18 hours earlier
The hike up the Little Bear Canyon was a reasonably difficult one even without one exhausted teenager and one wounded one, but it had several distinct advantages over the route they had taken to get to the hot springs. For one, it put them at right angles to the likely path of the other drug runners who were almost certainly coming north down the river. Additionally, the steep climb would put any pursuers at a disadvantage. Jeff knew that they had the weapons they’d brought – Lizzy was mainly using hers as a walking stick right now – and maybe even Max’s power if it came to that. The young man was in the lead – hanging in there on the hike, but he looked like a stiff wind was all it would take to knock him over – it would certainly be unwise to count on him for any firepower anytime soon. What he mostly hoped was that the other drug runners would find the bodies of their friends and content themselves with taking the drugs and going back the way they came.
The downside of this route, however, was that it was sapping their strength and wearing them down. Water, at least, they had in abundance. They had food enough for the night and morning – then they’d be living off the land, although if they could get to the high mountain lakes tomorrow, Max might be able to help them there. He had said that he could sort of feel the thoughts of wildlife if it was close enough – that was how he’d known the Gila monster was there – and where to fish. One fishing rod was still intact – maybe it would be enough to feed them if they could put Max’s skills to work – but those thoughts were for tomorrow.
The altitude was also a problem. Even the Gila had been 5000 ft above sea level. Where they were going to be climbing was going to be nearer 8000 feet. Even for people acclimatized to Roswell’s 3700 feet, the steep climbing was leaving them all winded. Worse than that, the combination of altitude – fatigue – and the need for food was making them all clumsy which only compounded their problems, The more their energy was depleted, the clumsier they got – the clumsier they got, the more energy they wasted. It was a vicious circle, and Jeff wanted to get them all off of it – but he needed to get them to the high pass at the top of the canyon first. The next hour would be critical, because as they approached the pass, they were the most exposed while simultaneously having to concentrate on the steep terrain ahead. It actually went pretty well for the first 45 minutes. Jeff was spending almost as much time watching backward as he was forward – seeing how Lizzy was coming, and watching for any pursuit from below. That’s how he managed to be looking behind him when he saw Lizzy fall.
The surprising thing was how little warning there was – she seemed to be uncomfortable but soldiering on one second, the next second her right knee had just buckled and she went down. It surprised him less after he worked his way back to her – seeing the trickle of blood run down her leg and the bright red stain on her cutoff levis where the entry wound had been.
“How long has this been going on?” he asked, putting pressure over the area.
“It started bleeding about an hour ago. I kept jamming bandages down to keep pressure on it because I didn’t want to slow us down,” said his daughter, looking up at him. "My leg got numb – then it got weak. I don’t think it’s got much blood flowing down it with all the pressure from the bandage.”
Jeff picked up his daughter and carried her up the hill to the first level area where Max and Nancy had stopped. The right leg was cramping up – the skin was cool to the touch compared to the other, and Jeff could feel no pulse at the right ankle, compared to the left.
“What’s wrong with Lizzy?” asked an obviously apprehensive Nancy.
“From the looks of it, the pellet must have hit her artery. With all the exertion – I don’t know – maybe the clot broke loose, maybe it just tore some more.” He didn’t want to mention the rest of it. The bleeding was right over the femoral artery. Even with all the pressure the bandages were applying it wasn’t stopping the arterial bleeding. The wound was too close to the body to apply a tourniquet, but the pressure bandage was cutting off the bloodflow to her leg just as effectively. Lizzy needed surgery and needed it within a few hours or she was going to lose her leg, even if they could stop the bleeding. If they couldn’t stop it – or couldn’t get her to a hospital, Jeff knew his daughter was going to die.
“We need to get her out of here – we need a helicopter or something,” said Jeff, unable to face the fact that he had no way of getting help for his daughter where she was – and no way of getting her to where help was.
“The satellite phone that man had ….,” started Nancy.
“It was toast – wrecked in the explosion,” said Jeff, becoming more panicky by the moment.
“I think maybe I can heal her,” said Max.
“What do you mean, you think you can heal her, Max?” asked Jeff.
“I have another thing I can do. I’ve only done it twice though, once with a pigeon and once with a guinea pig. I don’t know if it will work, but we have to do something…”
“Let him try, Daddy….”
“OK Max, what do we do first?” asked Jeff.
“I’ve got to be able to touch the area. Can you help me get her pants off?”
On any other day Jeff would have probably thought helping his daughter's would-be boyfriend take his daughter’s pants off would have been odd, but there really hadn’t been much normal about this day. With Nancy’s assistance, they soon had the cutoffs off. Lizzy had bikini underwear on – the thought going through Jeff’s mind that Lizzy and her mother had once had a heated discussion about that.
Lizzy had wanted to buy bikini style panties with her birthday money when she’d turned twelve. Her mother had told her she didn’t need anything like that at twelve years of age – but that had been two and a half years ago – practically a lifetime to a teenage girl. How long had Lizzy been buying that style? Probably at least a year now he’d seen it in the laundry.
The entry wound was just outside her panties - and had an obvious rhythmic flow of blood welling up in time to Lizzy’s pulse. With the pressure bandage off it was even worse. Max put his hand two inches above Lizzy’s groin and apparently realized he’d have to touch those panties – he froze.
Jeff looked at Lizzy and looked at Max. He wouldn't have really thought that Lizzy had enough blood left in her to blush – but she did, so did Max – and Max’s hand was shaking like he was scared to death.
“For God’s sake, Max – pretend she’s Mr. Pibbles!” shouted Jeff. It seemed to break the spell Max was under and he pushed his hand down firmly over the wound in Lizzy’s groin.
“We have to connect mentally for this to work. Look at me, Liz, ... look into my eyes.”
Max seemed to grimace with pain as Liz grimaced – but somehow his hand drew the pellet from her groin – there was a brief gush of blood but then the same golden glow that had killed the drug smugglers came from Max’s hand – first staunching the flow – then as Max drew his hand away, the wound itself was gone – Lizzy’s skin was unblemished. Even as he watched, the pallor of her right leg was replaced by the pink skin of full circulation.
Jeff looked up in awe at Max’s face – then looked at his daughter. Lizzy was speechless for about ten seconds, before looking up at Max angrily.
“How could you even THINK that, Maxwell Evans? It was STUPID enough to begin with – thinking I couldn’t accept you because of your secret – but I SPOONFED you peach slices after I already knew, and you STILL thought I couldn’t ever want to be your girlfriend because you were different? What kind of a bigoted imbecile do you think I am?”
If Max had an answer, he never got a chance to give it. Apparently healing Liz had taken what little energy he still had left. Jeff barely managed to catch him, as he collapsed wordlessly beside Lizzy.
“I think Max needs another nap, dear,” Jeff said to his daughter. “… and you might give him a LITTLE slack when he wakes up. He DID save your life - again.”
He could have spared his lecture. Even before he finished it, Lizzy was all over Max – trying to make sure he was alright. It looked like he was just sleeping again.
