Greenwheel TEEN (M&M) [COMPLETE]

[kalee57]

Legal Matters: I don't own Roswell, it belongs to someone else. No copyright infringement intended.

This is TEEN, because of a couple of swear words.

This is my first fanfic, although I have others in the works. I would like to thank MBC here in Korea for running show since I didn't catch it in America. And thanks to all of those who read this, I hope you like it.
Oh and the title in Greenwheel because their song "Breathe" reminds me of Michael and Maria. Listen to it, it's awesome. I hope you can read it okay, for some reason I can't get the paragraphs to indent, sorry.

"What are you doing?"
A voice from the doorway startled Maria from her hurried packing. Turning around, she looked at the person she loved more than anything, a person she gave up everything for. But now she couldn't stand to look at him.
"Isn't it obvious? I'm packing, I'm leaving." Maria answered as she turned back to the task at hand.
Michael wasn't surprised, he'd felt her pulling away but he wasn't letting her leave without an explanation.
"What are you running from this time?"
"Running! That's what we've been doing for the past four damn years!" Maria yelled angrily. "I'm not running from anything, I'm running towards some semblance of a life! I have spent the past two years, no, the last five years, looking over my shoulder waiting for something bad to happen. I want something more than this! You are the one who always runs away, you always have been. It's my turn now."
"So this is my fault." Michael said angrily. "I made you leave Roswell, I turned your life upside down."
"No, it's not your fault, it's mine. It's mine for not being able to stay away from you, for not being able to see beyond my fear of losing you, of losing everyone. I didn't know, I couldn't imagine our lives being like this."
"What is so wrong with this, Maria? Did we ever need anyone else in Roswell? We always had each other and that was all that mattered."
"That was all that mattered when I was seventeen but I'm not seventeen anymore and I need more than this, more...I don't even know, I just know that it's not here. I'm twenty-two years old, most people have spent the last four years in college, soul searching, finding themselves, whatever. I've never had that but I need to have it, I need time away from everyone. I want to be on my own." Maria turned back to her packing, tired of explaining herself. He wasn't her husband, he wasn't even her fiance' and sometimes he hardly seemed like her boyfriend, she didn't owe him anything.
"I love you, Maria." Michael said quietly.
Maria zipped her bag closed. "Michael, we've gone on too long as it is. We were always fighting and breaking up, I think somehow we've just avoided reality these past four years."
"What reality? What are you talking about?"
"We aren't Max and Liz, maybe our love wasn't meant to stand the test of time. Maybe it's time we really broke up and started looking elsewhere." Maria said as she turned around to face Michael. "Maybe I don't want to love you anymore."
Anger surged through Michael's body. "If that's how you feel then good riddance!" And he turned and stormed out of the room and out of Maria's life.
Maria slumped weakly onto the bed. She just needed to take those first few steps on her own, once she did that she knew she could make it. All she had to do was stand up and walk out that door. They were the hardest steps of her life but she would make them, she had to.

"She'll be okay," Liz said quietly later that night at dinner.
"She just needs time," Max agreed. She'll be back."
"Who? Maria? You know what, I don't care. In fact talking about her makes me lose my appetite so let's just not." Michael shoved back his chair angrily and left the room, his powers exploding a vase on the way out.
"Guess I picked a great night to stop by for dinner." Kyle said sarcastically.
"Shut up!" Liz and Max yelled.

THREE WEEKS LATER, New York City
"Maria, I can't believe it's you!"
Maria tensed at the hand on her shoulder before turning around and seeing, Billy, the last guy she'd kissed before and during her Michael period.
"Billy, what are you doing here?" Maria asked, looking at the dimly lit bar she'd come to for open mic night.
"I could ask you the same thing. Last time I saw you was in Roswell, I didn't think you would make it."
"I'm just trying to forget Roswell and follow my dreams at the same time."
"Hey, you and me both. So the boyfriend is gone?"
"Yeah, we just didn't work out."
"Okay, so let's dance."
Maria debated but then she thought that this was her new life, her new life without Michael. She needed to prove to herself that she could move on.
Billy led her out onto the dance floor as a slow song came on. Maria closed her eyes and held onto Billy with all her might. She let herself get caught up in the moment and when Billy invited her back to his apartment she didn't hesitate. And when he invited her into his bedroom she went with him, she would do anything to get Michael out of her system, even sleeping with someone else

