Roswell Fanatics

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Part 51

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“Mom…I’m gonna look like a whale shoved into a Barbie dress! I don’t wanna go!” Maria cried after having tried on all of her dresses only to find she couldn’t fit into a single one.

“Sweetie, It’ll be okay. We’ll go shopping and get you something nice that’ll fit you right.” Amy was trying not to laugh at the situation. Maria was definitely starting to get big, and her emotions were on high most of the time lately. Amy remembered having gone through the same thing when she was pregnant with Maria.

“But…I’ll still look like a cow…” she pouted.

“No you won’t, and you don’t. You are beautiful sweetheart. Look at you, you’re a shining star!”

“Really?” Maria walked up to her mother and gave her a big hug as the tears fell from her eyes.

“Yes really. You know I’d never lie to you. We’ll go to the store tomorrow if you like, cause its too late right now they’re probably all closed.”

“Thanks mom!”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Isabel?” Alex woke up to the feeling of light kisses on his cheek and the movement of the bed as a body sat down beside where he was laying.

He gently sat up and wrapped his arms around his girlfriend.

“What happened?” he asked her, but she didn’t answer. All Isabel could do was wrap her arms around him and hold on.

Alex stopped trying to get her to explain and just held his girlfriend in his arms, enjoying the feel of her being there. Even though she had just left the morning before, it was now late on Saturday, and he had missed her while she was gone. Truth be told he had been worrying about her. What did this mean that she was coming to him late, close to tears, a day earlier than she had planned?

Isabel slowly pulled back enough to look at Alex in the dim light filtering through his window. The care and love she saw in his eyes made her melt. No matter what, she knew, that this was worth it. Leaning in she kissed him hesitantly at first, but then warmed up to it. She needed to feel loved right now, and Alex gave her all that and more. When she was wrapped up in his arms, nothing could touch her.

Alex responded to her kiss by kissing her back. He pulled her light frame to lie on the bed beside him as he continued the kiss.

After a while they had to come up for air. Alex was breathing heavily as he looked down at the blond angel lying on his sheets. Running a hand across her cheek he finally asked the question he’d been wondering since she had woken him.

“What happened?”

“That depends on what you’re asking about.” Alex watched as that sad look crossed over her features, quickly followed by a frightened trembling.

“Where do you wanna start?” Alex propped himself up on his elbow as he lay on his side never taking his eyes off her.

“Well, I told my parents…”

“And…”

“And well, I suppose it was more, I told my mother. There was screaming and yelling. Michael came to my defense though. He tried to get me out of mom’s mind and make her only mad at him, but it didn’t quite work.

“Mom said a lot of terrible things…and I just, I couldn’t take it. Dad stopped the fight, but Michael and I had to leave. There was no way I was going to stay there any longer and listen to her. She always blows things way out of proportion.” Isabel shook her head as she remembered the look in her mother’s eyes as she was yelling at her.

“So you and Michael came home tonight?” Alex prompted after Isabel had fallen silent for a few minutes.

“Yeah. The ride was pretty quiet, neither of us really knew what to say. But when we got home…” Isabel was shaking again just thinking about what she was about to say. Alex wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close so their bodies were touching. It seemed to help calm her. “When Michael and I got home, all I wanted to do was go lay down…but when I opened the door to my room…” Isabel was stuttering but eventually she was able to get it all out. She told him about finding the present from her stalker, and then Michael immediately taking her to the police station. To say the least, it had been a long night.

“So what are the police going to do now? I mean, that guy was in your home, in your room.” Alex couldn’t believe this was happening. What could he do to fix this?

“They’re going to come by and have a look at the house tomorrow they said. And they might set up surveillance, they aren’t sure. But there isn’t much they can do since we have no idea who this person is.”

“I’m sorry baby,” he whispered soothingly while rubbing her back in comforting circles like he knew she loved.

“I…I couldn’t stay there tonight…I just can’t!” Isabel cried, finally letting the tears fall that had been threatening all evening. Just thinking about sleeping in her bedroom after that…sick person…had been in there…possibly touching her things…it gave her the shivers.

“Hey, it’s alright. You can stay here as long as you want. You know I don’t mind.”

“Thank you Alex,” Isabel whispered as she leaned in to give him another kiss.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Maria and Amy were smiling and laughing as they walked into their home arm in arm with shopping bags and everything.

“I take it you girls had a productive shopping trip?” Jim asked.

“Yeah. I suppose this thing won’t be so bad after all,” Maria relented.

“I’m glad. I want everyone there to meet my whole family, so I would’ve dragged you there anyway, you know,” Jim teased. Maria and Amy laughed as they had a seat on the couch.

“Ugh…my back is killing me now. Too much standing up shopping I think,” she whined.

“Why don’t you go take a warm bath, sweetie? Then you can model your dress for Jim.”

“Mmm…a warm bath sounds great right now. My feet are hurting too! I just hurt all over.” Maria carefully got up off the couch wishing she had just not sat down in the first place because it was starting to take more effort to get up.

“Poor thing, this is only the beginning,” Amy whispered to Jim as she watched her daughter head upstairs.

“So are you two going to be packed to leave tomorrow? Our flight is at four in the afternoon.”

“Don’t worry about us, we’ll be ready. So is Kyle just meeting us there, then?” Amy asked not sure if plans had changed.

“Yeah. I talked to him today. He’s having a great time with Tess and Liz. He’s going to meet us at the airport when our flight gets in, cause his gets there about an hour before us.”

“Sounds like everything’s all figured out then…” Amy stood up on her tiptoes and gave her husband a kiss for being so perfect. “I think I’ll go start dinner now; that way it’ll be done when Maria comes back down. I’m sure she’ll be hungry.”

“What do you mean? She’s always hungry!” Jim joked. “I never thought a girl could eat so much!”

Amy poked him in the ribs. “Don’t let her hear you saying that, she’ll start crying again and I’ll have to hurt you!”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“I love this place!” Maria exclaimed as she walked through the lavish hotel suite. The place really was huge. The bathroom was best of all. It had a giant whirlpool tub and large mirrors. This would definitely be an enjoyable few days.

“Nice, isn’t it? My assistant arranged everything. He said you girls would probably like this.” Jim smiled as he watched his girls looking at everything. They’d never experienced any place like this before, and he was glad he could be the one to bring it to them.

“Honey, its great,” Amy kissed him on the lips. Jim thanked the bellboy and shut the door behind him. “I should probably go hang up the dresses,” she whispered in his ear before kissing him one last time and walked over to their bags.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Courtney? Oh my god!” Maria squealed as she saw her friend walking towards her with a surprised smile on her face.

“Maria! What are you doing here?” Courtney hugged her friend as best she could given the circumstance. “Look at you. Girl you look beautiful. That’s a gorgeous dress.”

“Thanks Court. But what are you doing here? I mean, this is for some company, not a social benefit or anything.”

“Yeah, well my dad’s an investor, so he brings mom and I along to all these things.” Courtney rolled her eyes before continuing, “But thank goodness you’re here! You can save me from my mother trying to get every guy to dance with me,” she laughed.

“You got it!” Maria laughed along. “Are you sure this dress looks alright though? I mean, I feel like a cow shoved into a potato sack all the time now…no matter what I wear it feels too tight in a matter of days,” she pouted.

“No, darlin, you look beautiful. And that dress is perfect.” It was true, the high empire waistline just below her breasts minimalized the appearance of her protruding stomach. And the soft pink fabric flowed down her form to just above the floor. It was simple but elegant. Her hair was curled slightly around her shoulders and she wore a pair of flat sandals that matched, she figured the less she hurt her feet, the better.

“Thanks. So what’s new? Tell me everything!” Maria smiled as she led Courtney over to the head table that her mother and Jim were now sitting at.

“Gees, where do I start?” she laughed as they reached the table and she saw a bunch of people she’d never met, but had heard a lot about.

“Courtney, I’d like you to meet my mom, Amy, and her husband Jim, and his son Kyle. This is Courtney Harding, we met through school, kinda. She goes to USC,” Maria explained.

“It’s nice to meet you all,” Courtney smiled.

“It’s nice to meet you too Courtney,” Amy smiled. She’d seen how much Maria’s face had brightened when she saw this girl. It was good to see her so happy again.

“So you’re the over-protective big brother Kyle that’s been keeping Maria in check, huh?” Courtney smiled at Kyle.

“Yeah, that would be me.”

“Aww! Kyle, you’re blushing!” Maria laughed at his rosy cheeks.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

An hour later, Maria and Courtney were still talking and enjoying each other’s company.

“So is Jim an investor too?” Courtney asked, still curious as to how Maria came to be here.

“No…actually…Valhalla Industries is Jim’s company.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah.”

“Wow!”

“I know.”

“So you’re doing well now…”

“I told you I was.”

“You know, to answer that question you asked me before, I really don’t think Michael’s parents would mind so much anymore.” Courtney knew that sounded bad, but it was the truth. She didn’t think that way, she had always liked Maria and thought that she and Michael fit each other rather well no matter what the circumstances. But the social elite like Samantha Guerin only had one thing in mind when approving of girls for their sons, and that was money.

Maria wasn’t sure what to say to that. What did she think of it? She wasn’t sure. “Yeah, but that doesn’t change anything, not really.”

“Yeah it does. It means Michael won’t have to go through all the crap that he did before. Not that he wouldn’t. I know that for you and your daughter he would give it up at the drop of a pin, but he won’t have to.”

“Thanks Court.”

“Sorry to interrupt ladies, but could I possibly steal my sister for a dance?” Kyle asked as he stood in front of the two girls. Maria smiled at Kyle’s proffered hand.

“Of course Kyle, I’d love to dance with you. Sorry Court, but I’ll be back later, alright?”

“No problem. Go have some fun!” she laughed as she shooed them away.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Kyle James Valenti, don’t you dare!” Maria tried to sound mad but she couldn’t help but laugh. They were on the dance floor and he wanted to dip her, but she wouldn’t let him. She was too afraid of falling.

“Aw, come on. I’m a big strong boy, I could lift anything!” he declared, puffing out his chest as he twirled her. Maria rolled her eyes at his macho ego.

“Sure little boy. No I think I’m done dancing. I need to sit down; my feet are killing me. But why don’t you go ask Courtney to dance? She seems like she’s bored.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to make Tess mad or anything. Its one thing to dance with you, but…”

“Oh, please! Tess won’t care. I’m sure she’s met Courtney by now, and besides she knows that you wouldn’t do anything behind her back cause I’d skin ya alive if ya did!” Maria’s eyes were twinkling with mischief making Kyle believe that she really would do it if he gave her reason to.

“Okay. You be careful. Go sit and relax. Can’t have you tiring yourself out, its not good for the baby.”

“Kyle!”

“I know…I know. I just can’t help it,” he grinned slyly. He offered Maria his arm and led her back to their table where their parents were talking with another couple before he went off to ask Courtney to dance.

Once Kyle was gone Maria took a deep breath and started listening in on the conversation her mother and Jim were currently having.

“Oh, Maria, honey. I’d like you to meet Mr. and Mrs. Guerin. This is Amy’s daughter Maria,” Jim introduced.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Maria smiled in her most charming way possible. She sat there for a moment as the adults continued their conversation.

That was when it struck her…Mr. and Mrs. Guerin? Could it possibly be? He was from LA…

Oh god! Where was Courtney when she needed her? She would certainly know. Was that why she had brought up Michael’s parents earlier? Because they were there? Then, if they were there…was…Michael there as well?

“…Yes, its such a pity. Our son and daughter are in college and are in the middle of projects and papers that are keeping them busy so they couldn’t come to town for the weekend. Usually they would come with us though,” Samantha spoke to the Valenti’s. She found them to be rather enjoyable people actually.

“Our children are about your age actually. They both are attending the University of San Diego at the moment,” Patrick Guerin explained to Maria.

Maria couldn’t move. There was no fuckin way! Damn it, this really was happening.

“Isn’t that a coincidence!” Amy smiled, what a small world. “Maria went there. She’s taking a year off right now, but she’ll be going back next winter.”

“Really? Maybe you know them then. Isabel and Michael Guerin?”

“Uhm…”

“I saw you talking with Courtney Harding earlier. Do you know her too? She’s a friend of there’s as well,” Samantha pursued.

“Yeah, uh, Courtney is a psychology major, the same as me, and we met on the message boards between our schools. She even came down to San Diego to meet me in the fall. We’ve been keeping in touch ever since.” Maria was happy to talk about anything that would take the conversation away from her relationship with Michael.

“She’s a sweet girl. I tried to get my son to see that at one point, but he was too busy with other things,” Samantha rolled her eyes.

“Now honey,” Patrick warned. He did not want this conversation to get bad.

“I’m sorry, would you excuse us?” Jim spoke up. There was an important associate of his on the other side of the room motioning for him. He helped Amy up and offered her his arm.

“Certainly, it was nice meeting you,” Patrick shook Jim’s hand.

“Well, so how far along are you, dear?” Samantha spoke after Jim and Amy were gone.

“About six months now.” Maria ran her hand nervously across her stomach. Sitting here right in front of her child’s grandparents when they didn’t know it was rather unnerving.

“Congratulations.”

“Thanks.”

“Do you know if it’s a boy or a girl?”

“It’s a girl. Just what I wanted,” she smiled brightly. Talking about her child made it even more real to her. Just a few more months…

“Well, where’s your husband, the happy father? Is he the one you were dancing with earlier?” Maria almost spit her water out that she’d just taken a sip of.

“No! That was my stepbrother Kyle. No, I’m not married and the baby’s father isn’t in the picture right now.” Maria held her head up tall, refusing to be put down by these people. She had heard so many stories about the wrath of Samantha Guerin, and right now with all these emotions running through her she was just hoping that nothing would happen. She honestly did not want to end up yelling something along the lines of, ‘yeah well that poor unfortunate child of mine also happens to be your granddaughter!’ That would really spoil the night.

“Poor dear.” Maria could hear the condescending, pitying tones of her voice and it just angered her.

“It’s okay. I don’t mind at all. I have my family right now, and that’s all I need.” With that Maria stood up. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to find the ladies room,” and without looking back she walked toward the hall, her steps getting progressively faster until she found the door she was looking for.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Courtney laughed as Kyle twirled her and then dipped her on the dance floor. She couldn’t remember ever having this much fun at one of these gatherings.

Kyle pulled her back up and they continued dancing and laughing together.

“So, what are your plans for the summer?” Kyle asked her.

“I don’t know. Getting out of LA. I need a change of scenery, get out of my parents house.” Courtney paused and looked around to find Maria. “Oh no…” she muttered when her eyes finally found her.

“What? Is something wrong?” Kyle asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe.” Courtney saw the confused look on his face and decided to elaborate. “Do you see that couple talking to Maria over at your table?”

“Yeah. What’s the big deal? They’re probably just more investors.”

“What did Ria tell you about Michael?”

“Just that she needed to get away mostly. She said something about his family being stuck up rich snobs. But that could’ve just been her emotions.”

“Nope. Not really. But mostly its Michael’s mother. Samantha Guerin, and that happens to be the woman who Maria is sitting across from at the moment,” Courtney revealed.

“What?!” he practically yelled. Courtney hit him on the arm to shut him up. “Sorry. But I’m not going to let her sit there and talk to that woman…”

“Kyle, you don’t know what they’re talking about. Michael’s parents don’t even know about Maria, and I don’t think she would just tell them. I’m sure she’s fine.”

“But…” Just then they watched as Maria hurriedly stood and headed towards the hallway.

“No,” Courtney stopped Kyle from going after her. “Let me go see her, alright?” She knew that she might be able to help, but Kyle might make things worse without meaning to.

“Well…” her eyes pleaded with him until he gave in. “Alright. But if you guys aren’t back…” but it was too late, Courtney was already in hot pursuit of Maria and couldn’t hear him.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“How tragic for that poor pregnant girl,” Samantha Guerin spoke to her husband. “And she’s so pretty too. It’s just terrible that this happened to her. She could’ve been with anyone. You know, I think Michael might have liked her…” she babbled on.

“Now Sammy! What did we decide about our children’s lives?” Patrick reprimanded lightly. After Isabel and Michael had left in such a hurry on their last visit he’d had a talk with his wife, and they had agreed, however reluctantly, to let their children live their own lives and make their own decisions.

“I know, honey. I wouldn’t push them together now anyways,” Samantha sighed. That girl really had been sweet, and her family was becoming rather well known. Valhalla Industries would be going places in the future. Such a shame…

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Ria?” Courtney poked her head into the bathroom but didn’t see anyone, so she walked all the way in. Maria was standing at the sink splashing cool water on her face. “You alright?”

“I…I just met…” Damn the emotions! She didn’t mean to cry, she just couldn’t help it. She was too emotional lately to the point that anything could make her cry, even happy movies!

“Michael’s parents,” Courtney finished for her. “Yeah, I saw you talking to them. I’m sorry I would’ve warned you, but I didn’t see them earlier.”

“It’s not your fault. God! Why is this happening to me?” Maria leaned against Court, who willingly wrapped her arms around her and lead her to the small sofa so they could sit down.

Courtney wasn’t sure what to say, so she figured she’d leave it up to Maria if she wanted to talk about more.

“I…They seemed pretty nice and everything. Really proud of Michael and Isabel actually, and how they were attending USD. But…then…his mom asked about the baby’s father, and…I just…” Maria took a deep breath and looked into her friend’s eyes, hoping to find some insight. “I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know if should tell them. No matter how much I wanted to say that ‘yeah well this bastard child just happens to be your granddaughter!’ I just knew I couldn’t.”

“Yeah, I’m sure Samantha would’ve had a heart attack had you said something like that!” Courtney laughed slightly. “And I’m sure Michael would’ve then gotten an earful if not an unexpected visit come tomorrow.”

“God, he could’ve been here…”

“But he’s not.”

“I know…I just…I don’t know what I would’ve done if he had been. I…I miss him!” she finally admitted to herself and Court. She’d been feeling it for a while now, but hadn’t put a name to it…but she missed him. They had become good friends before she’d found out she was pregnant, and she missed that, him.

“All you have to do is go down there. He won’t be mad.”

“But…I can’t.”

“I know.” Courtney could just imagine how upset Michael would be when he found out he had missed his chance at seeing Maria.

“Well, why don’t we go back out there and find your brother and have all sorts of fun? Because if we don’t get back soon, he might just send out the marines looking for us,” Courtney giggled and was happy to hear Maria doing the same.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Amy stood in the doorway watching her daughter in silence. Since they had gotten back to the hotel that was all Maria had done. She’d excused herself saying she was tired, and had been sitting there on her bed, not moving, just staring off into space. Amy was actually starting to get worried. She wasn’t quite sure what exactly had happened at the banquet, but something had changed her daughter.

“Maria sweetie?” Amy asked softly. “Are you alright?” She placed her hand on her daughter’s frail shoulder and sat beside her on the bed. Maria sat quietly still looking out the window for a few moments before finally turning to her mother. Amy could see the pools of water in her eyes that had yet to spill.

“Aww, come here sweetie.” Amy wrapped her arms around her daughter and pulled her head down to rest against her chest. She hated it when Maria was so upset. Maria let her tears go as she relaxed into her mother’s arms.

“Why does everything have to be so complicated?”

“Because the easy things don’t usually mean as much,” Amy offered as she rubbed her hand in circles across her daughters back.

“Michael’s parent’s were at the banquet, mom.”

“Really? Who were they?” Amy was curious. Maria had told her many things, but she couldn’t remember hearing the boy’s last name.

“Mr. and Mrs. Guerin.”

“Oh. I’m sorry we left you alone with them, sweetie. If I had known…”

“It’s alright mom. I just…” she fell silent not sure what to say next.

“They don’t know anything about you, do they sweetheart?” Maria shook her head against her mother’s shoulder.

“No…I…it was so weird. I’ve always heard Michael and Isabel complaining about their parents…but…I don’t know. Their father seems like a really sweet man. But after you and Jim left…his mother started asking questions about the baby. I swear when I told her I wasn’t married and that the baby’s father wasn’t around her eyes got so wide I thought they’d explode.”

“Some people just have problems with unwed mothers. Why it’s alright for a man to sleep around and not a woman is beyond me, but that’s the society that we live in.”

“It sucks. I don’t want her pity. I’m happy with my life and that’s all that matters!”

“Really? Are you really happy with everything, sweetheart?” Amy looked into her daughter’s eyes and she could see the flicker of uncertainty. Maybe she told herself that she had everything she wanted, but Amy knew differently. It was all there, plain as day.

“Of course mom! I have a family now…you and Jim and Kyle…I love it. I wouldn’t give it up for anything.”

“Yes, but sweetie, you will always have us, alright? Now you have this little one to think of. But just remember to take care of yourself too.” Amy paused, not knowing whether or not she should continue. “Do you love Michael?”

“Yeah…I think so. I mean, I guess there was always something about him. He used to annoy the hell out of me, but he had his special moments too…” Maria remembered the time he’d saved her from the supposed mugger…and how he’d talk to her, really talk to her and listen for that one month of peace before the storm hit…

“It sounds to me like it wasn’t all one sided.”

“No, I guess not. I mean, he said…he told me that he loved me, and I know he meant it.”

“So?”

“Thanks mom,” Maria gave a slight smile to her mother. Talking about things really did help.

“No problem sweetie. Now, why don’t you go try out that whirlpool tub? Looks awfully nice…”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Part 52

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Courtney sighed loudly in a vain attempt to get Michael’s attention. She had come down to San Diego for the weekend, something that was becomimg a rather frequent occurrence, but this weekend she had a specific reason in mind. And since Max was off studying for god knows what and Isabel was out with Alex, it gave Courtney the perfect opportunity to talk to Michael, if she could only get his attention away from the hockey game long enough to talk to her.

“You can’t ignore me forever,” Courtney finally said, tired of trying the subtle approach.

“Yes I can,” Michael replied, his eyes never leaving the television.

“Fine,” Courtney quipped, “I’ll just talk to myself.”

“Good.”

“So, I saw Maria last weekend.”

“That’s nice…wait. What!?!”

“Oh, so now I have your attention?”

“Complete,” Michael grabbed the remote, snapped off the TV and turned towards Courtney. “Now would you mind repeating what you just said?”

“I said, I saw Maria last weekend.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought you said.” Michael lowered his head, not quite knowing what to say.

After a moment of silence, Courtney realized he wasn’t going to be the one to talk first. “That’s it?” she asked, somewhat exasperated. “No, how is she? Or where’d you see her?”

Michael just smirked; my, Courtney was antsy. “I guess I don’t really know where to start.”

“Alright, well then I guess it’s up to me then. Well, to start off, she doing fine. Her family is really great and they’re taking great care of her. And Kyle, her stepbrother, man is he a piece a work. He’s constantly babying her; it pretty much just drives her crazy.”

Michael couldn’t help but laugh. That was his Maria, always wanting to prove that she was more than capable of taking care of herself. Michael’s expression suddenly took on a serious tone. “How is she really?”

“She’s doing good Michael. I mean she looks great; pregnancy looks good on her. It’s hard, but she’s getting by. She has that whole emotional hormones thing going on, it’s kinda funny actually, but it’s not that bad. She’s still the same Maria.”

Michael just kinda stared off into space for a while, lost in his own reverie. Knowing there was more she needed to tell him, Courtney broke through his thoughts.

“She uh…met your parents.”

“What?” Michael asked, confused. “Where was it that you said you saw her?”

“I didn’t. It was at that banquet for Valhalla industries.”

“Why does that name sound familiar?”

“Cause first your parents asked you to go, to which you gave some mediocre excuse. And then I asked you to come with me, since Max was busy and I didn’t want to be bored out of my mind, but you politely declined because you didn’t want to run into your parents,” Courtney stated matter-of-factly.

“You’re kidding me,” Michael gasped, hoping more than anything that she was.

“I’m afraid not.”

“Crap,” Michael muttered under his breath, but Courtney still heard him. To think that he was so close to seeing Maria again, but he had blown off the chance cause he was afraid of a run-in with his mother. His mother…Maria had met his mother. “Is she okay?” Michael asked. “What did my mom say to her?”

“I don’t know everything; I wasn’t there. But apparently she asked about the father, and that kind of upset Maria a little, but she’s okay.”

“Did…did she say anything?”

“No. What was she going to say? Oh, by the way, your son is the father of my baby. They don’t know about her, so she wasn’t about to drop that on them.”

“But they do know.”

“What?” Courtney asked confused. When did that happen?

“You know a couple weeks ago when Isabel and I went home and Isabel told mom about Alex and she freaked out. Well, Isabel wasn’t the only one who shared news.”

“Your mom knows about Maria.”

“She knows of her, but not who she is. That’s why I didn’t want to run into my parents. Mom and I aren’t exactly on speaking terms.”

“Michael, I have a feeling that your mom wouldn’t care so much anymore,” Courtney started tentatively.

“Huh?”

“Um…well. Maria’s stepfather is the owner of Valhalla industries.”

“You’re shitting me, right?”

“Afraid not.”

“Jesus! I know what they’re thinking. Poor little rich girl got knocked up and now she’s all on her own. What a scandal that must be.” Michael voice had become progressively louder until he was practically yelling.

“Michael, calm down,” Courtney started, “and stop blaming this on yourself. It was her decision to cut you off. It was her decision to keep you out of her life and go through this alone.”

“Like I gave her much choice. Who would want me anyway? All I end up doing is hurting everyone around me.”

“That’s not true…”

“Isn’t it,” he interrupted. “Look at Max and Liz. You can’t tell me that I’m not the cause of that. And Isabel. She would’ve been able to work things out with mom if I hadn’t stuck my nose into things. And Maria…God knows I screwed up so many times with her.” Michael hadn’t planned on this all coming out now, but he’d just had it built up for so long, he couldn’t stop.

“Michael, that’s not all your fault. Max brought their breakup upon himself, you may have had some part in it, but he was the one who ultimately made the decision. I know that Isabel doesn’t blame anything on you, the relationship between her and Samantha was already strained and Alex was just the icing on the cake. As for Maria, she’s made her fair share of mistakes too. You’re not the only one to blame here Michael. Sure, you’ve made mistakes, but at least you’re learning from them.”

“Yeah, well if I’ve learned from them, why the hell haven’t I done anything to fix them? Why do I just sit here all day feeling sorry for myself instead of trying to make up for all the shit I caused? Cause I’m a selfish son-of-a-bitch who doesn’t deserve any of the love or friendship I’m given, that’s why.”

Courtney was silent for a moment, not really knowing what to say.

“But just by admitting that you’ve made them, by taking responsibility for it, and by realizing that you should apologize and try to fix things shows that your not as bad a person as you say you are.” Michael and Courtney both turned around shocked to see Max standing in the doorway. “Courtney’s right Michael, this isn’t all your fault. And before you can start to repair anything, you need to realize that and forgive yourself.”

Michael just stared at Max, not knowing what to say. “It’s just not that easy Maxwell,” he finally said.

“Why not? Look Michael, I forgave you long ago, why can’t you?”

“Sorry to disappoint you,” Michael started, “but you’re not the only one that counts.”

“Is that what you think? That Maria blames you? Cause she doesn’t Michael, she never did,” Courtney cut in. “Michael, when I saw her she…she said she misses you.”

“Really?” Michael asked, suddenly hopeful for the first time in months.

“You are so gone man,” Max said, laughing at the excited look on Michael face. Then suddenly Max turned confused, “Wait, when did you see Maria?”

Michael and Courtney couldn’t help but laugh at the perplexed look on Max’s face.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“You know Alex, you don’t need to do this.”

“Hey, I promised your brother that I wouldn’t let you out of my sight, and I don’t intend to. Frankly, I don’t want to let you go anyway,” Alex said, pulling Isabel toward him for a kiss.

“I love you, you know that?” Isabel stared at him, nothing but love shining through her gaze. She leaned down and kissed him again.

“Yeah, I know. But that doesn’t mean I’ll ever get tired of hearing it.” He kissed her again but broke it off before they could get too carried away. “We should probably go in now.” They were currently standing outside the library, where Isabel was meeting her group to work on her Civ project.

“I don’t wanna anymore,” Isabel whined, leaning against Alex more.

Alex couldn’t help but laugh, before he pushed her through the front door, trailing not too far behind her. Isabel and Alex made their way over to the study area where Isabel had agreed to meet her group. Isabel smiled when she saw her friends and grabbed Alex’s hand before going over to them. When they reached the table, “Alex, this is Grant, Carrie and Kevin,” Isabel pointed to each in turn. “Guys, this is my boyfriend Alex. He’s just gonna hang out here for awhile.”

“Nice to meet you,” Carrie said. The guys too said their pleasantries in turn.

“Alright, so where do we want to start…” Grant asked as they got their final research together for their project.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Isabel knocked on her brother’s door and walked in without really waiting for an answer. Michael looked up form the book he’d been reading when he heard his sister come in. “Hey Iz. What’s up?” He marked his place in the book and sat up on his bed, allowing Isabel to come sit beside him.

“Um, I just got off the phone…with mom.”

“Oh really? That’s nice,” Michael turned back to his book, seemingly uninterested in the conversation.

Isabel still persisted, “She said she wants us to come by next weekend…that we need to talk.”

“What could she possibly have to say that I would want to hear?” Michael asked, bitterness manifest in his voice.

“Michael…”

But she was cut off, “Isabel look, I know you want to try and work this out, and I’m sure for you and mom that won’t be a problem. But mom and I, the stuff that has happened between us is irreconcilable; I’m not sure it can ever be fixed. And to put it frankly, I’m tired of trying.”

“Fine, Michael. If you want to push them away, that’s fine with me. But I can’t do that. I can’t become a stranger to my parents, not when I still have a choice. Now, if it comes down to it, I’ve already made my decision. I’m not going to let mom rule my life anymore, but I’m not going to welcome estrangement with open arms. So, if that’s what you wanna do then fine, don’t do this for yourself, but do it for me. Please Michael! I can’t do this alone.” Her voice, having started out strong, had turned quite and meek and Michael could see the beginnings of tears in her eyes. He quickly wrapped his sister up in his arms, hugging her tightly to him as the tears began to fall. “I don’t wanna do this alone Michael; please don’t make me do it alone.”

“Alright. It’s gonna be alright. Don’t worry; I’ll come with you. Everything will be alright,” he soothed, rubbing soft circles over his sister’s back, hoping against anything that this wasn’t going to end up being a mistake.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

He watched as she ascended the stairway leading up to the apartment building. It was late, later then should be appropriate when visiting one’s boyfriend, yet, she’d been doing that a lot lately, sometimes spending the entire night there.

She was soon inside the building, but he had no need to follow. He knew where she was going. She was running straight into his arms, just the way she always did. He had no need to see that, not anymore.

