In The Course Of A Lifetime (CC, AU, Adult) COMPLETE 3/10/13

Finished stories that feature the characters from the show, but there are no aliens. All fics completed on the main AU without Aliens board will eventually be moved here.

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Double Trouble
Obsessed Roswellian
Posts: 925
Joined: Tue Dec 16, 2008 9:47 am

Part 71

Post by Double Trouble »

Earth2Mama: We think it must be your latent psychic abilities. It was difficult but he wouldn’t change a thing. We think Chrissie might be pretty fun. She’ll have to head back to school but we have a feeling she’ll be coming home for the holidays. ;)

Liz can’t help it even though she wants so badly for him to be happy about the news.

Thanks!

Eva: Looks like you were right!

Having a best friend that you can lean on in good and bad times is so important.

keepsmiling7: Maria is happy for her friend and Liz really needed that. She is worried about Max’s reaction but she has good reason. And so much seems to have gone wrong lately that it just adds to her worries.

begonia9508: The system is difficult and so many times it separates families. Luckily in this situation Michael was eventually able to obtain custody of his little sister.

mary mary: You could be right. We’ll see. Max is keeping quiet about it on our end for now.

Oh, you can count on Maria and Chrissie meeting.

A good talk and a gallon of ice cream… solves so many problems. :)

Alien_Friend: Lol, it does make him even easier to love, doesn’t it? It’s all just a matter of giving that reasonable explanation the time to surface.

You’re right, Maria can’t stop living and moving forward because Andy doesn’t want things to change.

Liz and Maria are lucky to have each other.

Hopefully Max will be able to see past the negatives and focus on the positives.

sarammlover: Michael has had his difficult times and his own past is part of the reason why he feels such a connection to Andy. We’ll see how long it takes for Andy to get around to following your advice.

Rodney: Well, it’s probably not something you tell someone in passing. ;) And yes, we had to build the tension, lol.




Part 71

Kyle knocked on Michael’s front door, taking a couple of steps back to slouch against one of the white support beams. He was trying to figure out what he was going to say when the screen door flew open and the next thing he knew he had an enthusiastic female in his arms.

“Kyle! I had no idea you were here!”

He grinned and shook his head when she finally released him and stepped back. “What’re you doin’ here, Chris?”

She wrinkled her nose at him. “Why’d you ask like that?”

“Like what?”

“Like I can’t just decide to visit my brother.”

“You tend to show up at your brother’s front door after a breakup, quittin’ a job, or droppin’ a class.”

“Okay, Mr. FBI Know-It-All,” she said with a roll of her eyes, “I did just break up with someone… well, honestly, he kinda broke up with me.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Mike said I could come here if I wanted.”

“Yeah, but I’d bet my next paycheck he meant before classes started up again.”

“I don’t need another lecture,” she grumbled.

“He already gave you hell over that, huh?”

“Yeah. And he said I’m gonna have to go back.”

He collared her and dropped a kiss on her head. “He’s payin’ a fortune for your education, squirt.”

“I know,” she sighed. “I should’ve just gone to college right after high school instead of puttin’ it off for a couple of years.”

“Probably should’ve listened to your brother on that,” he agreed with a chuckle. “Where’s he at anyway?”

“He went for a walk with Mojo. I think your sister might’ve broken his heart.” She leaned back against the railing and she crossed her arms over her chest. “He really likes her, Kyle.”

He nodded. “I know. She likes him too,” he said after a few moments of silence. “It’s just complicated right now.”

“Michael won’t…” she trailed off when she caught movement from the corner of her eye and she turned her head, nodding at her brother when he opened the front gate. “You want me to get lost so you can talk to him?”

Kyle chuckled. “You do whatever you were doin’ before I got here.” He stayed where he was when she disappeared into the house and he waited for Michael to join him on the porch.

“Guess you heard,” Michael said as he dropped down into one of the chairs.

“Yeah, she came by last night, told us that Andy had a meltdown when she told him about you two.”

He sighed and rubbed his hands over his face as he slouched down further in his chair. “I knew it was a possibility, but I had really hoped…” He shook his head. “Wait, you haven’t talked to her today?”

“Nope, she’s been off the grid today. I know she’s plannin’ to be in the new house by the end of this week so maybe she’s over there.”

“She came by the house earlier while I was still at work…” he winced. “Chrissie answered the door, had no clue who Maria was, and of course, Maria had no idea my little sister had dropped in unannounced for a visit.” He made a face. “Pretty sure she thinks I’m shackin’ up with a younger woman now.”

Kyle made a face. Great. Like the two of them didn’t have enough obstacles. “You want me to talk to her?”

“No, I think this one’s on me.” He forced a smile. “Thanks anyway, Valenti.” He leaned his head back against the house as he looked up at his friend. “How’re things with you an’ Tess?”

“Great. Got no complaints there.” He shifted and crossed his arms over his chest. “You gonna be okay, man?”

“Do I have another choice?” He tipped his head back when the screen door opened and Chrissie stepped out long enough to hand both of them a beer. “Thanks, kid.” He took a drink and waited for her to go back inside. “I don’t know what to do next. Hell, I don’t even know if I should do anything.”

Kyle crossed the porch to drop down in the chair next to his friend. “Michael, just give it some time.” He bit his lip before telling his friend what Maria had told him and Tess the night before. “Don’t give up on her an’ Andy. I know he’s not makin’ things easy, but…”

Michael laughed gruffly. “Hell, I’m not givin’ up on either of them. I just think maybe the next move is gonna be up to her.” He shrugged one shoulder. “I don’t know. Maybe I’ll just wait a bit an’ then go talk to her. I just don’t wanna push it an’ end up pushin’ her away. Andy’s a good kid and as much as I’d hoped we might skate by without him havin’ a negative reaction, I knew it was a good possibility.” He shook his head and downed the rest of his beer. “It just figures after Andy goin’ off on her about me she comes over and my little sister happens to be home for an unannounced visit.” He rubbed a hand over his face. “Talk about a cluster-fuck.”

“Maybe he’ll come around.”

“I hope so.” He sighed and peeled back the edge of the label on his bottle. “If not, anything I have to say will likely be a waste of breath.” He winced. “Damn, it’s not bad enough that he’s worried about a new man in his mom’s life, now he’s gotta worry about my motives where he’s concerned.”

“Michael, you knew that was gonna be a possibility. All you can do now is hope that the work you did with him laid enough of a foundation that you’ll be able to get past this and start movin’ forward.”

They sat there in companionable silence for a while, lost in their own thoughts and wondering what the future held.

*****

Liz was putting things away after her kindergarten class was dismissed for the day, her mind on everything going on and trying to figure out how she was going to tell Max about the pregnancy. Under normal circumstances it would be a difficult topic to discuss with him, but considering everything they had been through since Andrew’s accident she knew she was going to have a fight on her hands. She hoped they could work through his fears where another pregnancy was concerned because it would make things a lot easier on all of them.

“Hey, Liz,” Jeanie called from the open doorway, “you’ve got a call in the office.”

She looked up from what she was doing, closing the door on the supply cabinet and turning around. “Any idea who it is?”

“I think Cathy said it was Mrs. Aguilar. Isn’t she your sitter?”

Liz nodded. The woman only called if Kara wasn’t feeling well. “Looks like I’ll be getting outta here a little earlier than I had planned today.” She hurried to take the call and within minutes she was out the door and on her way to Mrs. Aguilar’s house to pick her little girl up. A couple of phone calls later she had found out that several of the kids in Kara’s class had a stomach virus and she sighed tiredly. It was gonna be a long night, she thought as she turned onto the woman’s street.

She was getting out of her car when the phone rang and the nurse at the high school informed her that Nick was in her office with what looked like a stomach virus too. She assured the woman that she would be there to pick him up within the next half hour and she quickly punched in Tess’ number.

“Hello,” Tess answered cheerfully.

“Hi, Tess, it’s Liz.”

“Hey, how’s it goin’?”

Liz smiled and shook her head as she made her way up the front walk. “Well, it’s been better to be honest. I’ve got two kids with a stomach bug.”

Tess didn’t even miss a beat. “What can I do to help?”

She closed her eyes and sent a prayer of thanks heavenward for her sister-in-law. “Could you keep Justin overnight? Any exposure to this thing and he’ll catch it. These things usually run their course over a 24-hour period.”

“Of course, no problem. Does he have practice tonight?”

“Yeah, it’ll be over about 6pm. Thanks, Tess, you’re a lifesaver.”

“Anytime, girl. Is there anything else I can do?”

“No, that’s more than enough, believe me.”

An hour later she finally made it home with two miserable, cranky kids and a headache the size of Texas. She made the couches up in the living room and got them settled in, knowing from experience that it would be a lot easier to keep up with them if they were in one central location. Not to mention, hardwood floors were a lot easier to clean up if one of them missed the trashcan. And since both of them had been throwing up since she had picked them up she would rather not have to deal with trying to clean carpet after a mishap of that nature.

“Mom,” Nick whined, not moving as he stared at the television.

“What is it, sweetie?”

He made a pathetic sound and lifted one finger to point at the remote lying a foot away on the coffee table. “Can’t reach.”

Sometimes she wondered if this was a learned behavior or if it was genetic. Max behaved the same way when he was sick. Even a little cold and anyone seeing him would thing he was completely incapacitated. He usually got away with it though because she knew he would go in to work no matter how sick he was, putting in a full day of work and then when he came home he’d just collapse and turn into an invalid.

She handed him the remote and rested her hand on his forehead for a moment. If she hadn’t already known that he was sick she would’ve known the moment he didn’t complain over her fussing.

“’m thirsty, Mom.”

She nodded and picked his glass up off of the coffee table. It was half-full but she knew he’d feel better with a fresh drink. She moved across the room to check on Kara, brushing her hand over her little girl’s cheek. She was sleeping fitfully, her little body curled up tightly under the covers.

Liz was on her way back into the living room with their drinks when she heard Kara call out to her frantically and right on the heels of her name came the sound of retching. Yeah, hardwood floors had definitely been the way to go, she thought as she maneuvered around the mess Kara had made to pick her up. She carried the little girl to the bathroom to clean her up and get her into a fresh pair of pajamas before moving to set her on Nick’s couch.

“Mom,” he complained, “she’s gonna puke on me.”

“Am not,” Kara argued weakly.

“If you’d rather I can sit with her while you go clean that mess up.”

He made a face and shifted his feet out of her way so she could settle Kara down. “You better not puke on me,” he warned.

Kara smacked his leg and curled up with her stuffed animal. She rested her head on the cool pillow Mommy slid under her and stared at the TV quietly.

Liz just barely held her own lunch down as she cleaned up and then went to start the washer with a load of the soiled linens. By the time she was finished and the couch had been remade the house was blessedly silent and the kids were both asleep. Nick’s feet were under Kara’s pillow and her feet were propped up on his thigh and she was certain neither of them could be comfortable. She had a feeling it was just the calm before the storm though; stomach viruses tended to strike in waves.

She sighed and stretched out on the couch for a few minutes, wishing Max was home. A lot of husbands were perfectly content to leave sick kids to their wives, but he had always been right there to pitch in and help her take care of the kids when they were sick. And it was nice to have someone to lean on when she was exhausted from dealing with sick kids all day. Max just had a way of making her feel better and he could even make her laugh after a hellish day when laughing was the last thing on her mind. She thought about calling him just to hear his voice but she knew he was still in meetings and she didn’t want to disturb him.

She was watching the kids when Nick made a face in his sleep and squirmed around restlessly. She got up after deciding to move Kara back to her own couch in case he woke up and needed to move quickly. After making sure they were as comfortable as possible she went into the kitchen to find something bland she could make for them to eat if they felt up to it later.

*****

Andy kicked a rock across the ground, earning him an annoyed look from Theo. “Yeah, like your life sucks that much,” he muttered. “What could you have to complain about? Girls? Your mom? School? Yeah, didn’t think so.”

It was almost time for dinner but he wasn’t in any hurry to go home. He hadn’t really talked to Mom since Sunday night but he didn’t know what to say to her. How could she wanna go out with Michael? Okay, so maybe her and Dad hadn’t loved each other romantically, whatever that meant, but they had still been together. That had to count for something, right?

Would they still be together if Dad hadn’t died?
he wondered. She had told him before that even though they’d had problems they had never talked about getting a divorce. Maybe that didn’t even matter though because Dad was gone and Mom was alone. Well, she wasn’t really alone, he rationalized. She had family and friends. She had him. And what happens when you go away to college and she’s still all alone?

He cursed out loud when Scrappy’s irritating voice cut through every other thought in his head. He couldn’t understand how his best friend could say he was the one being unreasonable. Against his will his mind went back to the conversation he’d had with Scrappy the night before when he’d been walking around after leaving Sam’s house.

“So, what you’re sayin’ is you were a dick.”

“No, that’s not what I’m sayin’,” he denied.

“Dude, she said she wouldn’t see Michael if you didn’t want her to.”

Andy shrugged even though the gesture couldn’t be seen. “She didn’t have to say that.”

“No, she didn’t. How can you be so fuckin’ stupid?”

“Why don’t you ask me that again when your dad dies and your mom starts seein’ some other guy, asshole.”

Scrappy sighed in frustration. “Don’t pull that shit with me, Evans. Quit actin’ like you’re the only one who got hurt when your dad died. Did you even look at your mom on Saturday?”

“I don’t wanna talk about this.”

“Good. I don’t want your useless input anyway. Your mom looked happy and ya know what? She really smiled when she was around Michael an’ you’re a selfish prick if you take that away from her.”

“I’m not takin’ anything away from her.”

“You are if you don’t tell her it’s okay. That you’re okay with her datin’ him.”

“So your advice is for me to what, lie to her? ‘Cause I’m not okay with her seein’ him. He was just usin’ me to get to her an’ she deserves someone better than that.”

“Really?” Sarcasm dripped from Scrappy’s voice. “That’s your argument?”

“Don’t you think it’s just a little suspicious that he’s the one who was spendin’ so much time with me? The counselors in Miami hated me, Scrap. So, why’d this guy work so much harder than the other ones?”

“Maybe because he knows what it’s like to be the kid no one knows what to do with. Maybe because he can see you’re not a lost cause. Hell, I don’t know. Maybe he’s doin’ penance for somethin’.”

“Whatever his motives were – “

“His motives? Quit watchin’ those fuckin’ cop shows. You liked the guy until your mom told you they like each other.”

Andy sighed before speaking again, his voice low. “I don’t want him to replace my dad.”

“Who says he’d even try to, Andy? From what you told me about him losin’ his parents he probably understands that he can’t replace your dad.”

“Why do you even care?” Scrappy was making sense and he didn’t want to hear it.

“I don’t know, dickhead. Maybe ‘cause you’re my best friend and it matters to me whether you’re happy or not. You guys were both happy on Saturday an’ that dude’s got a lot to do with it. Just think about it, that’s all I’m sayin’.”


He sighed when he realized Theo had taken them to the park and he stopped on the sidewalk facing Michael’s house. The truck wasn’t in the driveway so he had to be out, he decided. Theo sat down beside him and followed the boy’s gaze before looking up at him and whining. Andy reached down to scratch the dog’s ears as he wondered if Scrappy was right. He lost track of time as he stood there and he didn’t realize it was getting dark until a pair of headlights swept across his eyes, making him squint. He took a step forward when he recognized Michael’s truck but before he could step off of the curb the passenger’s side door opened and he heard a woman laughing.

Andy froze in place, watching as the woman rounded the back of the truck to meet Michael. He gave her a one-armed hug before releasing her to reach into the bed of the truck to snag a couple of shopping bags. The jerk was out on a date! Before he could think twice about it his feet were carrying him across the street.

*****

Chrissie laughed at her brother’s grumpy commentary about their trip to the store and she reached out to pinch his side when he hopped up to balance on the side of the truck so he could reach something that had rolled out of one of the bags.

“Hey,” he yelped, “cut it out!”

She caught a glimpse of movement behind him as he dropped back down on the pavement and she shouted at him to look out as a guy she didn’t recognize shoved him from behind. She heard his head impact with the heavy duty tool box bolted into the bed of the truck but before she could move he quickly jerked around, shoving her between him and the open drivers’ side door.

Michael shook his head to clear it as he tried to assess the situation and he stared at the angry boy facing him. He saw the color drain from the teenager’s features when he saw the damage he had done. His hand shot out to stop his sister when her hand appeared next to his shoulder, a small can of mace ready to fire.

“Mike, what’re you – “

“S’okay, Chrissie,” Michael said, conscious of the threatening growl coming from the dog at the boy’s side.

“Okay?! This little thug just tried to kill you! He probably thinks he’s gonna rob us now.”

“Just relax,” he said as he wrestled the mace out of her hand. “He’s not here to rob us. Are you, Andy?”

Her eyes widened as she focused on her brother’s assailant and she realized that he was just a kid. It took a moment for the boy’s name to sink in but when it did she pushed past Michael to face the boy.

Andy shook himself out of his stupor when the woman moved and he swallowed hard as he stared at Michael defiantly. The sight of the blood on the man’s face had scared him. He hadn’t meant for that to happen when he had pushed him. “You stay away from my mom,” he tried to shout but it came out raspy, his voice shaking. “You’re just makin’ her feel guilty! She still loves my dad an’ if he was here he’d kick your ass!”

“Andy, listen to me, bud – “

“No! You stay away from us! You just made things worse an’ now she’s sad all the time! I fuckin’ hate you!” He shoved Michael’s hand away when he reached out to him and he turned and ran away.

“Mike, do you think you need to go to the hospital?” Chrissie asked.

“No, I’m fine.” His head was throbbing and he could feel the blood running down the side of his face. He could already feel the lump on the side of his head where it was swelling. He reached for the grocery sacks and turned to carry them up to the house, his heart and mind heavy as he went over the encounter with Andy. He had a feeling part of the boy’s anger was being directed at him because he didn’t want to deal with the real issue. He didn’t want to face the fact that his mother was ready to begin moving forward with her life if that included a man other than his father.

“I’m gonna go get cleaned up,” he said as he placed the sacks on the kitchen table. He shrugged out of his jacket and draped it over one of the chairs. “Feed Mojo for me, would you?”

Chrissie sighed when he left the room without another word and as soon as his bedroom door closed behind him she checked his jacket pockets for his cell phone. She flipped it open and scrolled through his speed dial numbers to locate the one she wanted and as soon as she found it she selected it and hit the call button.

Michael tipped his head to the side as he tried in vain to get a good look at the lump on the left side of his head. Talk about lucky, he mused. Another couple of inches and it would’ve been his eye. He downed a couple of painkillers before leaving the bathroom and he frowned when he heard voices coming from the living room. Great, just what he needed tonight.

There was no point in not going out there to face the music. Isabel would barge right in to make sure he was alright if he didn’t make an appearance soon so that she could see for herself that he was breathing. He made a mental note to thank Chrissie for making that call as he walked down the hall to the living room.

Isabel was on her way to find Michael when she ran into him coming down the hall. “Oh my God!” She grabbed his arm and pulled him into the dining room, pushing him down in one of the chairs and tipping his head to the side so she could get a good look at the wound.

“I’m fine, Iz,” he complained, trying to free himself from her grasp.

Her grip only tightened in response to his attempt to get away. “Michael, the lump on the side of your head is almost as big as my fist!” She brushed his hair back to check the wound itself. “I don’t think you need stitches though,” she mused.

“I already knew that,” he grumbled. “I know why you’re here an’ we’re not talkin’ about it.”

“Michael, he attacked you – “

He shook his head and immediately regretted it. “No, he didn’t attack me. Okay, yes, he did,” he relented when she just stared at him. “But, it wasn’t intentional. He meant to shove me, I’ll give you that much, but he never intended to hurt me. Chrissie shouldn’t have called you,” he said with a meaningful look at his sister. “Look, this’s between me and Andy and I’ll handle it.”

“Michael, you’re quite possibly the one person who can’t handle this.”

“Iz, you know I love ya, but this has nothin’ to do with school, so I’m gonna ask you to leave it alone. Yeah, Andy came at me tonight, but he scared the hell out of himself when he realized what he had done.”

“That’s just great, Michael. And if you’d hit that tool box a little differently you might’ve lost your left eye.”

“But I didn’t.” He sighed roughly. “Look, I know how bad this is.”

“Are you gonna talk to his mother?”

“I will talk to her, Isabel.” He looked up at her.

“When?”

“When the time’s right.” He shook his head. “Give me your word that you’ll stay out of it.”

“Michael…”

Chrissie looked between the two of them, waiting to see which one would give in first.

“You promise you’ll talk to her?”

“I’ll talk to her. When the time’s right. I appreciate your concern, but Andy’s not some little stalker waitin’ around to take another crack at me. The kid’s emotions are runnin’ high and he’s reacting without thinkin’.”

Isabel leaned back to sit on the edge of the table as she considered what he was saying. “Are you even listening to what you’re sayin’?”

“What I’m askin’,” he insisted, “is that you stay outta this. The thing with Andy is personal not professional and I will handle it. Just promise me you’ll stay out of it.”

“I’ll stay out of it. But,” she said when he nodded, “if he comes after you again I will get involved whether you want me to or not.”

“Fair enough,” he agreed. He glanced at his sister, his look telling her that she’d be getting an earful about calling Isabel as soon as the woman left.
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Fics: A Xmas Story - A Merry Mt. R. Xmas - Cupid's Revenge - Double Trouble - Double Date - Double Dare - Double Empire - Double Xmas Wish - In The Course Of A Lifetime - Mountains So High - Not A Question At All - Surrender - TIC TAC - Two Double Dates at Xmas
User avatar
Double Trouble
Obsessed Roswellian
Posts: 925
Joined: Tue Dec 16, 2008 9:47 am

Part 72

Post by Double Trouble »

begonia9508: True, Andy still has to learn to guide his anger and hurt into a different direction. Right now he did something really stupid.

Maria will find out soon.

Yeah, not easy to deal with two sick kids all alone.

Eart2Mama: Maria so won’t like it, she will agree with you. Andy still has to learn a lot when it comes to dealing with anger and hurt.

Hm, Liz definitely deserves a break! We will see when / how she will get it.

mary mary: Lol, so those situations sound familiar, huh? ;)

Eva: Andy has to learn to deal with those emotions differently… and he will eventually.

keepsmiling7: No, lol, that’s really no fun. Don’t worry, we won’t let her deal with a virus by herself.

Alien_Friend: Oh for sure, Maria won’t be happy to hear this.

Michael will talk to Maria soon to explain…. This whole mess, lol.

Liz could really use some help, huh? Maybe Max can at least support her with words from afar.

Thanks! ;)

sarammlover: Little stinker? Lol, well that wraps it up nicely.

Someone will talk to Andy soon.

Cardinal: Andy just landed right here again on his ass, lol. What he did was stupid and there will be a few people who tell him so.

Yeah, two sick kids are not easy to handle and that’s only one thing Liz needs to worry about. Yep, Kara is adopted.

angiebrenna: So many questions about Max’ reaction, but sorry, we still have to wait a bit for his reaction. ;)

LovelyPOM83: Hey and welcome back! :)

Thanks and we hope you will enjoy the catching up!



Part 72

Justin glanced up from his math homework as he closed the textbook and shoved it back. Aunt Tess and Uncle Kyle were trying to make dinner and he wondered what they were making. “Hey, can one of you check my math?”

“Go ahead,” Kyle said, nudging her out of his way. “You were always better at math than I was.”

Tess stuck her tongue out at him and went to sit down across from her nephew. “Here, lemme see your homework.”

“Hey, Uncle Kyle, what were you good at in school?”

“Sports and history.”

“Really? ‘Cause that’s my last homework assignment for tonight. We’ve gotta figure out what we think was one of the most important inventions in history an’ outline why we think it’s relevant.” He made a face. “Every other teacher lets us just pick a topic and write the stupid paper but not old man Callahan.” He snorted. “He’s like a million years old and every time we’ve got a written assignment he has to approve it.”

“That would be your uncle’s fault,” Tess muttered absent-mindedly as she went over the problems, working them out in her head.

Justin looked at his uncle and raised an eyebrow. “How come it’s your fault, Uncle Kyle?”

“I had no idea old man Callahan was still teaching. Jeez, the guy was ancient when we were in high school.”

“Uncle Kyle,” he complained.

“Oh, sorry. Back when we were in high school the old guy wasn’t quite so strict where papers were concerned. We had the same assignment our sophomore year,” he said, motioning at the notebook lying open in front of the boy. “We were just supposed to pick what we felt was one of the most important inventions in history, and in my defense I did ask if it mattered what we picked. And he said no, as long as it fell within the parameters of the assignment we had free rein to pursue any topic.”

Justin glanced between his aunt and uncle. “What’d you pick?”

Kyle shrugged as he opened the oven door to check on the casserole Mom had sent over with Dad as soon as she’d heard they were keeping Justin overnight. “Condoms.”

The teenager snickered. “You wrote a three-page report on condoms?”

“Three pages?” Tess snorted. “His report was ten pages long and he had it bound before turning it in.”

“Hey, that was cutting edge work,” Kyle defended himself.

“Did you get in trouble?”

Kyle pulled out fresh vegetables for a salad. “Well, not really. I mean, old man Callahan had a fit and the entire school board got in an uproar over it. They threatened to suspend me if I didn’t withdraw my report and write something they felt was more appropriate.”

Justin propped his elbow up on his history textbook and rested his weight on it. “Did you?”

“Huh-uh,” he denied as he popped a cucumber slice in his mouth.

“What’d your mom an’ dad do? Were they mad?”

“No. They didn’t necessarily agree that it was one of the greatest inventions in history but they decided that since old man Callahan hadn’t put any restrictions on the assignment and since I had put a lot of effort into it there was no reason for that work to be thrown out.”

“But, what about all the school people?”

Kyle smirked. “Oh, there was a huge meeting over it and my parents defended my right to submit my paper unaltered and in its entirety. They argued that since old man Callahan hadn’t set any limits on the assignment that they really had no choice but to let it go.”

“That’s cool that your mom an’ dad have your back like that.”

He nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I’m pretty lucky,” he said. “So, what’s your choice for greatest invention?”