TWO YEARS LATER

"Isabel, please, I need you to reach her. I don't want to go through this without my best friend." Liz looked pleadingly up at Isabel as she curved one hand protectively around her pregnant abdomen. "I know we don't talk about Maria and I know you're still angry with her but I need her now. Find out something, anything, please."
"Okay," said Isabel as she recognized the strains of desparation in Liz's voice. "And I'm not angry with her, anymore, but I don't know if I can't keep this from Michael and Max."
"If she shows up then I'll deal with them, if she doesn't then no harm is done."
"I'll do my best."
"And could you tell her to bring back my red shirt, it's my favorite."
Isabel rolled her eyes as she went to concentrate on the task of finding Maria.

That night Maria dreamed, something she rarely did anymore, and in her dreams she saw Isabel and she that she wasn't dreaming, that something was wrong.
"What are you doing here? Is everything alright? Is it Michael?" Maria asked, alarm making her voice come out high pitched.
"It's Liz, she needs you. She's going to have a baby and she wants you there, she wants your support. Please come back to us."
"I...Uh, I'll try, Isabel, tell Liz I'll try but I just don't know if I can." Maria said, her voice shaking.
"She needs you, don't let her down."
"You've gotten all "angel-like" Isabel."
"And you've gotten all freak like. What's with the hair?
"It's for my band. Tell Liz I'll try. How much time do I have?"
"A month, tops. Oh, and bring back her red shirt." And with that Isabel was gone.
Maria woke up from her dream. "Dammit", she whispered into her pillow. "Dammit." Maria said again, more loudly, as the baby sleeping in the crib next to her bed began to cry.
She picked up the blonde child and began to sing a lullaby. This was the reason she couldn't go back, her daughter, her Alexandra. What would they say if she showed up with a child, a child whose father she couldn't be sure of. Maybe Alex was Michael's or maybe she was Billy's. Maria couldn't be certain, Alex looked exactly like her.
"Alright, Alex," Maria said, making a resolution to herself, "Aunt Liz needs me and I can't let her down. I can handle whatever comes my way." Maria glanced at the reflection in the mirror, her hair the jet black she kept for her perfomances with the goth rock band she currently was singing with. "But I think before I go I'm going to need to do something about my hair."

"I had Isabel find Maria." Liz told Max the next day.
"I know," he replied, smiling at her as he stroked her very preganant stomach.
"Are you angry?"
"No, I understand you need her to be here, but don't say anything to Michael, I'll tell him."
"I love you, you are the best husband ever."
"I know." Max grinned as he got up to find Michael.
Michael was at his usual hiding place, although since everyone knew where it was it wasn't much of a hiding place. He was laying on a rock, staring up into the sky. He often came out there to think, to look up to where he thought home was and imagine a different life. He also thought about Maria, although that was a secret he couldn't even admit to himself. Mostly he just looked at pictures of his life in his head and was amazed at the fact that somehow most of those pictures contained her. Even ones that shouldn't have somehow did. Two years should have been enough time to get over her but he was still waiting.
"I thought I'd find you out here."
Michael jumped at the sound of Max's voice. "Damn, Max, you walkin' on your tiptoes or something?"
"Maybe you're just losing your hearing."
"Whatever. What's up?"
"I just wanted to tell you that Maria might be coming back."
Michael's heart lept hopefully in his chest. "How do you know?"
"Liz asked Isabel to tell her to come back, she wants her here for the baby."
"Oh."
"I know this isn't easy for you but I, we, thought you should know."
"You know what she said to me when she left? She said that maybe she didn't love me anymore. Why should I care if she comes back? She doesn't love me anymore and I don't feel anything for her so it's all good and well, Maxwell, so don't worry. If she comes back, fine, and if she doesn't that's fine too."
A couple of days later Max found a note on the table, Michael had decided to go fishing with Kyle for a couple of weeks.
"He said he was okay." Max told Liz as he handed her the note.
"I guess he wasn't. He had to have been pretty upset to go fishing, and with Kyle. I hope they both come back alive. But, I think maybe fishing is code word for drunken debauchery someplace, at least on Kyle's part."
Max turned his head as a knock sounded on the door. He looked through the peephole and saw Maria standing on the front steps with a baby in her arms.
"It's Maria," he said as he opened the door.
Holding back her tears, Maria stared up at Max. "Hi, I'm back. This is my daughter, Alex." Looking over Max's shoulder she saw Liz and couldn't hold her tears in any longer. She rushed past Max and embraced Liz with her free arm.
"I knew you'd come, " Liz cried as she grabbed onto Maria.
A muffled protest from the baby between them drew the girls apart.
"Sorry, Alex," Maria said, kissing the baby's head.
"I'll take her," Max said. "You two can continue hugging." The minute he saw Maria with a baby he knew the child had to be Michael's, he just had to touch her to be sure.
Grabbing the baby he immediately got flashes, nothing much, mostly of Maria and the feeling of being safe and loved. Michael had a daughter and he wasn't even here to meet her.
"I'm so glad you came back," Liz told Maria. "I've missed you so much."
"I've missed you, too," Maria replied as she wiped the tears from her eyes.
"And who is this?" She asked as she turned towards the baby in Max's arms.
"This is Alex, my daughter."
"And Michael's," Max said quietly as he handed the baby back to Maria.
"Wh... What? How did you know?" Maria asked incredulously.
"I saw flashes, she has powers. Didn't know she was Michael's?"
"We need to sit down, it's kind of a long story."

