Leaving Normal (CC, Mature) - Epilogue - Completed: 06/12/2018

[Roswelllostcause]

Yes there is luck for you in Texas Max. But it might not be the kind you think it is.

[keepsmiling7]

Can't wait until Max get all of his surprises in Texas!
Seems like Evan is adjusting okay with Liz........
Yes.......they are getting ready to open Pandora's Box like nothing you've seen before.
Thanks,
Carolyn

[L-J-L 76]

Love how Liz is making Evan feel like a kid and have some fun with their kids. So Liz believes Evan about Tess being dead. Love how Liz is raising Evan as one of her kids. I think Maria is right about loving Evan because of Max. So Michael is going to look into it and see if Tess is really dead. Oh wow Isabel and Max are on their way to Texas. Can't wait for Max and Isabel to find Liz, Michael, Maria, Kyle and kids.

From:
L-J-L 76

[roswell4life]

Can't wait to see Max's reaction when he realizes his son is with Liz, he has twins with Liz and that Tess is DEAD!!! Texas should be interesting!!!

[L-J-L 76]

Please please come back and post more really soon?

From:
L-J-L 76

[Parker1947]

Midnight

Liz was tossing and turning in bed. Max filled her dreams. All their greatest hits played in her mind just as she switched to the deserts, near the caves which held the pods. Max, I need you she whispered in her sleep.

Max on the other hand was driving. They were looking for a hotel to spend the night. They had made some good mileage since leaving the house. Max felt alive for the first time in days as he drove, taking an exit that would lead to a hotel and then this sudden sense of Liz came into his mind as he drove. And the words, Max, I need you! came to him like the wind calling him. Damn he thought.

“What is it?” Isabel asked as she saw a spark of something in her brother’s face.

“I feel Liz, is that weird Iz, I can hear her.” Max sighed as they pulled into the parking lot of the motel that was closest to the highway.

“It’s not strange at all,” Isabel said with a smile.

“Why do I have a sense you’re not telling me something?” Max asked as they got out of the car and headed to the head office where they got a key to a room with two double beds.

Walking to the room, the opened the door. Isabel went in and looked around. This had been her and Max’s life before the Special’s Unit dismemberment, and she didn’t miss it, at all. The not having a place to call home. Which is why life in New York was nice, but it hadn’t been home. Roswell had been home. Nothing since has been as sweet. She looked up at her brother who was looking at her strangely. “What?”

“You didn’t answer me. What aren’t you telling me Iz?” Max asked.

“It’s nothing important,” Isabel said with a smile. You don’t have to worry. I think I am going to take a shower. So, if you’ll excuse me.”

“Go ahead, but then you’re going to tell me what you’re keeping from me and don’t think you can’t not tell me something for my own protection. I am a big boy Isabel. I deserve to know what is going on,” he said but the only response he got was a slammed door to the bathroom.

*****

Liz couldn’t sleep. So, she got up and went for something to drink. Something that would make her want to sleep and let her unwind. Tess being dead had made her memories of Max come back with a vengeance. Walking into the kitchen, she saw Kyle making himself a sandwich. “Hey, you do have a kitchen in the cottage you know?”

“I know,” Kyle said with a smile. “But it’s lonely there sometimes and especially when I can’t sleep. So, you can’t sleep either?”

“Nope,” Liz said as she went to the fridge and got the milk and heated up a cup while putting a touch of Tabasco in it which made Kyle crack up as he watched. “What?” she asked as she stared at her friend’s amusement.

“For a human, you like Tabasco sauce.” Kyle asked.

“I guess with the kids liking it, and Michael needing it. I got used to it.” Liz said a few minutes later as she returned to the table. “Why can’t you sleep?”

“I am thinking of Roswell. You know, Dad,” Kyle said. “Sometimes I miss him. I know he’s happy with Maria’s mother and they have settled down. But I just wish sometimes we could go back and be part of their lives.”

