Roswell Fanatics

Chapter 19

{Liz}

“If you care, at all, for the safety of the Royal Four and your future family, your Highness, you will deliver your child.” Langley said it with such assertion that he put fear into all of us.

I stared at my husband as he worriedly and nervously shook his head. And I wasn’t the only one who looked to him. We all did. It was apparent that he wasn’t confident in himself, but he told me once that he needed me to believe in him, and I did, I do. I trembled, but tried my hardest to hide my quiver and swayed in my seat. I don’t even know why I trembled. I guess the adrenaline was just running through me because of the fear, but I had to be strong. I wasn’t supposed to fear anything. I was supposed to confident.

I took a deep breath and stared at Max. “I trust you,” I said.

He looked across the table and tilted his head slightly, like a puppy. And now everyone turned their heads and looked at me. I wasn’t the least bit intimidated or self-conscious. I was only focused on Max.

“I trust you,” I repeated, this time with an extra ounce of confidence in my voice.

“Good woman you’ve got there, Max.”

Everyone’s heads whipped towards the conference speaker phone, except for Max.

He let his eyes remain on mine and after a moment of just looking at me, he had finally smiled and followed it with a nod. “I know,” he replied confidently.

And for a second, we shared a really great moment. For a second, I was able to forget why I had trembled earlier and why I had fear coursing through my body. It was a good moment, and I knew it wouldn’t last long and that it would be the last good moment for a long while. Langley spoke again.

“See? She’ll make an excellent queen,” he said.

And again, our eyes shot to the machine sitting in between all the food in the center of the table.

I smiled to myself, shaking my head. Queen? “What?” I laughed. I looked around the table for an answer, but found none, just faces just as confused as mine.

“Oh, shit,” Langley nervously replied. “Well, would you look at the time? I should be going. Enjoy the dinner. Good luck with everything.” By now, he was speaking at lightening speed. “Keep me up to date with everything. Don’t forget to call. Serena, take care please. This was nice, let’s not do it again.”

And click. The room went silent. Dead silent.

“Liz is a queen?!” Maria exclaimed. “What the—”

“Yes,” Max admitted, and it seemed as though he didn’t want to admit it. With his head still hanging low, Max cleared his throat. “Tess isn’t my queen anymore. Liz is.” He spoke as if he didn’t want to reveal this fact to me because he stared at the mashed potatoes as if he was telling the mashed potatoes that I was a queen and the volume of his voice was soft, like he was afraid.

I noticed Michael’s head turn to Max and then me, then to Max, and back to me again. “When? How?”

Max reached in front of him and grabbed the bowl of salad. He started forking some of it onto the plate, making sure to grab a little bit of everything. “This isn’t a discussion we really want to have during dinner.”

“I think we do,” Michael scoffed. “How does this happen?”

Max placed the bowl back onto the table and shrugged his shoulders. “Fine.” He cleared his throat and looked at everyone of us. Suddenly, I knew I would regret Michael’s demand to know how. “Liz became my queen the night she and I first had sex.”

My cheeks burnt red and the adrenaline was back in my blood.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Isabel said with a scowl. “Let’s talk about how and when at another time.”

Future Max had told me that the world would end as a result of Max's and my marriage, because we led to the departure of Tess who was an important part of the Royal Four. But with Tess leaving on a different account and Max's and my marriage occurring not when we were 19, but 18, I believed that the world wasn’t going to end, because of timing. But no, the future changed because now Tess was no longer an integral part of the Royal Four. I was. But why was Tess an essential part of the Royal Four in the first place? Because she had the power to mindwarp. But she wasn’t part of the Royal Four anymore, which I can’t say enough. Unless I was theorizing incorrectly. Maybe I was just a queen and Tess was still needed.

“Can she still mindwarp?” I asked. I had to know.

Everyone stopped passing food around and brought their attention to me, and then to Max. He held the tuna casserole in one hand and the serving spoon in the other. He was frozen like that for a moment that the tuna casserole on the spoon slid off and dropped right onto his plate. A big blob. Splat. He placed everything back on the table and lowered his head, clearing his throat. I think as he did, he murmured something, but something unintelligible.

“What was that?” Isabel asked.

I think all of us had the same question. He cleared his throat again.

“We can’t hear you,” Maria said.

Max rubbed his forehead dry. “No,” he replied clearly, and again, he spoke to the mashed potatoes because he didn’t want to admit this fact. “No, Tess can’t mindwarp anymore.”

“So what?” Michael questioned. “What the hell does that mean?”

I looked at Max and not necessarily in the eyes. He kept on avoiding me and I knew it. I realized why he didn’t want to admit to me being his queen and why he didn’t want to admit to the loss of Tess’s ability to mindwarp. It was gift that was a curse. Tess never intended to kill Alex, but she did. It was accidental. It was a power I wouldn’t want anyone to have and I would sympathize with the person who had to carry that curse, unless that person was Tess. But with a title always comes responsibilities.

“Well?” Michael wondered.

Max looked at me and knew that I had figured everything out. He nodded, but I didn’t nod back.

“It means I’m the one that can mindwarp,” I said.


{Max}

As the others expressed their shock and disapproval, I continued to look away. I couldn’t bear to look across the table and see the pain in my wife’s eyes. I blessed her not only with the curse that is my life, but with a curse in the form of a power that killed our one of closest friends.

“Wait a second,” Michael requested. “So, Liz is the queen and she can mindwarp?”

Without lifting my head, I nodded. I had carried the weight of a world on my shoulders once before. I had failed. I tried my hand at carrying others and their problems. I didn’t do so well either. Now I had to carry the guilt of bringing my curse upon my friends and family, my wife mostly. I had also equipped her with a weapon capable of destroying lives and it added to the guilt. The weight of that guilt weighed more than that world, my loved ones and their problems put together. And not to mention, I was carrying the life of my future family in my hands.

“We have to get rid of it,” Maria ordered.

Isabel shook her head. “I’m thinking we can’t. Our powers aren’t like some horrible stench that we can ‘get rid of’.”

“It’s ok.”

I finally looked up at the sound of her voice. She wasn’t happy or angry or anything, really. She just stared at a spot in front of her and nodded.

“It’s ok,” she said again. “I just… I just won’t use it.”

I noticed Isabel look at Liz and then speak directly to her. “Liz,” my sister began. “It’s not that simple. Things happen by accident. I mean, that’s how we learned about our powers in the first place. I think we can all agree that we need you to practice the mindwarp.”

“It’s not like it’s some sport,” Jesse laughed.

“Isabel’s right, though,” Michael said softly. He’d be the one to know that practice makes perfect. He’s had to practice so much to perfect his powers and he still had some work to do.

“So what am I supposed to do?” Liz questioned. Now she seemed angry and I felt like I was responsible. I was responsible. “Should I take a class?!”

I rubbed my temples in frustration. “Liz, I know you’re not happy,” I sighed apologetically.

“Not happy?!?” she shouted. “I’ve got the power to kill people!”

I caught everyone grimacing and looking away. And I was choosing to believe that it was just mood swings that changed Liz’s…well…mood.

“Liz, calm down,” I pleaded. “Think of the baby.”

“He’s right,” Serena chimed in, and thank God she did, because if she didn’t, I knew Liz was going to blow up even more and blow up something or someone.

“Let’s just change the subject,” Kyle suggested.

I nodded willingly and backed up his idea with the first thing that came to mind. “I didn’t kill Burns,” I said, and immediately, I closed my eyes in disappointment. That wasn’t true. I didn’t know if I did or didn’t.

“Are you serious?” Michael smiled with wide eyes and a lit up face. I think it was the happiest I had seen him.

And I felt horrible for having to take his happiness away, but I hesitantly shook my head. “It’s not entirely true,” I replied.

Isabel jutted her head forward, pointing her ear towards me. “What does that mean?”

For about the zillionth time tonight, I nervously cleared my throat. Why the hell did I have to change the subject to Burns? Our family dinners bit the big one. How could a person dread dinner? I don’t know, but I was. I was dreading future family dinners.

“It means, Langley couldn’t find out anything,” I finally answered. “Time was passing by and I was looking more and more like the killer. So Langley did what he had to do to protect me, to protect all of us.”

“What’d he exactly do?” Jesse inquired. He had stared at me intensely acting, at this moment, as my lawyer and not my brother-in-law.

“He got someone to confess to the killing. I’m off the hook.” I would have said it with more happiness and satisfaction, but I just couldn’t. There was the strong possibility that I was the killer and if I knew for sure, I don’t know if I could live with myself for getting away with it. But if I did do it and confess like I would, then I would be locked up for life.

I glanced across the table at Liz. I wanted to know what she was thinking. I couldn’t get a good, in-depth read off of her, but I could tell that she was happy that Langley came up with a solution, even though she didn’t show it. In fact, everyone wasn’t showing much emotion. Everyone seemed to take the news relatively well.

Michael scratched his eyebrow. “Ok, then,” he calmly said, which surprised me. “It’s done and over with. We never speak of it again.” He reached for his glass of water and held it in the air. “So that’s what we toast to—Max's freedom, the new addition to the family, and the present and future secrets that we keep close to our hearts until the day we die.”

It was like a pact from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, when the boys created that secret society. Well, I guess that’s what we were. We were a secret society.

Everyone exchanged glances while Michael waited with his glass still in the air. Liz was the very next person to grab her glass and then soon enough everyone followed suit, except for me.

I stared at my glass—half-full, half-empty, however the hell you want to look at—and debated whether or not to grab the cup. Secrets? No, no more secrets. I was sick and tired of secrets. I didn’t know how to manage them. I was too stupid and kept all secrets to myself. I couldn’t separate between the right and the wrong secrets.

“We’re kind of waiting on you, Max,” Kyle chuckled.

My eyes darted to Kyle and then to everyone else who just stared at me and waited for me to move. There really was only one option.

I finally snatched my glass off the table and held it in the air. “Here’s to…my freedom,” I reluctantly admitted. “…the new baby,” I said with a smile. “…and to the present and future secrets that we keep close to our hearts until the day we die…and…” I looked down for a moment knowing there was more to add. “…and here’s to the complications that are repercussions of those secrets. We will face them together.”

Accompanying music, "Breathing" by Lifehouse

Chapter 20

{Kyle}

“How was the funeral?”

I shrugged my shoulders as I walked with Michael through the hallway. Funerals are funerals. There’s never anything special about them. How do you really answer that question without lying? “It was good”? No, that’s a bunch of shit. How can a funeral be “good”? What happens at a funeral? People come together dressed in black. Men and women cry as people speak about how the departed person had lived and how much that person meant to them. And I know it’s selfish to cry because Katie’s gone, but I don’t care. Everything’s changed. It doesn’t matter anymore. I want to be selfish.

As we started down the stairs, I bobbed my head. “It was good,” I replied.

The staircase was big enough for Michael and I to walk down side-by-side and while we did, Michael had his arm wrapped around me, a gesture I never knew Michael knew. “You and I know that that’s a bunch of shit,” he commented about my response. “If you ever, ever want to talk to any of us about it, you know we’re more than willing to listen. So how was it really?”

I looked up at Michael with the shock of Michael’s care and consideration still on my face. I never knew that he cared so much, but it was obvious that he did. So instead of cracking a joke, I thought about yesterday, the day of the funeral. Maria and I flew to California the morning after that special dinner. We met with Katie’s family and I had found it extremely difficult to look her parents in the eye because of the guilt I was feeling. Despite how well I got to know her family and how well they got to know me, they would never know everything about me. They would never know that I was cursed and that it was my curse that might have killed their daughter. I knew there was a connection. There just had to be. So you have to imagine just how uncomfortable the whole visit was.

It was good to have Maria there. She was someone I could talk to talk to. Without going into the detail of my curse theory, I managed to tell her how I felt. She, surprisingly, remained silent and listened to me. We used to talk, but as a friends and not as step-siblings. For some reason, it was different now that she was my step-sister and I liked that it was different. We picked up our parents at the airport. Little Jamie was huge. She had Amy’s eyes, my father’s nose, and a cross between mine and Maria’s lips. My little sister made the trip a little more pleasant, but still, we were in California to attend a funeral.

Katie’s sister gave the eulogy, her parents said a few words, and they encouraged me to say something. So I walked to the pulpit and all I could think of saying was that I loved her and that was it. It rained the second we stepped foot out of the church. It was pouring pretty hard and they say it’s good luck for it to rain on your wedding day or funeral. I was just glad I had an excuse to wipe my eyes instead of claiming there was something in my eyes. The priest gave the final blessing and the casket was lowered. We all left for the wake where awful food was served and people I barely knew offered their condolences. It was a nice feeling to know that people cared, but I don’t think I remember what those people said. I feel bad, but nothing was processing that day. It was too depressing.

The day after the funeral, Maria and my father helped me pack all my belongings and send them off to Boston. Most of the stuff in the apartment belonged to Katie. The art on the walls, the towels, the sheets, everything was her. She decorated the place and made it her own, despite the apartment being under my name. I hadn’t minded though. I loved being surrounded by her and it was hard to get rid of it all, but I couldn’t take it with me. I gave a few of her things to her parents and her sister. Maria cried as she watched the exchange. The Stones said a few things to me. Things about me always being a part of their family and how much Katie loved me. All I could do was smirk and nod in understanding and agreement. I gave them hugs and said goodbye. It would be the last time I talked to them. After all of that, my father took Maria and I to the airport and we flew back to Boston. We arrived last night. In short:

“It was shit,” I told Michael.

He gave me a little squeeze and laughed. “Atta boy!” he said. “You ever need to tell us anything, you tell us.”

I smirked as we set foot downstairs. While Michael’s suggestion was another surprisingly kind gesture, I wasn’t going to tell him what was on my mind. Too much was going on anyway. I wasn’t about to tell him that I feel like being part alien is like being cursed. Michael wouldn’t want to hear it even though he did say that he was “there” for me. You and I know Michael, he’d get angry, blow up, and give me the silent treatment until I groveled at his feet begging for forgiveness.

I let Michael settle with my smirk of gratitude. We walked to the kitchen but froze at the doorway where Isabel and Maria were. They were in the dining room, looking into the kitchen, but hiding behind the walls. Both Michael and I leaned forward, poking our heads in between the girls.

“What’s going on?” Michael wondered.

Both of the girls swatted us with their hands. “Shhh,” they hissed.

Michael and I exchanged glances and shrugged our shoulders.

“What’s going on?” Michael asked again, this time whispering.

With their eyes still glued onto whatever spectacle the girls were staring at, they pointed into the kitchen. I looked to where they were directing our eyes and found Liz sitting alone in the breakfast nook, but even though she was alone, the whole table was covered with food. There was no space on the table available at all. I bet if we were to look into the fridge, it would be cleared out. I think all the food in the house was on that table and there was Liz Parker, one of the tiniest girls I knew, scarfing down on a jar of mayonnaise.

“That is revolting,” Isabel gagged. Her mouth was open, her tongue stuck out, and she literally gagged. “Is it possible for a baby to be born with clogged arteries?”

Maria scoffed. “We’ll find out when their baby’s born.”

“Is it really that bad?” Michael wondered. “This has to be normal, right?”

We were all silently hoping that it was, but we weren’t sure. Pregnant women eat weird stuff all the time. Once when Amy was pregnant with Jamie, she had ordered a pizza with peanut butter and anchovies. So I guess it was normal.

It was so hard to believe that Liz was actually pregnant. It was just an amazing concept. In a couple of months, there’d be a little Max or Liz in the household. We were really grown-up and Max and Liz were having a kid.

“So, does anyone know how old the kid is?” Michael wondered as we all continued to watch in disgust as the mayonnaise in the jar progressively disappeared.

That baby may have been conceived just a couple of weeks or so ago, but it wasn’t the size of a few-weeks-old baby. It was growing and it was growing fast.

Maria briefly looked over her shoulder at us and then went back to watching Liz, who had moved on to French fries doused with cheese. “Isabel and I did the math,” she said.

Michael and I waited patiently, but Maria had seemed to get off track. “And???” I questioned.

Isabel grimaced watching Liz shovel nearly half the plate of fries in her mouth. “Um, four and a half days is equivalent to a month.” She winced once more. “So little baby Evans is a couple of months old.”

We stopped gawking at Liz’s eating habits and smiled to ourselves. It was such a great realization. In a couple of weeks, a baby was going to be waking us up at five in the morning. We were going to find bottles of formula in the fridge and jars of pureed carrots or mashed bananas. It was going to be like Three Men and a Baby, except it’d be more like Five Aliens, Two Humans and a Baby.

“Ok.” Maria tilted her head to the side and studied Liz. “Fifty bucks says the kid’s first words are ‘heart attack’.”

“I’ll take that bet,” Isabel smiled.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I laughed. “Max and Liz are having a baby. With their brains, the baby’s totally gunna say ‘triple bypass surgery’.”

And at the same time, Maria and Isabel looked my way. They then spat out a laugh of disbelief.

“I’ll put a hundred dollars on it,” I said confidently.

Maria stared at me with a raised eyebrow. “Let’s see the cash.”