A couple of hours later Maria finally finished her tale. It felt good just to have everything out in the open, to be among people who understood.
"I was afraid you would judge me, that I was a bad person. And I didn't want anyone to hate me." Maria told Max and Liz.
"We're your friends, Maria, it doesn't work like that. We all care about you." Liz told her and she stroked her friend's hand.
"It wouldn't have mattered if Michael wasn't Alex's father, she's beautiful. You brought a life into this world, that in itself is amazing. Never be ashamed of that, Maria."
"Dammit, Max, I just stopped crying." Maria said as the tears fell again from her cheeks. "Umm, where is he? Where's Michael?"
"He went fishing with Kyle," Max replied. "We're not sure when they're going to be back. We told him you were coming and he said he was fine but then he just left."
Maria nodded her head. "We didn't exactly part on the best of terms, I imagine he hates me."
"He needs time and with Alex now who knows how he will react. Just be patient with him." LIz was always the voice of reason.
"I'm a parent, I have tons of patience."
"So what else have you been doing?"
"I was a singer in a goth rock band and I write songs and sell them for a nice profit."
"You write songs for other people? Maria, you would never do something like that."
"I didn't have many options, and it's not so bad. I can work from anywhere, everything is done through mail, fax, and e-mail and I can stay home with Alex, I get my creative urges out and I take of Alex, it's perfect for me."
"I understand. And it's funny that we sort of ended up on the same path, I'm a writer now and Max is a teacher."
"What, Liz, no med school? You were going to cure every disease in the book but I guess it makes sense, you were always writing in that diary. And Max is a teacher, wow, but it fits you. I bet you're great with those kids."
"He is," Liz smiled. "And writing has been cathartic for me, I've been writing about our life Roswell, with a few details changed."
"Oh my gosh, Jessica Brantwyn, that's you! I love your books! I always thought I was a lot like that Lila character."
"Yep, that's you. You know, the first one was dedicated to you."
"I'm M?"
"Yep, and I see that it happened."
"Yeah, to M, may you find your path," Maria quoted. "I did, Liz, I really did, and the best part is it brought me back here."

A couple of weeks later Liz was sitting on the couch when she felt the first pains.
"Maria, I think it's time!"
"Okay, okay." Maria came running into the room. "How far apart are your contractions?"
"Uh... I don't think it matters now, " Liz said and she felt her waters break.
"What's going on?" Isabel asked as she walked in the door.
"We're going to the hospital, Liz is in labor. I need you to call her doctor, call Max at work and watch Alex for me please." Maria said calmly as she helped Liz stand up.
"Okay, okay, okay, " Isabel said as she held open the door for the two women.