“One day,” he said aloud to the stillness of his car. “One day, I will be the one you’re running to for comfort. Just you wait.” And with that he started the car and slowly, pulled out onto the dark, deserted street.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The four sat around that table in silence, each one taking on a defensive stance. The tension and silence was so thick it was almost stifling, no one wanting to be the first to speak.

Finally, Patrick was the one to break the silence. “Michael, Isabel. We know it took a lot for you two to come today, so thank you. Your mother and I have done some thinking and…we think we owe you an apology…”

“I,” Samantha interrupted him. “I owe you the apology.” After taking a deep, shaky breath, Samantha started again. “Look, I know I haven’t been the best mother, I’ve been downright lousy to put it frankly. But I want you to know that I was only doing what I thought was best for you, and I never ever meant to hurt you.” Michael was surprised when her eyes turned on him for the briefest of moments.

“I’ve realized recently,” Samantha continued, “perhaps a little too late, that I was wrong. I was so focused on making sure that you two got the best that I didn’t realize that you could find that on your own. I guess what I’m trying to say is, I’m sorry. I love you, and I can’t lose you. I don’t know what I’d do.”

Isabel and Michael just sat there in awe for a moment, hardly believing what she’d just said. If they hadn’t heard it with their own ears, they probably wouldn’t have believed it. Heck, if it wasn’t for the look of shock and amazement that they saw in each other, they probably wouldn’t have believed it either.

Samantha took her children’s silence as a negative sign. “Now I don’t expect you to come running back to us with open arms. But I hope that, in time, I’ll be able to prove myself and that you could possibly forgive me?” The tears in Samantha’s eyes glistened in the light of the chandelier above the dining room table. Michael and Isabel looked at each other, both realized that they’d never seen Samantha Guerin look so lost, so vulnerable.

With only a moment’s hesitation, Isabel flung herself in to her mother’s arms, sobbing along with her. “I love you mom. I forgive you.”

Michael watched the two embrace with a smile on his face. He knew that Isabel loved their mother and hated it when they fought, no matter how much she tried to pretend like it didn’t bother her. And he knew his mother was taking a big step today in acknowledging Isabel’s freedom and right to make her own decisions; that was more than he ever could have expected.

Patrick too smiled at the sight of his wife and daughter hugging. There’s little he would like to see more than his two girls finally together and happy, without the squabbles or the deep sighs and exasperated looks. Little except… Patrick looked over to his son seeing the melancholy look that still painted his face. What he wouldn’t do to be able to take that hurt away, the pain and the heartache that him and his wife caused for their son, seemingly again and again.

Samantha and Isabel broke apart wiping tears from their eyes and trying to get back some semblance of composure. Patrick took that moment to continue the conversation. “Isabel, when you get the chance and you feel the time is right, we’d love to meet Alex.”

“Really?” Isabel asked, not believing what they were saying.

“Really honey. I mean I have to meet the guy who stole my little girls heart.”

“Aw, Dad, Mom…thank you,” she said, hugging them both in turn, the tears starting to prick her eyes once again.

Michael looked at his parents in awe. That was something he had not expected. It was one thing to accept Alex and Isabel’s relationship, but it was another thing entirely to endorse it. What his mother said next really shocked him though.

“And Michael, if it’s possible…we’d like to meet your girl too.”

“What?” Michael asked in surprise. He couldn’t be hearing them right. It was just wishful thinking on his part. To think that his parents were supporting him as well as Isabel, well that was extremely hard to believe. Given his past history with his family, he never would have thought that they could accept his relationships as well.

“Michael, if you love this girl as much as you seem to, we’d really like to meet her.”

“Well actually, you already have,” Michael said quietly, but loud enough for everyone to hear.

“Excuse me?” Samantha asked, confused by her son’s statement.

“What?” Isabel echoed, in a more shocked tone.

“Um…about two weeks ago, you guys were at a banquet…” Michael trailed off, not quite sure how to word this.

“That one for Valhalla industries?” Patrick clarified.

“Yeah. Um…well…she was there too, and you talked to her, at least that’s what Courtney said. Uh…her names Maria…she’s the stepdaughter of the owner.”

“Michael David Guerin, how could you knock up that poor girl?” Samantha cried.

“Mom!” Isabel retorted in exasperation.

“I’m sorry.” She hadn’t really meant to say that, it just sort of came out. Turning to Michael, looking him definitively in the eye so he would know she meant it, she repeated herself. “I’m sorry.”

Patrick chuckled slightly to himself and squeezed his wife’s hand in support. He knew she was trying. She just needed to practice thinking before she spoke.

“She didn’t mean that,” Patrick reiterated. “It’s just that, your mother and I are just a little surprised by this, and not without warrant. Umm…Michael, if we’re thinking of the same person, which I’m pretty sure we are, Maria’s six months pregnant. Why haven’t you said anything till now?”

“Sorry dad, but given our history, you guys aren’t exactly the easiest to talk to.”

“Well Michael,” Patrick started, “we’re listening now.”

“Well, what do you want me to say?” this whole sitting down and having a heart to heart with his parents was kinda new to him.

“Well, why don’t you start by telling us a little bit about her.”

“Um…okay. Well, I guess I’ll start from the beginning. We met at the beginning of fall semester, kinda weird circumstances actually, we literally bumped into each other at the bookstore. Well we said a few choice words to each other, and normally it would have ended right then and there, but out of all odd coincidences, Max started dating her roommate. So we ending up seeing a lot of each other just through that, and then we had some of the same classes and were even assigned a project to work on together.

“She’s really good friends with Isabel’s boyfriend Alex, and of course her and Iz became fast friends. I don’t think Isabel can stand not being friends with somebody who can piss me off like that. And oh how she used to bug the hell out of me, she’s a real spitfire. But I guess the better I got to know her the more I fell in love with her.

“She’s just amazing. I don’t really know how to describe her. She’s beautiful and sweet and caring and friendly… The list goes on. She knows how to push all my buttons, and I’m sure she enjoys it immensely. She has this spirit…this vitality that just lifts up everyone around her.” Michael gave a soft chuckle at the thought of her. “She’s more than I could ever wish for, more than I’d ever deserve.”

Isabel watched her brother’s impassioned speech with a smile on her face. It was moments like this that she was reminded of how much Michael really loved Maria and how devastated he was when she left. He’d gotten really good at hiding it, the hurt, the pain. But it was all just an act, a cover to stop the pity and worried faces. Inside, he was still just as lost as ever.

“Um…Michael,” Samantha started tentatively, trying to be cautious. “I know this probably isn’t any of my business but, Maria said that the father wasn’t in the picture at the moment…” Samantha trailed off hoping that Michael would realize what she was asking.

“Why if I love her so much am I not a part of her life? Well, I want to be. But…we kinda had a big fight before she left.”

“About the baby?”

“No, no…that would never matter to me. I didn’t even know about the baby back then, it was just a mistake…a big mistake on my part.”

Samantha was about ask what he meant, but with a look from Isabel, one that told her explicitly that he didn’t want to talk about it, she kept her mouth shut and waited for him to continue.

“She left me, with a note saying that she was pregnant and that she was sorry for not having told me sooner. She said she was going home to her family, that she had to work things out for herself, and she didn’t know when she was coming back. And I haven’t seen or heard from her since, well except from the pictures she sent Izzie.”

“Pictures?” her mother asked turning to Isabel.

Isabel hung her head a little. “Um…over New Years when I said I was going to visit Pam…well, I really stayed with Alex and his family in New Mexico. And while I was there, the two of us went to visit Maria for Jim and Amy’s wedding; Maria sent me pictures.” Isabel kept her head down, trying to escape her parent’s gaze. “I’m sorry, I was afraid of what you guys would say if I told you the truth.”

“Alright, this has got to stop,” Patrick started, his voice firm and authoritative. “Your mother and I are going to try and be more supportive and less judgmental, while you two are going to stop lying and keeping things from us. I think it’s a fair exchange, what do you say?” He looked around to see everyone’s nodding heads. “Good. We may never be the perfect family, but we can at least try.”

Samantha looked at her children and suddenly she felt this incredible sense of estrangement. Her eyes started to well up, and Patrick hugged her to him comfortingly, asking what was wrong.

“Nothing…I just…I don’t even know my own children. I mean, my own son is having a little baby girl, who he may not ever get to see, and I didn’t even know about it!” she finished exasperated.

“Wait…a girl?”

Samantha turned to Michael confused. “Yeah, Maria said she was having a girl.” At the shocked look on Michael’s face, “You didn’t know did you?”

Michael just shook his head, but couldn’t prevent the smile that spread over his face. “A girl,” he repeated quietly to himself. He was having a little girl. The thought caused a warm feeling to spread through his body. It just made the idea that much more real. He’d get to see her…somehow, someway, he’d find a way to know his daughter.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“How much longer?”

Max looked at his watch. “About another ten minutes.”

Liz just nodded and returned to the book that she was trying to read, but she wasn’t having very much success. Max and her had worked on a few different projects of the last few weeks, and most of them had been going really well. This last one however, had been the hardest yet. They were trying to induce a specific mutation in a bacterium, but hadn’t had much luck so far. Everything they’d tried was a bust, and this was just about the last idea they had. If this didn’t work, they had no clue where to go from there. So needless to say, Liz was a little anxious.

“Alright, that’s it,” Max said, looking at his watch again. “Let’s go.” Max grabbed the agar plates that their specimen was on and headed toward the dark room. They’d spliced the gene they had attempted to mutate along with a gene for fluorescence into the faster growing bacteria E. coli. The mutation should allow the bacteria to fluoresce on a certain sugar-based plate that wouldn’t normally activate the fluorescence gene. Basically, if the bacteria glowed under UV light, it worked.

The two hurried into the room and turned out the light.

“Are you nervous?” Max asked while grabbing the UV lantern.

“Extremely,” Liz admitted with a laugh.

Max chuckled slightly before speaking, “Cross you fingers.” He turned on the UV lamp and passed it over the plates. On the first one…nothing. The second…nothing. Liz gave a sigh of disappointment before Max moved the light over the last plate…containing a few dozen glowing colonies.

Liz let out a breath of surprise, followed by an excited laugh. “Ha. We did it,” she said, quickly flicking on the light. “Haha. We did it!” she exclaimed.

Max too was laughing in excitement. It seemed like they’d been working on this project forever and had become quite discouraged at all their failed attempts.

Liz threw herself into Max’s arms, hugging him as congratulations. Max picked her off the ground and spun her around in his own giddiness, both of them laughing the whole time.

Finally coming off of their high, Max slowly lowered Liz to the ground, the laughing ceased, but couldn’t bring his hands to leave her body. He waited so long to be this close to her again, he didn’t think he could let her go. His hands slid down to rest on her waist, allowing her some room to step away. “Sorry,” he said, “I just got a little excited,” he explained, referring to his earlier movements.

“It’s alright,” Liz replied, her eyes never leaving Max’s.

They stood for a while like that, in silence, the air between them was charged with electricity. Max moved one hand up to Liz’s face, tucking a strand of stray hair behind her ear, then bringing the hand back down to cup her face. Max could no longer stand the pull between them and brought his lips down to hers.

Liz was stiff for a short moment, not really expecting this nor knowing how to respond. Quickly though her body took over and began responding to the kiss, deepening it. Her arms found their way around his neck and she felt his tongue running lightly along her bottom lip asking for access. She granted it willingly, allowing his tongue to duel with hers as he pulled her closer, one arm moving around her waist, the other tangling itself in her hair.

Max was in heaven. He had missed this. The feel of her body pressed against his, the rightness he felt when she was in his arms, like this was meant to be. The moment was far to short for Max though, when she suddenly pulled away.

Finally Liz’s mind took over her body and realized what she was doing. She pulled away quickly, abruptly, her hands pushing against his chest in attempts to gain some distance between them. She breathed heavily, deeply, trying to catch her breath and find her voice.

Finally, she lifted her eyes and saw the sad and confused expression in his. The sight made her want to grab him to her and kiss him again, but she knew that she couldn’t. “Max…I’m sorry. I just…I can’t do this again. It hurt too much the first time, I can’t go through that a second.”

Max just nodded his head, defeated. He dropped his eyes, not wanting her to see the tears that were forming there. “Um…look. I’m kinda tired. How bout we clean up and work on the report tomorrow okay?”

“Uh yeah…sure,” Liz said. They spent the next ten minutes cleaning up the lab in silence, before leaving the building and going their separate ways.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Max walked up the front steps of the house with a heavy heart. He felt like a fool. He hadn’t meant to kiss her, it wasn’t planned; it was just something that happened before he could stop it. And now he’d ruined his chances of anything, even friendship. She wouldn’t want to be around him anymore for fear of him mauling her at any moment.

He cursed himself again for being so stupid. They had been getting closer the last few weeks, what with working on the projects for Ingen they’d had to spend an increasing amount of time outside the company working on research for experiments and such. They’d also been going out as a group, mostly because of Courtney and in part also because of Alex and Isabel. The group was starting, slowly, to go back to the way it was back in fall, plus and minus a few members, before chaos reigned.

Max walked through the front doors, his steps heavy. Seeing Michael on the couch in the living room, Max walked in and flopped down beside him.

Michael could immediately tell that something was bothering Max. It was the same look he always had on his face when he was upset about something. Michael wanted to help his friend, but wasn’t sure if Max would talk to him. He figured he’d try a causal approach. “Hey Max, what’s up?”

Max had his head lying back on the top of the couch, one arm flung over his face. “I kissed Liz today.”

“Shit! Wow. Uh…what’d she say?” That was definitely not what Michael was expecting. Frankly, he didn’t really know what he was expecting…but it wasn’t that. Max hadn’t been that open, that blatant with him since before the break up.

“She basically blew me off. Well actually, she kissed me back for a while, but, I guess once she realized what she was doing, she pushed me away. She told me that she didn’t want to be hurt like that again.”

“I’m sorry man.”

“Hey, it’s not all your fault. I wouldn’t trust me either. She probably still thinks that I broke up with her cause she wouldn’t sleep with me.”

“What? You mean you never told her?”

“No Michael. I didn’t want to use you as a scapegoat for my own stupid mistakes. It doesn’t really make a difference anyway, I still hurt her.”

“Like hell it doesn’t make a difference. Max, the difference between breaking up because of sex and breaking up because of a lie is huge.”

“Not really Michael. In the end I still broke her heart, and in the end I was the one who caused her all that pain.”

“Look Max, I’m really sorry. I know that’s probably not enough, but I don’t know what else I can say.”

“Michael, it’s okay. Forget it. What’s done is done.” Max let out a heavy sigh.

“You wanna talk about it?”

“I don’t know. It just hurts, ya know. It’s like no matter what I do it’s the wrong thing.”

“Yeah, I know how that feels.”

“God, I love her Michael. I wish she could understand that.” He put his head in his hands, running them over his face tiredly.

“What are you gonna do now?”

“I don’t know. I guess I’ll just back off. I feel like I’ve run out of options. But at the same time…I can’t just give up.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Look, I’m kinda tired so I think I’m gonna head up to bed. Thanks for listening,” Max said as he got up from the couch.

“Anytime. And I really mean that Max, anytime you wanna talk.”

“Thanks Michael, night.

“G’nite.” Michael listened as Max ascended the stairs, making sure he was safely in his room before grabbing his coat and heading out the door.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Liz sighed and closed her book, tossing it off the bed. She’d been trying to focus and get some of her studies done ever since she got home, but it was no use. She took a long hot bath hoping that would relax her, but it didn’t help all that much…just gave her extra time to think.

Liz curled up on her side, hugging the stuffed dog that Max had given her to her chest for comfort. She always did that, could never explain why. Several people had asked her why she kept it, but there was just something that wouldn’t let her throw it away. And somehow it was always able to soothe her, no matter what the problem.

Max. A shiver ran down her body at the thought of the kiss they’d shared earlier that evening. Why had he kissed her today? Everything was going fine, Liz thought they had even been starting to build a close friendship. But then this happened. And what was even worse was that she wanted it…so bad, but she couldn’t. She promised herself that she was going to be smarter, was going to be more careful about her relationships from now on. And falling back into one with the guy who broke her heart so completely in the first place was definitely on the ‘don’t’ list.

It was then that Liz heard a knock on the door and so reluctantly got up to answer it. When she opened the door she was surprised to see Michael standing there.

“Uh…hi Michael.”

“Liz.” An awkward silence passed between them. “Um…can I come in?”

“Oh yeah. Sorry,” Liz said, realizing how rude she’d been.

“Sorry for just showing up,” Michael said standing in the middle of the room uncomfortably. “I just…wanted to talk to you.”

“Okay. Why don’t you sit down?” Liz gestured to the couch.

“Thanks.” They both sat down. “Um…well…Max told me what happened.”

Liz felt rush of anger build up inside her. So now Max was sending Michael to do his dirty work. “Look, if Max sent you here to…”

“Max doesn’t know I’m here,” Michael interrupted. “I just…thought there were some things that you should know before you pass final judgment on Max.” Liz just nodded her head, signaling that she was listening. “Okay…um…I don’t really know how to say this. Um…I’m the reason why you and Max broke up. Okay maybe that wasn’t so hard.”

“Huh?” Liz asked, confused.

“I told Max that I overheard you and Maria talking and that you were after his money.”

“What? Why?”

“Look, I was burned by a girl before. She was the love of my life all through high school, I was even ostracized from my family because of her, but she left me during our senior year for a guy with more money. I was devastated and it took me a long long time to recover from that.

“I saw how close Max and you were getting and I guess I just panicked. I was afraid of him getting hurt the same way I was, and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. So I lied to him, he didn’t want to believe it at first, but I guess it worked cause he broke up with you a few days later.

“I realized my mistake too late. God, he loved you so much Liz…he still does. I know now that you would never have done to him what Cassie did to me. I’m just…I’m so sorry. I’m…I’m not proud of what I did. I wish I could go back and change it, but I can’t. I just thought you should know,” Michael finished lamely.

“That’s what the big fight was about, huh?”

“Pardon?”

“The thing that came between your and Max’s friendship…it was about me wasn’t it?”

“It was my betrayal…not you. Don’t think that you were the cause of this. And things may not be the same as they used to be, but we’re working things out.”

“How come Max never told me about this?”

“He said he didn’t want to peg his mistakes on me. That he was the one that caused this and he had to be the one to fix it.”

They sat in silence for a moment as Liz mulled over what he just said. “Thanks Michael,” Liz started after a moment, “for telling me. Better late then never I suppose. But it doesn’t change anything.”

Michael just nodded his head, not knowing what he was expecting.

“He still broke my heart, said he loved me and threw it back in my face. It may be for different reasons, but it doesn’t hurt any less. If he really loved me he would have come to me, talked it over, he wouldn’t have just given up on me like that. He would have tried to work something out. And he never would have believed it in the first place.

“But at least now I know what the real reason was. His money was obviously more important to him than me.”

“No Liz, that’s not it.”

“Isn’t it? If it wasn’t, would what you said have mattered?”

Michael didn’t know what to say to that.

“Look Michael, I know you just want Max to be happy, but that can’t happen with me. I can’t risk my heart like that again.”

“But isn’t that what love’s about Liz? Taking risks?”

Now it was Liz’s turn to be speechless. Michael took that as his cue to leave, let her ponder that for a little.

“I’m gonna go now. I’ve said all I came here to say…there isn’t much else I can do. The rest is up to the two of you.”

Michael got up and made his way to the door and was almost through it when Liz’s voice stopped him.

“You’re a good friend Michael. I hope Max realizes that.”

“Thanks. And so are you,” and with that Michael was out the door making his way to the car.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

April 28, 2002

Dear Maria,
I’m finally starting to make up for my mistakes…well, some of them at least. Not that I would ever think that what we had was a mistake, it was the best night of my life, but we both weren’t ready for it…or it’s repercussions. Hopefully someday I’ll be able to make up for the mistakes I’ve made with you…if only you’d let me.
I talked to my parents last weekend. They sat down and had a real talk with Isabel and I. They’re trying to be more accepting of Isabel and my decisions…I guess they’re starting to regret all the crap they put me through back in high school. I think…in time we may even be able to reconcile our differences. Someday, if this keeps up, I think I could actually forgive them.
Mom told me we were having a girl; a beautiful baby girl. I can imagine her already…her mother’s golden hair and piercing green eyes. I’ll have to beat the guys off with a stick. That is…if you’ll let me. God Maria, I miss you so much. Please come back to me.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Part 53

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Okay, chica, then what are you all upset about, huh? I don’t get it.”

“Ria, it’s just that he obviously didn’t trust me…or believe in our love,” Liz complained over the phone line. She had just gotten done telling Maria about the kiss and her subsequent conversation with Michael.

“But you still love him.” It wasn’t a question, Maria knew her friend and she knew that it was true.

“But I can’t let him hurt me again.”

“Who says he will?”

“Who says he won’t?”

“Fine, this is going to get us nowhere. So what are you going to do now? Avoid him again?”

“I…Ria…”

“But you have to give the boy credit. He could’ve tried to blame this all on Michael a long time ago to get you back, but he didn’t.”

“So?”

“So, Liz it means that you probably meant more to him than you think.”

“More? To make him not try to get me back?”

Maria sighed…Liz just wasn’t getting this. “Okay, well what would you have done if he’d tried to get you back right away?” Maria challenged her friend.

“Gotten really upset and yelled at him, hit him, I don’t know.”

“And you would’ve hated him. I don’t think he wanted that. I think he knew exactly what he was doing…hoping that someday you might give him a second chance. Max realized he screwed up and probably thought he wasn’t worthy of you anymore…”

“Got that right!”

“AND, I think that’s why he’s been looking out for you all this time. He still loves you. He just isn’t sure he deserves you anymore. And when he kissed you, well I’m sure he just couldn’t help himself. Besides, from what you said you enjoyed it.”

“I did…it’s been so long since…” Liz’s voice trailed off.

“Was there passion?” Maria asked after a short pause.

“Tons! But no! It’s wrong; he hurt me.”

“You keep saying that Lizzie, and I think you’re just trying to convince yourself that that’s still what’s bothering you.”

“Can we not talk about this? What’s up with you? We haven’t talked in a couple weeks.”

“Sure. Lets see, where do I start?” Maria paused for effect. “I met Michael’s parents.” She had a feeling that would get Liz’s attention and she wasn’t left waiting.

“What?!”

“Yeah. The banquet that I told you about in LA, the one that Kyle was meeting us at after he visited Tess, well apparently Michael’s parents are investors.”

“Oh god, what did you do?”

“I wanted to hide, but I didn’t. I talked with them for a little bit, but I didn’t say anything and they don’t know about Michael and me. His mother only gave me that ‘poor pregnant girl’ look. But, I lived. And Courtney and Kyle cheered me up afterward.”

“Courtney?”

“Yeah, she was there too, with her parents, though I never met them.”

“Wow…that was one hell of a weekend.”

“Yeah, no shit. He could’ve been there Lizzie. He almost was…I don’t know what I would’ve done if he had been.”

“Do you love him?”

“I…I miss him.”

“That’s not what I asked. Do you love him?” she repeated waiting for an answer of some kind.

“Yes,” Maria’s voice came out meek and shallow.

“Then why are you hiding from him?”

“I don’t know what else to do. What…what if he hates me now cause I ran away?”

“I don’t think that’s possible. I haven’t really talked with him much, but I know Tess hangs out with him sometimes. He still mopes around; ever since you left it’s been that way.”

Maria stayed quiet; she didn’t know what else there was to say that hadn’t already been said.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Okay, I think I’ve got this all figured out now,” Courtney spoke out loud to herself. She was sitting on her bed in her room surrounded by paperwork and pamphlets. She’d been there all morning.

She had been planning on transferring to USD and she’d just gotten the confirmation in the mail. So what if she went to USC, one of the best schools in the country. She didn’t care. She couldn’t stand living at home anymore. She had to get out, away. Besides, USD had a good program, and she had friends there, not to mention a place to live and everything.

Now she just had to tell Max and Michael and Isabel that she was going to be moving in with them. She was sure they wouldn’t mind, they had ample space to spare.

“Courtney! Honey, Isabel’s on the phone,” Trisha Harding called up the stairs.

“Thanks mom!” Courtney called as she reached over and grabbed her cordless. “Hey Izzie.”

“Hey girl. What’s up?”

“Are you psychic or something?”

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing,” Courtney laughed. “It’s just that I was just thinking about you. What’s up?”

“Not much. I was just wondering when you’re coming down next. I could use a girls night.”

“Well don’t you have Liz and Tess down there?”

“Yeah, but Liz and Max…well I’m not sure what’s going on right now, but I don’t think she’d appreciate spending time here if Max is here. And besides, without you its not as much fun.”

“Thanks Izzie, that’s sweet. Well I’m not sure if I can this weekend, we’re getting close to finals up here. But definitely after schools over. We’ll have a big girls weekend, just us four girls partying or something.” Courtney hoped they could, it would be lots of fun and then she could tell them all the great news. And she didn’t know Tess all that well, so this would be her chance to get to know the girl better, and possibly help Max out with Liz while she was at it.

“Sounds great. Oh, sorry, I gotta go, someone’s calling for me.”

“No problem. Later Izzie.” Courtney hung up the phone. She hadn’t told her about her plans yet, but she would soon. Telling her in person would be so much more fun. San Diego, look out cause ready or not, Courtney Harding is coming to town!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“So Michael, what do you wanna do?” Tess asked as she got into his car. It was Thursday night and he had just picked her up from work. He’d been giving her rides home pretty much since she took over Liz’s night shifts. He could be a real sweetie she found.

“Ladies choice,” he laughed at the roll of her eyes.

“Why do I have to choose?”

“Cause I’m the one who went all the way out of my way to pick you up, like the nice friend that I am.”

“Oh please! Like you were doing anything anyway.”

“Hey!”

“It’s true. Besides, I’ve told you that you don’t have to pick me up. I can take the bus, you know.”

“Yeah, but I don’t want you too. I told you how Maria almost got mugged that one time. I wouldn’t want the same thing to happen to you.” Michael’s tone was heart felt as he spoke those words. Tess knew that he missed Maria, but talking seemed to help even though he didn’t do it often, when he did bring her up it was always something heartfelt. She decided to just let the subject drop so he wouldn’t get too worked up.

“Hmm…how about a movie? I wanna go see Spiderman!” Tess turned a big smile on him in excitement.

“Are you serious? You wanna go see Spiderman?”

“Of course! Lizzie, Maria and I loved that cartoon when we were little! That and X-Men were our favorites!”

“Gee, my sister watched My Little Pony and the Care Bears.”

“We watched those too, but it was all about Spiderman!”

“Okay, the theater it is then.”

“You’re going to get me sour skittles, right?”

“Eww…those things are too sour.”

“I like them, please?”

“Fine, I never could resist a pretty girl with a pout.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

There she was…she’d just gotten out of her last class of the day and right on time. He knew her schedule like the back of his hand. No one was with her; it was too perfect he smiled. He was sitting on the cement stairs pretending to read the book in his hands, but his gaze was perpetually on her.

She was reaching in her backpack for her car keys. She always kept them in the small zipper pocket on the little latch hook. They were attached to a little green alien head key chain that he thought looked ridiculous. No girl of his would have one of those. He would have to get rid of it next time.

She was steps away now and she wasn’t paying attention, she was too busy fumbling with the keys and trying to keep the wind from blowing her hair in her face. He loved her golden hair; she was his goddess.

He knew the moment she saw it. The look on her face told him everything. She went pale and the keys dropped from her hand and she had to lean over and pick them back up, giving him a rather nice view from his vantage point.

He had spent forever finding the right thing for her next gift. He hoped she would like it as much as the other things he’d sent her.

When she got the car door open she grabbed the box out and looked around frantically. He laughed sardonically. Did she really think that looking around like that she’d know who he was? No, he’d planned everything out so she wouldn’t know who he was until the time was just perfect. Then they’d be together forever.

Her hands were shaking as she lifted the lid off the box. Reaching inside she pulled out the toy she found. It was a little stuffed purple dinosaur, Barney. The heart shaped sticker over its chest said ‘press me here’ and he was just waiting for her to see it. A few seconds after she did he could hear the agonizingly slow strains of the Barney song filtering over the air to his ears and a smirk lit up his face. He listened:

I love you
You love me
We’re a happy family
With a great big hug
And a kiss from me to you
Won’t you say you love me too

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Isabel let herself into the apartment, practically mauling her boyfriend who had been sitting on the couch listening to his stereo. The music set a nice mood as she attacked him with her lips, settling herself comfortably on his lap and tossing her purse and keys aside. All she wanted right now was his arms around her and his tongue dueling with her own.

Alex made no effort to stop her. Why should he when this beautiful, sweet girl just threw herself at him? His hands were running up and down her back as she pushed herself closer and closer to him.

“Hello to you too,” He nuzzled her neck, placing kisses all the way up to her ear.

“Kiss me, Alex.” She couldn’t wait any more, so she grabbed his shirt and pulled his mouth to hers; her fingers deftly seeking out the buttons down his shirt and one by one they came open.

Alex let her take it off and reveled in the feel of her hands searing hot trails across his chest. Only Isabel could make him feel like that, all hot inside and out. She was definitely his one and only, he knew that now more than ever.

Isabel took off her own shirt, throwing it on the floor beside his. She pushed Alex back on the couch so he was lying down and straddled his waist, placing butterfly kisses all along his chest, his neck, up to his mouth where she teased him a little with her tongue, not letting him have what he wanted right away.

The groan that escaped his lips made her giggle, giving him the opportunity he was waiting for to kiss her properly. He could just lose himself in her arms, and he did.

As soon as Isabel’s hot little hand reached for his zipper he froze. It was as if someone had dumped a bucket of ice water on him. He pulled away from her kiss, holding her away from him for a moment so he could catch his breath and look at her closely.

“Isabel, we can’t do this.”

“Yes we can, Alex,” Isabel persisted in trying to kiss him again but he held onto her shoulders, not letting her get closer. “I’m ready for this, I swear,” she pleaded, tears starting to sting the corners of her eyes.

“Maybe I’m not,” Alex whispered more to himself. After staring her in the eyes for a moment he knew something was wrong. “What happened?”

“What do you mean?”

“Something happened, I can tell. What’s wrong?”

“I just….Maybe I should go,” she made to get up but Alex wouldn’t let her, pulling her tighter into an embrace, he held her to his chest in a comforting hug.

“No Izzie. Tell me. Please, I love you, and I want to help you.”

“I got another package today…in my car.” The tears stinging her eyes began their trek down her pale cheek.

Alex fell back against the couch releasing a deep breath. When was this madness ever going to stop?

“I’m sorry baby. Are you okay?” Isabel sniffled as she nodded her head on his shoulder. She just wanted to forget about it and thought maybe Alex would let her, but apparently not.