I reached for my back pocket and pulled out my wallet. There was Katie’s picture. She had that beautiful smile of hers. I let my thumb grace over the photo and reached in and pulled out two fifty-dollar bills and held them up for Maria and Isabel to see. The two girls finally left their post at the doorway and started walking around the room. Isabel went straight to her purse on the dining room table and Maria reached into a drawer and pulled out her checkbook.

“You guys disgust me,” Michael sighed, shaking his head.

“Oh come on!” Maria laughed. “Liz is totally disgusting us. I love her, but God…”

Michael peered back into the kitchen and shook his head once more. “Mayonnaise and cheese-covered fries?” he wondered. “It’s not that bad—”

“You know, I don’t think it stops at the mayonnaise,” I began. “I think I saw her carrying sticks of butter upstairs earlier this morning.”

Maria shoved her boyfriend. “You hear that?” she exclaimed. “Butter! Sticks of butter! Land-O-Lakes butter! Sticks!”

“Ok!” Michael shouted back. “I get it, their kids going to be the youngest person with a pacemaker. I’ll put down a hundred on that. Pacemaker.” He was the first to slap down the money on the table.

With her hands on her hips and her eyes still on Liz, Isabel shook her head. “She probably hides butter sticks in her room like people hide chocolate bars.”

“Excuse me?”

All of us stopped counting the money and turned to the doorway. There was Max.



{Max}

“What the hell do you guys think you’re doing?”

I tried my best to keep my grin and amusement concealed within me, but I caught them all red-handed. All four of them hovered over the table, over a small pile of large bills and one check. Each of their jaws dropped to the floor and their eyes were wide with guilt. I had been listening to their conversation the whole time.

“Uh…Max…” Isabel chuckled. She looked down at the money and gave a little laugh. “Um…We were just—”

I shook my head and placed my books on the table and took a seat. “It’s ok,” I smiled. “I heard everything. But my money’s on ‘mama’.”

Feeling ashamed, everyone withdrew their bets and put their money back into their respective places of safekeeping. After doing so, they took a seat at the dining table. I had my book open for no more than a few seconds when I realized that everyone was watching me study. I peered over my book and laughed.

“Can I help you?” I wondered.

All four of them puckered out their lips and shook their heads.

I squinted my eyes in confusion but went back to my book anyway. But I couldn’t concentrate knowing that the others were still watching me. I simply closed my book and placed it back down on the table.

“Ok, what’s the deal?”

Kyle looked to Maria, Maria looked to Isabel, and Isabel looked to Michael who gave a nod in agreement and it was like one bad intervention. Michael quickly cleared his throat.

“How’s the studying going?” he questioned.

Before answering, I looked at each of my friends at the other end of the table and then looked at my pile of books. The Expectant Father: Facts, Tips and Advice for Dads-To-Be; Nine Months and a Day: A Pregnancy, Labor, and Delivery Companion; Childbirth Instructor Magazine's Guide to Careers in Birth: How to Have a Fulfilling Job in Pregnancy, Labor, and Parenting Support without a Medical Degree; Your Pregnancy Quick Guide: Labor and Delivery, What You Need to Know about Childbirth; and Medical Complications in Labor and Delivery. I had spent hours at the bookstore and the library. I read nearly every book and bought nearly every book on childbirth and labor. But fact of the matter is, you can’t learn how to delivery a baby from books. You can learn the mechanics of it, but it doesn’t give the confidence to actually doing it. It’s not like I was reading the instructions to building a jungle gym in the backyard. I was supposed to deliver a baby, my baby. As an ER doctor, I was taught emergency labor, but still, that was something lectured to me. I figured that when a woman in labor came to the ER, I would have an attending doctor there with me to help me out. But I wasn’t going to have one when it was time to deliver my child. I wasn’t going to have anyone or anything. No drugs. No tools. Nothing.

I bobbed my head with a grin on my face. “The studying is great,” I lied.

But the other’s didn’t buy it.

“You’re about to deliver a baby, Max,” my sister said, shaking her head. “Are you ready?”

“Do I have a choice?” I asked them, but I answered before they could. “No, I don’t.”

“There has to be another way,” Maria sighed.

When we talked to Langley at dinner and he told everyone that I absolutely had to deliver my child, we never really discussed it as a group. I didn’t know how the others felt about that. I didn’t know whether they agreed or disagreed. I guess I was going to figure that out soon enough and it seemed as though Maria disagreed with the solution. But there was nothing I could do. There only was one solution.

“I have to do this,” I told them all.

However, the others didn’t seem convinced that that was the only choice.

Scratching his eyebrow, Michael shook his head. “If you deliver your child, Max, where are you going to do it? Here?”

I guess I hadn’t thought things through.

“You’re going to put Liz’s life at risk and you’re going to put the baby’s life at risk. What happens if something goes wrong?”

“What if something goes wrong at the hospital?” I questioned, and no one could answer. “If we have the baby here and something does go wrong, I could always heal her.”

And then that was it. No one had anymore arguments. But I could tell that everyone had their doubts. I don’t think anyone agreed with having the baby here at home. It was a surprising fact. I figured Michael and Isabel would have supported the decision, but they didn’t. They didn’t trust me. They didn’t matter though, because Liz trusted me. She said so and she was the only person I needed that confidence from. Remembering that, it renewed what confidence I had in me.

“Look,” I said firmly. “It’s either me or a doctor. You all heard Langley, there’s a chance that our baby’s alien. If doctors find that out, we’re all at risk and we can lose my child.”

With reluctance, Michael finally bobbed his head and slowly the others did too.

“Ok,” Isabel sighed. “Ok. We’re behind you, but we don’t necessarily agree with this. It’s just…” She couldn’t find the right words.

The doorbell rang and from the kitchen Liz shouted. “I’ll get it!” she said.

We all turned our heads and looked into the kitchen. Liz dropped the ear of corn she was gnawing on and rushed to the door, careful not to exert herself too much. Having been placed on house arrest, we figured that Liz should at least get to answer the door.

And then we went back to the conversation.

“We don’t agree with this,” Isabel continued. “Only because…” She still couldn’t figure out what to say.

“Because with our damn luck,” Kyle said for her. “With our damn luck, something’s going to happen and we just want to make sure that Liz and the baby are taken care of.”

I nodded in understanding. I felt the way they did too. I really did, but I had no choice. “I want nothing less,” I told everyone. “I have to do this.”

“Have to do what?”

It was a new voice, causing every one of us to snap our heads and look to the doorway. Standing next to Liz was Detective Bailey.

Chapter 21

{Michael}

We thought it was all over, but here was Detective Bailey standing in our dining room. She stood up with such perfect posture, I just wanted to shake the woman loose. Her light brown hair was tied back tightly in a neat bun. Her trench coat pressed to perfection. Her straight nose in our business.

We watched as Max slowly stood up from his seat. He stared her down, burning her with flaming stares. Detective Bailey was one of those women who you just hate with a passion after first glimpse. It wasn’t hard to add to that hate. She was in our home now, definitely at the wrong time.

I hadn’t notice it, but I had slowly gotten to my feet and now Max and I were standing up at both ends of the table. Neither of us had let our eyes off of the detective.

“What are you doing here?” Max finally said.

The detective took her hands out of her trench coat and used the hitchhiker’s thumb to point out into the hallway. “You and I need to talk.”

Worriedly, Max looked over his shoulder at the table, at all of us. Of course, we were the ones staring at him now. I have no idea why he always looked to us, but he did. Out of fear or worry? I’m not sure. But he did look nervous. He had let his bottom lip drop a little, allowing his lower jar to become slightly visible. Yeah, he was definitely nervous.

Langley had told us, though, that Max was in the clearing, but truth of the matter is, he really wasn’t. We absolutely had no idea who killed Burns and there were no clues. There was no gun. There were no witnesses. There was no alibi. Max looked guilty. It was the fact. Langley knew that and that’s why he got someone to confess. But maybe the police didn’t buy it. Maybe that’s why Bailey was here, to tell us Max was the one who did it.

Max nodded his head and moved the chair from behind him out of the way. He walked over to the detective and guided her to the hallway. They were about the same height. So it was hard to tell who was going to intimidate whom.

As Bailey disappeared into the hallway, I caught sight of Liz for the first time since Bailey showed up. I started studying Liz who had to play that role of June Cleaver and stay back and watch everything happen before her. She was pregnant now. Under the circumstances, that meant that she was helpless. We weren’t lettering her do much. We weren’t allowing her to carry anything. She wasn’t allowed to leave the house. And we were going to have to start her on a healthier diet. And in addition to all of that, we weren’t going to let her get all worked up about anything, which meant we weren’t going to let her get involved with any of this, whatever it may be.

I leaned forward and stopped next to Maria’s ear. “Take Liz upstairs.”

Maria barely looked up but shook her head. “No, I want to know what’s going on.”

I loved her to death. I did. But Maria was work. I grabbed her by her upper arm and helped her out of her seat. “Go,” I ordered.

Glaring over her shoulder, Maria snatched her arm back and started walking towards Liz, continuing to glare my way. I don’t remember a lot of Leave It To Beaver, so I’m not sure if June Cleaver had a best friend who popped in every once in a while, but Maria played that role. She was just as involved as Liz was, meaning her role had been reduced to a minimal one since we found out that Liz was pregnant. I know that Maria would have loved to be involved more. It sucks to be left out, I know that. She already feels left out for being human. She sometimes feels guilty for being one. But Maria had to be the baby-sitter and take Liz away from all the action.

So Maria walked over to Liz and grabbed her hand. “Come on, girlfriend. Let’s go do some shopping online. We still need to get some things.”

Liz looked to Max. Her eyes were wide with worry, and of course, he nodded assertively, urging Liz to get upstairs and out of earshot. Maria was going to take her upstairs to surf the Net and check out the best baby stores online. Liz could buy the latest in baby technology, fashion, and furniture and she could do anything she wanted; just as long as she remained calm and happy. Max didn’t want any negativity reaching the baby, but after what we’ve been through in the recent weeks, I’m afraid baby Evans has already been exposed.

Max and Liz kissed, letting their lips linger on each other’s for a few precious seconds. Their PDA was enough to choke a horse, but you know, I didn’t mind it as much as before, because before, what were they doing? Sneaking around and keeping those stupid secrets from each other.

“Go ahead upstairs,” Max smiled. “I’m sure it’s nothing.”

I walked towards them and nodded to add support to Max's claim. “He’s right. I’m sure she’s just here to let Max know that he’s off the hook.” I made sure to smile, but not too much to freak her out.

And being the smart girl Liz is, she stared at us with skepticism, not believing a single word we said. “Whatever,” she sighed. “I need to check if they shipped the crib anyway.”

She kissed Max again and followed Maria through the dining room, kitchen, and eventually through the family room. Isabel jumped out of her seat and quickly followed. They were going to take the circular staircase in the family room to get upstairs. That way, they’d avoid Detective Bailey waiting for Max in the hallway. The woman could bring stress upon a cute little puppy.

But before she left, Isabel grabbed my arm. “Let us know what we’re about to miss,” she whispered into my ear.

I nodded obediently and watched the girls leave the room like Max did. He made sure that he heard the girls clear the staircase before meeting with Bailey in the hallway. While he waited, he had turned to me and looked to Kyle. “Make sure they stay up there,” he told us.

Kyle and I nodded, and because Kyle was so loyal, he started following the same path the girls had taken just seconds earlier, but I stuck back and I watched Max step into the hallway. I could hear the mumble of words, but nothing else really. Kyle nudged my arm and tilted his head away from the direction Max was in.

“Come on,” Kyle urged. “You can show me how far you got with the mural.”

The game room was all cleared out. All that remained in the room when we moved everything out were food and soda stains on the carpet and there was that dent near the base of the wall. I remember when I got a little angry after losing to Max at foosball. I think it was the first night we had the table. We had a tournament and played since the moment we got it, through the night, and into the late morning. The girls weren’t too happy that we spent so much time playing foosball. But anyway, Max and I were a little wired after having so many sodas and Red Bull, and we had played for a few hours already. He had won seven games and I had won seven games. The current game was tied nine to nine. Last point won. Needless to say, I watched the ball enter my goal, and so I kicked the wall and hurt the shit out of my big toe, but I swear, Maxwell cheated. He used a little mumbojumbo. I know he did.

Anyway, that dent had been repaired and the carpet was clean and changed to a pastel yellow. Right now the floor was covered from wall to wall with a plastic sheet. Paint cans were resting in the corner along with a can of paint brushes and a scaffold. Why not just use a little mumbojumbo to paint the room? Well, we did, but the paint was for something else. Max and Liz wanted the nursery to be special. So instead of plain walls, some type of mural was going to surround the room. With Max's help, I had changed the color of the walls from a mild blue back to white. When that was done, I stood in the middle of the room, closed my eyes and pictured the first thing that came into my mind. I had walked to the wall and started drawing. And what exactly did I draw? The desert, a spaceship, and cartoon aliens; I had tried my best to remember the mural on the Crashdown wall. But my mural was going to be a little different. Back in Roswell, there were three teenage aliens on the wall. Here, there were five somewhat grown-up aliens and two humans. If done correctly, it was going to be a near-exact replica of the Crashdown mural. Liz was especially happy to the point where she cried (probably because of the hormones), but it wasn’t done yet, and I’m waiting for her reaction when I do finish it. But I wasn’t going to do that anytime soon. Right now, there was something important I had to listen in on.

“You go ahead,” I whispered to Kyle. “I’ll meet you there in a second.”

Kyle stared at me with squinted eyes and realized what I was going to stay back for. “Should I just make sure the girls stay up there?” he wondered.

I gave a little nod and walked closer towards the doorway that Max and Detective Bailey left through while Kyle went ahead and headed for the circular staircase in the back of the house. Once I reached the doorway, I leaned against the wall, hiding behind it.

“I guess congratulations are in order,” I heard Bailey say.

Although I hid behind the wall, I could slightly see the detective and Max conversing. Max had crossed his arms, squinted his eyes in confusion and shook his head. “Congratulations?” he wondered.

Did the detective know that Liz was pregnant?

Bailey nodded. “You’re off the hook. You didn’t kill Burns.”

With his stance still firm and strong, Max nodded. “Well, I knew that. I’m glad you guys finally figured that out.”

I had to hand it to the guy. He was a good actor. As a result, Bailey lowered her head, ashamed.

“Right,” she replied. “Well, on behalf of the Boston Police Department, we apologize for the mix up.”

Still with his arms crossed tightly in front of his chest, Max nodded. “I appreciate it.” Although, with Max's tone, it didn’t seem like he cared much about what the detective had to say.

That didn’t matter because Bailey didn’t have anything else to say. That was it. Detective Bailey came to visit because Max really was in the clearing. He was off the hook.

The tall woman glanced at her watch and sighed. “Well, I better be going.”

Max nodded and began to walk the woman out of our home. “May I ask how you figured out who the killer was?”

“Someone confessed,” Bailey informed Max, even though he knew full well what was going on. “Some guy couldn’t carry the guilt anymore and confessed.” She looked down for a moment, but then her head shot up and she stared straight at Max. “Amazing, isn’t it?”

Max nervously cleared his throat and nodded. “It’s a good thing we have consciences.”

Why he said that, I have no idea. It seemed a little shady and for some reason, Max was acting shady. No longer was he standing so superior, but rather broken and agitated, fidgety almost. I leaned closer to the wall and craned my neck to follow their movements.

The two of them reached the door. Max quickly leaned forward and pulled it open for the detective. With her head lowered, the detective started to leave, but she froze with one foot outside and the other inside. She looked over her shoulder and grinned.

“Another congratulations,” she said.

Again, Max cleared his throat; one of his nervous quirks. “Thank you.”

“And I don’t just mean for being cleared of Burns’ murder.” The roles of superior and inferior had switched from Max to Bailey. Suddenly, she was in control of intimidating. “The missus is pregnant,” she said smugly. “Congratulations.”

Then she picked up stride and left the house, leaving Max shocked and scared, as well as me. He stared at the air frozen and dumbfounded. I quickly rushed out of hiding and jogged to the door. I poked my head outside as Bailey left a government issued sedan. I grabbed hold of the door Max was leaning on and went ahead and closed it. Meanwhile, Maxwell had remained still.

“Max.” I chuckled as though I hadn’t been listening in or as if Bailey finding out that Liz was pregnant wasn’t a big deal. “You’re all clear?”

He finally closed his mouth and nodded. “I’m all clear,” he squeaked.

I grabbed Max by the arm and moved him away from the door and had him sit down on the stairs. I looked at Max. I studied him. I had known the kid since we were eight or nine. I knew his quirks, his nervous ticks, and I could almost always figure out what he was thinking. And after looking at his tenseness and trepidation, I knew that there was something wrong. We were supposed to be happy. Max was cleared of everything. The only thing we had to worry about was the baby and the conscience, and those were things we were taking care of. But the way Max looked, the energy, or lack thereof, he was giving out, there was something more.

“Max, cheer up,” I urged. “Let’s be happy.”

But he shook his head, swallowing the lump in his throat. “I can’t, not when I know that it’s never going to be over, Michael.”

