Second Chances (AU,M/L,ADULT) [WIP]

[Karen O]

Title: Second Chances

Author: Karen O

Category: AU M/L

Rating: Adult

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Summary: What if you had a second chance to live the life you could have had?

Wonderful banner by RosDude.

Prologue



2002



I’m pregnant.

I never thought two little words could change everything…that they could demolish my life goals and dreams to get out of this damn town. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Not now.

We were so careful. We took every precaution we knew and what we learned in health class our freshman year of high school to prevent this very thing from happening. At first we thought it was a false alarm, being stressed from trying to pick a college and trying to ace our final exams but when I saw that positive sign on that damn white stick, I felt my world crumble around me.

And now I’m here, sitting in my old jeep, waiting anxiously for her to come out. I know this is hard but it’s the only way. We’ve both just turned eighteen a few months ago and the thought of raising a baby now is just ridiculous.

I turn on the wipers as the rain begins to smack against my windshield. What perfect weather for such a shitty day. The knuckles on my left hand are completely white from gripping the steering wheel, which I had no recollection of doing in the first place. I slouch down in my seat with a heavy sigh and run my hand down my face slowly. I wanted to go in with her, to help her through this, but she refused me.

That’s when I see her, sneaking out the back sliding doors in her baggy red hoodie, in the corner of my eye.

Even though it’s raining cats and dogs, she walks slowly out towards me, getting drenched in the process. She suddenly stops and throws up onto the pavement of the parking lot. I open the door and jump out. “Liz!” I yell and start to run towards her.

“Liz?” I ask as I place my hand on her shoulder. Her hood is up and blocking her face from me. “Are…are you okay?” I ask and as soon as the words come out of my mouth, I regret it. Of course she’s not okay.

She spits up a little bit more and finally straightens her back. By now, we are both soaked from head to toe. Her eyes are still covered and all I can see is her lips. Her trembling chapped lips. “C’mon,” I place my hand on the small of her back and slowly guide her to the car.

I help her into the passenger seat before I round the car to get into mine. We’re both completely silent as I buckle my seat belt. The only sound is coming from the rain bashing against the roof of the jeep, and the thunder in the gray sky.

I swallow the lump in my throat as I reach towards her with a shaky hand. I’m actually very surprised when she doesn’t push my away as I peel off the hood away from her head. When I see the wet trails down her cheeks, my heart breaks even more.

“Liz…,” I whisper. “I’m…I’m sorry,”

“Just drive Max,” Her voice is quiet. She’s exhausted. “I want to go home,”

I nod silently as I put my keys in the ignition making the engine roar to life. We have a long drive back to Roswell. We have to keep this a secret.

I glance towards her about every five seconds, watching the expressions cross her face. Disappointment, sadness, and fear. Her head is resting against the window and I reach across the arm rest to grab her hand. She quickly moves it, placing it in her own lap. “Baby, you’re going to get sick again if you keep your head against that,” I state softly. The jeep isn’t the smoothest ride. The whole vehicle is shaking and the top rattles against the wind.

She keeps her head there though, not making any intension to move it from the glass. We drive in silence for a long time. Not listening to music, or chatting away like we normally do.

“If…,” She says finally. “If it would have been a girl, I would have named her Sofie,”

A pain fills my whole body. Names? She already thought of names. I look over at her once more, seeing another tear fall from her eye.

It’s in that moment, when it hits me. Like a ton of bricks against my heart.

I’ve lost her.




TBC?

[Karen O]

Thank you everyone for the feedback!

Also, yayaliens, I listened to that song and I have to agree. It would have been a perfect song to use!



Part 1




2008




“Max…,” She moans my name as her slim fingers glide through my hair. I feel her wedding band scrape against my scalp. “That…oh,” I glide my tongue across her collarbone slowly. “That feels so good,”

Her hands go for my leather belt, trying to unbuckle it and with a groan I pull her closer to my hard body. She wraps her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck pulling me down against her on my desk. “Wait,” I pull my lips away from her revealed breast.

She bites her bottom lip with a smile as I lift her up and quickly grab a hold of her moist panties pulling them down from beneath her skirt. “Hurry Max. I want you. Now,” She sighs and I smile in confidence. I like that I can do this. Make girls beg for me.

I whip off my belt and she sits up to unzip my pants when my office phone begins to ring. “Ignore it,” She demands pulling me back down on her.

“I am,” I pull her face to mine and suck on her red luscious lip. “We have to make this quick though,” The phone is still ringing in my ear.

“Don’t we always?” She asks in a flirtatious tone. She reaches over and hangs up the phone making the constant ringing stop. “Just hurry up and stick it in, Mr. Evans,” She giggles and I feel her feet moving against my legs, making my trousers and boxers fall to the floor.

“Mmm,” I moan into her ear, sucking lightly on it in the process. I feel my tip rub against her wetness. Without breaking the kiss we are in, I reach into the drawer of my desk and pull out a condom from the stash I have. “Let me get this on,”

She groans in disappointment from me pulling away from her and the fact that my phone is ringing again.

I slump my shoulders in defeat and pick it up. “What?” I bark into the receiver. “Mary, I told you I was busy.”

“Mr. Evans, your mother is on line one,” The older woman tells me. My boner is nonexistent now.

“Mary,” I use my free hand to rub my temple. “I told you…tell her I’m on vacation,” I haven’t talked to my mother in a month. The last time I saw her in person was two years ago at my father’s funeral.

“That’s 4 weeks now, Max,” She replies in a sharp tone. She knows what I’m doing in here.

“Look, just tell her okay? I…I’ll call her back next week,” Without waiting for a reply I hang up. I stand there for a few moments, my shirt unbuttoned and my pants down to my ankles. “Helen, I have to go. I have a meeting at noon,” I help her off my desk and bend down to pull my pants back up and buckle my belt quickly.

I watch her put her underwear back on with a frown and I roll my eyes. “Sorry, but this is real important.”

“Yeah, yeah,” She buttons up her silk top and uses her hands to straighten it out. “Maybe next time?” She asks with a raised brow.

“Sure,” I shrug my shoulders tucking my shirt back in and reaching for my tie from the floor. “Maybe next time,” I quickly tie it around my neck. “Does this look straight?” I ask and she nods quickly. I look at her silently, making sure she looks appropriate enough to go back to work. She does so I reach for the papers on the corner of the desk.

“Here,” I hand them to her. “Don’t forget these,” She runs her fingers through her curly black hair to make it less nappy from me pulling at it. She snatches them out of my hand and we begin to walk out.

“I want that faxed over to HR immediately,” I tell her as we walk out from my spacious office. “It’s urgent,” I can feel my secretary’s eyes burning into me.

“Of course, Mr. Evans,” With that she walks away from me without a second glance.

“Do you have any other messages for me, Mary?” I ask my secretary walking up to her desk and scoop up some m&ms that are in her candy tray. I chew silently as I watch her fidget with her glasses on her face then look through some handwritten notes.

“Mr. Carson called to confirm lunch reservations on Monday for your briefing. I told him you would meet him at Masa at one pm sharp,”

“Shit,” I pop more candy into my mouth. “I totally forgot about that,”

“Mr. Evans,” She starts to rearrange the pens and pencils on her desk. She is such a neat freak. “Maybe you should spend more time thinking with your head,”

“What? I do think with my head…?” I say slowly in confusion.

“No, Mr. Evans. I’m saying you should start to think with this head,” She points to my brain. I cough from almost choking on the chocolate candy. She maybe an old lady, but she knows her stuff.

“Right,” I can feel myself blush as I scratch behind my ear. “Listen, I’m going to have to come in tomorrow and-,”

“Tomorrow is Saturday,” Mary interrupts while typing something out on her keyboard. “You know I always spend Saturday’s with my grandson,” Actually, I didn’t know that.

“Yes, I know Mary, but I really need your help sorting out paper work for that presentation on Monday,”

“Max Evans,” She shakes her head slowly and I can see the light vein start to pop out on her forehead. I tend to have that affect on her.

“Oh please. I need you, Mary,” I say in my George Bailey voice and get on my knees in front of her desk. I can hear some giggles from behind me. “If you come we would be out of here at noon. That gives you plenty of time to take Mark-,”

“Mike,” She corrects me. Okay, I should know that.

“That’s what I said. It’ll give you plenty of time to take Mike to the park and zoo and all that other jazz,” Again, she shakes her head. “Mary, I need your help,”

“Fine,”

I stand up from my knees. “Thank you,” I reach back towards her now almost empty candy dish and she smacks my hand away.

“Go work, Mr. Evans,”

I chuckle to myself as I make my way back to my office. “See you later, Mary.” I’m fully aware that it drives her crazy that she works for a “young kid”, as I’ve heard her say before. She’s been with me since the beginning of my career as advertising manager at New York Magazine though. The youngest in the magazines history but I worked my way up for it.

I knew the right things to say and the right time to say it. I saw things to make the company money no one could and well… I was the best.

My paychecks show that.


****


I walk into my downtown loft and toss my keys onto the table. There’s a little bounce in my step and a soft whistle coming from my lips.

After meeting with my boss earlier, I was informed that if I did well at my lunch on Monday, I would have a nice little extra bundle in the bank. I smile to myself. How could someone not like me? I’m witty, charming, and well, handsome.

I walk towards the bedroom, loosening up my tie and rolling up my shirt sleeves. I feel like I’m on top of the world at this very minute. Maybe I should throw a get together…a nice little party.

A soft knock coming from my front door interrupts my thoughts.

I glide through my home, which is full of lavish, expensive things a man my age would want. I make it to the door and smile as I look through the peephole. I open the door quickly and rest myself against it.

“Hello,”

“Hello,” She smiles back.

“I had a feeling I would see you today,” I look over her, up and down. She’s wearing a long coat which hugs her curves nicely. Her nice smooth legs are just begging me to touch them.

“Mmm, Max Evans. Always so cocky. May I come in?” She asks licking her lips.

“Of course, Tess,” I move over as she makes her way in. The sound of her black stilettos echo through my place. “So what do I owe this pleasant surprise?”

“Oh I don’t know,” She walks closer to me shrugging her boney shoulders up. “I just wanted to see you,”

“Oh really?” Her nose touches the tip of mine. Her blonde curls frame her face and I move them out of the way.

Before I can reach down and kiss her, she pulls away from me. “I’ve got a little surprise for you, Max Evans,” Before I know it, she unties the string keeping her coat against her body. My mouth waters as she gives me a good view of what she’s actually wearing underneath it.

“Nice…,” Once again I move my eyes up and down her body. “When did you get this?” I run my index finger down her bare flat stomach to the top of her revealing lace panties.

“The other day. I saw it and thought of you. Is it sexy?” She whispers dropping the coat completely onto the floor. Leaving her only in her heels and black lingerie.

“Very,” I pull her close to me. “You know what would be even sexier?” I move my hands up and down her bare back.

“What?” She asks while unbuttoning my shirt.

“Me, taking this off of you,” I cup her bottom with my hands and pull her up. She wraps her legs around my waist. I place her on my dining room table. “Very, very slowly,”

She giggles as I unhook the back of her bra. “Such a smooth talker,” I feel her hand reach in my pants to grab a hold of my very hard body part.

“Such smooth hands,” I tell her back as she starts to stroke me.

My life is pretty sweet.



TBC?

[Karen O]

A/N: Thank you all so much for the FB. It's awesome





Part 2




“Grandma says you go through girls like a public restroom goes through toilet paper,”

I look up from the pile of papers in front of me to look at the eleven year old boy with a Yankees cap on his head. “She told you that?” My guess is that he has no idea what that even means.

He shakes his head not even bothering to look up from his DS player. “I heard her tell that to my mom this morning when she picked me up. She says she won’t be surprised if you end up in hell,”

I actually laugh out loud at this. Oh, Mary. Cranky, old, wrinkly Mary.

Before I can say anything else, Mary comes walking into my office with two Starbucks coffees and a bottle of orange juice. “Were you good for Mr. Evans when I was gone?” She asks handing Mike his juice.

“He was fine,” I answer her instead. “We were just having a nice chat about public restrooms,” I wink at her as she passes me my coffee.

“Oh,” Is all she says. She takes a quick sip of her beverage not looking at me. Instead she glares at her grandson. Score! Max Evans: one point.

I glance at my Rolex watch and fall back against my desk chair. I’m exhausted. I didn’t get much sleep last night due to me trying to entertain my guest. I try to focus my attention onto my computer screen, trying to make my power point precise and perfect. It seems impossible though from the noises coming from the seat a few feet away from me. The volume of the game slowly get’s louder and louder. I look over to Mike sternly. He tries to hide his smile as he turns back down the volume. I hear Mary snicker across from my desk. Mary and grandson: one point.

I really don’t like kids.

“Grandma,” I hear Mike whine, trying to get comfortable in the chair he’s sitting on. “I’m so bored,” Did I mention I really don’t like kids? Maybe it’s my luck though…I seem to have problems from people named Mike or Michael.

“Mikey, I told you we’ll be out of here in a few more hours,” Mary replies while sorting out some papers.

“Tell you what kid,” I speak up getting his attention from the game he’s playing. “Why don’t you do me a favor? See that cabinet over there?” I point to it. He only glances up to it for a second.

“Yeah,” His attention is back on his video game.

“Well it’s full of old junk that I’ve been meaning to get rid of,” He looks at me with a ‘what’s your point’ look. This kid has spunk. “How about you go through it for me and toss everything?”

He just continues to look at me with a blank expression. “I’ll give you twenty bucks,”

“Make it thirty and we have a deal,”

“Mike!” Mary scolds him.

“Deal,” I say quickly before she can talk him out of it. He wastes no time running towards the cabinet.

I want to scream in relief. Now the room is completely video game noise free. The only sounds in the office are from me and Mary moving around papers and Mike tossing junk into my wastebasket.

About an hour into my power point presentation, I run my hand through my shaggy hair. “I think my eyes are going cross,” I say and I hear Mike laugh from across the room. “I feel like this damn thing is going nowhere,” I curse at my computer screen.

“I forwarded an e-mail to you last night, before I left. It’s full of some old notes that might be useful to you,” Mary says not bothering to look up at me.

“Why thank you, Mary. That info could have been nice, oh I don’t know, a few hours ago,” I say already opening up my email. I see Mary smile and hear Mike chuckle again from across the room. Mary and grandson: two points. I drop my shoulders in defeat. She always wins.

I’m not surprised to see that I have many new unread messages. I’m pretty bad at keeping up with emails. I’m more of a face to face kind of person, not email to email. I move my cursor over all the unread messages but immediately stop when I see one from someone other than Mary and my fellow coworkers. It’s from my sister.

I click on her message and wait for it to fully load onto my screen.

Max,
Don’t you think it’s a bit ridiculous that I have to email you through your work email since you obviously pay no attention to the ones I send you through your personal one? I’ve been trying to get a hold of you, but I guess you’re still on “vacation”. But enough about that. I have big news…I’m going to have a baby.

My eyebrows pop up in surprise. I didn’t see that coming. My sister and I were always close growing up and I never saw her as the “mother type”. She confused the hell out of me, by marrying her boyfriend Alex. He was pretty cool…but a little on the geeky side. Very un-Isabel like.

Things are going alright here. Nothing’s really changed (that’s Roswell for you). Michael cut down on the drinking and Maria has let him move back home. Mom is alright…just missing her son. Liz is getting married next month.