“Nothin’ controversial,” Justin said with a grin. “I’m not sure if I should go with somethin’ older or not, but I was thinkin’ of doin’ my report on the internet. I mean, it’s changed the world, right? And it’s impacted society in positive and negative ways. Everything from consumerism, communication and entertainment to all kinds of cyber crime. And it’s changed stuff like healthcare and law enforcement too, so there’s a lot to write about.”

“Sounds like you’ve got a pretty good topic.”

“Really?”

“Oh, yeah. And if ya want I can put a call in to the office in Atlanta, get one of the guys in the computer crimes division to talk to you. One of those guys could give you some really good information.”

“That’d be cool, Uncle Kyle.”

Tess chuckled under her breath when he sent Justin to wash up for dinner. “Great story, babe.”

“What? You brought it up. What was I supposed to say when he asked about it?” He leaned over her chair and nuzzled her neck. “I’m getting some practice in.”

“For what?” she asked as she made a note in the column next to one of the problems.

He snorted. “For what? For when we have our kids. I figure between the twins, Kara and Andy we’ll be good an’ ready for whatever comes up by the time we have one or two runnin’ around.”

“Why don’t you go focus on dinner?” she said, hoping to derail his train of thought.

“Oh, c’mon, think about it – “

“Hey, Aunt Tess?” Justin hollered. “How come you’ve got soap in all these weird shapes? It’s really hard to hold onto.”

“He’s using my decorative soaps,” she said as she got to her feet.

Kyle shrugged. “I told you soap was made to use, not made to use for decorations.” He snickered. “Bet he dried his hands on that fancy towel you put in there too.” He shook his head when she ran out of the kitchen. What was the point of putting soap and towels in the bathroom that no one was supposed to use? He didn’t get it and didn’t particularly want to. The timer went off and he opened the oven door, his mouth watering at the savory aroma coming from inside. Mom had really outdone herself this time, he thought as he grabbed a towel and pulled the dish out.

*****

Max pulled his phone out of his pocket and loosened his tie as he stepped onto the elevator. He leaned against the back wall after selecting his floor and he punched the first number in his speed dial list. He smiled in anticipation of talking to his family but it turned into a frown when Liz answered and he heard the exhaustion in her voice.

“Hey, darlin’, what’s wrong?”

Liz smiled tiredly at the concern in her husband’s voice. “Oh, nothing that won’t clear up in the next 24 hours or so.” As much as she wanted to talk to him about the pregnancy she just couldn’t bring herself to blurt it out over the phone when he was several hundred miles away.

“Are you sick or is it one of the kids?”

“Two of the kids,” she corrected. “Kara and Nick, and they both managed to catch the same stomach virus going around.”

Stomach virus. He grimaced as he swiped the key card and stepped into his room. Those were never good times. “They came home from school with it?”

“Well, I picked Kara up from Mrs. Aguilar after she called to let me know she was sick and about the time I got to her house the school nurse called to let me know Nick was sick too.”

“It missed Justin?” he asked, surprised.

“I know, right?” Liz laughed and sat down on their bed. Normally if there was a cold, flu or virus within a mile of Justin he managed to catch it. “He’s stayin’ with your sister and Kyle tonight. If it missed him I didn’t want him exposed to it at home.”

“Good idea. Are the kids feelin’ any better?”

“A little bit. Earlier this afternoon neither of them could keep anything down but we did have a little more success a couple of hours ago.”

“How’re you doin’?” he murmured when she fell silent.

“I’m fine, just ready for this virus to run its course.” She chuckled and shook her head. “I’m sure the kids are even more ready than I am.”

“You gonna keep ‘em home tomorrow?”

“Yeah. I’d rather make sure this mess has run its course. I talked to Tess earlier and she said they could keep Justin tomorrow night if the kids still aren’t feeling well.”

“Make sure you get some rest tonight.”

She smiled at his concerned tone. “I’ll do my best. How was your day?”

He shrugged out of his suit jacket and hung it up, walking around the room as he told her about the meetings that had nearly bored him stupid. “I’ve gotta meet with two of the shop managers tomorrow, tour the shops and take a look at their books. We’ve got one makin’ a significant profit and another one that’s shown a pretty big drop in revenue recently.” He picked up the menu for room service, glancing over it before dropping it back on the table.

“You think someone’s stealing from the company?”

He ran a hand through his hair and sighed tiredly. “It’s the only thing that makes sense. The location showed a consistent and substantial profit up until a few months ago when it began to steadily decrease.”

“Is the shop under new management?”

“Huh-uh, the fella runnin’ it’s been with the company since we opened that shop.” He grabbed a beer from the small refrigerator and twisted the cap off, taking a long drink before speaking again. “I don’t know what else could explain such a drastic change.” He sat on the bed, stacking the pillows against the headboard and leaning back against them. “Hey, Liz?”

“Um-hmm?”

“I miss you,” he said after a moment. King size beds were just a waste when you were by yourself. “The kids occupied for a while?”

“They’re asleep right now,” she said, knowing what he had in mind.

He grinned. “Know somethin’ we haven’t done in a while?”

She chuckled as she got up to close the door. The first time they had engaged in phone sex she had been certain she was going to die of embarrassment. The only thing that had helped was the knowledge that he had been just as embarrassed.

“Mom!”

She thumped her head against the door and sighed, smiling slightly when she heard Max’s matching sigh of frustration. She held the phone against her shoulder and called down to let Nick know she’d be right there. “Your son has horrible timing,” she muttered.

He snorted quietly. “Think you’ll feel up to a date later?”

“I’ll call you back when I’ve got them down for the night.” She paused. “Think you’ll survive that long?”

“I’ll try hard.”

“Hard’s good,” she teased. “I love you, Max.”

“Love you too, darlin’. Tell the kids I love ‘em an’ I hope they feel better soon.”

“From your mouth to God’s ears,” she said with a smile. “Talk to you soon.” She hurried back downstairs to take care of Nick, feeling a little less tired after talking to Max for a while.

*****

Kyle and Tess flopped down on the couch after getting Justin up, fed and out the door for school. He picked at the corner of the blanket the teenager had hurriedly folded up and dropped on top of his pillow in his haste to get ready that morning. He yawned and rubbed both hands over his face as he turned his head to look at Tess.

“Sheesh, can you believe how much work it is to get one kid ready for school?”

“I know,” she groaned.

“They’ve gotta be even worse when they’re little, huh?” He smiled tiredly. “I can’t wait to be doin’ it with our kids one day though. That’ll be fun. Well,” he amended, “crazy and insane, but I’m gonna love it. Can’t you just see us doin’ that every mornin’?”

“Well, right now I’m happy with taking the kids from my brother or sister-in-law and then handing them back after a while,” Tess said.

He shrugged. “Well, yeah, but we don’t have to have kids right away.” He paused and turned to stare at the blank television screen. “I mean, we’ve never talked about kids, but you want ‘em, right?”

She shrugged. “Don’t know yet.”

He bit his bottom lip as he thought about that. He had always just assumed that they would be together and have kids. He shifted and pulled his left leg up on the couch, resting his hand on his knee as he looked at her. “What’s that mean?”

“It means I just don’t know yet, Kyle.”

He shook his head. “I don’t understand. I thought we wanted to be together... to start a family one day. Isn’t that what we’re doin’ here? Both of us movin’ back home, practically livin’ together?”

“So being together automatically means having several kids?” she asked, annoyed.

He pulled back. “Well, no, it’s not like it’s somethin’ that has to happen, but... Hell, Tess, I’ve watched you with the kids and you love it. You’d be a great mom and I wanna be a dad.”

He wants to be a dad, she thought and swallowed hard. “Yeah, well...”

“What the hell’s that mean?” he snapped. All of the sudden it felt like the rug was being pulled out from under him and everything he had been planning for his future was disappearing before he could grab onto it.

She winced at his sudden outburst. “Don’t yell at me!”

“I’m not – “ He got to his feet and ran his hands through his hair. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to yell. I’m just tryin’ to figure out what we’re doin’ here.”

“What we’re doin’ here?” she asked in disbelief.

“Okay...” he inhaled deeply. “When you say you don’t know, what’s that mean exactly? I’m tryin’ to understand, Tess. I mean, are you not sure you want kids? Scared of havin’ kids? Worried about how we’d be as parents?”

She didn’t dare look at him when she spoke up. “The first, I think.”

He swallowed hard. She didn’t think she wanted kids. He felt like someone had just sucker punched him. It didn’t make any sense to him. She was great with their niece and nephews. “I have no idea what to say to that, Tess.”

“Kyle,” she started, but didn’t know what to say.

“How can you not want kids?” he asked, trying to make sense of this sudden turn his life had just taken. Could they make a relationship work if she decided for sure that she didn’t want kids? Could he give up the dream of being a father?

“I don’t know. Maybe I just don’t want that much responsibility in my life,” she said defensively.

He stared at her uncomprehendingly. “I want kids, Tess. I don’t have to have a bunch of ‘em or anything, but, I do want at least one or two.”

She bit her bottom lip while her heart hammered against her chest. What should she say to that? She wasn’t willing to let him go, but she couldn’t just give in to his wish either...

“Look, you said you didn’t think you wanted kids, right? Maybe if we give it some time you’ll... I don’t know, decide you do.” He felt like he was on the verge of losing two of the most important things in his life. Tess and having children with her.

She shrugged. “I can’t promise you anything right now.”

He didn’t know what to say to that. What if they stayed together and she never reached a place where she wanted kids? “I don’t know that I can stay in a relationship where that’s an issue, Tess. I don’t wanna pressure you into somethin’ you don’t want but bein’ a dad... it’s not somethin’ I wanna just give up on either.”

His words hurt. They felt like a knife stabbing into her heart and twisting and she had to fight back the tears that were trying to escape. “What does this mean for us?” she asked quietly, fearing the answer.

“I don’t know.” He shook his head, hurt by this new knowledge and the wounded look in her eyes. “I think... I think I should go, Tess.”

She wanted to beg him to stay, but what could she tell him? She had always feared that this would become a problem between them, but she hadn’t expected it so soon.

He waited, hoping she would say that they could work this out but when she remained silent he nodded. “I’m just gonna grab my clothes. I’ll be at my parents’ place if you wanna talk.” He stood there for a moment before turning and walking into the bedroom, unsure of what would happen now.

Don’t let him just leave, her mind screamed at her and she got to her feet. “I don’t want you to go, Kyle,” she admitted quietly when she stopped in the door of the bedroom.

He stopped with his hand on his bag, his eyes locked on the bedspread. “Would me stayin’ change your mind?”

“Well no, but...”

He shook his head. “Then I can’t stay because I know what I want, Tess, and I’ve gotta figure out if I can let part of that go.”

She nodded and leaned against the doorframe when she suddenly felt her knees trembling. “Okay,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around herself.

Kyle shoved a few things into his bag, not bothering with everything. He hooked the strap over his shoulder and crossed the room to look down at her. His hands came up to cradle her face and he met her tear-filled eyes with a sad smile. “I love you, Tess. Hell, I always have but I don’t know if I can accept this.”

She didn’t bother to hold the tears back any longer and they started to fall quickly, creating a small river from her eyes to trail along her cheeks. “I love you too.”

He leaned in to kiss her briefly before stepping past her and heading for the front door, knowing if he didn’t go now he might not be able to. He knew he had to find the answer within himself before he made a decision about them as a couple.

Her body slipped down along the doorframe when she heard him closing the front door carefully. Waves of sobs shook her body while she struggled to breathe in between them.

*****

Walter Dennison was 56 years old and wore his age well. He was nearly six and a half feet tall with dark hair that was just graying at the temples and piercing green eyes. He was soft spoken and talked slowly to control his tendency to stutter. He was a quiet man who worked hard to provide for his family and he had never given less than a hundred percent.

Max had liked him immediately, and while Andrew had had his reservations because the man only had a high school education, he’d been certain Walter was the right manager for this shop. As they settled down in the shop office, sitting across the desk from each other Max glanced around the room, taking in the disorganized clutter. It looked familiar somehow.

“Looks like business is good,” he said as he accepted the cup of coffee being offered.

Walter glanced out through the plate-glass window that looked down over the shop. “It’s not bad for this time of year,” he agreed with a shake of his head. “Could be a little better but I expect it to pick up in about a week or so. Folks’ll be getting ready to head out for Thanksgiving and anytime holidays an’ travel pick up, business picks up.”

“So, there’s been a minimal slow-down but nothin’ major?”

“No sir, nothin’ that’d impact the business too severely. The shop’s doin’ good. I had some thoughts on maybe expanding a bit, opening up a couple of bays to take on some big rigs but…” he swallowed hard, “maybe later.”

Max leaned forward in his seat and set his coffee down. “Would you mind if I take a look at your books, Walter?”

“No sir, course not.” He got up and moved to the four-drawer filing cabinet in the corner, unlocking it and pulling out the bookkeeping journal. He handed it over and took his seat again, watching Max as he pulled his laptop out and set it up on the desk. “I got a feelin’ there’s somethin’ wrong,” he said after several minutes.

“Who’s been submitting your month-end reports?” Max lifted his head to meet the man’s gaze head on.

“If there’s a problem I’ll take full responsibility for it.”

“Unless you’re involved in stealin’ from the company I’d rethink that offer.” He shook his head at the shocked look on Walter’s face. “I didn’t think so.”

“How much of a loss are we talkin’ about?”

“Over the past few months nearly ten grand. And that’s just what I can see from scanning between the submitted reports and your books.” He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I’m gonna need the name of that person.”

“Ken Calhoun, my head mechanic.”

“How long’s he been employed here?”

“Comin’ up on six years.”

“Why’re all the reports submitted under your name? If you authorized him to submit the reports why wasn’t he given his own login?”

“I never got around to it. I meant to b-but I d-didn’t.”

Max’s eyebrows shot up when the man’s stutter appeared. He could count the times that had happened over the years and it was a sure sign that something was wrong. “What’s goin’ on, Walter?”

“It’s my wife, Ally. She’s been real sick an’ my girl, she’s a fighter but, this thing just don’t wanna let ‘er go. She’s givin’ it everything she’s got but some days she can hardly get outta bed an’…” His eyes filled as he looked away. “I just don’t wanna miss a minute with her if this’s gonna be it.”

“God, Walter, I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

The big man nodded and swallowed hard. “I was comin’ in late every night, puttin’ my hours in an’ getting the books taken care of. When Ken caught on he offered to take it off my hands and I let him ‘cause I just wanted to be with Ally.” He turned to look at Max again. “I’m sorry an’ I’ll pay it all back – “

“You’ll do nothin’ of the sort,” Max interrupted. “You trusted someone you’ve worked with for years at a time when you needed help. I can’t and don’t fault you for that. No, what we’re gonna do is let him continue what he’s been doin’. Obviously he knows you keep hard copy records and he’s counting on you takin’ the fall when this comes to light. I’m gonna get someone in here to keep an eye on things so we can catch him in the act. In the meantime you’re goin’ home.” He shook his head when he saw the worry in the man’s eyes. “Your job’s solid, Walter. I’m gonna talk to my office manager at the shop back home, see if she’d be willin’ to come out here for a few weeks. You’re the manager; if she needs anything she’ll contact you.” He snorted. “She’s very efficient so trust me, you’ll rarely hear from her. That’s only if you hear from her at all.”

Walter shook his head. “I can’t really afford to take time off like that.”

“Walter, you’re the manager and you’ll consult and advise from home. We’ll coordinate a time that’s good for you to meet with Missy to familiarize her with your system and turn her loose.” He motioned to the disorganization around them. “She’ll have this in order in no time. In the meantime, go home and be with your wife.”

“I know I should’ve called when this came up…”

Max shook his head. Walter hadn’t called because he had been worried about losing his job. He knew Andrew wouldn’t have approved of the decision he had just made. A mistake that caused this kind of loss wouldn’t have been tolerated. His brother had believed in keeping business strictly business and he knew Max would be swayed by his heart.

“You’ve been with the company practically since it started, Walter, and you’ve always handled things well. We’ll get this sorted out, okay? You just focus on your wife.”

Walter sighed and looked up when someone knocked on the door. “It’s open,” he called out. He felt himself tense up when he saw the man who opened the door.

“Hey, Walt, everything okay?”

“Ken, you’re in early.” He forced himself to smile when he wanted nothing more than to throttled the other man.

“Thought I’d get started on that water pump on the…” his words trailed off when he realized Walter had a visitor. He held his hand out to the man. “Ken Calhoun, head mechanic.”

Max shook his hand. “Justin Nichols.”

“Mr. Nichols here is lookin’ for a shop to handle repair and maintenance on his rigs,” Walter said, following Max’s lead.

Ken nodded and grinned. “Well, if we can get the bays up we could certainly handle the work. We’ve got two mechanics that came from a local trucking company that went under a while back.” He shrugged and leaned one shoulder against the doorframe. “Your timing couldn’t be better what with the slowdown due to the time of year.”

“That’s good to know.” Max glanced at the younger man when he asked how many trucks they were talking about. “Currently 15, but we’re considering a merger that would double that so having reliable mechanics will be even more important to the business. Can’t keep the operation runnin’ if the trucks aren’t in good repair.”

“Well, I’ll let you fellas get back to business. Walt, if you need anything lemme know.”

Max waited until he saw the mechanic cross the shop floor below before he spoke. “He’s good,” he murmured. “Comes across as very sincere.” He shook his head. “Well, I won’t keep you any longer. I’ll give you a call as soon as I’ve talked to my office manager. And I was serious about you stayin’ home. Trust me, Missy can handle the office.”

Walter nodded and stood when Max did, reaching out to shake his hand. “Thanks,” he said, his voice gruff.

Max smiled as they shook hands. “We’ll keep your wife in our thoughts and prayers, and if you need anything don’t hesitate to call.”
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Fics: A Xmas Story - A Merry Mt. R. Xmas - Cupid's Revenge - Double Trouble - Double Date - Double Dare - Double Empire - Double Xmas Wish - In The Course Of A Lifetime - Mountains So High - Not A Question At All - Surrender - TIC TAC - Two Double Dates at Xmas
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Double Trouble
Obsessed Roswellian
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Joined: Tue Dec 16, 2008 9:47 am

Part 73

Post by Double Trouble »

keepsmiling7: He so is! ;)

Yeah, there is no rule for not taking it, right? Maybe there should!

The conversation will come…. Just not yet, lol. Sorry.

Earth2Mama: K&T have a tough decision to make… how they will deal with this and if they are strong enough …. We will find out!

Max was clever enough to find out the truth and you are right! Some people just suck!

Thanks!

begonia9508: Max has a big heart, and not only for his own family. ;)

mary mary: Luckily Max find out the truth. He is a good man.

Yeah, poor Tess. She’s having a hard time.

Next week!

Eva: We too!

K&T have a pretty tough decision to make. This won’t be easy for them, we will see how they will do.

Natalie36: Thanks! Yeah, they are not really in a good place right now.

Alien_Friend: Max’ heart is big and has a place for a lot of people, lol.

If there is another reason for Tess’ decision has yet to be seen, but yeah, it was really sad to write this.

Thanks!

Rodney: Welcome back! Glad you are here again!

True, this is nothing you can avoid or deal later with. The decision of having or having no kids in a relationship is important for both and we still have to see what decision they will make.

Ungh, we hope you got rid of that virus quickly!

sarammlover: Yeah sorry, we know K&T were kinda the steady couple in this one…

We will see how they deal with this.

Max just did the right thing, didn’t he? He has a big heart.

angiebrenna: It is not easy if you find out your partner wants something else…. Or doesn’t want kids. We still have to find out how they work though this.

LovelyPOM83: Thanks! Lol the BIG conversation will come… later.



Part 73

Michael glanced up from the paper he was reading, when someone knocked on the door. He sighed, not really recalling what he had read the last twenty minutes anyway. His thoughts seemed to sail away whenever they got a chance. “Come in.”

Isabel opened the door slowly, poking her head in first to look at him. “Busy?”

He glanced at the article in his hand. “Not really.”

She nodded. “Good. I’ve got some time off right now too,” she walked inside and made her way to the window, opening up the almost fully-closed shades.

“Whatcha doin’?” he asked, confused.

“You’re not a vampire, are you? It’s too dark in here, Michael. How can you read like this?”

“I like it this way,” he protested.

“Uh-huh.” She sat down on the opposite side of his desk and glanced at him. “How’re you feeling?”

“It’s not that bad, Iz. It doesn’t even hurt anymore.”

She nodded. “Good, but I wasn’t really asking about your head, buddy. I meant how do YOU feel?” She pointed at him with her forefinger.

Michael shrugged. “I’ll survive.”

He was playing it down, she realized. Maybe he could fool people that didn’t know him, but she could see he was hurting inside badly. “His reaction was something you may have expected before, but it doesn’t mean this is the end…” she tried.

“I know,” Michael said, trying to sound convincing.

“You probably don’t wanna hear it anymore, but this just needs more time.”

He snorted, but stayed quiet. Yeah, it was something he had heard a lot and he was kinda tired of it.

“Have you talked to Maria yet?”

“No, not yet.”

“Michael…”

“I will, Iz, okay? It just happened yesterday and I don’t wanna do this over the phone. I’m planning to go talk to her tomorrow. I’ll get outta here early and Andy will still be in class, so I’ll have a chance to talk to her alone.”

“Okay.” She ran her hand through her hair. “I don’t wanna by pushy. I just know dealing with this all alone is pure torture and she needs to know…”

“And I’ll tell her.” As much as he hated the thought of bothering her with this, Maria had a right to know the truth and if it would come out later it would be worse.

“Anyway,” Isabel said to move to a lighter subject. “What about a night out with Kyle an’ me tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow?”

“Yes, Kyle and I decided you need a distraction and we’re offering it.”

Michael rolled his eyes. “You’re so generous.”

She smiled sweetly. “I know. So is that a yes?”

“Why not Friday?”

“Well because I have a date with Alex on Friday night and you know I love you guys, but this is not a date that includes company.”

“I doubt that either of us would be interested anyway,” he told her, a little amused.

She nodded. “So, tomorrow? We’ll go to a bar, have dinner and have few drinks?”

“Sounds like college time,” he teased.

“Hey, we had great times.”

Yes they had. Maybe a night out with his friends would be cool, he thought.

*****

Max pulled his cell phone out as he eased into the late afternoon traffic, punching in the first number on his speed dial and waiting for an answer.

“Hello?”

He smiled at the sound of his wife’s harried voice. He could hear Nick and Kara arguing over something in the background as well as Lucky’s playful bark as he added in his two cents. “Hey, darlin’,” he greeted with a warm chuckle. “Sounds like the kids are feelin’ better.”

She snorted. “What was your first clue?”

He just laughed.

“What’s goin’ on? I thought you were gonna be in meetings all day?”

“Yeah, I’m on my way across town to the second shop.” He swallowed hard as he remembered Walter’s expression as he spoke of the woman he loved and might lose. “I just needed to hear your voice.”

Liz frowned at his tone. “Max, are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m good. It’s just been a long day. When I call back after dinner I’ll tell you all about it.”

“It’s a date.”

“Can I talk to Daddy?”

Max chuckled at their four-year-olds’ question. “Go ahead an’ put her on, Liz. I’ve got a few minutes before I get to the next shop.”

“Alright. I love you, Max. Be careful.”

“Love you too, darlin’.”

“Hi, Daddy!”

Max winced at her enthusiastic greeting, smiling when Liz hurried to tell her to not yell into the phone and a moment later she repeated it in a considerably quieter voice.

“Hey, baby girl. You feelin’ better today?”

“Yeah. I colored you a pitcher but Nicky drawed on it an’ made it ugly.”

“Is that what the two of you were fightin’ about a few minutes ago?” He could almost see her eyes widening as she tried to figure out how he knew that.

“Um…”

“Tell ya what… why don’t you color another picture and give it to Mommy for takin’ such good care of you two while you’ve been sick.”

“Otay, Daddy,” she said with a smile.

“An’, hey, Kara?”

“Yes?”

“The picture you colored will be fine.”

“But Nicky made it ugly.”

“You let Mommy handle Nick, okay?”

Liz hid a smile when Kara bit her lip, knowing Max was doing his best to put an end to the fighting between the kids. By the time he hung up Kara was in a better mood and she went to get her coloring book and crayons and climbed up on one of the kitchen chairs to color. She wondered what was on her husband’s mind as she went over their conversation and his tone when he had said he needed to hear her voice.

“Hey, Mom, why can’t I go to practice?” Nick asked as he came in and leaned on the island. “I feel better an’ we’ve got a game Friday night.” She had decided they could play in Friday night’s game and here he was stuck at home and missing practice.

“Because you were sick until this morning and you need the rest.” She glanced at the clock, noting the time and knowing that she needed to get dinner started soon. “If you’re feeling so good you can get started on your homework from yesterday.” She nodded when he made a face at her suggestion. “That’s what I thought.”

“Fine, I’ll just go watch some more TV.”

She rolled her eyes at his tone and moved to the refrigerator. “Thank you for making that sacrifice.”

He snorted and turned around, darting over to the table and grabbing a black crayon and drawing horns and a tail on the princess cartoon character his little sister was coloring.

“Mommy!” Kara howled.

Liz nearly brained herself on the freezer door when she jumped at Kara’s angry screech and she just barely caught a glimpse of her son as he ducked out of the room. “Nicholas Evans, get your butt back in here right now!” she yelled. She didn’t know what he had done, but she knew the two of them had been aggravating each other for the past couple of hours. She sighed and grabbed something to drink, making one more wish for Friday to hurry up so Max could handle these disputes.

*****

Michael glanced up from the book he was reading while lying in the comfortable swing on his back deck when he heard a sound inside the house. Chrissie was sitting next to him in a chair, feet propped on the railing while she scanned through some magazine. And Mojo was sprawled on the floor in between them.

“Did you hear that?”

“What?” His sister looked at him, confused.

“Sounded like someone’s in the house?”

Chrissie hold her breath and listened carefully for several seconds. “No, nothing.”

“Well, okay.” He was about to relax again when the door was pushed open and Kyle walked onto the back porch.

“Man your house is all open while you’re out here. Someone could steal things and you wouldn’t even notice.”

Chrissie rolled her eyes. “Kyle, we’re in Roswell, okay?”

“Yeah people have said that before,” he grumbled.

The girl shot an eye at her brother. There was definitely something wrong with his friend. Anyone could tell he was in a mood. Michael nodded in agreement and gave her a small sign to leave them alone.