I stared at him in confusion and shook my head. “What are you talking about? It’s over, Maxwell. Over and done with. We don’t have to deal with Bailey anymore. It really is over.”

The head shaking continued as Max turned his head from side to side. “Michael, look, I have this feeling…” he nervously said. “I don’t know what it is, but it’s a strong feeling.”

I got down on my knee and looked up at Max. He was surely scaring the shit out of me. I grabbed hold of his knee and gave it a little shake. “Max, what is it?”

He nervously scratched his chin and continued avoided looking into my eyes. “Something’s going to happen, Michael. And I don't just mean what might happen now that Bailey knows, but other things are going to happen. I know it will.” His eyes began to water and he chuckled to himself at how silly it was that he was starting to tear up. He sniffled a bit and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. “Look, Michael, you’re going to be my kid’s godfather and—”

“What?” I laughed. Instant flattery was just running through my mind. “Maxwell, it’s an honor. I—I don’t know what to say.”

Finally, he stared into my eyes, looking straight into them. “Say you’ll protect him or her,” Max said. He had replied so quickly, running right through that sentence, but he said it so sternly. “Promise me now that no matter what, you’ll protect my child, you’ll make sure it’s safe.”

I could see the fire and passion burning in his eyes. He was scared. For some reason, Maxwell was scared. So I nodded my head assertively because why would I disagree? “Yeah—Yeah, of course. Why wouldn’t I?”

Max grabbed my hand and held it in his own and gave it a firm pat. “Good,” he smiled, bobbing his head. “Good answer.”

A/N: Hey everyone! Thank you, as always, for all the wonderful FB. You guys are absolutely fantastic. I wanted to make sure and let you all know that my computer totally crashed. I'm looking for a new hard drive, meaning that everything on my computer is gone. I was totally pissed/bummed. I just wanted to cry. It's all frustrating, really. Fortunately, I had this chapter sent to my beta and I didn't lose it. I was able to go into my inbox and fish this puppy out. The latest chapter to my other story wasn't as fortunate. It vanished with all my other work. :sigh: Well, it happens, but grrr...I wish it didn't. Ok, whatever, I'll get over it. I'm fine, really. I'll stop complaining. I hope you all enjoy this update and I will try my hardest to write a new update and have that posted soon. So, if you'll excuse me, I have to go find a pencil and some paper. Take care!

-hoLLy


Chapter 22

{Max}

I looked up at the house as I pulled into the driveway. It was almost three in the morning and the lights were off in Maria’s room. While they slept I’m sure she was smiling as Michael spooned her. From now on, they’d be spending the night in her room until forever, and in Michael and Kyle’s room, I’m sure Kyle was happy that he didn’t have to share his room with Michael even though they were sharing a room. Sounds difficult, I know, but it’s pretty simple, really. The lights were off in that room too as was the rest of the house, except for my room.

About an hour ago, Liz had woken me up in the middle of the night. She had a sudden craving for Ben&Jerry’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. I fished my hand under her pillow hoping to find the Twix bar she had hidden under there, but came up empty handed. I had had a busy day working a twelve hour shift and all I wanted to do was get a good night’s rest before having to work another twelve hour shift in just a few hours, but since it was apparent that Liz ate the Twix she had hid under her pillow, I was going to have to actually go downstairs. So for the baby’s sake, I got out of bed and ran down the stairs and into the kitchen. Of course, like the fridge, the freezer was practically empty. No Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough in sight.

There were three choices. I could grab my keys off the counter, search for a 24-7 market, and buy the ice cream, but as a result, I’d spend time doing so when I could be sleeping. Or I could search the pantry for something to substitute the craving, but get yelled at for what would be perceived as insulting my wife, who would then send me out to market anyway. Or I could go upstairs empty-handed…but did I really want to risk that? Either way, I was going to have to head out to find a supermarket or convenience store open at this time. So I did.

As I drove around all of Cambridge, I realized that I could do without sleep. I needed to do this. I needed to take care of Liz and the baby. Once the baby was born, I was going to be up at all hours of the night anyway. I crept into the house as quietly as possible and made my way through our home.

I walked all the way through the house, passing right by the main staircase. I was opting for the circular one instead. I went around in circles as I ascended. Maybe I should go ahead and take this staircase out. It was pretty steep. A regular staircase might be safer, but I remembered that this was one of the features that Liz had loved. I smiled as I let my hand run up the banister.

My intentions were to head right to the master bedroom, but since the door to the new nursery was now right beside me, I went ahead and let myself in. My feet no longer touched a plastic sheet and the smell of paint had long disappeared. The room was practically finished. The mural on the walls looked absolutely amazing, perfect.

Liz and I were in our room reading about labor breathing when Michael barged in. He was wearing a white Hanes shirt under white overalls and a white cap on his head. There was splashes of paint all over him. Why the hell he chose to wear white? You’ve got to me. But anyway, he had barged into our room with a big smile on his face and the others following behind him.

“Prepare to be amazed,” he cheered. He grabbed mine and Liz’s arms and dragged us across the hall, placing us in front of the closed door. For dramatic affect, he waited a few seconds before we yelled at him to open the door. “You know, that baby of yours is going to be pretty impatient.”

I had glared at him angrily and he quickly opened the door. Liz gasped at the sight. It was like we were in the Crashdown all over again, but with a different twist, a different touch to it. Liz began crying immediately. She kept on trying to apologize for crying, blaming it on the hormones, but I smiled and gave her a kiss.

“I love it too,” I whispered in her ear.

She walked right in and grazed each of the walls with her hand, stopping at the wall with the big scene. Five aliens and two humans. I told Liz that if we were going to have a kid, we weren’t going to hide anything. Despite the danger embedded into our lives, being alien was my heritage. Eventually, our kid was going to ask about the mural and I was going to be more than happy to tell the story of our lives.

The rest of the nursery wasn’t done. I read the labeling on the boxes. We had the crib, the changing station, the rocking chair, the bookcase, armoire, toy chest, different types of mattresses, linens, baby clothing, and plenty of other things I’ve never heard of. In the open closet, there were two types of strollers, a car seat, quite a few baby monitors, toys, and so much more. Liz went absolutely nuts online. Deliveryman after deliveryman had come to the door. It was absolutely insane. We had actually received all the furniture and other products days ago, but never got around to assembling them.

I moved across the hall where I could hear the tv on in the background and I could see the blue light it created. I guess I was wrong, all the lights in the house were off. For some reason, with the lights off, a tv always gave off, what appeared to be, a blue light. I opened the door to the master bedroom and found reruns of I Love Lucy on, but on the bed, Liz wasn’t sitting up and watching as Lucy tried to sell Vitameatavegamin. Instead, Liz was curled up in a ball, sound asleep. I turned off the tv on my way to the bed. Once there, I kneeled down and kissed the tip of Liz’s nose. She stirred slightly.

“Liz, wake up,” I whispered. I rubbed her upper arm and gave her a little shake.

Ordinarily, I wouldn’t have woken Liz up. I would’ve gone back downstairs, put the ice cream in the freezer, and come back up to sleep, but for a pregnant woman, Liz wasn’t so pregnant. She was pretty small as it was, but now she was carrying a baby and you’d figure that she’d gain weight, but she hasn’t. I mean, she gained a few pounds, but you couldn’t tell. Her body frame had remained the same except for the very small bulge that wasn’t growing. We had started measuring her stomach and for a few days, it had gotten bigger, and it was absolutely the greatest thing, but lately, there hadn’t been much of a change. She couldn’t fit into her jeans anymore, but it didn’t look like we were going to be investing some money into maternity clothes anytime soon.

I was worried at first, but after investigating, I discovered there had been some cases where women’s bodies never went through a change, but they gave birth to healthy babies. In some of those cases, women didn’t even know they were pregnant, yet they gave birth to healthy babies. But that didn’t mean I was going to let things go on the way they were. I was going to try to get that baby bigger. So if it meant waking up at all hours of the night to buy ice cream, then I was going to do it.

“Liz, come on,” I urged.

“Max?” she grumbled. “Not tonight.”

I closed my eyes in embarrassment. Thank God no one was in the room. “No,” I laughed. “I got the ice cream…and some carrots.” It wasn’t a good mix, but it was better than butter sticks.

With her eyes still closed, Liz smiled in delight and then finally woke up. “You’re the best,” she smiled.

I smirked, proud of myself, and nodded. “I know.” I helped Liz sit up and placed my hand on her stomach. “Anything for the baby.”

Liz grinned and grabbed the bag out of my hand. She immediately began digging through it. I just sat on the floor and leaned back, placing my hands behind me to support me. I had figured that Liz would toss the bag of baby carrots aside, but instead, she used them as spoons and forced them into the ice cream.

“Uh…Such a good idea,” she said. She stuffed a whole carrot into her mouth and started chewing. “Mm…Serena came over today. She said we should look into a water birth.”

Serena came by almost every other day to make sure that things were ok. So far, they had been. She had filled out papers, told Liz things about her progress, and made sure that Liz was eating right. So again, with the weight issue, I guess we were ok.

“A water birth?” I laughed. “Is that safe?”

Liz bobbed her head and continued stuffing her mouth with ice cream. I can’t say I wasn’t disgusted. “She said it won’t hurt as much and that’ll definitely help since I’m not getting an epidural.” She definitely sounded disappointed and a little frightened.

For the past few days, I had only been worried about how I was going to be during the childbirth. I never thought about Liz. Yeah, I know, it’s stupid of me, but I was delivering our baby. It was kind of the only thing on my mind, but then I sensed Liz’s fear and it hit me.

I got up on my feet and peered into the small tub of ice cream, noticing maybe one or two little dough balls left and ice cream soup, and the bag of carrots were near empty. “Come on,” I smiled. “Finish up and we’re going to take a little trip.”

“You’re taking me out of the house?” Liz wondered, and of course, there was a hint of sarcasm in her voice, along with a hint of excitement.

I stuck out my tongue at her and grabbed her hand as she popped the last carrot into her mouth. “You have to be quiet,” I whispered. “Otherwise, Michael’s going to kill me.”

I guess I should’ve been more aware of Liz’s situation. Not only was I on her case about being careful and whatnot, but Michael was too. He was cooking dinners full of protein, calcium, vitamin C, fiber…You name it, Michael made sure that it was in our dinners. He had taken what I said to heart. He was going to take care of my child as if it were his own.

I thought about the bone-chilling feeling I had that prompted me to make sure Michael was going to protect my child. It wasn’t a premonition, a flash, or a vision. It was more of a feeling in the pit of my something, like a sense. I don’t even know what it was, but I wasn’t going to take it lightly. Something always happens to us. I had known that from the start and Liz had reminded me of it constantly. It was the reason why she didn’t want to have kids. But she was pregnant now and there was nothing we could do to change that. I shuddered at the thought.

“Are you ok? Cold?”

I looked to Liz in the passenger seat and smiled. “I’m fine,” I lied. I know. I know I should tell Liz, but this time I can’t. I don’t even know what it is I’m feeling. I don’t want to scare her, and it’s not like I was holding in this secret, I told Michael of my fear.

“Where are we going, Max?”

I reached into Liz’s lap and grabbed her hand. “It’s a surprise.”

Liz rolled her eyes and sighed. “You can be so cruel, you know that?”

“I know,” I agreed. “But you’ll be so happy, I guarantee.”

Liz smiled happily and squeezed my hand. “Listen, I’m about half way through this pregnancy. We need names.”

“But I like mine.”

Liz glared at me angrily. “You know what I mean.”

Joking around with a pregnant woman wasn’t really the greatest thing to do for a man’s self-esteem. I regretfully nodded and let Liz continue.

“Ok, here’s the deal,” she said. “I’ve got names picked out for a boy and a girl. You’re going to have to think of some too.”

I pulled my hand back and rubbed my forehead. I wasn’t the greatest at being creative and I didn’t want to name my son or daughter Frank or Betty. There’s nothing wrong with those names, but I wanted something more. I just didn’t know what.

“Liz, I don’t know,” I sighed. “Whatever you’ve got in mind, I’m sure it’s fine.”

“Do you want to hear them?”

With heat rushing to my cheeks, I turned to Liz and smiled. “Sure.”

Liz turned in her seat, slightly sitting on the side of her thigh. “Ok, so, don’t be too harsh. I’ve got back-up names if you don’t like these ones. For a girl, I want to name her Abigail. We’ll call her Abby.”

Abby. Simple. Sweet. Something more. It was absolutely perfect. I grinned from ear to ear and nodded in total approval.

“I love it.”

“Really?”

I continued to nod and grabbed Liz’s hand. “It’s perfect, Liz. It really is.”

With Liz’s own cheeks burning red, she hid her face. Then she regained her composure, trying her best to hide her grin, and cleared her throat. “Ok, and if we have a son…I want to name him after you.”

I was absolutely shocked. The words she chose, they had hit me like a brick. I hadn’t felt like a father throughout this whole thing so far, but now I did. In that instant, I realized that I was going to be a father.

“Max…are you ok?”

Liz had to shake me loose.

I pulled the car into a parking spot and laughed. “I’m going to be a dad.”

As Liz unbuckled her belt, she giggled. “Yes, that’s pretty much the idea.” She stepped out of the car and studied her surroundings. “Max, we’re at the hospital.”

I jogged around her car and grabbed her hand. “Shh…” I whispered. With her trailing behind me, we walked along the wall of the ambulance bay as quickly as possibly, without slipping on the sidewalk.

“What are we doing here?” Liz wondered.

But I didn’t reply. I made sure that no one knew we were here. We walked in through the sliding doors and as usual, the ER was busy and filled with people. Doctors were usually oblivious to the people waiting to be seen unless they were their patients or people causing trouble. So, no one had noticed that I was in with my pregnant wife.

“Max, no one’s supposed to see me,” Liz continued to whisper.

I looked over my shoulder and held my index finger up to my lips. Still sticking close to the walls, I led Liz through the ER and into a secluded room, locking the door behind me. “Go ahead and have a seat on the bed,” I told her.

Liz gave a little giggle of disbelief and did as I told her to do so. “Am I a patient now?”

I had moved across the room and rolled a piece of equipment towards Liz. “Ha-ha,” I exaggerated. I eased Liz back on the bed.

“What are we doing?”

I flipped the switch to the machine, grabbed the attachment, and prepared it. “We are going to do what every expectant couple gets to do. Are you ready?” I held out of my hand.

Liz looked at me with uncertainty, but placed her hand in mine. I squeezed it tight and smiled at her.

“Lift up your shirt.”

With her free hand, Liz slid her shirt up past her stomach and held it there as I placed the machine’s attachment on her stomach and began moving it around. “An ultrasound?” she realized.

I took my head away from the machine’s monitor and nodded. I moved the attachment around her stomach. We both watched the monitor and stared at the black and white on the screen.

“Do you see it?”

I stared hard at the screen and shook my head. “No, but it can take a while to find the baby.”

I could hear Liz worriedly sigh and swallow the lump in her throat. I gave her hand a little squeeze and used my other hand to direct the ultrasound machine’s attachment back to the top of Liz’s belly, to start back at the beginning.

“Max, I don’t see or hear anything.”

I shook my head and continued looking to the screen. Seconds passed, but it felt like minutes, and there was still no sign of the baby.

“Max,” she pleaded, “maybe you should—”

And Liz froze. It sounded like water swishing around and it just repeated over and over again, rhythmically. And finally, on the screen, I saw our child.

“There,” I smiled. I let go of Liz’s hand and pointed to the screen. “Do you see it?”

I looked to Liz and there were tears in her eyes from when she believed that maybe there was no baby or that we lost the baby, but she had changed those tears to ones of joy. “Is that the head?”

I gave a little nod and outlined the baby’s profile with my index finger. “It’s sucking its thumb.”

Liz giggled and wiped the tears from her eyes. “Can we have a picture?”

“I’ll print one up,” I immediately replied.

But before I could move to get started on printing out a photograph, Liz grabbed my hand and pulled me towards her, forcing me to take a seat next to her on the bed. I held her hand up to my heart and we just watched the screen and listened to our baby’s heartbeat.

I looked over my shoulder at Liz and smiled. “That’s our baby. It looks normal.”

“How old is it?” Liz wondered.

I shrugged my shoulders and went back to studying the screen. “I’m not exactly sure. Maybe nineteen weeks? More than halfway there.”

I handed Liz a tissue to wipe the gel off her stomach and got off the bed to print up an ultrasound photo. Liz got herself cleaned up and patiently waited for me as the screen capture printed out. Once it was done, I cut it around the edges, gave it a little blow to dry it faster and handed it to Liz.

“We’ll put that in its baby book,” I smiled. I started to move the machine back across the room, trying to leave the room the way it was when we broke in. “You know, I’m sure if I study the picture enough, I can find out what sex the—”

“No!” Liz refused. “I want it to be a surprise.”

I helped Liz off the bed and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “Are you sure? Because I don’t want to keep referring to our baby as ‘it’.” I placed my hand on her stomach and gave it a little rub.

“I’m sure.”

“The suture room’s open. Take him in there.”