It was another hour before they were at the pass at the top of the canyon. Liz really was alright – Max had spent his energy insuring that. Jeff had made two trips, the first one dropping off his gear, the second one going back for Max, who he carried for almost a quarter mile. It was nightfall before they’d improvised shelters, the girls in the small tent, Max and Jeff in a shelter Jeff had improvised out of one of Max’s space blankets. Jeff laid Max in the shelter to sleep and the other three fixed a cold dinner of freeze dried macaroni and cheese. Jeff watched Liz check Max tearfully about every five minutes, alternating looking apprehensively at him with berating herself for having yelled at him.
“That,” said Nancy to her husband, “… apparently was the lover’s first quarrel..”
“Please – friends first quarrel…”
Nancy looked at him and her eyebrow went up.
“OK,” he conceded, “good friends first quarrel.”
Nancy’s eyes held his.
“OK, OK, … boyfriend and girlfriend’s first quarrel.”
Nancy smiled and took another bite of cold macaroni and cheese.
Gila River (L/M teen) [COMPLETE]
Moderators: Anniepoo98, Rowedog, ISLANDGIRL5, Itzstacie, truelovepooh, FSU/MSW-94, Hunter, Island Breeze, Forum Moderators
Re: Gila River AU/W L/M teen 11/23/2008
15 hours earlier
Jeff wasn’t sure if it was late at night or early in the morning – all he knew for sure was that he was fairly miserable. Their camping gear had been adequate for the lower levels along the Gila under most conditions. Up here it was colder – much colder. Even without the freak storm that had moved in – lowering the outside temperature to just above freezing, they wouldn’t have been real comfortable – and that was before they’d lost much of their equipment back at the camp by the river. The only saving grace was the wind had died down so the rain was now falling straight down, rather than sideways.
Jeff had done his best. Nancy and Liz had the small tent, their sleeping bags zipped together so they could cuddle close to one another and at least try to stay warm. That might even have worked, had it not been raining so hard – and had not Lizzy made four trips the fifty yards to this shelter in the last two hours – to see how Max was doing.
No doubt each time she’d gone back drenched – only to climb back in the sleeping bags and shiver until she was relatively dry – then gotten up to come check again. Jeff wasn’t sure if it was just concern for Max – or guilt about how she’d treated him just before he passed out that was the main motivation. He suspected it was probably both. He was reasonably certain her continuing trips were keeping both groups wet and cold – that was certainly the case in his improvised tent, anyway.. Jeff expected her back in about fifteen minutes.
As uncomfortable as Lizzy and Nancy most likely were, Jeff was clearly even less comfortable. Under ideal conditions the improvised tent he had made out of one of Max’s space blankets might have kept them reasonably warm underneath. Ideal conditions did NOT include a moderately heavy drenching rain – a rain that the silverized mylar seemed to delight in funneling inside to find and drench Jeff Parker, whatever position he found to lay in.
Jeff was handicapped a little in that regard. He’d stuffed the unconscious Max in the third and last sleeping bag in an attempt to let him recover, and was trying to use the one remaining space blanket in lieu of a real sleeping bag. Except that you could feel every pebble underneath you, that it crinkled loudly with every breath you took, and that it never seemed to cover the areas that it’s partner above let in leaks, it almost worked. Well, it was better than nothing at least, Jeff told himself. Of course, even he somehow found a way to make it comfortable, Lizzy would no doubt be sticking her head inside the tent to see how Max was shortly anyway.
As he lay there – trying not to be TOO cold and miserable, he found his thoughts going back to his daughter’s first visit. She had asked to trade places with him – so she could watch Max throughout the night, saying she was going to lay awake all night worrying anyway. He remembered the conversation well;
’What does the kid have to do to convince me he’s good for Lizzy,’ Jeff asked himself. ’Die for her..? Hell, it’ll be too late then.’ And no, Jeff had to admit, there wouldn’t be anything all that bad about Lizzy and Max having the kind of love and closeness that he and Nancy had – someday. But how could he tell when?
“Mmmm – Liz…..?” came the sleepy voice from beside him.
“No, Max, In your dreams maybe son - but it’s only me..”
“Mr. Parker? Where is Liz? I’ve got to go to her … explain …apologize.”
“Lord, Max – you ARE new at this boy-girl stuff, aren’t you? Lizzy had already forgiven you – even before you’d quite passed out. As a matter of fact, she’d already started feeling guilty herself for yelling at you, before I even got you up here to the campsite.”
“Feeling guilty?”
“Yeah, she figures that obviously she didn’t show you she was accepting enough in these years since third grade, or you would have realized that it would have been OK to tell her the secret and that it wouldn’t have made any difference to her. The fact that you were simply scared sh… uh, that is, spitless of even your parents rejecting you – let alone a girl friend, has just blown right by her consciousness.
She’s convinced herself that it’s all her fault, and no doubt she’s laying over in that tent trying to figure some way to make it up to you – more than likely some way I’m NOT going to approve of.”
”She is?”
“Yeah, they all do it. Our role in this world is to be the insensitive slobs – theirs is to be understanding and forgiving.”
“Ours …? Theirs…?”
“Yeah … ours …guys. Like you and me. Theirs … women. Like Liz and Nancy. That’s sort of how it works – we screw up, they make it better – then apologize to us for letting us screw up.”
Max looked confused. “Are you SURE Lizzy isn’t still mad at me?”
“Trust me, Max. She’s not upset with you. I mean, if you want to hedge your bets you can still apologize – even pick a bouquet of wildflowers in the meadow tomorrow and give it to her. She’ll probably melt at your feet. She was so damn happy to find out that you really did love her she’ll forgive you anything – even something as important to her as not completely trusting her. How did that work, by the way? How did she read your mind?”
“Uh – when I make a connection, it goes both ways a little bit. I really wasn’t trying to read her mind – I was too busy healing her and too tired too spare any other effort. But I guess she found out how I felt about her.”
“That kind of surprises me. When we talked before, it really sounded like you did think you were too different. I guess you decided you are human after all.”
“Yeah, after I talked to you it suddenly became pretty obvious to me I was human. I couldn’t deny it to myself any longer.”
“Wait – let me guess. It was when Lizzy kissed you after you saved her from that Gila monster, wasn’t it?”
“Uh – no sir, not exactly.”
“When was it? Tell me the truth – being truthful is very important in any relationship.”
“Uh – never mind.”
“Come on, Max. You want me to trust you? Tell me the truth.”
“It was – well, it was when she came out of the water with her white blouse on…”
“Max – I think truth can sometimes be an over-rated virtue. If Mrs. Parker ever asks you that question, tell her it was when Lizzy kissed you after you saved her from the Gila monster, got that?”
“Uh – yes sir.”
“Damn – I haven’t thanked you for saving Lizzy’s life – again – have I?”
“It isn’t necessary, Mr. Parker. Liz has been a good friend for quite awhile. There probably isn’t anything I wouldn’t do to keep her safe.”
“Well, when she shows up you could tell her to stay in her own tent. Getting soaking wet every thirty minutes all night is going to give her pneumonia. In the meantime, we probably better get some food in you – such as it is.”
It was safe to say the cold reconstituted freeze-dried macaroni was unappetizing. It looked like lumpy wallpaper paste, but hadn’t tasted nearly that good and most of it was still left.
“Here you go – best we have for dinner, sorry…”
Jeff felt the warmth as Max put his hand over the bowl and a pleasant cheesy smell seemed to waft up from the bowl.