“I’m gonna go grab a bath,” she said. “Want me to get you a beer first?”

Kyle looked at her when she moved to stand in front of him and he nodded. “Yeah, thanks.” He sat down in the chair Chrissie had just abandoned and waited until she had brought them the beer and left again.

“Sooo….” Michael started and straightened up, putting his feet on the ground. Mojo grumbled in irritation at the sudden activity on the normally silent porch.

“What?”

Michael lifted his eyebrows when his friend didn’t start to talk right away. “Uh, why’re you here?”

“Can’t I just visit a friend?” Kyle took a sip of his drink.

“Sure you can… But somehow I think this isn’t a courtesy visit.”

The other man snorted. “Ya think?”

Michael rolled his eyes at his friend. “Well, okay, you don’t wanna talk so I’m gonna go back to readin’ my book.”

“Sorry,” Kyle sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “Kinda had a bad day.”

“What made it bad?” The men glanced at each other and Michael nodded. “A woman?”

“You know it,” Kyle nodded and slouched down in his seat.

“Welcome to my world then.”

“Wanna share? Because I think I’d prefer to be in your position right now.”

Michael glanced at his friend in surprise. “Really? Then it has to be somethin’ really bad. What’d Tess do?”

“Question is, what she is NOT going to do.”

“Okay, I don’t understand, pal.”

Kyle let out a frustrated sound and wiped his face with his hand. “I don’t wanna talk about it.” He looked at Michael. “At least not now. I’m still trying to make sense about it in my own head before I get any input from outside.”

“Alright.” Michael knew this feeling and he knew his friend would tell him when he was ready to. “Where’re you staying tonight?”

“Don’t know… probably at my parents’ place.”

“You can crash here if you want.”

Well, that would be cool and he wouldn’t have to bother with questions from Jim and Amy. “Thanks.”

“Welcome. The guestroom’s still empty since Chrissie seems to love the couch, so… it’s all yours.”

“What happened to your head?” Kyle asked when he saw the small cut on the other man’s head.

“Oh, just hit my head, nothing serious.” The truth was something he would only tell Maria, at least for now.

“Did Isabel talk to you? She was calling me yesterday and said we NEED to go out tomorrow night.”

“Yeah,” Michael snorted. “I guess she thinks I need distraction.”

“Do you?”

“Looking at you, I think we both need one.”

It wasn’t really an answer but Kyle let it go.

*****

“Did you hear Mr. Keller’s out sick? We’ve got the next two classes off,” Nick said as he approached the others on Thursday. They were gathered outside of the school where they were hanging out on a break between classes.

“Really? Cool,” Andy said, glancing at his... girlfriend. It was still weird to think about Sam as his girlfriend. Maybe there was a possibility they could get out of here for a while then.

Sam looked back at him and shivered because she could almost read his mind.

“So what’re we gonna do?” Justin asked.

“Hey, boys.” Jenny and Sarah walked by. “Did you see we’ve got a class off now since Mr. Keller’s out sick?”

“Yeah, we saw that,” Justin nodded.

“We’re about to head to the café at the end of the street. Wanna join us?”

Andy saw his chance to get away with Sam. “I think I’m just gonna go home an’ unpack some stuff. There’s still a lot to do in the new house.”

“Need any help?” Sam asked and then glanced at Justin, trying to gauge his reaction to her offer.

“Yeah, why not,” Andy tried to act casual.

Justin’s gaze moved between the two of them, trying to figure out what was going on. Was Sam volunteering all of them to help out? It was the kinda thing she’d do but she didn’t really want all of them to go, right? He looked down when Jenny slid her hand into his and he felt the tips of his ears turn red even though no one else could see what she was doing. “I think I’m gonna pass on that...”

“Yeah, sorry dude,” Nick said to his cousin, “but hangin’ at the café sounds much more fun.”

Andy shrugged, relieved that they hadn’t all invited themselves along to ‘unpack’. “Nah, that’s cool. It’s not like it’s gonna be fun or anything.”

“Yeah, you guys have fun,” Sam said.

Nick grinned when Sarah slipped her arm through his. “We will,” he said confidently.

Sam waited until the four of them left before she turned to look at Andy. “What’re we gonna do?”

“Well... my mom’s not home.”

She nodded. “Let’s go then.”

The walk to the new house didn’t take very long and he could feel his heart starting to thump wildly when he fumbled as he tried to get the key in the lock.

“When will you guys start stayin’ here overnight?”

“Um... Mom said we’d be stayin’ here tonight. Finally,” he said with a snort as he pushed the door open. “It feels like forever since I’ve had my own room an’ here the whole second floor’s mine.”

“That’s pretty cool,” she admitted.

“Yeah, right? The only way it’d be cooler would be if it had a door and stairs outside so I could come and go when I wanted to.”

She snorted. “I bet your mom wouldn’t really appreciate you havin’ that much freedom yet.”

“Nah, but moms take a lotta work to train.”

“So do dads.”

He snorted. “What is with parents anyway? I mean, it’s like they think we don’t know anything!”

“That’s true. I bet Dad really wishes I was totally clueless about sex,” she said, noticing too late that she had said that out loud.

Andy was glad that he was walking ahead of her, leading the way through the house because he was sure his eyes had just about bugged out of his head. “You um... you’ve talked to your dad about sex?” he asked, hoping his voice didn’t sound as strangled as it sounded to him.

“Well, not much.” Great, she thought. “But, ya know how worried parents are. He’s scared to death I’ll tell him I’m pregnant way too soon.”

“See? Parents think we’re dumb.” He rolled his eyes. Jeez, that’s what condoms were for!

“We’re not.”

“Nope. I mean, I paid attention in my Health Ed class. Plus, well... my dad and I had THAT talk a while back.”

Sam chuckled. “Bet that was fun.”

He made a face. “Yeah. Guess you had to have that talk with your dad though, huh?” He was sure he’d die of embarrassment if he had to talk to his mom about sex.

“Yeah, and he’s still giving his input every now and then.”

He rolled his eyes. “Hey, you wanna drink or anything?”

“No thanks.”

He nodded. “So... we could just go upstairs then.” He hurried to lead the way, knowing she was going to start thinking he was an idiot if he just kept standing there.

"Okay, sounds good."

As soon as they reached the second floor he hurried to push his door open and he entered the space that was all his. "So, this's it... kind of a mess, but... still, all mine," he said proudly.

She glanced around his room. There was just a bed and a desk in it, the rest seemed to be still in boxes, but the room was large and it had a big window. “Wow, very cool.”

“I know.” He looked around. “I haven’t really unpacked much but at least it’s all here now.”

“Guess you can unpack bit by bit, huh? Make this room more comfortable.”

“Yeah.” He glanced at her uncertainly. She didn’t really wanna unpack did she?

“Maybe I can really help you with that,” she suggested. “During the weekend maybe.” And if you don’t ask me to the dance soon we’ll really spend Saturday night at home, she thought bitterly.

Andy nodded. “That’d be cool.” He looked around at the bare walls. “I’ve got some ideas, but nothin’ concrete yet.” He turned to look at her, taking her hand as he smiled at her. “But, we don’t have to talk about it now, right?”

“No, not necessarily,” she answered, her heart pounding against her chest.

“Cool. So... you wanna sit down?”

“Yeah, sure.” There wasn’t much more than the bed to sit on though.

“Okay.” He glanced at his bed. “We can sit on the bed.”

“Lead the way then,” she said with a soft smirk.

He grinned, feeling a little more confident as he led her over to the bed. At least he was feeling that way until they actually sat down and then he suddenly felt nervous again.

“It’s big, huh?”

“What?” His eyes widened when the word came out as a squeak. What was big? Was she talking about...? He glanced down at himself and quickly looked away. No, she couldn’t be talking about THAT, so what?

“The bed I mean.”

“The bed...” he trailed off and looked down. “Oh, right, yeah, well, I haven’t had a twin-size bed since I turned 13.”

She leaned back and rested her weight on her lower arms. “It’s cool that the window is on the opposite side. Nice view.”

His eyes moved over her, loving the way the tee shirt stretched taut across her breasts courtesy of her position. “Yeah, great view,” he mumbled.

She rolled her eyes. “You are such a typical guy.”

That brought his grin out to play again and he leaned back to rest his weight on his right elbow as he looked at her. “Is that a compliment?”

“If you want it to be,” she told him with a wink.

“Oh, I think I want it to be.” He let his hand rest on her stomach, gauging her reaction by the look in her eyes. When he saw no resistance there he slid his hand to her side and leaned in to brush his lips against hers.

She turned her head to the side to make it easier for him to kiss her while one of her hands came up to rest on his shoulder.

Andy smiled against her lips when she shifted to give him better access. He didn’t know how to describe the way it made him feel when she touched him, but damn, it was good! He angled his head slightly as his hand at her side tugged her closer.

Dad would kill me if he could see me right now, Sam thought but pushed the thoughts of her dad aside again quickly and let Andy pull her further towards him.

Andy didn’t have a single thought in his head beyond the moment. All of his attention was focused on the girl in his arms... in his bed!

It was tempting to let her hand wander but she just wasn’t sure if that would lead to something that was still too early for yet.

He felt her hand begin to inch down from his shoulder but it immediately found its way back to its original position. Was it because she wasn’t sure what to do? Or maybe she thought he wouldn’t like it or be comfortable with it if she touched him? ‘Cause he was way okay with it! He reached up to cover her hand with his and urged her to continue her explorations.

Her heart made a little dive at his encouragement, but she finally felt brave enough to continue her path and her hand wandered further up over his chest.

Oh yeah! his inner voice shouted victoriously. He felt a shiver race down his spine when her hand brushed over one of his nipples and he wondered why he’d never noticed that before.

Sam had to break the kiss to pull some air into her lungs. She didn’t move away though and leaned her forehead against his. Andy chuckled as he drew air into his own oxygen-starved lungs. He loved the way she made him feel.

“Wonder how they do this in the movies,” she mused quietly. “They don’t seem in need to breathe at all.”

“’Cause they get the chance to take breaks between those scenes.”

“Yeah,” she nodded, her hand slipping further down to rest on the hem of his shirt.

His heart started thumping madly in his chest again when she started playing with the tail of his shirt. Did she even know what she was doing? he wondered.

Sam could feel him catching his breath when her fingertips ghosted over the small line of skin that was exposed between his shirt and his jeans. He felt warm and soft and she wondered what it would be like to slip her whole hand under the fabric.

Go for it! his mind shouted. He didn’t try to direct her moves this time, letting her decide what she was comfortable with. His muscles were already tightening in anticipation of her touch though and he nearly held his breath as he waited to see if she would do it.

Maybe next time, she thought and brought her hand up to trail over his arm again. She wanted to feel his skin under her hand, but she wanted to take it slow and enjoy something new every time they met.
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Fics: A Xmas Story - A Merry Mt. R. Xmas - Cupid's Revenge - Double Trouble - Double Date - Double Dare - Double Empire - Double Xmas Wish - In The Course Of A Lifetime - Mountains So High - Not A Question At All - Surrender - TIC TAC - Two Double Dates at Xmas
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Double Trouble
Obsessed Roswellian
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Joined: Tue Dec 16, 2008 9:47 am

Part 74

Post by Double Trouble »

Earth2Mama: Don’t worry. Sam knows when to put the brakes on.

Yeah, he’ll finally get to see her and now he has to tell her about this. These two just can’t catch a break.

Max will be home before too awful long.

keepsmiling7: She’s got her hands full alright.

Max will let us know soon.

Thanks!

Cardinal: No doubt, lol.

Yeah, Andy’s got things pretty screwed up right now.

Alien_Friend: Lol, yeah, Sam’s gonna be the one who keeps things on the right track.

The guys are very lucky to have such a great friendship with each other and Isabel.

We’ll find out very soon.

Love those family moments, huh? So do we. ;)

mary mary: Lol, don’t give them any help.

Sam will keep him in line.

Kara agrees with you.

You know it. :)

sarammlover: Lol, they won’t be getting much more exploratory.

We’ll see if we can’t get some Michael and Maria screen time here pretty soon.

begonia9508: Kids are way more advanced these days, lol.

No, Andy hasn’t shared that little bit of information. Sam’s reaction should be interesting though, huh?

Rodney: Lol, think Kyle and Michael will let their frustration out huh? ;)

With these kida nowadays lol, you are probably right. ;)



Part 74

Andy bit back his disappointment when she didn’t touch him the way he was hoping she would. He was dying to know what it felt like to have a girl... Sam... really touch him. Take it slow, Evans, he reminded himself.

She dared to look into his eyes, shivering at his intense gaze. What was he thinking right now? She would pay a lot to know what it was.

His eyebrows lifted when she met his gaze and held it. He had no idea what she was looking for. His eyes dropped to her lips and he reached up to brush his thumb over them. “You’re so soft,” he whispered without even realizing it.

She smiled even though her stomach was turned upside down from his words. “So are you.”

He cleared his throat and frowned. Soft wasn’t really a word he’d use to describe himself at the moment.

She glanced at her watch. “We have to be back at school soon.”

“We could ditch,” he said, knowing it wasn’t really an option but throwing it out there anyway.

She laughed. “Better not. My Dad doesn’t need a reason to ground me.”

“Yeah, I guess not. How’re things goin’ with him an’ Principal Russell? You still doin’ okay with that?”

“Pretty much don’t have a choice so I’m TRYING to deal with it.”

“How weird is it? I mean, does she like try to be your mom an’ stuff?”

“No,” she shook her head. “She knows she can’t be my mom. I guess she’s just trying to be a friend.”

“She seems nice I guess. She was pretty cool last Saturday anyway.”

“Yeah,” Sam sighed, “guess she’s not that bad.”

“So she doesn’t try to do ‘mom’ stuff with you?” he asked and then wished he could take the words back. Sam’s mom had never been involved in her life so how would she know what ‘mom stuff’ was?

“No. Not yet anyway.”

He was relieved when she answered without seeming to notice his mistake. “Cool.”

“Yeah,” she nodded and looked at him. Could she ask him to kiss her again?

Andy’s breath caught in his throat when she gave him one of those looks. Since meeting her he had discovered that she had several distinct ‘looks’. There was the ‘you’ve pissed me off and I can’t stand you right now’ look, the ‘I can’t believe you just said something so stupid’ look, but this one... this was the one that he was going to label the ‘are you gonna kiss me anytime soon’ look. And the answer was, yes. He leaned in and kissed her softly, letting her decide whether or not to take it deeper since she had brought up the subject of time.

Her arm started to tremble from bracing her weight on it for so long. She didn’t want to, but suddenly it gave in and she crashed down to the bed fully. “Sorry,” she giggled.

“Girls,” he snorted and rested his left hand on the bed on her other side so that he was leaning over her.

“Boys,” she teased and grabbed a handful of his shirt to pull him down to her.

Andy wasn’t expecting her to do that and he just barely had time to bend his arm and catch his weight with his forearm. The action still brought their bodies into contact and he swallowed hard at the feel of her under him.

“I think you were kissing me,” she told him.

“Yeah.” He smiled as he slid his arm a little bit forward and lowered his lips to hers. “Yeah, I was,” he murmured huskily.

Maria walked up the stairs, looking for the damn vacuum cleaner. She had already looked through the entire first floor. Maybe Andy had it, she thought and walked into his room, freezing at the door when she caught him and Sam in his room... KISSING?! “Um, what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be in school?”

Andy bolted upright, shocked to see his mom standing in the doorway. “Um... Mom...” he ran his hand over his hair. “Um, what’re you doin’ here?” He glanced at Sam when she sat up next to him, her cheeks bright red as she looked everywhere but at his mom.

“Question is what are you doing here when it’s a school day?”

“Um... Mr. Keller was out so we had a free period.”

Great, Maria thought. Catching her son making out with his... girlfriend was not something she had been expecting today. “Well, if you’re here, you can help me find the vacuum cleaner,” she said. She didn’t want to talk to him about this while the girl was there too. She had been young once too and teenagers just didn’t want to talk about this stuff in front of other teenagers.

Find the vacuum cleaner? “What?”

“Do you know where it is?”

“No, Mom.” God, get outta here! “It’s probably downstairs somewhere.”

Maria controlled the urge to roll her eyes. “I’ll give you two a moment and then I expect you to come downstairs.”

Andy got to his feet and faced his mom directly as he shook his head. “No.”

“NO?” she repeated, confused.

He shook his head defiantly. “No.”

“This isn’t up for discussion, Andy.”

“Good, ‘cause I wasn’t wantin’ to talk about it.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “Me an’ Sam are gonna be down in a few minutes so we can head back an’ catch our last class.”

“We’ll talk about this later,” she said.

“We’re not talkin’ about it at all,” he muttered.

Sam got up from the bed and stood up next to Andy. “I think we need to head back.”

Maria glanced at the girl, recognizing her attempt at diffusing the situation by redirecting Andy’s attention. “I doubt your father would appreciate this.”

“God, Mom, would you just stop!” He turned around and grabbed his keys, shoving them in his pocket.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Evans,” Sam apologized as she dragged Andy out. “Let’s go.”

“What the hell are you doin’?” he bit out once they had escaped the confines of the house and his mother’s disapproving... and hurt expression.

“Why’re you being such a dick to your mom, Andy?”

“Me?!” he yelled. “She’s the one who came bustin’ in there askin’ questions and getting all up in my business.”

“Compared to what my dad said she wasn’t even really asking anything.”

“You know what? You don’t know anything so why don’t you just keep your nose outta things!”

She stopped in her tracks and looked at him. “What’s this really about?”

“It’s about everyone always tellin’ me what to do! It’s about it bein’ okay for...” his lips pressed together tightly as he shook his head.

“Okay for what, Andy?” she asked, trying to stay calm. She had the feeling this was about why he had been upset earlier this week.

“It doesn’t matter!”

“It does matter!” she insisted. “Look at your mother, Andy. Did you see the hurt in her eyes? How can you do that to her?”

“How can I do that to her?!” he snapped angrily. “You have no idea what you’re talkin’ about.” He turned and started to walk away. “Leave it alone, Sam.”

“If I don’t have any idea then talk to me, Andy,” she begged, reaching out to touch his upper arm.

He jerked away from her touch, ignoring the hurt in her eyes as he backed away from her. “You wouldn’t understand! No one understands! Not my mom, not that freak of a counselor they stuck me with here, not you... not anyone!”

“Fine,” she snapped, fed up with his attitude. “Then go pity yourself, you poor misunderstood boy!”

“Yeah, fuck you too,” he muttered.

She looked at him in disbelief. “We’re done.” She turned, deciding to take a different way back to school.

“Yeah, whatever.”

*****

Michael took a deep breath before raising his hand to knock on the front door. He had taken a chance going over to the new house, thinking she might have gone there to be alone. He waited a moment and then knocked again, harder and louder. He had just about given up when the door opened slightly and he caught a glimpse of Maria’s face.

He caught himself before he could ask the stupidest question on the planet. Are you alright? People always asked that question even when it was evident that the other person wasn’t alright. “I’m sorry,” he said instead.

“It’s not your fault,” she said, her voice thick.

“Hell, it’s nobody’s fault, baby. We knew there was a good possibility that he wouldn’t be ready for us to be together.” Not that it made it any easier to deal with this.

“What’re you doing here?”

“I wanted to make sure you were okay.” He shrugged and leaned one shoulder against the house as he watched her. “And I wanted to talk to you about somethin’, explain about the girl at my house. You didn’t give me much of a chance to explain the other day.”

“It doesn’t matter, Michael.”

“No? A pretty girl wearin’ one of my shirts answers my front door and it doesn’t matter?” he asked, his voice softly mocking. “I think it does.” He snorted. “It would sure as hell bother me if some guy answered your door.”

She smiled faintly. “If things had gone differently with Andy then it would matter, but…”

“Uh-huh,” he mused quietly. “So, not a bit of jealousy then? A cute little blonde in her early 20’s comes to my door, it’s late afternoon, she probably looks like she just crawled outta bed… and you were what? Just fine with that?”

“No,” she snapped, “I wasn’t fine with it. But what right do I have to get pissed at you for,” she gritted her teeth, “seeing someone else when you have no idea where you stand with me?”

He smirked. “Bet sayin’ that left a bad taste in your mouth.”

She held it in as long as she could but it was only a matter of seconds before she pulled the door open and grabbed his arm, jerking him inside. “You want the truth?” she growled as she shoved him. “You made plans with me on Monday night! You made it sound like us being together was so important, like it really meant something to you! And I fell for it, every word of it! And all you did was make a fool of me! With some… some… child!”

“I can assure you she’s not a child.”

His amusement only served to infuriate her. “It’s not funny, Michael! How could you make plans with me and then turn around and…”

“How can you think I’d do that to you?” he asked quietly, his humor fleeing at the hurt in her voice. “Things aren’t always what they appear to be. Chrissie showed up sometime Monday mornin’ after I left for work. I didn’t even know she was there until I got home.” He gave her a small smile. “Consequently, that was also when I figured out why you were callin’ me ‘Mikey’ in that painfully sarcastic tone.”

She snorted and looked away. “Somehow you don’t strike me as a man who lets just anyone call you ‘Mikey’.”

He shook his head. “I don’t. But she’s been callin’ me Mikey since she was about three years old. Too late to break that habit now.”

Maria’s eyes widened in surprise. “Three years…”

“Chrissie’s my little sister, Maria.”

“But your parents…”

“Died when I was 15, yeah. She was three when it happened. We went into the system and got separated until I was 19.”

“You raised her,” she guessed.

He nodded.

“Why haven’t you ever mentioned her? We’ve talked a few times.” She shook her head as she answered her own question. “That night at the bar, you looked like you wanted to tell me something but Kyle interrupted us.”

“I was thinking about it. It’s just not a light story and you’ve had more than enough to deal with.” He shook his head. “I didn’t wanna add to it.”

“How could you ever think that you couldn’t share something so important to you?”

“The timing just never felt right. You know what people usually ask when they find out I got custody of my sister four years after my parents’ deaths?” He sighed. “People assume that because she was so young at the time of the accident that she had just become part of a new family. So the first question I usually get is: How could you uproot her after she’d had four years to settle in with a new family? I don’t care what most people think but if you’d asked that question I would’ve wanted to explain.”

Maria shook her head. “There’s nothing to explain, Michael. She’s your sister.” She looked up at him and she tipped her head to one side as she studied the left side of his head. “What’s…” she moved closer to him and without thinking twice about it, reached up to turn his head. “What happened?” she asked, her fingers gently pushing his hair aside to look at the cut in the center of the slightly raised area.

“That’s um… that’s the other thing I came to talk to you about.” He’d give just about anything to not have to tell her this because he knew she had enough worries without adding to them. On the other hand, he knew she needed to know about what had happened because it involved her son.

“I don’t understand,” she said slowly.

“Tuesday night I got home an’ Andy saw me an’ Chrissie and I think he also assumed the worst.”

Her hand shot up to cover her mouth as she stared at him in horror. “Andy… you’re saying he did this to you?”

“Maria, hey, listen to me,” he said as he took her hands and held them against his chest. “I don’t think he intended to hurt me. He was already upset and when he saw me with my sister my guess is he thought I was out with some other woman and he came at me.”

“Oh my… Michael, I’m so sorry.”

“S’okay, I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” She pulled one hand free to gently graze over the wound. “This had to hurt.”

“It didn’t feel good,” he agreed, “but I’m fine.” He made a face. “Chrissie hounded me half the night, certain I had a concussion. I finally gave in and went to the emergency room so she’d calm down.”

“That was probably a smart thing to do.”

“Maria, it’ll heal. I’ve got a hard head; it’ll take more than crackin’ it against my truck to do any real damage. I just wanted to let you know what happened.” He squeezed her hand to make her look at him again. “I told the doc at the ER that I tripped over my dog so you don’t have to worry about the cops showin’ up or anything.”

“I’m so sorry. I knew he was angry and hurt when I told him I was ready to start moving on with my life but I didn’t think he would go after you.”

“I don’t think he did, baby.” He smiled and shook his head. “I mean, he did, but he didn’t show up over at my place with the intention of comin’ at me. I think he was upset and angry and hurt, and when he saw me with Chrissie it just validated his belief that it was wrong for you to get involved with me. If I were to make an educated guess I’d say he’s feelin’ guilty to some degree about his reaction to what you told him and instead of dealin’ with it he’s lookin’ for a way to blame someone else.” He shrugged. “Seein’ me with Chrissie just solidified in his mind that I’m no good for you and you’re better off leavin’ things the way they are.”

She sighed and took a step back, sitting on the arm of the couch. “I didn’t expect him to take the news that well, but I didn’t think he’d react as badly as he has.” She looked up at him and smiled sadly. “I don’t know that he’s gonna get past this, Michael.”

He silenced her by placing his forefinger against her lips. “It’ll happen in time.”

“You deserve so much more than I can even think about giving you right now.”

Michael chuckled. “Ya know, I’ve waited a long time for you to come along.”

“I have no right to ask you to wait until Andy can deal with this… with us.” But she wanted to! “It’s not right for you to put your life on hold – “

“Then don’t ask, Maria. I’m not goin’ anywhere any time soon. In spite of the way things are goin’ I’m holdin’ out hope that he’s gonna see that this isn’t a bad thing.” He smiled and glanced at the clock on the wall. “It’s time for me to get goin’. He should be home soon and it won’t help our case if he comes home and finds me here.”

Maria sat on the couch after he had gone, wondering what she was going to do about Andy. She was disappointed in her son and concerned that he was showing a lack of control over his temper. She brushed the tears from her eyes as she tried to figure out how to handle him. There was no way she was going to let his actions go unpunished. He had to understand that there were consequences for his actions. The head injury could’ve been much worse and he could’ve seriously hurt Michael.

They were lucky that Michael was so understanding of the situation. Anyone else probably would’ve pressed charges against him and then she would’ve been dealing with the police and lawyers. She couldn’t believe that Andy had just attacked him like that. Two days ago and he hadn’t even said a word! Even with everything going on he knew better than to do something like that. She sighed and pushed herself to her feet as she went over what she would say to him and considered her options where punishment was concerned.