“Someday we will,” Liz said knowing what Kyle was thinking was also on her mind. Jim Valenti had been reappointed Sherriff due to the whole outcry over their departures and eventually had reconciled a relationship with Amy DeLuca and apparently from what the Texas crew could find out, Jim and Amy were very happy back in Roswell which had lessened the guilt in both Maria and Kyle over leaving them and abandoning their parents. “But you do know that you can go back at anytime.”

“I know I could and really, we all could, if we wanted. Now that the Special Unit is closed, and the FBI have stopped looking for us, but something is stopping me.”

“Me too,” Liz said. “Especially now that we know that the kids are exhibiting powers.”

“So true,” Kyle said knowing that Liz craved the idea of returning home to see her parents - Jeff and Nancy still ran the Crashdown and they missed their daughter every day. To this day, they remained in the dark about the true reason for their daughter’s disappearance. Liz allowed them to believe that their little girl had run off to get married because they disapproved of her relationship with Max and not that she was on the run from the authorities.

“I know I screwed up with my parents,” Liz said with a sigh. “I wish they could know. But the idea of overturning that rock again in Roswell is not that appetizing is it?

“That is what I feel about my father,” Kyle said as he decided to approach an idea that was turning around in his head. “I was thinking of taking a weekend trip to Roswell? Do you think that is an idea that I should pursue?” he asked. “If I did go to Roswell then I could check in and see the Evans as well as your parents if you want.”

“You would really do that?” Liz asked as hope sprung up within, and she more alive than she had been in eight years. “I have felt like a terrible daughter.”

“You’re not a terrible daughter. You’re trying to protect Max and your own kids. Jeff and Nancy might not understand why you had to run. And it’s 8 years later, and they haven’t heard from you, so they probably worry but they love you, and they will always love you.”

“Maybe if I write a letter, can you take it with you, if you do go?” Liz asked.

“Sure, I would love to” Kyle said thinking this was going to be good for all of them. “I’ll let you know if I do go,” Kyle said. “I appreciate the conversation, but I think I am going to try to go back to sleep. Why don’t you try too?” Kyle said as he got up from the kitchen table and walk to the back door. “Sleep tight.”

“Good night Kyle,” Liz said checking the clock and it was almost 1 a.m. Muttering to herself, she took Kyle’s advice and went back to bed. And this time it worked, she did fall asleep and went back to dreams of Max and their children and the fairytale life they could have been leading if only the cards had stacked up the way they should have, and not fallen apart when high school ended for them.

*****

Max and Isabel were in the car after only a few hours of sleep. Max still hadn’t gotten a satisfactory answer from his sister about what she was keeping from him, but he allowed it to continue and concentrated on the drive.

*****

Michael was making breakfast for the kids before they headed off to school. It was his day off from the restaurant, and he planned to continue to check into Tess’s supposed death. While he did think she was dead for real, this time. They did think she was dead last time as well. He wasn’t leaving anything to chance. He was checking all the hospitals to find out if they had any blondes in their 20’s that may look younger who had died lately. So far there has been no luck. But he was trying. “So, who wants eggs and pancakes?” he asked.

“Me,” Emma and Amelia called as Michael plated the eggs and pancakes for the girls.

“Who’s next? Michael asked.

Parker and Michelle asked for bacon with their eggs, no pancakes. Evan didn’t say what he wanted which got Liz curious. Evan was blending into the family, but he was still shy around the whole family. He did better at showing his personality around the kids. “What do you want Evan?” Liz asked.

“Orange juice and eggs is fine,” Evan said after a minute of hesitation.

After the kids were eating, the adults took their turns putting their orders and before long, the kids were up in their rooms getting ready for school as they left the adults to talk.

“Kyle is thinking of visiting Roswell,” Liz announced.

Michael and Maria looked at Kyle with surprise. Kyle nodded. While they craved a return to Roswell. None of them had even dare return, even when the Special Unit disbanded. They felt it was easier since now there were kids involved to stay away as it was apparent they were special, and no one knew what that meant for exhibiting extraordinary powers. The original generation had enough difficulty blending in and with how their exit had erupted the town of Roswell, they hadn’t wanted a rerun. So, it was unscabbed wound still festering “Really, you are really thinking of going?” Maria asked. “You plan to visit our parents?”