Isabel was playing on the floor with Alex when she heard the front door slam and soon Michael appeared in front of her.
"What are you doing here? Who's the kid and where is everyone?" Michael asked as Kyle walked in behind him and plopped down on the couch.
"Yeah, and who's cooking dinner?"
Isabel rolled her eyes at Kyle. "They're at the hospital, they've been there for a few hours, Liz is having her baby. I'm babysitting Alex."
"And who is Alex?" Michael asked as he took a closer look at the child on the floor.
"This is Maria's daughter."
"Maria has a daughter."
Kyle raised his eyebrows as he looked back and forth from Isabel to Michael. This was about to get interesting.
"I'm not one to beat around the bush, Michael but it's not my story to tell."
"Dammit, Is, is she mine?"
"Why don't you pick her up and find out."
Michael reached down to pick up the baby and he saw flashes. This little girl was his. An overwhelming feeling of love came over him as he held his daughter tightly to him.
"Why didn't she tell me?" Michael asked Isabel over Alex's blonde curls.
"Talk to her, Michael, that's all I'm going to say.
"Congratulations, Michael, you have a daughter." Kyle said as he stood up and shook Michael's hand.
"Kyle, every once in awhile I almost like you," Isabel said as she witnessed the exchange.

Everyone had fallen asleep in the living room, Kyle on the floor, Isabel on the couch, and Michael sitting up in a chair holding Alex when the phone rang that night.
"Hello?" Michael asked groggily.
"Michael?"
"Max?"
"Yeah, I'm at the hospital. Liz just had a boy, Evan Alexander."
"Congratulations, Max, I know how much this meant to you. Are they both okay?"
"Yeah, they're fantastic. I'm going to stay here but I'm sending Maria home. Michael, it's been a long day so just don't start anything with her now."
"I won't, I do know that now is not the right time. Don't worry about it, just be there for Liz and the baby. Give her my love."
"I will. Goodnight Michael."
"Night."
Michael hung up the phone and prepared himself to see Maria. They did have a lot to talk about but Michael had grown up enough to know when to pick his battles and picking one with someone who'd spent the day at the hospital was not a smart move. Maria was more likely to walk away instead of staying and talking so Michael would wait, bide his time. He knew how to do that now, he'd been doing it for the past two years. He picked up Alex and placed her in her crib and then faded into the darkness, close enough to hear if Alex woke up but far enough away so that Maria wouldn't see him when she came into the house.
"It's been a long day," Maria thought as she unlocked the door to the house. "I just want to see Alex and get to sleep." Opening the door she glanced around at the scene before her her, Isabel and Kyle both sprawled out in the living room, both softly snoring (although Isabel would deny it.) Maria decided that they would probably want to be told about the baby so she gently nudged Isabel on the shoulder.
"Wha- Michael, I'm trying to sleep. Go away." Isabel murmured as she turned over.
"Michael is here? Isabel, Michael is here?" Maria shook her harder.
"Hmm? Oh, Maria, it's you." Isabel yawned as she opened her eyes. "Yeah, he's here somewhere. At least, I thought he was, " she said as she looked around the room. "How's Liz?"
Maria sighed, angry at herself for letting herself get excited over Michael's presence. "She's fine. She had a boy, Evan Alexander. They're going to stay overnight and come home late tomorrow."
Isabel smiled," Two Alex's, he would have been delighted. I think wherever he is his ego is probably inflating as we speak."
"Yeah, I know it is. Why don't you fill Mr. Dead to the World here in on the news, I'm going to check on Alex and then go to bed. G'night."
"Night."
Maria walked out of the room as she listened to Isabel murmur about the way she was going to wake up Kyle involving water and ice cubes.
Maria silently walked into her room and checked on the sleeping baby. Maria felt peaceful when she saw her daughter. Nothing else mattered except making sure Alex was happy and safe. Too exhausted to think she quickly undressed and fell into bed.
Michael waited until Maria was in bed before he crept out of his hiding place and went into his room. The next morning he woke up to the sounds of soft cooing. Alex was too far away for it to actually be her but instinctively he knew she was awake. Tossing the covers off of him he quietly padded to Maria's room and picked up Alex, who smiled when she saw him. Glancing over at Maria he saw that she was still asleep. Smelling that Alex's diaper needed changing he picked up the diaper bag and left the room.
A couple of hours later Maria woke up slowly, languidly, enjoying the silence. Maria smiled, thinking that Isabel must have worn Alex out yesterday since she hadn't cried to be let up yet. Glancing over at the crib Maria was startled to find Alex wasn't in it. Throwing the covers to the floor she ran out of her room and down the stairs.
"Isabel! Isabel, where are you?" Maria yelled as she ran into the living room.
"Isabel isn't here, she went home." A voice said quietly from the kitchen.
It was the voice, his voice. Steeling herself she turned around and relief washed over her as she saw Alex cuddled safely in Michael's arms.
"So there you are! You had Mommy scared," Maria cooed as she took Alex from Michael.
"Oh, uh, sorry. She was awake and you weren't so I thought I would let you sleep."
"It's okay, Michael. I guess I'm just used to being the only one that takes care of her but here there is a whole house of people..."
"Including her father."
"Michael, I..."
"I'm not looking for an argument, I'm just telling you that I'm planning on being around, on being part of her life."
"We need to talk about this."
"Not now, Maria, Liz and Max and Evan are coming home in a few hours and I want to make this a nice homecoming for them and it won't be nice if we're in the middle of something heavy. So, instead of talking, let's decorate, make a nice dinner and then go to pick them up at the hospital, okay?"
"Alright, let's do it but I hope you don't expect me to cook. I haven't changed so much that I can manage more grilled cheese."
"I didn't forget everything I learned at the Crashdown Cafe, I can still make a mean burger."
Maria smiled as she began to mentally make a list of tasks to finish before Liz and Max and the baby came home.