I reread that sentence about ten times.

Liz is getting married next month.

I start to get that feeling in my chest as I think of her. Her long dark hair and big loving eyes. They weren’t so loving though the last time I saw her. My eyes start to burn as I close out the email not bothering to reply or finish it.

Why did she add that in there? Did she think I wouldn’t notice it hidden in the middle of her paragraphs? That I would simply read past it? Who was she going to marry? Does he make her laugh the way I used to? Or does he know the one place to kiss her that makes her knees go weak?

“Max?” I hear Mary call out to me but I can’t take my eyes away from my computer. “Max?” She reaches over and touches my shoulder. “Are you okay? You look like you’re going to throw up,”

“Cool!” I hear Mike run over to us.

“I’m fine,” I swallow the lump in my throat. “I’m just…tired…real tired.” I lie. “Listen, why don’t you call it a day? I can finish up here,” I start to stand up from my seat.

“Sweet!” Mike is already getting his things together.

“Are you sure?” Mary asks with a concerned look on her face.

“Grandma! He said its fine,” Mike hands her purse to her and grabs a hold of her hand. “Let’s get the heck outa here!” He starts to drag her out of the office.

“Go on, Mary,” I say as they reach the door. “I’ll be fine. You guys have a great day,”

Once they are out of the room, I walk over to my office window and look down at the busy streets below me. Before my thoughts go back to my sisters email and I hear a throat clear itself behind me. I turn to see Mike standing there with his hand held open.

I sigh and look at him while I reach for my wallet in my back pocket and pull out a twenty and a ten dollar bill. I slap it in his hand and he smiles up at me. “Thanks, Mr. Evans!” He yells out as he rushes out the door and once again leaving me alone with my thoughts.

I haven’t thought about Liz Parker in a while. I’ve trained myself not to. Every time I do, my heart hurts…too much that I can’t stand it. Our break up was hard…probably the hardest thing I’ve been through aside from my father’s sudden tragic death in a car accident.

She wouldn’t look at me the same way after that horrible day years ago. I never saw her laugh anymore or smile at anything when I was around her. I hurt her the worst way I could. I made her get rid of the one thing she wanted more than anything…the one thing we created together. She was the love of my life and I fucked it up with my selfishness.

This is my biggest regret.

The rest of my day goes by terribly slow. Maybe it’s just me though. Ever since that email, I’ve been walking and talking like a zombie. Why did she have to tell me this? I could get along with life not knowing that another man was going to make her happy.

I piss myself off with that thought. She deserves to be happy and have the best. I just wanted her to have that with me but we are over. We have been for a long time.


****


1:17 am

I look at that red numbers for a long time. So long my vision goes blurry. I finally roll over in my king sized bed and look up at the ceiling. I can’t get her out of my mind. Was she happy or secretly miserable like me? Yes, I had more money than an almost 25 year old could dream of, all the ladies I wanted and a job that didn’t really feel like work to me. It’s all a show though…deep down I silently cry like a baby.

Baby. I almost had a baby in my life.

I close my eyes trying to force myself into sleep but nothing works. Getting up, I quietly try not to wake up the petite body in bed with me. I grab my pants off the wooden floor and slide them on.

“Where are you going?” I hear her whisper in the dark room.

“Out. I’ll be back later,” I use my hands to locate my shirt hidden in the darkness.

“Max, come back to sleep,” I hear her move on the bed.

“Tess, I said I’ll be back later.” The bar a few blocks away is calling my name for a drink. I rush out of my place and sigh in relief as I make my way down the street. I put my hands in my coat pockets trying to adjust to the cold early November air. I’ve made this walk quite often.

I finally make it to my destination and the familiar smell of smoke fills my lungs as I walk in. There are only a few people in here which is weird since it’s a Saturday night. I don’t mind though, the less people the better. I sit at the bar and sigh deeply.

“What’ll be, pal?” I look up to an unfamiliar face.

“You new?” I ask. I’ve been coming here for years. Every employee here was on a name to name basis with me.

“Yeah, you can say that,” He taps his fingers against the surface of the bar. “So you know what you want?”

“Just give me the strongest shot you got,” I reach into my coat pocket and pull my own pack of cigarettes out. “And keep them coming,”

“Uh oh,” He says over the television playing above us. “Got some problems?” He starts to prepare my shot.

“Many,” I reply lighting up my cigarette.

“That’s what I love about this job,” He passes me my drink. “You get to hear so many things and stories. Want to share?”

I take my shot quickly and hit the glass against the counter. I can only imagine what my face looks like. Damn, that was strong. “Not really,” I finally say and take another drag from my smoke.

“We’ll see about that,” He says more to himself that to me. I move the shot glass towards him slowly. “Oh yes. That’s right…keep em’ comin’,”

Four shots later, I am amazed with myself for being able to keep my head up. The bar is pretty much completely empty except for the couple sitting in a booth in the back.

“I broke her heart,” I slur out to the old bartender. “I really fucked up but at the time I thought it was for the best,” I take another shot he passes me. “What’s your name?” I point my finger towards him like a damn idiot.

“You can call me…Will,”

“Okay, Bill,”

“No, I said W-,”

I cut him off. What I have to say is more important. “I still love her so much,” Again I feel the burn behind my eyes. “I want to touch her again. Hear her laugh. Smell her sweet scent…,” God, I’m drunk as shit and I can still tell I sound pathetic.

“You must have really cared for her,”

“I did…do,” I correct myself. “She hates me though,”

“I’m sure Liz doesn’t hate you,” I focus my eyes on him.

“How did you know her name?” I get out. “I never told you.”

“Of course you did,” He doesn’t make an action to pour me another shot. “You're Max, I’m Will and your ex is Liz,”

“Oh,” I can’t concentrate on anything.

“Would you go back? Go back and fix things if you could?”

Even in my drunken state, my mind goes to that day. “Yes,” I say without hesitation. “Shit…I would give anything just to be with her again. Even for just a week,”

“You know…sometimes it’s harder to go back and see what you’ve been missing out on. It’s easier not to know,”

I sit there in silence for a few seconds. “I just don’t want to hurt anymore. I want that memory out of my head,” I close my eyes and I can see the rain hit my old jeeps windshield.

“You’re a good man, Max,” He tells me honestly. “Maybe one day you’ll be able to fix this,”

That just pisses me off. I am not a good man and how in the hell could I fix something like this? “No,” I glare up at him. “You know nothing. Forget what I told you,” I stand up from the stool and see the room spin around me. I can feel the vomit rising in my throat.

“You’re in no condition to walk around,” He states.

“Shut up!” Again I point my finger at him. Well one of him. I see three of everything right now. “You can’t help me,”

“Yes I can. You have to let me,” He says softly. “Let me call you a cab,”

“No!” Before I can hear anything else, I stumble towards the exit.

Before I get there though, everything goes black.



TBC…?

[Karen O]

A/N: Thanks again everyone for the FB Also, pandas2001 the idea for this fic came from the trailer to that movie. Honestly, i've never watched it because i'm not the biggest fan of Nicolas Cage. I only like 3 of his movies and in one of them he has no lines



Part 3




“Wake up, Max. Open your eyes,” I feel a small slap against my cheek. “God, you’re a mess,”

I can feel him drag my body against the hard wood floor. “Oh no,” I slur out. “Oh no! You’re going to take advantage of me! What did you do to me?” I still can’t get my eyes to open completely but I move my arms and legs around trying to get away from him. It doesn't work at all.

“Shut up,” I hear Will say. “You’re drunk and being annoying as shit.” He sighs and I feel him pull me up by my arms to help me sit in an empty booth.

My head slams down onto the table and I moan in discomfort. “What happened?”

“You passed out,” I hear him put something on the table. “Drink this,”

I lift my head and see the glass of water. “Thanks,” I reply then take a huge swig. I look around the now empty bar. “Where is everyone?”

“Home, I guess,” Will shrugs his shoulders. “After your little episode, I closed the place down and told the other employees to head out,”

“Oh,” I can feel some vomit start to rise in my throat. I swallow it down though. “Sorry,”

“S’ok,” He replies sitting across from me. “Are you alright? You fell pretty hard,”

“I’m fine,” I lie. I feel like I could pass out right here and now. “Look, I got to go,” I try to stand up but it’s physically impossible. I quickly sit back down.

“Just take it easy, Max,” Will shakes his head back and forth. “You are not going to make this easy,”

“What?” I look at him and my eyes wince. Even though the bar has dim lighting my eyeballs feel like they are on fire. “Make what easy?”

“Look, I’m here to help you,”

“Yeah, I got that. You said you would call me a cab…?”

“No, Max. I’m here to help you…with your life,”

“My life? My life is great,” I’m trying to convince myself of this.

“Max,” He says sternly, obviously aware that I’m not being honest. “I’m going to give you a gift. A very special gift,”

“Uh, yeah. Okay,” I roll my eyes. “I have all I want. Thanks though,” Again I try to get up but he raises his hand and by some force I fall back on my ass. “What the hell?” I’m drunk as shit but I still know something not right is going on.

“Will you listen to me?” He looks up at the ceiling. “Why him?”

“Huh?” I take another sip of my water. “What are you? Some kind of witch or something?” I take a big intake of air. “Oh man, are you from Hogwarts?” I laugh at myself. Will doesn’t even smile.

“No,”

“A fairy?” An image of him comes to my brain. Puffy skirt and glittery wings included. Again, I begin to laugh.

“Wrong.”

“Are you….an angel?” Yet again, I giggle escapes my lips. Man, this guy is a nut. This time though he makes no denies. “So an angel, huh?” I ask. “Yeah….right,”

“Max Evans. You were chosen. Out of everyone in the entire world. Consider yourself lucky.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” I feel my eyes start to get heavy. “Look, I really need you to call a cab.” I’m already over this conversation.

He ignores me. “I’m going to show you what could have been,” He explains. “You and Liz-,”

“Don’t,” I interrupt him quickly. I’m starting to get pissed off again. “Don’t mention her name. You know nothing about my past,”

“I know everything about you,” He says. “You’re Max Evans, born January 15th. You have a sister named Isabel and your mother is Diane and your father’s name was Phillip. Michael Guerin is your best friend since childhood, who by the way has a massive drinking problem,” I sit across from him with my mouth open and eyes wide. “You started to date Liz Parker at age 15, by the time you were both 18, she became pregnant,” My breathing gets deep and the room starts to spin a little bit.

“How…how did-,”

He ignores my stammer. “You two did not keep the baby, so after graduation you fled town. Fled from your family and friends,” He finishes. “Now, I’m going to ask you something, Max,”

“Okay,” I whisper. I feel the alcohol again full force and I rest my head against the table.

“Do you want me to help you or not?”

An image of Liz pops into my head. The happy Liz. “Yes,” I whisper again.

“Close your eyes,” He instructs me but they are already closed. “When you wake up…everything will be perfect…,”



*****



Vanilla.

Vanilla and violets.

The smell of my favorite soap and perfume. Liz’s soap and perfume.

My face snuggles deeper into my pillow, trying to get a deeper sniff of it. I haven’t smelt this in 6 years. My eyes pop open on the spot. Vanilla? Violets?

These sheets are not blue and Egyptian cotton like the ones on my bed. I glance around the room in complete confusion. How much did I drink last night? I jump up from the bed and stare down at my clothes. I’m shirtless, just wearing flannel sleep pants. “Flannel?” I say out loud. I don’t own a single thing that’s flannel.

“Morning sleepyhead!” I hear over a running sink from behind the door by the dresser.

My heart skips a beat. “Liz…?” I ask in a whisper not believing my ears. I run my hand through my messy hair and look around the room. It’s full of boxes, making it obviously clear that someone has just moved in. I stand there for a second completely frozen. A shiny picture frame on my left grabs my attention. It’s my wedding picture. I’m married to Liz Parker. Without even thinking about it, I look down at my left hand and see a gold band wrapped around my ring finger. Yep, I’m married alright.

“Holy shit,” I whisper to myself, again running my hand through my hair. “Holy shit,” I close my eyes and shake my head quickly. I smack myself on the cheek a couple times, trying to wake myself up from this dream. This can’t be real….right? Maybe Will wasn't crazy after all....

“What are you doing?” I’m asked with a laughing tone.

My eyes burst open and there she is. Standing by the restroom doorway in her short sleep shorts and tight white tank top. “It’s about time you got up,” She says while brushing her teeth. “It’s going to be a busy day,”

“Liz?” I ask again with wide eyes. I stumble back and almost trip on a box behind me. I catch my balance though on the dresser.

She’s even more beautiful than I remember. But she looks older now. More secure in her self…and drop dead gorgeous. Instead of the straight strands of hair I used to love to touch, are long wavy locks falling down across her back. She’s still very petite but has more curves on her body begging to be touched.

“Holy crap, are you alright?” She asks me with a giggle. I stand there in complete silence. She gives me an “ookkkaaay” look before turning around to spit in the sink. I’m stuck there though, in the middle of the bedroom just staring at her.

“You going to stand there all day?” She laughs and uses a towel to dry hear hands. God, I missed that sound. I stop breathing as she walks up to me and frames my face between her tiny hands. “You drink too much last night?”

“Ye…yes,” I get out. I can’t take my eyes off her. “I think I drank way too much,” This has got to be a dream. A wonderful dream.

“Aw, poor baby,” She smiles up at me and moves my bangs off my forehead. “You have fun with Michael though?”

“Michael?” I ask. I still can’t get over the fact that I’m standing here right now. I haven’t heard from Michael in years…since my father’s funeral.

“Yeah, Michael. Our good friend since we were kids…?” She looks up at me and slowly shakes her head.

“What’s today?” I ask suddenly.

“It’s Sunday,” She replies checking my temperature with her hand. “You feel okay?”

I shake her hand off my face. “Sunday…Two thousand and….”

“Eight,” She finish for me. “It’s Sunday November 9th 2008,” She confirms to me with an annoying look. I feel a wave of emotion wash over me. I haven’t gone back in time. I’m on the right date that I should be.

“Well, I’m going to start getting the-…,” She starts to walk away but I grab a hold of her wrist and gently tug her back towards me.

“Max, what…-,” I don’t wait another second to press my lips against hers.

She tastes exactly like I remember. I run my thumbs over her cheek bones and move them down to her neck. Her skin is as smooth as I remember too. I can’t help but moan when she wraps her arms around my neck pulling me closer to her. Without a second thought I push us against the bedroom wall. I pull away quickly and run my mouth along her jaw line. “God, I missed you so much,” I whisper when I get close to her ear. I lightly suck on it in the process.

“Missed me?” She asks breathlessly. “Max, what are you talking about?”

“Nothing,” I place small kisses all over her face. “It’s just…,” I look over her body, head to toe. “I love you. So much,” I say in a dreamy sigh. It feels so good to say those words again to the woman who owns my heart. She always has and always will.

“I love you too, Max,” She smiles up at me.

My lips crash against hers again and I can’t stop myself from running my hand up beneath her top, exposing her flat stomach to me. “Max,” She moans with a large smile. “We can’t…,”

I lick my lips and grin down at her. “Of course we can,” It’s been so long.

She shakes her head and moves my hand away. “We can’t. I have to get Colin up and around. We can’t be late to your moms,” She kisses my chin and uses her index finger to play with the waistband of my sleep pants. “Tonight. I promise,” She moves past me and exits our bedroom.