“And maybe the Evans,” Kyle said. “I don’t know when yet or even if I am going to go,” he said. “But it’s a possibility and I need to store up some confidence that it won’t make things worse. There is something in the fact that our parents haven’t had to worry about us, all these years and what we might be doing.”

“I think it’s a great idea,” Michael said, shocking the others who looked at Michael like he was crazy. “I guess you didn’t think I would say that I gather?”

“No,” Maria said. “What are you thinking Space boy?”

“I am just thinking maybe it’s time one of us took a visit to Roswell and check out what has the last 8 years brought our hometown since we haven’t been able to get any reports from there, due to our situation. One of us could check in with Valenti,” Michael said. “And Kyle, they were always going to worry about us. Our departure was kind of abrupt.”

“You’re worried that Tess was in Roswell before heading here?” Liz asked as she checked the doorway to make sure the kids weren’t coming or eavesdropping which she knew was a specialty of Emma and Parker, and the Guerin kids as well…

“Well she did start off in Roswell,” Michael said as he put breakfast down on the table. "It’s worth us knowing because as we’ve experienced with Tess, never discount anything.

“True Space boy, true,” Maria said with a smile but also a frown because she desperately missed her mother, yet, there was still so much unknown in waking up their dormant life in Roswell, and all that entails for their families.

*****

Roswell, New Mexico
The Crashdown

Jeff Parker was working the cafe when Jim Valenti walked through the doors. Looking up, he smiled. They had become closer friends over the past eight years. You almost needed to when you have missing kids in common. Jim’s son Kyle left town soon after Graduation, along with Jim’s new wife Amy’s daughter, Maria. It was quite a little fraternity of grieving parents.

“Hey,” Jeff said as Jim came up the bar portion of the counter. “What brings you here this morning?”

“Amy was going to stop by with her pies,” Jim said. “I thought I would take some time with her. The station is kind of slow today, and I am afforded the luxury of time with my wife.”

“Go ahead. Take a booth,’ Jeff said as Nancy came in from the back. She had taken her daughter’s absence the hardest. She still was feeling the effects, but little by little, things were looking up. “Jim is waiting for Amy.”

“Has there been any word?” Nancy asked as her face changed, and anguish was clear all over her face.

“Sorry Nancy,” Jim smiled as he rushed to reassure the grieving mother. “I wish I would hear from Kyle or any of them, but it’s no go with any information. Officially from the intel I have been able to accumulate is that our favorite special unit is still shut down, and they have stopped looking for our kids.”

“Thank god,” Nancy said. “But I guess with this kind of situation, then we would know if our kids were in trouble because the media or television would be full of it”

“So true,” Jim sighed It doesn’t seem fair that you needed to hope that something would break in the media for them to get any information at all about their kids as he looked around the restaurant. The situation at the graduation had caused a peak in customers for years and they were still riding on that high. “How’s business?”

“Still high,” Jeff said as he felt guilty that he needed to lose his daughter to get business back.

“I guess that is something,” Jim said as the front door opened and Amy Valenti walked in with a mountain of pies in her arms. He rushed to help her place them on the counter. “Hi Honey,”

“Hi Jim,” Amy said with a smile and a quick kiss. “Your pies as ordered Jeff,” she said.

“Great, we’re almost out of the last batch.” Jeff said as he helped carry the pies into the kitchen while Nancy stayed and looked at the newlyweds. It had been six months of wedded bliss for Jim and Amy Valenti. The only somber moment to the festivities was that neither Maria nor Kyle were able to attend to attend the wedding and see their parents celebrate their big day.

“How is the shop going?” Nancy asked Amy.

“Business is busy,” Amy said as she sat down at counter and took some time with her husband. “Oh Jim, someone called for you before I left the house.”

“Who?” Jim asked. “Did you get a name?”

‘A Victor Sanders. He says he from the Austin Police Department in Austin, Texas, here is the phone number for you to return his call.” Amy said handing the piece of paper to her husband. “I was going to stop by the station later, but seeing you now gave me the opportunity. I hope it’s not too serious.”