“Can’t we just forget about it and go to bed Alex?” she pleaded with her eyes.

“Okay. But all I’m going to do is hold you in your sleep Izzie. It’s not the right time,” his voice was a whisper in her ear and it stung for a moment that he didn’t want her that way, but it passed. He was only looking out for her, and she was upset right now; he wouldn’t let her do anything that she might possibly not be ready for.

‘Maybe it wouldn’t happen now,’ Isabel thought, ‘but eventually, and hopefully sooner than later.’

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Max sat in Dr. Carter’s office fidgeting nervously and tapping his fingers on the arm of his chair. He was waiting for Dr. Carter…and Liz. Liz was running late, or maybe he was early. But Dr. Carter was still in a meeting, so it didn’t really matter one way or the other. Max was just nervous about possibly being alone in the room with Liz right now.

He wasn’t sure what she would say to him to be honest. Writing up that last report had been…interesting to say the least. They both had just gone into automatic science geek mode and as soon as the thing was done they were out of each other’s sight, no small talk, no nothing. So now it was Friday, and they were going to be getting their last project to work on.

Max hoped he hadn’t screwed things up royally because what would happen if they weren’t able to work together on this? They’d disappoint Dr. Carter, he was sure, and then maybe neither of them would get the job at the beginning of the summer.

There was a feint knock on the door before it opened and Liz was standing in the doorway hesitantly looking in. After a quick glance at Max she moved her gaze back to the floor and took the seat beside him, first moving it a few inches away from his.

Max noticed her movement and tried to ignore it, but he couldn’t. It hurt that Liz didn’t want to be near him. Why did he have to go and kiss her? But she had kissed him back, he was damn certain of that.

“I’m sorry for making the two of you wait so long,” Dr. Carter apologized as he breezed through the door. “That meeting just went a little over time.”

“It’s okay,” Max spoke in an automatic response.

“Good. Well, my colleagues and I have been reviewing the work the two of you have done and we are highly impressed. Now, the internship is coming to a close soon, so we thought that we’d have each of you do separate projects to give us an idea of what you can do on your own. Each of your projects are in these folders. You will have your own lab spaces so that you can work on them.” Dr. Carter held up two folders, one purple, the other blue. Reaching out he gave the purple one to Liz and the blue to Max. “Now, you know that you can always ask general questions of any of the people you’ve worked with in the labs if you need to, but they won’t solve your problem for you. Any questions?”

“How long do we have to work on this?” Liz asked as she held the folder in her hands, wondering what could be inside it.

“You will have until the end of the internship. So, to get started I suggest you take these home and read through them. You won’t get anything done in the lab today, so just go home and relax and make sure you understand everything in there. Then tomorrow when you come in you can go right to work. My secretary will direct you to your lab spaces at that time.” Dr. Carter smiled at them. He was very interested in seeing what would come of this project because at the moment he and his colleagues were going to have a very tough decision to make come the end of the internship in which applicant to hire.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Okay, so what’s wrong this time?” Michael asked. He knew something was wrong the minute Max walked through the front door.

Max gave a heavy sigh before sitting on the couch next to his best friend. “It’s Liz.”

“Well, I figured it had to be. It always is. But what’s wrong?”

“She wouldn’t even look at me. We were in Dr. Carter’s office, and when she sat down she even moved the chair a little bit further away from me. I think she hates me.” Max hung his head in his hands feeling sorry for himself.

“Not from what I saw the other night,” Michael commented.

“What?”

Oops, Michael forgot, he hadn’t told Max about his little visit to Liz. “I kinda went to see Liz after the last time we talked. I told her about what I did, what I said. She knows that you didn’t break up with her over sex, Max.”

“You told her?”

“Yeah. She was still upset because you didn’t trust her, but I could see it in her eyes, the feelings are still there; she doesn’t hate you.”

Max took a deep breath, breathing out heavily. So Liz knew now…what did that mean with the way she was acting?

“But if she still cares for me, then why was she practically ignoring me?”

Michael rolled his eyes. “Because you were an idiot and didn’t trust her, that’s why. Look Max, things aren’t going to just magically be fixed. But if you really love her, it will work out. You just have to show her. Do you really love her?” He was pretty sure of the answer, but he had to be positive.

“Yeah…”

“And do you want to be with her?”

“Yes, but she obviously doesn’t want to be with me!”

“That’s where you’re wrong. You can’t just go up and kiss her like you did the other night, Max. You have to take it slowly. Show her that she has your trust and that she is worth more to you than your money or sex or anything. Okay?”

“So what do I do?”

“What am I, Dear Abby now? Isn’t that Courtney’s job?”

“Come on Michael, please?”

“Fine, why don’t you try flowers? Girls love flowers.”

Max smiled, flowers. White roses…Liz’s favorite…perfect!

Michael smiled to himself; maybe flowers were a good idea for him too…

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Kyle, I told you, you’ll be fine. You just have to be supportive.”

“Why couldn’t your mom come again?”

“Cause she and Jim had that special dinner to go to with the Henderson’s, remember? Besides, it’s not like going to one Lamaze class is going to kill you.”

“I won’t have to do any of that…huffing and puffing stuff, will I?”

Maria laughed at Kyle’s face as he drove. He was seriously freaked out about this. It wasn’t her fault that her mom had other things to do. And she would’ve asked Nancy, but Nancy and Jeff were with her mom and Jim. Kyle was a last resort, she never really figured him for the Lamaze type, but she didn’t want to go alone. Besides, she knew he’d do it with enough begging. She had him in the palm of her hand.

“No Kyle, you won’t have to do any huffing and puffing,” she chuckled. “I’m not sure what we’ll be doing tonight. More relaxation techniques. You just have to be supportive, that’s all.” Maria smiled, she wasn’t going to tell them about the birth video they were going to be watching…he would definitely run screaming if he knew about that!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Two hours later, Maria was supporting Kyle as they walked back out to the car.

“Oh my god! I can’t believe you’re actually gonna do that! How does it fit?”

At that Maria burst into laughter. Kyle was too funny. He’d been doing great up until they watched the video of a birth and all the blood kinda got to him. Plus, the baby coming out, yeah the videos showed the whole thing, and he couldn’t believe it. He’d sat wide-eyed, almost hiding himself behind Maria. Some of the other women had thought it was hilarious, especially after how when they had entered and Jeanie, the woman who led the class, had asked if Kyle was the father, he had been so quick to insist he was the brother…too funny!

Maria had a feeling that when Kyle had his own kids someday he might be the type of father who passed out in the delivery room!

“Kyle…”

“I’m serious, don’t laugh at me!”

“That’s why all the relaxation stuff Kyle, so you don’t feel as much pain as it tears its way out of you,” Maria bluntly stated.

“Oh god…”

“Kyle, maybe I should drive home,” she suggested. He didn’t look so well.

“No, that’s okay…I’ll be fine. Besides, you wouldn’t fit behind the wheel with your belly,” he teased.

“Hey! Be nice to the pregnant lady, thank you!”

“You’re right. I have a whole new respect for you now.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

There was a knock on the door and Liz sighed…she was trying to read through her folder but was getting distracted by everything.

“Hey, don’t worry, I’ll get it,” Tess calmed her as she got off her own bed and headed to the door.

“Flowers for Miss Elizabeth Parker,” the deliveryman spoke.

“I’ll take those,” Tess thanked him and went back inside, holding a pretty crystal vase with probably two dozen of her sister’s favorite flowers in it, and a small white card.

“Lizzie, come see what you got,” Tess smiled as she set the flowers on the coffee table in the living room and stood to the side to watch her sisters reaction.

“What is it Tess? Oh my gosh…but who?”

“Can’t you guess? There’s a card with them.”

“Wow…what…where?”

Tess pointed it out to her sister then left, heading back to her bed where she had been reading a book.

Liz looked at the flowers with an awe struck smile. White roses. Someone must have spent an awful lot of money on her for two-dozen long stem white roses in a crystal heart vase.

She sat down on the couch and fingered the little envelope attached to the flowers. Pulling it off she took the little card out and read the light scrawl.

Liz,
No matter how much I say I love you, I know it can never make up for what I did. I’m sorry. But I made the worst mistake of my life when I let you go, and I’m not going to let that happen twice. I’m coming for you Liz.
Love,
Max

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Maria walked into the house as she felt the exhaustion hit her. It had been a long day and though Lamaze had helped to relax her a little bit, she was still tired. Amy and Jim still had gotten back from their dinner and were sitting in the living room when she walked in.

“Hey sweetheart, how’d it go today?” Amy asked with a smile.

“Good. Though I think Kyle would rather die before taking me again,” she giggled. Amy laughed as well at the thought of Kyle in the class.

“Well, you got some flowers. I put them up in your room on your desk.”

“From who?” Maria wasn’t sure who would be sending her anything. Maybe Lizzie? Or Tess? Or Courtney?

“I don’t know. Why don’t you go find out?” Amy smiled as she watched her daughter head up the stairs and into her room.

Maria stood in her doorway when she saw them. Carnations, daisies and forget-me-nots; the soft pink, blue, and white complimented each other beautifully.

She found the card and opened it, reading what was written inside.

Maria,
Don’t be mad. I was just thinking of you and had to let you know that I do love you. I told my parents everything. Just know that I love you, and our little baby girl. Yes, I know, my mom unknowingly told me. I love you Maria Alexandra Deluca. Please come back soon!
Love,
Michael

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“So Courtney, you and Max must be getting serious,” Trisha smiled at her daughter as they ate lunch on the terrace of their favorite health club. “You’ve been spending an awful lot of time down in San Diego with him.”

“Mother…” But Trisha wouldn’t let her daughter speak.

“I just want the two of you to be careful. I don’t want any grandchildren yet, I mean, I’m hardly old enough to be a grandma, I think,” she laughed at the thought.

“Mom”

“No, just listen to me honey, this is important. I know that you and Max make a great couple, but just don’t let things get too serious right away. You’re father and I are trusting you every time you go down to San Diego that you’re being responsible. Sure, you’re an adult now, but you need to know what you’re getting into; a child is a big deal.”

“Mother, where is this coming from?” Courtney was thrown for a loop. She and her mother had never had a conversation like this before. She figured that for her mother it wasn’t appropriate conversation topics or whatever to talk about sex with her daughter. She’d never really had the whole sex talk with either of her parents, which she was thankful for. Besides by the time most people got the talk from their parents they’d heard about it a million times through school and such that it seemed rather superfluous.

“Well I just thought that it was about time we talked about these things since you and Max are getting so serious.”

“Who says we’re getting serious?”

“Well, you go and visit him so often, and I know you talk with him on the phone all the time, dear.”

“Yeah, but mom, nothings…” Courtney paused in her thoughts. She could really play with her mom’s mind here…and who knows, it might be fun! “I…have something I need to tell you mom,” her voice was completely serious as she spoke those words.

“Oh god, I knew it!” Trisha cried out. “My baby, I’m sorry, I should’ve talked with you about this sooner. Oh god!”

“Mom! Mom, relax!” Courtney laughed. She really hadn’t been expecting that bad of a reaction, but it was so much fun to play with her mother’s head. It was kind of funny how people could just jump to conclusions so quickly.

“Mom, relax. You’re not going to be a grandma any time soon, it’s not possible,” Courtney informed her. Maybe Max was right; things were getting a little out of hand. Before she knew it her mother would be marrying them off, and then Max would certainly kill her.

“But you just…then what?” Trisha was completely thrown for a loop. What was her daughter up to here?

“Mom…Max and I…well we aren’t…we aren’t dating.” She just wanted to hide under the table from the look her mother was surely going to give her. But her mom remained silent, sitting so stiffly in her chair across from her. “Mom? Are you alright?”

“But you…why?” Trisha was in a daze. Had her daughter really just said that? Well obviously she had, but why would she lie like that?

“I’m sorry mom. I just…you kept pushing me and setting me up with all these guys and I was sick of it. All I wanted was to be able to have fun with my friends and not be passed around like some prize among all the eligible rich bachelors that you thought worthy. Max was just being a great friend,” Courtney explained. She took a deep breath and realized how right Max had been, it felt much better now that her mother knew the truth.

“But…why do you keep going down there all the time then?”

“So that you wouldn’t think Max was a bad boyfriend and keep pushing me to see other guys, for one. But also because they are my friends, and I like spending time with them.”

“Honey, I’m sorry,” Trisha apologized. She could see from the look in her daughter’s eyes that this had been hard for her to say. “I never meant to push you, its just, you’re my baby girl and I want to make sure that you’ll always be taken care of.”

“But I just need to figure some things out for myself, mom.”

“Okay honey. I’ll try to step back a little, but you need to stop pretending with me, alright?”

“Yeah mom,” Courtney smiled; it felt so great to finally tell her mom the truth. And what was better was that her mom was accepting it.

“So, are there any guys you’re interested in?”

“Mom!”

“I’m sorry, I’m not trying to set you up. I just want to know what’s been going on in my daughters life that I’ve been completely left out of.”

“Okay, well, there isn’t really anyone right now. But I’ve been helping out Max with this girl. Or well, I’ve at least been trying; that’s why I’ve been talking to him so much on the phone, he always calls when he has a problem or needs advice.”

“Must run up quite the phone bill!” Trisha laughed. She knew how often her daughter was on the phone with that boy, which is why she had thought them to be so perfect for each other, but apparently it was nothing but friendship. But as long as Courtney was happy, she’d be happy.

“Mom, I want to go to San Diego.”

Trisha was surprised by the sudden change in her daughter’s demeanor, but tried to speak normally. “What? Like for the summer? Well I’m sure Max and Isabel and Michael would be happy to let you stay with them. Unless, of course, you wanted your father and I to get you an apartment or someplace of your own.”

“No, I know that Max and Izzie and Michael will let me stay with them…but not just for the summer.”

“What? But darling, what about USC?”

“I know mom. I’ve put in all the paperwork to transfer. I’m going to be going to USD next year.” She hoped her mother wasn’t mad that she had done this all pretty much behind their backs, but she hadn’t been sure at the time if her parents would’ve let her.

“Well, it’s your future honey. If you feel that this is the right thing for you, then I suppose your father and I have no choice but to support you. Are you sure that this is what you want? USC is an excellent school. Your father graduated from there, you know.”

“I know. But I need to get out of the house, and I think going away will do me some good.”

“Just promise that you’ll come visit?” Trisha had a few tears in her eyes at the possibility of losing her one and only daughter.

“Of course mom! I’ll only be living 2 hours away. It’s not like I’ll be on the other side of the world or anything,” she laughed at her mother’s silly fears.

“I know. I suppose I always knew that I’d have to give you up some day sweetheart, it’s just hard to let go. But you’re a young woman now, I understand you wanting to live on your own.”

“Thank you mom. I love you!” she gave her mother a big hug before sitting back down to enjoy the rest of her chicken caesar salad. What a day it had been.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Part 54

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Maria,
Don’t be mad. I was just thinking of you and had to let you know that I do love you. I told my parents everything. Just know that I love you, and our little baby girl. Yes, I know, my mom unknowingly told me. I love you Maria Alexandra Deluca. Please come back soon!
Love,
Michael

Maria started at the note as tears fell from her eyes. There were so many feelings running through her at the moment…happiness, sadness, confusion, fear, guilt, longing, …love. “Damn hormones,” she muttered, swiping the tears from her eyes.

She wasn’t quite sure what to think about this newest development. How had he gotten her address? Although the more she thought of it, she realized it wouldn’t have been hard. Between Tess, Courtney and Isabel he had plenty of resources at his disposal.

Looking down at the note again she smiled despite herself. She could hardly be mad at him; who could be angry at such a sweet gesture? Suddenly she felt guilt flood her again at leaving him the way she had. She knew it wasn’t fair, realized now that he really deserved to have known the truth before she left.

Maria looked over at the phone sitting on her nightstand wearily. She’d been attempting to bring herself to call him for a while now, ever since she had talked with her mom after the banquet. She knew she had to at least give him the opportunity to be a part of his daughter’s life. She’d grown up without one and was only now starting to realize how much she’d missed out on.

She picked up the phone tentatively, starring at the bright glowing numbers. Pressing the ‘power’ button she heard the loud, harsh dial tone cut through the stillness of the room. She looked at the numbers again, knowing the ones she needed to push, yet not being able to do it. In the end the slammed the phone back into its cradle and fell back on her bed, unable to stop the fresh wave of tears from falling.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Walking through the front doors of the building he made his way over to the stairway, headed for the second floor. As he moved up the stairs he noticed a figure descending and realized it was him. He saw the same sense of recognition mirrored in the other man’s eyes as they stopped to acknowledge each other. He plastered a smile on his face when regarding the other man.

“Hey…you’re, you’re…” the man trailed off, trying to remember his name.

“Yeah, nice to see you again Alex,” he said kindly, sickeningly.

“I didn’t know you lived here,” Alex said with a smile.

“Nah…I’m just visiting a friend.”

“Well…I guess I’ll see you around then. I gotta get to class.”

“Yeah, see you around,” he replied with another fake smile. ‘But not if I can help it,’ he added silently to himself.

As soon as he was sure Alex had left the building, he continued his way up the stairs to the second floor apartment. He quietly put the key in the lock, turning it quietly, hoping not to startle her if she was inside. He entered the apartment tentatively, and relaxed upon hearing the water running in the bathroom. He wasn’t ready for her to see him, not yet.

He wandered around the apartment, not quite sure what he was looking for. Seeing her backpack on the floor in the bedroom, he remembered something he’d been meaning to do for a while. Going into her backpack and grabbing her keys, he quickly and carefully removed that ridiculous alien key chain that so disturbed him. Hearing the water shut off in the shower he figured it was about time for him to leave.

“Soon,” he said quietly. “Soon we’ll be together.” And with that he made his way out of the apartment, locking the door behind him.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“What’s wrong?”

Isabel let out a heavy sigh, putting her backpack down beside her after riffling through it for the second time. “I’m just looking for my key chain. You know, the one that Alex got me when we were in Roswell. I was sure that I had it when I got to his place last night, but then it wasn’t on my keys when I left this morning. I’m just trying to remember where I could have put it. It’s kind of special, ya know?”

Max nodded. “You know Michael is going stir crazy knowing you’re spending every night sleeping at Alex’s.”

“Yeah, I know,” Isabel responded, letting out a breath. “It’s just that every time I step inside that room I get the shivers. Ever since we found the note, and the tape…I just can’t stay in there. And Alex…he just comforts me. He’s just about the only thing that’s been able to calm me lately.”

“Yeah, I know. And Michael understands too. He doesn’t like it, but he understands.”

Isabel chuckled quietly, knowing that was exactly how her brother would react, silently brooding and worrying, but not wanting to say anything for fear of upsetting her.

Isabel glanced at her watch and realized she only had about ten minutes to get to her Western Civ class. “Oh Max, I gotta go.” She gathered her stuff up quickly. “I’ll talk to ya later.”

“Ya, bye,” Max waved as Isabel made her way out of the café, nearly bumping into someone on her way out.

The man glanced around the café, seemingly looking for someone, before decidedly making his way towards the counter. Stopping in front of the waitress whose back was turned to him. He cleared his throat loudly, hoping to get her attention. She turned around quickly, barely looking up from what she was doing before asking, “What can I get you?”

“Actually I was hoping for a beautiful young woman who could show me around town tonight.”

Liz looked up quickly and a smile came over her face. “Danny? What are you doing here?” She came around the counter, embracing him lightly.

“Well, I was in town…”

Liz cut him off. “You just happened to be in town…from New York?” she asked incredulously. Of all people to see here, she hadn’t expected him. They hadn’t seen each other since they’d danced at Amy and Jim’s wedding.

“Okay, so I was in LA for something with my dad and came down to see a friend, and since you’re in the area too, I figured, why not? Kyle told me that you worked at a café on campus, so then I had to ask everyone I came across about this illustrious café until someone knew what I was talking about and directed me here.” All throughout his story he had a smile on his face.

“Alright. I guess I can believe that,” Liz replied teasingly, the smile mirrored on her face.

“So what do you say?” he asked. “Will you show me a good old night on the town? Only as friends, of course?”

“Well,” Liz thought about it. There wasn’t really any harm in that. “Sure, why not. That shouldn’t be a problem. Tess might be able to come too.”

“Great.”

They continued talking about random things, catching up a little. She’d become more comfortable around him, perhaps cause she no longer felt he was pushing for a relationship between them. They were just friends, something she didn’t think she could ever have too many of.

Max watched the whole exchange in anger. He noticed that way that this guy looked at Liz, and he didn’t like it one bit. He was the only one that was allowed to look at her that way. He was the only one that was allowed to tuck her hair behind her ear like that. He was the only one that was allowed to run his hand down her arm comfortingly, soothingly.

Did she not notice how this guy was coming on to her? He was so obvious. And who the hell was this guy anyway? Max sure as hell hadn’t seen him around.

Before Max knew what he was doing he was getting up and making his way over to the pair. He heard her laughter and that only proved to fuel his anger more. He was the only one that was supposed to make her laugh like that. He was just starting to make up for everything he’d done and lay the groundwork for getting her back, and he wasn’t about to let this guy ruin it for him.

Max walked up to the pair, who were currently still laughing over something, and cleared his throat loudly.

Liz looked over at him startled before realizing who it was and sobering quickly. “Oh hey Max. Max, this is Danny. Danny, Max,” she introduced, not really sure why she was doing it, but feeling the need to all the same.

Max and Danny exchanged pleasantries, however strained on Max’s part, before he turned back to Liz. “Hey Liz, can I talk to you for a moment?”

“Uh yeah…sure,” she answered uncertainly. “I’ll be right back,” she said to Danny before she and Max moved to stand at the other side of the room, about fifteen feet away.

“What is it Max?” Liz asked concerned, curious as to what was so important that he needed to interrupt the conversation.

“What is it?!?” he started exasperatedly. “Liz, that guy was like all over you!”

“What, no he wasn’t,” Liz denied.

“No? The little tucking your hair behind your ear, the peck on your cheek when you guys hugged, the touching you every chance he gets. If that’s not hanging all over you, I don’t know what is. Who the hell is he anyway?”

“Look Max, it’s not really any of your business, but he’s a friend of Kyle’s that I met when I was home for Christmas. He was in town so he came over to see me…as friends,” she emphasized the word. She felt her anger rising, “And even if he wasn’t, what does it matter to you? So what if Danny likes me? We’re not together Max. Who I see doesn’t concern you.”

“Liz, I’m only trying to look out for you. I love you and I want…”

“Then start acting like it,” Liz cut him off. “If you really loved me Max, if you really, truly wanted me back, you wouldn’t be acting like this. You would trust me to make my own decisions, and believe me when I say Danny is just a friend. You would stop trying to woe me and coax me into a relationship and start trying to prove that you’re truly sorry, that I really do mean more to you than what you gave me up for, and that you’ll give me the time and space I need to decide what I want.”

Max just backed away slightly, not knowing what to say to her. He just nodded his head slightly, before turning, grabbing his stuff, and walking out of the café, dropping five bucks on the counter behind him to cover his bill. He needed time to think about what she’d said, to find a way to win her back.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“I’m home,” Max called as he entered his parent’s house.

“Oh, Max honey,” Diane came up and gave her son a hug. “It’s so good to see you. How was the traffic?”

“Not too bad. Is Dad home?”

“Yes, he’s in his study. Actually, he wanted me to send you up to see him as soon as you got home.” Max nodded, picking up the wrapped box he’d brought in with his stuff and headed upstairs to his father’s study.

He knocked quietly on the door before letting himself in. “Hey Dad, Happy Birthday!” He handed his dad the package and then went around the desk to give his father a hug.

“Thank you Max,” Philip said, putting the gift down on his desk. “Have a seat, I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“Sure dad, what is it?” Max sat on the couch in the corner of Philips office. Philip came over and took a seat in front of him.

“I was talking to an associate of mine today and I found out that you were up for a job at Ingen Corporation.”

“Yeah, that’s where I’m working right now with my internship. I find out about the job on Monday,” Max explained, but he thought his father knew that.

“So how’s the internship going? Is it going well?”

“Yeah, it’s going pretty well dad. What is this all about?” Philip had never really taken this much of an active interest in Max’s life. He’d always allowed his son to make his own decisions.

“Well Max, you probably don’t remember this, but I’m one of the main investors at Ingen; I put a lot of money into that company. So all I have to do is make a call, and the job is yours, son.”

Max looked at his father shocked, and a little suspiciously. “You didn’t have anything to do with me getting the internship did you?” Max asked.

“No, no; that was all you. As I said, I only recently realized that you were interning there. So do you like this job? Do you want it?”

“Yeah I want it but…” Philip cut him off.

“Great. I’ll call them Monday morning and the job is as good as yours.”

“No dad,” Max said more sternly then he’d meant to. “I…I can’t do that. As much as I want this job, I want to get it on my own merit. I want to get it cause I’m the better person for it, not just because my dad gives them a lot of money. You understand what I’m saying?”

Philip sighed heavily. “Alright. I’m sorry. I just thought…well your mother kept telling me that you were always talking about the internship and how much you enjoyed it. I just thought that I could help out a little, you know?”

Philip and his son didn’t have the closest relationship; Max had always been closer to his mother. Philip figured that was his fault, seeing as how he wasn’t around as much as he should have been when Max was growing up. They would talk, but they never really talked. Philip hoped that this would be a way to show Max that he did care and that he wanted to be there for him.

“Thanks dad. Really. It means a lot that you’d be willing to do this for me. But I want to get this on my own.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Danny looked over at Liz as they walked along the beach. He’d had a great time tonight, they’d had a lot of fun together, but he knew her mind had been somewhere else.

“So that Max guy, he’s…” he trailed off wanting her to finish the question.

“My ex,” she replied, as if that was all there was too it.

“Ah,” he drew out, knowingly. “The infamous bad break up that kept you from going out with me back in December.”

“Danny…” she started, but he cut her off.

“Look, I know that nothing’s ever going to happen between you and me. I kinda figured that out when you rejected me the second time,” he smirked at her, letting her know there were no hard feelings. “But I had hoped that we could be friends, so I want you to know you can talk to me about anything.”

“There really isn’t anything to talk about,” Liz started, but Danny knew better.

“Oh, I think there is.”

Liz just looked at him, questioningly. Should she tell him? He was probably the only person who could give her straight advice; he the farthest removed from the situation. The only one of her friends who didn’t know the role that Max Evans had played in her life.

“When we broke up,” Liz started tentatively, “he hurt me. I mean he really hurt me. I’m still not sure if I’ve completely recovered. And God, I would like nothing more than to just blow him off and forget that Max Evans ever existed, but…”

“But you still love him.” It was a statement rather than a question. Liz wondered what could make him so sure.

“I’m not so sure about that…”

Danny nodded his head as if he was confirming it. “I could tell by the way you looked at him, by the way he looked at you. Whatever it was that used to be between you, it’s still there, whether you want to admit it or not.”

“He wants to get back together,” Liz told him quietly.

“And what do you want?”

“I…I don’t know,” Liz responded unsurely.

“Well Liz, if you really want to know what I think, you do one of two things. You either try and work it out with this Max guy or let him go. Whatever you do, stop with this stuck in between thing. Either start over with him or move on. Don’t let the memory of him keep you from being really happy.”

Liz nodded, trying to let what he’d said sink in. ‘Start over or move on.’ Now she just needed to decide which she wanted more. “Thanks Danny. I’ll think about it.”

“You do that. I hate to see a pretty girl like you going to waste.”

“Danny…” Liz scolded, hitting him on the arm playfully.

“Okay, okay. I give.” He held his hands up in the air. “I’m sorry, the moment was just too good to pass up.” Danny gazed down at her. She may never be his, but hopefully she would always be his friend. And he was pretty sure he could live with that.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Liz came home later that night to an empty apartment. She had said goodbye to Danny, seeing as how he was leaving the next day and promised to think over what he’d said. There was a note on the table saying that Tess was out with Michael, Alex and Isabel and not to wait up.

It wasn’t until she had put the note down and started shrugging off her sweater that she noticed the small box laying not far away from her sister’s note. Picking up the box she noticed a small envelope underneath with her name scrawled neatly across the front. She recognized that handwriting.

“Oh, what is he up to now?” Liz sighed as she opened the box. She gasped when the diamond tennis bracelet came into light. It was beautiful, but how could she accept this? She opened the envelope carefully and pulled out the small card inside.

Liz,
I’m an idiot. I’m sorry. I love you…I’ll wait for you…I’ll prove it to you.
Max

Liz sighed. More presents. Somehow…that wasn’t really enough. It was sweet and all, and she really couldn’t complain, but it was going to take more than flowers and jewelry for her to believe that he really meant what he said. It wasn’t until then that she noticed the postscript written underneath his signature.

P.S. I made a $5000 donation to Pediatric Cancer Foundation in your name. I’ll find a way to make it up to you Liz. This is just a start.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Hey Iz,” Michael knocked on her bedroom door.

“Yeah Michael,” Isabel called. He took that as his cue to come in. He opened the door finding her rifling through her closet while music played lightly from her radio in the corner.

“I gotta go to the library to do some last minute research for my paper. Are you gonna be okay here by yourself?”

“Yeah,” Isabel said, waving him off. “Alex is gonna be here in like half an hour to pick me up anyway.”

“Alright, you sure?”

“Yeah, go. Have fun.”

“Right,” Michael chuckled. “See ya later.”

Isabel waved one last goodbye before turning back to her closet. She finished picking out what she wanted to wear and grabbed her clothes, walking into Courtney’s room, well what had come to be known as Courtney’s room. Isabel still wasn’t completely comfortable in her own room, even though it’d been well over a month since they’d found the note and tape, so she was going to take a shower in Courtney’s bathroom.

She stepped out of the shower and dressed quickly. Towel drying her hair, she walked back to her room to apply her makeup. Sitting down at her vanity she was surprised to see the green alien key chain that she had been looking for since yesterday.

“Weird,” she thought out loud. She couldn’t think of any reason why she would have left it there. It was then that Isabel noticed the quiet of the room. She hadn’t remembered turning her stereo off. She walked over to it, looking at it quizzically before noticing that the time was no longer displayed as usual. Looking behind the dresser she noticed the cord had come out of the wall.

She bent down to plug it back in when she felt a strong, unfamiliar arm wrap around her from behind, successfully trapping both her arms. Isabel tried to scream, but it was muffled when another hand come up over her mouth.

“Shhh, Isabel sweetie,” a slightly familiar voice growled. “Don’t scream. There’s no one to hear you anyway.”

Isabel tried to move her head, but in her present position was not able to see who the intruder was. Thinking quickly she bit down on his hand…hard. Then while he was howling in pain, she elbowed him in the gut, successfully wrenching herself free form his grasp.

Turning around, she gasped in surprise. “Kevin!” He was dressed completely in black, cursing and holding his side where she’d hit him. “How…how did you get in here?”