“Shit,” I laughed. I quickly unlocked the door, opened it, and poked my head out, holding Liz’s hand behind me. “Come on.”

I looked to my left just as a gurney was coming around the corner. So we started jogging in the opposite direction. We peered from behind walls, ducked behind beds in the corridors, and used mobile shelves to hide us. The whole time, Liz was laughing. At least she had found amusement in our little escapade. We escaped my colleagues, security guards, and strange patients. By the time we reached the ambulance bay, we were panting, trying to catch our breaths.

“That was fun,” Liz breathed out.

She walked ahead of me, but I caught up and scooped her into my arms. “Alright, now you need to rest,” I told her. “Get some oxygen to that baby of ours.”

I carried Liz in my arms all the way to the car and carefully placed her inside. By the time I had reached the car, she had fallen asleep.

There was still so much to do and only a month or so until the baby was due. Neither Serena or I could set a due date. It was too hard to tell, but in a month’s time, the baby was here. Every day we just had to be prepared.

I could hear the vibrations of a phone and turned to Liz. She jumped in fright.

“Oh, geez,” she said, panicked. She pulled her phone out from her pocket and glanced at it. “It’s my parents. I wonder why they’re calling.”

I gave a little shrug and continued focusing on the road.

“Hello?” Liz answered. “Oh, Dad! Hi. You do know it’s like 3:30 in the morning here. It’s got to be like one o’clock there. What are you doing up? You forgot Mom’s birthday was tomorrow.”

Liz looked my way and rolled her eyes. I gave a little chuckle and continued en route. It had been so long since we had gotten in touch with our parents. They didn’t know about the problems that Liz and I had—the arguments, the fights, the separation. I’m sure they heard about Burns’ death, but they had no idea that we were connected. Most importantly, our parents didn’t know that Liz was pregnant and that it wasn’t a normal pregnancy. It would be fairly easy to explain it to my parents since they knew about the science fiction involved in my life. Liz’s parents were a whole different. I didn’t even want to think of how we’d explain it. Liz and I agreed that we wouldn’t tell her parents about our secret unless it was absolutely necessary.

“No problem,” Liz giggled into her phone. “Go to bed. Oh, it’s ok, Dad. Call anytime. Uh-huh. Sure thing. Tell Mom that Max and I and everyone here wishes her a happy birthday. Good luck tomorrow, Dad. Love you too.”

Liz snapped her phone shut and placed it in her pocket. I waited for her to say something, whether it be something about her mother’s birthday or something about what I was thinking, and I hoped it would be the latter, but she didn’t. Liz stared out the window, watching us pass by the trees lining our street.

I looked down and wondered if maybe I should bring up a rather controversial subject. I cleared my throat and went back to focusing on the road. “Liz, your parents…”

She turned and rested her head against the seat. “I know,” she sighed. “I don’t know what to do.”

I gave a little smirk as I parked into the driveway. I reached and grabbed Liz’s hand, placing it on my chest. “We won’t tell them it was a two month pregnancy, let them believe it was a regular one. We’ll just say that we were separated for a while…having some problems…and that’s why we never got around to telling them you were pregnant. We—”

“What?” Liz gasped. She pulled back her hand and sat up in her seat. She pushed herself away from me in horror as if I pulled off a horrible mask, revealing an even ghastlier sight. “We lie to them?”

My bottom lip bounced as I tried to speak, but found no words.

“Max, I can’t lie to my parents,” Liz refused, shaking her head and her eyes open wide. “If we did, it wouldn’t be keeping the truth from them. It’s betrayal.”

“What are you saying?” I stupidly wondered.

Liz leaned her head against the door, looking up at the ceiling of the car. “We have to tell them.”

My hands tightened around the steering wheel as I bit down hard and lowered my head. If we were to tell Liz’s parents everything, we’d be opening a can of worms. Too many people knew and I can’t protect them all.
“It’s a mistake,” I said.

Liz shook her head. “It’s the only choice we have. We can’t tell them that we had marital problems. It’d break their hearts that they didn’t know about it. Then to tell them that I was pregnant throughout the whole separation? Max, they’d kill you, and then they’d kill me for not killing you.”

“We’d have to tell them everything,” I told Liz, unsure if she was aware of that.

But Liz bobbed her head in understanding. “I know, and I don’t want to, but we have to.”

Is it true? Is there a new part? YES! Yes, there is! Finally, after weeks of absolutely nothing, I have something! I really appreciate you guys sticking with me. I'm so grateful. I can't say thank you enough. So thank you thank you thank you thank you! It's a meager new chapter, but it's better than nothing, right? Please enjoy. Take care. Thank you all once again.

-hoLLy


Chapter 23: Part 1

{Liz}

"Do you remember where I put my lit book?"

Maria lifted her head and looked my way with one eye closed and took a moment to recollect. "I think I saw you with it in your sitting room." She dug her nose back into her book and fazed everything out once again.

For the past few days, Maria's done more homework than she's ever done in high school, all together. Probably because she was actually doing it. I had been keeping up with my school work while Harvard believed that I was away visiting my sick grandmother. Maria would hang out with me as I brushed up on Anna Karenina, but after a few days of keeping me company as I did work, Maria got bored and decided to get some of her own homework done. Every time we had our little study group, we'd call Isabel to come join us and the times when she could, she'd come over and immediatey, Maria and I would have to stop what we were doing because Isabel would always head straight to me and start talking to the baby. There's no way I could study about the anatomy of cell with Isabel's head hovering right over little Abby or Max Jr. Isabel wanted to make sure that her niece or nephew knew her voice. She wanted to establish herself as the favorite aunt, and then Maria would shove her aside and take her turn at talking to my belly.

It wasn't an absurd concept to talk to my stomach. Every moment I was alone, I'd do the same. Baby and I would strike up a conversation. I'd make sure that my baby knew that I loved it so much and Daddy loved it the same. But it's not like i needs to plug Max to our baby. Every chance he got, he talked to the baby too, and it was always the most adorable thing to watch. He'd speak to our child as if I wasn't there. He'd talk about the first time he saw me, in third grade, or the first time we kissed, or when we got married. Stuff like that.

Max loved our baby so much. I mean, as we slept, he always managed to have one of his hands on my stomach. He made sure that the baby was safe and healthy. I wasn't allowed to exert myself in anyway and I took daily walks around the backyard with almost everyone in the family. So it was about six walks a day and let me tell you, our backyard is no small yard. These were no short strolls through the park, but Max and Serena said that I should keep moving and stay fit and healthy.

With the two of them by my side, I'm not as scared as I thought I'd be, especally at this stage in the pregnancy. I'm about three-fourths of the way through the pregnancy and it's definitely been a life-changing experience. I could've done without the morning sickness, and looking back at what I was eating at the beginning of my pregnancy...I would actually just prefer not to look back. It was only a few weeks ago when I had my old waistline, since then, things have changed. My stomach isn't as big as Max or Serena hoped, but there definitely was a baby inside of me. I'd feel it moving around inside of me, like a bunch of butterflies. I remember the first time I felt the baby move, I was scared that maybe there were twins inside of me, but Max and Serena assured me that it was just the one. Triplets, twins or just one, I was happy.

As I walked into the bedroom, I spotted Max busily working on his laptop. "Don't mind me," I smiled.

Max whipped around and chuckled. "Hey, what's up?" he wondered. "Where's Maria? You didn't just come up the stairs by yourself-"

"Calm down," I laughed. "I'm perfectly capable of climbing a set of stairs by myself."

Max smirked sympathetically, leaned back his chair and placed his feet up n his desk, watching me roam around the room. "Looking for something?" he wondered.

I nodded as I kept searching our room. "My lit book. Have you seen it?"

Max watched my every move as he continued lounging in his chair. I looked at him with skepticism, wondering why wasn't helping me in my search. Ordinarily, Max would've gotten out of his seat to help me, but instead, he chose to remain in his chair.

I stopped my search and stared at him. "What are you working on?" I wondered.

Max looked over her shoulder at his computer and finally took his feet off the desk to turn his seat around and close his laptop. "Um, it's nothing," he replied after a clearing of his throat.

"Uh-huh," I replied, raising an eyebrow. I caught sight of my book in the small bookshelf in the nightstand by the bed. I placed it under my arm and started heading for the door. "Fine," I sighed. "I'll let you get back to your porn."

Max gave a little laugh and made a weird face, albeit very adorable. "You're funny," he said sarcastically. "There's never a need for me to ever look at porn."

I smirked thankfully at his remark and smile, then started to leave the room. "Maria and I will be studying downstairs."

"Wait a second." I turned around to see Max rush out of his chair and to my side.

"What?" I smiled. "What is it?"

Max grabbed my hand and guided me to the bed. "Can we just sit?"

With my eyes slightly squinted, I stared at Max in confusion. "Why?"

"No reason," he replied, shaking his head. "I just...I want to sit with you."

I smiled and willingly took a seat. "I can't sit for long," I told him. "Maria's downstairs and I don't want to abandon her."

Max nodded. "Oh. Sure. I understand."

We sat on the bed, leaning back against the headboard. Max was on his side, facing me, with one hand holding his head up and the other on my belly, which was now, fairly much larger than before, thankfully. I watched with fascination as his hand rubbed over my stomach, up and down and back again. I wondered what he was thinking about as he stared at his own hand.

When we sat together, we usually talked about things. Absolutely anything. We could talk about small stuff, like how the yolk in the McDonald's McMuffin I had the other day looked kind of like Roswell's Mayor Higgins, or we could talk about big stuff, like which pediatrician we want for the baby. It didn't matter what we talked about. I know that we just liked hearing each other's voice and listening to what the other had to say.

But for some reason, it seemed like during this sitting session there something was preventing both of us from saying whatever we wanted to say. I know that there was so much I wanted to tell Max. I wanted so much to tell him that I was scared and that I wasn't sure about everything. In turn, he'd tell me that he'd take care of everything, take care of me, and that would be more than enough to calm me down and ease my heart. Then when we would share a moment of blissful, reflective silence, I would have to ruin it because I'd break the news to him that I haven't told my parents that Max and I were expecting.

We discussed it on the car ride home from the hospital where we stole a peek of the baby via ultrasound. It was my fault that we hadn't told my parents yet and I was going to make it my responsibility to explain everything. I had days to do so, but I never did. How would you tell your parents that you were now part alien and you were nearly nine months pregnant in just two months with a baby that could also possibly be alien? Now how stupid does that sound? I wouldn't know how to explain it to them and I don't know how they would react.

The unknown is a bitch and I wish I could tell Max all of this, but like I said, there was something prohibiting us from saying what was on our minds. I could see it in Max. I know there was something, but we just couldn't throw out what we were thinking like we usually did. And it was because of that look on his face that I didn't want to say anything.

But we were just going to sit here forever.

"What is this about, Max?" I finally asked. It was a general wonderment. To get a conversation going.

Max's hand stopped just above my belly button. "You and I can't just sit here?" He looked at me defensively. "I want to spend time with you and the baby." By the tone of his voice, he definitely took offense, which was an obvious over-reaction.

But I just shrugged my shoulders. Although, if someone was going to have mood swings, it was supposed to be me. "It's not like we're pressed for time," I laughed lightly. "You have the day off. I'm obviously not going anywhere. We've got plenty of time to be together."

"But you don't want to spend time with me right now?" His voice was slightly louder.

"Max, what the hell is wrong with you?"


{Michael}

If I could only drown myself in alcohol like humans my age. It would be underage drinking, but we all know it happens.

The club wasn't doing so well. Ok, so it was doing decent, but it's not where I expected it to be. With all the renovations, Whits was supposed to be the hotspot in downtown Boston.

I honestly don't know what I'm bitching about. The club's doing fine, but I just want something more. I want excitement. Aside from Liz and the pregnancy, life's been bland as hell. Although, I'm sure Hell isn't bland.

For Christ's sake. See what I mean? I'm having little contradictory conversations with myself.

"Something wrong?"

I snapped out of my mind-numbing daze and snatched a water bottle from the fridge. "What?"

Maria gave a little laugh. "You look like you're fighting yourself over something."

I spent most of my life hiding my emotions, preventing them from become exposed through my facial expressions. You'd figured I'd know how to do the same with my thoughts, but apparently not.

"Nothing," I sighed. "Absolutely nothing."

Maria nodded and went back to her book. She had her nose dug in that book pretty deep.

I hopped onto the couch and sank right in. "Whatcha reading there?"

"Classical history. Want to know about Mozart or Bach?" she asked.

I only gave a blank stare.

"Yeah," Maria sighed. "Neither do I, but it's part of the curriculum."

Then for a while, we just sat together, and we never just sit together, but she was concentrating on reading and I had no where else to be, so I just watched her as I took occasional sips of water. I don't know what I'm missing at college. Thousands of people go to school to do what I'm doing now. Why waste all that time? But then again, it's not like I'm doing anything productive with the free time I do have on my hands. The club wasn't open during the day. There was never anything for me to do there. Everything was taken care of by my employees. I went to the club during the day despite all that, but while I was there, I didn't do much. I'd play NHL 2004 for a couple of hours, grab some lunch, and then start getting everything ready to open the club. That was pretty much it. Nothing more.

"Do you want to marry me, Michael?"

If you're choking on water, do you try to clear it up by drinking more water?

All I could hear was Maria's book falling to the floor and then feel her hand slap against my back quite a few times.

"Are you ok?" Maria laughed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to--"

"Well you did," I snapped. I massaged my throat, wincing as I swallowed. "What the hell are you trying to do? Kill me?"

Maria scoffed and pushed herself away. "Screw you, Michael. It was an honest question."

Then I watched her as she snatched the thick textbook off the ground. She dropped onto the sofa across from mine with a frown on her face like a little spoiled princess who was just told "no". And it's not like I was saying "no" to the question she asked, but shit, I don't know what to say. She threw the book open and flipped through the pages, whipping each page from right to left, one by one.

But now what do I do? I can't change the subject. Maria would throw that book at me.

I could get up and just leave the room. But Maria would take aim and throw that book at me.

"I'm sorry," I finally apologized.

Maria grabbed a page and slapped it. She didn't even bother looking up. She grabbed another page, not even glancing at the one she just turned to, and slapped that one as well.

I took out my frustration by scratching at my brow, so hard that I think it turned red. "Damn it, Maria," I sighed. "What do you want me to say?"

This time, Maria slapped the book shut. Pretty damn hard, too. She tossed it to the side and then stared me down. She looked at me hard, slightly shaking her head. I was struggling just to maintain eye contact. Ordinarily, I would have looked away immediately, but I got the sense that this was an important issue. I couldn't look away.

"Look, I'm sorry," I apologized again.

"Sorry for what?" she questioned. "'Sorry' because you're a complete jackass? Or 'sorry' because you don't want to marry me?"

I grimaced. "You damn well know that's not why." I lowered my head, just to take a break from her stares. This is the type of shit I hate dealing with. This isn't me. I wanted action in life, but nothing like this. This was Maxwell's department. I tussled my hair and finally looked back up. "Maria, you know that I love you. I stayed on this planet for you."

"Well when the hell are we going to get married?" Maria demanded. She held up her right hand and let her ring finger stick out. "I've been wearing this ring for two years now."

"And what did I say that ring was?"

Maria remained quiet and continued glaring at me.

"A promise ring," I reminded her. "Not an egagement ring."

Her unyielding stare began to pry open my skin. I wanted to know what she was thinking, but I have no idea how to read women. I have trouble reading guys. What the hell did she want from me?

"What?" I questioned. I ran my hand through my hair in frustration that seemed to remain in my system. "You can't rush this thing. You saw first hand what happened to Max and Liz when they tried to get married as soon as possible. People say engagements are hell and Max and Liz had three. I feel bad for them, because of all that time they spent going through what they went through. I don't want that to happen to us. I'm happy with how things are."

"Michael, we don't have to get married right away," Maria argued. "I just want to be engaged."

I shrugged. "What's the big deal? We're practically engaged right now. Just look at it that way."

"Then ask me. Say those four words and I'll get off your back about this."

Did I really want to handle all of this? I can't do what Max and Liz did when they were engaged. I couldn't even imagine myself in that position yet. Maybe the powers that be heard my thoughts about my life being bland. Being engaged to Maria would definitely up the action between her and I, and I do mean action in the bedroom, but as well as action outside of the bedroom. And besides, sooner or later, Maria's just going to start bugging me about the wedding. She'll get on my back about locations, flowers, attire, music, etc., etc., etc.

But those weren't deciding factors in my decision.

"Maria, I don't want to ask you," I finally admitted, making and maintaining eye contact with her.

Her jaw dropped down slightly and I couldn't tell if she was devasted or angry, but I didn't want her to feel either.

"It's not because I don't love you or I don't want to marry you--"

"Then what the hell?" Maria began to shout. "Why are we together?"

"Because you're all I have," I calmly told her. I guess I was going to have to spell out my reason for why I'm don't intend to propose anytime soon. "Maria, I'm not going to ask you because I'm not even ready. And I don't want to hear you nag me about how that's bullshit. It's not, ok? Max and Liz, things work for them because they're at a whole differently level. They know what they want for themselves. They say that they're not sure what they want but they have an idea at the least. And I don't, Maria. I have no idea about my future." And before she could ask... "Yes, you're in my future, Maria, but I just want to make sure that we're ok. I want to be stable enough to handle everything we'll go through and I'm just not there yet."