Late in the evening Max and Liz came home bearing baby Evan. They were greeted at the door by Maria, Michael, Isabel and Kyle.
Evan was sleeping soundly, content in the comfort of his bassinette that was placed between his parent's at the dinner table.
"The gang's all here!" Kyle exclaimed. "And since we also have two new additions to our happy alien family I propose a toast. To Evan and Alex and the future."
"To the future." Everyone raised their wine glasses. Maria met Michael's look from across the table and held it. Maria felt Michael's question in his look. He wanted to know if she was going to be around for the future but it was a question Maria didn't know the answer to yet.

A week later Maria and Liz were sitting on the porch, watching their children as they took their afternoon nap.
"Max, Michael and Kyle are going to start building another bedroom soon. With the kids we need the extra room." Liz told Maria quietly.
"Liz, I don't know if I'm staying yet."
"Where would you go if you left? No, I'm not going to do this with you, I'm not going to baby you right now. Alex is Michael's daughter and I understand why you couldn't come home right away but now you're here and you need to stay. Don't take Alex away from him, he loves her so much and she loves him. Yes, you have a past and I hope you'll be able to work it out but even if you can't you can still live together and raise your daughter."
"This is why I missed you, Liz, no bullshit from you."
Liz grinned, "Damn right. Just talk to him, tell him what happened. Tell him how you feel, no bullshit. And no matter what he says I want you here and so does everyone else. We missed you while you were gone, things just weren't the same without you."
The next morning Maria woke up to the sound of banging outside. Groaning with frustration, she rolled out of bed to peak out the window. Outside the boys were loudly starting to build the new room.
"Well, Alex, let's get you changed and go yell at Daddy for waking us up," Maria cooed cheerfully at the baby.

"Michael! Michael, you're daughter wants to see you," Maria yelled from the edge of the chaos where Alex was straining to get out of her arms and go to her father.
"Morning," he said, running over and grabbing Alex. "Did we wake you up?"
"No, Michael, you were being quiet as a mouse out here."
"Sorry, but we thought that we needed to get the room built as fast as possible. If we put it off I'm afraid Alex will be a teenager before it gets done."
"You assume she'll still be here when she's a teenager."
"You had to do it, didn't you? You had to bring it up." Michael said, angrily.
"Well if I didn't then Alex would be a teenager and we'd still be here and we still won't have talked about it." Maria retorted back at him.
"That's what I was hoping," Michael replied matter-of-factly as he handed Alex back to Maria. "We'll talk about it tonight. Liz and Max can watch Alex and we can go to the rock, okay?"
"Yeah, okay."