“Oh, it’s alright,” said Max between mouthfuls. “You ought to taste my sister Isabel’s cooking.”
“Now THAT is a neat trick,” said Jeff.
Jeff wasn’t sure if it was late at night or early in the morning – all he knew for sure was that he was fairly miserable. Their camping gear had been adequate for the lower levels along the Gila under most conditions. Up here it was colder – much colder. Even without the freak storm that had moved in – lowering the outside temperature to just above freezing, they wouldn’t have been real comfortable – and that was before they’d lost much of their equipment back at the camp by the river. The only saving grace was the wind had died down so the rain was now falling straight down, rather than sideways.
Jeff had done his best. Nancy and Liz had the small tent, their sleeping bags zipped together so they could cuddle close to one another and at least try to stay warm. That might even have worked, had it not been raining so hard – and had not Lizzy made four trips the fifty yards to this shelter in the last two hours – to see how Max was doing.
No doubt each time she’d gone back drenched – only to climb back in the sleeping bags and shiver until she was relatively dry – then gotten up to come check again. Jeff wasn’t sure if it was just concern for Max – or guilt about how she’d treated him just before he passed out that was the main motivation. He suspected it was probably both. He was reasonably certain her continuing trips were keeping both groups wet and cold – that was certainly the case in his improvised tent, anyway.. Jeff expected her back in about fifteen minutes.
As uncomfortable as Lizzy and Nancy most likely were, Jeff was clearly even less comfortable. Under ideal conditions the improvised tent he had made out of one of Max’s space blankets might have kept them reasonably warm underneath. Ideal conditions did NOT include a moderately heavy drenching rain – a rain that the silverized mylar seemed to delight in funneling inside to find and drench Jeff Parker, whatever position he found to lay in.
Jeff was handicapped a little in that regard. He’d stuffed the unconscious Max in the third and last sleeping bag in an attempt to let him recover, and was trying to use the one remaining space blanket in lieu of a real sleeping bag. Except that you could feel every pebble underneath you, that it crinkled loudly with every breath you took, and that it never seemed to cover the areas that it’s partner above let in leaks, it almost worked. Well, it was better than nothing at least, Jeff told himself. Of course, even he somehow found a way to make it comfortable, Lizzy would no doubt be sticking her head inside the tent to see how Max was shortly anyway.
As he lay there – trying not to be TOO cold and miserable, he found his thoughts going back to his daughter’s first visit. She had asked to trade places with him – so she could watch Max throughout the night, saying she was going to lay awake all night worrying anyway. He remembered the conversation well;
- “Daddy – you heard what I said to him – how mean I was. It wasn’t Max’s fault – he didn’t even have a family until he was walking – and I got mad at him just because he was frightened about being different. I made it worse, Daddy, and I have to tell him I’m sorry as soon as he wakes up. I want to be here with him as soon as he does.”
“Honey, I understand why you like Max – there’s a lot about Max to like, actually – but you both are too young – too young to get – involved.”
“I don’t want to get ‘involved’ with Max, Daddy. I want what you have – you and Mom. I want that kind of love and closeness – can that be so bad? I just want Max to be the one for me like you are for Mom. I know we are too young to do anything serious, but I want him to know – he needs to know – that whatever differences we have aren’t as important as how much we care for each other.”
“Lizzy – right now Max just needs his sleep and so do you – go back to the tent with your mom. We’ll talk about this in the morning, once everyone is rested.
’What does the kid have to do to convince me he’s good for Lizzy,’ Jeff asked himself. ’Die for her..? Hell, it’ll be too late then.’ And no, Jeff had to admit, there wouldn’t be anything all that bad about Lizzy and Max having the kind of love and closeness that he and Nancy had – someday. But how could he tell when?
“Mmmm – Liz…..?” came the sleepy voice from beside him.
“No, Max, In your dreams maybe son - but it’s only me..”
“Mr. Parker? Where is Liz? I’ve got to go to her … explain …apologize.”
“Lord, Max – you ARE new at this boy-girl stuff, aren’t you? Lizzy had already forgiven you – even before you’d quite passed out. As a matter of fact, she’d already started feeling guilty herself for yelling at you, before I even got you up here to the campsite.”
“Feeling guilty?”
“Yeah, she figures that obviously she didn’t show you she was accepting enough in these years since third grade, or you would have realized that it would have been OK to tell her the secret and that it wouldn’t have made any difference to her. The fact that you were simply scared sh… uh, that is, spitless of even your parents rejecting you – let alone a girl friend, has just blown right by her consciousness.
She’s convinced herself that it’s all her fault, and no doubt she’s laying over in that tent trying to figure some way to make it up to you – more than likely some way I’m NOT going to approve of.”
”She is?”
“Yeah, they all do it. Our role in this world is to be the insensitive slobs – theirs is to be understanding and forgiving.”
“Ours …? Theirs…?”
“Yeah … ours …guys. Like you and me. Theirs … women. Like Liz and Nancy. That’s sort of how it works – we screw up, they make it better – then apologize to us for letting us screw up.”
Max looked confused. “Are you SURE Lizzy isn’t still mad at me?”
“Trust me, Max. She’s not upset with you. I mean, if you want to hedge your bets you can still apologize – even pick a bouquet of wildflowers in the meadow tomorrow and give it to her. She’ll probably melt at your feet. She was so damn happy to find out that you really did love her she’ll forgive you anything – even something as important to her as not completely trusting her. How did that work, by the way? How did she read your mind?”
“Uh – when I make a connection, it goes both ways a little bit. I really wasn’t trying to read her mind – I was too busy healing her and too tired too spare any other effort. But I guess she found out how I felt about her.”
“That kind of surprises me. When we talked before, it really sounded like you did think you were too different. I guess you decided you are human after all.”
“Yeah, after I talked to you it suddenly became pretty obvious to me I was human. I couldn’t deny it to myself any longer.”
“Wait – let me guess. It was when Lizzy kissed you after you saved her from that Gila monster, wasn’t it?”
“Uh – no sir, not exactly.”
“When was it? Tell me the truth – being truthful is very important in any relationship.”
“Uh – never mind.”
“Come on, Max. You want me to trust you? Tell me the truth.”
“It was – well, it was when she came out of the water with her white blouse on…”
“Max – I think truth can sometimes be an over-rated virtue. If Mrs. Parker ever asks you that question, tell her it was when Lizzy kissed you after you saved her from the Gila monster, got that?”
“Uh – yes sir.”
“Damn – I haven’t thanked you for saving Lizzy’s life – again – have I?”
“It isn’t necessary, Mr. Parker. Liz has been a good friend for quite awhile. There probably isn’t anything I wouldn’t do to keep her safe.”
“Well, when she shows up you could tell her to stay in her own tent. Getting soaking wet every thirty minutes all night is going to give her pneumonia. In the meantime, we probably better get some food in you – such as it is.”
It was safe to say the cold reconstituted freeze-dried macaroni was unappetizing. It looked like lumpy wallpaper paste, but hadn’t tasted nearly that good and most of it was still left.
“Here you go – best we have for dinner, sorry…”
Jeff felt the warmth as Max put his hand over the bowl and a pleasant cheesy smell seemed to waft up from the bowl.