*****

Justin was on his way out of the school to meet up with Nick so they could wait for Mom to swing by to pick them up. She had told them it would be about 20 minutes after their last class before she got there but they were supposed to wait for her. He wasn’t that excited about spending his afternoon trying on tuxes but he knew it had to be done. At least he wouldn’t be suffering alone. He rounded the corner and paused when he noticed Sam standing at her locker, staring at the contents like they held the secrets of the universe.

Something had seemed off with her in their last class together but she had brushed it off as nothing and he hadn’t really been able to get much out of her before the teacher started handing out assignments. His eyebrows lifted when she suddenly slammed her locker door shut a couple of times, her frustration growing when the latch didn’t catch. He hefted his backpack higher on his shoulders and walked down the hall, leaning against the locker next to hers.

“Hey, Sam, what’s goin’ on?” he asked, his eyes scanning over her features. She looked upset, kinda like she’d either been crying or wanted to. But she was mad too, he realized.

“Nothin’, everything’s just great,” she muttered.

“Uh-huh, c’mon,” he said, nudging her shoulder with his fist. “Talk to me, Whitman.”

She sighed and leaned her head against the locker. She didn’t know if Justin was the right one to talk about it, but he was her best friend. “I hate my life.”

“Why? Did your dad suddenly decide to marry Principal Russell?”

“If only it was just that,” she said angrily and brushed a tear away.

Uh-oh, tears meant something was seriously wrong with his girl. “Hey,” he said as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, “you know you can talk to me.” What could be worse than her dad marrying Principal Russell?

She looked up at him, trying to decide if it was safe to tell him about Andy right now.

“Oh, c’mon.” He bit his bottom lip. “It’s not ‘cause I’m goin’ to the dance with Jenny is it? I mean, we’re all friends but... is that like, weird for you or somethin’?”

“No,” she shook her head, smiling, “that’s not it.”

“Okay, so...” Oh, wait... the dance was just a couple of days away and she hadn’t mentioned going yet that he could recall. “Andy hasn’t asked yet?”

“That asshole doesn’t need to ask anymore,” she burst out.

His eyes widened. “What’d he do?” he demanded. If his cousin had hurt her he’d kick his ass.

“I wanted to talk to you about this earlier, but I haven’t had the chance yet,” she said, looking at the floor.

He shrugged. “So, talk to me now.”

“Andy and me, we were kinda.... ya know...”

“Kinda... What, like, makin’ out?”

She sighed. “Yeah.”

“Okay. I mean, you wanted to, right? He wasn’t like pressuring you or anything?”

“No, no, nothing like that. We had talked about it, and well... we had agreed to be together actually.”

“You keep talkin’ in the past tense, Sam. What happened?” he asked gently.

“We had a fight earlier when we were at his house. His mom showed up and he acted like a dick to her. I asked him why and that’s when he pretty much told me to stay out of his business.”

Justin winced and hugged her tighter. “I don’t know what his deal is but he’s been in the mood from hell for the past week. A couple of the guys on the team don’t have dates for the dance... want me to see if one of ‘em wants to go with you?”

“No, I don’t want a pity date. I’d rather stay home.”

“A pity date?” He snorted. “Sam, no guy would go out with you outta pity.”

“Ya know what I mean. I just don’t wanna go there with anyone.”

“Yeah, but you shouldn’t sit at home on a Saturday night just ‘cause Andy’s bein’ a dick. Go out with someone else an’ show him that you’re not gonna sit at home an’ be all sad just ‘cause you’re not with him.”

“Maybe if someone else asks me, but I doubt that’s gonna happen this close to the dance.”

“Just so long as you think about it. I don’t like you bein’ sad. Hey, what’re you doin’ this afternoon?”

“I don’t know. Go home and wishing Andy to hell maybe?”

“Well, that sounds like fun.” He made a face at her. “Wanna go with us? Mom’s takin’ us to get our tuxes... she’s been kinda emo this week. I just know when she sees her baby boys wearin’ tuxes that she’s gonna start bawlin’ or somethin’.”

“Normally I’d say yes, but I’m really not in the mood for that right now, sorry.”

“Nah, s’okay, it was just a thought.”

“So generally, would you be okay with Andy and me being together?” she asked, but then snorted. “Not that it matters anymore.”

“Yeah, if he gets over himself an’ stops bein’ a dick. If he’s gonna keep that up then I think you could do better.” He patted her shoulder. “You’re okay with me seein’ Jenny? I mean, I know she asked me out an’ all, but...” His ears started turning red. “I do kinda like her,” he admitted quietly.

Sam smiled. “More than okay, Justin. I’m happy for you.”

He nodded, not knowing what to say.

“Ya better get going, huh?”

He glanced at the clock on the wall. “Yeah, guess so.” He grinned. “Mom said we could go out for chicken after we get out tuxes.”

“Have fun then.”

He grinned, walking backwards down the hall. “Last chance to go, Sam.”

She rolled her eyes. “Get outta here, Evans.”

“Gone,” he hollered and turned to run down the hall, slowing down only when one of the teachers came out of her classroom and reprimanded him for running in the halls.
Last edited by Double Trouble on Sun May 15, 2011 5:31 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Fics: A Xmas Story - A Merry Mt. R. Xmas - Cupid's Revenge - Double Trouble - Double Date - Double Dare - Double Empire - Double Xmas Wish - In The Course Of A Lifetime - Mountains So High - Not A Question At All - Surrender - TIC TAC - Two Double Dates at Xmas
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Double Trouble
Obsessed Roswellian
Posts: 925
Joined: Tue Dec 16, 2008 9:47 am

Part 75

Post by Double Trouble »

Earth2Mama: Lol, could be. And with the way Andy’s acting it could stay that way.

We’ll see what it takes for him to grow up.

begonia9508: No, you’re right about that1 He’s got to face up to what he’s done.

Yeah, not everyone will allow Andy such leniency.

Natalie36: Glad you enjoyed that. :) Oh, Sam won’t be sitting around wallowing and waiting for Andy to get over himself.

Eva: That’s exactly what’ll happen if he doesn’t straighten up. Question is, what’s gonna get him to that point?

Yeah, Sam could play a big role in helping Andy but he can’t just expect her to put up with his behavior and take his insults.

Finally, lol, they talked.

Maria will be stepping in.

keepsmiling7: Thanks for reading!

Cardinal: Okay, had to LOL at that suggestion. It would do Andy some good to have Scrappy come down and tell him a few home truths.

We’re just waiting to see if Sam takes that advice.

sarammlover: Well, we’re getting closer to him finally getting around to doing just that.

mary mary: Andy definitely needs an attitude adjustment.

We’ll see what she does soon.

killjoy: Andy’s at a point where he may need a beating from all of the above.

Well, we won’t have to wait too long to find out what Sam’s gonna do.

Just this once, huh? Well… okay. :)

LovelyPOM83: Thanks! Andy still has some hurdles to get past. You’re right about that, it has to be exhausting! We’ll be looking in on Sam soon. We’re pretty sure she’s not gonna sit around and feel sorry for herself though. ;)

Alien_Friend: Best friends for sure. No, what Andy did was wrong for many reasons. Sam isn’t going to just stand there and be a doormat though and she’s gonna make sure he knows that. Thanks. ;)

Michael and Maria have taken a big step with that talk. We’ll find out in time what it’s gonna take for Andy to come around.




Part 75

Liz held onto Kara’s hand as they walked into Malone’s Formal Wear behind the boys. She had picked them up as soon as school was over, already anticipating a long afternoon. As soon as she entered the shop she saw several other harried-looking mothers trying to get their sons or daughters outfitted and out the door.

Tess caught the door and followed them inside, not really feeling like being there but she had promised her sister-in-law that she would help her. She would rather be at home wallowing in her miserable mood. She looked down when Kara grabbed her hand and pointed at a girl standing in front of a mirror on the other side of the shop.

“Isn’t she pretty, Aunt Tessie?”

The girl was wearing a formal gown that was light blue with a lot of ruffles. Major mistake, Tess thought. Something she would look back on 10 years down the road and wonder what she was thinking. She was saved from having to answer when she heard the boys arguing over their tuxes.

“You can’t wear that,” Nick muttered.

“Mom, I can wear whatever I want, right?” Justin asked, glaring at his brother.

Liz excused herself from her conversation with one of their classmates’ mothers to mediate the argument between the twins. “What is the problem now?”

“Mom, tell him he can’t go dressed like a hick!”

She turned to look at the tux Justin had chosen. Western cut, she thought. Of course. “Nick, why don’t you go and find a tux you like and let your brother choose his own tux.” She waited until he had rolled his eyes and wandered off before she spoke to Justin. “That’s the one you like, huh?”

“Yeah,” he said slowly, wondering if she was going to tell him he couldn’t have it.

“Alright, let’s see if Mr. Malone has it in your size.”

Once the boys had their choices in hand she sent them back to try them on and went to sit next to Tess to wait. She gave Kara a quarter to go and get candy from the machine by the register so she could talk to her sister-in-law in private. The other woman had seemed down but she had insisted that she would accompany them to shop for the boys’ tuxes. “Is everything okay, Tess?”

“Huh?” Tess glanced up. “Yeah, just tired.”

Liz nodded. “Yeah, I can understand that. It’s been a long week and it’s not even over yet.”

“Sometimes you just wish you could make time pass quicker, huh?”

“Yeah.” Or slower, she mused, still not sure how she was going to tell Max they were expecting.

“The boys are excited, huh?”

“Hmm? Oh, yeah, but they’re trying to play it cool, like it’s not that big of a deal.” She rolled her eyes. “You know how boys are.”

“Yeah.” She sighed. “They grow up so quickly.”

“Too quickly.” She looked up when Nick stepped out of one of the dressing rooms at the back, trying not to be obvious as he looked around for her.

“Over here,” Tess called.

Nick frowned down at himself as he crossed the shop to stand in front of Mom. “It’s not right... it hangs funny or somethin’.”

“It hangs funny?” Liz asked, amused.

“Well, yeah, it’s...” He paused to look up at her and immediately flushed crimson. “Mom,” he complained.

“Maybe we need it a size smaller.”

“But then the pants won’t fit.”

“Then we’ll have to put you on a diet,” Justin said when he came out of the other dressing room.

“Shut up, Justin.” He made a face at the tux his brother was wearing. “Great choice... you look like you should be singin’ country music or somethin’.”

“Better than lookin’ like you’re about to get married.”

“I don’t look like that.” He shoved Justin aside to get Mom's attention again. “So, what now? Can I get a different jacket size?”

“Yes, young man, you can,” the owner of the shop said with a smile as he brought it over.

Nick shrugged out of the jacket and exchanged it for the other one, sliding it on and feeling it settle into place. “Yeah, that’s a lot better. Does it look okay, Mom?”

“It looks great,” Liz nodded, having the feeling once more that time has passed too quickly.

“What about me, Mom?” Justin shouldered past his brother and smoothed his hand over the lapels.

“You look great too.”

He held his arms out at his sides. “Whatcha think, Aunt Tess? Would you like it? I mean, ya know if you were a girl?”

If I were a girl?” she asked.

“Well, I mean... you know, like... um... our age.”

“Jenny will like it, Justin,” she rolled her eyes.

“Whatever. So, Mom, it looks okay?”

Liz reached up to brush her hands over his shoulders and she took a step back to look at them. She folded her hands and tucked them under her chin as she gave the boys a watery smile. “You both look so handsome.”

The boys exchanged a look. “Mom,” they groaned at the same time.

“Okay, okay, yes, you both look great.”

“We can go take them off now?” Justin asked.

“Sure, go ahead.”

They hurried back off to the dressing rooms, yelling out to let Mr. Malone know their tuxes fit and Mom said they would take them.

*****

Andy slammed the front door shut when he got home late on Thursday evening. School had sucked and Sam still wasn’t talking to him, which was just great so close to the stupid dance. He stopped in his tracks when he saw his mom sitting on the couch in the living room, glaring at him.

“Why’re you slamming the door like that?”

He shrugged. “Didn’t realize I did.”

“So,” Maria said slowly and changed her position on the couch. “Is there something you wanna tell me?”

“Is there…” he breathed. This wasn’t a good sign. Whenever she started a conversation like that there WAS something she wanted to hear from him. Problem was, he didn’t know what… or better yet… there were a few things that came to mind, but what if he talked about the wrong one and said something that she didn’t know about?

There was the thing with Sam… His mom had seen them kiss so maybe now she wanted to finally lecture him for it? Or maybe she meant the big paint spot upstairs on the floor that he hadn’t cleaned up yet… Or, well, she could mean something he didn’t want to think about.

“Um, I don’t know… is there?” he asked instead of talking about anything.

“I don’t know, maybe you can start with telling me where you were Tuesday evening?”

Damn it, of course it had to be THAT. Right now he would love to tell her everything about Sam. He should’ve known that he’d tell her about that! “I didn’t mean to hurt him,” Andy said calmly.

“You didn’t mean to hurt him?” she echoed and stood up to place her hands on her hips. “What did you mean then, Andy? Why did you go over there at all?”

“I wasn’t going over there,” the boy snapped defensively. “I was just out with Theo.”

Maria snorted. “Oh, now Theo’s to blame here? Don’t try to fool me, Andy. You went there because you were mad. Maybe you didn’t intend to go there at first, but you did, and there’s no excuse for your behavior.”

“But can’t you see what he’s doing?” Andy yelled. “He’s just using you and you fell for that asshole.” His hands and arms moved furiously in anger.

“First off, this is between me and him and you stay out of this, Andy, and second he’s not using anyone.”

“This isn’t just between him and you,” the boy denied loudly. “If you’re involved with him then it’s my business as well.

“And I’ve already told you I’m not getting involved with him if you have a problem with it. But the rest you leave to me. Do you understand me?

“He’s screwing a college girl and you put it off as nothing?” Andy accused.

“I don’t want you to talk like that,” Maria said sternly.

“But it’s the truth,” he said stubbornly and crossed his arms over his chest.

“You’d better think twice before repeating those things in public. The blonde girl you saw him with is his younger sister, Andy.”

“His sister?” Andy asked stupidly and immediately felt silly for his actions. If that girl was really a relative then he had totally made a fool of himself that day. It suddenly made sense. Why else would Michael be showing off with a young blonde in public?

Maria could see the regret in her son’s face and felt a little sorry for him. She had accused Michael for the same reasons and had felt stupid about it as well afterwards since it was kind of obvious the girl had to be a relative or someone close to him.

“Look, Mom, I didn’t intend to hurt him like that. It was an accident.”

She believed him. Andy was many things, but he wasn’t some brutal stalker or something. He had some temper in him, just like herself, but he didn’t normally use it to hurt anyone physically. “I expect you to apologize for that.”

“What?”

“You understood me perfectly well.”

“But Mom…”

“You did hurt him, Andy, and no matter what is going on between you, me, and him, this was your fault and it was wrong. You will apologize for that.”

“Like right now?”

She sighed. Sending him to Michael like this probably wasn’t a good idea. She should probably give him some time to calm down again. “No, you go upstairs now to wash up and then we’ll have dinner.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Fine, then go upstairs and do your homework,” she told him, crossing her arms over her chest. She knew he would be down when he thought it was safe to sneak something out of the refrigerator.

Andy turned on his heel and left for the stairs. Now he had to apologize to that dick. “Just because she’s his sister doesn’t mean he didn’t just use me to get to you,” he grumbled to himself.

“You’re grounded for a week by the way,” she told him when she heard him mumbling. “So you can get ready for a weekend of unpacking and cleaning up the garage.”

“Mom!”

“You’d better not start complaining or I’ll make it two weeks.” Good grief, he would be a ticking bomb after two weeks in the house. One was bad enough.

“Fine,” he grumbled. At least now he had a real excuse for not going to the stupid dance.

*****

Max walked into the hotel bar and settled on a stool at the counter, ordering a beer and setting his laptop up. He smiled at the picture that served as the background as the screen came to life. It was a family portrait that had been taken two years ago at Christmastime and he chuckled at the memory of that day.

13-year-old Justin and Nick stared at Liz when she told them she wanted them to wear the sweaters Grandma Parker had given them for Christmas.

“What? Mom, it’s got snowflakes on it!”

“Yeah, and mine’s got reindeer on it, Mom,” Nick complained. “We can’t go out in public wearin’ stuff like that. What if someone we know sees us?”

“Your grandmother bought them for you!”

“I don’t want anyone to see me wearin’ a blue sweater with snowflakes on it,” Justin muttered, his features expressing disgust.

“You think a green sweater with stupid reindeer on it’ll be any better?” Nick argued.

Her hands settled on her hips as she glared at both of them. “Your grandmother thought enough of you to send your gifts early because she and your granddad couldn’t be here this Christmas.”

“Mom,” Nick said, hoping to dissuade her.

“You’re wearing those sweaters for the family portrait. Now go get ready.”

They both turned to look at him, expecting him to put an end to Mom’s deranged declaration. He shifted two-year-old Kara to a more comfortable position and shook his head at them. The little girl had been silently observing everything going on around her, still acclimating to them. “You boys go get ready.” He glanced at his wife when the boys groaned and when she turned to pick something up he made a motion with his hand to let them know he would talk to her.

“Don’t think I don’t know what you just did,” Liz said as she gathered up the sections of the newspaper he had opened up and left scattered all over the couch.

“Liz, c’mon, darlin’,” he said with a smile. “Even you didn’t like those sweaters.”

“You’re just tryin’ to get outta wearin’ the one she sent you.”

He made a face. “Bright red with a big Santa Claus on the front… Now why would I not wanna wear that?” He switched tactics. “The one she sent you wasn’t any better and you know it.”

Liz rolled her eyes at the thought of the red sweater with the large Christmas tree on the front… with the tips of the ornament-adorned branches in all the wrong places. “Okay, I admit they’re horrible, but my mom bought them, Max! It’ll hurt her feelings if we don’t wear them.”

“And I understand that.”

“It’s not like we have to wear them for that long,” she grumbled.

“Kara’s the only one who got by with somethin’ semi decent,” he said, tickling the little girl’s side and smiling when she laughed quietly and squirmed around. He straightened her green sweater with Rudolph and his shiny red nose on the front. “Okay, what if we compromise? We’ll dress up for the picture and take the sweaters with us, have the photographer take two sets of photos. That way you can send one to your parents and we can display the other one here at home. Your mom will be happy and the rest of us will survive the family portrait with our dignity intact.”

Liz sighed. “Alright, but if Mom ever finds out about this you’re explaining it to her.”

Max grinned and leaned in to kiss her. “What time are we supposed to be at the studio?”

“Our appointment’s in an hour.”

“Well, I’d better go get the boys movin’ an’ get ready. I’m sure you ladies will need that whole hour to get yourselves ready.”

Kara tipped her head back against his chest to look up at them. “Doggy too?”

The dog lying in front of the fireplace lifted his head when he heard the little girl mention him and he got up, stretching lazily before running over to them.

“No, baby girl,” he said, shaking his head. “Lucky can’t be in the picture.”


But of course she hadn’t understood why the dog couldn’t be in the picture and in the end he had paid nearly four times the cost of the pictures just to get the photographer to allow Lucky in the studio to have his picture taken with his family.

That guy should’ve paid him, he thought with a shake of his head. All it had taken was a few people seeing that picture – the non-humiliating one – and the photographer had suddenly been busier than ever, taking requests for pet portraits and family portraits with pets included.

He pulled up the folder containing the information for the meeting he had scheduled the next day and he took a drink of his beer. Last meeting and I can finally go home. The boys had a 7pm game, Kara would be handed over to a sitter, and he and Liz would have the evening to themselves to celebrate their anniversary. He glanced up at the television over the bar, watching a few plays of the college game before focusing on his laptop screen once more.

“Tough choice.”

He turned his head at the woman’s voice and he smiled and nodded when she motioned to the empty barstool next to him.

“Is it just me or has this been a very long week?” she asked after she had ordered a dirty martini.

“It’s been a long one,” he agreed, tapping the neck of his empty bottle when the bartender glanced up.

“I’m Jadyn,” she said and held her hand out.

“Max.” He shook her hand, lifting an eyebrow when she was slow to release her grip.

She tossed her hair back over her shoulder and rested her chin in her hand as she watched him, her gaze roaming over him without a hint of subtlety.

*****

Liz sighed as she climbed the steps to the second floor, tired and hoping for a solid night of uninterrupted sleep. She was waiting to call Max again because she had tried him a couple of times and hadn’t been able to reach him. It has been a busy day and the boys had been swamped with homework that she’d had a difficult time keeping them focused on. They were doing their best to stay cool and not let anyone know they were excited about their first dance but she knew better.

She stepped into their room and leaned against the doorframe as she looked at the twins. Justin was snoring loudly, his face half buried in his pillow. Nick had pulled his pillow over his head, probably to block out the sound of his brother snoring. Her eyes dropped to the pair of brand new cowboy boots standing upright in their box and she smiled. Justin had insisted he just had to have them and he had been willing to pay for half of them with money he’d earned mowing yards over the summer so she had decided if it meant that much to him he should have them.

Nick had been happy to stick with a pair of dress shoes, but only after she had shot down his idea of wearing a pair of black tennis shoes with his tux. Their first dance, she thought, shaking her head. Where had the time gone? Her little boys were turning into men. She reached up to brush away the tears that had just been waiting to surface at any given moment all day long. She hated being so emotional but she couldn’t seem to control it.

Lucky got up from his spot on the floor between the boys’ beds and ambled over to her, sitting next to her and resting his big head against her thigh. She scratched behind his ears and looked around the messy bedroom. It wasn’t just because they couldn’t seem to go anywhere without making a mess; they needed their own bedrooms. She and Max had been discussing their options for putting the boys in separate rooms and they had considered using the guestroom, renovating the den, or maybe building onto the house, but they hadn’t made a decision one way or the other. The one thing they did know was they didn’t want to move. They had bought the house the year the twins had turned two and they had made so many good memories here. They could build on and the boys’ room could be turned into a nursery. They could move Kara into this room and turn her room into the nursery. No, she decided, Kara wouldn’t want to be moved and have her bedroom given to a new baby. She was still young enough that there would probably be some jealousy over having a new baby in the house, so it would be best to let her keep her room.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts. She really needed to talk to Max before starting to run through possible room arrangements. She glanced at the alarm clock sitting on the nightstand between the boys’ beds, ducking down slightly to see it since there was a baseball glove lying on top of it. It was getting late and she wanted to talk to Max before going to sleep. She turned around and nearly bumped into Kara when the little girl stumbled down the hall. She gave the dog a final pat and sent him back to his post before picking Kara up and patting her back.

“What’re you doing up, sweetie?”

“When Daddy’s comin’ home?”

“He’ll be home tomorrow night.” She walked back down the hall towards their rooms. “Think you can go back to sleep?”

Kara shook her head. “Sweep wif you, Mommy?”

“Alright.”

“I need to go pee first.”

She smiled and put Kara down. “You go do that and then get in bed.”

“Where you’re gonna go?”

“I need to get my phone. I’ll be right back.”

“Are we gonna call Daddy?” she asked excitedly.

“Shh, your brothers are sleeping. Use the bathroom, wash your hands, and then get into bed.” She went downstairs to find her phone, punching in Max’s number on speed dial as she walked back upstairs. She sighed when it went to voicemail again and she disconnected the call without leaving a message since she’d already left two earlier.

“You talk to Daddy?” Kara asked drowsily. She was already in bed, snuggled down under the covers.

“No, not yet, baby girl.” She set the phone on the nightstand and went to get ready for bed, knowing by the time she got to bed Kara would be asleep and she would have wiggled around to lie across the bed. She finished getting ready for bed and frowned down at her phone when it went to voicemail again. Damn it, where was he? She tapped her bottom lip with her phone while she thought and after a minute she called the hotel directly and asked for his room.

She snapped her phone closed when the phone rang and rang without an answer. Why wasn’t he answering his phone?
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Fics: A Xmas Story - A Merry Mt. R. Xmas - Cupid's Revenge - Double Trouble - Double Date - Double Dare - Double Empire - Double Xmas Wish - In The Course Of A Lifetime - Mountains So High - Not A Question At All - Surrender - TIC TAC - Two Double Dates at Xmas
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Double Trouble
Obsessed Roswellian
Posts: 925
Joined: Tue Dec 16, 2008 9:47 am

Part 76

Post by Double Trouble »

Eva: We’ll find out what Max is up to this update. Max, do something stupid? Would we let him do that?

Andy does need to understand that he’s not the center of the universe.

begonia9508: Hey… we know exactly what Max is doing, lol. He was kind enough to let us know. But he said to let you guys know that he’ll be sharing with everyone else this update.

Jadyn answer his phone? Boy, that’d cause all sorts of problems, wouldn’t it? Hmm…

Would Liz ever think that of Max?

kismet: Fix it, huh? We’re glad to hear that ‘cause there’s no reason to think badly of him.

Maria had to put her foot down.

mary mary: We’re sure you’re right. Us, create unnecessary drama? Never.

keepsmiling7: The boys definitely have their own ideas of how things should go, don’t they?

Yes, we’ve all been there, done that, and got the picture to prove it. ;)

Jadyn… well, we’ll learn just a bit about her in this next part as well as why Max isn’t answering his phone.

Alien_Friend: C’mon, you know Max better than that.

Yeah, Maria’s gonna need all the luck she can get. Who wants to be stuck in the house with a surly teenager?

Tess will talk… soon.

So alike and yet so different.

LovelyPOM83: Thanks! Max does love his wife and family… and as much as men are ruled by their… you know… he’s thinking with his higher brain. ;)

We’ll see what’s going on with that situation this next update.

Cardinal: LOL, your insight as always is great.

The twins are definitely that.

They do have some things to sort out… and they will.

Natalie36: Imagination can drive a person insane… we’ll see what happens.

sarammlover: Max will be letting us know what’s going on in this next update. Andy’s driving everyone crazy right now, lol.

angiebrenna: We’ll check in on him in this update. Oh, well, if you enjoy angsty you should be having lots of fun here, lol.

Rodney: Great bit of convo between nephew and aunt, huh?

You’re right about that situation… but as always, there’s more to it. ;)

Drinking is the classic excuse, but hopefully Max doesn’t use it here because he’ll end up in some serious trouble from lots of people. Kyle and Liz, huh? Boy, you’re just lookin’ for a whoopin’, aren’t you? LOL.