“Colin?” I ask out loud and follow her. “Liz, who the hell is Col-,” I stop mid sentence as I realize I’m now standing in a baby room. Full of toy trains and teddy bears scattered around. I look up and see Liz pulling something out of a crib.

“Say good morning to daddy!” She turns around and I make eye contact with a pair of dark curious eyes.

“Mowing!” He yells out the best he can.

With my eyes wide I take a few steps back. Colin’s a baby. He’s my baby. I’m a dad. The ringing of a phone breaks me out of my trance and before I know it, Liz is putting him in my hands and running out of the room.

“Da!” He smiles up at me and I smile back at him. “Da!” He reaches up and touches my face. I hold him at eye level and take a good look at him. His dark mop of hair, deep brown eyes and his ears. Oh my god, he has my ears. Yes, he is my son. Pride fills my heart.

“Good morning, Colin,” He fidgets in my arms and I press him against my chest. I’ve never held a baby in my life, yet I find it rather easy like I’ve been doing it for years. He’s tiny, but it’s easy to tell he’s a few months over a year old. “Colin,” I say his name again with a dopey grin. Colin Evans. I like the sound of that.

“Alright boys, we got to hurry,” Liz enters the room again and takes Colin out of my arms. I miss him there already. “Let’s get you cleaned up, mister,” Liz coos the baby pressing kisses against his chubby cheek as she makes her way to the bathroom down the hall.

“Max, will you go make sure Sofie is getting up and around?”

My eyes quickly move up, from my son who’s giving me smiles and little waves, up to the back of Liz’s head.

Sofie.

“If it would have been a girl, I would have named her Sofie,”

I feel my heart tighten at the sound of her name. I haven’t spoken or thought about that name in a long, long time.

Liz and Colin disappear into the bathroom and I look down the hallway and spot the pink “S” hanging on the door at the end. With heavy feet I slowly make my way there and softly open the door.

Now this all makes sense. I know what I was brought here to see. This experience isn’t just for me and Liz. I’m supposed to see the life that I took away all those years ago. The life of my daughter.

The room is lit up by the sunrays beaming through the window and I glance around the bedroom slowly. Random toys and clothes are thrown on the floor and again, I see more boxes. These ones are labeled “Sofie” in little kid handwriting.

I round the side of the bed and look down at the face that secretly haunted me. She’s snuggled deep into her fluffy pillow and breathing lightly. “Oh God,” I whisper into the quiet room. I’ve only let myself think of what she would look like a handful of times…and she’s just as I imagined her. My palms get sweaty and my knees feel like giving out, so I carefully take a seat on the side of her bed. Her eyelids pop open and my heart breaks.

She has my eyes.

“Hi daddy,” She whispers up to me, with sleep still in her eyes. Hearing her call me daddy makes me want to break down right then and there but I don’t. I keep myself together.

“Hi Sofie,” I whisper back, swallowing the lump in my throat. She is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. With shaky fingers I move the long dark hair away from her face and she smiles. Her little pearly whites shining up at me. She sits up and stretches her little arms out in front of her.

“I’m still so sleepy,” She laughs lightly and yawns. “I wish I could sleep all day,” She readjusts her stuffed animal against her chest.

I feel my breathing get heavier and heavier as tears form behind my eyes. How could I have been so stupid? So heartless? How could I have gotten rid of something so precious and beautiful?

“Are you okay, daddy?” She asks scooting closer to me on the small bed. She moves her hand to my forehead. I can’t help the small smile that comes over my face. Like mother like daughter.

“I’m fine, baby,” I answer her.

“Here,” She hands the stuffed lamb to me. “Remember you said when you hug Mr. Sherman, everything would get better. Why don’t you hold him for a little bit, daddy? You look so sad,”

Before I know it I’m pulling her into my arms and pressing a kiss on the top of her sweet smelling head. I can feel Mr. Sherman smashed between us but I don’t loosen my grip on her. I’m scared if I do, she’ll disappear. I hold her for a long time, slowly rocking her back and forth against my chest.

“I’m so sorry, Sofie,” I whisper into her silky hair so she can’t hear me. “I’m so sorry,”

That’s when I can’t fight it any longer, and the hot tears fall from the corners of my eyes.




TBC

[Karen O]

Thanks for the FB everyone!





Part 4



My name is Max Evans. I am a well educated, successful 25 year old man. And I can not for the life of me figure out how to fasten a car seat in.

“Whatcha doin’?”

I look up at Sofie’s questionable stare. Even though I’m frustrated to the point where I could throw this damn thing into the neighbor’s yard, I can’t help but smile. She has big heart shaped sunglasses which cover most of her small face. She definitely likes to make a point with her wardrobe.

When I first saw her walk out of her bedroom, I had to do a double take. A little blue sweater matched with a yellow tutu skirt and black tights. I arched my eyebrow when I caught notice of the purple rain boots she wears to finish the outfit. Liz had to quietly “remind” me of Sofie’s little speech to us a few weeks ago. She told us that she was almost six years old and could pick out her own clothes because she’s a big girl now.

“Daddy, the strap goes through that,” Her little voice pulls me out of my thoughts.

“I know, Sofie,” I fib. She’s quiet again. Well she is for a second.

“Daddy, it’s supposed to be facin’ the other way,”

“I know. I was testing you, baby,” I turn the seat around. “You passed,” I wink at her and she gives me a big smile. I spot Liz walking up to the car with Colin and a diaper bag in her arms. She hands him off to me, so I can safely buckle him in. Nervously, I gently place him in the car seat and snap all the buckles I see. When I think I’ve finally figure it out, I look up to Sofie and she gives me a silent thumbs up for approval.

All morning I’ve been walking on eggshells. I have no idea what I’m doing. I’ve been dodging questions and trying not to ask so many questions myself about our life here. Everyone has seemed to take notice of my “odd behavior”.

I close the door carefully and run around the car and jump in the driver seat as Liz buckles up next to me.

“Alright,” I say with a smile as I start the engine. “Where to?”

Again, Liz gives me an annoying look and I hear Sofie giggle in the back seat.

“Mommy, what’s Daddy’s problem?”

“I don’t know, babe,” She answers while shaking her head and reaching back behind her to tickle her leg. “Max, you know we always go to your mom’s for Sunday breakfast,”

“Maybe he’s testing you, Mo-,”

“Uh,” I cut her off. “I know that. Let’s get going,” I pull out of the driveway slowly and it hits me that I know exactly where I am. Getting to my mother’s will be a breeze…well that’s if she still lives in the same house. The road trip there, I drive slow and take my time down each street, waiting for Liz to yell at me for missing a turn. But to my relief she doesn’t.

It’s a short drive and to my surprise Roswell has not changed at all and same goes for my childhood home. Everything looks the same as it did when I left years ago. Before we are all out of the car, my mother comes walking out of the house with a wide smile and open arms. I’ve missed her.

“Hi Grandma!” Sofie exclaims as she runs to her arms.

I can’t hide my own excitement when I see her and when I see Liz already heading towards where Colin is seated; I dash over to my mom for my own hug.

“Max,” She smiles at me and pulls me in for one. “How are you, dear?”

“I’m great,” I say honestly and keep my arms around her longer than she expected. “Everything is perfect,” I want to hug her forever.

“Grandpa!”

I open my eyes and spot my father standing in the front doorway with Sofie in his arms. My father is alive.

I don’t feel my legs moving as I walk up the sidewalk toward him and my daughter. The world around me goes fuzzy and I hear nothing. I finally make it to him as he looks at me and says, “Morning son,” He puts his hand on my shoulder.

No words come from my throat. Instead I just take a deep breath and pull him into a hug, silently praying that he doesn’t disappear in my arms…like he always does in my dreams of our reunion.

He’s really here though.

Memories flash in my head of him teaching me how to ride a bike, passing a baseball back and forth in the back yard, him sitting shotgun in my old jeep patiently teaching me how to drive.

This can’t be real. He’s shouldn’t be alive right now. I lost him two years ago in a car accident while he was on a business trip. But here he is standing in front of me, patting my softly on my back.

I guess it’s true. Every thing you do in life, no matter how little it is, can change the entire course of your life. What if me staying in Roswell really cancelled out my own father’s death? That single thought sends shivers up my spine.

“Just ignore him dad,” Liz says as she walks by us in the door way. “He’s been acting strange all morning,” She leans up on her tip toes and pecks him on the cheek.

I finally let him out of my grasp and run my hand over my eyes, trying to hold back my tears. I see my mom walk up to me with Colin in her arms. “Oh no,” She puts her hand on my forehead. “Are you getting sick?”

I fight the urge to roll my eyes. If I had a dollar for every time I heard that today. “I’m fine mom,” I tell her. “I’m just happy to see you. Both of you,”

All three of them share a concerned glance as my dad reaches for Colin himself. “Hey little buddy,”

I glance around the living room and I feel a ghost smile cross my face. Everything smells the same. Everything looks like same. Well sort of. Instead of pictures of me and Isabel filling the picture frames on the fire place mantel and on the wall, are the smiling faces of my children.

I always knew my folks would be devoted Grandparents.

I hear the front door open and see my giddy sister walk in with her husband in tow. My eyebrows go up in shock when I spot Alex Whitman. Instead of clean cut nerd look he sported all through out high school, he looks…hairy. Shaggy hair, dark beard intact. He still looks like a computer whiz though…I think it’s because he still wears those thick black glasses. I remember accidently hearing one of my sister’s conversations between her and a friend. She admitted how those glasses were such a turn on that she….

I can’t even think about that rest of how that conversation went without the urge to gag.

Of course Sofie is all smiles and yells as she spots her aunt and uncle and I silently wait my turn to say hello.

Alex and I share a stern handshake and of course Isabel just gives me a small punch on the shoulder. “Brother,”

“Sister,” I give her a small smack back on her arm. Just like the old times.

“Grandma say’s breakfast is served!” Sofie exclaims from the kitchen and we all file into the room to take a seat at the table.

Liz offers to help put the food on the table, but my mother denies her kindly. “I’ve got it, honey,”

“So kids,” My dad is look at me and my wife. My tummy starts to do flips at the thought. I’m married to Liz Parker. “How the new house coming along?”

“Oh, I love it,” Liz beams. “So much space. Way bigger than the last place,”

“Yeah,” I agree even though I have no recollection of what our last place looked like. I try and play it off that I do though…I can’t have them all think that I’m acting like I’ve been abducted by aliens. “Way bigger.” Smooth Evans.

“We still have a lot of unpacking though. But other than that it’s perfect,”

“That’s good,” He takes a sip of his coffee.

“How work at the UFO Center?” His eyes are on me. “That new employee still slacking off?”

I swallow my bite of food harshly and fight the urge to look behind me as if he’s asking somebody else. The UFO Center? He can not be serious. Sure, for a high school job it was okay. It paid for gas and the dates I took Liz on. But I’m still there? “Um,” I’m actually speechless.

I feel Liz’s hand on my own. “He’s such an easy going manager, the young employees feel like they can do whatever they want. He’s just got to lay some rules down,” Liz playfully winks at me.

Manager? I manage The UFO Center. What the hell? So far this is the only damper in my perfect life that I woke up to this morning.

“Liz, how’s your mom doing?” Isabel asks while spreading some butter onto her toast. I want to thank her for taking the attention away from me and my shitty job.

My ears perk up though to listen as I pour some more juice into my glass.

“She’s good. Her last chemo treatment was last month,” Liz replies cutting some fruit into small pieces and placing them on Colin’s high chair tray so he can eat them with his chubby hands. “They ran some tests last Thursday and they all came out to be perfect,”

“That’s wonderful!” My mom says while putting the last plate full of bacon on the table. “I need to give her a call soon,” She finally takes a seat at the table.

Mrs. Parker had cancer?

I feel my shoulders slump in depression. Someone so nice and giving should not endure such a horrible thing. Nancy Parker has always been welcoming and sweet to me…to everyone.

Not like her husband. When Liz and I first started dating, I would sometimes wake up in a cold sweat from the nightmares I would have about him kicking my ass. To simply put it: I’ve been on Jeff Parkers shit list since day 1.

I look over at Sofie as she takes a sip of her apple juice from her glass. She has to use both of her tiny hands to secure the cup so it won’t spill all over herself. That’s when it hits me. I will be the exact same way when some douche, who would rather think with his dick than his mind, tries to be with my little girl. I now have a new found respect for Mr. Parker.

“Maybe when she’s feeling up to it, us girls can all go out for lunch?” Isabel suggests. She could be a real sweetheart.

“She would love that,” Liz answers smiling.

After everyone starts digging into the delicious home cooked food, all attention is on my son who’s making the funniest and cutest baby noises I’ve ever heard. He’s such a little charmer.

As I pour the syrup around my food, I spot Isabel and Alex at the other end of the table whispering to each other like a bunch of sappy “so in love” idiots. She takes a deep breath and looks around at everyone.

“Okay!” Isabel claps her hands together and a she gets everyone’s attention. “So since everyone is here, Alex and I have an announcement,” She’s glowing.

“That’s right!” I think a loud as my mind goes back to the email she sent me and everyone at the table turns and looks at me. “You’re pregnant!”

I hear someone gasp at the table but my eyes are stuck on my sister, who looks like she wants to kick my face in. “How did you….seriously, Max?” I can see that little vein start to pop out on her forehead. That’s when I realize I’m in trouble.

“What?” My mom asks her with excited eyes.

I see Liz look at me and then back to her sister-in-law. “Isabel, is that true?”

“Uhhh,” Is all that I can muster to say.

She stands up from the table quickly. “What the hell! Max, you ruin everything! I’m sorry you two can pop out babies left and right,” She nods her head to where Sofie and Colin are sitting. “But for some of us it takes a little longer to conceive. And now you’ve taken away one of the hugest announcements of my life. So congrats,” She looks at our parents. “You guys are going to be Grandparents again!’

During her little tantrum, I look over at my kids and see Sofie looking up at her Aunt with wide eyes and Colin is just smiling like always. Liz is giving me a look that pretty much says it all: Way to go, Ass.

She starts to walk away but then turns around with her boney finger pointing directly at me. “You’re such a …a…such a damn…ass fuck!” And with that childish comeback, she starts to leave the room.

“Hey!” My dad yells back at her.

“Isabel, don’t use that language in front of the kids!” My mom says at the same time.

When she almost out of the kitchen she stops dead in her tracks and turns around heading back toward us. Her face looks red and sweaty and for a split second I fear for my life, but with an angry moan she reaches for a blueberry muffin in the basket on the end of the table and then marches back out.

Alex gets up from the table with a mumbled apology and something about pregnancy hormones and follows his fuming wife to the other side of the house. I’m not surprised about her actions. Isabel Evans has always been a spoiled little princess. At times though, the kindness of her heart would come out and she would surprise the hell out of everyone by her nice gestures.

We all sit there uncomfortably without saying a word for what seems like hours. Finally, Sofie’s small voice breaks the silence.

“What’s a… ass fuck?”

Not to my surprise, my dad is the only one who bursts out laughing.

He always had the best sense of humor.



****



I quietly walk away from Colin’s crib and close the door behind me after whispering sweet dreams to him and kissing his little forehead. I hear Liz and Sofie moving around in her room as I sneak down the hall.

“Do you and Daddy love me?” I stand in the hallway and spy on the two of them.