“Oh, it’s alright,” said Max between mouthfuls. “You ought to taste my sister Isabel’s cooking.”
“Now THAT is a neat trick,” said Jeff.
Re: Gila River AU/W L/M teen 11/25/2008
Three minutes – and a couple hundred calories – later, Jeff looked up from his bowl at Max. “You do have a serious bag of tricks – stretching out nylon cord – blasting people – healing people – imitating a microwave oven … anything else?”
“That’s pretty much it. The nylon cord and microwave oven tricks are kind of the same. It’s molecular manipulation – in the case of the cord just breaking down some of the bonds, in the case of the macaroni and cheese it was just adding energy to the molecules to heat them up.”
“Too bad you can’t heat this place up…”
“I uh – I can. I mean, I’ll have to do it kind of slowly – I’m still not completely recovered and otherwise it would get too hot anyway– but the mylar doesn’t weigh much – I can hold it in place and as long as there are no big opening to cause a draft, and I can warm it up in here.”
“Are you sure – I wouldn’t want you to wear yourself out.”
“I got a pretty good nap and my headache is gone. I heal pretty fast.”
Jeff felt the small improvised tent getting slowly – but definitely – warmer. Max unzipped his sleeping bag fully and laid it out flat on the floor. “This will be softer than you trying to use the space blanket for a sleeping bag. We can both lay on this and cover ourselves with the space blanket. I can keep it warm enough underneath to be pretty comfortable.”
“Thanks, Max. This is … great.”
“It’s the least I can do. I owe you for – well for yelling at me when I went to heal Lizzy. I guess I just didn’t want to embarrass her.”
“Your respect for my daughter’s modesty is understandable, Max, in fact, it’s laudable. One of the reasons that I feel you are both two young to date is that I’d like you to keep that respect for her. As the saying goes, familiarity breeds contempt. I think if you start now, in a few years there will be more familiarity – but less respect”
Jeff watched as Max chewed slowly on his last spoonful of macaroni and cheese, finally swallowing and looking him directly eye to eye.
“You know, Mr. Parker, my dad has known my mom for a long time – I don’t see much lack of respect there. You and Mrs. Parker have been together for a long time – I don’t see any disrespect there either.”
“Max, that’s just a little bit different..”
“Well, I understand different – it’s the story of my life.”
“Look, Max, it’s not about you being different. I wouldn’t be here – Liz and Nancy wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for that difference. It’s just that – well, if you were more experienced in the boy-girl arena, you might understand.”
“You mean more experienced – with somebody else’s daughter?”
“Max, that isn’t fair…”
“No Mr. Parker, pretending I cared about some other girl – that’s what wouldn’t be fair. Not to that girl – not to Liz – not to anyone. It wouldn’t be respectful either. I know we are young – we have years ahead before we will be finished with school – with college. But I’ve pretended all of my life and I’m not going to pretend I don’t care about Liz. I can’t do that, and I shouldn’t have to. Besides – it won’t do any good. Liz saw, Mr. Parker. She knows exactly how I feel about her. Maybe if she had any sense, she’d go running the other way – not get involved with this ‘not of this Earth,’ business, but that isn’t what she did. She understands me and trusts me – trusts me more than I thought anyone ever would – more than I thought anyone ever could. I’m certainly not going to pretend to her that she doesn’t mean anything to me now.”
“No, Max. I guess I can understand that. Which means that I’m forcing Lizzy to make a choice if I fight this … a choice I don’t want her to have to make.”
Jeff watched as Max reached out to his wrists – still raw from the parachute cord, and starting to get infected. Max’s eyes seemed to expand to fill his vision as he felt the warmth come to his wrists. As it did, the bond between their minds opened and Jeff found he could feel deep in to Max’s mind. There was love for Lizzy there – love that had grown for years – love that was little different from the love he himself had for his daughter. There was also something deeper – a latent passion that would one day burst forth – not unlike the passion he had for Nancy. There was even a growing affection for Liz’s father.
Max, Jeff knew, would never be a threat to Lizzy – never intentionally let her come to harm. He might make mistakes – sometimes people do – Max was as human as the next person. But he’d try his best to make her happy. Jeff had no doubts about that. In fact, Max would even have kept his distance from Lizzy – at least for a while – except Max really didn’t think Lizzy would do it. And Max was trying – trying the best he could with almost no experience – to keep from becoming the reason for a real rift between Lizzy and her father, because Max was almost sure Lizzy wasn’t going to take her father’s ‘no’ for an answer.
‘And maybe Max is right,’ Jeff told himself. ‘Maybe it’s at a point where I have to trust Lizzy – and Max – to decide.’ But even knowing that didn’t exactly make the decision easier.
Still, as he looked at his healed wrists he had to admit – Lizzy could do a lot worse than get Max Evans as a boyfriend.
“Look, Max – if I was to decide to be stupid enough to let you and Lizzy start ‘ a relationship’ at your age, I’d want you to make a few promises to me.”
“That’s pretty much it. The nylon cord and microwave oven tricks are kind of the same. It’s molecular manipulation – in the case of the cord just breaking down some of the bonds, in the case of the macaroni and cheese it was just adding energy to the molecules to heat them up.”
“Too bad you can’t heat this place up…”
“I uh – I can. I mean, I’ll have to do it kind of slowly – I’m still not completely recovered and otherwise it would get too hot anyway– but the mylar doesn’t weigh much – I can hold it in place and as long as there are no big opening to cause a draft, and I can warm it up in here.”
“Are you sure – I wouldn’t want you to wear yourself out.”
“I got a pretty good nap and my headache is gone. I heal pretty fast.”
Jeff felt the small improvised tent getting slowly – but definitely – warmer. Max unzipped his sleeping bag fully and laid it out flat on the floor. “This will be softer than you trying to use the space blanket for a sleeping bag. We can both lay on this and cover ourselves with the space blanket. I can keep it warm enough underneath to be pretty comfortable.”
“Thanks, Max. This is … great.”
“It’s the least I can do. I owe you for – well for yelling at me when I went to heal Lizzy. I guess I just didn’t want to embarrass her.”
“Your respect for my daughter’s modesty is understandable, Max, in fact, it’s laudable. One of the reasons that I feel you are both two young to date is that I’d like you to keep that respect for her. As the saying goes, familiarity breeds contempt. I think if you start now, in a few years there will be more familiarity – but less respect”
Jeff watched as Max chewed slowly on his last spoonful of macaroni and cheese, finally swallowing and looking him directly eye to eye.
“You know, Mr. Parker, my dad has known my mom for a long time – I don’t see much lack of respect there. You and Mrs. Parker have been together for a long time – I don’t see any disrespect there either.”
“Max, that’s just a little bit different..”
“Well, I understand different – it’s the story of my life.”
“Look, Max, it’s not about you being different. I wouldn’t be here – Liz and Nancy wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for that difference. It’s just that – well, if you were more experienced in the boy-girl arena, you might understand.”
“You mean more experienced – with somebody else’s daughter?”