“With my key of course,” he said once he recovered.

“You have a key to my house? How?”

“Remember that time you accidentally left your keys in class?”

“You stole my keys?” she asked in exasperation.

“And copied them too,” he confirmed. “I must say, they have definitely come in handy.” His eyes gleamed with a dangerous excitement that scared Isabel even more.

“But why?” she stammered out after a moment.

“Because Isabel…you’re everything. You’re beautiful, smart, sexy, caring…everything. You’re perfect.”

“No I’m not,” Isabel denied.

“Yes, you are. You’re like a delicate flower growing in a garden of weeds. And I am determined to remove you from that garden.”

“But if you take a flower out of it’s garden, it dies. Maybe not right away, but eventually.”

“Not if you know how to take care of it.”

Isabel felt a shiver run down her spine at the tone in his voice. It was then that he took the first step towards her since their first confrontation. Isabel immediately took a step back.

“Come on Isabel, don’t be scared of me.” He stepped towards her again; she stepped back. They continued on like this until Isabel felt the cold hardness of the wall against her back. “No where to run now, Isabel. Guess you’ll just have to give in.” He brought a hand up to her cheek, running it down the side of her face. Isabel flinched at first touch, clenching her eyes tightly wishing more than anything that this was all some terrible nightmare that when she opened her eyes, would be gone.

Isabel heard the loud crack of flesh hitting flesh and felt the air move around her. She opened her eyes to find Kevin no longer in front of her. Looking around the room she found him laying on the floor with a very angry Alex hovering over him. Coming to, Kevin swung at Alex blindly, but missed. Alex punched him again, landing his fist straight across the guys face.

Before Alex could react though, Kevin swung his leg to the side, knocking Alex off his feet. He rolled them over, so now Kevin had the upper hand. He landed a punch on Alex’s face and was about to strike again when he felt a sharp pain reverberate through his skull before all went black.

Alex opened his eyes when he realized the next blow wasn’t coming and felt the dead weight of Kevin’s body on top on him. Pushing him off, Alex looked up at Isabel just in time to see her desk lamp falling from her hands.

It wasn’t until then that everything hit Isabel like a wave and she collapsed to the floor in heavy sobs. Alex was at her side immediately, hugging her close to him before running his hands over her looking for any marks. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”

Isabel shook her head and the tears came harder as she buried her head in his shoulder. Alex ran his hand comfortingly down her hair and back, trying to sooth her sobs. “It’s alright Isabel, it’s going to be alright.” After a moment, “I need you to calm down for a second okay. Look at me.” When she raised her eyes, “I need you to call the police alright? While I find something to tie him up with, okay?”

Isabel nodded her head lightly and Alex gave her another tight squeeze before letting her reach for the phone.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Michael walked into the station determined. When he saw his little sister huddled in the chair in the corner, trying to get as close to her boyfriend as possible, he ran over to her. Alex had called him on his cell phone as soon as he’d had a free moment. Michael immediately took Isabel into his arms and held her tighter than he ever had before, almost afraid that if he let go, even just a little bit, she would disappear.

The two embraced wordlessly. After a moment Alex stood up next to them and said quietly to Michael, “They wanted to talk to me alone for a bit, but I made them promise to wait till you got here.”

Michael nodded, acknowledging Alex’s silent question. Alex then left the two alone; Michael only served to hold onto Isabel tighter.

“I’m sorry,” he started, feeling the warm tears drip onto his sleeve. “I shouldn’t have left you alone. I should have stayed until Alex got there.”

“Michael, it’s alright. You couldn’t have known,” Isabel said softly, quietly. Michael was sure he had never heard his sister sound so small and weak before…ever. Again he was cursing himself for allowing this to happen to her.

“No, but I should have been more careful. I shouldn’t have left you alone like that. If I was there then he wouldn’t have been able to hurt you.”

“Look Michael,” Isabel started, getting bolder. “If you hadn’t of left, he probably wouldn’t have come into the house and this whole thing wouldn’t be over.”

“I could have lost you tonight,” Michael squeaked out.

“But you didn’t,” Isabel was calmer now, but the tears were still flowing steadily. Michael just held onto her tighter, still afraid to let go. “They said…” Isabel started, “They said that he confessed to everything. That they have enough to keep him locked up for a long time. I’m going to be safe now,” she said, almost in awe. It was a liberating feeling.

Michael nodded his head. “You gonna be alright?”

“I think so,” Isabel sighed. Letting herself really breathe for the first time that night. “Right now, I just want to forget about all of this, and go to bed.”

“Me too,” Michael breathed out, looking her over one more time, just to make sure she was really okay. “You think Alex will let me sleep on his couch tonight? I don’t think I can bear to be too far away from you.” He knew that she wouldn’t want to go back to the house tonight.

Isabel couldn’t help but laugh. “I don’t think that will be too much of a problem.” She hugged her brother again tightly, glad that this was finally all over.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Max and Liz sat across from Dr. Carter, both looking extremely nervous.

“Well,” Dr. Carter began, “I want to thank you two for the wonderful jobs you’ve both done. My colleagues and I have been very impressed with you work. I don’t think that we’ve ever had interns as hard working and diligent as you two. I’d really love to give both of you jobs, but unfortunately we just don’t have enough positions open at the moment.

“I’d like you to know that this was a very tough decision, but…Mr. Evans,” Max’s snapped his head up, “I’m sorry, but we’re offering the job to Miss Parker.” Max’s face immediately fell, but a small grin returned upon seeing the huge smile on Liz’s face. “Now, Max. I want you to know that if we have a position opening anytime in the near future we won’t hesitate to call, but if you’ll excuse us, Miss Parker and I need to go over the terms of her employment.”

“Of course Dr. Carter,” Max said politely shaking the man’s hand. “Thank you for an excellent opportunity.”

“Thank you Max. It was a pleasure working with you.”

“Congratulations Liz,” Max said as a last thought as he turned to walk out the door of the office.

“Thank you,” Liz replied softly, watching as Max left the room with a heavy step.

As soon as Max was out the door, “Alright Liz. Now we’d like you to start as soon as possible…” Dr. Carter started, but Liz cut him off.

“I’m sorry,” she said, “Would you excuse me for a minute?”

“Of course,” Dr. Carter said smiling, knowing that she wanted to talk to Max.

“Max!” Liz called as she made it out into the hallway. Max turned around to see the woman of his dreams making her way quickly towards him. “I’m sorry” she started. “I know you really wanted this job…”

“Liz, it’s okay. So did you. The best person won.” He gave her an encouraging smile.

Liz couldn’t help but smile in return. “Thank you…for being happy for me.”

“Hey, you’re lucky. I don’t think I’d be as understanding if I’d lost it to anyone else,” he said with a smirk.

Liz smiled again making Max’s heart skip a beat. Deciding he should leave before he did something he’d probably regret, Max turned again but Liz stopped him.

“Max…about Friday…”

“Look,” Max interrupted, “I know you’re gonna say that you can’t accept the bracelet, but just keep it, please. I want you to have it…no matter what happens.”

“Actually I was going to thank you…for the donation. That was really sweet. I…I just need some time to think okay. I need to sort some stuff out.”

Max just nodded, “Whenever you’re ready.” With that, he was down the hall and around the corner before Liz could say another word. After a moment of staring down the empty hallway, Liz made her way back into Dr. Carter’s office to start planning her future career at Ingen.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Part 55

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

She jumped when she felt the hand clamp down on her shoulder.

“What the?!” Taking a deep breath she sighed when she saw who it was. “Oh, hey Michael. You scared the crap out of me!” Tess playfully hit his shoulder in mock anger. She wasn’t really mad at him; he’d just taken her by complete surprise.

“Sorry,” he ducked as her arm came back around to hit him again. “What’s wrong? I was calling your name for the last few minutes, but you didn’t even blink.”

“Oh, sorry about that. It’s just that I have my first final in…” she checked her watch with a glance. “Crap! In twenty three minutes.”

“Hey, don’t sweat it. It’s not like you haven’t been studying for these. You can handle it all.”

“I know…it’s just…its my first college final and I’m scared. I mean, I’ve always been the best of the best in school. No one did better than me in my class. But now I’m here and I know I’m not the best, and going into finals is scary!” she confided in him. She’d found him very easy to talk to over the semester. She’d told him so many things that she’d never imagined she’d tell a guy, but he always listened and never laughed at her.

“Don’t think about the grade. What does a grade matter, anyway? The point is to get something out of the classes, and you have. So don’t sweat it.”

“Thanks Michael,” she smiled. That was her first smile all morning, and it felt good, to tell the truth. “I should go, I have to get over to the Humanities building on the other side of campus. But thanks for the advice.”

“No problem. Oh, and don’t forget, we’re all doing something on Friday night to celebrate the end of finals. Izzie hasn’t told me what yet, but you know her. She’ll have it all figured out for us!” he laughed.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Courtney walked into her bedroom and flopped down on her bed with a sigh. She was done. Her last final was officially over as of eleven am, and she was free for the summer. It felt great!

She couldn’t wait to get down to San Diego and surprise all her friends. She was planning on bringing a carload of stuff with her. After all, she was going to be moving in, even if they weren’t completely aware of it yet!

“Courtney, dear is that you?” she heard her mom’s voice call out.

“Yeah mom, I’m in my room!”

A few moments later, Trisha Harding’s head peaked into the room. “Can I come in?” she asked.

“Of course mom.”

“Honey, I just thought that your father and I could take you out for a nice dinner tonight, your choice since you’re going to be heading down to San Diego tomorrow. I know you’ll be back to get more of your things, but we just want to have a nice family dinner together. What do you say?”

Courtney had no words to describe what she was feeling. Her parents really were going to miss her when she left. Though she had always known that her parents loved her, she didn’t know that her leaving would stir up so much emotion.

“That sounds great mom. I feel like…Red Lobster!” she smiled. That had been one of her favorite places since she was younger, though her parents didn’t take her there often; they usually went to more snooty expensive places that she didn’t like half so much.

“Great. How’s six thirty?”

“Perfect. Thanks mom.”

“No problem sweetheart. I’ve gotta spend as much time with my baby girl as I can before she leaves me!”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Well, that’s it. Thanks guys!” Courtney giggled as a tired Max and Michael flopped down on the couch in the living room. They’d just finished carrying all of Courtney’s things from her car and up to her room. Because now, it was officially her room!

“Courtney!” Isabel squealed as she hurried through the front door, wrapping her friend in a big hug.

“Hey girl!” Courtney smiled at her friend, loving how close they had become. “So, how’re the finals coming?” she ventured to ask.

“Ugh! You had to ask that. No, actually, they’re not that bad. But I can forget about the two I have left right now because you’re here!” she declared. “Hey Max, Mikey, why so tired?” she laughed as she noticed the boys flaked out on the couches.

“Ask…her!” Michael breathed heavily, pointing an accusatory finger at Courtney. He hadn’t even taken the time to glare at her for calling him Mikey, he must really be tired she mused.

“What’d I do?”

“She made us carry all her boxes and suitcases from her car upstairs!” Max informed Izzie.

“You’re staying here? Like moving in?” Isabel couldn’t keep the excitement from her voice and she squealed again. Finally, she wasn’t going to be the only girl in the place!

“Thanks. Yeah, I’m transferring in fall, so I figured I’d spend the summer down here with ya’ll too!”

“That’s so great! Oh! We need to have a pool party to celebrate! You know, just Alex and Liz and Tess and stuff. It’ll be fun!” Isabel went into planning mode and the boys just rolled their eyes.

“Okay, I need to go take a shower and get to campus,” Max slowly got up from his spot across the couch. “Sorry Court, but I’m glad you’re staying; you were down here all the time anyways,” he teased.

“Thanks Max. Just think, now you won’t have to call me every time you need girl advice.”

“Yeah well, last time Michael did a pretty decent job of playing Dear Abby for you.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Ugh! Kyle that feels amazing!” the blond head groaned into the pillow. “Anyone ever tell you you’ve got magic fingers?”

“Well…you know…”

“Kyle! Eww…mental picture!” Maria swatted her arm back playfully at her stepbrother who was in the process of giving her a really great massage.

“You were asking for it though.”

“Okay, okay. So, how are things with you and Tess?”

“It’s difficult not getting to spend as much time with her as I want. But I’ll be there next winter; we’ll be there. So I figure I can live until then. Besides, you keep me busy worrying over you.”

“Hey, I’ve told you a million times you don’t need to follow me around like a mother hen. But it’s very sweet of you to care so much Kyle.”

“So, you ready for finals now? Not too stressed out?” he changed the subject. That was the main reason he was giving her the massage, to help her relax. She’d been getting way too upset and basically bitchy lately.

“This really helped actually. Thanks. Finals shouldn’t be too bad. I’m really not worried after what I’ve had to do at USD, this can’t be any worse.”

“That’s good. I’ve only got one final,” he smiled. He couldn’t even believe it himself, but all his other classes he’d had projects and papers to turn in that sort of made up for it. The last one was due on Wednesday, and then he’d be home free.

“That’s no fair! You cheat!”

“Not my fault my professors love me,” he gave her a cheeky grin.

“Yeah, I’m sure they love you alright…” she grumbled.

“Hey, don’t be upset over it. You haven’t been spending the last three weeks holing up in the library finding research.”

“Okay, true enough.”

Kyle stopped the massage and patted her back lightly. “I’m done, my hands are starting to go numb,” he joked.

“Poor baby. How about I go make us lunch? Mmm! You know what sounds really good? Peanut butter and grape jelly with sliced cherries inside and tomato soup with Tabasco!” she had a big grin on her face at the look of horror crossing Kyle’s.

“Please tell me you’re joking?”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Courtney walked into the café with Max at her side.

“But Max, you owe me,” she teased. “I told my mom the truth so now you don’t have to freak out that she’s going to be planning a wedding or anything like that.” Max’s face turned red when a couple faces turned their way at Courtney’s not so quiet voice.

“Okay, fine!” he conceded.

“Hey Max, what’s up?” Tess chirped as she appeared at their side.

“Hey Tess. You know Court, right?”

“Yeah, we’ve met a couple times. So, are you down here visiting again? Or for the summer?” Tess smiled at the other blond.

“Actually I’m moving in with them,” she pointed to Max. “I’m going to school with you guys in the fall, so I figured why not come down for the summer, ya know?”

“Really? Cool, another girl!”

Court smiled, “That’s what Isabel said too!”

“So what does Max owe you?”

“Oh, an ice cream sundae when he gets done with his next final. I mean, it’s not like I’m being selfish or anything, it’ll be a treat for him too for getting this next one over with!” Court was proud of herself for coming up with that one.

“Nice!” Tess giggled, realizing Courtney’s logic.

“I gotta go, you girls have fun,” Max smiled as he got up and Tess immediately took his seat even though she was working. “You gonna be here when I get done, Court?”

“Yeah! Tess and I’ll be here.” They watched Max leave and then Court turned back to her new friend. “So, you and Kyle are dating, right?”

“Yeah…you know him?” Tess was confused.

“Yeah, when he was in LA for the Valhalla banquet, I was there with my parents. He and Maria kept me company and Maria made him dance with me,” she giggled at the memory. When Kyle had first asked her to dance he looked like it was a chore he’d get punished if he didn’t do. After she teased him a little though, he’d lightened up. “He’s really sweet.”

“Yeah,” Tess stared off into dreamland picturing Kyle. “I miss him. He’s so far away. I can’t wait till I can go back and see him again. But it’ll probably have to wait until July when Lizzie and I go to spend time with Maria when she’s gonna have the baby.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. So what are you going to do down here all summer?”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Liz walked into the apartment with a smile spread across her face. It was Thursday and she’d just finished her last final. It felt so good to be done. She’d been studying for the last few nights and hadn’t gotten much sleep. All she wanted right now was to just lie on the couch and maybe watch a movie or something, and veg.

Tossing her backpack on her bed she grabbed the fleece throw and headed back to the living room. After putting in 10 Things I Hate About You she laid down and quickly fell asleep.

When Tess got home two hours later she turned the TV off and pulled the blanket up over her sister that had fallen onto the floor.

Liz had been doing much better since she’d taken over the night shifts for her. But the last few days Liz had been studying so hard that she wasn’t surprised to find her napping. She’d probably just come home and crashed.

Tess was in the kitchen doing the dishes a little bit later when the phone rang.

“Hello?” she asked as she dried her hand and picked up the receiver.

“Hey Tess!” Isabel’s cheery voice came over the line.

“Hey Izzie. So, are you done with finals now?”

“Unfortunately not…I still have one tomorrow at noon. But after that I’m free!”

“Yeah, me too, except mine’s at eight in the morning...blah!”

“Okay, so we’re all still on for going out tomorrow then, right?”

“Yeah. Lizzie finished today; I think you and I are the only ones with anything tomorrow. So, you decided what we’re doing?”

“Yeah, we’re going to all meet here in the afternoon. Bring your bathing suit and whatever, cause it’s supposed to be sunny and gorgeous and the pool is just calling us! And I think the guys are going to barbeque some steaks or something.”

“Sounds like fun. We’ll be there. Can Alex give us a ride?”

“Sure, I’ll let him know. I gotta go now, Courtney wants to go shopping and I promised I’d go with her. I’ll see ya tomorrow though.”

“Thanks Izzie. Bye.” Tess hung up the phone and finally noticed Liz was leaning against the doorway.

“So, what did Izzie want?”

“Oh, she was just letting me know that tomorrow afternoon we’re all celebrating at their place around the pool, and then having barbeque to start the summer off right.”

“Sounds like fun,” Liz yawned and stretched. Her little catnap had refreshed her.

“How’d the last one go?” Tess asked as she reached into the fridge and grabbed a Dr. Pepper. “You want one?”

“No that’s okay. It was great actually. I think I did really well. I can’t wait to get my scores though. He said he’d have them posted outside his office by next Tuesday…so I have to wait until then to see.”

“I’m sure you did fine Lizzie.”

“Thanks.”

“I can’t believe you won’t be working at the café with me this summer.”

“I’m sorry. But this job is a dream come true.” Tess could see it in her sister’s eyes, she was so excited about this.

“Don’t be sorry Lizzie. I’m happy for you. It’ll just be weird, that’s all.”

“Well, I got a surprise for you. Since I’m going to have a real job and it pays so well, I figured you could spend some extra time back home if you want. Don’t worry about your part of the rent.” Liz watched Tess’s face get bigger, a smile slowly gracing her lips.

“Are you sure…I mean…”

“Of course I am. I’m your sister, why would I lie to you? Besides, you helped me out this semester by taking on a lot of my hours to help me cover rent, so it’s the least I could do. I mean, I know you miss Kyle, and besides, Maria would love to see you for longer than just the few weeks we were planning on going back for.”

“Are you serious?” Tess was still in denial.

Liz laughed, “Yes! Gees, unless you don’t want to spend time with mom and dad and your boyfriend and your best friend…I mean, in that case you can stay and work. But I just thought…”

“No! That’s great! Thank you so much Lizzie!” She launched herself into her sister’s arms, giving her the biggest hug of her life.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Tess walked out of the building with a smile on her face. She wasn’t sure how well that had gone, but now…it was over. It was always a relief to be done with school for the summer, but in college it seemed like much more of an accomplishment; probably because it was more difficult to get through college finals.

She walked down the hallway toward the café. Lizzie would still be working so she figured she’d hang around until she got off at noon and maybe they could go somewhere for lunch on the way home.

“Doesn’t it feel great?” Liz asked her as soon as she walked through the door.

“Oh yeah!” Tess gave her sister the biggest grin.

“Hey Tess,” a voice behind her spoke.

“Huh? Oh, hey Michael. What are you doing here? You finished your finals yesterday.”

“I know. I came to get some coffee,” he held up a cup as proof.

Tess shook her head disbelievingly. “Uh huh…when you could’ve had coffee at home. Don’t even try to say there isn’t any coffee in that house,” she teased. “Why’d you come all the way down here?”

“I thought I’d see how your finals went. You know, being the sweet and caring friend that I am.”

“Oh please!” Liz stifled a laugh. Those two were just too much sometimes.

“Seriously, what are you doing here,” Tess repeated after she calmed once more from laughing.

“I thought I’d see if you wanted to go out to lunch or something to celebrate finals being over. You should come to, Liz,” he offered.

“Aww, thanks Michael!” Tess smiled. He’d really come a long way since the very first time she’d met him in the fall when she was visiting Liz and Maria that one time. Then, he’d been rude, but now, he was the perfect gentleman. “Sounds like fun. Right Lizzie?”

“Well, I don’t get off for another hour…” Liz started to say but was cut off by her sister.

“Please…like this place is busy!” Tess turned and looked around the empty café. “Besides, I’m sure if you ask Mary she’ll be fine with working by herself for a little bit so you could go to lunch with us.”

“I don’t know…”

“Please?” Michael and Tess gave her a collective pouty puppy-dog face.

“Gees, you two are worse than a couple of two year olds!”

“Thanks!” Michael really sounded proud of that which scared Liz a little but she just shook her head and walked away to ask Mary if it would be alright to leave early.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Maria walked down the street from the Parker’s café and towards the shop that she’d gotten to know fairly well recently. The windows were still decorated with baby things, like they had been the first time she’d found the place.

As she walked through the door she was met with that familiar pair of warm gray eyes that she’d come to know so well.

“Hey grandma Claudia,” Maria smiled at the woman who had become her surrogate grandmother.

“How’d those finals go, dear?” the old woman asked without looking up from her sewing.

“Great. Piece of cake!” she grinned even wider as she took a seat beside her at the table.

“I’m glad to hear it. Are you ready to put those finishing touches on that quilt?” She finally looked up from her work and taking the time to look at Maria carefully. “Look at you. You’re positively glowing!”

“Thanks. I feel great right now. Finals are finally over and I’ve found out my stepbrother gives the absolute best back massages ever!” she laughed.

“Well, that’s always nice. Let’s get this finished, shall we?”

“I can’t wait.”

Maria went into the back room and brought out a large bad filled with folded up fabric. The quilt was a soft lavender with white and baby pink flowers decorating it.

“This is beautiful, honey. That little girl is gonna love it.”

“I hope so. I can’t believe in a couple of months she’ll be here. I never imagined that this is where I’d be at this point in my life.”

“Sometimes the best things in life are unexpected.”

“Yeah…I think you’re right,” Maria smiled as they unfolded the fabric and went to work putting the finishing touches on their long project.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Courtney was laying out on a lounge chair beside the pool soaking up the sunrays while talking to Liz who was on the lounge chair beside her. It was the perfect weather for the beginning of summer.

Isabel was in the pool with Alex, trying to splash him without him getting her, but failed miserably. In fact, they were so caught up in their water fight they didn’t even notice when they got to close to the edge and sent flying water straight at Liz and Courtney who shrieked at the unexpected coldness.

Soon enough they were in the pool joining the fight and water was going everywhere. Max, who was walking by to go check on Michael with the food, was their unwitting victim when he was hit by a large wave of water from Liz in the pool.

“Hey!” he called.

“Oops,” Liz laughed, “sorry Max!”

“Yeah, I’m sure you are,” he shook his head and then decided that Michael and the food could wait, right now he was going to join the fun in the water.

Michael and Tess were manning the barbeque. Or at least Michael was. Tess had already tried to flip a burger saying that it was a piece of cake, but it had ended up on the grass causing Michael to double over in laughter. So now Michael was holding the spatula above his head where she couldn’t reach.

“Oh! I didn’t tell you. Since Lizzie got the job at Ingen, she’s going to pay for some of my rent this summer, which means I can go home and spend more time with Kyle and Maria.” She smiled until she realized what she’d said and saw the frown forming on Michael’s brow. “I’m sorry Michael…I…”

“No, don’t be. I’m glad you get to go home early, that’s great.” For a minute he was debating with himself on whether or not to ask her the one thing he really wanted to.

“What is it, Michael?”

“I just… Would you…? If I gave you something to give to Maria, would you do it for me?” he seemed rather insecure of himself.

“Sure…what is it Michael?”

“It’s just something I want her to read, that’s all.” He gave her a tentative smile.

“As long as it’s not something that’ll make her mad, sure.”

“I hope it doesn’t. It just…I think it might explain things to her that I want her to know.”

“Sure Michael. I don’t even have my ticket yet, but I want to leave sometime next week at the latest.”

“Thanks. It’s not ready right now though, so I’ll bring it by some time. Or, actually I can give you a ride to the airport when you go. That’s not a problem.”

“Thanks Michael. You’re a really great friend.”

“No problem.”

“Oh! So, did you get any response to the flowers you sent? I forget to ask before.” Michael had called her asking for Maria’s address so that he could send her something. At first she’d refused, but after he explained himself she’d caved at the sweet gesture.

“No…I…I don’t know what to think.”

“Don’t give up on her yet. I know she’s going to be coming back eventually.”

“Yeah, but I don’t want to see her eventually. I really want to be there for her now, Tess. I want to be there when my daughter’s born…I want to be able to hold her in my arms, and be there for Maria if she needs me.”

Tess was taken aback by the depth of his emotions. He’d been pretty open with her about his feelings for Maria, but he’d never been that intense. She was impressed.

“Don’t worry Michael. Everything will work out. I know it will.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

May 17, 2002

Dear Maria,
I was talking with Tess today and she was telling me how excited she is to be coming home earlier than she planned to see you. I’m happy for her, but I’m also jealous. I know that I said I’d give you time, but I’m dying here. Every night I imagine what you’ve done that day. I picture what you must look like, pregnant with our daughter… I remember those pictures of Izzie’s I saw from New Years. You looked beautiful, you were glowing and you weren’t even showing yet. I’m sure you’re even more beautiful now.
The baby’s due in July. I’m counting the days on my calendar. I hope you’re not mad, but I have to know, so I asked Tess if she’d call me when the baby’s born. I just want to know. It makes me feel like I’m not completely out of your life or our child’s.
This is my last letter…and I don’t know how else to end it except to say that I love you. I’ll be waiting for you and our daughter when you are ready to come back to San Diego, but please don’t wait too long. I don’t know if I’ll be able to handle that.
I love you.
Always,
Michael

Michael hit the print key on his computer and headed downstairs to the kitchen. It would take awhile to print all those pages, so he figured he’d get a midnight snack. And there was ice cream in the freezer with his name written all over it!

He was going to get the pages bound together and then wrap it up nicely for her. Then it would be done.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Thanks for giving me a ride Michael,” Tess told him as he reached to grab her bags out of the trunk of his car. “You don’t have to walk me inside if you don’t want to.”

“It’s okay, what are friends for?” Michael smiled. He really had grown close to Tess over the last few months. Max had grown closer to Courtney, and Michael just seemed to gravitate towards Tess in his absence. She was close to Maria so it only felt natural that he speak to her when he needed to get his feelings out. “Gees! What do you have in these bags?” he asked as he nearly fell over lifting one on his shoulder.

“Aww, poor Mikey! Is it too heavy for you? Do you need little ole me to carry it for you?” she teased.

“Hahaha…very funny. Lead the way.” He followed her into the airport and they got her luggage checked in before going to sit and wait since she had to be there so early.

“Umm…here’s the present for Maria. Just tell her to open it when she’s alone, okay?” he asked tentatively.

“Sure Michael. No problem. I’ll bring it by as soon as I get back. Kyle’s gonna be picking me up so it won’t be a problem to stop there and see her.”

“Thanks Tess.” Michael handed over the silver box and breathed a sigh of relief. It was out of his hands now officially.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The knock at the door woke Maria with a start. She’d been lying on her bed daydreaming, again. Okay, so it was almost nighttime…so maybe it wasn’t daydreaming…but its not like she was really sleeping either…

“Come in,” she called.

“Hey Ria!” Tess smiled as she poked her head into the room before coming in all the way, shutting the door behind her. They both squealed in delight and Tess hurried to her the bed to hug her friend who wasn’t moving so fast anymore.

“Chica! When? You didn’t tell me you were coming early!”

“I know. I wanted to surprise you! Long story short…I get to spend longer back here this summer than I planned. I couldn’t wait to come see you. How are you doing, anyways?”

“I’m good. Really good.”

“Look at you, you’re getting so big,” Tess smiled, she looked beautiful.

“Don’t remind me. I was fighting to put on my shoes this morning. I think I’m going with the slip-ons from now on…it’s much easier.” They both laughed and talked for a little bit.

“Umm…” Tess became serious, remembering the real reason she was there. “I’ve got something for you. It’s from Michael.” She watched Maria’s face carefully for any signs, but she didn’t offer much. “He really wanted you to read it.” She pulled out the box Michael had given her and slid it in front of her friend. “I’ll just leave you to open it. But if you need to talk or anything, you know where you can find me. I’m gonna spend tonight with my parents, and I’ll probably be over tomorrow to see Kyle. So if you need anything, just let me know.”

Tess stood up from the bed and gave her best friend a hug before walking to the door. She looked back once and noticed that Maria hadn’t moved her gaze from the silver package before her.

Maria heard the door close with a light thud before she was able to shake herself out of the daze. Michael had sent this for her…with Tess.

Lifting the silver lid off she came face to face with a piece of stationary filled with Michael’s writing. Looking into the box beneath it she noticed a bunch of papers. She wasn’t sure what it was, but decided to read the note first. It was from Michael, in his all too familiar scraggly scrawl.

She had to know what it said; there was no way she could possibly wait. She’d been aching to talk to him for a while now, she just didn’t have the guts to call…to make contact.

Maria,
I asked Tess to bring this to you because I don’t want to scare you off. But I want you to know what I’ve been thinking and feeling since you’ve left. I’ve written in a journal on my computer and from the moment you stepped into my life last fall they’ve all been mostly about you or at least had some correlation. But since you left me alone, the only way I could get my thoughts out was to write them to you. They all became letters to you, Maria. So I thought you deserved to read them.
Just know that I’m not doing this because I’m expecting anything from you. Don’t worry, I’m not going to come after you either. I just wanted you to know. You’re my everything, Maria. You and our daughter. I won’t do anything to take advantage of you two, so whenever you’re ready, just know that I will be here.
Always,
Michael

The tears started down her cheeks as she read Michael’s words to her. She became engrossed in everything that he said and felt over the months. Sometimes she laughed, and other times she’d cry for him. Mostly, she felt loved, more than she had in a while, and it felt amazing.

She had a lot of thinking ahead of her…many decisions she’d have to make…and this was only the beginning…of the rest of her life.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Part 56

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“So, why are you telling me this? What was the problem again?”

“Cause…I don’t know what to do,” Maria sighed. “I’m just so confused.”

“What do you mean you don’t know what to do?” Liz asked. “Maria, what did you just tell me?” She didn’t wait for an answer, “That you love him. You want your daughter to know her father. And you know he loves you, so call him! I don’t understand the problem.”