It was the honest truth. I loved Maria. Despite our arguing, our fights, and our ability to drive each other completely insane, I still go to bed, eager to wake up to see Maria, hear her voice, and just be with her. I'm not ready to marry her, though. Honestly, I don't think she's ready for marriage either. I'm sure we have at least one more breakup until both of us are actually ready. Maybe when Maria's done with school or maybe when we actually have a house of our own. Now just doesn't seem like the right time.

"Someday though?" Maria wondered.

I reached over, grabbed the book she had tossed to the side, and handed it back to her with a smile. "Someday."

"'Someday' better not be when I'm 40 or--"

"Maria!"

It wasn't my name that was called out, but I looked in the direction the voice came from anyway. Both of us did because if was a cry of panic.

"Maria!" Max shouted once more. "Call Serena! Hurry!"

TBC

Chapter 23: Part 2

{Max}

"Max, what the hell is wrong with you?"

I pulled away. I literally distanced myself and got off the bed.

"Max, what is going on?" She stressed each word with worry, and a slight bit of anger.

There's just too much in me. I'm Zan. I'm Max. I'm the conscience. I don't know which I am anymore. All my life I've fought for something, against something. As Zan, I tried to fight for my world and its safety against Khivar and enemies from different galaxies. As Max, I tried to fight for a new life, for normalcy, for love, and I fought against the FBI, the government, myself. I honestly don't even know if I am the conscience. Who else could it be? I'm the one person everyone would least expect.

What do I do?

"Max?" She crawled off the bed and carefully stepped off of it. I could feel her hands sandwich my face and caress it with her smooth touch. "Something's wrong. Please talk to me."

"No," I said softly and politely pulled her hands away. "It's nothing, Liz. I'm sorry."

And she knew I was lying. She always knows and damn her for being so smart. "Max..."

"Liz, I just want to spend time with you," I insisted, and that was the truth. "All we've been through, don't you think we need to just savor everything? I want to be with you and the baby."

"Yeah, I can understand that, but did you have to be so PMS-y about it?" Sensing that I was somewhat myself, she stopped sympathizing and let me know what she was thinking.

I walked around the room, scratching the back of my head. Whenever the subject comes up, I just absolutely dread it. I feel ashamed, emasculated, and weak. I never know how to compose myself. But I need to bring it up because I couldn't keep secrets from her. We told each other that we wouldn't do that anymore and I didn't want to. I needed to always let her in to help her help me.

My hands fell to my sides and my palms were turned to Liz. It was a gesture of forgiveness, openness, honesty, and an inquiry for help and understanding. "I'm sorry," I told her. "I mean it, but I hate having to say it. I think I've worn it out."

Liz shook her head and shrugged her shoulders in confusion as we continued standing a room apart. "Sorry for what?" she asked.

"Please don't mistake my desire to be with you, don't mistake it for hostility or moodiness. I demanded it and I shouldn't have."

She stared at me with one eye slightly closed. "You're acting really weird," she scoffed. Not at all jokingly.

I nodded agreeingly, and soon enough, she'd understand why. "Liz, I feel that I need to be with you."

"I'm here," Liz quickly replied, to emphasize her point, to get it across to me.

I knew that. She's always made it clear: Liz was always going to be there for me, no matter what. So why did I so desperately need to be with her, so much that I practically demanded it of her? "The conscience is back, Liz."

She nodded emphatically. "Yeah, I know that."

But Liz didn't understand where I was going. I wasn't done explaining. "Liz, whatever the conscience is, I can't beat it."

"Yes, you can," my wonderful wife assured me. "You've done it before. I have no doubt--"

"I can stop it," I interrupted. "I can slow it down. I can prevent it from killing me and/or hurting others, but I can't get rid of it."

I never meant to instill fear in Liz, but apparently, that's what I was doing. Her eyes got wide and teary. She was feeling insecure. "Why are you being like this? What's happened?" I watched her hands slide to her stomach, protectively. She was scared of me.

"Please don't do that," I told her.

"What?"

I took long strides across the room and reached to take Liz's hands off her stomach. She backed away and I stared at the space she left behind. "Take your hands off your stomach." I stopped glaring at the floor and looked at Liz. "Let me protect you and the baby."

"Right now, you scare me."

I scoffed. "I scare me." I let my eyes drop to floor as I grinned to myself in disbelief. "I don't know it anymore. I don't know the conscience. I used to know what day and what time, but I don't anymore. The other day Michael had to tackle me to break an attack."

And Liz finally put it all together. "You said 'savor,' kind of like 'cherish.' You want to spend time with me and the baby because you think it might be your last." She stepped forward in the space she once occupied. "And you don't want me to put my hands over the baby because you're feeling insecure, that maybe you can't protect us anymore."

Right on the nose. I bobbed my head.

"Max, I need you," Liz continued. "I need you. The baby needs you. We're helping you fight this thing."

"For how long?" I demanded to know. "What if it's for the rest of my life? It's like an incurable disease."

Finally, Liz walked right up to me and placed her hands on my waist. "Then I'll take care of you."

I know she would. If I had to live with the conscience forever, I know that Liz would be by my side, ready to wake me from an attack. Did I really want to put my family through something like that. Do I want to be babysat for the rest of my life?

This time, I backed away. I wasn't myself anymore. I had the curse of being alien and the curse of the conscience. How do I protect my family if I can't even protect myself?

"So you're just going to walk away from me?" Liz questioned. "What do you want to do about this? If you don't want to listen to me--"

"I don't understand how you can be so nonchalant about all of this. I'm scared, Liz. Do you understand that?"

"Don't talk to me like that, like I'm stupid," she demanded. "Of course I know that you're scared. I can see it. We all can. But don't think you're the only one who is."

It seemed like I was the only one. When I look at Michael or Isabel, they don't seem afraid. Kyle, Maria, and Liz are always smiling. What the hell is wrong with me that I can't trust my own family? If I could, I'd stop feeling like I was walking on eggshells. I'd be able to live carelessly and happily knowing that my family had my back. Why couldn't I feel that way?

"What's wrong with me?" I wondered aloud. "Why do you trust me with your life when I can't trust you with mine?"

Instead of feeling offended, Liz simply shook her head and shrugged her shoulders. "Would you die for me?"

Without hesitation, I nodded. "Yes."

"Then you do trust me with your life."

"No, it's not the same thing, Liz." I walked back across the room. "If you were hanging off a cliff and I gave you my hand, you would take it. If I was hanging off a cliff and you gave your hand or Michael gave me his, I'd feel like you wouldn't be able to pull me up."

Liz didn't have an answer. She stood silently, watching me walk the width of our room.

"Why?" I questioned. "Why am I this way?"

As she stood with her arms crossed in front of her chest with one lef slightly bent and the other one locked, Liz stared off to the side, trying her best to find an answer. She blinked few times as she thought and found an answer. "You want to know why?" she wondered.

And I nodded. I wanted to know.

Liz shrugged her shoulders. "Fine," she sighed. "You wanted to know the truth." She prompted me to stop pacing, forcing me to listen, without literally forcing me. "Max, you're an arrogant, self-centered bastard. You always have to take everything in your hands, and not only do you take on more than you can chew, but you have to chew it with precision. I'm saying you're totally anal, Max. It has to be done this way or that way. It has to be your way or no way. So you do everything yourself. You don't think we're capable of anything. I mean, you treat--"

"I get it!" I snapped. Jesus, if all of that had been building up inside of her for this long, what else did she really think of me? Did I really want to know? Not right now.

"I'm sorry," Liz apologized. Although, I got the feeling that she was just saying it to say it. I don't think she regretted anything she said. "You've trusted us before, Max. Why can't you just trust us now? How many times do we have to prove--" Liz stopped standing with most of her weight on one leg. Her arms that were once crossed in front of her chest, lightly resting on her protuding belly, were now cradling that belly. She winced in pain and inhaled sharply through her teeth. "Max..."


[Maria]

The phone rested on the coffee table, but in seconds it flew into my lap after Michael threw it there.

"Come on," he ordered. He grabbed my hand and started dragging me upstairs.

Max had cried out in absolute panic. His voice even cracked. Something was wrong.

Michael rushed up the circular staircase, skipping two, three steps, even running into the central pole quite a few times. He moved so fast. When we reached the landing, he ran even faster and then once we came to Max and Liz's room, he nearly blasted the door open. "What's happened?"

And it had to be one of the oddest things I had ever seen. Liz was couching on the floor. Her eyes were lightly closed. Her hands cradled her protruding stomach. Liz was in what looked like excrutiating pain, and Max was standing across the room, frozen. He was just standing there, watching his wife cope with the pain by herself.

"MAX!"

He finally stopped staring at Liz and turned to Michael with this blank expression on his face. Ok, maybe it wasn't blank, but you knew that what was in Max's mind was blank. His mouth hung open and his eyes were wide with shock and fear.

When Michael realized that our best friend wasn't capable of helping his wife, he rushed to Liz's side. "Liz, what is it?" Michael asked calmly. He kneeled down in front of her and tried to look into her eyes.

"Where's Max?" she asked.

Michael and I exchanged glances of worry. I then looked to Max and nothing in him had changed. He remained standing still.

"He's here, Liz." I hobbled across the bed and grabbed her hand. "He's right behind us."

"Why...Why won't..."

"Don't worry about him," Michael ordered. "Liz, look at me." And finally she opened her eyes. "Tell me: What's wrong?" he asked her.

I listened to the deep shallow breaths my best friend took. It seemed like a great feat just to inhale. "Michael, its's the baby. I think I'm having the baby."

Michael laughed nervously and shook his head. "Oh, no, no. It's not time for the baby."

I gave a little grin and was pleased to see a smile break out on Liz's face.

"Maria." Michael turned to me, continuing to use a very calm and soothing tone, something I had never heard Michael use. "Call Serena tell her Liz thinks she's having the baby."

And I nodded and dialed the number I had memorized weeks ago. I tried to ignore Liz's heavy breathing, because honestly, it was frightening, and focused on the ringing of Serena's phone.

"You're doing good, Liz," Michael smiled. "You're doing absolutely fine. Stay calm, all right?" He stood up and looked to Max.

I could've sworn that I wasn't even looking at the Max that I had known for years. The Max that's become like a brother. A brother who I would trust with my life. But right now, I was ashamed to know Max. He was just a scared little boy who didn't have the balls to move.

"Hello?"

"Serena!" I near shouted. "Thank God. It's Maria. Liz is having contractions."

"How many minutes apart?"

I looked to Michael who shook his head after clearly having heard the question. "We don't know. We haven't timed them," I reported back. "You just have to come over. We don't know what to do."

"Where's Max?"

I barely glanced over my shoulder, but I didn't even need to reassure myself that Max was still just standing there. "He's...Look, we trust you. You need to get over here."

"What does that mean?"

"Just come over." I hung up and brought my attention to Liz. "She'll be here soon."

Michael nodded affirmatively and took a deep breath. He had that look on his face where he was contemplating the next move. After a moment or so, he nodded to himself. "Maria, get some water for Liz."

"No," I refused. "I want to stay and help."

"You want to help?" Michael asked. "Fine, help me get Liz onto the bed."

If Liz wasn't pregnant, I would've been more than happy to do so, but Liz weighed at least forty pounds more then before. "Max," I called. "Come help us."

But he stood still. There he was standing with his feet shoulder-width apart, his arms by his sides, his hands curled up in fists, his mouth only slightly hanging open, and his eyes, this time, smaller, but glazed over.

"Maria, he's out of it," Michael sighed. "Just grab her arm and let her use you for support."

I nodded and grabbed Liz's hand.

"Liz," Michael began to say. "Come on. Let's get you on the bed. You can lie down."

She closed her eyes once more and nodded. With all her might, Liz squeezed our hands and pushed herself up off the floor. It was a definite struggle, but she eventually lifted herself high enough to sit on the bed, and we took a seat ourselves.

"How are you doing?" I asked Liz.

"It still..." She took a deep breath. "It still hurts."

It was evident that none of us were prepared for this situation. Sooner of later it was going to happen and none of us knew what to do. We had left it all on Max, and now we knew that it was a mistake to do so. He was the one who protested having this baby in our home. He wanted to take Liz to the hospital. Why? He said he didn't trust himself. Why didn't we listen? We should have known that he wasn't ready for this.

"Liz?"

Our glares at Max softened when we turned to the doorway. Serena barged, but then froze like Max. And damn us all to hell if she was about to freeze up exactly like Max. Thankfully, she rushed over to our side and kneeled down on the floor where Michael once kneeled. The bag that was on her shoulder since she walked in was now on the floor and pried open. A pair of latex gloves rested in Serena's hand when she pulled it out of the bag. Both Michael and I were fixated on these gloves. Something as inanimate as gloves had stolen our attention to the point when Serena snapped them on.

"Let's get her under the covers," she suggested.

Without question, despite our curiosity, Michael and I jumped off the bed and moved to pull the covers down as Serena questioned and then calmed Liz. Once the covers were undone, the three of us eased Liz down.

"Go ahead and take off the sweats, Liz."

Michael whipped around so fast and looked straight up at the ceiling. "Um, are you guys ok without me?" he nervously wondered. "I--I think I'll go grab--"

Serena looked to me and grinned.

"Come on," I smiled, grabbing Michael's arm.

I eased him towards the doorway and pushed him out into the hall. As he stumbled out there, he looked over his shoulder and smiled at me. The door was nearly closed by my hand until another hand prevented it from being shut. I looked over my shoulder and found myself staring at Max's chest. His head pointed downward as if he was looking at me, but he didn't look at me. I don't think he could look me in the eyes. He knew how I felt about him at this moment. Damn well he should know.

I stepped out of King Max's way without saying a word to him. He started walking and I turned my head away. As soon as his last step out of the room was made, I shut the door and leaned against it, sliding down to the floor.

"Are you ok?"

I looked Serena's way as she started removing her gloves. "I'm fine," I nodded. "But that doesn't matter, how is Liz?"

I pushed off the floor and walked to the bed. Liz lied back, seemingly relaxed. She had remained silent and kept her eyes focused on the ceiling while her hands rested on her stomach loosely. Serena grabbed the covers and scooted it up to Liz's waist.

"She's fine," the blonde smiled. "False labor."

And my sigh of relief was audible from the hallway.

"She's ok?" It was Michael who shouted. I don't know why I expected it to be Max.

"Yeah!" I shouted. "She's ok, right?"

Serena nodded. "She's fine," she repeated, then she leaned forward. "The contractions will eventually stop."

"It seemed like she was in some really bad pain," I mentioned.

"A lot of the time, early contractions don't hurt, but toward the end of the pregnancy, they can be painful." Serena sympathetically smirked. "If they're too much, Liz, you can either lie down, or maybe taking a walk is better. A warm bath might help."

I looked down to the head of the bed and found Liz still staring at the ceiling. She was almost catatonic-like.

I worriedly looked Serena's way and she met my gaze. "She really is fine," she tried to assure me. With the plastic gloves still in hand, Serena finally got up from the bed and moved to dispense the gloves.

Liz barely moved. She only blinked her eyes.

Jogging after Serena, I found myself in the master bathroom, watching Serena wash her hands. "Is she really ok?"

"How many times are you going to ask me that?" she laughed. "She's going to be fine. There's nothing wrong."

I couldn't help but doubt Serena, even though she was most likely right. I slowly realized that Liz was catanoic not because of what she just went through but because she went through it without Max. The one person she trusted her life with the most had failed to be there for her. Liz believed the baby was fine, but she knew that Max wasn't and because Max wasn't fine, she wasn't going to be fine. She lost faith and hope because all of it had been invested into Max and now, Max was gone. Liz continued staring up at the ceiling, wondering if her future, in the form of her child, was going to be safe.

"Yeah, I realized that too," Serena sighed. She tugged the towel off the rag and started drying her hands. "What happened to him?"

I shrugged my shoulders and started walking back to the bedroom with Serena following. On the bed, Liz was lying on her side with her back to us. At least she wasn't staring up at the ceiling anymore.

"You copped out back there!"

Serena and I exchanged wide-eyed glances. The two of us rushed over to the door leading to the Gallery and eventually found ourselves out of the master bedroom. What do you know? It was a party. Kyle was there too, standing at the top of the circular staircase.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Michael continued to shout at Max, who just took the verbal beating. "You froze back there!"

"Michael!" I whispered loudly. "Quiet down. Liz doesn't need to hear this."

He continued glaring at Max, making it seem as though he hadn't heard a word I said, but I knew that he did when he started speaking with a quieter voice. "Your wife and child could have been in danger and you didn't do anything! You just stood there."

"What?" Kyle questioned. "Is Liz ok?"

I nodded in confirmation. "She's fine. False labor."

Kyle sighed with disappointment. "I always miss all the action."