“Max, that isn’t fair…”
“No Mr. Parker, pretending I cared about some other girl – that’s what wouldn’t be fair. Not to that girl – not to Liz – not to anyone. It wouldn’t be respectful either. I know we are young – we have years ahead before we will be finished with school – with college. But I’ve pretended all of my life and I’m not going to pretend I don’t care about Liz. I can’t do that, and I shouldn’t have to. Besides – it won’t do any good. Liz saw, Mr. Parker. She knows exactly how I feel about her. Maybe if she had any sense, she’d go running the other way – not get involved with this ‘not of this Earth,’ business, but that isn’t what she did. She understands me and trusts me – trusts me more than I thought anyone ever would – more than I thought anyone ever could. I’m certainly not going to pretend to her that she doesn’t mean anything to me now.”
“No, Max. I guess I can understand that. Which means that I’m forcing Lizzy to make a choice if I fight this … a choice I don’t want her to have to make.”
Jeff watched as Max reached out to his wrists – still raw from the parachute cord, and starting to get infected. Max’s eyes seemed to expand to fill his vision as he felt the warmth come to his wrists. As it did, the bond between their minds opened and Jeff found he could feel deep in to Max’s mind. There was love for Lizzy there – love that had grown for years – love that was little different from the love he himself had for his daughter. There was also something deeper – a latent passion that would one day burst forth – not unlike the passion he had for Nancy. There was even a growing affection for Liz’s father.
Max, Jeff knew, would never be a threat to Lizzy – never intentionally let her come to harm. He might make mistakes – sometimes people do – Max was as human as the next person. But he’d try his best to make her happy. Jeff had no doubts about that. In fact, Max would even have kept his distance from Lizzy – at least for a while – except Max really didn’t think Lizzy would do it. And Max was trying – trying the best he could with almost no experience – to keep from becoming the reason for a real rift between Lizzy and her father, because Max was almost sure Lizzy wasn’t going to take her father’s ‘no’ for an answer.
‘And maybe Max is right,’ Jeff told himself. ‘Maybe it’s at a point where I have to trust Lizzy – and Max – to decide.’ But even knowing that didn’t exactly make the decision easier.
Still, as he looked at his healed wrists he had to admit – Lizzy could do a lot worse than get Max Evans as a boyfriend.
“Look, Max – if I was to decide to be stupid enough to let you and Lizzy start ‘ a relationship’ at your age, I’d want you to make a few promises to me.”
Last edited by greywolf on Fri Nov 28, 2008 12:04 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Re: Gila River AU/W L/M teen 11/27/2008
“And what would those be, sir?”
“Well, for one, you’d take things slowly – very slowly at your age. That won’t keep you from making mistakes – everybody does – but it might help you to both have enough invested in your relationship when those mistakes are made to let what you have survive those mistakes.”
“That seems like very reasonable advice to me, Mr. Parker.”
“Well then how about this – I’m thinking you and Liz don’t go to first base until she’s sixteen and don’t think about going past it until you are eighteen?”
“Uh – Mr. Parker, I was just feeling some of your thoughts when I was healing your wrists – I believe what you were really thinking was that Lizzy would decide when we got to first base, and you hoped we’d hold off until sixteen for any more than that.”
“Damn it Max – it’s bad enough that I have a wife and daughter who can ALMOST read my mind. Now my daughter has a boyfriend who actually can…? If there is any justice in this universe son – any at all – you are going to have to go through this yourself some day and I’m going to be there to watch and laugh.”
“Mr. Parker – If I’m ever lucky enough to have a wonderful daughter like Lizzy – when she does go through this – well I think you are going to be just about as worried about her as I am, because if that happens, she’s going to be your granddaughter.”
“I was already starting to figure that out, Max, and why don’t you call me Jeff – at least when it’s just the two of us?”
Max smiled up at him. “OK, Sir. I will promise you that as long as I live, I’ll never push Liz to do anything that would make her uncomfortable – to do anything she really doesn’t want to do…”
“Yeah, like THAT’S going to be a problem,” said Jeff, smiling and shaking his head. Still, there was a certain comfort in the agreement he’d made. Dating was a dangerous world – much more so than when he and Nancy were young. Date rape, by use of alcohol, drugs, or force, … sociopaths who really didn’t care about the people they seduced and hurt … there would be none of that with Max. No, Jeff wasn’t totally comfortable – he would always be her father always worry about her -- but he was starting to accept this.
“Well, I suppose by the time she’s mature enough to control a two-ton station wagon she’ll be mature enough to control you too, Max. Lord knows she and Nancy know how to keep me jumping to their tune. My only real worry is the other way around. Don’t let my all-too-determined daughter push you to do anything too fast – you’ve still got a lot of things to do to prepare yourself for life – school, college.”
“I know that, Mr… , I know that, Jeff. I’ll talk about that with Liz. I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that.”
“I suppose not,” said Jeff, realizing he would worry anyway -- but that was just part of being a father. “I think she’ll listen to that coming from you a whole lot better than she would from me though.”
As if on cue, they heard footsteps outside splashing through the rain – coming from the direction of the distant small tent. The edge of the tent lifted up and in the driving rain of the thunderstorm a very wet young lady quickly slid under the space blanket whispering, ‘Daddy, is Max alright? Hey it’s warm in here…”
Jeff looked at his daughter in the beam from the small flashlight. Lizzy had always been an attractive child, even navigating the difficult waters of a puberty that had made her cuteness change as limbs grew and figure started to fill out, she had always been pretty. More recently as she seemed on the cusp of young womanhood, he realized that his daughter’s beauty was – like her mothers – absolutely stunning. But not tonight.
Tonight Liz looked like a drowned rat that a cat had dragged in out of the storm. Tonight she was wearing a light jacket with three blouses underneath – in an effort to stay warm in the near-freezing rain, a pair of his levis over her own rolled up at the cuffs – both pair sopping wet, and her normally beautiful hair looking like a dark brown mop dripping water.
But when she heard Max’s voice – “Hi Liz – I - uh woke up” – her sudden radiant smile warmed her father's heart.
“Well, for one, you’d take things slowly – very slowly at your age. That won’t keep you from making mistakes – everybody does – but it might help you to both have enough invested in your relationship when those mistakes are made to let what you have survive those mistakes.”
“That seems like very reasonable advice to me, Mr. Parker.”
“Well then how about this – I’m thinking you and Liz don’t go to first base until she’s sixteen and don’t think about going past it until you are eighteen?”
“Uh – Mr. Parker, I was just feeling some of your thoughts when I was healing your wrists – I believe what you were really thinking was that Lizzy would decide when we got to first base, and you hoped we’d hold off until sixteen for any more than that.”
“Damn it Max – it’s bad enough that I have a wife and daughter who can ALMOST read my mind. Now my daughter has a boyfriend who actually can…? If there is any justice in this universe son – any at all – you are going to have to go through this yourself some day and I’m going to be there to watch and laugh.”
“Mr. Parker – If I’m ever lucky enough to have a wonderful daughter like Lizzy – when she does go through this – well I think you are going to be just about as worried about her as I am, because if that happens, she’s going to be your granddaughter.”
“I was already starting to figure that out, Max, and why don’t you call me Jeff – at least when it’s just the two of us?”
