and watched. Liz had a couple of large thermoses filled with hot chocolate and the boys would ‘wet their whistle’ as Max said and when they were all finished Max and Liz stood back and were amazed at what a really nice job they had done. Each string was neatly wrapped around the poles in such a way that they looked like a candy cane…they even coordinated the colors so that both sides matched, using only red and white light bulbs. Liz was amazed at how much time and effort they put into the job that was given them. Max couldn’t believe it…he scratched his head and smiled at Liz…she just had a way with these kids that made them want to please her and he loved it.

By the time Anne came to pick the boys up at 9:00 p.m. the front gate was all lit up and Anne thought…boy Max must have come down here after the boys went up to the house and fixed this up … it really looks nice. When she got to the front of the house the entire house was lit and the two trees at the front entry were all lit up with miniature white lights and big green wreaths on the door but the kicker was when she walked into the entry way and the boys were all on the floor under the tree that was all decorated with stuffed animals of every size and variation imaginable. They were putting a huge electric train and a miniature city under the tree. She was amazed and Liz and Max were sitting on the steps watching them.

“When did you sneak down and redecorate the poles Max?”

“I didn’t redecorate anything…they did it all…I swear Anne, they did it all. Even the stuffed animals. Jeremy got to use the ladder because he’s the biggest and the rest stood on the stair steps and chairs. I helped by hanging over the banister with a couple of them but they told me where they would look the best and voila…we have a Christmas tree. I think they did a beautiful job and we will have everyone over for dinner when you can make it and let all of you see just how handy they are…and they work very well together…just like a well oiled machine.”


“Yes, just like their daddies.” Then Anne took a seat beside Max and Liz and watched the boys finish up their work of art.

Liz made Anne a cup of hot tea and asked her if she would like to sit somewhere else and Anne said “No way, this is fascinating.”

Then the boys apologized for not finishing the other tree but Liz assured them that it was alright, it was just a small tree and she was sure she could handle it with Max’s help. They all said “Okay” and got their jackets and were ready to go home. Max gave each one of them twenty dollars for being so helpful and they said thank you and told Max if he needed help with anything else to let them know…Max grinned at Anne and told them he definitely would and then they were off. Anne thanked Liz til Liz was becoming embarrassed,

“Anne, you have no idea how much fun I’ve had today…and if they tell you they got to ride in the truck bed it’s true…I rode with them.” Anne shook her head and said…”See you later.” And she took her crew of seven and headed home.

They were all spending the night with her and she thought she just might get her tree out for them tomorrow and put them to work at her house.

Max kissed Liz at the foot of the huge Christmas tree and told her how proud of her he was. “Liz, they did a beautiful job…I really had my doubts when you suggested this but I am truly amazed at what they did. It is beautiful.”

“Thank you Max…I knew they would do a good job…they just seem so willing to please. All they need is for someone to show a little faith in them. I just love it. Tomorrow we can do the little tree in the living room and put the presents we bought for everybody under it. What do you say?”

“Whatever you want sweetheart. Now, are you hungry at all? I think I could go for a piece of pie.”

“Well, maybe a little piece…what kind did you have Liv fix today?”

“I believe this one is apple.”

“Oh goodie…I love apple pie and ice cream…race you to the kitchen…”

And our newly weds were off to the kitchen…soon they were finished with their snack and headed up the back stairs to bed. Max had already checked all of the doors and lights and was groping Liz’s backside as she started up the steps…she just laughed at him and then she started to remove her sweater as she continued up … Max chuckled at her and by the time they reached the bedroom Liz was stripped naked from the waist up and merely stepped out of her slippers, unzipped her jeans and pulled her underpants and jeans down in one slick motion…Max just stood there and watched her and she raised one eyebrow and said…

”Come on Evans, what’s taking you so long…don’t shake the tree if you don’t want the peaches.” Max roared at her and then got just as naked as she was and growled as he laid her down on the big warm bed…”I’ll show you peaches you little imp…come here.” And she did as he commanded…oh life was good.

Destiny:Yes it is...my favorite "But my teacher says!" Ken should love that one.
Jan:thanks...almost did it again (Janet) sorry!

*~*~*

Chapter: 53

Monday was another big day…sonogram time. Usually the doctor waited until the third month but Liz was starting to have some discomfort so she decided to have a look now just to be on the safe side. It was close enough since they really weren’t sure of an actual conception date.