Part 76

“So…” Max shifted and took a drink of his beer, indulging in conversation when it became apparent his company wasn’t going anywhere. “You from around here?”

“No, I’m in town for my cousin’s wedding. He and his fiancé are having one of those three-day weddings.” She rolled her eyes. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice, but it’s exhausting.”

He chuckled. “When’s the big day?”

“Saturday evening. I thought sure I’d meet a nice guy since he’s pretty popular, but…” she took a sip of her martini.

“No nice guys?” he asked sympathetically.

“Oh, they’re all very nice. They’re also very married or very gay.”

“Not even one single guy there?” he asked with a raised eyebrow. “C’mon now.”

“Well, none under the age of 40.” She rolled her eyes and sighed dramatically. “You wouldn’t be free on Saturday would you?”

He laughed and shook his head. “Sorry. Under 40, but happily married with three kids.” He turned his left hand to show her his wedding ring. “Flyin’ home tomorrow so we can celebrate our anniversary.”

“Of course you are.” She sipped her drink and watched the game for a few minutes. “What’re you in town for?”

“Business,” he answered with a slight smile. “But, it’s just about finished.”

“You sound like you can’t wait to get back home.”

He closed out the folder he had been trying to go over since it didn’t appear that his new friend was going away anytime soon.

“Aww, is that your family?” she asked, leaning towards him just enough to look at the picture. “Oh, they’re beautiful. My mom always made us take a family portrait too. Every single year at the holidays.” She shook her head and a fond smile lit up her features. “Jeez, some of the things she’d make us wear. Your kids are lucky. At least they’re wearin’ normal clothes.”

He snorted silently. If you only knew, he thought.

Max shook his head a couple of hours later when the bartender motioned to his nearly empty bottle, declining the offer of a replacement. “Well, Jadyn, it’s getting late and I’ve got an early mornin’,” he said as he tossed a few bills on the bar and stood up.

The woman smiled and nodded. “Thanks for the company, Max. You’ve made the evening enjoyable.”

“You’ve done the same.” He shoved his wallet back into his pocket and reached for his laptop. “Good luck with your search for a decent guy.”

“Have a nice anniversary.” She turned back to the bar after he left, ordering another drink and wondering why all the good guys seemed to be taken. She glanced around the bar, looking for a guy who was alone. Preferably one who wouldn’t spend most of the night talking about his wife and kids. Max had been really nice, but he was about as far from being available as a guy could get.

Max was emptying his pockets out when he realized his phone wasn’t on him. Had he left it in the bar? He glanced around the room certain he didn’t remember taking it out while he had been in the bar. He scratched the back of his head as he moved around the room, finally locating his phone on the coffee table in the small living area. The little red light was blinking like crazy, indicating that he had missed calls. He scanned through the missed calls and frowned when he saw they were all from Liz. What if something was wrong?

He called his voicemail and listened to both of her messages and he winced when he heard that the last one had come in about half an hour earlier. Nothing was wrong, but she sounded worried because she hadn’t been able to reach him. He checked the time once more and decided to send her a text message, knowing that a phone call might wake one or more of the kids up. If she was waiting up for his call she’d call him right back.

*****

Isabel leaned back in her chair to look at her two best friends, taking in their nearly matching expressions of depressed male angst. They had been monosyllabic all through dinner and now, after more than an hour at the bar they had both fallen silent and she wasn’t getting anything out of either of them. She sighed and took a drink of her beer, watching Kyle as he reached for another tortilla chip from the bowl in the center of the table. He stared at it sightlessly as he started to break it into tiny pieces, the broken bits joining the others in a pile under his hands.

Her gaze switched to Michael. He was slouched down in his chair, absently-mindedly peeling back the label on his bottle of beer and then smoothing it back over the glass before reaching for the corner and peeling it off once again. The repetitive motions were driving her crazy and she sat forward and reached out to place her hands over theirs, stilling them and drawing their gazes.

“Okay, I think it’s time for us to talk because the two of you are killin’ me.” She glanced at Michael. “I already know what’s eating your lunch, but you,” she switched back to Kyle. “What is going on with you?”

He shrugged and went back to his tortilla destruction.

“Michael?”

“Huh?”

She rolled her eyes. “He’s been staying with you, right? What is going on with him?”

Michael shrugged. Kyle hadn’t really said much of anything about it but he knew it had something to do with Tess. “Woman problems… what else?”

“What could possibly be so wrong with Tess and you that it’s upsetting you this much?” She looked back at Kyle.

“You ever wanted somethin’ so much, had it right at your fingertips and then suddenly just... lost it?” he muttered.

“Lost it?” She frowned. “Did the two of you break up?”

That got Michael’s attention. “Seriously?”

Kyle looked down when his hand clenched around the chip he was holding. “I don’t know.”

Michael and Isabel exchanged a worried look. “What happened, Kyle?” she asked quietly.

“I had the dream in my fuckin’ hand and I lost it... we don’t want the same thing apparently.”

“What’re you talking about?”

“I’m talkin’ about thinkin’ we wanted the same things and then findin’ out that we don’t.” He sighed and brushed the chip crumbles from his hand. “I don’t know... I just found out she doesn’t want kids. Doesn’t think she wants kids...” He shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Maybe it’s just that she’s never really thought about it before?” Isabel thought out loud.

“Have you seen her with the kids? She’s great with them.”

“True,” Michael agreed, thinking of the party on Sunday.

He looked at them. “I don’t know if I can stay with her. I mean, it would mean givin’ up somethin’ I’ve always wanted if she decides that she just does not want kids.”

“But it’s not like she can’t have kids, right?” Isabel asked, to make sure. “I mean physically.”

“She didn’t say anything about that. Just said that she doesn’t know if she wants kids. I mean, hell, I could deal with that. There’re other options like adoption and I’d be willing to do that. I just don’t know if I’m willing to not have kids.”

“Maybe there’s something else behind this,” she said. She just couldn’t picture Tess as a woman who didn’t want kids when she was so happy hanging out with the ones belonging to the rest of the family. The woman had the maternal instinct ingrained.

“If there was some other reason don’t you think she would’ve told me? Why would she just let me leave thinkin’ she doesn’t want kids when she knows how much I want them?”

“Women are weird like that,” Michael told hm.

Isabel rolled her eyes at them. “Kyle, did you try to talk to her about it?”

“She wasn’t really talking to me at all, okay?” he snapped.

“Hey, don’t take my head off,” she bit out.

“Sorry,” Kyle sighed and ran a hand over his face. “It just doesn’t make any sense.”

She nodded. “When did you talk to her last?”

“Yesterday morning.”

“Maybe the two of you need to talk again now that you’ve had a little time apart.”

“I sent her a text this morning to let her know I’m stayin’ with Michael, but she didn’t reply to it, and she’s made no effort to talk, so...”

“Maybe she didn’t get it. Maybe she didn’t really think it was much of an opening. Maybe she was too upset to reply.” She rolled her eyes. “Maybe she’s scared to tell you why she doesn’t know if she wants kids.”

“Maybe, maybe, maybe....” Kyle grumbled, “and maybe she just simply doesn’t want kids.”

“And maybe you should just follow Isabel’s advice and go talk to her,” Michael muttered and took a drink of his beer.

“You’re full of good advice tonight,” Kyle muttered.

“Look, you don’t wanna lose her, right? Hell, how often did you run on an’ on about that girl when we would hang out? You’ve been in love with her since you were in high school...” he drained his beer. “All I’m sayin’ is fight for it. Go talk to her, get her to tell you what’s goin’ on with her.”

“Fine, I will,” he said just to be left alone.

Michael shook his head and reached up to flag the waitress down to order another beer. “Whatever. Like I don’t know that tactic.”

Isabel rolled her eyes at them. “It’ll be okay, Kyle.”

He glanced up at her. “You want kids, right?”

“Uh, I think so, yes.”

“What if Alex told you he didn’t want more kids?”

She swallowed. “I don’t know...”

“See? It’s not that easy.”

“But you need to talk that out instead of staying away from each other.”

Michael nodded. “Yeah, stayin’ apart isn’t gonna help things any.”

Isabel looked at him sympathetically and placed a hand on his shoulder, knowing his words were from his own experience and feelings.

Kyle raised an eyebrow at her gesture. “So, what about you, Guerin? Anything new with Maria?”

Michael avoided his eyes and looked at the bottle in front of him. “Went to see her today, but well... nothing new.”

“Why’d you go see her?”

“To tell her who Chrissie is,” he said, not mentioning the other encounter with Andy.

“Nothin’ new with Andy?”

“You didn’t tell him?” Isabel asked, confused.

Kyle frowned. “Tell me what?”

“Thanks, Isabel,” Michael growled. He hadn’t wanted Kyle to know since Andy was his nephew and it wouldn’t make things any better.

“Okay, what’re you not tellin’ me? Spit it out, Michael.”

“Andy and I had a little... well dispute because like Maria, he thought Chrissie was my date.” He frowned. “Why does everyone think I’m dating a college girl anyway?”

“Stick to the point,” Kyle insisted.

“He saw me with Chrissie, interpreted it wrong and got mad at me. It was shortly after Maria told him about us so he was already pissed at me, but this made his blood boil, I guess. He shoved me and I hit my head on my truck.”

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner? Damn, I could’ve gone an’ had a talk with him.” He paused. “You told Maria, right?”

Michael nodded dumbly.

“Damn, he’s gotta get that temper under control.”

“I don’t think he wanted to hurt me, he was just incredibly mad.”

“Yeah, but that’s eventually gonna get him in trouble.”

“I didn’t tell anyone about this and I hope it stays that way,” Michael shot a look at Isabel.

She rolled her eyes at him. “Why would I go out and tell anyone about that? My only concern was that you talk to his mother about it.”

“And I did.”

She shrugged. “As long as you handled it then I’m fine.”

“Thank God,” Michael rolled his eyes at her, but had to grin a bit.

“So how’re things goin’ with Alex and his daughter?” Kyle asked to keep the conversation away from him.

A grin appeared on the woman’s face. “Just fine.”

Michael smiled slightly at her expression. “Makin’ any progress with Sam?”

“I think she’s still not completely happy with the situation, but at least she’s dealing with it and she’s trying to be okay with it.”

He nodded. “That’s good. I’m glad she’s givin’ you a chance.”

“Yeah, I’ve been a little bit nervous about that.”

“Oh, c’mon, Iz... all she had to do was get past her dad datin’ the principal,” Kyle teased.

Michael laughed. “Yeah, it’s nothing.”

Isabel rolled her eyes. “Yeah, nothing at all.”

*****

Alex glanced at his daughter with raised eyebrows when she kept staring holes in her breakfast on Friday morning. She had been acting weird since yesterday, had even refused to eat dinner because: she wasn’t feeling well.

She really didn’t look happy, but she wasn’t sick so he had a feeling her lack of appetite had a different reason. “What’d he do?”

Sam frowned. “What? Dad, what’re you talking about? I didn’t say anything about…” She trailed off when she saw his I-know-it-all look in his face.

Alex chuckled and sat down on the opposite side of the island after checking his watch. They still had some time before they needed to leave. “I’m probably not the coolest Dad ever and maybe a little traditional now and then, but I do know what’s going on. Did Andy and you have a fight?”

She shrugged. “Maybe.”

That was definitely a yes, he decided. “Then maybe I’m sorry.”

She looked at him. “Shouldn’t you be kinda glad? I mean, you don’t like him anyway, do you?” she said, but not in an accusing way.

“Sam,” he shook his head, “I never said I don’t like him and I might have some reservations about you and him together, but that doesn’t mean I’m glad that the two of you had a fight. I can see you’re unhappy and I don’t want my little girl to be unhappy. All I need is some time to get used to the thought of you having a boyfriend.”

“Well, right now you don’t have to get used to that thought because I don’t have a boyfriend, Dad.”

He lifted his eyebrows in surprise. “That bad, huh? What was the fight about?”

Sam sighed and put her fork aside, not even feeling the slightest bit hungry. “If only I knew. Something’s bothering him and he won’t tell me the reason for it, but his feelings have been on edge for a few days now, I can feel it.”

“Any idea, what it could be about?” Alex asked carefully.

“I have… an idea but I’m not sure,” she looked up at her Dad, “an’ I don’t wanna talk about it as long as it’s just speculation.”

“It’s nothing bad, right?” he asked, alarmed. “I mean…”

She placed a hand over her Dad’s on the counter. “No, Dad, nothing to worry about, really. I just don’t wanna start any rumours.”

“Okay,” he agreed, feeling a bit better now. “Hey, we could go to the movies tonight maybe?”

She frowned. “I thought you an’ Isabel had a date?”

“We do, but if you need some distraction… I could tell her we can go out tomorrow.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Dad. I know you two want to spend time together and I’m okay, really. Besides that I wanna go to watch the twin’s game tonight anyway.”

“Okay, just tell me if you change your mind. Isabel will understand.”

“You go out and do whatever you wanna do with her,” Sam insisted. “Oh, and maybe you could ask her if she’d be willing to help me find a dress for the dance tomorrow?”

“You’re going?” he asked, surprised. He had already put one and one together and thought since Andy and her were fighting, she wasn’t going.

“Yeah,” she nodded, determined. “Just because Andy didn’t have the guts to ask me, it doesn’t mean I’m staying home and missing this. Another boy asked me last night.” She made a face. “He asked in a text message, how romantic. But anyway, I told him yes, so we’ll go and I’ll need a dress.”

Alex sighed. “Who’d have thought my daughter would turn so many boys’ heads one day?”

*****

Liz was just sitting down to relax for a few minutes after her students were released for the day and she looked up when someone knocked on the doorframe. Jeanie was grinning widely as she motioned for her to come out into the hall.

“You’ve got a call in the office.”

“A call?” Liz repeated dumbly.

“Just come on,” she said, waving again.

“Please tell me I don’t have a sick kid,” she groaned as she walked beside her friend.

“No, no, definitely not a sick kid.” Jeanie reached out to pull the door open to the small office and Liz glanced at the phones on the other side of the counter. None of them were lit up, indicating waiting calls. “Oh, it’s the phone on Mrs. Wilshire’s desk.”

Liz rolled her eyes and pushed past the little swinging door that separated the reception area from the desks the office staff used. The office staff that suddenly seemed to be absent, she realized. “Okay,” she said as she rounded the corner to get to the desk belonging to the principal’s secretary, “what’s…” Her eyes widened when she saw the vase of pristine white roses interspersed with greenery. She reached out to touch the tips of the petals, unable to stop the smile that threatened to split her face in two. Her eyes were drawn to the phone and the blinking light on line four.

She reached for the phone and punched the button, twirling the cord around her fingertip as she leaned one hip against the desk, smiling when she heard her husband’s voice travelling over the line, making the distance feel so small.

“Happy anniversary, darlin’,” he said by way of greeting.

“Happy anniversary, Max,” she murmured. “The flowers are beautiful, thank you.”

He chuckled warmly. “Not nearly as beautiful as you are, but they’ll do. I would’ve called sooner but I was waiting for your class to let out for the day. And since I kept you up late after you called me back last night…”

She laughed quietly and shook her head. “I think you’re the one who kept me up,” she disagreed.

“Nope, I distinctly remember it the other way around. But it’s probably because I was out late.” As soon as she had called him back he had explained what had happened and then they had spent the next couple of hours just talking quietly, mindful of Kara sleeping next to her.

“That’ll teach you to stay out late, won’t it,” she teased.

Max grinned and nodded. “17 years behind us, Mrs. Evans… you ready for the next 17?”

“Oh, yeah, and the 17 after that.”

He looked up when they announced his flight. “Darlin’, I hate to cut this short, but I’ve gotta run or I’m gonna miss my flight. I love you and I’ll see you soon.”

Liz looked up after disconnecting the call and she froze when she realized all of the office staff was peeking around every corner of the office and smiling at her dreamily. She looked at the roses once more and a gentle smile settled on her face. 17 years… it had gone by so fast.

*****

Maria glanced up when Andy used the back door to come back in the house they were sharing now. “You’re coming in just time,” she said, taking the meatloaf out of the oven and placing it on the counter. He had been out in the small backyard for a while now to get some things in order that they were going to put in the garage. She knew it was driving him crazy to be grounded, but there was no way around that.

Andy placed his thin jacket on the little windowsill, next to the door. “I’m not hungry,” he grumbled slightly, ready to go upstairs to his own room.

“Uh-huh, and in a little more than an hour, when I’ve put all the leftovers in the refrigerator, you’ll come back downstairs to warm up a load of it in the microwave.” She sighed. “I’m not stupid, Andy, I can see it when half of the casserole from last night’s suddenly gone the next morning.”

“Mom,” he complained in a whining tone.

“I don’t think it’s too much to ask to sit down with me for dinner, Andy. We just moved in here and I’m already sick of eating alone. So either you have dinner with me or you don’t get anything until breakfast.”

“Fine,” he agreed reluctantly and sat down at the table that she had set before he got back inside.

“Fine,” Maria sighed. Since the day she had told Andy about her feelings for Michael she could count the number of words she and Andy had spoken. It was driving her crazy, but the boy was just as stubborn as his father had been. “How was school today?” she asked while she walked over to the table, the hot meatloaf in her potholder-covered hands.

“Same as usual,” he answered shortly. To be honest it had had sucked. He and Sam were still not talking since their fight earlier and today he had found out that ass Scott Davidson had asked her out to the harvest dance and she had agreed to go with him. What the hell was she thinking, going to the dance with THAT dumbass? Okay, he had really had plenty of chances to ask her first, but damn… How could he have known she would say yes to someone else?

“Isn’t there a dance tomorrow night?” Maria asked when she sat down, not knowing she would hit a nerve.

“I don’t care about the stupid dance,” he answered sharply and took the plate she had just filled for him.

“Okay,” Maria said, surprised. Was he pissed because he couldn’t go while he was grounded or was it something else, she wondered.

“I can’t go anyway, Mom. Okay, so why would you ask? YOU grounded me!”

She lifted her eyebrows and nodded. “For a good reason.” She wondered what had happened between Michael and Andy. For some reason she didn’t think Michael had told her every detail.

For a while both sat there in silence to eat dinner. Maria had hoped it would be more enjoyable to actually have dinner together as a family, but it wasn’t. The room felt tight and tense and Andy looked like he was going to run off to his room any minute.

“So what’re your plans for tonight?” she asked when the silence got too awkward. It was Friday, so she figured the twins, Sam or someone else from school had plans with him to hang out and he was pissed that he wasn’t allowed to go out.

“Funny Mom, what should I do in the house… ALONE?” He shrugged, using his folk to poke into the food sluggishly.

She lifted her eyebrows. “Alone?” Maria asked, one eyebrow lifted in question. “I’m still here, we can do something together.”

Andy made a face. “Us?”

“Yeah, we could …. I don’t know, watch a movie, play some cards or maybe google a nice place in Florida where we can stay when we visit our friends.”

“You wanna go there too?” Andy asked, surprised.

She felt relief wash over her. Finally a topic he seemed to be interested in. “Yeah, I wanna visit Sue and some others sooner or later, and I’m sure you wanna see Scrappy, so we could combine them. Not sure when yet, but we’ll figure it out. Maybe we can find a nice holiday resort where we can stay during that time.” She watched him hopefully when he seemed to consider the options.

“I think I’m going upstairs to watch the football game,” he finally said, noticing the sadness in her eyes as soon as he had turned her down once more this week. He didn’t want to hurt Mom like that, but he couldn’t help it.

Maria tried to cover her disappointment and lowered her gaze to her plate again. “Okay,” she said and cleared her throat when it felt tight. She knew she couldn’t force Andy to spend time with her and what was the point of telling him he wasn’t allowed to go to his room to watch TV? He would only get more frustrated and hide in his room all night.

He could kick himself for it as soon as he saw her reaction. Why are you such a dick to her? She just wants to spend some time with you after you ignored her practically all week. He didn’t know the answer. Maybe it was just fear that she would bring up Michael again when he started to talk to her again.
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Fics: A Xmas Story - A Merry Mt. R. Xmas - Cupid's Revenge - Double Trouble - Double Date - Double Dare - Double Empire - Double Xmas Wish - In The Course Of A Lifetime - Mountains So High - Not A Question At All - Surrender - TIC TAC - Two Double Dates at Xmas
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Double Trouble
Obsessed Roswellian
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Joined: Tue Dec 16, 2008 9:47 am

Part 77

Post by Double Trouble »

mary mary: That’s true, but unfortunately that conflict of interest got in the way. We’ll see how the situation works out without Michael in the role of counsellor.

Kyle… he’s definitely an option. You hit that nail right on the head about Andy.

Lol, well, we’ll see how things go with Sam’s date for the dance.

Sneaky… us? Well, okay, yeah… sometimes.

keepsmiling7: Nah, the dreamer couple has enough drama without that factoring in. There was a bit of anxiety, but it was quickly dealt with.

Max hasn’t forgotten details like white roses vs. red roses. ;)

Things may not be as cut and dried with Kyle and Tess’ situation.

begonia9508: He is definitely that.

Maria’s situation is still difficult, but it will be resolved.

Earth2Mama: Us? No, of course not. :D Max wouldn’t jeopardize his marriage like that. Things may be difficult right now but he doesn’t want to mess things up.

We’ll find out how that date goes.

Kyle may just take your advice. ;)

Uh-oh 5, huh? That was probably an interesting experience, lol. We’re glad you enjoyed your time with your nieces.

Alien_Friend: Andy does need that… of course, he needs to be willing to open up too, lol. Don’t worry, we’ll get him there.

Sam isn’t a girl who’s gonna sit at home over a guy, not even if he is Andy. He may just do that.

Kyle may be taking Isabel’s advice sooner rather than later. We think you’re right about Sam.

Just a fraction of a second, huh? Max would never forget flowers on an important date like their anniversary. Their anniversary… yeah, interesting is a good word for it.

Smac: Lol, Max isn’t about to jeopardize his marriage. Nope, Sam isn’t gonna sit around while Andy’s being a jerk. Well, he won’t get it if he doesn’t open up. He does need to be straightened out.

LovelyPOM83: Thanks! It’s kinda hard to forget that parents are people too, isn’t it?

sarammlover: Well… he probably could be, but hopefully he’s tapped out. Don’t give up on Tess and Kyle. They’ll be talking soon.

Rodney: Lol, well… we try not to stick to the norm. :D

Well, when it comes to Kyle and Tess, there could possibly be more to the story than what we’ve been given so far. ;)

Cardinal: Yeah, Andy could populate that little dot on the map all by his lonesome.

Max and Liz are making good progress. Glad ya liked that. ;)

There’s a good chance you’re on track with Max and Andy.

Maiqu: Hey girl!!! You are back, yay. ;)

Let’s see if Andy takes your advice. ;) M&M could definitely use a break.

We will get more insight into K&T’s situation today.

kismet: Oh we will, just wait, lol.



Part 77

Max unlocked the front door and entered the realm of chaos. He could hear the boys moving around upstairs, shouting questions at their mom while Kara ran back and forth relaying the questions and answers. He leaned back against the front door and savored the moment, smiling when he heard Ari’s angry warning growl followed by a hiss just before he flew across the hallway with Lucky in hot pursuit.

He grinned, shaking his head. It was good to be home. He looked up when he heard footsteps on the stairs and Kara’s voice shouting out a new question.

“Mommy, Nicky needs his game shirt!” she yelled.

“Jersey!” he hollered, correcting her. “I can’t find my home game jersey, Mom!”

“Kara, do not run down those stairs!” Liz shouted from the kitchen. “Nick, Justin, forget the jerseys and get ready for dinner!”

Max smiled when Kara stopped halfway down the stairs, leaning back against the wall and tipping her head back to practically scream up at the boys.

“Mommy said for you to get ready for dinner!”

“Mom, the game’s in less than three hours!” Justin yelled as he leaned over the railing.

“Do not lean over that railing!”

Max rubbed his ears and shook his head, wondering how Liz always knew when they were doing that. “Well, I think the neighbors heard that,” he said loud enough for her to hear.

“Daddy!” Kara shouted and hurried down the steps.

“No runnin’ on the stairs, baby girl,” he admonished as he crossed to the stairs and caught her when she reached the third step. He kissed her cheek and settled her against his side to look at her. “You been keepin’ things in line while I’ve been gone?”

“Daddy,” she shouted happily. “Mommy, Daddy’s here!”

Max smiled at his wife when she stepped out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel. “Looks like the insanity’s alive and well,” he said with an amused smile.

“Oh, yeah,” she smiled tiredly.

He glanced up when the boys pounded down the stairs and before Liz could repeat the warning once more he cleared his throat. “You two slow it down before one of you takes a header down the stairs and you break your neck.”

“Oh, hey, Dad,” Justin greeted him first.

“Justin.” He nodded at Nick when he hopped down off of the second step to land on the floor. “You two ready for dinner?”

“Yes,” Kara answered for them.

Max set her down and motioned for her to lead the way, rolling his eyes when the boys followed right behind her and got into a shoving match to be the first one into the kitchen. Sometimes he wondered how it was possible for the two of them to eat as much as they did but any time he voiced that thought Liz reminded him that at their age he had been just as bad. “Who’s takin’ Kara tonight?” he asked as he took Liz’ hand, holding her back.

“I’m afraid no one,” she sighed.

“No one?” He quirked an eyebrow in surprise.

“Kyle and Tess had some problems and need to work things out. Maria just moved to the new house. She doesn’t really have any place to keep her yet, and besides that she’s had a hard week herself.”

“Um-hmm.” Well, that would mean rearranging their plans a little bit. “We can always go out tomorrow night,” he said as he pulled her into his arms. She looked exhausted so maybe waiting would be a better idea.

“Yeah, maybe.”

“Or we can just go out and take her with us.” He kissed her forehead when she sighed. “I know it’s not exactly a perfect anniversary date, but she’ll go to sleep eventually,” he whispered.

“Maybe we could just snuggle up in our own bed and watch a movie after she’s in bed,” Liz suggested, feeling the need to rest her legs.

“We can do that too.” His gaze traveled over her features. “You feelin’ okay?”

“Just exhausted. The week’s been busy at work, then the kids getting sick... And they seemed to bicker with each other like crazy the past few days.”

“It’s just ‘cause they’re indoors so much with the cooler weather. But the boys have the game tonight and the dance tomorrow night so that should get them to ease up a bit.”