Max smiled up at him. “OK, Sir. I will promise you that as long as I live, I’ll never push Liz to do anything that would make her uncomfortable – to do anything she really doesn’t want to do…”
“Yeah, like THAT’S going to be a problem,” said Jeff, smiling and shaking his head. Still, there was a certain comfort in the agreement he’d made. Dating was a dangerous world – much more so than when he and Nancy were young. Date rape, by use of alcohol, drugs, or force, … sociopaths who really didn’t care about the people they seduced and hurt … there would be none of that with Max. No, Jeff wasn’t totally comfortable – he would always be her father always worry about her -- but he was starting to accept this.
“Well, I suppose by the time she’s mature enough to control a two-ton station wagon she’ll be mature enough to control you too, Max. Lord knows she and Nancy know how to keep me jumping to their tune. My only real worry is the other way around. Don’t let my all-too-determined daughter push you to do anything too fast – you’ve still got a lot of things to do to prepare yourself for life – school, college.”
“I know that, Mr… , I know that, Jeff. I’ll talk about that with Liz. I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that.”
“I suppose not,” said Jeff, realizing he would worry anyway -- but that was just part of being a father. “I think she’ll listen to that coming from you a whole lot better than she would from me though.”
As if on cue, they heard footsteps outside splashing through the rain – coming from the direction of the distant small tent. The edge of the tent lifted up and in the driving rain of the thunderstorm a very wet young lady quickly slid under the space blanket whispering, ‘Daddy, is Max alright? Hey it’s warm in here…”
Jeff looked at his daughter in the beam from the small flashlight. Lizzy had always been an attractive child, even navigating the difficult waters of a puberty that had made her cuteness change as limbs grew and figure started to fill out, she had always been pretty. More recently as she seemed on the cusp of young womanhood, he realized that his daughter’s beauty was – like her mothers – absolutely stunning. But not tonight.
Tonight Liz looked like a drowned rat that a cat had dragged in out of the storm. Tonight she was wearing a light jacket with three blouses underneath – in an effort to stay warm in the near-freezing rain, a pair of his levis over her own rolled up at the cuffs – both pair sopping wet, and her normally beautiful hair looking like a dark brown mop dripping water.
But when she heard Max’s voice – “Hi Liz – I - uh woke up” – her sudden radiant smile warmed her father's heart.
Re: Gila River AU/W L/M teen 11/27/2008
"MAX! - are you OK? Max, I'm so sorry about what I said..."
"Liz - I'm so sorry about not trusting you..."
"That's alright - I don't blame you a bit.." they both said simultaneously. Jeff was feeling very much like the shuttlecock in a badminton game laying on his stomach between these two. As both giggled at their simultaneous apologies, he finally got a word in edgewise.
"Lizzy -- you look like a drowned rat. You CAN'T be running around in the storm like that. You need to get back to the tent."
"But I need to talk to Max. There's so much we just HAVE to talk about, Daddy. Besides, it's warmer here than in the tent - and mom told me if I come back there with my clothes all drenched again she's going to kick me out anyway, so I may as well stay here with you two. Where'd you find the heater, by the way."
"That would be your b-b-b-uh-lab partner, Max. He is the source of the heat in here. Max, is there any possibility you could get her a little bit dryer, before she catches pneumonia?"
"Yes sir. Liz, if you can scootch over here, I'll start with your hair. It'll probably take about ten minutes. If you can take off your wet outer clothes, I can probably get you mostly dried out in twenty minutes or so."
Jeff watched as Liz kicked off her soaking tennis shoes and stripped down to her own levis and innermost blouse which - thankfully - was not white and had NOT gotten transparent as it had gotten soaked. Max held both of his hands toward Liz and they glowed golden, and Jeff could see the steam come off of her. In ten minutes her hair was nearly dry, and the tent was reasonably toasty.
"That's wonderful, Max. I couldn't sleep without knowing you were alright, but I thought I was going to get hypothermic if I didn't get warm and dry. This is the most comfortable I've been since sundown. I wish I'd known about this back at the river - I wouldn't have had to have had my hair combed for an hour to dry out - of course, you didn't TRUST me then..."
Max winced. "I told you I was sorry..."
"And I shouldn't have brought it up again, forgive me Max."
"...besides," Max continued, ".. even if I'd trusted you, I wasn't sure about your dad, and I could sense him in the bushes sneaking up to see what we were doing.."
"Daddy..."
"That isn't precisely correct, Lizzy. Max, what did I tell you about telling the truth? I admit that you were overdue, and I did wander in that direction to see if I could hear any sort of sounds of distress. The two of you could have been treed by a bear or something."
"You weren't worried about a bear. You were trying to spy on Max and me."
"Spy? Me? Lizzy, you wound me greatly. For all I knew you were being accosted by drug smugglers - and you were, not too long later. My goodness, Lizzy, have you forgotten Max's concussion already?"
"Daddy...," said Liz, glaring at him in a manner he dreaded to see when it came from Nancy.
"Look, I can tell you aren't going to listen to reason, and I am too tired to lay here all night having you nag at me. Max - this is the deal. You will stay on YOUR side of the sleeping bag, and my suspicious daughter will stay on her side. If you are unable to keep her warm and safe, or if you get tired of her incessant chatter, come knock on the tent door. I'll be bunking with Mrs. Parker tonight.
I'm sure the two of you can find SOMETHING to talk about, but don't stay awake too long. We have a lot of fish to catch tomorrow - or we will have a long hungry walk."
As he looked at his daughter Jeff was amazed. He'd actually succeeded in rendering her speechless for once. She had a dopey grin, but didn't seem to be able to say a word.
"I'm trusting you, Max," he said, as he put his shoes on and prepared to go out in to the storm, "... don't let me down."
"I won't, sir..." came the voice from behind him. As he walked across to the pup tent in the driving rain he actually felt pretty good. Max WOULD stay on his side of the sleeping bag - he really had no doubt of that. He also had no doubt that Liz would be there spooned up against him, sound asleep in the morning when he came to get Max to go fishing. But she'd be safe, and she'd be warm , and Max wouldn't let it get past talking and maybe a kiss goodnight - at least for a few more years.
He splashed his way over to the pup tent which was on the only other piece of raised ground around – almost 75 feet from the tent with the two teenagers. He turned off the flashlight so as not to wake Nancy, and slipped quietly inside. The voice met him instantaneously.
“DO NOT get into this sleeping bag with those wet clothes on, Lizzy. It is still damp from the last time you tried that. Take everything off that's wet before you slide in to this bag or we'll both be freezing tonight.”
Jeff was cold and wet, and figured the words applied to him just as much as it did to Lizzy, so he stripped down to his underwear and crawled in beside his wife.
“You,” she said, “... are not my daughter.”
“Well, it's a long story. She was cold and wet and Max has another power – he's OK by the way, but anyway he can get that little tent up to about 75 degrees and keep it there. It was kind of getting uncomfortable for three, and I had a talk with Max. That young man's alright, Nancy. I'm not sure why you were so unsure about him..”
“Me? But...”
“I've gotten his promise that he'll be on his best behavior. Besides, if I had let Lizzy go out in the storm one more time she would have probably gotten double pneumonia, and Lord knows where Max would have had to put his hands to heal that ... besides, they are good kids and I think we can trust them. They're too damn tired too get very frisky anyway.”