Liz and Max showed up at the doctors office just about 15 minutes before their appointment and were sitting in the waiting room when the doctor came in through the main door. She smiled at Max and Liz and motioned them to follow her in to the examining room…

“So sorry I’m late Mr. and Mrs. Evans, but Mrs. Alvarez decided to give birth this morning. She wasn’t due for two more weeks but mother and child are doing just fine.” The doctor was a little breathless but seemed excited to see them.

Max told her that they were actually a little early and not to worry about it and soon Liz was settled on the examining table and the doctor was ready to take her pictures. She started to point out the baby’s heart beat and then she stopped and retraced her steps with the little instrument and looked again more carefully…Max and Liz both got concerned looks on their faces and finally Liz had to ask…

”Is something wrong?”

“Oh I don’t think so Liz…see this right here?” and the doctor pointed to a tiny little speck that was moving and Liz said “Yes.”

“Well look over here, do you see the same thing?” And Liz’s eyes got really big, Max wasn’t real sure what was happening and then Liz smiled a great big smile and grabbed Max’s sleeve and pointed to the screen…

”What is it Liz?” He asked…and Liz looked at him and said

“Two, Max, two of them. We’re having twins. Merry Christmas Max…twins.”

“Oh Holy Mother of God…two babies…oh Liz, I love you.” And Max bent over and kissed his wife right in front of that doctor …he kissed her like he never kissed her before and Liz could only smile…He was truly happy about this and Liz felt like she could fly. Two babies…how wonderful she thought.

The doctor was almost as happy as Max and Liz…she had seen happy reactions before but these two took the prize for happiness.
When everybody arrived for Christmas they each had an envelope attached to their Christmas stockings that Liz had made for them. Inside of the envelopes was a copy of the sonogram showing the twins. And everyone cried. No one knew why but they cried…they were tears of joy but there were tears just the same.

They all agreed that only little insignificant gifts would be given because nobody needed anything but Liz and Max had managed to surprise them with their gifts from the Mediterranean…but the sonogram was the best gift of all.
Later that morning, while they were having a lovely brunch that Olivia had prepared the day before they discussed their ideas with helping the four girls with their educational expenses at great length,

In the short time that they knew the girls they all realized that the girls would not accept anything for nothing so Liz and Max explained their idea of having the girls work with the children at the estate. They would pay the girls but a part of the repayment of their college expenses would be working with the kids for a specified length of time.

Philip and Diane both thought this was a marvelous idea as did Alex and Isabelle. Jeff and Nancy were overwhelmed with the generosity of the whole group. It was a damned shame they hadn’t been this close to them before now. Nancy had the rougher time of the two…She was fighting guilt along with confusion but was doing her very best to overcome all of it, the love was always there she just never knew that it was alright to express it nor did she know how but she was learning.

Then Liz asked Philip if he would oversee the project of the children’s facility. They would have to investigate every aspect of this since none of them really knew anything about this type of business. They would have to hire instructors…find out how many children they could have at one time. Check out the possibility of insurance and being an accredited organization…the list went on and on…and then there was the realization that they would have to find another place to live.

Max didn’t see a problem with that.

“Liz, we can even build a home right here on the property if you would like? That way we would be close to everything.” Max said.

“That sounds like a great idea Max…you know I love Charley and Margaret’s house.” Liz said thoughtfully.

“Liz. I’m not evicting Charley just because you like his house!” Max said, with a little chuckle.

“Oh. My. Word…Maxwell Evans, I never in a million years wanted you to evict Charley.” Then she saw the twinkle in Max’s eye and said…”You Jerk”

“I’ll build you a house like Charley’s if you want me to, okay? Then we won’t have to evict him…”

Liz reached over and punched Max in the arm and everyone laughed at them.
They all had a very nice Christmas and all stayed through the New Year. Michael, Maria, Jim and Amy had all stayed in Roswell for Christmas but came for New Years and Max and Liz also invited Pete, John, Josh and Jay and the entire group including the kids. There was an early afternoon skating party followed by a nice dinner and then games for the kids and music and dancing for the adults. Liz had set up a dart board in the empty classroom along with a pool table and a card table. Most of the adults stayed in the large living room and just talked and danced and enjoyed each others company in a very relaxed atmosphere. It was a very nice evening for everyone.
And so Christmas came and went…winter came and went and soon Liz and Max had two beautiful baby girls…Briana and Deana Evans were born in early June. They were a little early but that was expected.