“Of course, we do, Sof,” I peak my head in and see Liz sitting against the headboard with Sofie snuggled into her side.

“How much?” She whispers looking up at her mom. They are beautiful together. Another thing of guilt washes through my body. I took sweet moments like these away from Liz.

“Well,” Liz starts to lightly tickle her sides. Sofie’s laugh is like music to my ears. “We love everything about you,” She presses a kiss on her hand. “We love your little fingers,” She moves her ticking hands down to Sofie’s bare feet. “Your little toes,” She presses another quick kiss on her face. “And your cute button nose,” Liz runs her hand through her hair and gets up from the small bed. “You’re the best thing to ever happen to me,” She cradles Sofie’s face in her hands. “Good night, Sofie,”

“Good night, Mommy,” My heart melts as I watch her little arms circle around Liz’s neck.

“Switch,” Liz smiles up at me as she leaves Sofie’s room and heads towards Colin’s. When she walks past me, she gives me a little smack on the butt.

“You brush your teeth?” I ask her as I walk towards her bed. I feel like I’ve done this routine a million times before.

“Yes!” Sofie replies in a giggle.

“You use the bathroom?” I sit down and grab for Mr. Sherman, who is on the floor.

“Yes, Daddy!” More giggles.

I place the stuffed animal next to her and pull her blanket up around her. “I love you,”

“Loves yas,” She says back. “Will you be normal tomorrow?” She asks me sincerely.

“I’ll try,” I fight against the frown I feel coming on my face. What if I wake up and she’s gone out of my life again? “Good night, sweetheart,” I press a kiss on her forehead.

“Night daddy,”


****


I can’t help but let a sigh of relief escape my mouth as I fall back onto the bed after brushing my teeth and slipping into my flannel pants from this morning. I glance at the alarm clock. It’s only a little past 9 PM. Usually around this time, I would just be getting ready to go out for a night of partying. Right now, I can barely keep my eyes open.

“Tired?” Liz asks me while turning out our bathroom light.

“Mmhmm,” I answer as she crawls into bed with me. Being a Dad is a lot tiring than it looks. It amazes me that the two of us do this everyday all day. I also learned today that since Liz’s mother has been sick and her father has been nursing her back to health, she’s been pretty much in charge of the Crash Down…which I know is even more stress on Liz’s shoulders.

She lets out her own sigh as she snuggles into her pillow and grabs for the baby monitor on the bedside table, to adjust the volume. “We still have so much unpacking to do,” She stresses for the tenth time today. Just like I remember, she still needs everything to be neat and in place.

I don’t say anything back to her comment; I simply grab a hold of her and drag her closer to me, so her face is against my chest. Packing doesn’t seem so bad to me. Not if it means more time spent with her. Her and our children. She lifts her face up so she can look at me and I run my lips against her cheek.

“Why are you doing that?” She asks me in a whisper. Her eyes move down like she’s feeling self conscious about herself.

“Doing what?” I use my index finger to move her chin up so her eyes are on me again. In the morning I might not be here with her like this. I want to remember every line and mole on her body. It’s been so long, that all those small details of her when we were teenagers have started to fade out of my mind over the years.

“Looking at me like you haven’t seen me everyday for years,”

Because I haven’t. “I just like looking at you,” I laugh lightly.

“Oh,” She licks her lips. “Soooo…,” She uses her middle and index fingers to walk slowly down my chest and stops when she gets to the top of my sleep pants. “You still wanna…,”

“Wanna…?” I wait for her to finish.

“You know. Do it?” She giggles into my neck.

I feel my heart start to beat quickly with excitement at the thought. This isn’t the same shy and modest Liz Parker that I remember. It hits me that we’ve done this many, many, many times in this lifetime.

“Yes please,” I smile into her cheek. “I would like that very much,” Sure, my back is killing me and I have a massive headache from the days activities and running around but all that gets pushed in the back of my mind.

“Good,” She replies rolling on top of me so she’s straddling my hips. “I’ve wanted you all day,” Yup, this is definitely not the shy high school Liz Parker that I’m used to.

“Oh really?” I ask running my hands up and down her sides. When my hands reach up by her breasts, I use my thumbs to stroke the sides of them. I lick my lips when I notice her nipples go hard under her tight white tank.

“Yes really,” She leans down so her lips are on mine. I hear her squeal in surprise as I suddenly sit up and lean her back against the mattress. Feeling her whole body completely underneath mine, makes me grow hard instantly.

“You’re so sexy,” I blurt out without thinking. She is perfection and she’s all mine.

“So are you,” Her smooth hands roam down my side and move in closer to my manhood. Holy crap. Yes.

I open my mouth to tell her not to stop roaming, when a little knock on the door disturbs us. I’m off of Liz in a flash, now completely limp, and she fixes her tank so it’s not all twisted around her chest.

“Mommy?” The door is slowly cracked open. “Daddy?”

“Come in, Sof,” Liz says as we both sit casually against our headboard. I feel my cheeks turn red at the thought of my little girl walking into the bedroom only minutes later than she did. “What’s wrong, baby?” She asks as Sofie climbs into our large bed.

“Nightmares,” Is all she says as she gets under the covers between us. “Can I please stay in here tonight?” She looks at us with those big eyes. How can anyone deny her anything? I look over her head at Liz who smiles lightly and mouths the word “sorry” to me.

“Of course,”

I stay awake long after the two of them fall asleep. The street light seeping into through the shades makes it easy to see their hands gently holding each other. I fight against the urge to close my own eyelids. I’m scared that if I do, I’ll wake up alone in my lonely apartment.

Snuggling deeper into the both of them and begin to close my eyes, silently praying that things stay like this. I want to wake up next to my wife in the morning. I want to see Sofie off at her day at school. I want to hold my son. I want to see my dad again.

Starting at the number one, I try to count up to ten…I only make it to six before I'm dead to the world.




TBC…?

[Karen O]

Holy crap! For those who have been looking for a new part...so sorry for the long wait! Thanks for all the feedback. Sorry this part is on the shorter side....i just really wanted to post something.


A/N: I was thinking that when I’m done with this story, I would start another fic based on this one. It would be about Max and Liz’s life if they ended up keeping little Sofie in the beginning. Now I know the whole Max and Liz “teen pregnancy” stories have been done a lot but those are usually my favorite to read. I think I would enjoy trying to write my own. Would you guys be interested in that at all?







Part 5




Six.

That’s the number of times I mentally wake myself up to make sure Liz and Sofie weren’t missing from the bed. Trying to fall back asleep, I situate my pillow as a little voice fills the room.

“Daddy,” Her tone is full of annoyance and deep sleep. “Stop movin’ around so much,” I feel her snuggle deeper into her mother’s side.

“Sorry,” I apologize quietly so I don’t wake up Liz. I have to bite my bottom lip to fight back my laugh. This little girl has got me right where she wants me. I turn my head to look at the clock. It’s now 12:17 am.

Slowly I sit up against the headboard and glance over at my wife. She is completely knocked out which doesn’t surprise me. She was in non stop mode all day with the kids at my parents place. She’s such a good mother and I can tell it just comes naturally to her. Was I a good father? A good husband?

I carefully pull the blanket off me and slide off the bed. Leaning back over I pull the covers more tightly around Sofie and bend down to press a small kiss on her forehead.

I tip toe out of the bedroom and creep into Colin’s room to make sure he was still asleep soundly. Sure enough when I walk over to his crib I hear soft snores coming from under the tiny blanket. “Night, little buddy,” I whisper to him and run my hand over his tiny back.

I take my time moving down the hallway towards the living room and kitchen. I haven’t really had a chance to look around my own house full of memories of me and my prefect little family. I turn on the lamp in the tastefully decorated living room and glance down at the brown moving boxes.

Flopping down on the floor I start to quietly rummage through the contents. I sort through many children’s movies and books until I finally find something I’m very interested in. A photo album. Wasting no more time I flip it open. The first picture makes my heart drop to the pit of my stomach.

A candid shot of a young Liz and her very pregnant belly. I can instantly tell from her surroundings in the picture she is in my old room at my parents. Her right hand is protectively wrapped around the bottom of her stomach and she has a huge smile on her face. Now I know exactly what people mean by women having a “glow” while pregnant.

I take my time as I flip through the many pages. At each picture I fantasize about what was going on at that moment. I go through pages full of Liz, Sofie, and myself. There are many of our parents and friends on holidays and birthdays. I see Sofie riding her pink bicycle with training wheels. Her covered in flour as she makes a cake with Mrs. Parker in her kitchen. I look through pictures of her at Disney World with my smiling parents.

I missed a lot running away to New York.

Towards the end of the album I get more pictures of Liz with a little baby bump. Our son. Colin. When I reach the end of the album, I notice some shiny DVD cases in the corner of the box. I pick them up in a flash and read through all the handwritten titles. “Sofie’s first birthday”, “Prom/Graduation”, “Christmas 2005”, “Sofie’s Birth”. I waste no time opening up the case and popping the DVD in the player.

I anxiously sit back against the couch as I wait for the home movie to start. The screen is still black but Alex Whitman’s voice comes out of the speakers.

“Is this damn thing on?” He asks and I hear my sisters giggle.

“Yes, the light is on.” She explains to him softly. Again she giggles. “Take the cap off dumbass,” Suddenly, I’m looking right into Alex’s crotch.

“There it goes,” The camera is now on his clear face. “Hello! Welcome to the Alex and Isabel show!” I smile widely as Isabel pops up at his side. She looks tired as she leans her head against his boney shoulder. She doesn’t have any make up on and her hair is in a sloppy pony tail. She looks beautiful. “Now let’s fade out,” The screen slowly grows dark again. “Then fade in.” They appear in front of me again.

“It is currently 11:53 pm,” She whispers to the camera, with a yawn, sneakily distracting Alex from his “fading in and out” game.

“That’s right,” Alex says. He moves the camera away from them and surveys the rest of the room. I see a couple of strangers and familiar faces sitting around them. “We’re here in the waiting room waiting for little Miss Sofie Marie Evans to make her appearance into the world. Iz and I have volunteered to document everything tonight on tape,” The camera zooms to the seats across from them at Maria and Michael. “As you can see, Maria is pretty excited,” Maria, wearing her Crashdown uniform, waves frantically at the video camera and flashes one of her pretty smiles. You can see her bounce around in her seat with impatience. Michael is passed out across some of the seats, using his greasy cooking apron to cover his eyes from the harsh hospital lights.

“Michael not so much,” Isabel adds. I smile widely. That is so Michael.

“There are Mr. and Mrs. Evans,” Alex moves the camera and I see my dad patiently sitting down playing with his digital camera and my mother, being quite the opposite, is strolling back and forth picking at her fingernails in nervousness. “And the Parker’s are on their way back into town.”

He jerks the camera back on them. “This is taking forever.”

“Alex, we’re waiting for a baby…my little niece, to be born,” She tells him with pride and happiness in her voice. “Everyone knows child birth usually takes lots of time,”

“What do you say about us making this show a bit more…intense?” He asks her with a mischievous grin.

“What do you have in mind?” Isabel asks moving her eyebrows up and down quickly.

“Well follow me and find out,” The camera turns off for a few seconds then the half of Isabel’s face is showing in the corner of the screen.

“Alex, I don’t know about this,” She bites her bottom lip with her teeth…a trait from our mother. “They only allow a certain amount of people in the room.”

“Isabel…we’re about to witness a miracle. Trust me. One day Liz and Max are going to thank us for getting this on tape.”

She nods her head slowly, visibly thinking about her boyfriends words. Suddenly she moves her head quicker as a smile forms on her face. “You’re right. Let’s go,” Isabel is the first to walk in the delivery room and the camera is set right above her shoulder. The sight I see is not what I expect. It’s common knowledge that child birth is no fun but watching this…this is just disturbing.

The scene is short, basically a sweaty screaming Liz on a bed and me, down on my knees, sweating bullets right along with her. Even through all the commotion around her, Liz looks right up at the video camera and growls.

“Get the fuck out of here!”

Before I know it, it’s like I’m watching a scene from the “Blair Witch Project”. All I see is their shoes running against the shiny hospital floor. Alex’s deep breathing is also filling my ears. They run back to their seats without another word. Finally they are seated and the frame goes back to their faces. “That was the scariest thing I have ever seen in my entire life,”

All Isabel could manage was a little nod. She places her hand over her mouth like she is about to throw up everywhere.

My head perks up at the next scene on the television. “How does it feel, Max?” Isabel asks me, but I don’t look up at her and the camera. I keep my eyes on the little bundle in my arms. “Max!” Finally I move my eyes toward her.

“What?” I whisper out. God, I sound so young.

“I asked you how it feels.”

“How does what feel?” I look back down at Sofie in my arms. I’m holding her like she could break at any moment.

“How does it feel-,”

“To be a dad,” I finish the line with her like I actually lived this moment.

“You have bad dreams, daddy?” I jump a little from the sound of her voice.

I look up to see Sofie rubbing her squinty eyes. “Hey, what are you doing up?” I grab the remote and press the pause button. “It’s really late, baby,” I say as she stumbles toward me like she’s sleep walking. “You should be in bed,” As I say the words I still don’t stop her from crawling on the couch and onto my lap.

“I was thirsty,” She explains to me and yawns. I gently pick her up and place her on the couch cushion.

“Sit tight. I’ll get you some water,” I dab her nose lightly with my finger and head towards the kitchen. “Cups,” I whisper to myself as I look at all the wooden cupboards. I try to remember Liz this morning running around the kitchen and which one she got her coffee cup out of…I’ve always had a crappy memory. I glance over at my daughter who’s raising a questionable eyebrow at me. I try to play it cool, and nonchalantly start to open up all the doors. I hear her get off the couch and head over to me.

“In there,” Her tiny finger points to the cupboard on the far right. I have no smooth combat to say back to her. She knows very well I had no idea where to find her a glass.

“Thanks,” I reply shyly and pick her back up and set her on the counter. I retrieve a little pink plastic cup for her and head over towards the fridge and start to reach for a pitcher of water.

“May I please have milk instead?” She asks with her feet swinging back and forth.

“Of course,” I smile, reaching for the milk jug. She is such a sweet little girl. I pour her the drink and carefully hand it to her incase some spills over the top. “Thank you,”

“You’re welcome sweetheart,” I run the back of my hand down her soft long hair. I watch her quietly as she chugs down the beverage and sets the now empty cup back on the counter. “Feel better?”

She nods her head and places her little hands on my cheeks. “You look the same,” She states out of nowhere. I can only blink in response. Her face moves closer to my neck. I hear her sniff loudly. “You smell the same,” She’s now staring straight at me. “You’re different though,”

I open my mouth the say something but nothing comes out. She’s right.

“You’re not my daddy,” She states so surely. “Are you?”

Again, I open my mouth to say something…anything, but silence comes out.

“Are you going to be normal again soon?” She asks with her big eyes watering up.

I lick my dry lips. “Yes,”

“Promise?”

“I promise, Sofie,” I answer as honest as possible. I would kill myself if a promise I made to this little girl ever got broken. She seems to like my answer and she brightens up immediately.

“I’m ready for bed now,” I almost have a heart attack as she jumps off the counter herself. “You should sleep too,”

I glance up at the clock in the kitchen. It is late. “You’re right,” I pick her up and walk back over to the TV and turn everything off. “I’ll tuck you back in.” I carry her back to the end of the hall into her own bedroom.