"I always loved this place," Maria said as she laid back on the rock. "It reminds me of Roswell."
"I know. Do you miss it?"
"No, not the place. I miss my mom and I miss the idea of Roswell, being able to look around and having memories of that place. I always imagined myself coming back a success and being able to look around and have all those memories flow through me. Do you miss it?"
"Everything I want from life is right here in this place, it was there and now it's here," Michael said quietly, not looking at Maria. "So you didn't attempt to go back to Roswell, to pretend to be normal?"
"No, when I left I meant to leave for good, no matter what. Michael, I want you to know that I'm glad I went with you after graduation, if I hadn't I think I would have shriveled up and died. I didn't have the strength to stand on my own two feet before I made the decision to leave Roswell, before I met you. I know I left you thinking that I resented you, that I hated you because of it but I didn't. I have never hated you, Michael. I need you to know that."
"So why did you keep Alex from me for over a year?" asked Michael angrily.
"You think I kept Alex away from you as some sort of punishment, because I was mad at you? Did you ever know me at all?" Maria was practically screaming now. "Why would I do that? I see her with you and I see that she loves you so much and I never doubted for one moment that you would love her more than you've ever loved anything!"
"Then why did you keep her from me?" Michael yelled back with equal fervor.
"Because I didn't know if she was yours! Are you happy now? I had sex with someone else, I had just left you and I was at such a low point and I wanted to forget you! I thought he could have been her father and I didn't want to bring her back here in case he was! I was afraid you would hate me and you would hate her and I love her too much to put her through something like that!" Maria scooted off the rock and headed back to the house.
"Maria, wait," Michael yelled.
Maria turned around, "Leave me alone, I just can't be around you right now." Maria ran back to the house, sobbing.
She snuck back into her room and threw herself on the bed. Clenching her body into a fetal position she willed the pain in her heart to go away. Maria wondered, as she had many times before, how she could love someone so much when he hurt her so badly again and again. Maria fell into a deep dreamless sleep but when she awoke the next morning she knew what she would do with Michael.
Michael was relieved when he saw Maria the next morning. He thought she might leave again and he'd spent most of the night sleepless, listening for any possible sound that would indicate someone sneaking out of the house.
"I'm glad your still here." Michael said as he handed her a cup of coffee.
"Let's get something straight," Maria said. "I'm still here for Alex but we are not friends, we are not anything. Let's try and keep our contact to a limited amount."
"Okay," Michael replied, wondering how that would be possible since they had a daughter together and lived in the same house.

"Maxwell, I need a big favor." Michael asked a month later, a month of being almost totally alienated from Maria's life. He was going crazy, all he wanted to be able to do was hold her in his arms and tell her he was sorry. Maria, being Maria, never gave him a chance and stayed as far away from him as possible. Drastic measures needed to be taken. He had a plan, he just needed to put it into action.
"What do you need?"
"I need you to watch Alex for a couple of days while I take Maria someplace."
"Maria is not going to go anywhere with you."
"I know, that's why I'm going to kidnap her. I need Liz to arrange a girl's night out and get Maria really trashed and then when she passes out I'm going to take her in the car and leave."
"Do you think that that's a good idea?"
"Maxwell, I need her back. I didn't know how much I missed her until she came. She's like the air to me and I can't take having her so close and yet so far away."
"Alright, I'll help. Where are you taking her?"
"I can't tell you, it'll be safer if you don't know."
"You're going back to Roswell."
"I have to, it's the only way to get her back."
"Be careful. You do realize that when you get back you're going to owe Liz and me a hell of a lot of babysitting time."
"Hmm, can't wait."


"Alright, Michael, Maria is totally trashed. Please come and get her now." Liz yelled into her cell phone,"I think she's going to start blubbering soon and after the blubbering she'll pass out for the night."
"I'll be right there."
"Don't forget to bring some water and bags and tissues, she might puke."
"Great! I love this!" Michael said sarcastically.
"Your plan, just get here."

Liz and Isabel were trying to keep Maria upright when Michael walked into the bar.
"Michael's here! Look, Liz, Michael is here! What are you doing here Michael and when did you get a twin brother?" Maria asked as she swayed back and forth.
"Time to go home, Maria." Michael said as he picked her up.
"Nooo, I need more drinky."
"Okay, at home we'll get you more drinky."
"Okay. By Is and Liz. That rhymed, Is and Liz, Is and Liz."
"You're brilliant." Michael told her as he manuvered his way out of the bar.
"You shouldn't be carrying me like this, Michael, this is reserved for our wedding night."
"Our wedding night?"
"Yep, in my dreams we get married and then you carry me over the threshhold and we'd start our perfect life together." Maria leaned her head against his chest.
"Guess that's an old dream, huh?" Michael asked as he settled Maria into the car.
Maria laughed hysterically, "That's the best part, it's new! In my old dreams we couldn't keep our hands off each other long enough for the whole threshhold thing. Guess I've matured. Why shouldn't my dreams mature? What's wrong with dreaming of my happy ending? Liz got a happy ending with her space boy, why not me?"
"I'm working on it."
"Whatever, I'm so drunk."
"You should go to sleep now.".
"Okay, g'night."
Maria leaned her head back against the seat and was almost immediately out.