“And how tired are you?”
“NANCY – stop that. We have two impressionable teenagers not eighty feet away...”
“Which means you are going to have to be quiet and cooperate. You are freezing cold. I can't have you getting pneumonia yourself. It's not seventy five degrees in here, but I'm sure there are parts of you I can warm up even warmer than that.”
“Nancy – If Lizzy knew what we were doing...”
“She'd approve heartily. In fact, she's the one that suggested it.”
“Lizzy said we should...?”
“She said she was going to hold us to that promise of a sibling. She wasn't sure she could survive being an only child through her teenage years – what with you driving her to distraction with your worrying. I just happen to think she's right, and since I didn't happen to bring along any protection anyway, and since neither of us are getting younger, you either have to comply quietly or let the kids hear us arguing about it.”
“Well, if you put it like that, the least I can do is to quietly submit. Damn, I hope Max has a lot of willpower.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because I'm depending on him to keep Lizzy in line for at least a few more years. I fear she's her mother's daughter when it comes to romance.”
“I talked to her. She understands they need to take things slowly. I also told her that Max shouldn't get excited after the concussion from the rifle butt, and that he needs his rest tonight.”
“But if that's the case, I had a concussion too.”
“So I fibbed a little. I always thought truth was an over-rated virtue. Come here, big boy.....”
EPILOGUE
24 hours later
As he drove the family station wagon away from the Gila Wilderness Area, Jeff saw the roadblock up ahead. The Border Patrol and INS routinely had roadblocks in the area, looking for illegal immigrants. This seemed a little more than that though. These guys were armed to the teeth. As he stopped at the roadblock, several heavily armed men eyed him suspiciously before relaxing when they saw Liz and Nancy in the car.
“Can I help you, Officer?” asked Jeff.
“Sorry sir ... I'm afraid I need to see some identification. Driver's license and car registration would be fine.” The officer perused the papers briefly and gave them back to Jeff. “This your family?”
“Uh, yes officer, My wife and my daughter...”
“This young man your son?”
Before he could answer, Liz scooted over until she bumped in to Max, then turned and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Max," she said, " ... is my boyfriend."
Max flushed with embarrassment but Jeff noticed he made no effort to pull away from Lizzy. He just sat there with a big goofy grin looking up at the officer who Jeff saw was with the DEA.
“You been camping in the Gila?”
“Yes sir. We packed in about twenty miles – gives you a chance to get away from the tourists, you know?”
“You see anything unusual?”
“Unusual? No, not really,” said Jeff. Truly, today the truth would definitely have been an over-rated virtue. “Why do you ask?”
“Well, we had some problems with drug runners. Apparently four of them got themselves killed, then while the crime scene investigators were there four more showed up. We captured two of them, neither in very good condition, but it still leaves us with a bit of a mystery.”
“Sorry, wish I could help, but things were pretty normal-normal where we were. We didn't see a thing.”
The man looked at Jeff curiously, then at the two teenagers in the back seat. “Would you mind stepping over here in private for a minute, sir?” Jeff followed him a short distance away. When they were alone, the man looked at him – then looked back at Liz and Max.
“Don't you think they are a little young to be boyfriend and girlfriend? They barely look like teenagers.”
“They're only fourteen, and I have to admit, I had a few doubts myself. But they are kind of special kids – awfully responsible for their ages. I actually think I trust Max more than I do my own daughter, he's a pretty level-headed young man.”
The DEA agent looked at them both, shaking his head. “I don't know – I've got a twelve year old daughter - man I don't think I'm going to let her have a boyfriend until she's eighteen.”
“Yeah, well good luck with that....,” said Jeff. The man glared at him for a minute – then smiled and shrugged.
“Thanks – I guess I'm going to need it,” said the DEA man.
“Don't we all,” said Jeff.
As they drove away Jeff looked in the rear view mirror at the two teenagers holding hands. “When we get back to Roswell, Max, you need to talk to your mom and dad. You and your sister might as well come clean and join the human race. Maybe you and your sister can double-date with Lizzy and someone.”
“Alex Whitman,” said Max.
“Alex?” asked Liz.
“Yeah, believe it or not, he's the man of her dreams – quite literally.”
“The Ice Princess told you that?” asked Liz.
“Read her diary.”
“You didn't – that is so low, Max.”
“So I'm not going to get to read what you are going to write about this week in your journal?”
“Some day, Max... some day. Say ... you hang around with Michael Guerin. If you could get him to triple date we could get Maria to come along , too.”
Jeff looked at his wife. He had an interesting life, and it was likely to get even more interesting in nine months or so. In the meantime, in the back seat, two teenagers were planning their future lives together. They'd do that for most of the trip back to Roswell.
The end.
"Liz - I'm so sorry about not trusting you..."
"That's alright - I don't blame you a bit.." they both said simultaneously. Jeff was feeling very much like the shuttlecock in a badminton game laying on his stomach between these two. As both giggled at their simultaneous apologies, he finally got a word in edgewise.
"Lizzy -- you look like a drowned rat. You CAN'T be running around in the storm like that. You need to get back to the tent."
"But I need to talk to Max. There's so much we just HAVE to talk about, Daddy. Besides, it's warmer here than in the tent - and mom told me if I come back there with my clothes all drenched again she's going to kick me out anyway, so I may as well stay here with you two. Where'd you find the heater, by the way."
"That would be your b-b-b-uh-lab partner, Max. He is the source of the heat in here. Max, is there any possibility you could get her a little bit dryer, before she catches pneumonia?"
"Yes sir. Liz, if you can scootch over here, I'll start with your hair. It'll probably take about ten minutes. If you can take off your wet outer clothes, I can probably get you mostly dried out in twenty minutes or so."
Jeff watched as Liz kicked off her soaking tennis shoes and stripped down to her own levis and innermost blouse which - thankfully - was not white and had NOT gotten transparent as it had gotten soaked. Max held both of his hands toward Liz and they glowed golden, and Jeff could see the steam come off of her. In ten minutes her hair was nearly dry, and the tent was reasonably toasty.
"That's wonderful, Max. I couldn't sleep without knowing you were alright, but I thought I was going to get hypothermic if I didn't get warm and dry. This is the most comfortable I've been since sundown. I wish I'd known about this back at the river - I wouldn't have had to have had my hair combed for an hour to dry out - of course, you didn't TRUST me then..."
Max winced. "I told you I was sorry..."
"And I shouldn't have brought it up again, forgive me Max."
"...besides," Max continued, ".. even if I'd trusted you, I wasn't sure about your dad, and I could sense him in the bushes sneaking up to see what we were doing.."
"Daddy..."
"That isn't precisely correct, Lizzy. Max, what did I tell you about telling the truth? I admit that you were overdue, and I did wander in that direction to see if I could hear any sort of sounds of distress. The two of you could have been treed by a bear or something."
"You weren't worried about a bear. You were trying to spy on Max and me."
"Spy? Me? Lizzy, you wound me greatly. For all I knew you were being accosted by drug smugglers - and you were, not too long later. My goodness, Lizzy, have you forgotten Max's concussion already?"
"Daddy...," said Liz, glaring at him in a manner he dreaded to see when it came from Nancy.