I place her in the middle of her soft bed and pull the covers up to her chin. She pops her arms out and the blanket and says, “Will you please hand me Mr. Sherman?”

I smile and glance around the floor to spot the stuffed lamb near the end of her bed. “Here you go,” I hand it to her. “Promise me you’ll go back to sleep okay?”

She nods and closes her eyes. I plant a kiss on her hair. “’I love you. So much Sofie Marie,” I whisper to her.

“I love you,” She whispers back. “Night daddy.” I hesitantly back out of her room, knowing I could very well sit there all night and watch her, and sneak back into my own bed.

I carefully sink back onto the mattress and let out a small sigh. My heart begins to beat faster as Liz suddenly rolls over and snuggles up against me. “You’re such a night owl,” She says into my neck and places a small kiss there. Before I can say anything back to her, she starts to breath slowly, tell me she already passed out again.

For the second time that night, I close my eyes to fall asleep. Now all I can think about is tomorrow activities.

How in the hell am I going to pull this off?




TBC

[Karen O]

I'm so sorry for the loooooong wait on this. Life has been insane

Thanks so much for all the amazing feedback.



Part 6



One loud buzz.

That’s all it takes for my arm to automatically reach across Liz’s sleeping body to hit the off button on the alarm clock. Without wasting another second for my eyes to open completely, I’m on my feet and walking out of my cozy, warm bedroom. I feel deep down that this is my normal morning routine.

With a long yawn, my feet guide me straight to Sofie’s bedroom. “Rise and shine, Sof.” I call out to her as I pull open her curtains letting the sunlight into the room.

Instead of a cheery response, all I get is a loud tired moan. “No,” She mumbles into her pillow. I watch as she uses Mr. Sherman to fully cover her face from the harsh light. She’s not a morning person…just like her mommy.

“C’mon, Sofie,” I plead. I run my hand down her tousled hair. “It’s time to get up and get ready for school,” I try to pull of the blanket away from her but she rolls over and tangles herself into it, so it’s pretty impossible to get off her. All I get in return is another grumpy “no”. I try a different tactic and start to tickle her feet with my index finger. I hear her try to not giggle and she pulls up her feet into the ball of blanket she created, just like a turtle getting into its shell. She is so cute.

“Sofie Marie Evans!” We both hear Liz from the down the hall. “If you don’t get your cute butt up, dressed and ready in ten minutes, you’re in big trouble little lady!” That’s all it took for her to jump out of bed and head over to her closet.

“Do you need help picking something out?” I ask her while making her bed up and arranging her pillows neatly against the headboard.

“Daddy!” She shrieks out. She walks over to me and grabs a hold of my hand. “I’m a big girl now,” She pouts as she walks me over to the door. Before I can protest the door is slammed in my face. Goodness. As I walk towards the kitchen, a fear creeps into my heart. If it’s like that now at age 5, what’s it going to be like when she reaches sixteen?

“Morning,” I smile at Colin who is munching on some dry cereal sitting in his high chair. I lean down and plant a kiss on his head. I move over to Liz who is still in her pajamas and in the process of making pancakes. “Good morning, my beautiful wife,” I wrap my arms around her hips and kiss her naked shoulder. I could get used to waking up to this every morning.

She leans back and rests her head against my chest. “Mmm,” She kisses my jaw. “Good morning to you.” I squeeze her tightly before finally letting her go. “Somebody woke up on the good side of the bed,”

She’s right. I feel like I’m on top of the world right now. I woke up and I still have this house and everything important person who’s living in it. “Need help?” I ask her as she starts to pour the batter onto the pan.

“Could you get the juice ready?” She asks and scratches her cheek with the back of her hand.

“Of course,” I answer and smile at her as she leaves some flour on her flawless skin. I reach over and wipe it off for her before I get to the fridge.

“Sofie!” Liz yells out. “Get a move on!”

“Coming!” We hear her little voice carry down the hall. I hear Liz giggle as our daughter takes a seat at the kitchen table. Again, her outfit choice is quite colorful.

“Morning my little bird,” Liz says as she kisses Sofie’s head and sets down a nice hot plate of pancakes.

“Morning!” Sofie smiles up at her. She closes her eyes as she sniffs towards her plate. “Mmmm,” She licks her lips. “Smells so good!” That’s the last thing we hear from her as she picks up her fork and digs in.

I set down 3 glasses full of OJ and set down a Sippy cup for Colin. I watch Liz in the corner of my eye as she starts to get two more plates ready. I rush over to stop her. “Let me,” I grab the plates from her. She stands there a bit surprised and I laugh softly. “Go sit,” I nod my head towards the table where our children are.

“Okay,” She holds her hands up and slides between me and the counter. “Knock yourself out.”

I get our plates ready quickly and take a seat at the table. “You don’t look so tired, daddy.” Sofie says while swallowing her food.

Liz gives an odd look at me then moves her eyes towards Sofie. “Why would he look tired?”

Before Sofie can answer her mother, I cut in. “Couldn’t sleep. So I found some family videos to watch and Sofie kept me company.” I’m not surprised Liz doesn’t remember waking up when I slid back into bed last night. She’s always been a sleep talker.

“Hmm,’ Liz looks at our daughter as she tries to hide her tired yawn. “No more late night movies, okay? You can’t go to school tired, Sofie.” Liz takes a sip of her juice.

“Yes, mommy.” Sofie answers quickly.

I nibble at my own food as I watch the rest of them finish up their breakfast. I listen to how Liz and Sofie chat with each other and how Colin just giggles at everything going on around him.

“Sofie, I’m going to get ready for work. Can you find your brother something to wear today and then meet me in my room so I can do your hair?” Liz is already up and grabbing everyone’s plates. Again, I grab a hold of her hand and stop her.

“You go get ready.” I tell her. “I’ll take care of the dishes and watch over Colin,” She smiles up at me and gives me a quick peck on the cheek.

“Deal,” She bends down and picks Sofie up into her arms. “Let’s go get pretty for the day.”

I do the dishes in record timing and have Colin dressed and ready for his day of adventure. He’s such a good baby. I carry him into our bedroom where I see Liz finishing up her pony tail in the mirror. I look at her up and down. She looks perfect in her nice fitting slacks and dark colored button blouse. Definitely not the turquoise uniform I’m used to her wearing.

I glances over at me and smiles shyly. She walks over and takes our baby from my arms. “Switch.” She announces and leaves the room, leaving me the freedom to change into my own work clothes.

Work. I feel nauseous at the thought.

I have no idea what the hell I am going to do at work. I tell myself to calm down. I worked at that shit hole the majority of the time I was in high school. I work for one the biggest magazines in the country. I can handle this. I’m starting to feel more confident as I walk over to the closet and pull it open.

Yuck. I pull out the ugly dress shirts and pants I have hanging up. This is definitely not what I’m used to.

“Max! Get a move on!” I hear Liz yell out. I can’t help but smile as I walk into our bathroom to brush my own teeth and get ready for the day.


****


I walk into the diner and the sound of the little bell brings back many flashbacks. All those times I would come here just to watch Liz Parker work. All those times I would pick her up to take her out on dates and trying to sneak her in when I kept her out past curfew. I always noticed the stink eye Mr. Parker would give me the next day. I guess we were never that sneaky. Ah, memories.

Instantly, my eyes search out for Liz. I find her quickly behind the counter talking to some customers. She catches my gaze over their heads and it’s like I’m back in high school. How just the sight of her would make me get all sweaty and my mouth go dry. How the smell of her would make my head spin. And how the touch of her skin made my…

“Hi Daddy!” I’m ripped out of my soon to be dirty thoughts by Sofie waving me down from the other end of the diner. I get a smile from ear to ear as she runs over to me with her own little pair of silver antennas bobbing up and down. She jumps in my arms and I hold her tightly against my chest.

“Did you have a good day at school?” I ask her, still hugging her close. God, I missed her.

“Mhm,” She nods into my neck. “I painted a new picture for you and mommy,”

“That’s great, honey.” I say sneaking glances around the restaurant. Nothing much has changed at all. All the young waitresses though have new faces but are all wearing that turquoise uniform. Once Liz is done talking to the customers, I quickly walk over and set Sofie down on the counter so her feet are hanging off. “Hello,” I smile.

“Hello,” Liz leans over and I meet her half way for a kiss. “How was your day?” She asks while stroking my cheek with her thumb.

“Interesting.” I state honestly. “I-,” I’m cut off an elderly couple walking up to us.

“Thank you so much for refilling our drinks tonight, Sofie,” The lady smiles and touches the tip of Sofie’s nose with her boney finger.

“You’re welcome, Mrs. Rogers!” Sofie replies with a wide grin.

“Here you go sweetie,” The man gives her a shiny new quarter.

The look on her face is completely priceless. “Thank you so much!” Sofie exclaims and holds it up in front of me and Liz to show it off. “Look!”

“That’s very nice!” Liz smiles brightly at her and the older couple. “See you guys next Monday night?”

“Of course dear. We’ll be here.” They walk off slowly and Liz takes a look at the U.F.O shaped clock hanging on the wall.

“Max, why don’t you take Sofie upstairs and get Colin up and around. I’ll be done down here in a few minutes.”

“Okay.” I pick Sofie back up and start walking towards the back. I feel pure fear enter my body as I think of Mr. Parker. The last time I saw Jeff Parker was a horrible night. I wanted to tell Liz that I was about to leave town for good, but her dad wouldn’t even let me in the café.

Our little secret didn’t stay secret for long.

Slowly walking up the stairs I try to rehearse what I’m going to say but Sofie’s humming in my ear is one hell of distraction. Before I know it I’m standing right in front of the apartment door. I stand there motionless for a few seconds before Sofie’s voice brings me out of my thoughts. “Are we going in or not?”

I open mouth to reply back but it closes quickly. This girl has got some sass. Before I can knock on the door, it is pulled open by Mr. Parker himself.

“Max!” He grins widely and holds out his hand and I grab it instantly. “How are you doing?” He pulls me close and gives me a pat on the back. I want to sigh in relief as a weight has been lifted off my shoulders.

“I’m great, Jeff.” I reply with a smile as Sofie practically jumps out of my hold and into her grandfathers.

Jeff makes a moan like she weighs a lot as he readjusts her against his chest. “You have fun downstairs?” He asks her while tapping the antennas she is still wearing.

She nods frantically as she holds up her new shiny quarter. “Look at all my money!” She is so proud.

“Wow!” Jeff grabs the quarter out of her hand and holds it closer to his face. “Would you look at that. You’re a rich little lady.” He gives the coin back and smacks a kiss on her temple.

“I want to show Grandma and Colin!” She exclaims as Jeff sets her down on the floor. We both watch as she starts running full speed towards the living room.

“Be careful!” I say.

“Slow down!” Jeff tells her at the same time. He pats me on the back again as we both head in the same direction Sofie just took off. As we round the corner to go into the living room, my eyes automatically go to little Colin, who is quietly sitting on the floor surrounded by his toys. I look up and see Sofie sitting next to Mrs. Parker, showing off her shiny new coin.

My heart drops down to the pit of my stomach when I see how frail and tired she looks. I walk over to her and crouch down at the end of the couch where she is resting.

"Hello Max," she smiles up at me as her hand comes to rest on my arm. I press a quick kiss on her cheek and use my hand to cover her own and give it a little squeeze.

"How are you feeling, Nancy?" I ask with a lump in my throat. That beautiful hair I remembered was now nonexistent and in place was a head wrap. Her golden skin was now a unsettling shade of white.

"I'm feeling fine today," She says while moving her eyes to where my son is playing. "Taking care of him makes me feel good....young again," She jokes. Before I can say another word, I heard the front door open and close and see Liz walk into the room, standing next to her father and give him a quick hug.

"Was the baby good for you, mom?" Liz asks while walking over and bending down to give her a kiss.

"He's always an angel," Nancy replies and i see something in her eyes as she looks at her two grandchildren. I can tell they are what keeps her healthy and strong. Keep her fighting to live another day. What grandmother doesn't want to see her granddaughter walk down the aisle or see her grandson graduate from school?

I feel sick when i think of what i've done. I've deprived her of this in my other life. If Liz and I never had babies, she wouldn't have them to fight for.

We only stay for another 10 minutes, which i'm thankful for because I couldn't stand to think those thoughts any longer. Before I know it we are all buckled in the car and are on our way back home.


****


“Hey mister,” I whip my head around and see Liz standing in the front door way with her arms crossed. “I thought you were quitting?” She raises an eyebrow at me.

“I was…am.” I correct myself. I quickly place the cigarette butt in my beer bottle. Truth was I found a half empty pack hidden in my sock drawer. “Come sit with me?” I ask.

She stands there for moment acting like she’s really trying to think about if she’s upset with me. Finally she chirps out an “Okay”. She walks over and takes a seat close to me on the swinging bench on our front porch. It’s a lovely warm night in the neighborhood. I watch in silence as Liz pulls her legs up and tries to get comfortable. After a few moments she finds a good spot to rest against me and sighs in relaxation. “It was quite a day.” She says casually.

I let out a little laugh. “Yes, it was.” I think back to my first work day at the UFO center and thank my lucky stars that is was still just as easy as it was since I worked there years ago. Hell, even the alarm code was the same. I spent most my day in the office going through computer files and the drawers in my desk to figure out where to pick up where I left off.

We both grow quiet as we listen to the wind blowing through the tree tops above us. I slowly push us back and forth on the swing with my feet as she starts to stroke my leg. “Are you happy?”

That statement makes her hand stop moving immediately. “What?”

“Are you happy?” I ask again. “If you and I…if we never stayed together do you think you would be happier?” She moves away from and looks me dead in the eyes.

“Are you being serious?” Before I can answer her she continues. “I couldn’t imagine my life without you and the kids. You all mean everything to me. If you weren’t in my life, I know I would be miserable.” Miserably getting married to another man.

“Why are you asking me this?” Now she sounds scared. “Aren’t you happy?”

I grab a hold of her hand and squeeze it gently. “I’ve never been happier than I am with you, Sof, and Colin.”

“You know….you’re really starting to get on my nerves with your odd behavior. If you weren’t so sexy, I’d probably smack you upside the head.” She grins at my playfully.

“I don’t mean to be odd. I just…I love you all so much. I’m just scared.” I admit.

“Of?” She scoots closer to me again and rests her hand back on my leg.

“That you will disappear from my life.”

She actually laughs out loud at this. “Why do you think that, Max?”

I shrug my shoulders lightly. “I’m not going anywhere. Me and the kids…you’re stuck with us all. For a long, long, time.”

“Promise?”

She nods and presses a kiss on my neck. We sit in silence again for a moment. “Speaking of kids…where are they?” I ask.

“Passed out in bed.” She suddenly stands up and holds out her hand for me to take it. “We probably have a few hours until one of them wakes up….,” She lets the statement float in the air.

“Oh,” I say grabbing a hold of her hand and standing up. The look she gives me makes it a bit more clear what she means. “Oh!” I can’t help the smile that crosses my face. “Then let’s get going.” I lightly smack her behind towards the front door.

Before I even have the door closed, I pull her towards me and smash my lips against hers. I softly use my foot to finish closing it as she moves her arms around my neck to deepen the kiss. I grow with excitement as she suddenly jumps up and wraps her legs around my waist making us fall back against the wall.