No one paid attention to his comment, no one replied. Despite the awkwardness, we all continued to remain silent as we stared at the main skeptical that was Max. He stood in the center of the Gallery's landing with his head slightly lowered. Michael bored holes into Max with his stares. He angrily glared at Max, but at the same time was thinking about what he needed to do to make things right.

"Maybe we should start reconsidering this whole labor thing."

Kyle shook his head in confusion, bringing his attention to Michael. "What are you talking about?"

While his narrow eyes continued to focus on Max, Michael took a deep breath through his nose. "I'm saying Max isn't delivering the baby," he decided. "We can't trust him."

"Michael, this isn't your decision." Max argued.

And Michael stepped forward and shoved his face in front of Max's. "You came to me," he growled. "You came to me, asking me to protect Liz and your baby, and I'm going to, even if that means keeping you away from them." He pressed a firm index finger into Max's chest.

Max just stared back into Michael's eyes. You could see the flames comes out of both their sockets. Both of them clenched their jaws shut, letting veins near their temples pop out and throb.

"Michael's right," I agreed. Someone needed to stop the dogs from growling at each other, and it's not like I didn't disagree with Michael. We really couldn't trust Max with Liz and the baby.

Keeping his focus on Max, Michael took a very quick glance at Serena. "Serena, you're going to have to deliver the baby."

Our new friend beside me scoffed in disbelief and shook her head. "I--I don't know."

"Do you want us to take her to the hospital?" Michael asked, finally turned his head in mine and Serena's direction. "You know what Langley said: A hospital is out of the question."

"Liz can mindwarp," Kyle reminded us all. "Maybe we can call a midwife and after--"

"No," Max refused. "Liz, is not using her mindwarp, ever."

Michael's head whipped back in Max's direction. "You are in no position to make a decision in this matter! Who the hell do you think you are? Oh, that's right, you're our fearless leader," he scoffed. Michael shook his head, staring at Max in disgust. "You have no more say in this situation. Liz and the baby are now my responsibility."

"You're demoting me?"

"You're damn straight," Michael nodded.

"She's my wife!" Max protested, growling. "It's my baby!"

Michael shoved Max back a few feet . "So it's going to be your fault if something happens to them! I'm not going to let that happen! What if Liz really goes into labor? Are you just going to stand there?"

Max huffed and puffed, beginning to realize that Michael was right. He wasn't going to be capable of getting himself together for Liz's actual birth.

"I'm going back to LA," Serena announced.

Our eyes went from Max to the beach blonde next to me and Kyle rushed closer to us. "What?"

"Serena, you can't just leave us," Michael objected. "Who's going to deliver the baby?"

"I don't know if I can deal with all this alien shit," Serena finally admitted. "What if something happens? Do you know how much that'll scar me?"

Michael tossed his head back, shaking it with amusement. "You damn Californians, everything's mentally damaging. Every little thing is traumatic."

"I'm sorry I'm not accustomed to everything-Antarian! Forgive me for being a little freaked out!"

"You're freaked out?" Michael barked back. He laughed and continued shaking his head. "This is our life and you're a part of it!"

Now that Serena knew about everything, there was no way she could just leave us. That night at the fountain, back in Roswell, Liz told me everything. Future Max, the end of the world, the Granilith, and Serena. Even though the Granilith was gone, Serena was a smart girl. She was going to help us in so many ways. Our lives were crazy, that was a given, and to be a newcomer into our group, yeah, it can be traumatic, but it's not like that person would be alone. Hell, our lives were screwed up from the beginning.

"Please don't leave," Kyle begged. He had made his way across the Gallery's landing and was heading towards Serena and I. "Michael's an asshole. We really need you. I need you."

I had sensed something going on between the two of them a little while back, but I didn't think it was to the point where Kyle was almost on his knees begging. I did want Serena to stay. Not only because we needed her for Liz, but for Kyle too. He's been through a lot and he seemed to have found a friend in Serena, maybe even more, and Serena had taken a liking to my step-brother.

"I'll stay," Serena smiled, forcing a smile on Kyle's face. She turned to Michael and the grin disappeared. "I really want to help and I'll do what I can, but honestly, Max is more qualified than I am."

Again, Max became the victim of our stares. He stood more confidently now, however, and he kind of lifted his chin. He swallowed down hard and took a deep breath. "I can do it. I will do it."

And so it was decided, there would be no other argument. We had our heavy-bearing doubts, but Max was our only option. Serena was right, Max was the doctor and Serena wasn't. Not yet, anyway, and "not yet" wasn't going to cut it.

"I don't trust you anymore, Max, but you're all we have." Michael sighed heavily and started walking away. "Just in case, I think I should read some of those labor books."

Chapter 24: Part 1

{Liz}

There are days when I forget what I am. Scratch that—not forget, because I don’t think you can just forget something like that. I guess it’s more like I’ve just accepted what I am. I was scared at first. I didn’t know what was happening to my mind or body. Things changed in me. I was feeling different. But I’ve realized now that we’re all going to go through this process eventually. We were told that they’re minds were just advanced. They were all human, just ahead of our time. I’ve joined them. So it’s nothing to be scared of, we’re all going to be like them. I’ve accepted it. I think I’ve welcomed it.

“So don’t be scared,” I smiled. I affectionately rubbed my stomach and continued standing in front of the mirror. “There are reasons to be scared,” I went on, “but you don’t have to be. There are so many people who love you already and they don’t want anything bad to ever happen to you. Trust me, when these people say they’ll protect you, they’re going to protect you. People are ready to put their life on the line for you. Take Uncle Michael, for example.”

I don’t think the “uncle” really fit with “Michael”.

“Michael took care of you and me,” I continued talking. I stood in our empty bathroom, staring at my changed figure. “A few days ago, you and I had an episode, and Michael stepped up.”

I recalled the pain. Nothing else really. Except for the fact that Max wasn’t there. You can’t describe disappointment or loneliness like that. There were no words. You most definitely can’t forget a moment like that either.

“Something wrong?”

I turned to Max as he stood in the bathroom’s open doorway, leaning against the frame with his arms crossed in front of his chest. He unhinged one arm to toggle his glasses. The glasses were a new addition. When Max started reading up on books about pregnancy, he didn’t miss a single one. They were all over the place. They were in stacks on the dining table, the breakfast nook, the kitchen counters, on end tables all over the house, and mostly on the desk, couch, and floor of his den. Max had worn his eyes out and glasses were the only prescription. You’d figure, that because he had read so many books about the topic, that he’d have been more prepared for labor, even if it was false, but wasn’t.

I quickly slid my hands off the baby, and walked to the bathroom counter. “Everything’s fine,” I smiled.

Max smirked as he bobbed his head. He took a few carefree strides into the bathroom. “Listen, I heard you talking to the baby,” he admitted.

I looked his way and smirked. I didn’t know how to reply. I wasn’t sure what he heard exactly.

“I’m the reason to be scared,” he said. I guess he heard everything. “You told our baby that ‘There are reasons to be scared.’ I know you meant me.

I shook my head. “Max, no. I didn’t mean it that way.” But actually, I think I did.

“I’m not dependable, Liz.” Max walked towards me, and placed both hands on my stomach. “You needed me,” he sighed, staring down at our baby, “and I wasn’t there.”

“You freaked out. That was all. Just try to—”

“Don’t make excuses for me, ok? I totally screwed up.”

I placed my hands on Max’s and pressed them tighter against our baby. “You can be scared,” I said to him. “You have every single right to be. We’re first time parents. I’m just as scared as you are. Look, just tell me if you don’t want deliver the baby, because that’ll be fine. All I need is for you to be there.”

It’s all I really needed. I would’ve liked to have Max deliver the baby, but if he can’t, then that’s fine. Serena would do the best she could. I have enough confidence in that choice.

I listened to Max take a deep breath in through his nose and then out. He stared down at my belly and then smiled. “I’m going to be there for you, Liz, and the baby too. I can do this and I will do it.”

“Are you sure?” I wondered with a grin. “Our baby’s due any second now.”

Abby or Max Jr. was nine months along today, even though nine months hadn’t passed since conception. It didn’t seem real. Just a few years ago, we were in Roswell, talking to Topolsky about our futures. Now, Max and I were about to become parents. This is definitely not what I had in mind. I imagined myself having a baby some time after I was working for possibly Behr&Appleby or some other pharmaceutical company. Things had changed. Our futures were definitely changed. We all changed. We’re all ready for this baby to come. We’re ready to officially welcome him or her in the family.

The nursery was supposedly finished, but that’s what the boys said. I’m sure the crib still needs assembling, the furniture needs to be arranged around the room, and I haven’t seen the bassinet in our room yet. I don’t think I had anything to worry about though. If the boys weren’t finished, they would finish soon. Everyone was really “all hands on deck” when it came to the baby. Diapers were already bought, baby food occupied a couple of shelves in one of the cupboards, and cans of formula occupied the rest of the shelves.

“I’m sure,” Max smirked. “I’ll be there, but right now, I’ve got to head to Albany. Dr. Reyes and I are attending a workshop.”

“Are you going to be—”

“Did you feel that?” Max laughed.

My eyes darted down to my belly and I nodded as I stared. “That was a kick.”

“Stronger than the last time,” Max smiled. His face glowed as he continued watching my belly. It was the same look he head on his face when the baby kicked for the first time, except when that happened, I think Max nearly cried. “Kick counts?” he asked.

I nodded obediently. “He or she is one active baby. I already call dibs on sleeping in when he or she wakes up in the middle of the night.” I smirked innocently and tilted my head to the side to add a tad bit of adorableness.

“Oh, you’re smart,” Max chuckled. He bent down and kissed my belly, following it with a gentle little rub. “I’ll call you at the train station and when I get to New York.”

“You better,” I threatened. I grabbed the lapels of his suit jacket and pulled him onto my lips. “Pick me up something pretty.”

Max gave a big smile and nodded. “I promise.”

I walked him to our bedroom door where he picked up his briefcase and white lab coat. “Will you be home for dinner?” I wondered.

After we kissed once again, Max nodded. “I’ll try my damnedest.” He always tried to get home whenever he wasn’t at the hospital. If Max didn’t need to be anywhere else, he wanted to be here to be with me and the baby. He was always home now. Things weren’t like how they were before. We spent time together. I took care of him and he took care of me. Max gave a grin and placed a lingering kiss on my forehead. He looked at his watch and looked towards the bed. “It’s still really early. Why don’t you get to bed?”

The baby was most active at night. It practically used my bladder as a punching bag. So I’d wake up and take regular trips to the bathroom, losing track of what time it was. The sun was up, but we were at that point in the year where the sun wakes up earlier than it usually did. I wasn’t sure how early it was.

I grabbed Max’s wrist and glanced at his watch. It was a quarter to five, I definitely had some time to sleep in. “Sounds like an idea,” I smiled.

“Good,” Max replied. He lifted his hand that I held and moved it to my cheek, holding the side of my head and caressing my face. “Are we ok?”

I stared into his safe amber eyes. If I ever feel lost or afraid, I know that I can look into Max’s eyes and know that everything will be alright. Max was going to be there. He wasn’t there for me a few days ago, but the fire burning in his eyes now burned brighter and fiercer and I looked into them and I suddenly forgot what happened a few days ago. None of that mattered. What mattered was now. We didn’t have time to not be ok. Time was precious and it didn’t need to be wasted on the past.

“We’re ok,” I smiled.

Max exhaled happily, like a sigh of relief, expressing a smile that went hand in hand with that release of air. “I better go.” Reluctantly, he grabbed the doorknob and started to leave the room, looking over his shoulder as he did.

“I love you, Max.”

He froze just outside the door and turned all the way around. Max placed his briefcase down and dropped his white lab coat on top of it. He paused for a moment and stared at me, then he strolled back to me, grabbing my face with both his hands. “I love you,” he said softly. He looked into my eyes and then my nose, then lips, and back into my eyes. “I love you so much, Liz.”

He kissed me passionately and tenderly. It was a kiss reminiscent of our high school love. I closed my eyes tight and pressed my lips against his. I took his tongue welcomingly and then returned a favor. I pulled away unsure if I was going to be able to get back to sleep now with this bolt of energy inside of me.

My eyes remained closed, savoring the kiss. When I finally opened my eyes, I saw Max doing the same. His eyebrows were slightly raised and he had this enamoring smile on his face. He was goofily happy.

“You better go,” I laughed. “You’re going to miss your train.”

With his eyes still closed, Max nodded his head, bobbing it a few times. “I—I really don’t want to go.”

“Get out of here,” I laughed, smacking his chest, waking him from his slumber.

Max took a deep breath. “Ok, fine. I’ll see you tonight.”

I nodded and shoved Max out the door.

He grabbed his things and looked back over his shoulder once more. “I love you both,” he smiled.


{Michael}

I’ve had nightmares before, but I’ve never had one like the one I had last night. It was like my thoughts, feelings, and worst fears intermingled with a horrible dream. I woke up five minutes after falling deep asleep and after the nightmare, I didn’t want to close my eyes again.

So I lied back in bed, staring up at the ceiling the whole night. Even as I laid there, awake, I could still see the images running through my mind. My eyes filled with tears and my fears were more prominent than ever before.

Maria slept beside me. She seemed so innocent and untouched by a fear as strong as mine. I envy her humanness.

“Whoa…”

I stopped staring at my steaming cup of black coffee that was diluted with water. The caffeine in coffee was too much for our anatomy. My eyes moved to Max as he walked into the kitchen, placing his briefcase and coat on the counter.

“What are you doing up?” he wondered.

I took a sip of the burning beverage. “I couldn’t sleep.”

Max poured some coffee into his tumbler and screwed the lid on. “Bad dream?”

“Um…I guess you can call it that,” I chuckled. I looked at the clock behind Max, realizing how early it was. It was too early for Max to head into work. “Where are you going?” I asked him.

Max placed his lab coat on his arm, grabbed his briefcase, and held his tumbler in his remaining free hand. “I’ve got to catch a train to Albany. Reyes and I’ve got a workshop to attend.”

“Sounds like fun,” I smirked.

“Oh, tons.”

Max started walking towards the door, but stopped when he couldn’t open it for himself. He cleared his throat, grabbing my attention. When I looked his way, he tilted his head towards the door. “Do you mind?” he wondered.

I jumped up and grabbed the door. As Max smiled in thanks, ready to leave the house, I quickly closed the door slightly.

“What are you doing?”

I looked down at the ground and remembered the dream. “Is Liz ok?” I asked.

Max’s eyes widened, but not in worry, but more like confusion. “She’s fine. It was just false labor.”

“I’m not talking about what happened a few days ago,” I told him, shaking my head. “How is she doing right now?”

“Michael, what is this about?”

She was fine, I realized. It was just a dream. It wasn’t real.

“Nothing,” I answered after a while. “It’s nothing. You better go.”

“Michael, if—”

I pulled the door back open and polite pushed Max out. “It’s nothing,” I repeated. “I’ve got everything under control.”



{Kyle}

I honestly don’t know how I manage to oversleep every morning. Next semester, I was going to schedule classes after nine. Never will I listen to Liz when it comes to school.

“You should have classes early in the morning,” she told me.

She was a smart girl, I figured maybe I’d get some tips. But no, forget that. Never again will I listen to Liz Parker.

I slowly crawled out of bed, falling to the floor. Once I was down on the ground, I did my ten pushups and jumped to my feet, rushing to the bathroom. The knob didn’t turn and the door didn’t open when I leaned forward.

Looking over my shoulder, I glanced at Michael’s untouched bed. We shared a room, but he wasn’t much of a roommate since he slept in Maria’s room every night. The only time he was ever here was to get some clothes and he’d always grab enough to last him a few days. I didn’t mind. The room was practically all mine and its bathroom was too, but not this morning.

“Hey! Who’s in here?” I demanded to know. I pounded on the door.

“Easy!” Michael shouted back. “It’s occupied.”

I rolled my eyes. Since when did Michael use our bathroom? “What are you doing in there?” I wondered. “Use Maria’s bathroom.”

“That one’s occupied too,” Michael replied coolly.

I had about fifteen minutes to get to class. “I need to shower! I’m going to be late.”

I could hear Michael’s sigh. “Go use the bathroom in the nursery!”

“I might wake the baby!”

“The baby’s not born yet!”

I really needed to lay off the incense. I ran out of the room and started jogging down the hall towards the nursery. I’m guessing that even if Michael did step out of the bathroom, I wouldn’t want to be in there after his exit.

I barged into the room for the new family addition. That little kid was going to be so spoiled. The nursery was completely decked out with a top of the line crib, changing station, and rocking chair, which Liz was currently sitting in. The problem was, Liz wasn’t supposed to be there. The big revealing of the room was supposed to happen when the tyke was born, but there Liz was. She sat with her eyes closed and her hands gently rubbing her stomach.

“Liz? What are you doing in here? This is a ‘No Liz Zone’.”

She opened one eye, closed it, and smiled back. “I couldn’t resist.” She took a few deep breaths and opened both of her eyes. “Aren’t you late for class?”

I studied Liz and her obvious attempt at trying to conceal the fact that she was completely uncomfortable. “Um, yeah,” I replied anyway. “Michael’s using the shower, I was going to use the nursery’s. Hey, are you ok?”