"Look, I can tell you aren't going to listen to reason, and I am too tired to lay here all night having you nag at me. Max - this is the deal. You will stay on YOUR side of the sleeping bag, and my suspicious daughter will stay on her side. If you are unable to keep her warm and safe, or if you get tired of her incessant chatter, come knock on the tent door. I'll be bunking with Mrs. Parker tonight.
I'm sure the two of you can find SOMETHING to talk about, but don't stay awake too long. We have a lot of fish to catch tomorrow - or we will have a long hungry walk."
As he looked at his daughter Jeff was amazed. He'd actually succeeded in rendering her speechless for once. She had a dopey grin, but didn't seem to be able to say a word.
"I'm trusting you, Max," he said, as he put his shoes on and prepared to go out in to the storm, "... don't let me down."
"I won't, sir..." came the voice from behind him. As he walked across to the pup tent in the driving rain he actually felt pretty good. Max WOULD stay on his side of the sleeping bag - he really had no doubt of that. He also had no doubt that Liz would be there spooned up against him, sound asleep in the morning when he came to get Max to go fishing. But she'd be safe, and she'd be warm , and Max wouldn't let it get past talking and maybe a kiss goodnight - at least for a few more years.
He splashed his way over to the pup tent which was on the only other piece of raised ground around – almost 75 feet from the tent with the two teenagers. He turned off the flashlight so as not to wake Nancy, and slipped quietly inside. The voice met him instantaneously.
“DO NOT get into this sleeping bag with those wet clothes on, Lizzy. It is still damp from the last time you tried that. Take everything off that's wet before you slide in to this bag or we'll both be freezing tonight.”
Jeff was cold and wet, and figured the words applied to him just as much as it did to Lizzy, so he stripped down to his underwear and crawled in beside his wife.
“You,” she said, “... are not my daughter.”
“Well, it's a long story. She was cold and wet and Max has another power – he's OK by the way, but anyway he can get that little tent up to about 75 degrees and keep it there. It was kind of getting uncomfortable for three, and I had a talk with Max. That young man's alright, Nancy. I'm not sure why you were so unsure about him..”
“Me? But...”
“I've gotten his promise that he'll be on his best behavior. Besides, if I had let Lizzy go out in the storm one more time she would have probably gotten double pneumonia, and Lord knows where Max would have had to put his hands to heal that ... besides, they are good kids and I think we can trust them. They're too damn tired too get very frisky anyway.”
“And how tired are you?”
“NANCY – stop that. We have two impressionable teenagers not eighty feet away...”
“Which means you are going to have to be quiet and cooperate. You are freezing cold. I can't have you getting pneumonia yourself. It's not seventy five degrees in here, but I'm sure there are parts of you I can warm up even warmer than that.”
“Nancy – If Lizzy knew what we were doing...”
“She'd approve heartily. In fact, she's the one that suggested it.”
“Lizzy said we should...?”
“She said she was going to hold us to that promise of a sibling. She wasn't sure she could survive being an only child through her teenage years – what with you driving her to distraction with your worrying. I just happen to think she's right, and since I didn't happen to bring along any protection anyway, and since neither of us are getting younger, you either have to comply quietly or let the kids hear us arguing about it.”
“Well, if you put it like that, the least I can do is to quietly submit. Damn, I hope Max has a lot of willpower.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because I'm depending on him to keep Lizzy in line for at least a few more years. I fear she's her mother's daughter when it comes to romance.”
“I talked to her. She understands they need to take things slowly. I also told her that Max shouldn't get excited after the concussion from the rifle butt, and that he needs his rest tonight.”
“But if that's the case, I had a concussion too.”
“So I fibbed a little. I always thought truth was an over-rated virtue. Come here, big boy.....”
EPILOGUE
24 hours later
As he drove the family station wagon away from the Gila Wilderness Area, Jeff saw the roadblock up ahead. The Border Patrol and INS routinely had roadblocks in the area, looking for illegal immigrants. This seemed a little more than that though. These guys were armed to the teeth. As he stopped at the roadblock, several heavily armed men eyed him suspiciously before relaxing when they saw Liz and Nancy in the car.
“Can I help you, Officer?” asked Jeff.
“Sorry sir ... I'm afraid I need to see some identification. Driver's license and car registration would be fine.” The officer perused the papers briefly and gave them back to Jeff. “This your family?”
“Uh, yes officer, My wife and my daughter...”
“This young man your son?”
Before he could answer, Liz scooted over until she bumped in to Max, then turned and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Max," she said, " ... is my boyfriend."
Max flushed with embarrassment but Jeff noticed he made no effort to pull away from Lizzy. He just sat there with a big goofy grin looking up at the officer who Jeff saw was with the DEA.
“You been camping in the Gila?”
“Yes sir. We packed in about twenty miles – gives you a chance to get away from the tourists, you know?”
“You see anything unusual?”
“Unusual? No, not really,” said Jeff. Truly, today the truth would definitely have been an over-rated virtue. “Why do you ask?”
“Well, we had some problems with drug runners. Apparently four of them got themselves killed, then while the crime scene investigators were there four more showed up. We captured two of them, neither in very good condition, but it still leaves us with a bit of a mystery.”
“Sorry, wish I could help, but things were pretty normal-normal where we were. We didn't see a thing.”
The man looked at Jeff curiously, then at the two teenagers in the back seat. “Would you mind stepping over here in private for a minute, sir?” Jeff followed him a short distance away. When they were alone, the man looked at him – then looked back at Liz and Max.
“Don't you think they are a little young to be boyfriend and girlfriend? They barely look like teenagers.”
“They're only fourteen, and I have to admit, I had a few doubts myself. But they are kind of special kids – awfully responsible for their ages. I actually think I trust Max more than I do my own daughter, he's a pretty level-headed young man.”
The DEA agent looked at them both, shaking his head. “I don't know – I've got a twelve year old daughter - man I don't think I'm going to let her have a boyfriend until she's eighteen.”
“Yeah, well good luck with that....,” said Jeff. The man glared at him for a minute – then smiled and shrugged.
“Thanks – I guess I'm going to need it,” said the DEA man.
“Don't we all,” said Jeff.
As they drove away Jeff looked in the rear view mirror at the two teenagers holding hands. “When we get back to Roswell, Max, you need to talk to your mom and dad. You and your sister might as well come clean and join the human race. Maybe you and your sister can double-date with Lizzy and someone.”
“Alex Whitman,” said Max.
“Alex?” asked Liz.
“Yeah, believe it or not, he's the man of her dreams – quite literally.”
“The Ice Princess told you that?” asked Liz.
“Read her diary.”
“You didn't – that is so low, Max.”
“So I'm not going to get to read what you are going to write about this week in your journal?”
“Some day, Max... some day. Say ... you hang around with Michael Guerin. If you could get him to triple date we could get Maria to come along , too.”
Jeff looked at his wife. He had an interesting life, and it was likely to get even more interesting in nine months or so. In the meantime, in the back seat, two teenagers were planning their future lives together. They'd do that for most of the trip back to Roswell.
The end.
Last edited by greywolf on Sun Nov 30, 2008 9:52 am, edited 1 time in total.