They were perfectly healthy baby girls and their parents were elated…their grandparents were all there for the birth of their grandchildren and everyone couldn’t wait to spoil them. And then it was Christmas again…the girls were six months old and just beginning to really take notice of things…and the ‘magnificent seven’ loved playing with them. The boys came to decorate the Christmas tree again this year.

Liz had purchased a truck load of ‘Raggedy Ann’ stuffed dolls to decorate the tree with and the girls sat in their little swings and supervised every move the boys made while mom and dad watched them very closely…and when Max and Liz had their Christmas cards done they were very special indeed… Take a look…

Destiny:Thanks
Natalie:thanks, I do like to dream...
LilLoucfer:Thanks
Jan:call me the dreamer...if only it was like that in real life!


*~*~*

Chapter: 54

The Evans managed to get over the holidays then it was time for Max to start practice and to finish up at Penn state Philadelphia…Liz was still working at the lab and things were coming right along…. Joanne and the girls had decided to move to the estate permanently and work with the Evans whenever and wherever they were needed when their hectic school schedule allowed. Max, Liz, Philip, Diane, Isabelle and Alex all helped with the expenses that their scholarships did not cover and the girls all agreed to the contracts Philip had drawn for them regarding working off the money at the facility for children. It was a win-win situation for everyone.

There were many projects in the works and they were all being overseen by Olivia, Kathy and Philip. Philip and Diane practically moved into the estate and Philip took over the library downstairs as his main office since it had the most room for conferences. The work involved in setting up this children’s clinic was tremendous.

Diane was a hands on grandmother and loved it. Max and Liz decided to keep the six bedroom suites just as that. Some of their patients actually had to have their parents with them since some of the problems would have been caused by the parents…i.e.: Liz’s case. Although she managed to come out on top many don’t. So they opened up the third floor as a dormitory.

They built an identical setup over the pool on the other side of the estate over the as well … now they could segregate boys from girls. They were capable of handling 12 girls and 12 boys at one time. They decided to take children between the ages of 5 and 12 because anyone over that age would be old enough to survive without their parents better and attend non-boarding facilities. This was not a good analogy but it was the only way they could make a determination that was needed to be made at the time. There were so many minute details that had to be decided that it was mind boggling.

Many in Max’s league found out what they were doing and wanted in on the facility.

Philip held a meeting with the interested team members and explained that a large corporation made it possible for people to get lost in the shuffle and if it were possible for the rest of the group to open a facility similar to the one they were working on it would be wonderful but this one would remain a small corporation and private. The facility in Arizona would continue to be run as a corporation but not this one.

Many of the Baseball Players decided to look into the possibility of developing similar projects across the U.S. and asked Philip if he would work with their lawyers to oversee the groundwork. Philip was more than glad to undertake this challenge and opened an office in Philadelphia and he gave Jesse full charge of the Roswell office. He hired a complete staff of lawyers, paralegals, secretaries and receptionists. This was becoming a complete conglomerate all because Dr. Elizabeth Parker decided children needed help.
Life at the estate was changing daily but the babies didn’t have a clue. They had their mommy and daddy every morning for play time, bath time and breakfast with Olivia and Poppa and Meema…not to be confused with Dada and Mama…oh and don’t forget “Duv” (Olivia). Then Dada and Mama left and Meema and Duv played with them all day and then at dinner they had everyone again…They loved everyone and everyone loved them.

Their Dada and Mama laid on the floor with them…talked to them, tickled them and played with them all evening. They got to go swimming with Dada and Mama every night in the big pool…Dada and Mama would put these puffy things on their arms and they swam all over the pool naked…it was so much fun and mama and dada hugged them and swam with them for a whole hour and then they would go upstairs to mama and Dada’s room and lay on their bed while dada sang to them and mama would hold them close and they always woke up the next day in their own room again. Life with Dada and Mama was wonderful and no one was left alone to just grow up.
Back in Connecticut Detective Sergeant Kyle Valenti was visiting Tess Harding regularly. The doctors had discovered many problems with Tess besides the obvious and with extensive therapy Tess was becoming quite normal. She needed medication daily to keep in balance but she definitely had a good head on her shoulders and was a very willing patient. Kyle’s kindness was very much appreciated and Tess eventually began to understand what it felt like to have someone really care about you, and Kyle definitely cared for Tess…he had for years.