“I’ve tried,” Maria cried exasperatedly. “Every time I pick up the phone I…I just can’t do it. I end up hanging up and crying for an hour. I just can’t bring myself to do it.”

“What are you so scared of?”

It was a simple question, but one that Maria didn’t know if she could answer. What was she afraid of? “I guess…it’s just been so long. I don’t know what to say to him.”

“How about what you just told me? You have all the answers Maria…you hold the keys. He did as you asked and he hasn’t pushed you. You’re the one that’s gonna have to make the move. And he loves you Maria, he really does. He hasn’t been the same since you left.”

“I know,” Maria said quietly, more to herself than anybody. “Alright, enough about me. What’s going on with you?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well that isn’t very exciting.”

Liz couldn’t help but laugh. “Yeah, well not everyone’s life can be as exciting and dramatic as yours.” Turning serious, “What do I do Ria?”

“You know I can’t tell you that. But from the way I see things, the boy obviously cares about you enough to keep trying like this. Most guys would have long given up by now.”

“But, how do I know that he’s not going to hurt me again?”

“You don’t. But the way I see it, you’ll never know until you try.”

“I can’t do it Maria. I can’t get hurt like that again.”

“Then take it slow. See how things go. I think he may surprise you.”

“But I’ll still end up getting hurt, even if we take it slow. I get attached too easily.”

“Dear, you’re still attached. You never let him go, not really. Danny was right honey; you got to forgive and forget or let him go. I want to see my friend happy again, and you won’t be if you keep this up.” Maria paused for a minute, giving that time to sink in. “Look, I have to go cause my mom wanted to go shopping. But think about what I said, okay?”

“I will Ria, thanks. Hey, say hi to my sister for me when you see her.”

“Will do. Bye Chica.”

“Bye. Oh, and Ria…call him.”

“I know, I will.”

Maria hung up with Liz and just stared at the phone. ‘Just do it,’ her brain told her, but the rest of her just didn’t seem to be cooperating.

“Maria, you ready to go?” she heard her mother calling.

“Yeah mom, I’ll be down in a second.” ‘As soon as I get back,’ she told herself, ‘I’ll call him.’

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“So what can I get you kids?”

“Hey mom, I’ll just have a turkey sandwich.”

“Alright. Kyle?”

“Um…a cheeseburger.”

“And to drink?”

“Iced tea,” Tess said, just before Kyle responded with Coke.

“Alright, I’ll bring those right back. So how have you been Kyle?”

“Good Mrs. Parker. I’m really glad that Tess is back though.” At that statement he looked down at Tess, who just snuggled farther into his side where she was sitting with his arm around her shoulder.

“How many times do I have to tell you, please call me Nancy?” she protested. “I’ll be right back with your drinks.”

Nancy went behind the front counter of the café to get their drinks from the soda fountain, but she found that her gaze consistently wandered back to her daughter and her boyfriend. She watched as they whispered softly to each other, Tess giggling at the little things Kyle would say, all the while him having a smile across his face, both of them seemingly oblivious to the world around them. Nancy knew how much Kyle cared for her daughter, and Tess for him in return, but every time she saw them it still blew her away.

Nancy and Jeff didn’t really know how to react when they first heard about Tess and Kyle’s relationship. It was probably a shock to any parents to learn that their seventeen-year-old, and rather inexperienced, daughter was dating a twenty-year-old guy. Tess hadn’t dated all that much in high school; had never had a steady boyfriend, being as how she was always more advanced then the rest of the students around her. She always seemed to prefer to spend her time with Liz and Maria, fitting in better with the older crowd. Yet, her lack of experience, made it hard for the parents to accept that their daughter was dating someone so much older than her.

They never said anything, however, having decided that their daughter was more than mature enough to make her own decisions. And after seeing the two together, and many reassurances from Amy that her soon to be stepson was a wonderful young man, they’d grown to like Kyle. He was always polite and more than cared for their daughter, you could tell by the way he looked at her, like when she was around, nothing else in the world mattered.

Nancy looked over at the two again to see them engaged in a deep kiss. They didn’t seem to have any qualms about PDA’s though. Nancy figured she better go bring them their drinks before they completely forgot they were in a public place.

Going up to the booth where Tess and Kyle were sitting, Nancy cleared her throat loudly. The two jumped apart at the noise, and Nancy couldn’t help but laugh.

“Iced tea, and a coke. Anything else I can get for you two while you’re waiting for your food?” Nancy asked, trying to hold back her laughter the whole time at the looks on their faces. They looked like deer caught in the headlights.

“Um no, we’re fine mom,” Tess answered, slightly red-faced. She couldn’t believe they’d just done that in her parent’s restaurant. It had just started out as a simple kiss, but had quickly spiraled out of control.

Unable to hold it in, Nancy chuckled slightly. “Behave you two,” she said, leaving before they had a chance to respond. Looking back a moment later she saw her daughters head buried in Kyle’s chest in embarrassment, his face slightly red as well. Nancy couldn’t help but smile. Yeah, that boy hadn’t only won over her daughter’s heart.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Hello.”

“Courtney?”

“Maria?”

“So what, you’re there so much you’re even answering their phone now?” Maria said with a laugh.

“Actually, it’s my phone too. I live here now.”

“What? Since when?”

“Um…like two weeks ago.”

“We so need to talk more chica!”

Courtney couldn’t help but laugh. “You better be careful girlie. I could’ve been Michael answering the phone,” she teased.

“Acutally,” Maria started, “that’s why I called.”

“Really. Wow…it’s about time.”

“Courtney.”

“Hey, you know I’m kidding. You want me to go get him for you?”

“Yes please. Oh, and Court…don’t tell him who it is.”

“No prob.” Then, when Courtney’s mouth was away from the receiver Maria heard her yell, “Michael! Phone!” Maria laughed. Leave it to Courtney to ‘go and get someone’ by yelling their name through the house.

She heard a shuffling on the other end of the line and knew the phone was being handed off to someone. This was it. She felt the butterflies starting deep in her stomach. Taking a deep breath she prepared herself for what she was about to do.

“Hello,” she heard a gruff male voice. Oh, how long it’d been since she’d heard that voice.

“Hi Michael.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Hey Alex, my man!”

“Justin, when did you get back?” Alex asked, opening the door wider to let his friend through.

“Eh, a couple days ago. I went home to visit my parents for a while, then came back here. So what all have I missed while I was gone?”

“I don’t know. Random stuff. Liz just got a new job. Really well paid and she loves it. Maria’s in Nebraska…”

“Maria went home for the summer?”

“Uh…Maria went home for the semester. What with the baby and all, she wanted to be around her family.”

“Ah, so how is the whole family thing going for Maria? Is she okay?”

“Yeah. From what I’ve talked to her she’s doing great. She’s loves her step-dad and brother. And I must admit from when I met them that they were really nice. They’re all really supportive of her.”

“That’s good.” After a pause, “Wait, so if Maria is in Nebraska, who’s rooming with Lizzie?”

“Her sister Tess. She started going here the beginning of this semester, but she’s back in Nebraska now. Man, I’ve forgotten how much you’ve missed out on.”

“You’re telling me. But hey, we have all summer to catch me up on everything before the new semester starts.”

“So, you’re staying for the summer?” Alex couldn’t help but smile. He loved his girls, but it was nice to have a guy around. Sure there was Max and Michael, but they weren’t all that close.

“Hell yeah, as long as I can find me a place to stay. Which brings me to my next question. Do you mind if I crash on your couch for a while until I find an apartment?”

Before Alex could answer, Isabel walked through the door of the apartment, and stopped. She hadn’t expected someone else to be there and the moment was a bit awkward.

“Uh Justin, you remember my girlfriend Isabel,” Alex said uneasily.

“Ohhhhhh,” Justin drew out, a grin on his face. “Hey,” he waved to Isabel.

“Hi,” Isabel replied back.

“Good to see you two are still together.” Turning to Alex, “I’m just going to go and see if I can steal Tess’s bed.”

Alex just nodded, not about to argue.

“It was nice seeing you again Isabel,” Justin said on his way out the door. “We’ll catch up more later Alex.” Justin gave him a pointed look before winking mischievously and then was out the door.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Hi Michael.”

There was a long, uncomfortable pause between the two and Maria started to have doubts. Maybe she shouldn’t have called. “It’s Maria,” she added lamely; she couldn’t think of what to say.

“I know,” Michael answered immediately. “I’m sorry, I just wasn’t quite sure that this was real.” There was another awkward silence before Michael continued. “Uh…How is everything? Are you okay?”

“Yeah Michael, I’m doing fine.” She couldn’t help but smile at his concern.

“Um…how is she?”

“She’s doing really well. I just had a doctor’s appointment yesterday and they said everything’s fine. She’s kicking up a storm,” Maria chuckled a little, rubbing her protruding belly without thinking.

“Does…does it hurt?” Michael asked tentatively.

Maria laughed. “No, not really. It kinda tickles actually.”

“God…do you know how good it feels to hear your voice again?” The words were out of Michael’s mouth before he could stop them. But hearing her laugh again…it was like something from a dream, a dream he didn’t think would ever come true.

Maria didn’t know how she was supposed to respond to that. She felt the same way…but she wasn’t sure she was ready to tell him that just yet. After a pause, “Um, I read the letters…” she trailed off, not really sure where she was going with that.

“Oh,” was all Michael said.

“Michael…what you wrote…it was amazing. I guess I never knew…never understood that someone could love me that much. I guess I wanted to thank you for…I don’t know…for telling me everything…letting me know how you feel.”

“No need to thank me. It’s how I feel; I thought you should know.”

“Still, I’m sure it took a lot for you to send them.”

“It was harder being without you.” Michael got bolder as the conversation went on. He was not going to let her go without a fight, not this time. “I love you Maria. And when you left…something died inside of me.”

“Michael I’m sorry…for leaving you like that.”

“You don’t have to apologize. I understand why you did. And it’s not like I haven’t made my fair share of mistakes. It’s just hard.”

There was another silence between the two, but this time it wasn’t nearly so uncomfortable. They were both trying to let the words the other had said soak into their minds, allowing the presence of each other to calm their nervous feelings.

“Michael,” Maria started tentatively, “if I asked you to be here when our daughter is born…would you come?”

“In a heartbeat,” Michael responded without thinking.

“Will you?”

“Believe me Maria, you don’t have to ask me twice. You don’t know how long I’ve waited for this.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Justin stumbled to the door, eyes squinted and still half asleep. He’d been home a few days, yet he was still a little jet lagged. He opened the door quickly upon hearing the knocking again but squinted harder at the harsh light of the hallway.

Max was surprised to see the tall blond, who looked slightly familiar, answer the door to Liz’s apartment. He couldn’t help the flash of rage that shot through him at the sight of a man standing at Liz’s door in his boxers.

“Can I help you?” Justin asked tiredly.

“Uh…I’m looking for Liz.”

“Ah. She’s in the shower, but the water just turned off so she should be out soon. You can come in and wait for her if you want.”

Max just nodded slightly and walked passed the man cautiously into the apartment.

“Can I get you anything? Coffee?” Justin asked as he made his way into the kitchen to make a cup himself.

“No, I’m fine.”

“Justin.”

“Huh?” Max asked confused.

“I’m Justin. And you are?”

“Uh…Max.”

“Well Max, would you mind not glaring at me every time my back’s turned?” Justin asked teasingly. He’d talked with Liz the night before and knew full well who Max was and the current situation with him.

Max didn’t know what to say. He just grunted silently to himself, not liking this guy at all, but just sat silently waiting for Liz to come out.

Justin was about to play with Max a little more, but Liz chose that moment to come out of the bathroom, dressed simply in a bathrobe, drying her hair with a towel. Having a clear shot from the hallway of Justin rooting around in the kitchen, she called out to him.

“So, he awakes from the dead. I didn’t expect you to get up before noon at least.” She walked towards the kitchen.

“Yeah, well something else called my attention,” Justin motioned towards Max sitting on the couch. It wasn’t until then that Liz realized they had company.

“Max!” she let out, a little breathily. This was a little bit of a surprise.

“Hey Liz. I uh…I brought you some dresses. Courtney said you wanted to borrow one,” Max said handing over the garment bag he had carried in.

“Uh…thanks. Um, Max this is Justin. Justin, Max.”

“Yeah, we met,” Max said a little more bitterly than he’d meant to.

Liz knew what he must be thinking. “Max this…”

But he cut her off. “Look, I have to go. I’ll talk to ya later,” Max said quickly before making his way out the door.

“It was nice meeting you,” Justin called just before he heard the door shut forcefully.

Liz groaned, running her hands through her hair. “You couldn’t have put some pants on?”

“What? I always answer the door in my boxers.” Justin shrugged.

“Not at my apartment you don’t!” she finished exasperated before storming back to her room to get ready for work.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Max walked into the house quickly, slamming the door behind him. Coming into the living room he came face to face with Isabel and Courtney sitting on the couch, a confused look painting both their faces.

“I take it that means that delivering the dresses didn’t go to well.” When Courtney asked, Max had been all too willing to do her the favor. With classes over, he didn’t have many excuses to see Liz.

“It’s just…uh…this guy and…boxers…Liz…shower and…Uh! I’m just so frustrated!”

“Alright, now in English this time,” Courtney gibed.

Max flopped down on the couch next to Courtney and heaved a heavy sigh. “Liz was there with another guy. She was in the shower when I got there and he answered the door in his boxers.” He sounded tired and defeated, as if he had just lost a never-ending battle.

“Hold up, Max,” Courtney started. “This is Liz we’re talking about. She doesn’t just go around sleeping with just anybody. And don’t you think one of us would know if Liz were dating anybody.”

“She’s right Max. It’s probably just a misunderstanding,” Isabel reiterated. Then she thought of something, “Wait, what did he look like.”

“Relatively tall, blond. His name was Justin.” Max said the name like it was a bad taste in his mouth.

At the mention of Justin’s name Isabel burst out into laughter. Max and Courtney both looked at her strangely, Max with a glimpse of hurt on his face.

“I don’t see how this is funny,” Max said seriously.

“I’m sorry Max,” Isabel said sobering up. “But trust me, you have nothing to worry about. Justin is just a really good friend. He’s not competition.”

“How do you know? Why haven’t I met him then?”

“Cause he’s been in Italy for the past year studying abroad. I met him back in December, right before we went home for Christmas. He has like the same relationship with Liz as Alex.”

“That still doesn’t explain why he was over there,” Max mumbled, although he was somewhat appeased by the explanation.

“Cause he’s staying with Liz till he finds an apartment of his own. I saw him when I went over to Alex’s last night.”

Courtney burst out laughing then. Max still didn’t find anything funny. “I’m sorry,” Courtney got out while trying to catch her breath before breaking into giggles again. “It’s just…I can so see you storming out of there all pissed. I’m sorry, it’s just funny.”

Max mumbled something before going upstairs, slightly embarrassed about his supposed overreaction but still not completely convinced.

“He’s got it so bad,” Courtney commented once he had left.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Isabel blushed as their waiter placed the piece of cake in front of her with a lit candle sticking out from it. A chorus of “Happy Birthdays” was heard as the quartet of servers finished their song. Isabel thanked them kindly before burying her head in Alex’s shoulder.

“Happy Birthday sweetie,” Alex said, kissing Isabel on the top of the head.

“Did you have to tell them?” she asked referring the waiters and waitresses who were just singing to her.

“Of course. It is tradition you know. Besides, if I didn’t you wouldn’t get your free cake.” With that he grabbed the fork and stuck it into the chocolate cake, bringing the bite to her lips. She opened her mouth, closing around the bite. Alex drew the fork out of her mouth, slowly, tantalizingly, till he couldn’t stand it anymore. He kissed her then, tasting the chocolate on her lips.

They eventually broke apart, breathing heavily. “Alex, lets go home,” Isabel spoke quietly. Alex just nodded his head and called to the waiter for their check.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Alex and Isabel stumbled into the apartment blindly, their lips never parting. Hands were roaming; bodies were melded together; lips moved passionately against each other. Alex attempted to make way over to the couch, but Isabel stopped him.

“No Alex…bedroom,” she mumbled against his lips.

“Are you sure?” he asked, pulling away slightly, looking into her eyes.

He was met with a steady, determined gaze. “Oh yeah,” she grinned, attacking his lips with hers once again and attempting to push their bodies even closer together. Alex growled before stooping to place one arm behind her knees, while the other stayed at her back. Isabel giggled as he picked her up, holding her close against his chest, carrying her to his bedroom as their lips met again.

Standing in front of the bed, Alex lowered Isabel to her feet in front of him. They kissed again, this time slower, more sensual. There was no rush; they wanted this to be a night to remember. Isabel brought her hands up to the buttons of Alex’s shirt, slowly popping them open one by one, each time kissing, nipping, licking the newly revealed skin until she reached the bottom.

Trailing her way back up his body, Isabel pushed the shirt over his shoulders, leaving his naked chest standing before her. Looking in his eyes she saw pure desire, but laced completely with love…only for her.

“My turn,” Alex mumbled as he wrapped his arms around her, drawing her body close to his. One hand went to the zipper in the back of her dress while the other wound itself in her hair, bringing her mouth to his. He slipped the zipper down her back slowly, hearing each tooth click as they came apart, until it came to a stop at the small of her back.

Alex slowly slid the tiny straps off her shoulders, letting the dress pool to the floor. He kissed his way down her body, paying special attention to the valley between her breasts and the skin exposed just above her panty-line, but skipped the places where she needed him most. Isabel whimpered as he continued his way down her legs, stopping to slip the white sandals off her feet.

Standing up in front of her, he looked over her appraisingly. “You’re beautiful,” Alex gasped. He then brought his hands up to her head, carefully taking the pins out of her hair. “I want your hair down,” he explained once he was finished.

Isabel just nodded at him, feeling precious and cherished under his gaze. Moving her hand down to the button of his pants. She made quick work of them, dropping them to the floor before pushing him back to sit down on the edge of the bed. She moved to the ground, pulling the pants from around his legs, taking his socks off in the process. She stood before him again, his face at her naval. Alex wrapped his arms around her waist, placing a soft kiss on her stomach before she straddled his lap, joining him on the bed.

In time they were lying back on the bed, Isabel laying across Alex’s chest, their bodies pressed intimately together.

Isabel suddenly giggled, breaking off from Alex’s kisses. He looked at her questioningly. “You’ve got to be the only guy I know that actually makes their bed!”

Alex laughed despite himself. “Yeah, well I only bother when I’m trying to get lucky with gorgeous young women,” he said, eyes gleaming.

“Oh, and for how many gorgeous young women have you thought it worth the trouble?”

“Only one, actually.”

“Really?” she asked, her eyes lighting up.

“Really,” he replied before kissing her tenderly. “No more interruptions?”

“No more interruptions,” she agreed.

“Good,” Alex replied before flipping them over so he was on top and attacking a giggling Isabel’s lips with his own.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Isabel walked into the house the next morning a smile on her face. Last night had been perfect. Alex had been so kind and gentle with her…and waking up in his arms had only seemed too perfect the memory. Of course, the good morning she got helped too.

Walking into the living room, Isabel saw Courtney on the couch watching cartoons. “Hey Iz, how was your night?” Courtney asked.

“Perfect,” was Isabel’s first response.

* * * *

Michael and Max had just entered the kitchen after playing a hard game of basketball.

“So when are you going to Nebraska?” Max asked as he opened the fridge, looking for a water bottle to quench his thirst.

“A couple weeks I think. I’m supposed to be leaving the same time as Liz.”

Max just nodded his head. He was happy for his friend; Michael was finally getting the chance he’d been waiting for for months. Max couldn’t help but wonder when it would be his turn though.

* * * *

“Perfect huh?” Courtney looked at her appraisingly. “Something’s different. I’m not quite sure what it is…” then suddenly it came to her. Courtney gasped, “You had sex!”

“Shhh. Courtney!” Isabel protested, covering her friend’s mouth with her hand. That’s not something she needed to yell through the house.

* * * *

Max watched as Michael visibly stiffened from Courtney’s outburst. Max couldn’t help the laughter that came over him seeing the immediate tension in his friend’s demeanor.

* * * *

“Damnit,” Isabel said upon hearing Max’s laughter from the kitchen, knowing that Michael probably heard.

“I’m right, aren’t I?” Courtney asked. Upon seeing Isabel’s face redden further she had her answer. “Well, how was it?” she asked, curious.

Isabel shot a glare at Courtney before calling into the kitchen, “You guys can come out now, I know you heard her.” After that the two guys walked into the living room from the kitchen, Max still laughing quietly and Michael visibly stoic.

“Look, not that it’s any of your business, but Alex and I love each other, and so yes…we made love. And that’s all your getting out of me,” Isabel said to the three before turning towards Courtney. “We’ll talk later,” she winked before heading towards her room.

“Congratulations Izzie. Alex is a great guy.” Isabel turned around at her brother’s words and smiled.

“Thank you,” she said. “It means a lot to me to hear you say that.” Isabel went over to her brother and gave him a hug. “And you,” she said, turning on Max menacingly, “need to stop laughing at me.”

“I’m sorry,” Max said, still chuckling. “But you should have seen Michael’s face…it was classic!”

Isabel just shook her head and went up to her room to call Alex. So what if she’d just left him, he was all she wanted right now.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Which one?”

“I don’t know. Who you trying to impress?” Justin asked with a mischievous smile.

“I’m not trying to impress anyone. I just want to know which one looks better on me.”

“So Max isn’t going to be there?”

Liz let out a heavy sigh. “I don’t see why he would. This is for work. Now please, which one do you think looks better. I only have a little over an hour left before I have to leave and I still have to take a shower, get dressed and do my hair and make-up. Now please!” Liz was to go to the annual Ingen banquet this evening, and being the newest employee there, she wanted to make a good impression.

“Alright, well…the black is exquisite and sophisticated, classic…very appropriate for a business banquet. But…you look very sexy in the red,” Justin smirked.

“Alright, the black it is then. Thanks Justin.” And with that she walked into the bathroom to get ready for the banquet.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Liz mingled throughout the crowd at the banquet, making small talk with other employees she’d worked with and meeting investors. She was pretty comfortable with people and had no problem moving throughout the crowds. She felt slightly out of place, however, in her red dress while most of the other patrons wore black or some other less dramatic color. How she ever let Justin talk her into this, she’d never know.

Seeing Dr. Carter wave her over, she quickly made her way to where he was standing with another man.

“Philip, I’d like you to meet Miss Elizabeth Parker. She’s our newest employee at Ingen. Liz, this is Philip Evans. He’s one of our top investors.”

“Nice to meet you,” Liz said, giving his hand a firm shake, all the while wondering at the last name.

“You too Miss Parker. I’ve heard a lot about you. Everyone is talking about what a talented young lady you are.”

“Why thank you. And please, call me Liz.”

“Well Liz, I hope that you continue to do great work for this company. I expect to hear more of you.”

“Thank you Mr. Evans. I do my best.” Liz excused herself to allow the two men to continue their conversation previous to her arrival, all the while wondering if she could possibly have just met Max’s father.

Hours later the banquet was winding down and the guests had begun to leave. Liz had been debating leaving herself, having had her fill of trite conversation. She was headed to get her coat from the bell when she overheard the tail part of a conversation.

“I heard that your son Max was up for that Parker girls position.”

“Yeah, I offered to secure it for him, but he said he wanted to get it on his own. I guess you got to admire that though, the boy is definitely self-dependent. He doesn’t like to take handouts, if he gets something he wants to work for it.”

Liz took a moment to take in what she’d just heard. Max had wanted that job so much…but had given up his chance…for her.

Maybe Maria was right. Maybe he did deserve a second chance. He hadn’t really given her any reason to believe that he’d hurt her again. On the other hand, there was no indication he wouldn’t either. Then again, if he really cared about his money more than her, why hadn’t he used it to his advantage?

Liz made her way to the bell quickly, picking up her jacket. There was something she needed to do.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Liz made her way up the driveway of the familiar house. Alex was kind enough to let her steal his car tonight so she wouldn’t have to take the bus or a cab to the banquet. She walked up the front steps quickly and rung the doorbell. She’d had a lot of time to think about what she wanted to say on the way over here and she wanted to get it out before she lost her nerve.

Max opened the door, a confused expression on his face. “Liz, what…” but he didn’t get to finish his sentence as Liz jumped into his arm, attacking his lips with her own. She kissed him fervently, seemingly making up for the time they’d lost. They were forceful, passionate kisses and when she pulled away they were both breathing heavily.

She pulled his head down, leaning his forehead against hers so she could look into his eyes. “You gave up the job for me why?”

“What? How…” he started when he realized what she was talking about.

“That doesn’t matter. Why?”

“Cause I just couldn’t,” he replied honestly. “And not just because it was you. No matter how much I wanted that job, I couldn’t pretend it was okay to just buy my way into it. I wanted them to want me for me, not because my dad owns half the stock in the company.”

“I want to try again,” Liz said suddenly, making his heart skip a beat.

“You don’t know how long I’ve waited to hear you say that,” he said bringing his mouth down to hers. He just had to kiss her.

Liz broke the kiss off quickly, not quite finished. “I wanna start slow. We still have a lot of trust issues to deal with. But I’m willing to work at it if you are.”

“Are you kidding? I would do anything to be with you Liz. I love you.”

“That’s what I hoped you’d say.” She kissed him again, but pulled back to say one more thing. Max growled. “And no regrets. We work on the present, not on trying to make up for the past.”

“Alright, now shut up already and kiss me.”

She laughed despite herself. “Max, this is important,” she pulled away.

“I know. I’m sorry. I just miss this so much,” he tugged on her lip with that last statement before pulling away and setting a distance, no matter how small, between them. “Alright, I’m listening.”

“So what have I been saying?” she smirked.

“Go slow, work on trust problems and no regrets,” he said smiling. “See, I listen to every word.” He kissed her on the lips, just a short peck, but tender and loving. “Anything else?”

“Nah, you can kiss me now.”

Max smiled and did just that. After a short time he pulled away again. “And Justin is?” he asked seriously.

Liz just laughed. “Just a friend.”

“Good,” Max said and brought his lips down to hers for the countless time that night. He just couldn’t get enough. He’d been beginning to think that he would never know her like this again, and that thought had terrified him. He felt instantly secure now with his angel in his arms.

They’d stayed like that for a while, getting reacquainted with each other’s mouths, until Liz pulled away saying it was time to go. Max reluctantly let her untangle herself from his arms and guided her to the front door and out to her car.

Before she got in the car though, Max kissed her one last time, keeping it short and sweet so as not to get carried away. Pulling her to him, he held her in a tight embrace, not wanting to let her go just yet. Bringing his mouth up to her ear he whispered huskily, “By the way, you look gorgeous tonight.” With that he finally pulled away and helped her into the car, closing the door behind her. He watched as she drove away, finally truly happy for the first time since he let her go all those months ago.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Part 57

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“I found it!” Justin came through the apartment door with a smile on his face and a skip in his step.

“Found what?” Liz asked.

“An apartment of course!” he grabbed her hands and started dancing with her in his excitement.

“Justin!” she laughed. “That’s great! So…where is it?”

“Not that far from here, just a couple of blocks. The guy who lives there right now is moving out tomorrow. And I can have it next week. So I’ll be out of your hair by then, I promise.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m just glad you found somewhere. That’s great!”

“Well I figured you probably wouldn’t want me here when you go back to Nebraska.”

“I wouldn’t care. I trust you.”

“I know. But Tess will be coming back with you and everything, so I thought I had to have a place of my own by then.”

“Yeah, I really don’t think Tess would want to share her bed, and Kyle wouldn’t appreciate that too much either,” Liz laughed.

“Well I would’ve stayed with Alex…but yeah.”

“I know, that’s okay. I told you I don’t mind. It’s actually been nice having you here. It would’ve been odd to be here all by myself for so long.”

“Well I’m glad to help out then!”

“Oh, umm…I’m getting ready to go out with Max and Isabel and Alex and Michael and Courtney tonight. Why don’t you come with us? We’re just going to get some pizza and mini golfing I think. It’ll be fun.”

“Sorry, I’m playing basketball with Jake and Ryan in a bit. Maybe next time.”

“Sure.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Max had his arm securely around Liz’s waist as he escorted her up the stairs and right to her door. She turned in his arms to face him, back against the door.

“Thank you Max. I had a lot of fun tonight,” she smiled. She had to admit to herself how right it felt now that she was back in his arms again.

“Me too. It’s just not fair!” he complained.

“What?”

“I just got you back not all that long ago, and now you’re leaving me.” Liz gave him a sympathetic quick peck on the lips.

“I’m sorry. But I have to be there for Maria; she’s my best friend.”

“I know…I just wish we had more time together.”

“I won’t be gone for that long. I do have to get back to work. I got lucky that they’re letting me take this time off. But when I explained why, Dr. Carter agreed to let me have the time off.” Even though she and Max had been together for nearly two weeks now, she still felt funny talking about her job with him. After all, it nearly had been his own, and she felt it was still a touchy subject. “Umm…do you want to come in for a little bit?” she continued nervously. She just felt like she had to say something more.

“Is Justin still here?” Max asked while cautiously looking at the door.

“Max!” Liz hit his arm playfully. “You know he’s just my friend. And no, he’s not. He found a place of his own and moved yesterday.”

“Then I’d love to come in!” Liz rolled her eyes.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Michael fidgeted nervously on the plane. He couldn’t help it. He was on his way to see Maria; to be with her when their child was born. It was almost too good to be true. He was afraid that at any moment now he’d wake up and find himself at home, alone in his bed and that this was all just a dream…just a dream.

“Michael, relax. It’s going to be alright,” Liz leaned over to whisper to him. He gave her a brief smile.

“I just…I would’ve jumped on a plane as soon as she called me. But she asked me to wait…give her time to get used to the idea of me being there. What does that mean? Does she really not want to see me and she’s only doing this to be nice?” he frowned. That idea didn’t sit too well with him.

“No! She asked you because she really wants you there. Believe it or not, she’s just as nervous about seeing you as you are about seeing her. She just needed time to let it sink in that this was all real.”

“Thanks Liz. So what are Amy and Jim like?” he asked. Maybe if he got himself ready for meeting Maria’s parents it wouldn’t be so bad when it actually happened.

“Well, Amy is really sweet. She’s been like a second mother to me and Tess. She’s always been someone I could talk to when my own wouldn’t listen, you know? It’s just been her and Maria for a while, so I guess you could say she’s protective of her. But she’s also really accepting. Don’t worry. She knows how much Maria loves you, and once she gets to know you, she’ll love you too.”

“Maria loves me?” the words stunned him for a moment.

“You know that Michael, she wouldn’t have called if she didn’t.”

“What about Jim?”