Liz closed her eyes again and continued taking deep breaths. “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m sure it’s just false labor.”

“Uh…” I wasn’t exactly sure what I should do. “Do you need anything? Do you want me to leave? Call someone?”

Liz giggled. “I’m fine. Go take your shower.”

I smirked and started heading to the bathroom. As I walked there, I kept that smile on my face. I loved living in this home, being with these people that were my family.

I stepped into the bathroom and turned to close the door, admiring a radiant Liz as I did. But my smile turned into a frown of concern as Liz winced in pain. I noticed the sweat form on her forehead, but I was slightly sweating myself. I thought the room was just a little warm. But Liz was taking some rather deep breaths, wincing quite often now.

“Liz, how far apart are the contractions?” I asked, stepping out of the bathroom.

“I don’t know. A few minutes?”

Those two sentences alone were a struggle for her to say. There was something wrong. Liz was in pain.

“Michael!” I shouted. I ran out of the nursery and down the hall as Michael exited our room. “It’s Liz!”

Michael dropped the newspaper he held in his hand and sprinted down the hall, shoving me out of the way. He barged into the nursery with force and urgency. “Liz?” He fell to his knees in front of her as she sat on the edge of the rocking chair. “What’s wrong?”

Liz took deep breaths, but struggled as she did. “I’m fi—”

I shook my head. “I think she’s going into labor,” I told Michael, but honestly, there was no denying it. “She is going into labor,” I rephrased.

Liz was just like Max. Right now, in time of chaos, we had to disregard whatever she said.

“I’ll call Max,” I suggested, and started running for the door.

“He’s in Albany,” Michael said aloud, stopping me before I left the room.

Albany was hours away. What the hell were we supposed to do?

A slightly panicked Michael must have been reading my mind. “I don’t know,” he nervously said. “I haven’t gotten this far in the books. There were so many of them. I haven’t been able to read them all. Call Serena.”

And it was then when I realized how much shit we were in. “Serena's in LA,” I regretfully replied.

Michael got onto his feet, turned towards me, and stared me down. “What?”

“Serena’s in LA,” I repeated. “There were problems with her med school transfer and she had to deal with it in person. She left yesterday and isn’t coming back until tomorrow.”

"Oh! How fucking convenient is that?” Michael shouted.

In through one of the nursery’s two doors came Maria. “What the hell is going on?” I watched her eyes as they stared between Michael and me and at Liz. “What’s wrong?” she wondered, letting her mouth hang open after the last word.

“We're taking her to the hospital,” Michael decided, ignoring his girlfriend.

But that wasn’t what we had agreed on. We couldn’t take her to the hospital. It was just too much of a risk for all of us, but especially Liz and the baby. We couldn’t trust strangers at the hospital. We needed to have the baby at home.

“Michael, it hurts,” Liz whimpered. She continued wincing and grimacing, inhaling air through her clenched jaw. Her eyes were closed tight. Liz was in pain.

Something was wrong, I realized. Liz was holding the pain back pretty well, but she was hurting. Maybe it was alien intuition. I could sense that something was definitely wrong.

“Michael…” Maria panicked.

“Kyle, come on, let’s get her to the car,” Michael ordered.

I stepped back. “We can’t take her to the hospital.”

Because I refused to help, Michael sighed and literally took matters into his own hands by picking up Liz. “We have no other choice,” he growled, struggling to hold Liz. “Maria, grab the door.”

She ran to the north hallway door and threw it open, steeping out of the way as Michael started staggering toward it. When Michael disappeared with Liz still in her arms, Maria sped after him. Instead of following them, I ran out the south door and sped down the circular staircase and then through the house, grabbing the keys to Maria’s Jetta and my cell phone.

I beat the others to the car and jumped into the driver’s seat. “I know a shortcut,” I explained.

As I started the car, Maria opened the back door for Michael to place Liz in the back seat. Michael sat back there with Liz, showing a side of Michael unknown to all of us. Maria slammed the door and took the passenger’s seat.

I sped through our neighborhood, taking streets none of us normally took, but they were the quickest route to the hospital. Unable to make the calls myself, I tossed my phone to Maria. “Call Isabel and Jesse,” I told her.

“Call Max too,” Michael decided. “Even if he is in Albany, he needs to know.”

Maria bobbed her head and started dialing.

“Call…”

I glanced in the rearview mirror and saw Liz struggling to sit up, but Michael made her stay down. There was more sweat on her forehead and she was growling and moaning in pain.

“Call my parents,” Liz said. “Tell them to come, but don’t tell them I’m pregnant.”

I forced my foot down on the brake.

“What?” Maria and I gasped.

TBC

A/N: I'm so very happy to tell you guys that I have been chucking out chapters like crazy. So expect quicker updates for maybe the next three chapters.


Chapter 24: Part 2

[Maria]

How could she not have told her parents? She was supposed to. The one thing she had to do—besides have this baby—was to inform her parents.

Kyle sped into the ER entrance of Boston General and forced the car to stop suddenly. There went the brake pads on the Jetta. Somehow, it’s always my car that suffers the most.

“Whoa whoa!” A security guard jogged out of the ER. “You gotta get this car off the curb.”

Kyle and I jumped out the car and noticed that half of it was on the sidewalk.

“You ever hear of keeping the car on the street?” I asked Kyle.

My step-brother just rolled his eyes and moved to the backdoor, which he threw open. “My friend’s having a baby,” he told the security guard. “I think there’s something wrong.”

After peeking into the backseat, the rent-a-cop turned around and ran back into the emergency room. I opened the other back door and peered inside. Liz was crying. The pain had definitely intensified. It was tolerable, before, but now it was absolutely unbearable, but I can’t say that because I didn’t know how Liz was feeling and I wish that I never have to feel the pain that she feels now.

With her in his lap, Michael leaned over Liz, combing her hair out of her face and wiping the sweat from her forehead as he did. He was so different now. He became like a second father to Liz’s baby. He was there when Max wasn’t. I kind of smiled to myself. I knew everything was going to be ok because Michael was here and he was going to take care of all of us.

“We’re at the hospital,” he said to Liz. “Everything will be ok. I promise. Do you understand me?”

Her eyes closed tight and her mouth shut even tighter, Liz nodded.

Behind me I could hear the rumbling of a gurney rolling along the sidewalk. “Out of the way!” Someone demanded. It was a doctor urging me to move. So I stumbled out of the way, allowing the doctor to take my place. “I’m Dr. O’Hara. How far along is she?”

I peeked into the window at Michael. “Nine months,” he replied. “Give or take a week.”

“The contractions?” the doctor asked. “How far apart are they?”

“A few minutes?” Michael guessed. “I think there’s something wrong. She’s in pain.”

Dr. O’Hara chuckled and signaled to a nearby nurse. “Childbirth is no walk in the park,” she grinned. “What’s her name?”

“Liz,” I said. “It’s Liz Evans.”

The doctor looked at me over her shoulder. “Not Max Evans’s wife?”

I nodded. “Yes, Max Evans’s wife.”

The woman was absolutely shocked. She turned to the nurse and scoffed. “Did you know his wife was pregnant?” she asked her colleague, who, in reply, shook his head. “Yeah, me too. Last I heard, they were nearly separated.”

Kyle and I exchanged glances over the car. How the hell were we going to explain any of this?

The doctor backed out of the car and two nurses went ahead and started to assist Liz out of the car. On Kyle’s side of the car, Michael sprang up.

“So what’s going on?” he asked. “Is she going to be alright?”

“It’s too soon to tell,” O’Hara replied. “We’ll go ahead and bring her in and use the ultrasound to see how far we are. It does look like Liz is going to have this baby here.”

We all watched as Liz was placed onto a gurney. Her hands, since the moment I saw her this morning, were still on her belly.

“Where was she going for all the prenatal check ups?” Dr. O’Hara asked. “We need her records.”

And now, Michael joined in the exchange of nervous glances. His bottom lip bounced up and down. “Uh…” he mumbled.

“She’s been in New Mexico the past few months,” Kyle said. He looked to us shrugging his shoulders. “We’ll get in touch with her doctor.”

Dr. O’Hara took her eyes off of Liz and looked our way. “Make sure you do that.”

Then the nurses started pushing the gurney into the emergency room. Michael ran along side it, grabbing a hold of Liz’s hand. Dr. O’Hara closely followed and we started marching after them.

“New Mexico?” I asked backhanding Kyle’s arm.

“Hey, that’s the best excuse we’ve got,” he replied. “They think that Max and Liz were on the verge of separation. So let’s stick with that. For the past few months, Liz has been back home in Roswell. We’ll call my dad. We’ll tell him everything we know concerning this pregnancy and he’ll play doctor. I’ll call Serena and ask if she can stop by Roswell on her way back here. My dad will sign all the forms that Serena’s helped us with so far. That’ll be enough to cover our backs.”

I had to admit, it was the best plan to be conceived in a matter of seconds. It was definitely believable.

The whole gurney and the group of people surrounding it moved into the busy ER. They went ahead and rushed Liz to an area divided up into smaller sections by curtains. Once there, the doctor and nurses calmly evaluated the situation.

“We need you to move out of the way,” Dr. O’Hara said to Michael.

He held onto Liz’s hand with a death grip, but I’m sure Liz didn’t mind. She was squeezing back with the same vigor. “Is there something wrong with the baby?” Michael asked.

“I won’t know unless you get out of the way,” the redheaded woman grinned. She grabbed a machine handed to her by one of the nurses and used it’s attachment on Liz’s bare belly.

Michael stepped out of the way and stood beside Kyle and I.

“Everything will be ok,” Kyle assured him, and me. “We’ve just got to think positive.”

Michael crossed his arms tightly across his chest and exhaled sharply. “She doesn’t look ok,” he growled. He turned his head toward me but continued staring at Liz. “Did you call everyone?”

I bobbed my head. “Isabel and Jesse are on their way,” I replied. “So are the Evanses. They’re taking the first flight out of Roswell. I called the Parkers and told them to get here too. We might want to prepare for their arrival.”

I don’t even want to recall the conversation I had with Mr. Parker minutes ago.

“Did you call Max?” Michael asked.

“Cell phone and both pagers,” I nodded. “Nothing.”


{Isabel}

“Why did they take her to the hospital?” I demanded to know. “Something must have happened.”

Jesse ran alongside of me as we entered the emergency room. “Isabel, it’ll be ok,” he insisted.

I heard what he said, but I didn’t take it in, because no matter what, Liz was taken to the hospital and that will never be ok.

I noticed the backs of Kyle, Michael, and Maria and ran in that direction.

“Where is she?” I asked.

The three of them glanced over their shoulders at us and the looks on their faces weren’t exactly welcoming. They just looked at Jesse and I. None of them prepared to speak. They turned their heads back to what they were looking at earlier. So Jesse and I stepped up beside them and noticed Liz lying on the gurney. An IV drip started and the doctor was speaking a language to the nurses none of us understood unless we were in the medical profession.

“What’s going on?” I demanded to know.

A woman dressed in a white lab coat looked my way. “Who’s this?” she asked.

I glared at the woman who was at least six inches shorter than me. “I’m Liz’s sister-in-law,” I snidely replied. “What’s going on?”

“I’m Dr. O’Hara,” the woman said, even though that’s not what I had asked. She placed the clipboard at Liz’s feet and looked to one of the nurses and tilted her head in the opposite direction. “Liz has dilated five centimeters in the past hour. We’re going to go ahead and transport her to the OB/GYN floor. We can give her a private labor suite.”

The woman replied calmly enough to make us believe that everything was ok. I think all of us felt a weight lifted off our shoulders.

The five of us divvied up for the gurney to get through the wall we created. The gurney moved right past me and I quickly caught up with it as it moved towards the elevator.

“Liz, I’m here,” I told her. “You’re going to be ok.”

I wasn’t sure if I was lying or what. I didn’t know what was going on.

“She will be ok,” Dr. O’Hara assured me, with a smile. “You guys can take the next elevator up. Third floor,” she said.

Then she, one of the nurses, and the gurney, with Liz still on it, moved into the elevator. Kyle, Michael, Maria, Jesse and I stood in front of the elevator staring into it at Liz. She finally opened her eyes. She lifted her hand, waved it a little, and smiled at us.

The doors to the elevator closed. After a second or two, Michael pressed the up button.

As we waited patiently, and rather calmly, for the next elevator, I realized someone was missing.

“Where’s my brother?”

“Albany,” Michael sighed.

“Did someone call him?” I began to panic.

I felt my husband’s hand on my back.

“We tried,” Maria replied, sounding rather disappointed.

“He doesn’t know what’s happening?” Jesse chuckled in disbelief.

The elevator doors opened and we all stepped inside. Michael quickly pressed the button for the doors to close. It was just the five of us in there. In less than thirty seconds, the elevator reached the third floor. The doors opened following a ding and we all stepped onto the obstetrics floor. I know the first thing we all noticed was just how empty it was.

We stepped into the main lobby where there was a waiting area off to the side, but no one there. The front desk was right in front of us with a few nurses sitting behind the structure.

“We’re looking for Liz Parker,” Kyle said. “She was just wheeled here a second or two ago.”

Without looking up at us, the nurse pointed down a hallway. “2A,” she said.

Even if she wasn’t looking at us, we all nodded in thanks and started walking down the empty hallway. It was dead silent here. Just a few coughs, but then that was it. We continued walking down the corridor, passing the little directory on the wall, pointing out that the nursery was in the opposite direction we were heading in.

The end of the hallway split in two directions. There was another corridor to the left and another to the right. An arrow on the wall pointing to left directed us to “2A”. We turned into the secluded hallway with a few chairs along the wall and a single door at the end of this shorter corridor.

“Do we go in?” Maria wondered.

Before any of us could answer, the door opened and two doctors emerged.

Dr. O’Hara walked out with a gentle little smirk on her face. “You guys, this is Dr. Crosby,” she said, pointing to the man standing beside her. “He’s one of the best OB/GYNs we’ve got.”

Smiling proudly, without seeming egotistical, the man with the sandy blonde hair nodded. “I’m going to take good care of Liz,” he said.

We all bobbed our heads back, not really sure what to say.

“I need to head back downstairs,” O’Hara chuckled. “None of you worry, your friend is in good hands.”

As the woman made her way between our little group, I followed her with my eyes. “Thank you,” I said to her.

The doctor looked over her shoulder and smiled. Then she disappeared behind the corner, leaving us with the new doctor.

“I’m going to check in on Liz,” Dr. Crosby said. “I’ll be right back out to talk to you all.”

We all bobbed our heads again and watched Dr. Crosby enter the room and then close the door behind him.

Immediately, I fell into one of the chairs. Jesse stood beside me and leaned back against the wall. I grabbed his hand and held tight.

“We need a game plan,” Michael sighed, “because I have no idea what the hell I’m doing here.” He leaned back like Jesse did, but he let his head slam against the wall.

“Maybe we won’t have to do anything,” Maria suggested. “Maybe Liz will have this baby and everything will be alright.”

It was a good notion, but we all knew that it wasn’t possible. So none of us replied back. Dr. O’Hara led us to believe that everything was fine so far, and we were telling ourselves to believe that, but we all could feel something more. We were about to experience one wild ride.

“What if they draw blood” Jesse wondered.

Michael shook his head. “We don’t have to worry about that right now,” he said. “Liz’s blood is human.”

“And the baby’s?” Maria asked.

“Then we worry.” Michael scratched his brow and shook his head. “But they won’t take blood until the baby’s out, right? By then, Max should be here and he’ll take care of it.”

As I continued staring at the floor, I continued playing with the pendant around my neck. “And if he’s not?”

“He will be,” Michael insisted.

“Ok, then,” Kyle said, somewhat upbeat. “We should be fine. Liz is nine months along. She’ll have this baby. It’s that simple.”

We all nodded in agreement and we all continued bobbing our heads until Dr. Crosby entered the hallway once again.

He looked at each one of us. “Who’s in charge?” he asked.

Like a reflex, all of us turned to Michael.

Crosby nodded his head and patted Michael on the shoulder. “Come on then,” he said. “We need to talk. Privately.”

Michael and the doctor left the hallway.

Chapter 25

{Michael}

“Do you understand?”

I just swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded.

Max wasn’t here, so I was responsible for Liz. That’s what I told Dr. Crosby and then he laid it all down for me. I couldn’t believe what he was explaining to me. It seemed like a nightmare. Nothing seemed real. I wished it was a horrible dream, but it wasn’t.

I told the group that Liz was going to be fine. It was just false labor again. We were worrying about nothing. We would be able to take Liz home in a few hours. I didn’t know what I was achieving by lying and withholding the truth from them, but how the hell was I supposed to tell them that we fucked up horribly?

Maria sat in one of the chairs along the wall. She was nearly on the very edge of the seat, bouncing her knees. “How long has it been?”

Jesse punched the air, forcing his sleeve up his arm. “Three hours,” he replied.

Three hours of us waiting in the square-ish hallway. After I returned back to the others with Dr. Crosby, the doc went back into Liz’s room, trying his best to avoid everyone’s glances. If only I could have followed him into the room, because once that door closed, everyone began to stare at me.