Don Adams was another story altogether…he was sent to prison on multiple charges and was serving multiple prison sentences. His wife had no idea he had married another woman or was capable of murder but at least she had sense enough to get away from him before any permanent damage could be done to her or her children.
Max finally took over the paper on the Crashdown and Michael and Maria were now the sole owners.

Nancy was still seeing a therapist and her progress was exceptional and when the café was finally turned over to Maria and Michael she and Jeff decided to move to the suburbs of Philadelphia to be closer to Liz, Max and the babies. They visited at least once a week but Liz was very unwavering when it came to leaving the girls alone with her mother…she just didn’t trust her and she never would, no amount of therapy would ever change her mind on the subject. She loved her, wanted her children to be a part of her parents lives but not on a one on one basis. She just was not comfortable with it. Maybe when they were all grown up they would visit Nancy and Jeff but not as children…never. Max could not budge her…
Nancy and Jeff wanted to know if they could take the girls to the mall to see the Easter Display….

“Liz, she’s fine, she would never hurt them. Honey, you have to trust her.” Max said…

“No Max, I don’t have to trust her…it’s final…they don’t go anywhere out of our sight with those babies…is that clear? She will never have the opportunity to say anything to them to hurt them…EVER!”

Max smiled at his petite little wife and pulled her into a hug…”Alright sweetheart, they will never be alone with her.”

“Good…don’t bring it up again, it just upsets me.” She smiled and gave her husband a hug…she loved him with every fiber of her being but she would not budge on this.

Max continued to hold his wife and cuddle her…”Okay…no more upsetting the little mama.” Max understood how deep Liz’s wounds were and just how well she dealt with them and he had no intentions of hurting her.

Liz looked up into her husbands golden eyes and smiled…”I love you.”

“Good, that’s all that is required of you.” And he planted another kiss on her temple before heading out the door to the nursery where there were two giggling babies waiting for him. They would not see an Easter Display with their grandparents alone….
Max walked into the nursery and there they were standing up and hanging on to the railings jabbering at each other and Deana was as naked as the day that she was born…Max snuck out the door and went and grabbed Liz and the camera and headed right back to the room off their bedroom. Liz knew better than to say anything…they were up to something that their daddy thought was pretty cool but when she peeked around the door she was not ready for the sight waiting for her.

Not just one of them but both of them were standing and how Deana managed to get out of all of her clothes was beyond her. She had to turn around and stifle a laugh while Max just stood there and took pictures. The girls didn’t pay any attention to either of them at all, it was as though they were in their own little world…and they were. Finally the flashes caught their eyes and they discovered their mommy and daddy and started rocking back and forth in their cribs and jabbering at their parents…

“Well, good morning ladies…did you have a good rest?” Liz asked as she wandered over to Deana’s crib to check out the clothes strewn all over her little blankets…sleeper pushed through the railings, a very wet diaper sitting right in the middle of the sheets and a very happy baby smiling with two upper teeth showing through her gums. Liz picked her up and patted her little bottom as she hugged her close and headed for Briana’s crib. Briana held up her little arms to her mommy and Liz gave her a great big smile and sat Deana down next to her and Lifted Briana for a big hug and kiss while Daddy took his pictures. Soon Max was beside Liz and had the naked little one in his arms and was planting raspberries all over her belly which caused her to laugh out loud and pee all over her daddy’s clean shirt. Liz just looked at him and smiled…

”you should know better.” Was her only reply.

Soon they had both babies in the tub playing and taking their baths and then they headed downstairs to have breakfast with poppa and meema…Duv had breakfast ready for everyone included the baby cereal and juice in the sippy cup. The girls were given toast to hold and chew on while everyone ate and discussed the business of the day and so it went just about everyday. The construction on the building was coming along quite nicely and they had a regular industrial contractor helping with the necessary remodeling.

Max and Liz figured they would have to move from the estate when everything was complete but in the meantime they enjoyed their life in the big building.