“True. Maybe we can ask Maria to watch Kara tomorrow night. You could take the sleepover bed to her in the afternoon.”

“Good idea. A little time to rest up would do both of us some good and then maybe we can go out tomorrow night.”

“Sounds good,” she leaned into him, knowing that things could take a different path when she told him about the pregnancy.

“Happy anniversary,” he murmured, wrapping his arms around her tighter.

“Mom,” Nick yelled from the kitchen. “Can we eat now?”

“Guess we’d better feed ‘em so we can get ‘em ready and out the door for their game.” He shook his head when he heard one of them lifting the lids on the pots on the stove. “Otherwise they're just gonna start eatin' right outta the pots.”

“Let’s go then.”

They were just sitting down at the table when the doorbell rang and he sighed. From the look on his wife’s face they weren’t expecting anyone. “I’ll get it. You guys get started.”

“Okay, thanks.”

Max dropped his napkin on the table and got up, hurrying back to the front door and his eyes widened when he glanced through the small window beside it. Crap! Why would they choose today of all days to show up? He pulled the door open and smiled at his parents, trying not to make a face at the RV taking up half of the street. “Mom, Dad... you’re here!” he greeted them.

“Maxie,” Diane greeted happily and hugged him tightly.

He cringed at his mother’s pet name for him. “Mom, what’re you guys doin’ here? I thought you were touring the country?”

“Uh-huh and our route just happened to bring us close to Roswell and we thought it’d be fun to visit our son and his family.”

He nodded. “Right, well, c’mon in. You guys are just in time for dinner.” His parents thought it was fun to drop in unannounced and he wondered if their timing could be any worse. Jeez, on his anniversary of all days? “How’s it goin’, Dad?” he asked when the older man came in.

“Well, it has to go, right?” he said with a smile.

“Oh, I s’pose so.” He took their jackets and hung them up before leading the way into the kitchen. “Hey, look who’s here,” he said, knowing they already knew and Liz had told them to stay at the table.

“What a surprise to see you here,” she got up from the table with a polite smile, even though she didn’t feel the slightest bit excited about the unexpected visit.

Max bit back a smile. He knew that expression. He went to get a couple more plates and more silverware out as the kids talked over each other in a bid for their grandparents’ attention.

“Mommy,” Kara suddenly called excitedly, “tan we go an’ watch the game wif Gran’ma?”

He exchanged a look with his wife at the question. It wasn’t exactly what he had planned for their anniversary.

“I don’t know if your grandparents meant to stay overnight, sweetie,” Liz said, hoping they weren’t.

“We thought we’d stay for the weekend,” Philip answered.

Good grief! Liz searched her husband’s eyes desperately, begging him to tell them no.

“Uh, Dad... you know, we have some things goin’ on this weekend already,” Max said.

Philip slapped his son on the back. “No problem, son. We’ve got everything we need right in the RV. You don’t mind if we park out front do you?”

Max opened his mouth but nothing came out.

“Look at that, honey, he’s so happy to see us!” Diane enthused.

“Tan we go, Mommy?” Kara asked again.

Liz sighed in resignation and forced a smile. “That’ll be fun, won’t it?” Yeah, about as much fun as dropping a brick on her foot, she thought. So much for an evening alone with her husband. How was she supposed to tell him about the baby when his parents were going to be underfoot all weekend now?

“We better hurry then, huh? It might take some time to get the whole family ready,” Max said, squeezing his wife’s shoulder when they sat down again.

“Yeah,” she agreed, trying to force some enthusiasm into her voice.

*****

Kyle walked up the stairs that led to Tess’ apartment, knocking on the door for the first time since she had presented him with his own key. He leaned one hand on the doorframe and stared at the floor between his feet. He had no idea what he was even going to say to her. He took a step back when the door opened and she stared at him.

“Kyle,” Tess said, shocked to see him there. “What’re you doin’ here?”

“I thought maybe we could talk. I don’t like the way we left things the other day.” He reached out to brush his fingertips over her cheek before dropping his hand back down by his side. “You don’t look so good,” he murmured before reminding himself why he was there. “Think we could talk?”

She nodded and stepped aside to let him in. The last few days she had gone over what to say to him, but still she had no clue at all.

“So, how’s it goin’?” he asked, shoving his hands deep in his pockets as he stood in the center of the living room.

“Not too good,” she admitted.

“Yeah. Me either.” He glanced at the wall where the ‘I love you too’ could still be seen faintly through the multiple coats of paint that had been painted over it. “So, um...”

“Want something to drink?”

“Sure.” Not really, but it would be something to do with his hands.

She nodded, glad to have something to do instead of standing in the room stupidly.

Kyle followed her after a few moments, leaning back against one of the counters as he watched her. “I’ve been stayin’ over at Michael’s,” he said, not knowing where else to start.

“Yeah, I know, you sent me the text to tell me where you were...”

He shrugged. “Wasn’t sure you got it.” He picked at a speck on the counter with his thumbnail. “Didn’t hear back from you so...”

She swallowed. “Yeah, um... didn’t know what to say.”

“Me either. I just... what you told me Wednesday mornin’ was a shock. I’ve thought about it a lot. Hell, I haven’t thought about much else to be honest.”

Tell me this isn’t the end of our relationship, she begged silently. “Me neither.”

“I need to understand, Tess.” He lifted his gaze to hers. “Please make me understand how children could ever not be part of our future.”

“Kyle,” she croaked out, unable to say anything else while she felt so miserable.

He shook his head as he watched her, wanting to go to her and take her in his arms but needing an answer so badly he couldn’t move.

“It’s not that... that I don’t want ‘em,” she denied slowly and very quietly.

“Then why... The other day, that’s what you said.” He was so confused his head was going to start hurting any minute. “You said you didn’t know if you wanted ‘em.”

She swallowed. “I can’t have kids, Kyle,” she blurted out suddenly.

“What?” He shook his head in denial.

“I’m not able to...”

For just a moment it felt as if a weight had been lifted but in the next it collapsed on him again. “Tess...” he crossed the room to take her in his arms. “It’ll be okay,” he assured her. “I’m sorry, babe.”

She wasn’t able to say anything else when his arms came around her. All she could do was hold onto him tightly.

He closed his eyes tightly, relieved that it wasn’t a matter of her not wanting children and hurting because they could never have children of their own.

“Sorry,” she mumbled after a while.

“Not your fault,” he assured her. “You wanna talk about it?”

“No, um, I... can’t right now.”

He nodded. “Alright.” They would talk about it in time, but he wouldn’t push her on it. She would answer his questions but he needed to be patient and wait until she could explain.

She was thankful he didn’t push any further. “Thanks.”

Kyle rubbed her back as he glanced around the apartment. “Wanna maybe order somethin’ in and just hang out?”

“I don’t feel very hungry, but if you want to eat...” she looked up at him. “Are you stayin’ tonight?”

He bit his lips as he looked at her. “That okay?”

“I was hoping for it.”

“Then I’m stayin’.” He smiled slightly at her. “I doubt Michael will even notice I’m gone.”

*****

Maria wandered around the house after dinner was over and Andy had run off to his room as fast as expected. There were still tons of boxes to unpack in her bedroom; she had left them for later since this wasn’t a room anyone but her would enter anyway. But she wasn’t in the mood for that now since she had already spent most of the day unpacking, not to mention working on it the last few days. Besides that, what would she do tomorrow if the unpacking was already done? Things with the shop she and Tess were going to open up were going slower than expected. They were still waiting for the equipment to be delivered and it seemed like it would take another few days before that would happen.

Her gaze was caught by a carton that was labelled with the word movies. She crouched down and picked it up from the floor, groaning when it was heavier than it looked. Would be nice to have a man in the house who would help her, she thought sadly but shrugged the thought off and went back to the living room.

She placed the carton on the carpet next to the couch and crouched down to open it up. Hopefully there would be something good to watch. Maria frowned when the contents weren’t what the label had promised. Instead of movies, there were photo albums as well as loose photos and some frames. She took one out when she recognized it and smiled at a baby picture of Andy when he had been only one year old.

“I’m gonna take Theo out for a quick walk, if that’s okay…” Andy fell silent when he approached his Mom. “What’re you doin’?”

“Nothin’,” she lied and placed the photo back inside, not wanting Andy to think she was planning to cry over old memories tonight. “Thought there were movies in here,” she pointed at the label, “but there aren’t so I guess I’ve gotta be satisfied with whatever’s on TV tonight.”

“I think there’s a carton with movies still out in the garage,” he said.

“Okay, thanks.”

Andy watched his mom closely for a moment. Somehow she seemed totally lost in this room, which was easily the biggest one in the whole house. “So can I? Take Theo out I mean.”

“Okay,” she decided. The dog had to be taken out once more tonight and she wasn’t in the mood to do it anyway. “But don’t go too far and I seriously hope you’re not planning to meet some of your friends.”

“I’m not,” he rolled his eyes.

“Glad to hear that,” she said, not sure if he was really telling the truth or would make a short visit to Sam’s.

“Bye,” he said and left.

“Bye,” she answered, glancing after him until the door was locked. “Okay,” she sighed and glanced around again, not feeling motivated enough to go to the garage in search of movies. She plopped down on the couch and turned to TV on, but got bored with it within ten minutes.

The telephone started to ring suddenly, making her jump on the couch. She leaned forward to grab it from the coffee table in front of her, recognizing Liz’s number on the caller ID. Hope arose in her. Maybe the girl needed someone to hang out with and talk to. She was definitely up for a girl’s night.

“Hey, Liz.”

“Hey,” the other girl whispered into the phone.

“Why are you whispering?”

“I just wanna warn you.”

Maria frowned. “Warn me?”

Liz closed the bedroom door behind her and spoke up louder again. “Yeah, warn you. Philip and Diane are here… in my house!”

“What?” Maria asked, surprised. “I didn’t know they were coming.”

“Me neither. They thought it would be fun to surprise us… Hurray,” Liz said, faking excitement.

Actually Diane and Philip were cool as parents-in-law, but they tended to be a little bit too over the top. It had taken Maria a few weeks to convince Diane after Andrew’s death that she didn’t have to call her like twice a day to make sure she was okay. “Oh my god, there should be a law against that.”

Liz sighed. “I know.”

“Did you already tell Max about the pregnancy?”

“No, and now that the house is full for the entire weekend, I doubt I’ll get the chance anytime soon.”

“I’m sorry.” Maria knew that Liz wanted to tell Max as soon as possible, but she probably wouldn’t drop that bomb with the others around.

“What about you? How’s it going with Andy?”

It was Maria’s turn to sigh. “Still the same. He’s avoiding me as much as he can.”

“He’ll come around,” she assured her friend.

“Yeah.” People kept telling her that, but it was hard to believe it when it didn’t look like it.

Liz made a face when she heard Diane calling for her downstairs. “Be glad you’re not here right now and you won’t have to face them until at least tomorrow.”

“Oh, yeah,” Maria said and she hoped it sounded convincing, because to be honest, she kinda envied Liz right now. Her house was full of life and family… while hers was lonely. She was lonely and she didn’t know what to do about it.

“I’ve gotta hang up.”

“Okay. Take it easy, okay? Don’t let them stress you out.”

“I’ll try,” Liz said, but it didn’t sound convincing. “Alright, bye, Maria.”

“Bye,” the other woman replied and heard the soft click when Liz disconnected the call again.

Don’t pity yourself, she told herself, but it was hard not to when nobody was around to distract her. Maybe I could call Tess? Sure, she had Kyle, but they had hung out all week, so there was a chance the girl was up to coming over for a while.

She dialled her number and waited for the familiar shouting in the earpiece, but instead there was just the answering machine right from the start.

“Me and my sexy FBI man aren’t at home or we just don’t wanna talk to you. Leave a message or don’t.”

Maria made a face and hung up again, placing the phone back on the table while she got comfortable on the couch again.

She stared the TV screen again, but the stupid real-life documentaries were as far away from real life as it could get and she rolled her eyes at it. “Ridiculous,” she grumbled under her breath and flipped to another channel… And again… and again.

This game was getting boring as time passed and her frustration was growing when she threw the remote on the coffee table. Her gaze landed on the box on the floor again and after a few seconds of thinking, she rolled from the couch and sat down on the fluffy carpet next to it. “Let’s see,” he fingers lifted the top off of the box quickly and placed it aside, while she glanced inside to decide which photo album to look at first.

There was one of Andy, when he was just a baby, her wedding album, one with holiday pictures inside and another with family photos from different birthdays and get-togethers. But her eyes locked on a loose stack of photos, that hadn’t really fit into any of the album themes. She reached inside the carton and pulled them out carefully, as if they would crumble into dust if she touched them too hard.

The photos held so many memories that she was almost scared to look at them, but she couldn’t make herself close the box up again either. She placed the photos on the table and got up to get herself a glass of wine before getting comfortable on the couch again. Using her feet, she pulled a blanket over the lower half of her body before leaning forward and grabbing the photos again.

Maria immediately smiled at the first one. It showed only Theo, when the dog had been much smaller than he was now. He was only a few months old at the time and had just came to live with them. He seemed to be scared and lonely, but that feeling hadn’t lasted long. She remembered all too well how Theo had been playing alone in the backyard of their house with Andy – the sadness of being away from his familiar surroundings were forgotten in no time.

The second photo showed Theo again, but with Andy practically wrapped around him. They lay on the grass in the backyard, playing with each other. Her son smiled brightly and carelessly into the camera, as if nothing could ever happen to his carefree life. She sighed. He had learned a different story too soon in his young life and she wondered if he would get that unconcerned smile back one day.

The next photo wasn’t one she had remembered until now. It showed her, pregnant with Andy in her ninth month, with an ugly hairstyle and an even uglier dress. She was sitting in the large swing in the backyard of their house in Florida, her gaze turned to the side since she didn’t want to have a picture taken of her like that.

Andrew had taken it anyway, amused and assuring her that she looked pretty and sexy like always, but she remembered all too well that she had felt ugly and FAT at that time. The last weeks of her pregnancy had been hell. Her feet had hurt and her belly had grown HUGE, but Andy had refused to come out a day earlier than calculated.

“Go away,” Maria growled when Andrew followed her with the camera he held in his hands.

“Maria, darlin’. Let me take just one pic of you.”

“NO! We have millions of photos showing me pregnant, Andrew! Don’ you dare take a pic of me when I look like this.” She stomped along the grass until she reached the swing, sighing when she was able to sit down again. Lately every step she had taken was too much. “Why don’t you wanna come out, Andy?” she whispered, rubbing her swollen belly lightly. “Mama really needs to see her feet again.”

“He’s not overdue yet,” her husband reminded her gently when he heard her talking to the baby.

“Yeah, but the doc said it could be any day now, so what’s he waiting for? He’ll only get bigger and heavier.”

He chuckled and crouched down in front of her, placing one hand on her stomach. “I know you want it to be over soon.”

“Yeah,” she sighed. The thought of giving birth was making her nervous. Even though she had been to all of the Lamaze classes, it still scared her. Maria wished her Mom could be there right now, she knew Amy would always know a way to calm her down, but it wasn’t possible. Her Mom still had a job and other things to care about in Roswell.

“Hey,” Andrew used one hand to lift her cheek. “I’ll be with you. No need to be scared.”

She snorted at him, but his caressing words felt good. “You’re not the one who’ll be in pain for hours.”

“No, I know, but I’ll try to make it as bearable as I can for you. And you won’t be alone.” He got up again and lifted the camera to take the picture he wanted.

“Andrew!” she complained and looked away stubbornly.


Maria wiped a tear away, which had slipped down unnoticed while she had been lost in her thoughts. Her free hand had automatically travelled to rest on her stomach, the memories of the day so clear now. Only a few hours after the picture had been taken she had gone into labor and 15 hours later Andy had been born. It had been exhausting, scary, and she could still remember the pain, but the wish for a second baby in her life had always been stronger than the fear of going through that again.

The feeling of Andy growing inside of her had been amazing. The kicks he had given her from inside were the best thing she had ever felt in her life and she wondered if she would ever be able to feel it again. Jealousy washed over her when she thought about Liz again. She didn’t want to feel envious about her friend, but she couldn’t help it. Time was ticking against her, she wasn’t getting younger but on the other hand, Andy would probably react even worse to a sibling than he had to the fact she had feelings for another man than his father.

She let her fingertips brush over the picture of herself once more before putting it at the bottom of the stack she was holding. The next one was a photo of Andrew and her, taken here in Rowell at her parent’s house during a visit. Andy had only been a few months old at the time and he had been with Amy and Jim, while the younger couple and some time for themselves for the first time since the baby was born. They lay on her bed and Andrew had held the camera as far away as possible from them while his other arm was holding her protectively against his body. They both smiled brightly, their eyes tired from staying up all night to take care of Andy.

Maria didn’t realize she was crying until a sob escaped her throat and her vision got blurry from the fresh onslaught of tears. She couldn’t exactly pinpoint the reason why she was crying at first. Was it the memories of Andrew? The fact that he wasn’t coming back to her?

No, she decided. She had spent so many tears and sleepless nightmare-haunted nights for that reason that there wasn’t anything left now.

It was the feeling of emptiness and loneliness in her heart that made her ache inside, pulling her down bit by bit with each passing day. She knew it was unreasonable, since she wasn’t alone. She had a caring family and great friends that were always there for her. But those people couldn’t give her what her heart was longing for.

She wanted to be in the arms of a man who didn’t just hold her because he was sorry about her past or because he was a relative. She wanted someone who was there when she got home late, helping her to carry the heavy grocery bags from the car into the house. She wanted someone to spend the evenings with when no one else was at home and the house felt empty.

Her sobs increased when she realized how much she wanted that someone in her life. How much she wanted Michael to be that someone. How helpless she was since going after what she wanted meant Andy would turn away from her again.



A/N: Here is the new trailer for our fic Double Dare (posting will start next Sunday) ;) DOUBLE DARE
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Fics: A Xmas Story - A Merry Mt. R. Xmas - Cupid's Revenge - Double Trouble - Double Date - Double Dare - Double Empire - Double Xmas Wish - In The Course Of A Lifetime - Mountains So High - Not A Question At All - Surrender - TIC TAC - Two Double Dates at Xmas
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Double Trouble
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In The Course Of A Lifetime (CC, AU, Adult) Part 78 6/12/11

Post by Double Trouble »

Natalie36: Thanks for reading! And viewing! ;)

begonia9508: Thanks!

Well, that suggestion might just come up, lol.

kismet: Lots of fun there, huh?

Liz will tell him before too long.

Maria is desperately in need of that special someone. Andy will be coming to a realization soon.

Earth2Mama: Yeah, that last second dropping in is rude. We’ll check in on them this update and see how things are going.

Don’t worry, Liz will find a way.

Tess… another story that will unfold.

Maria isn’t quite there yet, but we’re working on her.

keepsmiling7: Lol, they will talk, promise.

Alien_Friend: Things are just difficult all around right now for Maria. Andy will eventually realize what his behavior is doing to his mom.

Dull is sooo not the name of the game here, lol. Family chaos at its best. :) They’ll get their chance to celebrate even if it isn’t the way they had anticipated.

Tess’ story does have more to be revealed.

Gotta love the grandparents! A visit that is bound to be… interesting, and possibly eye-opening on certain fronts.

mary mary: It’s possible that Andy finding his mom in that state could happen.

No… surprise in-laws are not fun at all.

Maiqu: And we’re glad to see ya back!

He’ll see it soon.

Soon-ish, we can promise. ;)

We have a feeling you’re right.

sarammlover: We will get more of Tess’ story before too awful long. Kyle’s a smart man and he knew the longer it went without them talking, the worse (and harder) it was gonna be. Maria’s having a difficult time right now, but it will get better. Liz will talk to Max soon-ish. :)

LovelyPOM83: Thanks! In-laws have no sense of timing. Don’t worry, the two of them will manage some time alone.

Things with Tess will be explained more as we move forward.

Cardinal: We do seem to have a running theme, don’t we? :)

The official cookie… who told?

Lol, we understand.

Philip and Diane are different here… and at times a nightmare.

Tess’ story has more to be revealed.

Eva: Yes… surprise in-law visits, they’re just not fun. Especially not on your anniversary weekend!

We think you’re right about Kyle. He’ll do his best to make Tess understand that they can have a future together.

Rodney: Looks like you were on the right track.

Yes, unannounced visitors are so… great.

We’ll see what happens with Andy and his friends/family.


Part 78

“Any chance you’re gonna go to the movies with me?” Chrissie asked when she approached Michael after dinner Friday night. She inwardly shook her head when she glanced up and down at him while he was turned to the refrigerator to put the leftovers away. Faded loose blue jeans and totally bleached out Metallica tee shirt – his hair a mess. If she didn’t know better she’d think he was still a student in college; he definitely still had the looks sometimes. If his students could see him now…

Michael turned around to look at his sister, holding a fresh cold beer in his hand. “Wasn’t planning to go out again.”

“Oh, so ya wanna sit around the house again getting all depressed… Fun!”

“Chrissie,” he sighed.

“What? I just wanna distract you, Michael. The best thing for a broken heart is distraction. I’m speaking from my own experience here.”

“Distraction just helps for the moment,” he told her dryly.

She rolled her eyes at him. “Says Counselor Guerin. Understood! You’re no fun, Michael.”

He smirked at her whining tone. “Why don’t you ask someone else if you wanna go out?”

“Oh, I actually have a date for tonight, I was just asking to be polite,” she grinned.

“You’ve got a date?” Michael asked, surprised.

“Yep. Do you know Marvin?”

“Marvin?” He spoke the name a few times. “Oh, my neighbor’s son? Is he in town?”

“Uh-huh. He arrived this afternoon and I happened to meet him on the street. He’s staying the weekend to visit his parents and since he doesn’t really know anyone here either we decided to hang out together.”

Michael had met the boy a few times. He was maybe two or three years older than Chrissie, but he seemed to be pretty much settled in a job and okay. “Have fun then.”

“You could really come with us, Mikey. He’s not a potential boyfriend or whatever. We’re just gonna go watch a movie.”

“Thanks, but I’m stayin’ home. I need to walk Mojo anyway.”

Chrissie glanced at the dog, which lay around lazily at the door leading to the backyard. “He doesn’t look like he wants to move. Not at all.”

“Goodbye Chrissie,” Michael said to get her out of the house.

She shook her head and walked over to him to kiss his cheek. “Ya wanna get rid of me, huh? I’m going, don’t worry. You and your mood can hang out here all by yourself.”

“You’re so generous,” he told her and watched her leave before he grabbed the newspaper from that morning and shoved the back door open to go out on the porch.

Mojo followed him quietly, sitting down right next to Michael when he took a seat in the comfortable chair. The dog looked at him with sad eyes as he placed his big head on his owner’s thigh.

Michael took a sip from his beer before placing it and the newspaper aside to scratch the dog’s head. His chin rested in one of his hands while he looked down at Mojo quietly for a long time. “Seems like we’ll be alone for longer than we hoped, huh?”

As if the dog could understand the meaning of his words, he moved closer, pressing his body against Michael’s leg. “Just don’t lose hope, buddy, it’s not doomed yet,” he was talking more to himself than to his pet. He really wanted to believe his own words, but it was hard to think positive when his heart and body was aching for something that had been denied him most of his life.

Damn it, why couldn’t it be easy for once?

Because that’s just what I get in life. Complications and more complications.
He sighed and leaned back against the backrest. He hated it when thoughts like this entered his mind, but it happened now and then.

The backyard was all silent and empty now. Michael closed his eyes as he remembered how it had been on Saturday during the party. People and laughter had been everywhere, but he had only cared about one laugh. Hers. She was beautiful when she smiled, she was sexy when she smirked and she looked so shattered when she was sad.

From the first time he had met Maria in the park she had caused these weird feelings in his stomach and the faster heartbeat in his chest. He had no clue how it had happened… how he had fallen for her so soon and so deep that it already hurt so much to not be able to be with her.

Mojo made a sad grumbling sound that brought Michael back to reality. He leaned forward to look at the dog, his hands holding his pet’s head. “What’re we gonna do, buddy?”

*****

Liz sighed when she put the last dirty plate from dinner into the dishwasher. The boys had already left a while ago to get ready for the game and Max and his parents had gone upstairs to get the guestroom ready for his parents.

“Can I help you with anything?” her husband asked gently, when he stood in the doorframe after leaving the rest of the family alone upstairs.

“You could tell them to go home soon.”

Max sighed. “They’re only gonna be here a couple of days then they’ll be gone again.”

“And so will you,” she told him, trying not to be unfair. “We only have a few days before you’ve gotta be away for work again.”

“Liz, they’re my parents. Damn, if it was your parents would you tell ‘em to leave?”

She smiled sadly. “My parents wouldn’t show up on our anniversary... unannounced.”

He gritted his teeth. “Liz, I can’t control when they show up.” He didn’t know why his parents did that, just showed up without any prior notice. It drove Liz up the wall and while she loved his parents, she didn’t appreciate their unannounced visits. The fact that it was their anniversary only made it worse. “Look, I’ll tell them they’re gonna have to stay at a hotel, how’s that?”

She shook her head. “No, we can’t do that. Sorry, I’m just so upset.”

“Maybe WE could go stay at a hotel,” he offered with a smile. “Let them stay here with the kids.”

“Yeah, let’s just get away without telling anyone. Just you an’ me.” And the baby, she added silently.

He chuckled. “Tempting thought.”

“Yeah, I have to agree.”

“I’m sure my parents wouldn’t mind. They’d have the kids all to themselves.”

“Kara would definitely love it.”

“See? This weekend could work out even better than we had hoped.”

Philip rapped his knuckles against the doorframe before entering the kitchen. “The boys said earlier that they’ve got a dance tomorrow night but I thought you and I could take them up to Albuquerque for the classic car show. I’ve already got the tickets, so I thought we could leave early in the morning... spend a day together. Whaddaya say, son? Just us guys out for an afternoon checking out cars? I thought the boys would really enjoy that.”

Great, Liz thought, not only had they interrupted their anniversary, now she wasn’t even allowed to spend time with her husband during the day.

Max cleared his throat. “Dad, why don’t you and Mom take the boys to the car show?”

Diane walked in and chuckled. “Oh, sweetie, you know I hate looking at cars.”