“I don’t really know him that well…I mean, I only met him over Thanksgiving and then spent some time with them at Christmas and New Years. But he and Kyle are great guys. They’ve been looking out for Ria, I know. Kyle practically won’t let her go anywhere alone for fear of her doing something she shouldn’t.” Liz had to laugh at that. Maria had told her so many stories of Kyle and his overprotective big brother attitude making her so mad.

“This is going to be really weird…” Michael muttered to himself.

“What is?”

“Just staying in their house…just a few doors down from Maria. I just, I don’t know if I’ll be able to let her out of my sight once I get to see her again, you know? And I don’t want to scare her away either.”

“You won’t. Besides, if she were to run I’m sure you could catch her. With her stomach she wouldn’t be running too far!” Liz joked and was happy to see the smile come across Michael’s face, however briefly it was.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!” Maria was pacing back and forth in her room nervously. Kyle had just left with Tess to go to the airport and pick up Liz and Michael. The day was finally here…god, what was she supposed to do now?

“Maria? Sweetheart, are you alright?” Amy asked as she poked her head inside her daughter’s bedroom door.

“Uh…yeah mom, I’m fine,” she lied.

“Sweetie, no you’re not.” Amy walked into the room and had a seat on her daughter’s bed, motioning for Maria to join her. “You need to sit down and relax, okay? This pacing around isn’t good for you. Why are you so nervous, anyway? I haven’t seen you this worked up in a long time.” She ran her hand soothingly in circles over her daughter’s back.

“It’s just…he’s coming. And I’m so nervous. I just…I want everything to go smoothly. Tell Jim to be nice, please?”

“Honey!” Amy tried not to laugh, but she couldn’t help it. Maria was so upset over nothing. “Trust me, Jim will be nice. And I’m sure Kyle knows to behave himself. That’s why Tess is going with him to the airport.”

“I know…I just…” she sighed in frustration. She just couldn’t seem to put what she was feeling into words.

“Want him to love you?” Amy finished her daughter’s thought.

“Yeah,” Maria responded meekly.

“That’s perfectly normal, baby. Everyone wants to be loved back by the one that they love. And it’s understandable that you want me and Jim and Kyle to accept him too. Don’t worry, the boys will be on their best behavior tonight, and I won’t judge him until I’ve met him. Okay? All I care about is that you are happy. As long as he doesn’t hurt you, or my granddaughter, then I’ll love him.”

Maria smiled at her mom through the tears and gave her a big hug.

“Thanks mom. I love you so much!”

“I love you too sweetie. Now why don’t you get a little rest, huh? I have a feeling you might not be sleeping too much tonight; you and that boy have a lot of talking to do, and you look kinda tired.”

“Yeah, I guess so. Thanks mom.”

“That’s what I’m here for. Sleep well.” She gave her daughter a peck on the cheek and a hug before helping her lay back in bed. Amy quietly shut the bedroom door behind her, praying that everything would work out for her daughter, but somehow knowing deep down that it would.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“No Kyle! Promise me right now that you’re going to behave!” Tess demanded, arms crossed refutely across her chest.

Kyle sighed as he watched his girlfriend, back straight as she denied his advances.

“Fine, I promise to give the guy a chance. But that doesn’t mean I have to like him,” he mumbled his last response hoping she wouldn’t hear it.

“He’s honestly a nice guy. Just give him a chance.” Tess was hoping that he would loosen up a little because knowing Michael like she’d come to, he was probably already scared shitless, excited, but scared shitless.

“I’ll be good, alright? Now will you kiss me?” he pouted.

“Only if you promise to be a good boy…then I suppose I could…do this,” she whispered seductively as she sidled up in front of him and placed a kiss to his lips that was too short for his liking. He tried to pull her back into his embrace, but she continued to pull away.

“Nope, sorry. No more, we’re in the airport terminal and there are people everywhere. Besides, Lizzie and Michael’s plane will be here in a few minutes,” Tess scolded.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Michael, relax!” Liz was trying not to laugh as the plane came to a stop at the gate. His hands were clenching the armrest so tightly that his knuckles were turning white.

“Sorry,” he ducked his head in embarrassment and let up on his grip a little, moving his fingers to regain proper feeling in them after being tense for so long.

“Don’t worry. It’s just Tess and Kyle, they don’t bite…well, at least Tess doesn’t,” she joked.

“Not funny!” Michael stood up and grabbed both his and Liz’s carry-on’s from the overhead compartment and they started towards the front of the plane.

“I thought it was.” Michael rolled his eyes and led the way off the plane. When Liz reached his side again he offered her her backpack then followed her down the terminal in search of Tess and Kyle.

This was it. He was going to meet Maria’s brother. ‘Hopefully he won’t hurt me…’ Michael wished to himself. He didn’t know how much of their story Maria’s family knew, but if they knew the whole truth, he was sure they wouldn’t be thrilled by it; that would definitely give them reason to want to hurt him.

“Lizzie! Michael!” Michael turned his head when he heard the all too familiar voice call their names. Before he realized it the curly blond was bouncing her way forward and wrapping an arm around each of them in a big hug. “How was the trip? Did you guys have fun?”

“It was okay, the food was nasty, but well, it always is. At least the pretzels were good,” Liz gave her sister another hug and then Kyle too just for the heck of it.

“Ick…I wouldn’t even bother with plane food…why do they bother to offer it when everyone hates it anyways?” Tess babbled.

“I don’t know. Come on, we have to go get our bags,” Liz motioned toward the baggage claim and they all followed behind. Michael remained silent just trailing after the others. Kyle had been looking at him kind of weird and he wasn’t sure how to respond to that. He didn’t want to say anything that would get him on the guy’s bad side.

“There’s mine,” Liz pointed to a medium sized bag coming down the conveyor belt.

“I’ll get it,” Michael said as he reached over and deftly picked it up, followed by the two after it which were his. He hadn’t been sure how long he was going to be staying, so he’d brought lots of things. Plus he had presents with him.

Tess watched Michael fidget with the suitcases and bags until she realized her mistake.

“Oh! I’m sorry. Kyle, this is Michael Guerin, Michael, this is Kyle Valenti, my boyfriend.”

“Hey,” Michael responded, holding out his hand in offering.

“Hey,” Kyle shook his hand and then finally decided to give the guy a break. “Maria can’t wait to see you. She’s been a nervous wreck all morning.”

“Is she okay?” The question was an immediate automatic response and it made Kyle realize just how much this guy really did care for his sister.

“She’s fine. Just a little nervous I guess,” Kyle smiled. Maybe this guy wasn’t so bad. As long as he didn’t hurt his sister he didn’t mind him being there one bit. Who knows, maybe they’d even become friends eventually.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Amy peeked into her daughter’s room and saw that she was sleeping peacefully. She knew Maria hadn’t been sleeping too well the last few nights because the baby had been kicking and moving. Because of that she let her sleep instead of waking her up to tell her that Kyle had just driven up.

Amy shut the door softly and headed down the stairs to greet the kids. Liz and Tess were with the two boys as they walked up from the car. She noticed Kyle helping Michael carry his bags. Hopefully that meant the two were getting along.

She watched Michael carefully. He was very cute; she could see why her daughter liked him so much. He was well dressed in slacks and a nice shirt, though he must be hot. Summer time in Nebraska could be brutal. But at least it was starting to cool off since it was getting towards evening.

She opened the front door for the kids and they all came inside. Liz went right up to Amy giving her a big hug.

“It’s good to see you Liz,” Amy smiled. “You’re looking really good. You seem a lot happier than you did at Christmas.” She had a knack for sensing things and when Liz blushed she knew she’d hit dirt.

“Thanks Amy, I am actually.”

“Good, I’m glad to hear it.” Turning she looked over the others. Michael was standing to the back of the group just watching everything happening before him. “Hi, I’m Maria’s mother, Amy,” she introduced herself. “You must be Michael.”

“Yeah, it’s nice to meet you Mrs. Valenti,” Michael shook her offered hand and gave her a tentative smile. She seemed nice enough. He kept looking around though, his gaze wandering over this place that Maria called home. Where was she anyway?

“It’s Amy. I’m sorry Jim’s not here to meet you right now, but he’ll be here for dinner. And Maria’s upstairs, she’s taking a little nap and I didn’t have the heart to wake her up. So when you boys go put those things upstairs be quiet about it.”

“Sure Amy. Here, I’ll take them up for you,” Kyle nodded towards the bag still in Michael’s hand.

“Oh, umm…thanks.” He let Kyle take the bag from him and watched him head upstairs, Tess following behind him.

“Michael, Liz, would you two like anything to drink?” Amy asked as she walked toward the kitchen. “I just made some fresh lemonade this morning.”

“Sounds great Amy!” Liz smiled, nodding to Michael.

“Thanks,” he said softly.

Amy smiled at the two and told them to go ahead into the living room and sit down while she got their drinks. Michael sure seemed quiet, but maybe it was just because this was something new to him. Heck it was pretty new to all of them, this whole situation. She had to admit, it was pretty odd to be meeting the man who got her daughter pregnant in such a way.

“Michael, relax. I told you they’re nice people. You don’t have anything to worry about.”

“Thanks Liz. I guess I just thought that…Maria would be…waiting for me. I mean, maybe it was a mistake to come…”

“You don’t really believe that Michael or you wouldn’t be here. You’ve been wanting this as much as she has,” Tess spoke softly as she came into the room from the stairs. She couldn’t help but overhear Michael and Liz’s conversation.

“I know but…”

“No buts.”

“Yeah, she really has been waiting all morning to see you,” Kyle spoke up from Tess’s side. He felt bad for him. While putting the bags down in the room next to Maria’s, Tess had told him to give the guy a break, and after thinking about it a little, he’d decided she was right. It wasn’t Michael’s fault that he hadn’t been with Maria through the last several months. That had been Maria’s choice.

“Thanks,” Michael gave them a slight smile and Tess smiled right back. She was happy to see her friend and boyfriend getting along so well.

“Here’s the lemonade. I poured you each a glass if you’d like,” Amy offered the tray of drinks to all the kids who took them rather welcomingly. It was definitely a warm day outside. Though the nice cool air-conditioning in the house felt refreshing.

They talked for a little bit but Michael didn’t say much. He would look around at the pictures decorating the walls and watch the others talking, but he didn’t participate much in the conversation. He had Maria on the brain. She was upstairs…asleep. In the same house as him. All he wanted to do was see her; he needed to.

Amy noticed how out of it Michael was so she spoke up. “Kyle, why don’t you show Michael up to his room?” She looked over to Michael, “you look kind of tired, why don’t you rest before dinner?” she suggested.

“Thanks,” Michael smiled. In truth he would be happy for the short time to himself. He was definitely starting to like Amy.

“I’ll show him!” Tess jumped at the chance to have a minute alone with him. She had a few things she wanted to tell him but couldn’t when everyone else was around.

“Thanks Tess,” Amy smiled as the two headed to the stairs.

Tess lead Michael down the hall at the top of the stairs and stopped in front of one of the last doors and opened it, walking in.

“This’ll be your room. There’s a bathroom just down the hall. Maria’s room is the one right next to you,” she informed him with a twinkle in her eyes. “Well, I’ll leave you to rest or whatever. Have fun at dinner with the whole family tonight, and don’t worry about Jim, he’s a softy, really.” Tess gave him a short hug and headed to the door.

“Thanks Tess. For everything.”

Tess smiled back at him. “You’re welcome.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Michael was getting restless in his room. He’d tried resting a little but it didn’t calm his nerves any. He needed to see Maria. Having her so close was just making this worse. It was like an itch that he couldn’t scratch.

After a while he decided to screw it and walked out of the room and softly tapped on hers. When he didn’t get a response he figured she was still sleeping so he peeked his head inside. What he saw took his breath away.

She was lying on the bed, golden hair across her pillow framing her face. She was more beautiful than he’d remembered. Closing the door behind him he walked towards the bed. Her body had definitely changed since he’d last seen her. She had a protruding belly now, from their baby, her breasts were fuller, and her hips seemed a little wider. But she was still gorgeous in his eyes.

He brought her desk chair over beside the bed and sat down, just watching her sleep.

At some point while he was watching Maria, Michael drifted off. When he woke up he looked over to see Maria’s beautiful green eyes full of unshed tears looking over at him.

“Maria?” he mumbled softly, not wanting to startle her too much. Reaching over he tentatively grasped her hand in his, and brought it to his lips for a gentle kiss.

“Michael…” the tears that had been threatening to spill for the last few minutes while she watched Michael sleep finally overflowed.

“Shh, don’t cry pixie,” he soothed, brushing some stray blond strands off her face. She sniffled a couple more times before wiping away her tears and trying to sit up in bed. It took a lot more effort than she liked, but Michael immediately helped her, and propped a couple pillows up behind her back.

“Thanks,” she smiled meekly at him. “And thank you for coming too.” Maria took a deep breath. It was now or never, there were so many things she needed to say, but where to start? “I’m sorry that I left the way I did…”

“You don’t have to apologize again, its alright, I understand.”

“No Michael. Please, just let me get this out, okay? There’s some things I just have to say.” She waited for him to nod in response before continuing. “I should have at least told you face to face that you were going to have a child. I’m sorry, I was upset and scared and I wasn’t sure what to do at the time. I don’t know what you’ve been going through, but I know it’s been hard on me. I…I’ve missed you Michael. I’ve wanted to call you, to touch you, so many times.” She reached her hand out and gently stroked the side of his cheek with her small hand. “I’m glad you’re here now though. Thank you for coming.”

Michael couldn’t contain his emotions at Maria’s heartfelt speech. He knew now that the feelings he felt weren’t just one way; she felt them too. He wanted to tell her, tell her everything. But what was he to say?

“God, I missed you Maria!” he sighed as he sank down to sit on the bed beside her.

“Do…do you want to feel her?” her voice was tentative as she brought her gaze up from her belly to meet his own. He hesitated, so she urged him on. “It’s alright. She’s just kicking a little. Here, give me your hand, I’ll show you.” Taking his hand in hers she lifted up her top a little to place his hand on her warm skin. After a few moments she felt it again, and his face lit up like a Christmas tree.

“Wow!”

“Maria? Sweetie, dinner’s gonna be ready…” Amy’s voice trailed off as she walked into the room to see Michael with his hand on her daughter. Well, at least the two seemed to be okay with each other. “Umm…dinner will be ready in about ten minutes, so you two might want to get washed up.” Amy backed out of the room and closed the door behind her.

Neither Michael nor Maria ventured to move until after Amy had left. Michael’s head was still soaring at the feel of Maria’s soft skin beneath his fingers and the slight movements of his child inside of her. It was just incredibly unbelievable.

When the moment was over Michael awkwardly pulled his hand back, but Maria wouldn’t let it go without a little squeeze and a smile.

“I guess we should um…” Michael started.

“…get down there. Yeah,” she finished for him.

Michael stood up and was about to head for the door when Maria stopped him.

“Umm…Michael? Do you think you could help me up?” she asked. She had a difficult time getting out of bed sometimes because she just seemed to sink into it further.

“Sure, sorry,” he leaned over and helped her to get off the bed. When she was standing upright he took in her form even better than he had while she was sleeping. She was still a good deal shorter than him, she always had been. And now that she was upright, her stomach seemed to be even more noticeable. He bet she couldn’t even see her feet around it.

“Thanks.” He watched as she waddled past him toward the bathroom and gave a deep sigh. He’d missed so many things. But there wasn’t anything he could do about that. He was there now, and he was happy with that.

Michael eventually helped Maria downstairs to the dinner table, and Amy couldn’t help but notice how attentive he was being toward her. Anything she asked for he’d get for her. When she dropped her napkin, he picked it up. Her daughter certainly found a great boy.

Jim had been polite all throughout dinner and Michael was starting to like him. Kyle seemed to be getting friendlier now too. Kyle had told him that any time he wanted to shoot some hoops or anything to let him know and they’d go play together. Which was nice, but Michael was planning on spending as much time with Maria while he could. He had been gone so long he didn’t want to miss another moment.

“So, Michael, do your parent’s know you’re here?” Jim asked casually. He didn’t mean to pry, but he was curious. The Guerin’s hadn’t seemed to even know about Maria a few months before. It had definitely been a surprise to him finding out that they’d met the baby’s other grandparents after the banquet in LA.

“Yeah, actually. I told them about me and Maria shortly after I heard about you meeting them.” Michael looked right at Maria as he told his story. “They didn’t know what to think at first, but they’re okay with it now, and my mom seemed glad that I was coming out.”

“That’s good. You’re parents seemed like very nice people when we met them,” Amy explained.

“I guess…” Michael sighed. Did he really want to tell them all about his family’s problems right now? Yeah, that would give them a great impression of him on their first night meeting to find out his parents had nearly disowned him the first time he’d gotten a girl pregnant…

Amy decided not to push the topic any further, figuring that he might be afraid of telling his whole history. She already knew everything that had happened and why being here for Maria now meant so much to him, so she wouldn’t push it.

“Well, who’s ready for dessert? I got a cheesecake from the Parker’s café and fresh strawberries and cherries in the kitchen…” Amy tempted.

She got a chorus of ‘that sound’s great!’ and so disappeared after the desired dessert.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

That night Michael and Maria went up to her room to talk. Maria showed him the nursery and he was in awe of everything there. It would be perfect…there was nothing that he could think of to make it any better, nothing for him to offer. Maria was in bed propped up against pillows while Michael sat beside her. It was quiet for a bit while he collected his thoughts.

“So where are we now?” he asked softly.

“I don’t know Michael…I…I missed you so much.”

“I missed you too pixie.”

“I missed being called that. You’re the only one who’s ever called me that.”

“Good. I just…Maria, you know how I feel about you. Everything in those journals was the truth. I guess I just need to know where you are.”

“I want to be with you Michael, I really do. I miss that friendship that we had, even if it was rather short.”

Michael chuckled a little, yeah it certainly had been short lived.

“Me too…but I want more. I love you Maria, and I want to be able to take you out and show you how much I love you. I guess…what I mean is…will you be my girlfriend?”

Maria had tears in her eyes. He was just so cute when he was unsure of himself.

“Yes Michael. But…I want to take things slow. I mean, we’re going to have a daughter and things won’t be easy. But I’m willing to go for it if you are.”

“I’d do anything for you.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Isabel gave Alex one last kiss before pulling back. “Please?” she asked one more time.

“Are you sure about this?”

“Of course, Alex! You were the one who wanted me to tell my parents, and I did. Now they want to meet you, so, how about this weekend?”

“Sounds great,” he placed little kisses along her neck, leading up to her ear before whispering, “I can’t wait.”

“Thank you!” She returned to kissing him with a vengeance again. Her boyfriend was the best. And soon her parents would know it too.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Saturday morning Alex woke up bright and early to the phone ringing. Blindly he reached over and picked it up, bringing it to his ear.

“Hello?”

“Alex?”

“Morning beautiful. It’s kinda lonely waking up here without you.”

“I’m sorry, but this is my home you know. And Courtney and I just lost track of time last night,” she explained.

“That’s alright. But I thought you weren’t comfortable sleeping in your room?” Alex was concerned. Ever since that crazy stalker Kevin had invaded her bedroom, Isabel hadn’t been able to sleep in there and instead had been sleeping at his place most of the time, which he hadn’t minded one bit.

“I didn’t. I’m in Michael’s room since he’s gone for a while. But, I’ll be over to pick you up in an hour so that we can get up to LA without much traffic, alright?”

“Sounds good. I’ll just get something to eat and hop in the shower. If I don’t answer the door I’m in the shower, so just come in.”

“I never knock anyways, Alex!” Isabel giggled into the phone. “I’ll see you then.” She hung up the phone and Alex rolled back over in bed. It was too early to get up! It was only eight thirty in the morning…but he’d do anything for Isabel, even waking up before the crack of dawn.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Alex was in his boxers in the kitchen when Isabel walked through the front door. He had ended up showering first because it was the only way he could wake himself up. He was in the middle of making breakfast when Isabel walked through the door.

“Hey honey,” she smiled as she saw him at work. He might be a skinny guy, but seeing him standing there in nothing but his boxers made her drool. He was so cute…really white, but cute!

“Hey Izzie. You want some French toast too?” he offered as he waited for her to kiss him hello.

“Smells great. Sure.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Mom…dad…” Isabel was happy to see her parents, but she was also nervous about them meeting Alex. True her mother had been trying very hard lately to accept and respect her children’s choices, but Isabel still had her reservations.

“Isabel,” Samantha Guerin greeted her daughter warmly. Whether she admitted it to herself or not she was excited about meeting the young man who stole her daughter’s heart. She folded her daughter into a hug and then turned to the young man with her. “You must be Alex. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she smiled.

“It’s nice to meet you too, Mr. and Mrs. Guerin,” Alex shook Patrick’s hand and then Samantha’s. So far, so good.

“Come on in,” Samantha ushered them inside the house. “There’s some lunch ready if you two are hungry. You just had a long drive.”

“Well, actually mom, Alex made us breakfast right before we left. I’m not really hungry,” Isabel told her parents.

“You cook?” Alex nodded his head with a silly grin. “How sweet of you.”

“Yeah, he makes great French toast,” Isabel had an arm around Alex and placed a soft kiss to his cheek to let him know how much she had enjoyed his breakfast.

“Well then, why don’t we go sit out on the patio and talk. It’s so enjoyable out there right now with all the flowers in bloom,” Patrick suggested as he told Alex to just leave the bags, the butler would bring them upstairs later.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Alex was impressed by the Guerin household, and not only its size, but its owners as well. From what Isabel had first said about her parents he had been expecting a major interrogation, but nothing of the sort had happened. They were perfectly friendly.

Her father had even showed him the computer set up in his office when he’d heard how into computers Alex was. Patrick had even asked him for advice on what kinds of software were best. All in all, Alex felt like he was making a good impression.

Samantha asked about his parents and sisters and had seemed genuinely interested. He’d told them about growing up with three little sisters and that pretty much set him on the path to knowing the proper way to treat girls cause he’d personally kill anyone that tried to hurt one of them.

Patrick thought that was rather amusing; he figured it must be a big brother thing because Michael was the same way with Isabel.

“So, Isabel, have you heard from your brother yet?” Samantha asked casually as they were all sitting down to a nice dinner in the dining room. She knew her son was in Nebraska with the mother of his child, and she hoped things were going well for him because of course he hadn’t called home.

“Yeah, he called a couple days ago. He just said that things were going great and that he and Maria were doing a lot of talking. The baby isn’t due for another week or so, but he promised to call my cell when she is.” Isabel was happy for her brother. When they had talked on the phone he’d really sounded happy, a lot more than she’d seen him in a long time. And she couldn’t wait to see her niece, or at least hear about her.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

That night when they went up to bed, Alex walked Isabel to her bedroom door and they stopped there so he could give her a kiss.

“Alex, I’m sorry, but it’s my parent’s house and…”

“It’s okay, Izzie, I understand. You don’t have to apologize for the fact that we’ll be sleeping in separate rooms. I’d feel weird in your parents house anyways.”

“I know…it’s just, I’ll miss sleeping in your arms. I always sleep better that way,” she pouted.

“Well, you survived last night, so I think you can manage one more night. We’ll be back in San Diego tomorrow and then my bed is your bed,” he smiled and kissed her again, quickly in case one of her parents walked into the hall.

“Do you want to come in and see my room? We can just talk for a while,” Isabel suggested. Anything to get him to stay with her a little longer. Sure his room was next door, but that was no substitute for being in his arms.

“I don’t think so. I don’t want things to get out of hand…”

“Okay. Goodnight Alex. I love you.”

“I love you too.” Alex gave her a parting kiss and walked to his door. Isabel was still standing there when he turned to look back, so he ran back to give her a real goodnight kiss.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Well, I have to give you credit Michael, you were much better in there than Kyle was the one time he had to come with me to Lamaze class!” Maria laughed.

“Thanks…I think,” Michael smiled. She was so beautiful when she smiled, she was beautiful no matter what she did; she just seemed to be radiating all this energy.

“Thanks for coming with me. I’m really glad you’re here now,” Maria reached over and grabbed his hand in hers giving it a small squeeze. It felt nice to be around him again. His presence was soothing.

“That makes two of us. Where to now?” he asked as he helped her into the passenger side of the car.

“Mmm…I have a craving for an ice cream soda! How about we go to the Parker’s café? They have the best ice cream sodas and shakes in the neighborhood.” The sparkles dancing in her eyes showed him how much she wanted that ice cream, so he followed her instructions and a few minutes later they were pulling up in front of a little restaurant.

“Come on, you’re slow!” Where she’d gotten all this sudden burst of energy from Michael would never know, but he was the one following behind her trying to keep up.

“Hey Mr. P!” Maria called out as she walked through the front door and saw the owner behind the counter.

“Hey Maria, how’re you feeling?” he started toward the booth she’d sat down at as Michael slid in across from her.

“I’m great. Mr. Parker, I’d like you to meet Michael Guerin. Michael, this is Liz and Tess’s father, Jeff Parker.”

“It’s nice to meet you sir,” Michael held out his hand and Jeff just stared at it. This was the boy who’d gotten his little Maria pregnant. She was practically his own daughter, so he felt no qualms in giving the boy a hard time.

“So you’re Michael…” his voice was soft but menacing. “Don’t you dare hurt her,” it was a threat, one that Michael could have easily told him he’d never do. He would never hurt Maria intentionally again. “Now, what can I get you two?”

“Oh! I want a strawberry ice cream soda with whipped cream, chocolate syrup, almonds and extra cherries! Oh, and don’t forget the pickles this time,” she rubbed her hands together in delight as she imagined how good it was going to taste. The look shared by Michael and Jeff was a different story.

“I’ll just have a chocolate shake,” Michael grimaced at the sound of Maria’s concoction, not knowing if he’d have the stomach for his shake while watching her eat that monstrosity.

“Ugh…how can you…I mean that’s…ick!” Michael groaned a while later as Maria dipped her pickle spears into the gooey ice cream-chocolate-strawberry glop.

“Oh come on, it’s not as bad as it sounds. You should try it, here have a bite,” she held up the pickle in her hand and offered it to him but he refused. He was very happy with his plain old chocolate shake.

“That’s okay.”

“Suit yourself,” she shrugged and devoured what was left of her snack.

Michael watched in amazement. He was getting a very quick crash course in pregnancy this last week. He’d already been witness to how much she could eat and some of the odd things, but this definitely took the cake.

“Come on spaceboy, lets get out of here.” Maria tried to get up but finally Michael had to help her. She simply rolled his eyes at his laughter and left him to pay for their drinks while she waddled to the car.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It was four o’clock in the morning on July 17th when Michael heard Maria moaning from the room next door. It woke him up immediately and he went right to her door, opening it and walking inside. He found her on the bed curled up in pain.

“Ria? Are you okay? Tell me what’s wrong,” he panicked.

“I think…my water just broke…go get my mom, please?” she begged.

“Yeah sure…I’ll be right back,” he told her. Michael ran down the hall and knocked on Jim and Amy’s door telling them that Maria was going into labor.

When Amy came out she was able to calm the nervous Michael and went to go check on her daughter. It was time. Her baby was finally going to have her baby!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

At the hospital four hours later Maria could be heard by everyone in the waiting room just down the hall as she screamed her way through yet another contraction. Michael was of course supporting her and trying to calm her down and get her to breathe properly, which she did most of the time.

Her head was drenched in sweat and she was panting hard when the contraction finally passed.

“Am I done yet?” she whined at the nurse near her bed.

“Sorry honey. Just a little bit more. The doctor will be coming by in a few minutes to check on you again. Try to relax,” she offered as she left through the door.

“Try to relax, she says! Ha! You try relaxing when you’re pushing a baby out of your *#$#&*!” she yelled after her. Michael chuckled beside her and placed a brief kiss to her cheek, not sure how she’d react, but just needing to do it anyway.

“You’re almost there, pixie, you can do this,” he encouraged.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Good, now on the next contraction you need to push, okay Maria?” Dr. Kesler asked her tired patient.

Maria nodded her head and waited for what she knew was coming. The contractions were very close now. “AHHH!” she gritted her teeth as she pushed like the doctor asked. She squeezed Michael’s hand in her own that his fingers turned white, but he didn’t mind. He just held on to her and brushed the sweaty hair away from her face, helping her get through the pain in whatever ways he could

“Good girl, I can see the head. Just a little more, okay?”

In no time the baby was out in the doctors arms and Michael got to cut the umbilical cord. The nurses cleaned the baby up and Maria got to finally hold her little girl.

The pain and tears were gone as she looked down upon the little sleeping form in her arms.

“Oh Michael,” she cried softly turning towards him. “Isn’t she beautiful?”

“She’s perfect, just like her mommy,” he placed a kiss on her forehead proudly before running his fingers softly over his daughter’s light blond strands of hair speckled across her head.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It was another hour before some brief baby cries were heard by the friends and family in the waiting room. Liz and Tess were sitting anxiously with their parents and Kyle and Jim and Amy waiting to hear about the baby.

Amy had gone in to check on her daughter a couple times but decided to leave her and Michael alone for this.

When Michael came out with a big grin across his face everyone knew that the cry they had heard was indeed the newest member of the family.

“Well? How are they?” Tess prompted him when he didn’t say anything right away.

“She’s beautiful. She was born at 9:17 and she weighs seven pounds five ounces. She’s even got a little bit of blond hair on her head,” he smiled proudly.

Everyone jumped up to congratulate him and Tess was first, giving him a big hug and calling him ‘daddy’ for the first time. It felt great and put a big smile on his face.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

By ten in the morning Maria was settled into her room where she could have visitors. She was exhausted from the whole experience, but she was waiting for the nurse to bring her daughter back in. They had to take her away to run some normal tests but the nurse promised to bring her up afterward.

She and Michael were talking about names in the meantime. They’d never really discussed it. But they found something that they both liked and thought would fit their little girl really well.

Maria was so tired that she kind of drifted off a couple times but Michael didn’t mind. The nurse, Denise brought the baby back in and smiled at the new parents. She told them that it was only for a little while, but left them alone with their child.

Soon their family and friends joined them in the room and they all ooh’d and ahh’d at the precious little thing.

“What’s her name, Ria?” Liz asked as she gently gave her best friend a hug.

“Carolyn Renee Guerin,” she smiled as she gazed upon the precious little hands and feet and nose…

Tess smiled over at Michael who was still in awe of the whole experience. She was so happy that he’d gotten the chance to be there. And Maria…she looked so happy. Tess had a feeling that everything was going to work out…

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Part 58

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Isabel groaned as she heard a familiar ring and snuggled farther into Alex’s side. Alex too mumbled something unintelligible as the cell rang again. Sighing, Isabel flung herself over Alex to reach her cell, which was in her purse on the other side of the bed. Alex groaned at the feeling of her naked flesh against his and moved his hands to her hips in an attempt to stop her movements.