So I just lied and told them that Liz was going to be fine. It was false labor and Dr. Crosby just wanted to observe her until the contractions stopped. The sighs of relief sounded like a beautiful gospel choir. Of course I felt guilty for not telling them everything, but they were so happy to hear that Liz would be able to go home. That was the truth. Eventually, we’d be able to take Liz home today and we wouldn’t have to have the baby here. That’s what was important.

“This way, Philip!”

All of our heads shot up and Isabel jumped out of her chair. We heard the scurry of footsteps and hushed voices. Eventually, Philip, Diane, Jeff, and Nancy rounded the corner into our little hallway.

“Mom!” Isabel said elated. “Dad!”

The woman ran into her mother and father’s arms and the parents sandwiched their daughter, holding her tight. Meanwhile, Maria was doing the same with Mr. and Mrs. Parker.

Philip and Diane finally let go of their daughter. “How’s she doing?” I heard Mr. Evans ask.

“Ok,” Isabel said through a sigh. “She’ll be ok.”

Looking to the other group of three, I noticed that Nancy, Jeff, and Maria broke out of their hold also. Nancy stood in front of Maria, holding my girlfriend’s face in her hands. “What’s going on?” she asked her daughter’s best friend. “Where’s Liz?”

With tears in her eyes, Maria placed her hands on Nancy’s wrists as Mrs. Parker’s hands continued sandwiching Maria’s face. “She’s fine,” she told Liz’s mother. “She’s just resting.”

“But why?” Jeff demanded to know. “Why are we here? Where’s my daughter?”

And of course, everyone looked my way. Everyone.

“Mr. and Mrs. Parker.” I cleared my throat and took a meager step towards them. “Maybe you should sit down.”

“Michael, tell me what’s going on,” Jeff ordered. He didn’t move a single step and neither did his wife.

Since they weren’t going to take a seat, I just bobbed my head and tried to think of the best way to break it to them. “Remember, now,” I started off. “The only reason you two never knew was because we just never knew how to tell you. Liz wanted to take it upon herself to explain everything, but we’ve found out that she never got around to it.”

“Michael, just tell them,” Philip insisted.

Max told his parents, I think, a week ago, and they had known about Max, Isabel, and I for years. They were all caught up. It was Liz’s parents we had to worry about. I would leave the “big” discussion about Max, Isabel, Liz, and I up to Max. I would just tell them what was important right now.

“Mr. and Mrs. Parker, Liz is pregnant.”

Nancy’s hand slowly moved up to her mouth, which hung open with shock. A fire ignited in Mr. Parker’s eyes and he just stared at me for a while. I could feel the heat as the sweat started forming on my forehead.

“Say that again,” Mr. Parker ordered. He raised his voice like he was angry at me.

“Jeff, calm down,” Philip insisted. “You’re not going to get anywhere—”

“My daughter’s pregnant!” Jeff shouted, obviously ignoring Mr. Evans’s suggestion to calm down. “No one told us! She’s pregnant and we’re all in a hospital! That’s my grandchild in there!”

“It’s ours too!” Philip shouted back. He looked to the ground and took a deep breath, calming himself down. “There’s a reason why these kids never told you, why our children withheld this pregnancy from you two.”

Jeff crossed his arms in front of his chest and stared at Philip with his eyes still fiery red. “Humor me,” he said succinctly.

Mr. Evans didn’t fall prey to Mr. Parker’s stares. He simply smirked and bobbed his head. “I think it would be best if Liz or Max were the ones to explain.”

“Where is Max?” Mrs. Evans wondered.

And once again, I was the center of attention.

“He’s in Albany,” I sighed. “We’ve called but he’s out of reach.”

“We’ve paged him a few times,” Kyle added.

I nodded as we all continued to stand around, then when the silence was too much, Mrs. Parker meagerly cleared her throat.

“How far along is she?” Nancy wondered. “Can we see her?”

“She’s to term,” Jesse answered. “And no, they’re not letting anyone in.”

Nancy shook her head in disbelief. “Nine months went by and no one told us?”

Maria grabbed Mrs. Parker’s hand and led her to the chairs. “Why don’t you sit down?” she suggested. “We’ll explain everything to you soon enough.”

Mrs. Evans followed after them with Isabel by her side. Maria, Mrs. Parker, Mrs. Evans, and Isabel sat in the chairs and the two girls got the mothers up to speed.

I could sense Mr. Parker approaching me. I guess I would be the one to ease his mind. Before I turned to look him in the eyes, I already started speaking.

“She’ll be fine,” I said to him, then I finally brought my attention to him. “It was false labor. The doctor wants to observe her.”

“And that’s it?” Jeff asked.

I nodded. “That’s it.”

I’m pretty sure I heard Mr. Parker growl as he walked past me to get to his wife. I smirked nervously and started walking away from the group.

“Where are you going?” Maria wondered.

I tilted my head towards the lobby. “I need to make a phone call.”

Maria nodded back as if giving me permission to leave. I strolled through the hallway with my hands in my pockets. I could feel my phone and I could’ve stopped in the middle of the hallway to use it, but instead, I walked all the way into the lobby and grabbed the courtesy phone off the wall.

“ER front desk,” I said into the receiver.

In a few seconds, I got a reply. “Boston General ER,” someone answered.

I cleared my throat and leaned against the wall. “Hey, Lewis,” I said. “It’s Michael Guerin, you know, Max’s friend?”

“Right, Michael,” Lewis chuckled. “How’s it going? Still a Flames fan?”

“Until the day I die,” I grinned, but I wasn’t calling for a casual conversation. “Listen, I’m up here on the obstetrics floor.”

“I heard,” Lewis replied. “How’s Liz doing?”

I swallowed the lump in my throat and then cleared it as quietly as I could. “Fine. She’s fine. Listen, is Max back yet? Or do you know when he’s coming back?”

“From where?”

I stopped leaning against the wall and stood on my toes, figuratively. “He said that he and Dr. Reyes went to Albany,” I told Lewis.

“That can’t be, Dr. Reyes is here. Do you want me to get her on the phone?”

I leaned forward and let my forehead hit the wall. “No, it’s fine,” I replied, tightening my grip on the phone. “Thanks anyway.” I slammed the phone back onto the base and closed my eyes tight.

“What’s going on?” Maria wondered. “Was that Max? Where is he?”

I leaned back, taking my head off the wall and turned to my girlfriend. My beautiful girlfriend who, with a simple look, made me smile. So with a smile on my face I took a deep breath and sighed. “He’s still with Dr. Reyes in Albany,” I smirked.

Chapter 26

{Isabel}

The mood had definitely intensified.

We had been waiting out here for too long and without any new information.

Michael stood off to the side, by himself. Maria couldn't keep still. Kyle sat on the floor, nervously biting at his fingernails. Jesse sat in the chair next to me, slouched in his seat, letting his knee nervously bounce. My parents sat close together, whispering to each other. I have no idea what about, but they spoke in hushed tones. Mr. and Mrs. Parker sat far away from everyone. They didn't speak to any of us and they didn't even speak to each other. They were just quiet.

The only thing that you could get out of them was that there was that look of anger and betrayal in Mr. Parker's face. He knew there was something we weren't telling him.

"I don't get it," Maria complained. "Max isn't here. Liz is alone in there. They should at least let one of us be with her." She was almost hysterical; frantically pacing the width of the hallway.

I continued leaning against the wall as Michael walked across the corridor to get to his girlfriend. He had to step into her path just to stop her, but she actually ran into him, and when she did, Michael quickly wrapped his arms around her before she could divert herself around him and continue on with her pacing. So he had a grasp around her and held her tight. She gave in, buried her face into his chest and slowly started to cry.

We had all remained silent, watching Maria pace and babble, and now, we continued to remain silent, watching as Maria began to fear the worst and sob.

Hours. Hours had passed since we brought Liz into the hospital. Hours since my parents and Liz's parents arrived. Hours we've been left in the dark.

Michael managed to get Maria to sit down. She wiped the smeared tears off her cheeks and took a few deep breaths. Michael sat next to her and ran his hand through her hair.

"It's ok," we all heard Michael whisper.

"Maria has a point," Mrs. Parker said. She had barely spoken since she got here. Her husband was the only one of the two who had really vocalized himself. "That's my daughter in there." She was holding onto her tears. You could hear them in her throat. "I want to know what's going on."

My father nodded. "Maybe we should ask if we can see her."

"Maybe Liz is fine and they're just getting her ready to come home," Kyle insisted.

I think we all thought that way, but I'm sure that thought has since left our minds. We wanted to believe it, but they've had Liz for so long that we've second-guessed ourselves. We had no idea what was going on. I mean, was Liz in labor? What? I don't know. I don't think any of us did. Except...

"Michael, what did they tell you again?" I wondered.

He was the only one who had some insight into all of this. He was the only one the doctor had spoken to. Michael cleared his throat, closed his eyes, and gave his head a little shake. "False labor," he sighed. "She’s fine now."

I knew Michael better than he did. I got up from my chair and walked to him and Maria. "I'm sure Liz is fine," I smiled to Maria and grabbed Michael, pulling him out of his chair.

"Isabel!" he exclaimed. "What the hell?"

I pulled him into waiting room and made sure we were out of earshot. "What did Dr. Crosby really tell you?” I demanded to know. “There's something going on and I'm sick and tired of you and Max holding things back from us to protect us. Now, there has to be a reason why they've got Liz in there and why they're not telling us anything. You tell me why, and don't give me that 'observation' bullshit."

Michael exhaled sharply. He took in a deep breath, puckered his lips, and forced out the air. He looked up at the ceiling scratched his brow and then looked down at the floor.

"Michael..." I scolded.

He winced, and then out it came. "Liz is eight weeks premature," he blurted.

My heart seemed to be in two places at once. It felt like it hit the floor, but I could clearly feel it in my throat. "Wh—what do you mean, 'premature'?" I hysterically questioned.

“I mean,” Michael sarcastically replied, “the baby’s not nine months.”

I shook my head in absolute denial. “No, Michael. She's fine. The baby's fine. Today is nine months to the day! We did the math—“

"We did the math wrong!" Michael shouted. He was blowing up, finally letting everything out. "The baby is barely seven months old! I don't know what happened, but we screwed up!" He sighed once more as he rubbed his forehead, calming himself.

My eyes burned with tears. I couldn’t wrap my brain around it. I was confused, absolutely at a loss. “Oh my God,” I said softly. “What do we do?”

Michael breathed out sharply through his nose. “We just wait,” he replied. “Max told me that if something went wrong and he wasn't here I was to take care of Liz and the baby. So when Dr. Crosby pulled me aside, he told me all of this—that Liz was eight months premature—and that the baby wanted out—”

“What?”

“Isabel, that baby wanted out,” Michael repeated. He let his head drop, and he slowly started shaking it. “It really wanted to get out. So when I was told all of this, Dr. Crosby asked me if he could go ahead and give Liz some sort of drug to stop the contractions.”

I hung on his every word. "What did you tell them?"

"We have to hold off on having this baby today," Michael began to explain. He was going to lay out all the facts to help me understand his reasoning. “If Liz has the baby now, then it wouldn’t be strong enough to survive. They’ll test the baby and test Liz and you know that we can’t let that happen. So I told them to go ahead and give her the drug. It’s going to stop the contractions and stop labor. We’ll be able to stick to the plan: Max delivers the baby at home and no one else gets involved. They gave her the drug and they're keeping watch over her right now, making sure the contractions stop. Liz will be able to come home and have the baby to term."

None of this was making any sense to me. Everything was just floating around in my head, too fast for me to put anything together. Damnit, where the hell was Max? Michael made a choice for all of us. He spoke for all of us. I think it was a mistake.

“Michael, what if the baby’s alien?” I asked. “The medication they gave Liz might hurt the baby.”

We couldn’t handle alcohol and we even had to dilute our coffee because the caffeine in it was too much for us. The baby was small, premature. What if it was alien? The drug would affect the baby so much to the point of who knows?

And Michael was kicking himself in the ass. “Shit,” he growled. He hadn’t thought things through and that’s why I believe he made a mistake. Then he looked to the floor and shook his head. “No, if something went wrong, if something happened to the baby, they would have told us. So we’re ok.”

Michael tried his best to say that with confidence and sincerity and hopefulness. He tried to say it as though he knew what he was talking about, but he didn’t. None of us knew what was going on and despite how much we hoped that things were going to be ok, we didn’t know that.

“There is one other problem,” Michael softly admitted.

And by the tone of Michael’s voice, I didn’t want to know what it was, but I couldn’t resist asking. “What is it?” I dreaded.

Michael nervously scratched his brow. “I don’t know where Max is.”

I looked at Michael skeptically and shook my head nervously. “No, you guys said he was in Albany.”

“That’s what he told me,” Michael insisted. “He told Liz, too. He said he and Dr. Reyes were going to Albany, but an hour or two ago, I called downstairs, asking if Max was back, and Lewis, the desk clerk, had no idea what I was talking about.”

“Michael, where is he?” I demanded to know.

He scoffed in my face and looked at me incredulously. “You think if I knew, I’d be standing here arguing with you?”

I glared at Michael with my eyes narrowed. Ok, it was a stupid, pointless question, but there was no need for stupid remarks.

Max was missing? This just wasn’t happening.

“Michael, what do we do?” I asked, getting nearly as hysterical as Maria was earlier. “Liz was given medication. They won’t let any of us see her. It’s been hours. Max isn’t in Albany. He’s not answering his phone or pages. We don’t know where he is. I—”

I saw the worry that glued itself to Michael's face. So, I shut my mouth. I had seen him scared before, but this, this was a different type of scared. He was, I guess, scared for all of us. Michael's a leader. He is, after all, second-in-command, but now that he's got the helm, he doesn't want the position. Unfortunately, there's no other choice.

I stared into his eyes. He was my brother and my protector just as much as Max was. "Michael, what do we? do” I asked. “You can’t expect us to just sit around and wait for something to happen.”

But Michael was so scared. He was at a total lost.

"What did you tell me, Michael?" I rhetorically asked him. "You said that Max asked you to take care of Liz and the baby. You have to do it, ok? Take control.”

Michael had been staring fiercely at the floor. He started shaking his head and just continued to do so. His eyes, they blinked a few times. I realized Michael was stuck, confused beyond all belief. "I don't know what to do."

And neither did I, but something had to be done. We weren't out of the woods and it was Michael I was going to turn to. "You have to think of something, Michael. Anything can, will, and does happen.” I took a deep breath. “I'm asking you again, what do we do now?"

"Nothing!" Michael snapped, hoping to convince himself. "Liz will be fine. We just have to wait! We have no other choice! The contractions will stop, ok?! She'll be fine and she'll be able to go home!"

I laughed. "That's not how it works with us, Michael. You know that! We’re fucking cursed! There’s no denying it.”

“Isabel!” Michael growled. “Unless you can think of something better, shut the hell up!” He had never yelled at or spoke to me like that. “You’re right, who knows where the hell Maxwell is?” he went on. “Do you really want us to go out and look for him, leaving Liz here? I don’t know about you, but I want to be here. Where do you want to be, Isabel?”

Michael was right. There was no other practical choice. Max could be anywhere. It made no sense to go out and search for him.

“It’ll be ok,” Michael insisted. “We’ve called him and I know he’s got his pagers on him. He’s going to be fine wherever the hell he is.”

The conscience better not have attacked him again, because if Max disappeared on his own, I was going to kill him myself.

How the hell do we get caught up in these situations?

Then I realized that, this morning, I woke up with a bad feeling. I didn’t sleep well last night.

“Michael, did you know this was going to happen?”

He had been looking at me, but when I asked, his head did a little twitchy thing. “What?”

“I’m not saying we can see the future or anything,” I explained, “but, Michael, I think I knew something like this was coming.”

Michael started smiling, but tried his best to conceal his smile. The only reason he grinned was because he was doing so in disbelief and I knew because of his nervous laugh. “You did too?” he asked.

I definitely didn’t know what it was. It was more of a feeling, not like a vision or anything, and I think that’s what made it worse.

I bobbed my head, worriedly looking around at the eerily empty waiting room. “If I felt it and you felt it,” I started, “do you think that maybe—”

“Max did too?” Michael finished for me, and he nodded in reply. “Why would you and I feel it and not Max? I’m pretty sure he did.” He firmly placed his hands on his hips and started shaking his head.

Then I realized, if Max did feel what we had felt, he wouldn’t have gone to Albany or wherever he went, unless…

“I think so too, Iz,” Michael said. “I think Max knew and I think he ran.”

But I shook my head. That couldn’t be the case. Max wasn’t like that. “You don’t think he left her, do you?”

Michael sighed heavily and shook his head as he shrugged his shoulders. “I think that he just didn’t want to deal with this, but I’m hoping I’m wrong.”

“Wrong about what?” a panic-ridden voice asked. “What’s wrong with Liz? Where is she?!”

Michael and I exchanged glances of absolute shook and then looked back to the stranger who was out of breath and sweating almost heavily.

“Max…”