“Well... yeah, but...” Hell, Liz would be ready to pull her hair out after a day alone with his mom. “You’d have a good time with the boys there.”

“You go,” she insisted, “Lizzie and I will do some catching up.”

Max glanced at his wife. She was trying to hide it, but he could see that she wasn’t excited about this news. “I um... Are you sure you wouldn’t rather go?”

“No, you boys will have fun and I know you’ve been traveling a lot, so some time with the boys will do all of you some good.”

“Right, well...” he tugged at his collar, feeling like someone had just turned the heat up by about a hundred degrees.

“I think I’m gonna go upstairs and check on Kara,” Liz said, before she could say something rude.

Max forced a smile as he looked at his parents. “Um... I should go see if she needs any help.”

*****

Andy wiped the sweat from his forehead and checked his looks in a mirror of the countless parked cars in the parking lot behind the high school stadium. He had dropped Theo at his grandparent’s house since he knew they were out of town tonight and then had made his way quickly to the game. He knew he wasn’t allowed to be here and he couldn’t stay long or Mom would get suspicious, but it was a Friday night game. And for a teenager in high school, you HAD to be there!

He walked up the few steps that led him to the bleachers and glanced around until he located some of his classmates in their usual seats. Thank God, Sam didn’t seem to be there. The last thing he needed was to put up with her angry stares all night.

“Hey, Andy, we thought you wouldn’t make it,” Scotty greeted him first.

“Hey,” he greeted back and high-fived AJ, the tall dark-haired boy next to him, who played on the basketball team.

“Thought you were grounded, Evans,” AJ teased. “You know sneakin’ out when you’re grounded only pisses moms off, right?”

“You always do what Mommy tells you?” Gina asked when she approached the others in her class. “Hey, Andy,” she greeted with a flirty smile.

His eyebrows lifted at the girl’s greeting. Gina was... well, FRIENDLY would be the nice word, he guessed. She was nice enough but the kinda girl Dad had told him you just didn’t take home to meet Mom. “What’s up, Gina?”

“Not much. These two are really annoying,” she rolled her eyes at Scotty and AJ.

Andy snorted. AJ had a girlfriend that would kick his ass if she caught him hanging around Gina and Scotty was still waiting to hear whether or not the girl he’d asked to the dance was gonna say yes or not. Everyone knew Gina tended to hang out wherever the football team was. “Then why’re you hangin’ out with them?”

“Because of all people here, they’re still the most bearable,” she whispered, amused.

He nodded and leaned back, resting his weight on his elbows when he propped them on the bench behind him. He glanced at the scoreboard at the end of the field and then down at the teams, noticing his cousins were both out there tonight. They were holding onto the lead but only by a few points. His gaze moved to the right and his eyes widened when he noticed Uncle Max and Aunt Liz sitting with his grandparents on his dad’s side. Damn, none of them were supposed to be there! “Hey, ya know, I think maybe I’m gonna go get somethin’ to drink.”

“I’m coming with you,” Gina said.

“Um...” he glanced at the guys and then shrugged when AJ gave a short, sharp shake of his head and mouthed ‘you’re askin’ for trouble’. What was he supposed to do, just tell her to get lost? “Well... okay.”

“So, are you going to the dance tomorrow night?” Gina asked as they made their way to one of the concession stands.

Of course that’s the topic she’d pick first thing. He shrugged. “It’s just a stupid dance,” he muttered.

“Agreed,” she nodded. “I don’t like those nights either.”

A girl who didn’t wanna go to the dance? “Oh, ‘cause the guys there are already kinda with someone?” he asked, not realizing how tacky that sounded.

“What?”

“Well... um... I mean, you just don’t really seem to date much.” At all, he thought with a snort.

“Who should I date?”

“I don’t know... don’t you wanna date someone? I mean, you kinda seem to... ya know, move from one guy to the next pretty steadily. An’ ya don’t really have to do that.”

She rolled her eyes. “And I though Scotty and AJ suck.” With that she was gone.

“Well, what the hell did I say?” he hollered after her, rolling his eyes when she waved at him over her shoulder and kept on going. “Freakshow,” he muttered under his breath as he got in line.

Sam stopped in her tracks when she saw Andy in the line for drinks. Damn, didn’t the twins say he was grounded?

“Everything okay?” Jared asked from beside to her.

“Um, yeah.”

“Then what’re you stoppin’ for? C’mon, you wanted somethin’ to eat or whatever an’ if we don’t hurry we’re gonna miss somethin’.”

“Hey, I need to pee, would you get me a hot dog and we’ll meet at our seats again?”

He rolled his eyes at her. “Yeah, whatever.” Jeez, why didn’t girls ever understand how important every play of a game was?

“Thanks,” she said and made her way backwards before Andy could see her. Great, she just went from one dream boy to next.

Andy stepped up to the counter and ordered a drink, drumming his fingers while he waited for it to be filled. Drink in hand he turned and bumped into a guy moving to the next register over, biting his tongue when he recognized him. “Jared,” he ground out.

The other boy grinned. Sucks to be you, he thought. “Whassup, Evans? Heard you blew it for the dance.”

“Who said I was plannin’ to go at all?” Andy asked, trying to sound cool.

Jared shrugged. “From what I heard you’re not. Now.”

“Whatever, man,” Andy said. Last thing he needed and wanted was a fight with Sam’s date for the stupid dance.

Jared just rolled his eyes and turned to put his order in, leaning his elbow on the counter and watching Andy walk away. What a moron, he thought. Oh, well, good thing for him the guy was a moron otherwise Sam would be going to the dance with Andy instead of him.

Now what? Andy thought. He couldn’t be seen by Uncle Max and Aunt Liz or his grandparents. Why were they here anyway?

Sam was attempting to make her escape back to her seat when the home team made what had to be an amazing play since the crowd went wild and suddenly every entry into the stands was blocked by people trying to see what had happened.

Andy stepped closer to the field again, standing on his tip toes to see what had happened. While everyone was standing he was safe in the crowd.

She spotted a small opening at the next entry down so she hurried to get to it, hoping to squeeze through before Andy could spot her. She was in no mood to deal with his insufferable attitude tonight.

Andy took a sip of his drink while he took a glimpse of his family. Thank God they seemed pretty busy with the game.

Sam was making her escape when the crowd by the entry suddenly moved as one and she rolled her eyes when some guy bumped into her, pushing her back unintentionally and knocking her into someone else. “Oh, sorry...” she was apologizing as she looked up at the person. The words froze in her throat when she realized who she had just bumped into.

Andy glanced down and was surprised to see Sam. The crowd had made her bump into him... her of all people.

“Andy... um, hey. I thought you were grounded?” she said, trying to sound casual.

He frowned. How did they all know about it? “What, is it written all over my face or somethin’?”

“Small town, Andy... kinda thought you knew that by now. Everyone knows everything around here.”

Andy took a few steps back when the crowd calmed down again and took their places. He didn’t want to risk being seen by a family member. “Yeah, that was much better in Miami.”

“I’m sure... Miami’s like a thousand times bigger than Roswell.”

“Yeah, and it has a beach.”

Well, he couldn’t deny that. It just sucked right now, but that wasn’t her fault... not at all. “Sure.”

“So...” She had no idea what to say to him. She was sure no matter what she said it’d end up in an argument. “How’re things with your mom?”

He shrugged, not sure how much she knew about it. He hadn’t told her about their fight, but as she said, Roswell was a small town. “It could be better.”

“Yeah, well... you were kind of a jerk to her the other day when we were in your room an’ she came home.”

Great, she just had to bring that up again. Maybe he should just leave before this led to another fight. “Are you always rational when you’re mad at someone? I doubt it!”

“No, but I don’t just let it go after I’ve said somethin’ to hurt someone either.” She crossed her arms over her chest as she pinned him with a stare. “Have you talked to your mom? Apologized to her?”

How did she manage to always make him feel guilty? “No.”

She shook her head, disappointed in him. “You’re better than that, Andy.”

He snorted. “Am I?”

“I think you are,” she said simply.

He looked at her, not sure what that meant.

She watched him, wishing that things were like they were just a few days ago. “I know things aren’t the way you want them to be, but...” she sighed. “You want your mom to understand you an’ support you... she just wants the same thing from you.”

“But the things I want and what she wants can’t be compared,” he said defensively.

She snorted. “C’mon, Andy... do you really think that every single thing you want is the same thing she wants? You’re gonna want different things. You’re different people and you have your own wants and needs. Look at me an’ my dad.”

“Here’s your hot dog,” Jared said as he showed up, irritated that she was talking to Andy.

Sam looked up at him, wondering why he had to interrupt at this moment. The guy had to have the worst timing ever! “Thanks.”

“So, wanna go back to our seats?”

“Um... yeah, but would you mind if I catch up with you in just a minute?”

Jared shot a warning look at Andy. “I’ll wait for you at our seats.”

Sam rolled her eyes when Andy shot a look right back at Jared. What was it with guys and these looks?

“What do you see in that loser?” Andy couldn’t stop himself from asking as soon as the other boy was gone.

“First off, Jared’s not a loser. He’s a nice guy who asked me to the dance.”

Andy snorted. “Nice guy, whatever.”

“You know what? If that’s the way you’re gonna be then forget this. I’m gonna go find Jared.”

She started to walk away and then stopped, turning and poking him in the chest as hard as she could with her forefinger. “No, you had your chance to ask me out and you blew it.”

He reacted quickly, grasping the finger that was poking him painfully and holding it tightly in his hand. She looked hot when she was furious, he thought and had to suppress a smirk.

Sam glared at him, irritated when she tried to jerk her hand free and failing when he only tightened his grip.

“Mom wouldn’t have allowed me to go anyway since I’m grounded, so you’re lucky I didn’t ask you out in the end.”

“Yeah, and what’d you do to get grounded?”

He swallowed. That wasn’t really anything he wanted to talk about and especially not in public. “Somethin’ stupid.”

“Yeah, well... that’s not really an answer is it?”

“No,” he admitted and finally let go of her finger.

“So... are you gonna tell me?”

“Long story an’ your date’s waiting.”

She sighed in frustration. “Would you tell me if he wasn’t?”

He shrugged. “I need to be home soon or my Mom will ground me for the rest of my life and this isn’t really a story I can tell in a minute.”

And again, not an answer, she thought. What was the point if he couldn’t even talk to her? “That wasn’t what I asked.” She shook her head. “Go home, Andy.”

He looked at her, not knowing what to do. It wasn’t like he didn’t want to tell her. But he wasn’t really proud of his actions and what if she hated him for what he’d done?

Why was it so hard for guys to talk about anything? And why did she have to really like the one guy who was about as open as a brick wall? She watched him for several more seconds before turning to walk away.

Jerk! Go after her, his mind screamed at him. “Sam...”
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Fics: A Xmas Story - A Merry Mt. R. Xmas - Cupid's Revenge - Double Trouble - Double Date - Double Dare - Double Empire - Double Xmas Wish - In The Course Of A Lifetime - Mountains So High - Not A Question At All - Surrender - TIC TAC - Two Double Dates at Xmas
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Double Trouble
Obsessed Roswellian
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Joined: Tue Dec 16, 2008 9:47 am

Part 79

Post by Double Trouble »

Natalie36: An unexpected visit by the in-laws really wasn’t in Liz’s plans for the weekend.

Earth2Mama: It is rude, no doubt about that.

Michael and Maria are struggling but if it’s any consolation Andy’s gonna face a bit of reality soon.

mary mary: That’d be nice, but you know how in-laws can be, lol.

Andy does have some problems but one of them may see some resolution soon.

keepsmiling7: Liz won’t put that talk off for very long.

Alien_Friend: Things may start to look up soon for Michael and Maria.

As for Max and Liz, they’ll find a way. ;)

Sam knows how to handle Andy and she won’t just let him off the hook.

angiebrenna: Lol, there’s a reason for it as we’ll see soon.

Eva: They do all seem to have something going on that’s making them miserable, don’t they?

Oh, you’re not alone there!

Andy will be going home soon.

begonia9508: You’re right about that. But there is a reason why Max didn’t just tell his parents they already had plans.

As for Andy… well, he’s still a work in progress.

sarammlover: Normally Max would say something – and you’re right, he should.

Andy isn’t making it easy for anyone to like him right now.

LovelyPOM83: Lol, under normal circumstances Max would say something. We’re not sure if his parents would take a hint or not, lol. They seem to march to their own drummer.

Maiqu: Lol, that seems to be the general consensus.

Michael and Maria are having a rough time of it, but things should start looking up for them soon. Pets always know… that’s why we love ‘em. :)

Andy will be heading home soon.

Rodney: Lol, you’re not alone there.

Tess’s situation will be explained in more detail soon. There is more to that particular story.

The weekend is just beginning… we’ll see what’s in store for Max and Liz and their unexpected guests.

Cardinal, no drooling please. :P


Part 79

Sam bit her bottom lip as she debated whether or not to stop. She knew she could keep walking, leave him there without so much as a backwards glance, but her heart refused to let her take another step. She stopped and turned to look at him, seeing the discomfort on his face as he approached her. "What?"

He stopped right in front of her. As he realized they were standing in the open he took her hand and pulled her backwards. Her look was stubborn. Great, he thought. "I... I’ll talk to you, okay? Just not..." he glanced around, "here."

Sam followed his gaze, knowing that talking was difficult enough for him when they were alone so this would be torture for him. She studied him, taking in the sincere look in his eyes. "When?"

He shrugged. "Well, I’m grounded... so guess ya gonna have to come to my place..."

"Alright... so, when?" She would agree to talk to him, but he had to be willing to meet her halfway.

"You've got a busy day tomorrow, huh?"

"Yes, I do." It was so tempting to tell Jared she couldn't go to the dance but she knew she couldn't. It would be rude to cancel on him at the last minute. "What about Sunday afternoon?"

Damn, Sunday seemed so far away.... he would think all weekend about what he should tell her. "Okay," he agreed, disappointed.

"I'd like to see you tomorrow, Andy, but... I agreed to go to the dance with Jared and backin' out on him now would just be wrong."

He would hit that guy if he laid a hand on HIS girl! "I understand." Well, not really. But he understood that in her mind she had to do it.

Oh, he sooo didn't! "Look at it this way. You'll have plenty of time to figure out what you're gonna say," she said with a smile.

"Fantastic," he said forcing himself to sound happy.

"Well, considering how easy it is for you to talk maybe you could just write it down... then stand in front of your mirror and practice... kinda like when you're preparing an oral presentation for class."

"Funny, Sam," he said, rolling his eyes.

She grinned. "I know. I'm hilarious... I'm thinkin' of hittin' the road with my comedy act."

He shook his head in amusement and looked down at her. "Better get back to ya Dream Boy, huh?"

I thought I was with him, she thought but thankfully didn't actually say aloud. She wrinkled her nose at him. "I'll talk to my dad about Sunday an' call you about the time."

He nodded. The thought that she would spend the next evening with that... ungh... Forget about it, he ordered himself. "Have fun... I guess."

"Yeah, well... would've been more fun with you," she said and stuck her tongue out at him.

"Oh, hey, can you tell me why Justin’s makin’ threats about you?"

"Justin threatened you?"

"Somethin’ like, ‘Hurt Sam and I’ll kick your ass’." Andy frowned. “Does he know somethin’?"

"Justin's one of my best friends, Andy... we talk to each other very openly."

"So you told him.... ya know... about us?"

"Um-hmm, and he's fine with it."

Andy sighed. That was good news. "Cool."

She smiled at him. "I don't keep things in for long; it's not a good habit to get into. So, when Justin noticed that I was upset, he asked and I told him what was goin' on."

He nodded. "Sorry... ya know, for the things I said to you the other day."

"Ya know, I'm a big girl, Andy. I can handle a fight, I can handle name-calling and throwin' insults at each other." She paused a moment and shook her head. "What I can't handle – and for the record – won't handle, is the kinda disrespect you showed at the end of that argument."

"Um..." He didn't know what to say, because she was right and he hated to admit it. "Sorry."

She nodded. "So... is any certain time on Sunday better for you?"

"Guess I’m free all day, so just gotta talk Mom into being allowed to invite someone over."

"Cool. I'm sure Dad will say it's okay since he's tryin' to let me grow up." She rolled her eyes when Andy snorted. "Hey, I'm his little girl, it's not easy for him."

"Yeah, let's see how long it takes before I’m allowed to come over to your place, huh?"

"Ready to risk that again?" she giggled.

"I’m not quite sure."

"Might take a while, huh?" She reached out to take his hand. "Parents have to be given room to grow too, ya know? This whole dating thing with Principal Russell... me seein' you... it's somethin' new for both of us."

"Yeah," he glanced down at their joined hands, his thumb running over the back of her hand gently.

"It'll work out," she assured him. "We've just gotta learn how to deal with each other havin' romantic interests." It was still weird to think of her dad and Principal Russell like that.

"Romantic interests," Andy repeated with a smirk. Only a girl would say something like that.

Her eyes narrowed as she looked at him. "Are you makin' fun of me?"

"Nope.”

"Uh-huh." Her tone was doubtful. "I'd better get back to Jared before he comes lookin' for me."

Andy made a face. "Yeah, we don't want that. Though I’d like to tell him a few things."

"You might want to, but you're not gonna."

"Too bad."

"Play nice, Andy."

He sighed. "Okay. He'd better not try to kiss you though."

"Hmm..." she bit her inner cheek. "Not even a goodnight kiss after the dance?"

"What?"

"Just askin' what you'd like me to do if he tries to kiss me goodnight." She was trying so hard not to laugh because he looked like he was gonna explode.

"Um, I don’t know, kick him in his nuts maybe?"

She lost it and laughed so hard she started snorting. She slapped his shoulder when she finally got herself under control again. "Thanks for the advice."

"You think that's funny huh?" he asked. "I’m really serious about this, Sam. If that jerk tried to kiss you..." Yeah, what then, goofy?

"Jeez, Andy, if he tried to kiss me I think I could dodge him without ruining his chance for reproducing."

"But it’d be more fun," he said, grinning.

"You're terrible."

"I can live with that."

"Good, you'll have to. Trust me, my dad will be waitin' on the other side of that front door to make sure Jared doesn't get outta line. Although, I do know how to use my knee if that should become an issue," she said to placate him.

"Good."

She glanced down at their hands and then back up at him. "I don't want to, but I kinda need to go."

"Yeah, I should get home too."

"Before your mom finds out where you are?" she teased.

"Yeah, that won't be good."

"No. Alright, well... I'll see you on Sunday then."

"Okay," he didn't want to leave her alone with the dickhead Jared, but he knew he had no chance.

She nodded and reluctantly pulled her hand free of his. Boy, she sure would like for him to kiss her before they went their separate ways, but it was probably too soon.

He didn't know if it would be right to kiss her, but since she pulled herself free of his grasp he decided to back off without one. "Bye."

She bit her lip and hesitated a moment before turning and slipping past the people crowded at the entry to go back down into the stands.

Andy could kick himself for the situation he was in. Why hadn't he just asked her to go to the stupid dance? He didn't want to go, but the thought of Sam going with someone else was even worse.

Throwing his empty drink into a nearby trash can he made his way back to get Theo, his thoughts still back at the football field. He pulled his cell out of his pants and glanced at the blank display before punching in a message that he hoped she wouldn't get mad about. I should have kissed you.

Sam reached for her cell when it started buzzing, stopping on the level above the section where their seats were to open her phone and read the message. She waited a moment for it to open up and she felt her heart nearly trip over itself when she saw that it was from Andy. She read the five little words and her heart melted. She nearly ran after him at the sentiment in the words, but Jared saw her and called her name to get her attention. She smiled at the text and quickly punched in one of her own: I wish you had.

*****

Andy quietly opened the back door that lead to the kitchen and stuck his head in to check to see if Mom was still up. He could hear the quiet murmur of the TV running in the living room. Damn, had she realized that he had been away for almost two hours?

Maybe I should just go upstairs,
he thought, but couldn't get himself to move. I can always say I needed to clear my head outside.

Theo walked past him, shoving the boy slightly with his nose to slip inside. Andy jumped to the side in surprise and tried to hold the dog back when he walked towards the swinging door, which let into the living room. "Damn, Theo,” Andy hissed and went after him.

The boy paused in the doorway when he saw his mom lying on the couch. She didn't move, so he guessed she was asleep.

"Sit,” he hissed at the dog to keep him from waking her up. “You stay here.” On his tiptoes, Andy made his way to the couch slowly and grabbed the remote from Mom's lap to silence the TV since no one was paying attention to it anyway.

He leaned over the backrest of the couch to look at his sleeping mom, but his expression turned horrified when he saw the devastation on her face. Trails of dried tears were all over her cheeks, and her eyes and lips looked swollen from crying. What had she been doing? he wondered and glanced around.

The answer was right there on the table: A stack of photos. She had been looking at old family photos and realizing how much she missed Dad. Just like him.

Or was it more the realization that she was lonely since you’re against her and Michael and you left her alone as well, his conscience taunted.

Sam and Scrappy’s voices were right there again, telling him that he had to let Mom be happy. But what if it makes ME uphappy? Andy looked at the photos again, trying to decide if he should have a closer look at them, but decided against it. He wasn’t ready to remember things they had done together as a real family.

His gaze swept over to Mom again. It hurt to see her like this. Her face looked pale and worked up and all he could think was he was at least partly the reason for it.

Theo suddenly got up from the floor again and walked over to the sleeping woman, poking his nose into her side. “No,” Andy hissed when he noticed the dog, but it was already too late. Maria stirred in her sleep and frowned before she opened her eyes slowly.

Stupid dog, Andy thought and tried to act as if he had just gotten there. “Hey Mom, seems like you fell asleep.”

“What time is it?”

“Past 11pm.”

“Oh, wow, I slept a while,” she said, rubbing her head when the memories of earlier came back slowly. Oh, God, how bad did she look? Would Andy see she had been crying? “Did you just get back?”

“Oh, no, I got back earlier but Theo needed to pee again, so I went out back with him.” Great, just lie to her even more. He could kick his own ass.

Maria nodded, getting up from the couch to pack the photos back into the carton. She was pretty sure it was obvious to Andy what she had been doing while he had been gone. Great!

“Uh, I think I’m heading to bed now, Mom.”

“Okay, sleep well.”

“Night,” he said and started to walk off. Was this how it would be from now on, he wondered?

Maria waited until Andy was gone before she walked over to the wardrobe next to the front door to take a look in the mirror. Ungh yeah, there was no way her son would have missed her crying episode earlier, she thought sadly.

*****

Max checked the locks and made sure the alarm was set after making sure his parents had everything they needed and the kids were down for the night. He didn’t see Ari when he walked into the kitchen and he stepped on the tip of the cat’s tail, making him yowl loudly as he jerked his tail closer to his body and stared up at him reproachfully.

“Well, don’t leave the damn thing in the middle of the floor, Ariel.” He smirked at the feline when Ari narrowed his eyes to thin slits before going back to his bowl of food.

He opened the refrigerator door and moved things around to get to the bottle of chilled champagne he had tucked in the back. He snagged a pair of champagne flutes along with a rose from the arrangement he’d had delivered that morning before leaning down to pet the ungrateful cat.

Once upstairs he nudged the door to the master bedroom open and stepped inside, smiling at the lighted candles placed around the room. He closed the door as quietly as possible and leaned back against it as he smiled at his wife.

"What took you so long?"

"Impatient?" he teased as he used his elbow to push the lock into place. "Stupid cat left his tail in the way and I stepped on it... again." He crossed the room and placed the glasses on the nightstand.

Champagne, she noticed.

He set the bottle aside and sat down next to her, holding the single rose out. "This isn't exactly what I had planned for our anniversary. I had reservations at our favorite restaurant and the intention of us spending the night away from home." He smiled slowly. "But, if there's one thing I've learned having kids and family... somethin' invariably comes up so it's best to have a backup plan."

Liz smiled and took the rose from him, turning it in her hand a few times. "That's why I love you."

"Um-hmm, even though my parents are a nightmare sometimes? And show up at the wrong time... every time?"

"Thank God they live far away," she teased.

He snorted. "I swear, they had bad timing before, but now... they're mobile with no sense of timing."

"I hope you don't expect me to disagree."

“Tell ya what. We’re gonna do everything I planned for tonight as soon as they’re gone and we have some peace again,” Max promised.

We have some peace again, she thought. How much peace would they have after she dropped the bomb about the pregnancy? “Sounds good.”

He nodded. “Next week should be quiet. No trips, no meetings from what Alex told me.”

Liz smiled. Weeks with Max around were so much easier to handle and less stressful, which could only be good for her. “I’m happily leaving all the fun stuff to you then.”

“Like?”

“Um, grocery shopping, helping the kids with homework, handling their bickering…”

“I’ll be happy to do all that,” he agreed and meant it. Doing normal family stuff seemed so rare lately that he was really looking forward to it.

She smiled at his agreeable tone and found herself wondering once again how he would react if she told him they were going to have a baby. She wanted so badly to tell him but with things the way they were and her certainty that his reaction wouldn’t be good she really wanted them to have some time alone when she finally gave him the news. Why did his parents have to pick this weekend of all weekends to drop in for a visit? And now she was going to be trapped in the house with his mother for most of tomorrow.

“What’re you thinkin’?” Max asked when he saw her pensive expression. He went on before she could answer. “I’m really sorry about my parents, darlin’.”

She shook her head. “No, don’t worry about it, Max. It’s not your fault.” She smiled faintly. “The boys were excited about the car show.”

“I wish my parents had just agreed to take the boys so we could spend tomorrow together.”

“Your mother didn’t seem to take the hint,” she teased lightly and watched him as he filled the champagne glasses. Ungh, alcohol wasn’t something she was allowed to drink anymore, but if she turned it down now… Would it make him suspicious?

“No,” he chuckled, “not at all.” He held one of the glasses out to her.

She took it from him and waited for him to put the bottle away. “To us and a marriage that will last forever,” he told her sincerely and tapped his glass against hers. “I know it’s been rough lately, darlin’, but don’t ever think I’d be happier without you or with someone else, because that’s not possible.”

“We’re stronger than this,” she nodded, praying that it was true because she already carried the newest test of their marriage under her heart and had no clue how he was going to react to it.

“No doubt,” he nodded and took a sip of the drink.