I rip my lips away from hers and guide them down her jaw line. “I want you,” I whisper to her in the darkness. “I want you so bad.” It’s been so damn long. I turn us around so now her back is pushed up against the hallway.

“You have me.” She somehow gets her hands to the button of my jeans and quickly undoes it. I waste no time to pull her shirt up over her head exposing her sexy bra. Yes, her body has gone through many changes after having 2 children. I can’t stop my lips from moving down and kissing the slump of her breast. My right hand moves up to the back of the bra and in one flick of the wrist the clasps gets undone, making the straps fall down her slim shoulders.

“Bedroom. Now.” Her lips are back on mine.

I keep my hands around her bottom and as quietly as I can make our way to our room and use my foot to close the door. I some how get us to our bed and we fall onto the mattress. I sit up and unbutton her pants as she lifts up her hips so I can easily pull them down her legs. When her pants hit the floor I also stand up from the bed and look down at her and her glorious body. The only thing on her stopping me from my destination is a pair of tiny panties. My eyes move from her slim, tone legs to her tight stomach. I feel my tongue dance behind my lips as I get a good look at her breasts. I am the luckiest man on the planet right now.

She quickly gets up on her knees and moves towards the end of the bed and grabs a hold of my pants. “Aren’t you going to take these off?” She asks me while looking up at me from beneath her eyelashes. She doesn’t wait for my reply as she already moves them down along with my boxers as I quickly pull my shirt over my own head. “Much better.” She says and falls back against the bed. My cheeks start to burn as I watch her eyes roam my body up and down slowly.

“Do you want me to turn off the light?” I ask pointing to the light fixture. Even though the sexual tension in this room is extreme right now, she laughs at me.

“Since when did the light being on ever stop us from doing it?”

Instantly, my mind goes back to pretty much all the time we’ve ever made love in high school. 95% of the time, she preferred the light off. I guess that’s a perk of being married and having a couple kids. Modesty goes out the window.

I crawl towards her on the bed as she slowly shimmies her panties down her legs. If I wasn’t already hard as a rock, the sight of her completely naked lower half would have done the trick. “You’re so perfect.” I run my hand across her belly. I slowly move my fingers up her torso and over the valley between her breasts to her face. She tries to move up to kiss me but I hold her head against the pillow. I know she can tell the playfulness is gone from my face.

“Max…,” She sighs as I gently run my lips over her own.

“I will always love you.” I whisper as I stroke her cheek.

“I love you,” She whispers back as a huge smile spreads across her face. I can’t help but smile widely back at her. How could I not? Everything about her affected me. When she smiled, I smiled. When she laughed, it caused me to laugh. When she hurt, I hurt. Liz Parker is the perfect woman for me. Everything about her is fucking beautiful.

I wish I would have realized this six years ago.

But I didn’t. And I abandoned her here in this puny town.

I press my lips down on hers once more and I pull her leg over my hip. I can feel the heat flowing off her and the tip of my erection pokes into her soft center. I moan into her mouth loudly and push her down back on her back. I waste no time sliding right into my destination. We both sigh in relief. I feel like I'm home.

"Oh fuck, baby," I whisper into her ear as I start to move in and out slowly. "You feel amazing," I slide the tip of my tongue over her collar bone and suck lightly. Technically, in my mind, this was the first time Liz and I ever made love without protection....this will be the first time for me to have sex without a condom period. When we found out Liz was pregnant with Sofie all those years ago, we were just the unlucky 2%. I take back the word unlucky. Sofie is a blessing.

Every moan and blissful sigh she makes beneath me, makes me feel like I'm floating. I will never get tired of this. Of feeling her sleek body on mine. The way my name falls from her lips. The softness of her hair as it randomly falls against my body.

I feel her start to shake and tighten up and I know she's close. I'm almost there with her. With a few more thrusts, I can sense her loud scream rising in her throat. I kiss her hard to cover hers and my own scream of pleasure.

We lay in quiet for a long time. Listening to the wind blowing into the tress outside the window and slowly running our hands over each others tired bodies. I've been with many women over the years but nothing compares to this.

Nothing compares to Liz Parker.



TBC

[Karen O]

Hello! Again, thank you all so much for the wonderful feedback and kind words.




Part 7




“Please tell me you have it.”

I look up from my work laptop sitting nicely in the center of my clean desk and can’t stop the giant grin coming over my face. “Michael!” I state louder than I expected and quickly stand up from my chair, making it roll back against the wall lightly.

“Maxwell.” He replies back with an expression that explains it all. I’m well aware how dorky I look to him right now. To him we hung out the other night but to me it’s been much longer.

“You look good.” I say and quickly close my eyes in regret. Michael looks down to glance himself over. Instead of the beer gut and depressing attitude he was sporting last time i saw him, he looked lean and in shape. He looked happy and healthy. “Is that a new shirt?” I ask trying to cover my ass.

“Uh, no.” His nose scrunches up while he scratches himself behind his ear. “This is weird.”

“Sorry,” I say lamely. Again, when I look at him I smile widely. This is my best friend. The boy who i always got in trouble with growing up. The one I went to for help and advice. The guy who understood me...and I haven’t seen him in years.

“What is this, Max?” He asks with a hint of a giggle. “Did you wake up this morning and realize your true feelings for me?” He walks into my office and plops down in a chair. “Are you leaving, Liz?” He moves his eyebrows up and down.

“Very funny.” I also take my seat again and close the my computer shut. “What was your questions again?”

“I can’t find it.” He moves his face in the palms of his hands. “I could just kill myself for being so careless.” I stay silent even though I have a mouthful to say back. Michael has never been the responsible one. Michael was always the wild spirit of the group. He never really gave a damn. About pretty much anything.

With a sigh, I ask just like old times, “What did you lose?” Over the years, Michael’s answers to this question always ranged from something like a dollar to the most ridiculous things you could imagine.

His head shoots up from his hands. “You’re kidding right?” I sit there silently waiting for him to continue. “The ring!” I jump slightly at his outburst. “I lost the ring, Max!”

“The ring...,” I trail off try to think of what he’s talking about. I don’t know why I even try though..I know for a fact I will have no idea what the hell he’s talking about.

“...for Maria,” He finishes for me. “You know, the one I showed you the other night when we went out.”

“That’s right,” I agree but I want to burst out how happy and excited I am for them. I have to act like this is old news to me so I need to make the conversation to keep going smoothly but I truly cannot remember that night.The first memory of this timeline has been since the morning after. “Let’s trace your steps.” I say always being the brains of the operation.

“Okay.” He sits more back in the chair and plops his feet onto my desk. I silently look down at the mud his shoes just left on the surface, close my eyes in silent annoyance, and look back up at him slowly as he continues. “I remember getting it out of my pocket and sliding it over to you,” I look as his face strains for a few seconds.

I try to make myself look like i’m concentrating too. I’m brought out of my act with the loud ring of the office phone next to me. I quickly answer it after one ring.

“Hello?” I say professionally.

“Hello, my love,” My face lights up instantly and I see Michael rolls his eyes at me already knowing who is on the other line.”I have to make this quick, but is there any way you can leave work a bit early to pick Sofie up from dance class at the studio?” Before I can answer, she keeps going. “We have been non stop busy for last hour and I don’t see us slowing down enough for me to sneak out.” I can hear numerous random sounds in the background making it clear it’s probably a zoo in there.

I glance at the clock as I answer. Leaving an hour early couldn’t hurt. “Of course.” I’m already standing up and reaching for my coat. “I’ll come back by to pick you and Colin back up after I get her.”

“Actually, I have that covered. Maria is on her way to drop some things off for the diner. She can give us a ride home but you and Sof are definitely going to get there before us.”

I feel a little disappointed that I won’t be able to see her or my son any sooner. “See you later then?” I can’t stop glancing at the family photo, of all four of us on a hospital bed the day Colin was born, I have in a wooden frame on my desk. I feel so impatient for us all to be home together tonight.

“Of course,” She purrs into the phone like she’s alone. My mind goes back to last night and how amazing it was. How she smelt. The way her skin felt. The sounds she made...It was just as good as this morning before we had to get the kids up.

Suddenly, I hear a loud crash of plates falling to the floor in the background. Liz groans loudly and says, “Crap. I have to go.”

“I love you.” I can’t help the dreamy sigh that comes out of me.

“Love you too.” She replies and I can practically hear her smile over the phone.

“Whoa!” Michael exclaims as I start to get my things together to leave for the day after I hang up. “What about the ring?” The look of panic is all over his face again.

“Sorry, Michael but I have to go,” I pat him on the back as we walk out of my office together. “Just repeat your steps from that night.” I explain as I wave to the closing key holder employee talking to customers, to let him know I was gone for the day. He quickly waves back understanding my silent message. “When I get home, I’ll check my pockets of the clothes I was wearing and I’ll look around my place. Maybe it accidentally ended up in my hands at the end of the night.”

Michael slumps his shoulders in defeat as we walk to our cars.“I’ll call you to let you know.” I yell at him over the passing cars in the street. He waves me off with a smile and gets in his vehicle and my heart feels like it could burst with happiness.

My life feels perfect right now.

I look across the street to see if I can get a glance of Liz working and maybe con her into sneaking a kiss outside with me but she was right...the place was swamped with customers inside the cafe and outside.

With a sigh and one last glance at the diner, I get in the car and pull out onto the busy street.



******


I’m lucky there is only one dance studio in Roswell.

I walk into the building and can hear the classical music playing from the open room down the hall. I walk towards it and see a few other parents leaning against the wall watching their own children with prideful smiles. Making my way in my eyes automatically find my little Sofie, just like they would find her mother in any room, in the mix of other tiny dancers.

She has not spotted me yet, so I get to really watch her without making her nervous. She listens and imitates the thin elderly dance teacher as she shows them how to correctly point their toes and place their arms in the air as they turn in a circle. My heart melts as she absentmindedly sticks her little tongue out as she concentrates on her moves. Something that I still catch myself doing to this very day. After a few more moments the teacher claps her hands together to inform the students that class is over, Sofie looks up and spots me by the door.

I take long steps as she runs towards me with a big grin. “Hi, daddy!” She jumps in my arms and I pick her up without any problem.

“Hi, sweetheart.” I kiss the top of her head where she has her neatly done bun. “You looked great out there.” I say as I set her down by her bag and coat. I help her slide her arms through the sleeves. She looks so cute with her little tutu and bright tights. She definitely sticks out with her bold color choices. I laugh as she pulls out her little heart shaped sunglasses and puts them on over her eyes. I grab her bag and her little fingers wrap around my index finger on my free hand. “Did you have a good day?” I ask her as we slowly take our time walking down the hallway. As I listen to her explain her day I can’t help but feel like moments like this are so special. Pretty soon she won’t even want to hold my hand or she will always walk a few steps ahead of me in case I embarrass her somehow. I feel my smile, from thinking of the future, turn into a frown when it dawns on me that this is probably not real anyway...Sofie doesn’t even exist.

“Daddy?” I feel her stop walking next to me and I look down at her face and gaze into her eyes that are identical to my own. “Why do you look like that? Are you mad at me?” She asks softly the looks down at her sunglasses she’s fidgeting with in her hands.

My heart breaks as I slouch down in front of her in the center of the hall as other classmates and parents walk around us. “Of course not, baby.” I reach up and stroke her rosy cheek. “I just love you, Sof.” The corners of her mouth lift a little after my statement. “So much. I just don’t want this moment to end.”

She looks a little confused by that but smiles brightly and reaches up to stroke my own scruffy cheek with her tiny thumb. “I love you too, daddy.” She says and again my heart is in full ‘it could burst at any moment’ mode. We stay there for a few more moments grinning at each other and still stroking cheeks before I quickly scoop her up in my arms. Her squeal of happiness echoes around us and I press a firm kiss on her forehead as we exit the building.

This is real. It had to be.

This is my second chance and I’m not going to waste another moment thinking the worst. I’m going to make every second count.

And I’m going to start by ruining my daughter’s dinner appetite by going on a secret ice cream run.



******



Sofie and I look up from her coloring book sprawled out in front of us on the living room table as we hear the front door being pushed open. “Mommy!” Sofie exclaims while jumping up which makes a few crayons roll off onto the carpet. I get up quickly and head the same way, watching Sofie jump up into Liz’s already open arms.

“Hello, my little bird!” Liz smiles as Sofie leans back with her hands behind her neck so they are face to face. They share many quick kiss all over each other’s faces. I’m too impatient for my turn so I walk up to both of them.

“Hi!” She says with a shine in her eyes to me as I get closer.

“Hello,” I’m already leaning down for my own kiss which is going to be much longer than the ones she just shared with our daughter.

“Ew!” Sofie covers her eyes with her hands.

“Yeah, ew!” Comes another voice from the door. Maria DeLuca. “Why don’t you two get a room? There are children present!” She asks while coming in with Colin in her arms.

When I see her face, my mind goes back many years...to before I even left Roswell for school after graduation. Maria was the first person to find out our secret. From what I was told, Liz didn’t let the abortion slip to her best friend on purpose. Maria just knew. Everyone could see that Liz was obviously depressed and a nervous wreck after what we did but it was Maria who put the puzzle pieces together and confronted Liz. She broke down to her immediately.

She was the one to show up at my house late one night pounding on my bedroom window. When I finally opened it, she gave me what I deserved. A black eye and a mouthful of the ugly truth in how I was a “little prick who has no heart” if I remember her words correctly.

After that, the shit hit the fan and I got out of town as quickly as I could.

“How are you, Maria?” I ask and hesitantly go in for a half hug on the opposite side my son was leaning against her.

She laughs, i’m guessing at my awkward hug as her free arm comes up around me and pats my back. “You know, same shit different day.”

“Language!” Liz and Sofie state behind us as they head towards the kitchen. I take Colin from Maria’s arms and give me a kiss on the head as we both make our way there too. I carefully set him up in his high chair at the table.

“Mmmm,” Liz moans as she walks over to the oven where I have dinner already in the works. “You cooked dinner?” She looks back at me with a smile and arched eyebrow.

“Yeah, of course.” I state smiling back while Maria and her both let out a laugh. “What?” I ask looking back and forth between them. “Do I not usually?”

Liz, who is still laughing, walks up to me and moves her arms around my neck. “It’s been a while,” She simply says and presses her lips to mine. “It smells delicious by the way. Thank you.” She kisses me again as Maria walks around us to the stove.

“That it does, Maxxie.” She agrees, with her old nickname for me that I hate, as she spies on the food baking inside.

“Thank you, ladies. Are you staying to try it?” I take my eyes off Liz and move them to Maria.

“Thanks but no thanks,” She turns down politely. “Michael called on the way over here and said he wants to go out tonight.” She explains walking over to us and patting my shoulder quickly.

Michael! He pops in my head and my mind goes to the whole missing engagement ring issue.

“See you guys later,” She leans over and shares a quick peck with Liz while moving towards Colin. “Bye bye handsome.” She coos to him gently while giving his cheek and little pinch.

“I’ll walk you out!” Sofie exclaims already grabbing for Maria’s hand. It’s quite obvious Sofie definitely looks up and admires her.Their chatter gets softer as they make their way down the hallway as Liz and I start to set the table together. After a few days, I now comfortably know where things are in my kitchen. She starts to tell stories of her day as the timer goes off and I quickly get the food out.