Isabel smiled down at Alex from where she was now propped on his chest, giving him a quick good-morning kiss before answering the phone.

“Hello,” she said, still somewhat tiredly.

“Hey Iz.”

“Hey Michael…what’s up? What time is it?” she asked, squinting her eyes trying to read the clock next to Alex’s bed.

“About 10:30. Were you sleeping?” Michael asked, a little surprised. Isabel wasn’t usually one to sleep this late.

“Uh yeah, I didn’t realize it was so late.”

“Well, sorry for interrupting, but I thought that you might want to know that you’re officially an aunt.”

“Really!” she squealed. Suddenly Isabel was fully awake. “How is she? Is Maria okay? What’s her name?” Isabel shot questions at Michael, not giving him a chance to speak.

Michael couldn’t help but laugh at his sister’s eagerness. “Alright Iz, breathe,” he finally interrupted.

“Funny,” Isabel responded sarcastically, but it was hard to keep the excitement from her voice.

“Her name is Carolyn Renee Guerin and yes she’s in perfect health. A beautiful baby girl, just like her mother. And Maria’s fine. Maybe a little sore, but other than that she’s okay.”

“That’s good. So did you like get to be in there with her?”

“Yup. I was there for the whole thing. It was so amazing Iz; she was amazing. I tell you, I have a much greater respect for women now; I know I would not be able to take that much pain and in the end pretend it was nothing.

“And then when I held Carolyn for the first time…it was like…I don’t really know how to describe the feeling. I was just in awe of this little person in front of me, that was a part of me. A little bit of me and Maria all mixed together. I just can’t really describe what it feels like.”

Isabel couldn’t help but smile at the sound in his voice. Michael was finally happy, happier than Isabel thought she had ever heard him. “Michael, I’m so happy for you. I better let you get back to them now.”

“Yeah. I just wanted to tell you the news.”

“Oh, and Michael. Call mom…I know she really wants to hear about this.”

“I’ll try,” Michael promised. “Bye Izzie.”

“Bye Daddy,” Isabel laughed.

“I’m really starting to like the sound of that,” Michael mused. “By sis.”

“Bye Michael.”

Isabel hung up and put the phone back beside the bed. She looked down at Alex underneath her to see him gazing up at her with a loving expression. She would never get tired of seeing that look on his face.

“That was Michael, Maria had the baby,” she explained.

“So I heard.” Alex reached up to run a hand through her hair, effectively tucking it behind her ear. She was so beautiful. How had he ever managed to deserve someone like her?

Isabel then went on to repeat everything that her brother had told her, the whole while Alex just lay there, idly playing with her hair. When Isabel finished, Alex leaned up placing a soft yet passionate kiss on her lips, no longer able to help himself.

“What was that for?” Isabel said smiling. Not that she really minded; she could never get enough of Alex’s kisses.

“Just cause I love you so much,” Alex replied simply.

“Well in that case,” Isabel started, bringing her face down to his and kissing him soundly, “I love you too.”

With that Isabel’s lips were on him again and it wasn’t long before heat and passion took over, hands roaming and lower bodies moving teasingly against each other in need. Alex groaned deep in his throat before pulling away, gasping for breath and trying to get his body under control.

Allowing herself a moment to catch her breath, Isabel once again attempted to descend on Alex’s lips, but he held her back.

“As much as I want to do this right now,” Alex started, nipping her lip playfully, unable to hold back, “and believe me I do, I have to be at work in…” he looked at the clock, “an hour.”

“Well, we’ll just have to make it a quickie than won’t we?” she moved her hips against him sensually.

Alex growled, stilling her hips with his hands. “You deserve so much more that I can give you in fifteen minutes.”

“Well when you say it like that…”

“I promise I’ll make it up to you later, okay?”

“Alright. But what an I supposed to do around here all day while you’re working?” Isabel asked as Alex attempted to untangle himself from her body, making his way to the bathroom for a shower.

“I’m sure you’ll think of something,” Alex mused.

“I knew there was a reason I didn’t like the idea of you working all summer,” Isabel came up behind him wrapping her arms around his waist from where he stood brushing his teeth. “I miss you.”

Alex couldn’t help but chuckle. He spit the toothpaste into the sink, rinsing quickly, before turning around so that she was in his arms. “But honey, I’m not even gone yet.”

“I know…I’m missing you in anticipation.”

Again Alex let out a hearty laugh. “I’m taking a shower,” he stated, trying to ignore her previous comment.

“I’ll join you,” Isabel said, a mischievous smile on her face.

“And I’ll never get out of here.”

“Exactly!”

Alex groaned. “Izzie, sweetie. I’m having enough of a problem tearing myself away from you as it is, I don’t need you making it worse. Now please,” he placed a light kiss to her forehead, “I love you, but I really need to get ready for work.”

“Alright,” Isabel sighed, pouting. “I’ll go make some coffee.”

“That’s my girl,” Alex smiled, laughing again as it only caused her to sulk more.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Let me get the door,” Michael offered as he came up behind Maria who was carrying a sleeping Carolyn into the house. Maria just nodded silently, trying not to wake her daughter. Michael walked next to Maria silently, as they made way towards the nursery.

Michael couldn’t help but smile at the sight of them. He’d nearly gone stir crazy last night when he’d had to come home from the hospital alone. He’d barely slept, wanting nothing more than to stay by Maria’s side. But now, watching Maria put their daughter down in the crib, this sense of complete contentment came over him. Michael went and wrapped an arm around Maria’s waist as they stared down at Carolyn sleeping peacefully.

“She’s so beautiful,” Maria commented, not being able to resist the urge to smooth her hand over her baby’s tiny head.

Michael nodded. “Just like her mother.”

Maria blushed slightly at his comment, before leaning her head down to rest on his chest. With the pregnancy and preparing for Carolyn’s arrival, they hadn’t really had much time for them. Maria snuggled into him more before stifling a yawn. Apparently, it would have to wait a little longer.

“You tired?” Michael asked quietly.

“A little.”

“Why don’t you go take a nap?”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. And I’ll take this…baby monitor thing with me. As soon as I figure out how it works…” he trailed off. Maria couldn’t help but giggle slightly as she reached over, grabbing the device from his hands and turned it on. “Right,” he muttered, before turning back to her. “And if anything happens I’ll take care of it.”

“Okay.” Maria couldn’t help but smile. For the countless time in the last week and a half she thanked God that he was here.

Michael led Maria to her room and made sure she was comfortable before leaving her to some peace and quiet. He headed back to his own room, thinking maybe he could catch up on a little of the sleep he’d missed last night now that his girls were home.

Just as Michael was drifting off, however, he heard the unmistakable sound of a baby crying through the plastic speaker sitting on his nightstand. He let out a slight groan before heaving himself off the bed and making way to the nursery, two doors down. He walked into the room quietly, hoping Carolyn hadn’t woken Maria.

“Shhh shhh,” he started as he made his way over to Carolyn’s crib, picking up his daughter carefully. “You have the worst timing, you know that?” Michael chuckled a little, rocking her slightly in his arms trying to calm her tears.

“Ah sweetie, what’s wrong, huh?” Michael said after a few moments in which she only proved to cry louder. “Your diaper’s dry,” he said checking it. “Oh, I wish you could just tell your daddy what’s wrong so he could make it better.”

“Having a little trouble?” He turned around to see Amy standing in the doorway. She’d heard the baby crying and Michael’s voice as she’d walked up.

“I just don’t know what she wants. I’m a little new at this,” he stated wryly.

“Well, so is she,” Amy said walking into the room and over towards them to see if she could help.

Michael hung his head slightly, knowing she was talking about Maria.

Amy, realizing by the look on his face how her comment must have been taken, felt she needed to clarify. “I didn’t mean that to be stab at you Michael, I was just stating a fact. Neither of you really know what you’re doing, but you’ll figure it out in time.”

Feeling it was coming, Michael decided to beat her to it. “I’m not going to hurt her.”

“I know,” Amy stated. Then after a pause, “If you were, you wouldn’t have flown halfway across the country to be here right now.”

Michael just stared at Amy in awe, amazed by the woman in front of him. Here he was, the guy who’d impregnated her daughter, and she’d never been anything but kind to him.

“May I?” Amy asked, holding her arms out for Carolyn. Michael gave her up willingly, yielding to the woman who’d raised such a wonderful daughter all by herself. Amy looked at the little girl lovingly, cooing slightly. Bobbing Carolyn up and down a little slightly in her arms, she spoke softly, “You know what. I bet you’re hungry.”

“Hungry?” Michael asked confused. “But she just ate right before we left the hospital.”

Amy laughed despite herself. “One thing you will learn about babies Michael, is that they eat all the time,” she said, over-annunciating the last few words. “I’ll go get Maria,” she offered.

“No, I’ll wake her,” Michael said before turning to make his way towards the door.

“I’m not here to judge you Michael,” she stopped him. “You’ve already proved your dedication to my daughter by coming out here and being nothing but supportive of her through this whole thing. If you ask me, I think Maria’s lucky to have you.”

“I am.” They both turned to see Maria standing in the doorway. Maria had caught the tail end of their conversation and was nearly moved to tears by what her mother had said. She was glad that her mother was able to take everything that had happened between them and still look at Michael with an open mind. Not many people could be so accepting.

Michael stared at Maria, barely believing what she’d just said. Could he possibly love her any more? Glancing again at their daughter he knew he could, for just remembering the beautiful little girl that Maria had brought to life…his baby girl, made him love her all the more.

Maria walked into the nursery, taking Carolyn into her arms before turning back to Michael, trying to convey what she felt for him, what he meant to her, through her eyes.

“I think she’s hungry,” Amy explained after handing the little girl off to her daughter.

“So I heard,” Maria responded, her eyes never leaving Michael.

“Well, I guess I’ll leave you three be,” Amy excused herself, not missing the looks passing between the new parents.

The closing of the door as her mother exited jarred them out of their staring contest and Maria walked over to the rocking chair in order to feed their daughter. As she settled down in the chair, Michael suddenly felt out of place.

“I guess I’ll just go…” Michael started, but Maria cut him off.

“It’s alright. You can stay,” Maria said as she began to unbutton her shirt with one hand, holding Carolyn in the other.

“You sure?” he asked, somewhat surprised.

“Yeah. I could use the company. Besides, it’s nothing you haven’t seen before,” she teased.

Michael blushed slightly before replying, “Yes but…that was a long time ago.”

“Not that long,” Maria shot back. “Just nine months. I’m sure you remember…”

Michael squirmed a little. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

“Immensely.” She paused for a moment, opening her feeding bra and allowing Carolyn to latch onto her breast. Turning back to him, “I guess I’m just making sure I made a lasting impression,” she ribbed.

Michael looked at her, his face completely serious. “It was the best night of my life.” After a moment he added, “Although yesterday when this little one was born is very much fighting for that position.”

Michael took Carolyn’s tiny hand in his own as she latched onto his finger. He watched as she suckled Maria’s white, creamy flesh, pulling the tight pink nipple into her mouth greedily. “Lucky kid,” he muttered.

“Huh?” Maria asked, not hearing what he’d said.

“Nothing,” Michael responded, kissing the back of his daughter’s tiny hand lightly. “Nothing at all.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Max, stop it!”

“Stop what?” he looked at Courtney, confused.

“The whole pouty sulking thing. It’s depressing.”

“I’m not pouting.”

“You’ve got that whole ‘I’m pining after Liz’ look on your face again.”

“What are you talking about?” He gave her a strange look.

“Come on Max, this is me you’re talking to. You’ve been sitting in front of the TV watching reruns of Saved by the Bell. Now tell me that you’re not sulking.”

“So I miss her, so what?” Max said, not moving from his seat in front of the TV.

“Max, she’s going to be back in a few days,” Courtney couldn’t help but laugh. “Lets go do something.” Courtney grabbed his arm, trying to pull him off the couch.

“I don’t really feel like it.”

“Come on, we’ll go see a movie. Please!” she pleaded. “I’m bored. Entertain me!”

Max couldn’t help but laugh. “What did you have in mind?” He asked, raising his eyebrows teasingly.

“As I said, a movie. Unless you had other…ideas in mind,” she joked.

“Hey hey. I have a girlfriend now; one who I love very much,” he defended.

“Exactly, and I’m going to help you get your mind off the fact that you miss her so much. And in return…you’re paying. Now come on!” Courtney groaned in exaggeration as she dragged him off the couch.

Max heaved a heavy sigh. “Alright, you win.”

“Don’t I always,” Courtney winked as she walked out the front door, Max trailing not too far behind her.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Lizzie!” Maria squealed as she saw her friend walk through the front door.

“Hey Maria,” Liz said, grabbing her friend in a tight hug.

“I’m so sorry Lizzie. I know you came all the way out here for me and we’ve barely gotten to see each other and you’re leaving soon and…”

“Maria, you’re rambling. Don’t worry about it. I understand that you’ve been a little busy,” Liz laughed. “Where is Carolyn by the way?”

“Sleeping…finally. I swear that little girl is going to be the death of her mother one of these days. She just did not want to go to bed last night. Of course Michael was amazing and took her most of the night, but it’s a little hard to sleep with a baby crying in the next room. Anyway, enough about sleepless nights…what about you? We haven’t gotten to really talk in ages.”

“Cause my life is so exciting,” Liz scoffed. “I’ve spent the last nearly two weeks at home with my parents, picking up shifts at the café cause they just had like two waitresses quit on them.”

“Yes…but what about Max?” Maria giggled as Liz blushed. “Dish girl,” she demanded.

“He’s great Maria,” Liz got out in a rush, not realizing until then that she’d been holding her breath. “I can’t believe that I almost gave up on this. But…”

“But?” Maria asked.

“I guess…I’m just kind of frustrated,” Liz said softly.

“Frustrated?” Maria asked, looking for elaboration.

“Everything’s great Maria, really. It’s just sometimes I want more…you know…” Liz trailed off, her face still slightly red.

“You want more?” Maria repeated, still looking confused.

“Sexually Maria, I’m sexually frustrated.”

“Ohhhhh,” Maria drew out. “Wait, I thought you were taking it slow.”

“We are. I mean, that’s what we said we’d do. It’s just my mind keeps telling me to take it slow, but the rest of me…”

“And Max?”

“Has remained a perfect gentleman,” Liz said running her hands through her hair.

“And that’s why you’re frustrated?” Liz nodded, her head still in her hands. “But you’re the one that wanted to take things slow?”

“Yeah,” Liz nodded again.

“Okay girl, you’re not making much sense.”

“Yes Maria, I realize that,” she replied curtly.

“Look Liz, I can’t help you until you decide what you want to do. Now the way I look at things, it always helps to listen to your head…but it’s even more important to listen to your heart, okay?”

“Yeah, okay.”

“Just make sure it’s not just your hormones that you’re listening too, cause those always get you into trouble.”

Liz laughed. “So how are things going with you and Michael?” she changed the subject.

Maria noticed the change of subject, but decided to let Liz figure out the rest of it for herself. “They’re not,” Maria replied in response to Liz’s question. At the look on her face, Maria explained. “We decided to give a relationship a try, but…with Carolyn and everything…we haven’t really had any time for us.”

“And you’re not happy about that.”

Maria shook her head. “Don’t get me wrong, I love my daughter and I wouldn’t trade her for the world, but…here we are, we have a child together, and we’ve never been on a proper date.”

Before Liz could respond the phone rang, interrupting the conversation. Maria moved to pick it up with a heavy sigh.

“Hello,” she said into the phone.

“Hey, Maria?” Tess’s voice came over the line.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Earlier that night…

Tess was working the late shift at the Parker’s café. She’d been trading off with Liz working shifts since their parents were understaffed. At the ringing of the bell, she turned to see Kyle and a couple of guys coming in laughing about something. Tess smiled to herself, reaching into her apron to grab her order pad as she made her way over to the booth where they’d sat down.

Kyle’s grin widened when he saw his girlfriend walking up to them, he got up to meet her.

“Well isn’t this a present surprise?”

“Hey baby,” Kyle said, coming up to his girlfriend. He grabbed her around the waist, pulling her to him tightly. He crushed his mouth down onto hers, pushing his tongue into her mouth forcibly. Tess pulled away to look at him when he loosened his grasp slightly.

“Have you been drinking?” she asked, smelling and tasting the alcohol on his breath.

“Hmmmm…maybe just a little,” he said breathily, before crushing his mouth to hers again, even more forceful this time.

Tess pushed him away as best she could. “Kyle…” but he interrupted her before she could finish.

“I wanted you to meet my friends,” Kyle smirked.

It was then that Tess became aware of the chorus of “Go Kyle”s and “Get some”s. She turned bright red at the scrutiny, partly from embarrassment, partly from anger.

Kyle dragged her over to the group of smirking males and introduced each one in turn. Tess nodded curtly before turning back on Kyle. “Did you guys want something to eat or not, cause if not, I’m busy.” She didn’t wait for an answer before turning and walking back to the counter. There wasn’t anyone else in the café at the moment, but she figured she could start on some cleaning.

She heard the comments they made as she left, not that they were particularly hushed. Things like, “Your girlfriends got a sweet ass” and “Man Kyle, how long you been hidin’ that from us?” Tess waited for some sort of retort on Kyle’s side, but none came. He seemed to be going right along with them.

Tess sighed and began wiping down the counter, her back to the group. She was working meticulously, trying to get her frustrations out, when she felt a familiar pair of arms winding around her waist from behind. She tried to ignore them and continued working until he started placing warm open mouth kisses along her neck. She shrugged him away but he persisted.

He made his way up to her ear before whispering, “Where are your parents?”

“Still out with Jim and Amy at dinner,” she replied shortly.

“Well, in that case…what do you say we go back to your place and have a little fun?” He emphasized his meaning by grabbing her hips to his and pressing his erection into her backside.

Tess pushed him away forcefully before replying, loudly. “No not right now, and definitely not when you’re like this.”

“Ohhhh hooo,” one of the guys from the booth yelled. “Looks like Kyle ain’t gettin’ any tonight.” They all laughed.

“Not tonight and not any night if he keeps this up,” Tess yelled back, making sure Kyle’s ‘buddies’ heard every word.

“Ohhhhhh,” they all mimicked in unison.

Kyle turned to Tess, a confused look on his face. “Come on Tess. You’re making me look bad.”

“I’m making you look bad?” she asked in disbelief before slapping him across the face. “You so did not just say that to me,” she fumed.

Kyle looked angry for a moment before turning and heading towards the door, the other guys trailing close behind him.

“Where are you going?” Tess asked.

“Wherever,” Kyle shot back.

“Not without your keys your not,” she said, dangling the keys in the air. She had taken the liberty, upon realizing he was drunk, to fish out his keys at the first available moment. He hadn’t even noticed.

“Give me my keys Tess,” Kyle said evenly, taking a step back toward her.

“No. You’re all drunk and I won’t have you driving.”

“So how are we supposed to get home?” one of the guys asked. Tess really couldn’t remember their names; she couldn’t care less.

“Sit down, I’ll call you guys a cab.” They sat down reluctantly back at the booth while Tess went to the phone. She called a cab first, then dialed the Valenti’s number.

“Hello,” she heard Maria’s voice on the other line.

“Hey, Maria? Jim and Amy don’t happen to be back yet, do they?”

“No. Tess, what’s wrong?”

“Well, Kyle’s drunk off his ass and I was hoping that someone could come over to get him. I’m not letting him drive home.”

“What did my idiot of a step-brother do now?” Maria could tell by the tone in her voice that something was wrong.

“You mean besides insulting, embarrassing and molesting me in front of his friends, nothing.”

“That bastard! Don’t worry, I’ll send Michael over right away.”

“Yeah, thanks Ria.”

“Of course. You know I love ya babe.”

“What’s going on?” Liz asked as soon as Maria had hung up the phone.

“I gotta go get Michael to pick up Kyle at the café. Apparently he’s drunk and being an asshole,” Maria said, getting up and making her way over to the stairs.

“I better go with then to make sure Michael doesn’t kill him,” Liz responded, getting up too.

“What?” Maria had a confused look on her face. “Why would Michael kill Kyle?”

“Michael and Tess have gotten really close, he’s almost as protective over her as he is of you and Isabel.”

Maria just nodded, ascending the stairs quickly. Inside though she was reeling over that comment that Liz had made about Michael’s protectiveness of her.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Kyle groaned as he woke up to the harsh sunlight now bathing his room. He looked over towards the curtains and squinted at the form of his sister standing beside them. She strolled over to his bedside, eyes never moving from his form as his hands moved to his eyes, rubbing them against the brightness; he groaned again.

“Head hurt?” she asked.

Kyle nodded.

“Good,” Maria said plainly. “You deserve it.”

“Huh?” he asked confused.

“How much do you remember from last night?”

“Not much,” he replied, still squinting. “Why? What did I do?” She could hear the concern in his voice, and it almost made her sympathetic. Almost.

“Let’s just say you don’t have a very happy girlfriend right now.”

“Shit!” Kyle cursed, trying desperately to remember what could’ve happened.

“Yeah,” Maria confirmed. “Well, I’m going to go take a nap, as once again my daughter sees it fit to sleep during the day instead of at night. It would do you best to try really hard to remember what you’ve done,” Maria finished before exiting the room, leaving Kyle to his thoughts. Kyle was her new brother, one she loved dearly, but she was Tess’s friend first and foremost, had been her entire life. She would always come first.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Tess drove up the driveway of the familiar house tiredly. Liz had offered to drive home Kyle’s car last night, but Tess had wanted to make sure that he didn’t try to drive anywhere. Not that there weren’t other cars he could drive, but Tess hoped he wouldn’t go that far.

She rung the doorbell tentatively, hoping someone other than Kyle would answer the door, but no such luck. In retrospect, she wished she’d thought to just put the key in the mailbox and be done with it; of course, then she would have had to take the bus home.

Kyle just stared at her, not knowing what to say. He didn’t even know what he did, let alone how to fix it.

After a moment of silence, Tess spoke. “Uh…here’re your keys; the car’s out front.” With that she turned to leave. She wasn’t sure she was ready for this discussion right now and would much rather take the bus than have to confront it.

“Tess wait,” Kyle pleaded.

Tess turned around and looked at him, waiting.

“I’m sorry,” was all he could think of to say.

“That’s it?” Tess sounded defeated. “It’s gonna take a hell of a lot more than ‘sorry’ Kyle.” Tess turned around and started walking away again, faster this time, but Kyle ran after her, stopping only a few feet behind.

“Tess! Please! Don’t go! I love you. Don’t leave me,” he sounded desperate, weak.

Tess turned around. “What did you say?” she asked.

“Don’t leave me?”

“No, before that.”

“I love you,” Kyle said sincerely.

Tess smiled for a moment, before remembering why she was mad at him and her face took on a scowl once again. “Really? You got a hell of a way of showing it.”

“God Tess, please! Whatever I did, I’m so sorry. Please forgive me. I don’t even remember what I did. Please tell me so I can make up for it.”

“You wanna know what you did? How about, ‘Hey Tess, why don’t we go back TO your place and have a little fun?’ Or how about, ‘Your making me look bad in front of my buddies’ when I wouldn’t go have sex with you right then and there.”

“Shit Tess. I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry. I don’t even drink that often. I don’t know why I did last night, but God Tess…I was an idiot. Please believe me.”

“How do I know Kyle?” Tess now had tears streaming down her face. “How do I know that that’s not the way you really feel? I mean I thought I knew you, but this…”

“Tess, Tess honey look at me,” he said trying to get her attention and cupping her face, bringing her eyes up to look in his. “You do know me, the real me. I love you. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I don’t wanna lose you; I can’t lose you. Please trust me.”

Tess looked in his eyes and knew he was telling the truth, but it still hurt. “You’ll never touch alcohol again without my say so?”

“Not a drop.” Then after a pause, “Well, except for what’s in my cough medicine. I can’t really get away without that.”

Tess couldn’t help but laugh. “So whatcha gonna do to make it up to me?”

“Whatever you want. Name it and it’s yours. Does this mean I’m forgiven?”

“I’m thinking about it,” Tess smirked as Kyle wiped the tears from her eyes.

“Do you wanna come in? Or I could take you home? Give you some time to think about my punishment?”

“I think I’ll come in for a while,” she said. Kyle’s hand touched carefully to the small of her back.

“Oh and Tess?” he stopped her before she got inside. “I will never, ever pressure you into something you’re not ready for.”

“I know,” she said simply before walking into the house. She stopped just before entering, “And Kyle…I love you too.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Alex!”

“Hey Julia. How’s my favorite sister?”

“You know Alex, that doesn’t work on me any more. I know you say that to us all.”

“Damn…and I thought I still had you all going.” Julia couldn’t help but laugh.

“So what’s up?” Julia asked.

“I was just curious to know when my little sister was going to be joining me in San Diego. Or I guess more like when am I coming to drive you and all your stuff out here.”

“I haven’t decided yet. I don’t think we’re actually allowed to move in until sometime in September. UCSD starts a couple weeks after you do, so I don’t know.”

“Well you know if you want to come earlier, you’re more than welcome to stay here.”

“Yeah, I know. I just haven’t decided yet.”

“Just make sure to let me know. I thought I’d come home a little earlier and like stay for the week or something before we left. As long as it was before classes start, that is.”

“Sounds good. So how is everything going with you and Isabel?” Julia asked smirking.

“Great,” Alex couldn’t keep the grin off his face. “Everything’s going great.”

“That’s good. She’s a wonderful person Alex. I’m glad that you two found each other.”

“Me too.” Alex was smiling full force now. What he would do without Isabel Guerin in his life, he’d never know.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Max smiled when he spotted Liz and Tess stepping off of the plane. He had been more than happy to volunteer to pick them up at the airport. Truth was, he’d missed Liz more than anything. He waved them over and felt the oh too familiar tingle as he saw the smile cross her face when she finally saw him.

“Hey,” Liz said coming up to him and dropping her carry on bag.

“Hey,” Max muttered against her lips as he rapped her in his arms and pulled her lips to his. He kissed her fully, passionately, leaving them both gasping for breath. “God, I missed you,” he said when they pulled away.

“I missed you too,” Liz muttered, before catching his lips in a kiss again.

After a few moments Tess became impatient. “Are you two going to be done any time soon, or am I going to have to catch a cab home.”

Max and Liz broke apart, blushing at how they’d let themselves get lost in the moment.

“Alright, let’s go,” Max said, as he grabbed Liz’s bag from it’s place on the floor and took Tess’s from her hand.

“And you were complaining about Kyle and I,” Tess muttered to Liz as they made their way towards the baggage claim.

“Yes, well Max and I weren’t holding up the ticket line.”

“Yes but you and Max were only apart for a two weeks. Who knows how long it will be till I see Kyle again,” Tess pouted.

“Oh, you know he’ll come out here in a couple of weeks, so just give it up. You’re not getting my sympathies,” Liz smirked.

“Well fine then, some kind of sister you are,” Tess muttered.

“Oh you know I love ya,” Liz wrapped her arm around Tess’s shoulder.

“Yeah, I know.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Come on Michael, hurry up. I want you to meet someone.”

“Gee, where has all this energy come from? Last week you couldn’t get out of the car without griping. Now you’re at my side trying to pull me out?”

“Yes, you’re too slow,” Maria complained, getting Carolyn out of the car seat in the back. “Beside, a week ago I was nine months pregnant.”

“Yeah, I remember,” Michael smirked as Maria smacked him across the shoulder, while holding Carolyn in one arm. Grabbing Michael’s hand, she pulled him into the shop that had become so familiar over the last couple months.

“Grandma Claudia?” Maria called as she walked through the door.

“Why hello dear. Isn’t this a pleasant surprise,” Claudia called from the back of the store. “Oh my,” she said, upon coming out of the back room and seeing Maria.

“Claudia, I’d like you to meet my daughter, Carolyn Renee Guerin.”

“Oh dear, she’s beautiful. Do you mind if I hold her?”

“Please,” Maria responded, smiling at the old woman whose warm eyes had always been so comforting to her. “And I’d also like you to meet my boyfriend,” Maria squeezed Michael’s hand that was still entwined with hers, “and Carolyn’s father, Michael Guerin.”

“Ahhh, so this is the Grandma Claudia I’ve heard so much about,” Michael stuck out his hand.

“It’s nice to meet you Michael. I’m glad the two of you were able to work out your problems,” she said glancing between him and Maria.

“Yeah, me too,” Michael said, as he turned to Maria, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. She snuggled into his side as they both watched the old woman talking and cooing to their little girl. Michael couldn’t be thankful enough for whatever it was that brought this pixie into his life and then gave them a second chance. And Carolyn…she was more than he could ever hope for. He just wished he’d be able to make up for the lost time, with both of them.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Courtney walked up to the store grabbing the piece of paper from her back pocket. “Now what do I have to get?” she muttered to herself. It was Rosie’s day off so Courtney had offered to do the shopping. She read down the list as she made her way to the doorway of the store.

chips
bread
Cherry Pepsi

Courtney couldn’t help but laugh at that. Max and his Cherry Pepsi obsession.

Tabasco sauce
Ben & Jerry’s Half Baked
condoms
paper towels

“Wait what!?!” Courtney yelled, drawing attention to herself, not that she cared “Oh no he didn’t,” she muttered to herself, grabbing her cell phone from her purse.

“Hello.”

“I am not buying you condoms. It you want them you can sure as hell go buy them yourself.”

“Condoms? Court, what are you talking about?”

“Look Max, is this some kind of joke? Were you just trying to see what I’d do or something? Cause it’s right here on the list and…” Courtney was talking a mile a minute, but Max cut her off.

“Courtney I didn’t write that on the list.”

“Well then who…no…she wouldn’t. Isabel? That is so way more information then I needed to know.”

“Yeah you and me both.”

“Well, I’m still not buying them. She can get her own damn…”

“Bye Court.” Max really didn’t want to think about the implications of this conversation.

“Bye Max,” Courtney laughed as she made her way into the grocery store.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Justin walked out of the store, grocery bags in hand. Who knew you could spend so much on food? He was now completely moved into his new apartment and was making dinner for everyone to prove it. At least, he planned on making dinner for everyone; he still had to call Alex and Liz to invite them. But hey, how could they resist?

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Part 59

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Michael gently rocked his daughter in his arms. She was so tiny, so precious, so perfect. It was a staggering feeling to know that this was his little girl. She had woken up crying not long ago and after a quick diaper change she was sleeping sweetly and soundly once more.

He placed her as softly as he could into the crib to not wake her and he was successful. He ran his hands through her few hairs and trailed his finger over her smooth cheek.