“I doubt it is,” Jim said. “Sometimes the Sheriff’s Department do help out other police departments in shutting down their cases. I don’t see how it’s that serious... But in case it is, do you mind if I attempt to return the call?”

“Sure, go ahead,” Amy said. “I’ll wait here. Maybe we can walk back towards the station together?”

“Sure,” Jim said walking away and found his cell phone from his pocket and dialed. “Hello, this is Sheriff Jim Valenti of the Sheriff’s Department in Roswell, New Mexico and I have been asked to return Detective Victor Sanders phone call from earlier this morning. Can I be patched to his phone?” he said. “Thank you,” he said as he waited a few minutes and then he continued. “Hello Detective Sanders, this is Sheriff Jim Valenti of Roswell, New Mexico, you called?”

“Yes, Sheriff Valenti,” Victor Sanders said from his office in the Austin office. “I am sorry for calling you are home. But I first tried your office, and your deputy said you were out for the morning. There is no current case that needs your service, but I just wanted to notify you since you were listed as next of kin.” He was saying, and Jim’s heart died. What’s wrong with Kyle? he asked himself.

“Is my son okay?” Jim asked, immediately Amy and Nancy became alarmed at the mention of Jim’s son.

“Who?” Victor Sanders asked from his office.

“My son. Kyle James Valenti?” Jim asked wondering to himself why the Austin Police Department would be calling him if it wasn’t his son Kyle. “If it’s not him, who are you calling me about?”

“It’s not your son. A Jane Doe was discovered in the lake near here, it looks like a clear case of a drowning, but a car was located nearby. Registration came up as one Tess Harding of Roswell, New Mexico. You were listed as next of kin.”

Tess is alive? Jim asked himself. No way, she was supposed to be dead 8 years ago in that explosion at the military base. “Sorry, you were telling me something?”

“I am calling to inform you since you were listed as next of kin?” Victor said. “Can you come and claim her?

“I am confused, is Tess in jail?” Jim asked.

“No, she’s dead. Cause of death appears to be a drowning; she was transferred here from a local hospital.” Victor said. “Because you were listed as next of kin, I am calling to notify you and to ask what you want me to do with the body?”

“Can you hold her until this weekend?” Jim asked as his brain whirled with activity.

“Sure. Will you be coming to claim the body?” Victor asked as he looked around his desk for a piece of paper to write down information.

“I’ll have to call you back about that unfortunately. I need to check some things. Is it possible for you to hold her until the weekend?” Jim asked again.

“Call me back. We like to have bodies claimed as quickly as possible,” Victor said.

“Good-bye,” Jim said as he hung up. And immediately Amy, Nancy and a returning Jeff was on his back about the phone call. “It’s fine” he assured the frantic parents.

“But you though they had Kyle?” Amy asked.

“Can we go into the back?” Jim asked as he didn’t want word to get around the restaurant and start another round of hysteria. Jeff nodded and they all went into the back after Jeff got a waitress to keep an eye on the place while they were gone.

Once everyone was in back room and taken a seat on the couch or just standing up, they all jumped on him again. “Jim, what is going on?” Jeff asked. “Nancy told me you were talking to some police detective from Texas. Is it the kids?”

“Apparently a Jane Doe showed up in the morgue and I was listed as next of kin,” Jim said as everyone was wondering why Jim was called about a Jane Doe.

“So not Kyle?” Amy asked, reassured, and yet frantic. “Maria?”

“No, not Maria,” Jim reassured his wife yet frowned. “It is Tess Harding.”

“WHAT?” Nancy said as anger appeared on her face. “You said she died back in 2002, shortly before the kid’s graduation. One of the reasons the kids were forced to flee.” She said. “Or the primary reason Liz was detained by the FBI, before Max and Liz ran off together.”