She mimicked his move, pretended to take some of the liquid into her mouth before she placed the glass back on the nightstand.

“You didn’t eat much at dinner.” He winced as he set his glass down next to hers. “That ‘cause of my parents?”

“Do you really wanna talk about your parents while we’re in bed on our anniversary?”

He smiled. “Point taken.” He placed his right hand flat on the mattress as he leaned closer to her. “From our first date I knew I was gonna marry you.”

Liz snorted. “Um-hmm… I remember you telling me something like that back in high school.” She reached up to let her fingers trail over his chest. “Right about the time we were on spring break and you tried to talk me out of my bikini.”

“Okay,” he grinned, “you’ve got me there. But you’ve gotta admit I was pretty persuasive.” They had spent spring break their senior year with friends in South Padre Island, Texas. After a couple years of dating they still hadn’t gone all the way and he had been so sure that spring break was going to be their opportunity.

She chuckled. “I remember the stack of condoms I found in your bag.”

“I should’ve hid them better,” he admitted with a saucy wink. “You were so shocked about the amount I brought…”

“…that I told you to forget about it,” she completed his sentence. The memory was still clear even thought it was a long time ago.

“Oh, yeah, and you didn’t talk to me for the last day of our trip, which I still think was unnecessary.”

Liz snorted. “My mom warned me that you’d try something.”

“Yeah, your mom was real helpful all through high school.”

She gave him a shove. “She was just looking out for her little girl.”

“Yeah, well, I guess she had no idea just how well you were doin’ at holdin’ me off.” He shook his head. “I swear my parents must’ve saved a ton of money on their electric bill all through high school. I took more cold showers than any guy ever oughta take. I thought sure you were gonna kill me.” He laughed quietly. “And I was so sure we were gonna see very little of Padre Island that week.” He made a face at her. “Wasn’t the case though, was it?”

“Nope,” she laughed. “Especially not that last day.”

“What’d I do to get back on your good side? I can’t remember.”

“Oh, it was nothing special or big, buddy.”

He lifted his eyebrows. “So you just forgave me? Don’t get me wrong darlin’, but that doesn’t sound like Liz Parker in high school. You always made me pay for my mistakes or bad behavior.”

“Not that time,” she denied. “It was on our way back. We got stuck in bad weather, remember?”

“Oh, yeah,” he laughed.

“It was raining like hell and we stopped and rented that cheap motel room off the highway. You took all my stuff without asking, you gave me your jacket without thinking twice and you went back out to get something to eat for us. I thought that was pretty sweet and caring, so I decided I should forget about your huge stack of condoms.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, that’s right.” He leaned in to touch her cheek as he smiled slowly. “As I recall you didn’t take it any easier on me that night either.”

She reached up to cover his hand as she shook her head. “No, but was it my fault that there was only one bed?”

“I know,” he growled, “but things got hot an’ heavy and then you put the brakes on. Don’t get me wrong, it was well worth the wait but tryin’ to sleep next to you that night just about killed me.”

She laughed. “That’s what you get for taking advice from your friends.”

“Hey, I just wanted to be prepared for whatever might happen.”

“Oh, so you thought we might have sex 100 times on that trip? Wow, we wouldn’t have seen any daylight at all then,” she said, amused.

“It was a large package; I just threw it in my bag.”

“Uh-huh, weren’t they extra large and flavored or something?”

He grinned. “Can’t hide my size and the taste… well…”

She rolled her eyes. “You didn’t have to wait much longer when we got back home.”

“No, didn’t have long to wait at all.” He shrugged one shoulder and reached for his champagne, taking a drink before setting the glass aside once more.

Liz threaded her fingers through his as she smiled at the memory. They had done their best to work their way through his stash of condoms that summer. She tugged on his hand, pulling him closer.

Max paused just before his lips settled over hears and he turned his head when he heard the sound of crying followed by someone trying to open their door. “I’ve got ‘er,” he said as he stood and hurried to unlock the door.

Kara stood there, her eyes glistening with tears as she launched herself at Daddy.

He caught her and lifted her up, holding her against his chest as he tried to get her to look at him. “Kara, what’s the matter, baby girl?”

“Don’t go away, Daddy,” the little girl sobbed and buried her face against his neck while her tiny hands fisted his shirt.

“I’m here, Kara. Daddy’s not goin’ anywhere,” he told her quietly and looked at Liz.

“Did you have a bad dream?” Mommy asked gently and got up from the bed as well.

Kara’s sobs stilled just a bit as she looked up and nodded. Max reached up to brush the tears from her face.

“Daddy’s here, sweetie. He won’t go anywhere, okay?”

Kara held onto Daddy tighter and her breathing was ragged as her tears began to slow. “Can I stay wif you tonight?”

Max exchanged a look with his wife, sighing in defeat when he saw her nod and smile apologetically. He couldn’t have said no either. “Yeah, you can sleep in here tonight, baby girl.” He rubbed her back gently. “You wanna tell us about that bad dream?”

She shook her head but he could feel her beginning to relax slightly. He carried her over to the bed and lowered her to the mattress, leaving her to settle down with Liz while he went to get her a glass of water. As much as he wanted a night alone with his wife he knew that Kara was reacting to his absence lately and it was important to reassure her that he wasn’t going anywhere.

Kara smiled when Max came back with the water, already feeling better. “Come to bed, Daddy,” she told him and tapped the mattress next to her with her tiny hand.

Max chuckled. “I’m comin’, sweetheart.” He placed the glass on the nightstand and crawled up on the bed, joining his wife and daughter.

“That scatch,” Kara giggled when Max kissed her cheek.

“Daddy should shave, huh?” Liz teased.

“Yeah,” the little girl nodded.

He sighed. “I’ll take care of that first thing in the morning.” His arm came around both of them, resting against the girls’ bellies lightly, while he used his other arm to steady himself on the mattress. “For now I’m stayin’ in bed with my two favorite girls.”

Kara wiggled around, getting comfortable between her parents. She sighed contentedly and snuggled against them, closing her eyes and going back to sleep.
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Fics: A Xmas Story - A Merry Mt. R. Xmas - Cupid's Revenge - Double Trouble - Double Date - Double Dare - Double Empire - Double Xmas Wish - In The Course Of A Lifetime - Mountains So High - Not A Question At All - Surrender - TIC TAC - Two Double Dates at Xmas
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Double Trouble
Obsessed Roswellian
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Joined: Tue Dec 16, 2008 9:47 am

In The Course Of A Lifetime (CC, AU, Adult) Part 80 6/26/11

Post by Double Trouble »

Earth2Mama: Kara’s still having a rough time but things are starting to get better.

Lol, well, you don’t have to give up all that anger at once. He hasn’t suddenly sprouted a halo so chances are he might just piss you off again.

Max... well, he certainly had his hopes up. He’ll be finding out soon so we’ll see how he responds.

Maiqu: Absolutely, he’s not beyond hope. Max... hey, he’s a guy!

begonia9508: Kara’s perfectly happy snuggled up between Mommy and Daddy. The nightmares stay away there.

Lol, Max will definitely learn about the pregnancy before Liz begins to show.

mary mary: Andy knows he needs to change and that his behavior is hurting his mom, he just has to figure out how to do better.

keepsmiling7: Yeah, it’s not going according to plan. They’ll make up for it in time though.

Cardinal: Andy will eventually grow out of that.

Excellent point about the anniversary. That’s something that too often is forgotten, and they will get the chance to celebrate.

Alien_Friend: Kara’s a sweetie and very much a daddy’s girl. It should be interesting to see how she reacts to learning she’s gonna be a big sister. It may have been brief, but it was important for the two of them to have that bit of time together. Yeah, Max... he’s a guy!

It might just be a wee bit longer, but that news is coming.

Sam’s good for Andy. He made a big step with that apology, now he just has to face up to things with his mom.

Lol, guess that means when you come back you get to catch up on more than one update.

Eva: Isn’t that the truth?

Andy is going to change his act, it’s just taking time. He’s gotten a good look at his mom so now he’s faced with the reality of what his demands are doing to her. Now we wait and see what he does with that information.

sarammlover: Andy does need to do that and he’s getting there. Sam will be instrumental, as she has been in the past, in helping him to see things more clearly. She’s already told him directly that she won’t stand for that kind of treatment... we’re pretty sure she was serious. Max and Liz didn’t have their intended anniversary celebration, but they will get there. Hmm, more Michael... how about this update? 

Natalie36: Yes, in-laws are the greatest... The news about the pregnancy will come out soon.

kismet: We love those little glimpses too.

Max has been doing his best to cut down on the trips.

Rodney: Well, not for their anniversary, that’s for sure, lol.

That’s certainly one suggestion for getting through that boy’s thick head.


Part 80

“Thanks for helping me,” Sam said when she and Isabel stepped into the mall on Saturday morning for last minute dress shopping. “Doing this with Dad would mean a dress with long sleeves and not showing any leg at all.”

Isabel had stopped by that morning for breakfast and though it was still weird to talk to the principal in private, the woman had great taste in clothes. “Oh, I love shopping.”

Sam smiled. “Good.”

“And don’t worry. I think we’ll be able to find a dress that’ll satisfy everyone. We might have to do a little convincing with your dad, but I’m sure we’ll have him in full agreement.”

“Yeah, maybe you can distract him when I leave the house?”

Isabel smiled. “Maybe.”

“I can’t be the only girl in a boring dress while everyone else wears something sexy.”

“I’ve never shopped for boring, trust me. Although we might want to avoid the word sexy around your dad. I’m not sure he’s ready for that.”

The younger girl grinned. “True.” Now if it was only for the right boy.

“So, do you already have something in mind?” she asked as she paused to scan over the store listing.

“Hmm, definitely a decent color. No yellow or anything like that.”

She smiled and nodded. “No, especially not this time of the year.”

“And nothing grandma-like. No frills.”

“No, no grandma dresses.” She tapped one fingernail against the mall map. “Okay, I think if we start at this end here we’ll be able to hit the best shops for a formal dance.”

“Yeah? Cool, I never bought a dress like this.”

“Well, it’s your first dance, right?”

“Uh-huh, yeah.”

She nodded. “Then you need a great dress.”

“I hope it’ll be cool.”

“Will you be going with Andy?” she asked as they turned into one of the wide corridors lined with stores.

“No,” Sam sighed.

“Um-hmm. Do you have a date for the dance or are you just showing him that you’re not sitting at home waiting for him to ask?”

“Oh no, Andy missed his chance. I have another date.”

Isabel chuckled. “That’s good.”

“Yeah,” Sam said, but didn’t sound too convincing.

“You really wanted to go with him, huh?”

“Yeah, but he was too stupid to ask me.”

“Well, boys don’t always make the wisest choices.” She smiled. “That can be said of all of us at times, I suppose.”

“Probably right.”

“Probably,” she agreed. They finally reached the first store and stepped inside. “Well, let’s see if they have anything that catches your eye.”

*****

Max walked beside his father, his eyes on the boys as they ran ahead to look at the next car. He rolled his eyes when they pushed and shoved each other to be the one who got to sit in the driver’s seat.

“Doesn’t seem like that long ago that you and Andrew were doing the same thing,” Philip commented with a smile. “That boy sure knew his cars, didn’t he?”

Max forced a smile and changed the subject. He knew all it would take was the slightest encouragement and they would spend the entire day talking about his brother. “So are you and Mom gonna see Tess while you’re here?”

“Wasn’t aware she was here.” Philip shook his head. “Your mother and I came to see the kids before we head up north.”

“Well, but you’re in Roswell anyway, right?”

“How’s business?” Philip asked. “I’m sure Andrew left everything in order.” He glanced at his son. “Heard you were having some problems. That true?”

Of course his dad was going right back to his brother, he thought bitterly. “We have it under control.”

“You know, I still retain my accountant and lawyers so if you need any help or advice that’s open to you. After everything we don’t want to see the business falter. I know you want to handle things yourself but sometimes you need help and you have to be man enough to admit it.”

“I already got help, Dad, but thank you.”

Philip shook his head and smiled fondly. “You and Andrew always did have that same stubborn streak.”

“Excuse me, Dad, but I have to get my boys outta that car,” he pointed at them. Not that he really cared about the boys inspecting the vehicle. He just wanted to get away from the talk about his older brother.

Nick glanced up at Dad and grinned. “This’s cool, huh? Any chance on one of these for Christmas?”

“If you win the lottery.”

“Really?”

“Hey, what about our birthday?” Justin asked from the passenger’s seat.

“What is about it?” Max teased.

“C’mon, Dad,” he complained. “This’s a sweet ride… the girls would love it.”

Max just smirked at that. At their age girls would be impressed with them having a license and having access to just about anything that had four wheels. “Uh-huh, and your first car, whatever it is, probably won’t be one of these. You’ll also be payin’ for half of it, so I’d think long and hard about what kinda car you really want and how long you wanna wait for it.” He patted the hood of the car. “I suppose if you wanna wait a few years you could save up for half of one of these, but,” he shook his head, “I figure half the price tag on this car would put you well into college before you had your half. You probably don’t wanna wait until college though, huh?”

Nick reached up to run his hand over the dashboard. “It’s an awesome car though, Dad. Bet Mom would’ve been impressed with somethin’ like this when you guys were our age, huh?”

He smiled at the memory his son’s words brought up. “Boys, there wasn’t much about my first car that impressed anyone other than me.”

Justin glanced at his twin and mouthed, ‘You know what’s comin’ next.’

Nick rolled his eyes and nodded when Dad launched into his speech about the satisfaction of knowing he had paid his own way and earned that first car. “We know, Dad… it’ll mean more because we worked for it.”

Max grinned and nodded. “That’s right.”

*****

Liz finished washing the last of the dishes from lunch and put the dishes away before going into the living room to check on her daughter and mother-in-law. Kara was showing off some of her toys and Diane was expressing interest at all of the appropriate moments much to her granddaughter’s delight. She leaned in the doorway, watching them and smiling at the picture they made.

Her in-laws had the worst timing of anyone on the planet but it hadn’t always been like that. After losing Andrew they had become more unpredictable and part of her couldn’t blame them. She couldn’t imagine what it was like to lose a child and she didn’t want to ever know what that was like. Philip and Diane had been through a rough time after the accident and then later, when Andrew had passed away. It was the why Max had such a difficult time telling them no when they dropped in unannounced. And it was the only reason she hadn’t put her foot down the night before when they had popped in for a weekend visit and thrown a monkey wrench in their plans.

Thankfully, Kara had been enough to distract her grandmother, saving Liz from having to deal with Diane helping her in the kitchen. But when someone knocked on the front door and the little girl’s head shot up she knew she was about to be left alone with the woman. The mother of one of Kara’s little classmates had called and asked if Kara could spend an afternoon with her daughter and Liz had said yes.

“Mommy, they’re here!” she squealed excitedly.

She smiled and helped Kara into her jacket and made sure she had everything she needed before handing her over to Lily Addison for a couple of hours. As the door closed behind them she turned to lean against it and she forced a smile when she realized her mother-in-law had followed her to the door.

“So sweetie, why don’t we just go out in the backyard and relax a bit? The weather’s so nice.”

Liz nodded. “Why don’t you go ahead. I’ll just grab a couple of drinks and join you.”

“Okay,” Diane agreed, smiling at her daughter-in-law.

Liz sighed and went into the kitchen to fill a couple of glasses with tea, taking as long as possible and putting off the inevitable. She wondered how long it would be before Max came home. She glanced at the clock. It couldn't be very much longer, right? The boys needed time to get ready for the dance. Maybe she should just give him a quick call and remind him. Stop that, Liz! she told herself. She put the pitcher away and carried the glasses out onto the back porch.

“I really love your backyard,” Diane smiled. “If I lived here, I’d probably be out here more than actually in the house.”

Liz smiled and nodded. She and Max had put a lot of work into the backyard, doing the landscaping themselves. “We don’t spend as much time out here as we did when the boys were younger. Now they’ve got football practice and they spend more time with their friends. Kara will stay out here as long as she’s helping Max with something, but other than that she’s content to play indoors.” She glanced at her mother-in-law. “You must miss that since you’re out traveling so much. Not having a place to come home to every day.”

“Yeah,” Diane smiled sadly. “It’s just not the same to come home since Andrew passed, you know?”

She nodded. “No, it’s not, but we can’t just... Stop moving forward. We can’t just stand still and let life pass us by either.”

“How’s my son dealing with it, Liz?” Diana took a sip of her drink and looked at her daughter-in-law. “I know he can downplay things very well if he wants to, so in your opinion: You think he’s moving on?”

“He’s dealing with it as well as he can. Some days are better than others, but he’s trying.” She knew he’d have a fit if his mom tried to talk to him about this.

“We heard he was having some problems with the business…”

Great, just pick another topic that’s a minefield. “He’s just adjusting to running the business end of things.”

The older woman sensed that there was more to it, but Liz didn’t obviously didn’t want to talk about it. “Well, if there’s anything we can do, just let us know.”

What were they going to do from their mobile command center? “We’ll do that. What about you and Philip? Any plans to settle down somewhere and stop traveling so much?”

“We don’t know yet, but we’re not getting younger, right?” Diane glanced around and smiled, lost in her thoughts. “Maybe one day we’ll come back to Roswell.”

Albuquerque’s nice, Liz thought but thankfully didn’t say aloud. She loved her husband’s parents, but she loved them even more from a distance. “Do you think you’ll be here for Christmas?”

“Christmas is still a few weeks off,” Diane said, a bit sad. “I don’t know where we’ll be the week after next, so...”

“No plans for Thanksgiving? It’s coming up here pretty soon too.”

“I actually wanted to be around you guys, but Philip’s still deciding.”

“You know, Tess is here. So are Maria and Andy. It would be nice if the whole family could be together this year.”

“We’ll see. I’ll try to convince him,” Diane nodded. “How are Maria and Andy doing?”

“It kinda depends on the day. They’ve moved into a house here and they’re starting to get their lives together. Andy was starting to do really well but Maria’s met someone and he refuses to deal with it.” She bit her lip as she wondered how Diane would take that news.

“Maria’s dating someone?” the older woman asked, surprised.

“No, she backed off when Andy reacted badly to the news. Michael’s good for both of them. He’s the new counselor at the high school.”

“Maybe we can invite them over tomorrow? I really wanna see them before we leave again. Oh, or we could go over to see her at the new house?” Diane asked. She would talk to Maria; tell her that she should concentrate on her son, not on some other man so soon.

“She's still getting settled so maybe they could come over this evening... or tomorrow. We could call Tess and invite her over too.”

“Well, if you don’t think that’s too much on you. Sure, why not.”

More people around would keep her husband’s parents from driving her completely insane. “No, I think it’d be nice, especially since you don’t know if you and Philip will be here for the holidays.”

****

Mojo’s head hung low as he and his owner walked along the path in the park on Saturday afternoon. It was already after 4pm and he needed to get ready for the dance at school in about an hour since he was going as a chaperone. “What’s up? Don’t ya wanna annoy some birds or something?” Michael asked when the dog kept pace with him, brushing against his leg now and then.

The weather was pretty nice for early November and he had to shade his eyes from the sun when he looked around to see if there were any other dogs out. “Or maybe it’s just because you’re tired from our morning walk, huh?” They had been out for two hours this morning, so the afternoon walk wasn’t really necessary, but he had hoped… Michael shook his head when his thoughts once again went to the woman he wanted so much.

Stop thinking about her all the time, he told himself, knowing it was pointless. He was only here because he had hoped to see her… even if it would just be briefly. “Stupid,” he muttered under his breath.

“What’s stupid?” someone asked when he passed a bench and he noticed the woman who was sitting on it for the first time.

Damn, he thought, now you’ve made a total fool of yourself. “I was just thinking out loud,” he said with a shrug.

She smiled at him brightly, showing her white, flawless teeth. “Yeah, it happens to me a lot as well,” she said and offered him her hand. “I’m Kendra.”

He hesitated just a few moments before taking her hand. “Michael.”

“Your dog seems a little sad,” she admitted and bent down to take a look at Mojo, who hid behind the legs of his master. “And shy as well,” she added, giggling and brushing her long dark hair over her shoulder.

“He’s not too good with strangers,” Michael nodded and crouched down to pet the dog’s head. “So, what’re you doin’ here?” His eyes moved to her face, checking it several times for any sign that he had seen her before. Roswell wasn’t that big. “You’re not from around here, are you?”

Kendra laughed and shook her head. “I’m here to visit someone.”

“And you’re hanging out alone in the park?” he asked skeptically.

“Well, I haven’t been here in a long time and I’m kinda… preparing myself, you know?”

Michael glanced up at her, seeing the hint of nervousness in her expression. “Someone special?”

“Family,” she told him shortly. “You’re from Roswell?”

He smiled and shook his head. “No, I just moved here earlier this year.”

“Willingly?” she teased.

“Would you believe me if I said no?”

“Hmm… probably not.” She checked his handsome face and smiled. “You have to love Roswell to move here.”

“More like I love workin’ with kids and my best friend made me an offer I couldn’t refuse,” he said with a smile.

“Sounds a bit mysterious,” she said with a smirk and covered her eyes when the sun blinded her eyes through the trees.

“Not really.” He shrugged. “I’m one of the counselors over at the high school.”

“You got some rowdy students?”

He chuckled. “There’re a few. Most kids just need someone to listen.”

“Yeah, I bet.” She smiled and leaned back in her seat. “You got kids of your own?”

“No.” He patted Mojo’s side when the dog pressed his head against his leg. “Not yet anyway.” He glanced at the woman’s left hand, noting the absence of a wedding band. “What about you?”

“Yeah, I have a daughter,” she nodded.

“She must be with your family then,” he guessed.

“She’s with her father,” Kendra said, watching Michael’s face. Would he be interested in a woman with a kid?

He nodded. “You guys here visiting the grandparents?”

“No, I’m here alone,” she answered briefly. “It’s been a while since I was in Roswell, but it seems like it hasn’t changed at all,” she laughed.

“I think that’s something I like about small towns,” he said, waiting to see if she wanted to open up about her situation. She seemed to be feeling him out, but maybe she was just trying to make peace with her situation, whatever it was.

“Oh, yeah, that and the gossip,” she snorted.

“That does seem to be one of the favorite pastimes in a small town.”

“Yeah.” She glanced around and saw an old lady not too far from away, watched them. “I’ll bet we’re about to get another rumor rolling.”

Michael glanced over his shoulder and smiled when he saw nosy old Mrs. Miller. “Spreading rumors around seems to be the only thing that gives that one any joy.”

“You're familiar with her, huh?”

“Well, I’ve been here long enough to get to know quite a few of the residents.” He smiled and waved at the old woman, chuckling under his breath when she just gave him a disapproving look and turned to pretend interest in something else.

“You meet women in the park often enough to give her something to gossip about?” she teased lightly. Her plan was to stay in Roswell for quite a few days. She wouldn’t have anything against a bit of company and the man in front of her was exactly her type.

Just one, he thought with a mental sigh. “It’s just hard to miss the gossip and a lot of it starts with her.”

“What’re you gonna do tonight?” she asked, hoping he would say something she could work with.

“Oh, I’ve got a big night planned.” He glanced at his watch. “Yeah, I’m spending my evening chaperoning the Harvest dance.” He winked. “It’s sure to be a blast.”

“Oh,” she chuckled, even though she was a bit disappointed. At least he had a good reason to be busy. “Sounds like fun.”

“I’m sure it’ll be the highlight of the week.” Yeah, wrangling a bunch of hormonal teenagers was exactly what he wanted to be doing tonight.

“Well, if it helps I’ll probably be spending the night alone in a bar, watching some crappy movie while sitting at the counter.”

He lifted an eyebrow slightly. “You won’t be with your family?”

“Maybe for a bit, but not the whole night,” she shrugged.

He couldn’t imagine visiting family and spending most of the night hanging out alone at the bar watching a movie. He thought back over what she had said, trying to fit the pieces together. She wasn’t wearing a wedding ring and she had said her daughter was with her father, but she hadn’t referred to him as her husband. “Your family doesn’t know you’re here, do they?”

“Not yet, no.”

He nodded and sat on the bench, leaving space between them. “Surprise visit, huh?” She seemed so lost, like she needed a friend. Someone to listen to what was weighing so heavily on her shoulders.

“Yeah, something like that.”

“Yeah, my sister pulled one of those on me earlier this week.”

“Not good?”

“Well, it’s always good to see her, but she can bring the drama.” He chuckled. “Her visit was completely unexpected and it caused a few misunderstandings.”

“Ouch. Maybe I should learn from your mistakes and call first then,” she tried to joke.

He smiled and shrugged one shoulder. “It turned out okay.” Maybe things weren’t going the way he wanted them to but that didn’t have anything to do with Chrissie.

“Well, in case you feel like having a drink after watching a bunch of teenagers, you can meet me at the bar on Main Street,” she told him. That way it wouldn’t feel like he had totally dismissed her if he didn’t show.

“Maybe things with your family will go well and you’ll be busy later on.” She really seemed like she needed some good news.

She nodded, not really believing it, but maybe it was just his way of telling her he wouldn’t come?

“To be honest with you, there’s already someone in my life,” he said after a moment. Maybe she wasn’t actually in his life right now, but he wasn’t prepared to let go of her. “But I’d be happy to stop by if you need someone to talk to.”

He had someone, she thought. Should’ve known that. Men like him weren’t just walking around in the park to meet the love of their life. Now she felt stupid for asking at all. “Maybe I should just try to figure things out with my family.”

“Family can be complicated,” he said, his tone understanding.

“Yeah, very well said.”

“Well, if I get the chance I’ll swing by and see how things went with your family.” He glanced at his watch. “I’ve gotta get movin’ or I’m gonna be late to the dance.”

“Alright Michael, it was nice to meet you,” she said, forcing a smile. Kendra was pretty sure he wouldn't stop by, but at least he was trying to be nice.

“Take care, Kendra,” he said as he stood up. “And good luck with your family.”

“Thanks,” she waved at him and stood up as well, walking in the other direction.
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Fics: A Xmas Story - A Merry Mt. R. Xmas - Cupid's Revenge - Double Trouble - Double Date - Double Dare - Double Empire - Double Xmas Wish - In The Course Of A Lifetime - Mountains So High - Not A Question At All - Surrender - TIC TAC - Two Double Dates at Xmas
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