We all sit around the table and chat the entire time about our days. There is laughter and smiles going around the whole room. Know I finally get all those cheesy commercials I used to see and make fun of on the television. You know, the ones that used to say something like, families who eat together...stay together.

I totally get it.



******



After dinner and getting the kids ready and tucked in for bed, I began searching high and low in my closet and through my dirty laundry, but I still had no luck with finding the ring. “What on earth are you looking for?” Liz asks behind me while rubbing lotion over her arms from the bathroom doorway. I whirl around from my side of the dresser, after searching the drawers, to answer. “Michael’s..-” I stop when I realize this might not be something to share but when I look back up at her I know I can’t keep anything from her even if I tried. “Promise you won’t say anything?” I ask as I start to reorganize the mess I just made. “To anyone?”

“Ohhh!” Her voice is full of excitement. “A secret!” She hurries over to me and leans against the dresser. “And I promise.” She says while crossing her heart with her index finger.

“Okay, Michael came to me today upset because he misplaced a ring he got for Maria.” I smile as I see her eyes light up after it hits her what i’ve just said. “Her engagement ring.” I finish even though she knows that obvious fact already.

She squeals loudly while jumping up and down a few times before she stops and slaps her hands over her mouth. “Shit!” She says from underneath them but it was barely understandable. She quietly walks over to the bedroom door and cracks it open to see or hear any signs if one of the kids have been woken up from her little outburst. Once we realize we are in clear, she closes it again and practically skips back over to me. “Maria is going to be so excited!”

“Remember,” I say walking over to my cell phone on my bedside table. “This stays between you and me.” I remind her as I pick the phone to call Michael and let him know I don’t have it.

“Yeah, yeah, I gotcha,” Liz says as she walks back over to the bathroom to finish her own bedtime routine. I stand there as I wait for Michael to pick up and watch her go and my heart melts. Sofie said the exact same thing to me earlier today after I told her to keep the ice cream a secret from mommy. I love noticing all these “mother like daughter” moments.

“Wuuuuzzuup?” Michael says after he finally answers.

“Hi,” I say while silently wishing he would answer the phone like an adult man but I can’t help the giggle that comes out. I try to cover it quickly because I don’t want to egg on his behavior to continue. “Sorry to call so late but I wanted to let you know I looked for the ring -,”

He cuts me off mid sentence. “Oh yeah, don’t worry about that. Turns out it was in my coat pocket the whole time.” He says this while he obviously has something in his mouth that he’s eating. “The one place I didn’t look.” He states with a loud laugh.

I sigh and move onto the bed and lean against the headboard while looking over at the complete mess I made in our walk in closet and all the clothes hanging out of the open drawers. Not to mention the hour I put into making this mess to find that damn ring.

“Look before you say, “blah blah blah you should have called me so I didn’t waste my time! Blah Blah Blah.” His statement brings me out of my thoughts. I can’t help but smile. He knows me so well because that’s exactly what I had at the tip of my tongue before he interrupted. “And I totally was but then Maria came home and -,”

“Did you pop the question then?” I ask. Now it was my turn to interrupt.

“Yup. Which is why I got a bit distracted...” He lets that float in the air and it starts to put thoughts that I don’t want in my head.

“No need to explain.” I want to change the subject. “Well congrats, Michael.” I say sincerely. “I’m very happy for you two.”

“Enough of this lovey dovey bullshit, Max. Talk to you later.” I hear the hint of sarcasm in his voice. "But thanks."

“Night.” I tell him as we both hang up and I toss my phone back on the table.

I close my eyes for a bit but reopen them as soon as Liz comes in the room and waves her own cell in the air. “Maria just texted me.” She smiled while plugging it up to her phone charger. “They are officially engaged!” Her voice is full of happiness for our closest friends and I tell her about my phone conversation as I begin to set the alarm.

As soon as she plops on the bed next to me, I automatically run my arm under her and pull her into my chest. I run my fingers through her hair and nuzzle my nose in it. “I love the way you smell.” I say and mean every word.

“I love the way you smell.” She says then runs her lips over my bare skin. I pull her even tighter to me not wanting to let her go.

She lightly giggles and pushes herself back a bit. “Why are you acting like this?”

“Like what?” I lean down and press a quick kiss on her lips. I’ve never wanted anyone as much as I want her.

“Like....,” She thinks for a few seconds before answering. “Me or one of the kids are going to disappear when you’re not looking.” She licks her lips. “You’re just acting so different lately.”

“I just feel...” I’m quiet as I decide how honest to be. “I feel like I just realized how important you are to me. How all of you are to me. I would be an idiot to give something like this up.” I feel my eyes start to sting with unshed tears. I think about her last statement. “Have I ever made you feel like you and the kids aren’t important to me?” I want to kick my own ass if I find out that this time line self would treat her and the kids with nothing other than love and affection.

“No. No.” She says quickly and places her hand on my cheek. “Nothing like that.” She places a kiss on my chin. “You have always been the best father,” her lips press up higher to my cheek. “And husband,” Her lips move to my ear and gives it a quick lick.

“You’re a wonderful mother,” I say back to her hoping she can see the love and honesty in my eyes. “And the most beautiful,” I kiss her forehead for a few seconds. “loving,” I continue and move them to her little nose. “and sexy wife any man could as for.” I move my mouth down to hers. “You are perfect.” I say against her lips softly with my own.

Her cheeks instantly turns red and she nibbles at her bottom lip. “I love that you still make me feel this way,” She pulls me in for a tight embrace.

“What way?” I sigh into her neck and then slowly inhale her scent.

“The way you feel when you go on a first date with someone,” She explains. “Just you looking at me gives me insane butterflies in my stomach,” She starts to blush again.”And when you kiss me my knees still get all wiggly and weak.’

I stay silent during her confession and I understand completely what she means. She has the exact same affect on me.

I make a vow to myself right then and there. That I will do everything and anything in my power to make sure she feels this way about me for the rest of her life.





TBC...?

[Karen O]

Hi Everyone! Thanks so much for the feedback! Just a heads up, this chapter does contain some minor drug use.





Part 8




“Mommy.”

A hushed voice followed by a little sniffle make my eyes pop right open. I’ve always been a light sleeper.

“What’s wrong, Sof?” I ask her quietly after I notice Liz has yet to be woken up by our whispering. She deserves as much extra sleep she can get and I want to make sure she gets it. We were only in bed for 40 minutes before Colin became fussy and wanted attention. I insisted I take care of him but she denied me and was gone before I could protest. It took over an hour for him to fall peacefully back asleep. It also didn’t help that I kept us up past our normal bed time talking about everything and anything.

I want to learn everything about our life together. I’ve actually gotten pretty good at asking questions about the last five years without making it seem like I wasn’t the one living them.

“Are you okay?” I can barely make out her form because my eyes are still adjusting but even with my blurred vision I can tell she is still standing silently by her mothers side of the bed. “Sofie?” I ask once more but with bit more authority in my voice, warning her I am impatiently waiting for a reply.

Again, I hear her make another sniffle and slowly make her way over to my side as I sit up straight. Once she’s in reach, I place both my hands gently on her tiny shoulders.”Did you have another nightmare?” I sneak a peek at Liz quickly, since my eyes are now in focus, to make sure she is still sleeping which she is.

“No,” I can practically hear her bottom lip tremble as she tries to hold back tears. “I had an accident.”

“Accident?” I repeat back to her with my brain still foggy with sleep. “What kind of accident?” After asking that, she is full on crying softly. Her shoulders move up and down and I know heartbreaking sobs are soon to follow. I quickly and carefully slide out of bed, reach for my shirt on the floor and guide us out of the bedroom. After I put the top on over my bare chest, I hold her hand as we make our way to her room as I guide us in the darkness. “Shhh,” I tell her while stroking my hand down the back of her soft hair to calm her down. “You have to stop, sweetheart. You could wake mommy and Colin.” The dim light from her bedroom night light is creeping out from under her door making it helpful to reach our destination.

Because she’s a well behaved young lady, she makes her crying a bit less dramatic and loud and settles into a sad but quiet blubbering while I feel her nod her head in agreement against my arm. Once we reach the safety of her room, I close the door slightly and turn the light on. That’s when I notice the big wet stain on the center of her bed.

Oh, that kind of accident!

I definitely have a lot to learn about this whole parent/child codename thing and how we are already supposed to know what they are talking about. I mean an upsetting accident really late at night for a child her age could mean a lot of things right? The more I think about it the more dumb I feel. I rub the back of my neck due to my rising anxiety without thinking about it.

As Sofie realizes I know what exactly happened, she starts to cry harder again with her hands covering her eyes. “Aw, honey.” My heart breaks for her because I know she is mainly crying in embarrassment. She’s been going on and on about how much of a big girl she was being. I’m sure this had made her feel like a baby again. I walk over to her and bend down so we are eye level. “Mistakes happen,” I explain simply as she continues to look down and uses her tiny index finger and traces the lines over my bent knee on my flannel sleep pants. “Don’t feel bad okay? I’ll take care of it.” She seems to calm down from my words of reassurance so I kiss her forehead and get up and head towards her dresser. I pull out a clean pair of tiny underpants and a fresh nightgown with little kittens on it.

I walk back to her and hand them over gently. “Go get cleaned up in the bathroom and change into these. I’ll stay here and take care of the bed.” She hugs her fresh pajamas close to her chest as she nods slowly. “Just leave the clothes you have on in the bathroom. I’ll get those when I take the sheets to the laundry room.” I finish and I can tell that from the emotional breakdown she just went through it has made her exhausted especially with what time of the night it is. I’m already dreading having to wake her up in the morning for school.

I watch with a heavy heart as she makes her way to the door and suddenly stops to turn around and look at me. “Thank you, daddy.”

I feel a rush of emotions crash into my body and I feel my eyes start to burn from her tiny statement. “You’re welcome, baby.” I reply back. Our moment only lasts a few more seconds before she quietly leaves and heads towards the bathroom she and Colin share. Right as I am pulling off the dirty sheets, her door is pushed open by Liz, who has tired eyes. Her hair is pointing up in random directions and her cheeks are flushed. She looks beautiful. “I’m sorry,” I apologize to her as I begin to roll up the blankets that need to be put in the washer. “We tried to not wake you.”

She shakes her head softly. “It’s okay. What happened?” She asks with her voice full of sleep while rubbing her hands up and down her arms to warm up as she still getting used to being out of our cozy bed.

“She had an accident.” I explain as she walks over to help with the task and a few moments later Sofie walks back into the room in her clean clothing. As soon as she sees both of our sights on her, she begins to break down again because she realizes we were just talking about her and her bladder mishap.

“I’m sorry!” She sobs as Liz rushes over to her side and as if right on cue we all hear Colin’s loud screams coming from the other end of the hall. I stand there still holding the piss covered sheets as I watch Liz pick Sofie up trying to calm our tired moody daughter and the sound of my son’s deafening cry ringing in my ears. What the crap is happening to my always smiling, always happy family? This is really hard. This is an insane nightmare. Then it hits me.

This is parenthood.

“Max!” Liz brings me out of my thoughts. “Could you please?” Her face looks stern as she uses her thumb to point towards the other end of the house. Before my brain can even connect with my feet, I’m already dashing out of the room towards the next hurdle of the night. Due to the lack of light and my fast speed, I run right into the hallway bookshelf, stubbing my toe and smashing my knee cap against the wooden corner in the process.

“Son of a bitch!” I yell out, dropping to the carpet and taking the wet bedding along with me like a ton of bricks. The loudness of my scream and crash to the floor makes both the kids cry out louder at the opposite sides of the house. I’m honestly surprised the cops have not showed up yet since I’m sure the neighbors think there is a massacre happening next door. I look down the hall to see an irritated Liz shaking her head at me while still holding a very upset Sofie and close her door with a small slam. I practically crawl into Colin’s room and reach up to hit the light switch with a painful moan.

That’s when I see my son, who pushed himself up into a standing position against the side of the crib, looking down at me with a red angry face and eyes full of huge tears. For a split second I fear that his head is actually going to explode but I push that out of my mind as I hop over to him and his sobs.

“It’s okay, Colin.” I say softly to him and pull him out into my arms, trying my best to ignore the severe pain I have from my knees down. “It’s okay.” I say again while rubbing his back with my fingertips. “Daddy’s here.” I sway side to side in a speed he seems to like. I hold him tight against me while pressing little kisses against his wet cheek.

I sway with him for about another five minutes or so, softly whispering a lullaby my own mother would sing to me and Isabel when we were little. After the song is over I notice he’s not fidgeting around anymore and his breathing is coming out in small slow breaths. As I carefully place him back into his crib, I can’t help but think he’s faking this just to get me to shut up because I know my singing voice is like nails to a chalkboard. I stand there and watch over him for a few more minutes to make sure he really has passed back out. He really did. I feel a cocky smile spread over my face.

I did it! I actually did it!

After placing another light kiss on the top if his head, I slowly make my way back out of his room and close the door. I walk back in Sofie’s room to see Liz alone scrubbing the pee spot on the mattress. I can see that she can barely keep her eyes open but yet she is determined to clean up this mess for our daughter. I walk over to her to take a seat at the end of the bed where it is dry and reach over to stop her moving hand. “Colin is back asleep. Let me finish up here.” She doesn’t say anything back but blows the loose strands of hairs that have fallen in front of her face and pinches her eyes shut to remain calm. I keep a hold of her hand as I watch her try to push back her exhaustion and continue.

At this moment, it hits me how young we really are to have two little ones running around. Since I’ve been here, Liz has been nothing but strong and up to any challenge one of the kids toss our way. This is the first time, she is showing how much of a toll it can take on her.

“Could you get me a towel and some spare sheets from the hall closet?” She finally asks while she sprays more cleaner on the spot and scrubs again.

“Of course,” I’m already on my feet and heading that way. After picking back up the old sheets from the hall and tossing them in the wash along with the wet pjs, I grab what she needs and make my way back to her and ask, "Where's Sofie?" Liz finishes drying the bed with some paper towels and grabs the towel from me and lays it over the area she just scrubbed clean before answering.

“She was falling asleep standing up so I put her in our bed until this is done.” She explains softly as she then grabs the clean sheets from me. I help her put them back over the towel and mattress. She runs her hands over the material to get the lumps and wrinkles out. “Okay, she should be good to go.”

We walk in our room and see her little arms and legs sprawled out on our bed where there wasn’t even enough room for us. “Should we move her?” Liz asks quietly. I shiver thinking about all the events that just took place when she was awake and shake my head.

"Yeah, let's not do that." I say walking over to a comfy chair we have in the corner of our bedroom and grab the blanket we have folded on it. I gently put the blanket over her sleeping body and look back at my wife. “I’m not risking waking her up again.” She nods her head in agreement and we both stand there watching Sofie snuggle deeper in the blanket in her sleep.

“Well, shit.” I state softly while wondering where we’ll be sleeping now. With a small giggle, Liz grabs my hand and we go back into Sofie’s room.

“It’s going to be a small fit,” Liz says as she starts to pick back up the pillows from the floor and put them back against the headboard. “But we’ll make it work.” I nod my head in agreement as I flip off the light after she sets an alarm on Sofie’s bedside clock and crawl into the bed next to her. She’s right, it is a small fit and with us laying on our backs there isn’t even an extra inch for us to move left or right. Without a second thought, my hand automatically reaches for her’s and our fingers stroke each others skin softly.