“That is what we were led to believe,” Jim said deciding to keep Nancy’s misinterpretation of the events going. As he did know that Max and Liz had been forced to go their separate ways. He didn’t want to tell Jeff and Nancy that because it would make the fact Liz has stayed away all the more wrenching to know and it was far simpler to believe that the kids had run off to marry once Tess died, having taken down the army base, which led the army and government establishment and mostly the Special Unit to run the kids out of town as they tried to keep one step ahead and now he was forced to reassess the assumption he had been operating under although technically no one actually see Tess die. They all assumed, and now it seems it was all an elaborate hoax from the mind warper herself until she had her final un-doing in Austin. “The Austin authorities want someone to come claim the body.”

“Are you going to?” Amy asked.

“I don’t know yet. I told him I would call him back once I had time to think about it but let’s face it, if it is really Tess then maybe I need to,” Jim said. “Amy, would you up for a trip to Austin this weekend?”

“Let me check my schedule,” Amy smiled as she looked forward to getting out of Roswell for a weekend with her husband. Even if it meant claiming the body of a killer who was now dead. “I likely can get Phyllis to work the store but first I have to check with her and make sure she can do it.”

“I have to check with the office, and see whether Deputy Davis can fill in,” Jim said. “I wonder how Tess possibility could have survived that explosion,” he asked the group.

“Maybe if Tess is gone, Lizzie can come home?” Jeff asked knowing he was a bit selfish in the feeling. They had nothing on where Liz was, and how her life was. Was she a scientist or was she something else? Did she and Max make it work? Jeff just wanted to hold his little girl. She was 25 now. But she was still his baby. Their only child, and to lose her so completely…

“I am sorry Jeff,” Jim said. “You know Liz did what she felt was best.”

“I know,” Jeff said. “But it gets so lonely here sometimes. But then again, I guess its double for the Evans as they lost both of their children in Max and Isabel,” he said, and everyone nodded. Diane and Phillip were part of their fraternity of grief stricken parents and were trying to lead their own lives, and didn’t always come and visit as much anymore, but it was very apparent that they missed their children.

“I think we all feel that way,” Amy said with a sympathy smile. “Okay, I have got to get back to the store. Jim, I’ll call you about my weekend schedule and Jeff I’ll be by tomorrow with some new supplies you could use for this place.”

“Sure thing,” Jeff said as he and Jim walked Amy to the door of the Crashdown and watched her as she got into her car. Once she was gone, and Nancy was now in the kitchen, Jeff turned to Jim.

“Why do you keep lying to us?” Jeff asked.

“What do you mean?” Jim asked a little shocked.

“We both know that Max and Liz never ran off to elope. Why keep the lie going?” he asked.

[Roswelllostcause]

Why do I get the feeling that things will really heat up in Texas very soon.

[RoswellFan68]

Thanks for the update. I hope Kyle doesn't miss seeing his dad with Jim going to Austin.

[L-J-L 76]

Oh my god Max and Isabel will soon be in Texas. Can't wait for Max, Isabel to find Liz and others. And boy Max will be in for a huge surprise. Can't wait for Max see Liz, Kyle, Maria, Michael and kids. So Kyle wants to go to Roswell to see the parents. Wow after all these years Max can hear and feel Liz now. Love how Michael is cooking. So now everyone knows that Kyle wants to go to Roswell. The parents are still so worried about their kids still. Wow Jeff knew Jim was not telling the truth about the kids. So it is true Tess maybe really dead now. Hope Jim, Amy and Kyle won't miss each other. I get the feeling things are going to be happening that will change everyone's lives. And things are going to start to maybe come together. Hopefully Max, Isabel, Kyle, Liz, Michael, Maria and kids will find each other and stay together as a group. Still can't wait for Max and Isabel to find Liz, Kyle, Maria, Michael and kids.

From:
L-J-L 76

[keepsmiling7]

Kyle is really wanting to return home and see his father after such an abrupt departure......
But wait..........the Austin officials notify the Sheriff that he was listed as next of kin for Tess.
Now that opens up a new can of worms.
Will the Sheriff go to Austin????? Beware of the current bombings going on!!
Jeff wants the truth......and I think he deserves it after all of this time.
Thanks,
Carolyn