Maria slowly woke up to, the pounding in her head intesified by the heat.
"Ohhh, man I'm dying." Maria groaned as she turned over and realized she was not in her room, she was not in a bed.
"You're not dying, you're just hungover. Here's some water, drink it."
Grabbing the water, Maria drank deeply. "Wait, why am in a car? And why am I with you? Where are we?"
"Flagstaff, we're at a rest stop."
"We're in Arizona, as in the state that right next to New Mexico, Arizona?"
"Yeah."
"What? Are you crazy? This is too close, they'll see us, someone will find us and that'll be the end!"
"Maria, I'm the most paranoid person of all of us but even I think it's safe. We need to go to Roswell, but don't worry, we'll get a motel and stay there until nightfall and then we'll go back. There's something I need to show you."
"Where's Alex?"
"She's with Mex and Liz, she's fine."
"I'm in too much pain to argue with you right now, let's just find a motel room so I can get out of this heat and sleep."
"Okay." Michael drove until he found a motel, some rat-trap by the highway where they could rest for a few hours. Michael didn't trust Maria in her own room so he got one with two beds. Maria immediately fell asleep on the one farthest from the door. Michael stayed awake, watching her. Eventually his eyes grew heavy and he surrendered to the sleep that had been trying to catch him.
Several hours later he awoke to find Maria staring at him.
"Why did you bring me here?"
"You'll figure it out soon enough," Michael replied as he yawned and sat up.
"Then why don't we get out of here so we can get Roswell and then get the hell back out of here."
They hurriedly got their meager possessions together and headed back out onto the road. They would reach Roswell by dark.
"So why don't you tell me about the night Alex was born."
Maria was startled out of her silence by Michael's voice. They'd been driving for two hours now and had barely spoken a word.
"What do you want to know?"
"Everything. What was she like while you were pregnant? Did she kick alot? Were you sick? Did you know she was going to be a girl? Was it painful?"
Maria smiled, "She kicked a lot while she was inside of me, I knew she was going to fighter but I didn't know she was going to be a girl. I did know she was going to be Alex regardless. Actually it was a really easy pregnancy, no morning sickness, no nausea, no cravings. If I'd been craving tobasco sauce I would have known she was yours but I didn't even crave that. I went into labor and I was alone and I never wanted to see you more in my entire life. I felt so sure that you would come, that somehow you would know but you didn't. I think that's the biggest reason why I thought she wasn't yours. I thought you would have a connection with your child but maybe from so far away you just couldn't."
"May 7th, that's her birthday. I knew something wasn't right. I felt it all day and then that night I felt like my insides were being torn out and then it stopped and I felt an incredible joy wash over me. I didn't know what was going on, if I'd tuned into those feelings instead of ignoring them I would have been there for you."
Maria quickly wiped the tears that were spilling over her cheeks. "Well it's all said and done now," she said as she looked away.
"No, it's not," Michael said quietly.
Maria ignored him and turned her face to look out the window at the familiar desert scenery.
A couple more hours later and Michael reached his destination, the desert outside of Roswell.
"Why are we here Michael?"
"You could have walked away that night when we came here after graduation. You could have walked away, gone back to Roswell and lived a normal life but you chose instead to come with us, come with me. You gave up everything for me and I never appreciated your sacrifice. You know how important family is to me and I let you abandon yours. I should have told you no, I should have turned you around and sent you back into Roswell but I was too selfish for that. I wanted you with me, I always have and I always will. But I also wanted you to know how sorry I am for involving you in this whole crazy mess and if you want to leave, then I'll let you go and I won't fight you over Alex. I just want to make you happy for once."
Tears were streaming down Maria's face, "You are my family, Michael. I made that decision a long time ago, you never took anything away from me. I left Roswell because I needed to be with you. It was not a sacrifice and I don't regret it, not ever. And I don't want to leave you, not again, not ever again. I love you and I want to be with you."
Michael grabbed Maria and held her tightly in his arms. They would make it through this world and they make it together.
The End