“Why don’t we take tomorrow off.” I state out of the blue as we both stare up at the ceiling, which is decked out with little glow in the dark stars and planets, and she lets out a little laugh. "No, I'm serious." I continue. "I have plenty of vacation time saved up.” I know this from looking at my most recent pay stub with my sick and vacation time posted. I can honestly say, that I’m impressed with what my pay is at my job. It makes me feel good that I’ve been able to provide for my family well. Liz stays silent next to me, obviously thinking this through. “C’mon,” I nudge her softly. “We can make it a Max and Liz day. We can do whatever you want, baby.” I start to get excited thinking of all the possibilities.

She smiles at me and says, “We do have enough people covering tomorrow at the diner...,” She starts to think about it again. “We could use an extra day to finish getting the house together and unpack what’s still in boxes.” She says and I can’t lie that her idea of a what we could do on our “Max and Liz day” is the exact opposite of what I had in mind. I don’t let it bother me though....like I said, anytime with Liz is perfect no matter what the activity is. “What about the kids?”

Crap. Now it’s my turn to be quiet as I think of a solution to that. “I’m sure mom and dad would watch them.” I state and Liz turns to look at me again. Since I’ve been here, I’ve actually had numerous phone conversations with my parents. Unlike, in New York where I would try to avoid all family calls. “Mom is always telling me she and dad want to see them more. I’m sure they would love to have them over for the day.” I smile as Liz snuggles closer to my side, showing me that she is getting excited to have a day to ourselves. “I’ll call them right when we get up.”



*****



"Looky what I got." I glance up at Liz and see her mischievous smile and a plastic baggy with two delicious looking brownies inside being held up by her hand. I’m laying on our bed slowly flipping through more photo albums I found.

As I already figured, it was a battle to get the kids up this morning. Lots of cries and screams were heard throughout the house but when we all had the sleep out of our eyes and breakfast in our tummies, things started to get back to normal. Liz was back in her chipper mood, Sofie was tear free and Colin was all smiles.

"Mmm," I moan in hunger. "I can already feel my ass jiggle just by looking at them." I joke and she laughs while tossing the bag on the bed. "Isn’t it a bit early for sweets?" I ask while opening the bag up and take a whiff of the chocolate goodness. We just got back from dropping Sofie off at school and Colin off at my parents, who were both happy to watch him and Sof all day and night so Liz and I could enjoy the day together. From the looks of it and how easily they agreed, we don’t get many days to ourselves.

As the smell fills my nose, I freeze. I remember this smell. These are not just any brownies. I look back up at Liz with wide eyes. “Are these what I think they are?”

“Yeah, Maria pawned them off to me last night.” She explains and I understand instantly. Maria’s mother, being the free spirit she is, always wound out making friends with the people who wanted “expand their minds” every once in awhile....you know, for artistic purposes.

“She said she doesn’t want to keep them at her place, just in case Michael got hungry and confused again. You remember last time he accidentally found her mom’s stash.” She giggles and I play along acting like I do remember. I do laugh along with her though because I can already picture many ridiculous situations about Michael eating the special brownies and not have any idea how special they are.

“I was going to throw them out last night but I completely forgot they were in my purse.” She explains leaning against the door frame as I scoot off the bed to stand closer to her. Closer is always better when it comes to myself and Liz. “I was thinking since we’ll be alone that we could...,” She lets me make up what the rest of her statement is.

We both stand there with devilish smiles for a few seconds and dash out of the bedroom and make our way into the kitchen, like we are playing a game of tag. From her excitement, I get the sense that this is something we haven’t done in a long long time. I mean we were parents by eighteen. There were a lot of things we missed out on. Like doing stupid things and having little responsibility. To her, I think this is a little escape from the real world for a day. For me, it’s a perfect chance to get Liz all to myself for a little while.

“You sure you want to do this?” I ask as I grab us two tiny plates to eat off. “What happened with cleaning and unpacking?”

“Yup,” Liz says with an excited smile. “We should have everything covered. Your Dad is picking Sofie up from school and will watch her and Colin until until tomorrow morning. We have the whole day. And I say screw the unpacking.” I laugh at her last comment.

Now don’t get me wrong, growing up Liz and I were both good kids. We were both top of our class and always did great in school and never got in trouble with the law. That doesn’t mean every once in awhile we did things that young teens do. I remember our first time smoking weed together when we were 16 and at some random party. Liz was so paranoid she and Maria, who also smoked with us, spent the entire night hiding in the bathtub behind the shower curtain. It took Michael and myself over an hour to try and find them and once we did they both bolted. After that it was easy to track them down due to their hysterical giggles. Not to mention the adventure it was trying to sneak the girls back into Maria's room when we finally left. That is definitely a night that will forever be imprinted into my mind.

About an hour later, we are both sitting on the kitchen floor with cans of pop, numerous open bags of cookies and chips, and one open container of ice cream we are both eating out of with two spoons.

“Oh my god, this is so good!” Liz says while shoving another handful of chips into her mouth. I laugh hysterically as many crumbs roll down on her shirt. I nod in agreement as I eat another spoonful of ice cream. I’m assuming that it’s due to our low tolerance that the brownies only took about 30 minutes to really kick in.

I stop laughing as I lean back against the cabinet under the kitchen sink. “What?” Liz asks with her bloodshot shiny eyes wide in fear. “What’s wrong?” Now she’s in paranoid mode looking frantically around our kitchen to find any signs of anything strange.

“I feel like I’m melting into the wood,” I laugh with more tears falling from the corners of my eyes. I get quiet again as it feel like I’m falling deeper and deeper in the cabinet door.

“Let’s get the hell out of here!” Liz yells while grabbing onto my shoulders to pull me away from the wooden surface. She grabs the pop cans and the family size bag of chips and starts to crawl out of the kitchen. “C’mon Max!” She looks back over her shoulder to see if I’m following behind. I swear it feels like it takes me over 15 minutes, because of my crazy laughing and the sight of her cute little butt moving back and forth being a distraction, to gather the rest of the junk food and crawl out right behind her...leaving a massive crumb trail behind us. You know just in case we can’t find our way back to the kitchen to get more food later on.

We end up in the living room and jump onto our soft couch. “We have to hide!” I state and pull a blanket over ourselves and the couch so we have a little fort.

“Good idea!” Liz says with a mouth full of cookies. I watch her sink back into the couch cushions with a dreamy sigh. “I feel like I can feel every nerve in my body.” I can’t stop my body from getting excited when she uses her finger to lightly stroke the smooth skin on her other arm. I know what she means though...I feel like my body is one big sensitive nerve. Even the soft texture of the couch touching my exposed skin feels very pleasurable.

I hold back my surprised squeal when Liz suddenly jumps on me to straddle my hips with her toned legs. I run my hands down her smooth thighs and up to the material of her skirt as she throws her head back with a small moan sneaking from her throat. Before I know it, I’m pulling the blanket off over our heads so it’s wrapped behind Liz’s back, so I can see her more clearly in the sunlit room.

She takes this opportunity to pull her tank top off her body in a flash and she helps me take my shirt off within seconds. I pull her towards me so our naked chests are pressed against each other and I grow hard instantly. “Oh, baby.” I moan into her neck as I slowly start to suck on her skin. I move my hands slowly down her back until they rest on her ass. She starts to move her hips back and forth slowly so the denim of my jeans is rubbing against her lower half.

“Mmm,” She moans in my ear and my hand moves to her hot center under her skirt. I can already feel how ready she is for me through her panties. “This.” She whispers seductively in my ear as her hips start to move a bit more rougher against my growing member. “Is going to feel so good.”

All I can do is nod like an idiot as she uses her hands to roam my chest. I lift my hips up without thinking as she takes her time to explore all the muscles and skin in front of her. “You’re so sexy,” She looks up at me while biting her lower lip. “I can’t wait to feel you inside me.” She starts to unzip my pants and I lean my head back down against the back of the couch with my eyes closing in bliss.

These brownies are awesome and I make a mental note to personally thank Amy next time I see her. My eyes pop back open as I feel her stop her roaming and see her start to reach for something hidden between the couch cushions.

“Aw, Sofie’s favorite necklace,” Liz states in awe as she grabs the beaded handmade jewelry out of it’s hidden spot and holds it up so it’s dangling in front of both our faces. “I miss them.” Liz sounds sad all of the sudden.

I know exactly who she is talking about and agree quickly, moving my eyes from her exposed breasts to her clouded dark eyes. “Me too.” Images of our son and daughter pop into my insanely high mind pushing out the NC-17 thoughts involving my wet and ready wife that were just there.

“We are horrible parents!” Liz says out of nowhere with a frown but still stays where she is on my lap. “They should be here with us. We should be reading “The Giving Tree” or some shit like that to them right now. But now we can’t because...because we’re on drugs! We are those kind of parents you see on the news or those after school specials!” She says pulling the blanket off of us. The air coming from the AC hits her skin and I can’t help but get those dirty thoughts again as I notice her perfect nipples get hard. “Oh my god! What if they make a Lifetime movie about this? You know, about two young parents who couldn’t take care of their kids because they are stoned out of their minds?”

“Baby, you need to calm down.” I run my hand over her bare skin of her leg. I know it’s the weed making her paranoia flare up. “Everything’s going to be fine.” I tell her again with my serious tone and she believes me. I take the necklace out of her clammy hands and toss it on the side table. I can tell she is about to go on again with more ridiculous thoughts so I do the only thing I can think of to stop her doubts. I press my lips against hers. I feel her relax instantly against my body and I smile to myself as she starts moving her hips against me again.

“You’re right,” She says with her sexy voice back. “Where were we?” She asks while her hand sneaks it’s way down the waistband of my pants to wrap her fingers around my thickening member. “Mmm,” She moans as she runs her lips across my cheek. “You’re so big.”

She groans loudly as I push her panties out of the way of my destination and push a finger inside her and use my thumb to stroke the bundle of nerves that makes her shake. “You’re so tight.” I say back against her lips. This is also something new to me with Liz. I’m not used to her being too openly blunt about sex.

My whole body gets tingly as she pulls my cock out of my pants and I lift her up like a feather with one arm as I use my free hand to pull her black lace panties down her legs. Once they are out of the way, I practically sit her back down on top of my lap so I slide into her in one solid motion. We both cry out from the feeling of being connected.

“Oh, fuck,” Liz sighs as her forehead rests against my own. She puts her arms up, so my head is between them, and uses the back of the couch to get a firm grip so she can move the way she likes. I continue to run my hands up and down her back until they rest against her bottom, helping her with the pace of our love making. We both stay silent, minus our moans and sighs of pleasure, as she continues to ride against me. I can feel we are both getting close and I don’t want this to end yet so I quickly stand up from the couch, still inside of Liz and begin to walk towards our room with my pants down around my ankles.

“I want,” I say into her hair as I hold her tight against me around her waist so she can still move around me easily. “To finish on the bed.” I wouldn’t mind finishing in the garage if that’s what she wanted but in the back of my mind, my own little paranoid self creeps out and I keep getting images of my parents making a quick stop at the house and walking in on their son and daughter in law getting it on like two rabbits.

She nods against my quickly and tells me to hurry. I don’t make it far before I’m tripping over my pants and making us fall against the living room wall. I’m about to start apologizing to her since I’m sure the impact falling against the wall and my weight on top of her must have hurt but I don’t get a word out because her hands are now firmly gripping my own ass, silently telling me to keep going. I simply do what I’m told.

As I’m pounding into her, I notice that her head keeps getting smacked against the freshly painted wall, so I put my hand behind it to take the pain. “Max,” She sighs to me as I see our skin both start to glistening from the sweat. “Max,” Again my name is a sigh and coming from her, it’s like music to my ears. “I’m about...I’m.. coming..,” Her tongue run against my ear and I can feel it all the way down to my toes.

“Liz,” I force out as I feel her start to get tighter and tighter around me as I feel my own orgasm coming. I pull my face away from her chest to look into her eyes. “I love you so fucking much.” I tell her as I continue to move in and out of her. Before she can reply, I watch her as her body starts to tremble and the little cry of pleasure escapes from her lips. My own cry comes out only seconds after her own and I feel myself come completely inside of her warm welcoming body.

We stay where we are for a few more moments to catch our breaths and I can’t stop the dopey smile that crosses my face as I feel Liz press tiny kisses all over my sweaty face. “I love you.” She pulls back so we can look back at each other. Since her legs are still wrapped around my waist, I push us off the wall and make our way back to the couch where I set her down carefully and grab the blanket off the floor to cover our naked bodies as she removes the skirt she is still wearing. After I get comfortable position on the couch, I pull a very breathless Liz back into my arms so her body is back against mine. I feel her breathing start to get softer and I know sleep is soon to follow because my own eyes are starting to get heavy.

“If you left Roswell after school like you planned...,” She whispers to me breaking the silence as our fingers keep moving with each other. “Where do you think you would be?”

I have no idea what made her ask me such a thing...I can only assume it’s the brownies making her brain run with numerous thoughts and emotions because that’s how I feel right now.

I stay silent for a few moments to make her think I’m actually thinking. But I already know the answer to her question. My job in New York enters my mind. My big lonely apartment. All those females I would fuck just to feel good about my life and how after it was over, I was even lonelier feeling than before. Because deep down, this is what I truly wanted all along. A family to come home to. A wife who makes my heart skip a beat from one look. A son who will know he can come to me about anything and everything. A daughter who looks at me like I’m her own personal superhero.

Before I can answer her, she continues. “Sometimes I feel guilty.”

“About what, baby?” Pulling her naked body closer to my own. Just our skin touching is making me grow hard again.

“Sometimes...,” She stops like she’s choosing her words wisely. “Really just around the time Sofie was born, I would catch you staring off into space. Like you were looking out past Roswell....to the future you really wanted.” Before I can say anything she continues. “I used to feel like I held you back in your life.”

“Hey,” I say and lift her chin up with my fingers so she will look into my eyes. “Never say that again.” Before she can get out another word I continue. “I’m exactly where I want to be. Liz, when I’m with you and the kids, I....I feel like the luckiest man on the planet. I wouldn’t give you all up for anything.” A pain fills my own heart at my words. I did give her up though. Her and this perfect slice of heaven we created together in this small town.”You’re the love of my life.” I say and I smile down at her as she grins at me. “Just know, that you are it for me, Liz Evans. If we ever get separated from each other....I will always find my way back to you. Always.”

She doesn’t say anything after my little speech. She doesn’t need to though. I can see the way she feels by the way she touches my exposed skin and the way her fingers intertwine with my own.

While we wait for sleep to overcome us, we quietly reminisce about high school and all the shenanigans our group used to always get into. I figured out that anything that happened before we found out Liz was first pregnant, is still exactly the same in this timeline if Sofie would have been born.

My mind goes back to that day when we were eighteen and sitting in my room looking over college applications when she told me the news. My thoughts go crazy when I think about how this timeline version of myself took the news. He obviously made the better choice. The one where he continued to support and love Liz Parker.

All I have from that memory of the moment she told me, was me being freaked out and separating myself from her as much as possible until I decided what was best...for myself. That choice was to suck the life we created together out of her and leave her here alone to pick up the pieces of her broken heart.

I really was the biggest prick on the planet.





TBC?