“Sleep tight sweetheart,” with a kiss to the top of her head he walked towards the door to the hall but noticed the door leading to Maria’s room was slightly ajar. He opened the door and left it slightly cracked open behind him as he took in the sight of Maria asleep in her bed. It was ten at night and she was already asleep. Of course they’d both been trying to sleep early since Carolyn was up every two or three hours for feedings.

Maria was curled up on her side snuggled under her blankets even though it was rather warm in the room. Michael was walking past her bed towards the door but stopped to bend down and pick up a couple papers that must’ve fallen off her desk to the floor.

“Steven Hastings,” the first paper read, with an address below it. Michael wasn’t sure who that person was but jealousy mixed with curiosity drove him to read the letter that was with it. He had to find out who this guy was and why Maria had his address. Sitting down in her desk chair he began to read.

Dear Maria,

There isn’t much to say to make up for not being in your life all these years. I wasn’t ready to be a father and honestly I didn’t believe Amy when she told me. We were both so young at the time and I didn’t know how to deal with it, so I just ignored it. But now I have two daughters of my own and I realize that it isn’t really fair to keep you from knowing that you do have two half-sisters.

I can’t apologize for being gone all of your life, but I would like to meet you at least. And maybe you would like to meet me too. My address and phone number are in here, and I’m hoping that maybe, sometime I’ll hear from you. I’m going to tell Emily and Katherine about you, they are your half sisters. Emily is 17 and Katie is 14. My wife Rita knows about you now as well, and she’s the one who encouraged me to write this letter to you. I hope I’ll get to meet you some day. I’m sure you’re an amazing person.

Your father,
Steven Hastings

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Michael was mulling over what he’d read in the note while sitting in his room staring at the phone. He needed to talk to someone about this, but he didn’t really want to tell anyone Maria’s business. It wasn’t really his place to tell.

So Maria’s father now wanted to know her. In Michael’s opinion he was a little late…20 years too late to be exact. But at least he was trying to make up for it, right? Didn’t Carolyn deserve the chance to have one more grandparent?

For that matter didn’t his own parents deserve to know about their grandchild’s birth? He still hadn’t called them. He’d gotten so wrapped up in things with Carolyn and Maria that he hadn’t even thought of it until now; it just slipped his mind.

His parents, his mother most especially, were trying to make things right. Wasn’t that all that Maria’s biological father was trying to do? Had she ever talked to him or gone to see him, Michael wondered. What would he do if he was in Maria’s position? Honestly he had no idea.

Picking up the phone he began dialing the number he knew so well. One ring…two rings…three rings. He was beginning to get impatient when someone finally picked up the phone.

“Hello?”

“Courtney?” Michael asked, not quite sure if it was her or not.

“Oh, hey Michael! How’s everything going? Izzie told me about the baby. Congratulations!” she gushed in excitement. She’d been so happy when Isabel had told her that Maria had her baby girl and they were both perfect.

“Thanks. Everything’s okay I guess.”

“No, what is it? I can tell something’s bothering you. So why’d you call?”

“Well, I don’t know…I just needed to talk to someone.”

“What about? Maria? Isn’t that part of the reason for you to be there, so that the two of you can talk and work things out?”

“Yes but…this is something else. I’ve got a question. How important is family? I mean, is it always the more the merrier?”

Courtney stopped to think about Michael’s question. She wasn’t certain where this was coming from, but it obviously meant something to him. Was this about his family situation? She’d thought they’d been getting along better lately but maybe not.

“It all depends. Anyone can be a father or mother, but it takes someone special to be a mommy or daddy. Does that make sense?” she asked.

“Yeah, but…how important is it?”

“You should be able to answer that question yourself Michael. Look at you. Growing up your parents weren’t always there. You can’t tell me that they never forgot about you while they were away. And then they practically disowned you. Bet yet look at you, you’re a good person. Sure you’ve been through a lot but it’s made you a stronger person. So how important is family, Michael?”

What she said hit home, like she meant it to. Michael was silent as he took it all in. She was right, he’d had Isabel growing up and that was pretty much it. His parents were often gone and then when they were around they were quick to impose their choices. Of course that was all changing now.

“But family is still family. I think everyone needs a little family otherwise it would get awful lonely, don’t you? Every kid deserves a chance to know their parents, and every grandparent should be able to spoil their grandchildren. Sometimes things don’t always work out, but that’s why we have to help it along.

“Your parents really are great people, just give them a chance. Isabel says your mom’s really been trying hard. Just give them a break. I’m sure they’ll love Maria and Carolyn. They just need the chance to get to know them is all.”

“Thanks Court,” Michael replied after taking in everything she’d said. She really did offer good advice, no wonder Max always went to her, he realized.

“No problem. Is there anything else I can help you with?”

“Umm…” Michael stopped when he heard Courtney muttering something to someone on the other end of the line. It sounded like she was talking to someone.

“Sorry Michael, Liz just got here…huh? Oh, umm…Michael, Liz wants me to ask how Maria’s doing?” Courtney relayed.

“She’s doing great. She’s sleeping, and I just put Carolyn down a little bit ago too. They’ll both probably be awake in an hour at most.”

“Late nights, huh?”

“Yeah, you could say that. But I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Just being there for the birth, it was amazing Court, I’m telling you…it’s beyond words.”

“You’ve grown up a lot Michael, you really have. Maria and Carolyn are a great influence.”

“I think so too.”

“So do you know when you’re coming home?”

“Hopefully not until Maria comes back with me.”

Courtney smiled to herself. What she wouldn’t give to have a guy as dedicated to her as Michael obviously was to Maria. Then she’d be in heaven.

“Hey Court,” Michael asked bringing her out of her little daze. “Is Liz still there? Could I talk to her for a minute?”

“Sure, just a second.” Michael waited patiently figuring out in his mind what he wanted to ask Liz.

“Michael?” Liz’s voice asked.

“Hey Liz.”

“What’d you want to ask me about?”

“I was wondering if Maria ever talked to you about her father.”

“You mean Jim?” Liz asked slightly confused.

“No, her real father. Has she ever met him or talked to him?”

“Not that she’s told me. Her father didn’t want anything to do with her or Amy when Amy told him she was pregnant. What’s this all about, anyway, Michael?”

“Uhh…nothing, I was just…curious…” It wasn’t his place to tell Liz about Maria’s father’s letter. When Maria was ready she would tell everyone…if she ever was. Obviously this was a big issue, one that she probably needed to talk about but at the same time one that she felt she needed to deal with herself.

“So how are the two of you doing? Enjoying parenthood?”

“Yeah,” Michael knew he had a big dopey grin on his face, but he didn’t care, and besides he was only talking on the phone. “We’re okay, I think. We’ve been so busy with Carolyn that we haven’t really had much time to ourselves. And when we do, Maria’s usually sleeping or talking with her mom…” he tried to hide the disappointment from his voice.

“Give it a little time and things will start coming together. You two will have your chance. You already have a beautiful little girl, just let everything settle down a little and the two of you will find your place.” Liz wasn’t sure where that had come from, but it just seemed right. Michael and Maria were lucky in some respects, they already had a beautiful family, but not so lucky in the fact that their relationship was sketchy at best, neither really knew what it was. But eventually, Liz was certain, they would work things out.

“Thanks Liz…” Michael stopped short when he heard the little whimpers that usually led up to crying. “Sorry, I gotta go, Carolyn needs a change. But thanks.”

“Don’t worry about it. Send Maria my love.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Maria stirred awake and glanced at her clock. Eleven thirty. The moon was shining in her window, but that wasn’t what had woken her. She wasn’t sure what it was until a minute later when Carolyn began to fuss.

She had a feeling her little daughter probably needed to be changed, and might just be hungry again too. Getting out of bed she made her way to the door adjoining her room to the nursery and opened it all the way. Carolyn was lying in her crib, arms flailing and legs kicking slightly as her cries echoed in the room.

“I’m here baby. I’m sorry,” Maria cooed as she picked her daughter up into her arms. “Do you need a change? Huh? I think so, you’re kinda smelly there. How about we make you all nice and better, huh? Yeah, that’s my girl.” Maria smiled slightly as she placed Carolyn on the changing table and began to change her. The cries died down as Maria finished and they were gone completely when she lifted her daughter back up into her arms once again.

Michael watched her from the doorway leading to the hall. She seemed like a natural already whereas at times he still felt like a bumbling new-comer to this whole thing. But Maria with Carolyn was just picture perfect, like it was always meant to be.

“Oh! God, Michael, you scared me there!” Maria exclaimed when she turned around and saw him standing there. “What are you doing up?”

“I heard her, but I guess I got here a little late.”

“It’s okay, I think I woke up knowing that she was about to start crying. She just needed a little change, didn’t you sweetheart?” Carolyn began fussing a little, her face cringing in the way Maria knew indicated tears to come if she wasn’t made happy soon. “Oh, are you still not happy? I bet you’re hungry, huh?”

Michael watched as Maria walked over to the rocking chair and got herself comfortable. How many times had he watched her do that since they’d brought Carolyn home? But each time he still wondered at it all. It was just…amazing that that little thing had come from what he thought was something really special between him and his pixie.

“Liz sends her love,” Michael spoke after a long silence.

“You were talking to her?” Maria sounded slightly surprised.

“Well I was talking to Courtney and they were having a girls night or something…” Michael rambled. He didn’t want to go into the details of why he had called so he just left it at that.

When Maria pulled Carolyn away from her and fixed her pajamas once more she had to stifle a yawn.

“Here, I’ll take her,” Michael hurried over and took Carolyn from her arms. Gently he rubbed her back to get her to burp for him. It didn’t take long at all. He continued soothing her until she was sleeping sweetly in his arms.

“Well, someone’s definitely going to sleep for a couple hours. At least I hope,” Michael wasn’t sure what else to say as he gently placed his daughter back into her crib. “Goodnight my little princess pixie,” he placed a soft kiss to Carolyn’s head.

“Goodnight Michael,” Maria whispered from the rocking chair. She looked like she was going to fall asleep right there, so Michael picked her up in his arms and carried her into her room.

“Goodnight pixie,” he whispered as he placed a kiss to her temple.

Maria watched him from half drooping eyes. Now more than ever she knew why she loved him, she thought as she drifted off to sleep.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Michael hadn't slept much that night. It wasn't because of Carolyn either. No, he'd just been thinking. He'd sat in Carolyn's room for a while, just watching her sweet little form as she slept, thinking about what it meant now that he was a father. The more he thought about it the more he felt that Maria needed to at least meet her father. She might not realize it now, but it really was the chance of a lifetime for her, one she might not get again.

“Good morning,” Maria's voice woke him from his daze. He was still sitting in the rocking chair. Maria was already standing at the changing table with the baby when he looked up.

“Hey. Did you sleep well?” he asked.

“Yeah, thanks. How long have you been in here?”

“Most of the night. I couldn't sleep.”

Maria didn't answer, she simply took care of Carolyn. It had quickly become second nature to take care of her the minute she woke up in the morning.

Michael watched her for a while before going downstairs to make them some breakfast. Amy and Jim were gone for the day and Kyle was most likely still asleep because Michael saw no one.

Just as he finished cooking the French toast Maria's light footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs.

“That smells great Michael!” she commented.

“Thanks. Cooking is one thing I've always been pretty good at. And Rosie's given me a few tips now and then,” he smiled. As they sat down to eat Michael figured it was now or never.

“How come you've never said anything about your father?” he questioned lightly, trying to make it as casual as possible.

Maria didn't respond, she only watched him carefully trying to see where that was coming from.

“I found the letter from your father in your room.”

“You what?” Maria almost yelled in her anger. “What were you doing snooping around my room?”

“I wasn't. I just happened to see some papers on the floor so I was picking them up when I noticed what they were. I didn't mean to invade your privacy.”

“You had no right,” Maria kept insisting, though the anger seemed to be fading.

“I know, and I already said I was sorry.” They were both quiet as they ate their breakfast until Michael couldn't stand it any more. “Have you contacted him yet?” The question was soft, not wanting to attract any more anger.

“No. Mom gave that to me shortly after I moved back. In all the fuss about the baby I kinda forgot about it, to tell you the truth.”

“Are you planning on seeing him?”

“I don't know... Why are you so interested in this?”

“I was just thinking about it last night, and well...I think you both deserve the chance to get to know one another. You have family that you didn't know about before. Don't you think it's worth getting to know them?”

“How do I know that he's not going to hurt me like he did my mom when he just walked away from her?”

“You don't know for sure, but the tone of the letter is a good indication that he really is sorry about that and wants a chance to know you. Doesn't Carolyn deserve the chance to know she has other aunts and another grandparent out there?”

“What about your parents Michael? Who are you to be telling me about family when you haven't even told you own parents about our daughter's birth?” she countered in anger.

“You're right, I haven't told them yet, but I am.”

“Yes but Michael, you've been saying that, but you still haven't done anything about it, have you?”

“I'm calling them today, it was too late last night to do it.”

“Whatever Michael. Maybe I'll go see my father when you get the courage to tell your parents,” she snapped as she stood from the table, ending the conversation.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Guerin Residence,” the male voice spoke into the phone.

“Hey Adam,” Michael spoke to the butler who he'd known for years. “Are my parents home?”

“Good morning Michael,” the man greeted him. “Your father had to go to the office, but your mother is home. Shall I take her the phone?”

“Yes please. Thank you Adam.”

“Michael, darling?” the excited voice of his mother came through the receiver.

“Hello mother,” he spoke softly. This was it...he'd done it, he'd finally managed to get up the nerve to call.

“Oh dear, how is everything? Are you okay? Did Maria have the baby? Are the two of them alright?” Samantha was talking as fast as she could, so unlike her public facade, but she couldn't help it. She was just so glad that Michael had finally called. She'd been worrying even though Isabel had told her that he was alright.

“I'm fine mother. Maria had the baby, her name is Carolyn Renee, and both of them are great.”

“I'm so happy for you honey,” Samantha smiled as she spoke into the phone. Her son had truly grown up and she had missed so much of it. He was a father now, and it sounded like a rather proud one.

“She is so beautiful mom. I got to be there...it was amazing...” he finally let go and told his mother everything. It was the most honest conversation he'd ever had with her.

“When are you coming back?” Samantha ventured to ask.

“I'm not sure. I know I need to be there for the school year...but I haven't really talked to Maria yet about what she's planning on doing. I know she was originally going to return to school for Spring semester, and I'm hoping she'll want to come out there ahead of time because I don't want to be away from them for that long.”

“I'm sure the two of you will work things out. I'd love to meet them when you do come out here, and I know your father does too.”

“Thanks mom. I'll keep in touch this time, I promise.”

“Goodbye Michael.”

Michael hung up the phone with a warm feeling. That hadn't been nearly as hard as he thought it would be.

“Hey Michael,” Kyle mumbled as he walked through the living room half awake.

“Hey Kyle. Do you want me to make French toast for you? I made some for me and Maria, it wouldn't be a problem.”

“Thanks. Sounds great.”

“No problem.”

“So what's this cheerful mood about?” Kyle finally asked as he sat on one of the counters in the kitchen.

“Huh?”

“Come on, when I walked past you you had this weird smile on your face and you just seem sort of happy and cheerful.”

“I just called my mom,” Michael explained.

“Aww, how cute. All smiley after talking to your mommy?” Kyle joked.

“You obviously don't know my mother. I never called my parents when Carolyn was born...until now.”

“Wow. You're not close with them?”

“Not really. You could say we've had a strained relationship since high school, but its getting better now. I figured it was time to call.”

“Were they happy?”

“Yeah.”

“So did this just come out of nowhere?”

“No. I was talking to Maria about her father. She has a letter from him but she hasn't done anything about it. She threw it in my face that I hadn't talked to my parents since I've been here when I told her that she should at least meet him.”

“Give her time to think about it,” Kyle suggested.

“Thanks. Here you go,” Michael handed over a plate of French toast that made Kyle's mouth water.

“Thanks man,” he smiled as he jumped down from the counter with his food and left Michael alone to clean up.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

After talking to Michael, Maria had gone upstairs and read her father's letter again. She had almost forgotten about it in the last few months. Between Carolyn and Michael she hadn't been thinking of it. It had gotten buried under other things on her desk. But now Michael had brought it up and she had to deal with it.

She knew that she should at least meet him or else it would bother her for the rest of her life. Wondering what he was like. Wondering if she was like him in any way. Wondering about her sisters.

Now, thanks to Michael she couldn't stop thinking about it.

And where did he get off telling her these things about the importance of family when he hadn't talked to his in how long?

“Ahh! That's it!” Maria huffed as she got up from her desk and headed downstairs. Maybe she'd find something to keep her busy and keep her mind off of...everything.

But what she found was Michael in the kitchen doing the dishes. Sighing, she went and sat down on the same counter that Kyle had occupied not long before.

“I called my mom,” Michael told her.

“What'd she say?” Maria was surprised. Was he just doing this to prove a point?

“She was concerned about you and Carolyn. And she can't wait till she can hold her little granddaughter for the first time.”

“See, that wasn't so hard, now was it?”

“No, you were right. I'm glad I finally called.”

“I suppose now you think I should see my father?”

“Hey, that's up to you,” Michael held up his hands in defeat.

Maria sighed and shook her head. “Meaning that you think I should but you just aren't going to say it.”

“No. I realize it’s a big decision for you, and I respect that it’s your decision to make.” With that Michael tossed her the towel he had been using to dry dishes and walked away.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Sorry that we couldn’t come over the other night, we just all had plans,” Alex explained.

“Hey, uh, don’t worry about it,” Justin smiled at his friend. “I understand that you have a girlfriend now and all. And Lizzie just got back so of course she wanted to spend time with Max. Are we sure that he deserves her though? I remember hearing about everything that he put her through…and I just want to be sure.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Alex laughed as he took a seat on the couch. “As Liz has told me many times in the last few months, she’s a big girl now. Whether or not we want to admit it, she can take care of herself. She knows what she’s doing, and besides, I think Max really has learned his lesson.”

“Okay. I just don’t want to see her hurting anymore; she deserves so much better.” Justin sighed.

“She’s found it now, and I think I have too.” Alex had a silly grin on his face as he spoke. He knew that Isabel was definitely his one and only and it only made him smile more.

“Yeah, I figured as much when I first saw you two together at Christmas. You just had this look…” Justin laughed. It seemed all his friends had someone special. “And now, well it’s kinda obvious with her being at your place all the time and usually sleeping there…”

“Okay, no need to publicize my private life!” Alex laughed along with him, a slight blush creeping up his cheeks but luckily for him a knock at the door drew the attention away from him. “Who else is coming?”

“Liz said she might stop by to check the place out, so it’s probably her.” Justin got up from his chair to answer his door and sure enough, it was Liz. She gave him a quick hug before breezing into the apartment.

“Sorry it took me so long to get here, but I was working on this project at work and I missed the bus…”

“Hey, you don’t have to explain to us. But why'd you wait for the next bus when you could just call Max to give you a ride, I mean, he’d jump at the chance to spend any amount of time with you.” As Alex spoke, both boys watched the blush on Liz’s cheeks.

“Actually…I did…”

“Wait…so if he gave you a ride, then why are you sooo late?” Justin pried.

“What is it, pick on Liz day? I was giving him a goodbye kiss.” Both boys looked at each other and then burst out laughing. It was so much fun embarassing little Lizzie like that, and they both enjoyed it. She just made it so easy.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“So is she excited about it?” Isabel asked her boyfriend when she finally got him away from his other friends.

“Yeah, I think so. She can’t wait to come out here. I know Jess and Meg are gonna miss her though,” Alex spoke as he drove through the streets of La Jolla. He was bringing Isabel home and probably would just end up staying there with her.

“Well, I’ll be happy to show her around. It’ll be fun!” Isabel smiled. She had really liked Alex’s sisters, and sharing a room with Julia for a week they’d talked a lot. “Oh, does she know Liz and Tess?”

“No, they've never met. So you'll be the only one she'll know. But I'm sure she'll get along with the others, and Tess is her age, so that'll be good for both of them I suppose.”

“Aww...well I can't wait to see her again,” Isabel smiled.

“Yeah, but she’ll be staying with me until she can get in to the dorms. Which means…”

“Oh, poor baby!” Isabel laughed. “Are you sad because there won’t be any sleepovers while Julia’s here?” She couldn’t help but laugh at the guilty look on her boyfriends face; it was just too cute.

“Well fine then, if you don’t seem to care, maybe I’ll just drop you off and then go home, all by myself… Maybe Tess will want to do something…”

“Hey! I’m sorry baby…” She tried to hold in the laughter but it was hard. “You don’t have to go home.” Placing her hand on his thigh she gave him a squeeze.

“That’s better,” he grinned in triumph.

“So when are you going down to get her?”

“I don’t know. She still hasn’t decided.”

“Well I’m sure it’s a hard decision. I mean, the sooner she comes out here, the less time she has with her sisters. They seemed really close, so I’m sure it’s a hard decision for her.”

“Yeah, I guess. But she’ll have me,” Alex added with a smile.

“And who wouldn’t love you?” Isabel gave him a sweet kiss on the cheek before getting out of the car and wrapping Alex’s arm in hers as they walked to the door.

“Damn straight!” he grinned cockily, earning a light smack to his shoulder from his girlfriend who quickly pulled him inside the house.

“Race ya to my room,” she called as she was already running up the stairs, ready to make happy memories in the room that had haunted her nightmares not so long ago.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Julia sat in her room, finally alone. She hadn't really had a moment to herself since the beginning of the summer. She'd been working at the mall, trying to spend time with all of her friends before they scattered their different ways to college in the fall, and still spend time with her family. It was crazy.

Her parents seemed to understand what she was going through, but Meggie and Jessie just didn't seem to. They just wanted things to be like they always were, the three of them hanging out all the time like they used to. But it wasn't that easy.

Mrs. Whitman was always taking Julia shopping and the other two would tag along just to have a little more time with her. Julia thought it was sweet, cause she would miss her sisters, but it did get a little annoying after awhile.

“Jules!” Meggie pounced on the bed beside Julia, shaking her back to the real world.

“Hey Meg,” she rolled her eyes with a slight laugh. She had a feeling some things would never change, and her little sisters would never grow up.

“Are you coming to the quarry with us?”

“What?”

“The rock quarry. You know, like we used to do all the time. Jess said she stopped there on her way home yesterday and the water was perfect. Please?”

Julia saw the look in Megan's puppy eyes and decided why not? When they were little, they used to go swimming at the quarry all summer. That was back when Alex was home...back when everything was so much simpler because the future was so far away and they had no cares or worries.

“Sure. I suppose you wanted me to drive you anyway so you wouldn't have to ride all the way out there on your bikes.”

“Well...yeah, there was that too. But of course we want you to come!” Megan smiled. She knew she could always get to Julia, it was the power of being the baby in the family!

“Is she coming?” Jessie asked as she peaked her head into the room as she had been walking by.

“Yes,” Julia laughed. Those two could've been twins in their little idiosyncrasies.

“Wahoo! Let's go then! The sun will only be out for so long. Come on people, let's move!” Jessica began directing as she pushed her two sisters towards the door.

“Well do you think I could at least put my swimsuit on first?” Julia laughed.

Jessica huffed, “Well...I suppose...”

Julia simply shook her head with a smile. “So kind of you. I'll be down in a few. Get everything out to the car and we'll leave as soon as I'm ready. Is that alright with you?”

“Thanks Jules,” Jessie and Meggie chirped simultaneously before leaving in a fit of giggles. Julia just continued to shake her head with that same sweet smile. It was kinda creepy when those two did that, but she would miss it come late August...

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“I missed you so much Max,” Liz moaned as he placed little kisses across her neck. A movie was playing on the TV in front of them, but neither was paying much attention except to one another. Tess was currently at work, so the two love birds were enjoying the alone time on Liz’s living room couch.

“You weren’t gone for that long,” Max managed between kisses. “Though it seemed like forever.”

“I’m not just talking about while I was in Nebraska.”

“Well I missed you too. Every second…of every minute…of every hour…of every day…of every week…of every month…” Each statement was followed by a kiss to her face or neck.

Liz giggled at his sweetness. This was exactly where she was meant to be, cradled in his strong loving arms, being kissed by his perfectly supple lips.

Taking control Liz moved closer to him, placing kisses all over his face before moving in for the kill. She straddled his lap and lost herself in his cavernous mouth. It was heaven. She wanted, no needed, to be closer. She’d been dying for this while she was gone, and now it was at her fingertips.

She began unbuttoning his shirt with one hand while the other was running over the newly exposed tender flesh of his chest. His incredible scent wafted to her nose driving her even more crazy.

“Are you sure Liz?” Max asked hesitantly. He wanted nothing more than to be this close with her, but he'd figured she would need more time. They hadn't been back together for long.

Liz didn't say anything, only nodding her head as she continued to kiss him. Max relaxed more at her assent that this was what she wanted. As long as she was okay with this, it was his dream come true, the beautiful girl of his dreams in his arms.

Max took control once more, flipping them over so he was lying over Liz; he was completely shirtless now. Looking at Liz he lost himself in her beauty.

“You're a goddess,” he whispered as he bent to her lips, taking them for his own. As his lips plundered her mouth, getting to know each and every crevice as well as he had before, his hands began an exploration of their own. He ran his fingers over the creamy flesh of her stomach that was exposed from her shirt. Slowly he eased her shirt up, exposing more of her to him. She was so perfect, he couldn't believe she was his.

Pulling away from her lips he reached down and slipped the shirt over her head. She had the perfect body, he noticed as she lay there before him in only a silky pink bra and cute little jean shorts.

His mouth descended on hers once again as he enjoyed the feel of her skin beneath his own. Pure heaven. His hands were wandering again, he couldn't help it, she was just...addictive. Her body was like soft velvet and he wanted to touch her everywhere.

He was lost, drowning in her mouth, her soft skin, the warmth of her arms, the silky strands of her hair...

“Max?!” Liz's voice was panicked as she pushed him off of her. “We...we can't do this!” She was breathing heavily as she sat up and pulled away from him.

“Liz? What's wrong?” Max was concerned. Had he done something to hurt her?

“Max...we can't...” she had her knees pulled up to her chest hiding in the corner of the couch. Tears were pooling in the corner of her eyes. Max wasn't sure what was going on but he hated seeing her cry.

“It's alright Liz,” he soothed without getting any closer since she only seemed to cower more when he did. “I'm sorry. I knew we should take things slow, but I let things get out of hand.”

“Its not your fault Max...” Liz sniffled as she wiped her eyes. Max handed her her shirt which she gladly took, slipping it on again she felt much better. “I thought I was ready for something more...but I'm not...”

“It's alright honey,” Max told her. He inched closer and she willingly went into his arms this time, crying into his chest. “We'll take this relationship as slow as you like, alright? And if you ever feel like I'm pushing you, just tell me.”

Liz weakly nodded her head without moving from the comfort of his warm arms, grateful for his understanding.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Maria sat in the car staring at the piece of paper in her hand. She had to get out of the house because it was just getting too stuffy in there for her, so she'd done some shopping. Michael was watching Carolyn so she knew she had nothing to worry about with them. But she had other things on her mind anyway. Throwing the paper to the side she put the car in gear and drove off.

When she pulled the car to a stop again she wasn't sure what she was thinking but she knew it was now or never. This was it.

She sat in the car in a decent residential neighborhood in front of a blue and white house complete with a little white picket fence around the front yard.

Sighing she unbuckled her seatbelt and moved to get out of her car. Well, this was it. Suddenly she felt very self-conscious. She'd just had a baby not that long ago. She'd been pretty good about losing the weight by walking a lot and exercising, but it wasn't all gone. She still wasn't completely happy with her figure. But what did she care?

Who was she trying to kid? She really did care. Whether or not she would admit it to herself she was going to meet her father and she cared what she looked like. Would he like her? Would he take one look at her and slam the door in her face realizing he shouldn't have tried to contact her?

Shaking her head free of all her doubts she made her way up to the door and rang the bell. A petite woman with red-brown hair answered the door. She was probably in her mid to late 30's but she looked good for her age. She wore a little make up, but nothing too much, and her hair was clipped back loosely, with some strands left hanging around her shoulders.

“May I help you?” the woman's satiny voice asked. Maria couldn't help but notice the slight hint of a southern accent, possibly from Georgia.

“Hi,” Maria's throat was dry. She had to swallow a few times to make it possible to speak. “I'm...My name is Maria Deluca. I...Is Steven Hastings here?” There, she had said it. That was that.

The look on the woman's face softened a little at recognition of the girl's name.

“Why don't you come inside?” she offered. Maria nodded, thanking her, and followed her into a bright living room, flooded with sunshine. She had a seat on the sofa as the woman sat in a chair next to it.

“Thanks,” Maria spoke slightly uncomfortable with the situation. She assumed this was her father's wife, but she wasn't positive.

“I'm sorry. I'm Rita, Steve's wife. He actually had to go pick up Katie at the pool, but he should be back soon. You are welcome to wait.”

“Thanks...” Maria looked around at the pictures around her on the walls, trying to find something to say to break the awkward silence. “This is a nice house.”

“Well we like it. I'd introduce you to your half sisters, but as I said, Katie's at the pool for a diving team practice, and Emily's at the mall with some of her friends.”

“That's okay. So you know who I am?”

“Yeah. Steve told me about running into your mother a while ago and he told me about you, and that he'd always wondered about you. You don't know how happy this will make him. Really,” Rita smiled reassuringly. Maria found it rather easy to speak with this woman, she just had an easy disposition.

“I know I would always wonder if I let this chance go by... When I was little I used to imagine what my dad looked like. But I never could get a clear picture of him. Mom would tell me stories, but it wasn't much.”

“Would you like to see some pictures?”

“That would be nice.”

“I just finished putting a bunch of old photos in albums. I filled up two and half in the last week,” Rita laughed as she went to a cabinet and opened it, pulling out an album before shutting it again. Walking back to the couch she took a seat beside Maria and opened it. “There's a few from when he was a little boy,” she pointed to some pictures of a chubby little blond boy, about three years old playing with toy trucks in the sand.

“How cute,” Maria smiled, finally glad that she'd made the decision to come.

“These are from when I first met him...and our wedding, god that seems like ages ago,” Rita smiled wistfully. The love in her eyes was obvious in the way she looked at the pictures.

“That's a beautiful dress,” Maria commented. And it really was. It was a soft flowing white fabric with beading on the lace of the bodice.

“Thanks.” She turned a page and there were baby pictures. “This is Emily here, and that one is Katie. They were both so tiny when they were born.”

Maria smiled. She had pictures like that of her own little girl now, and it only made her smile more. “Very cute.”

When Rita put the book away Maria realized there was still so much she wanted to know about this new family that apparently she was a part of.

“What does he do?” she asked softly.

“Steve, he's an accountant. He was always good with numbers I suppose. I never was, so I'm glad the girls got that from him. I'm a florist, that's why there's so many flowers in here,” Rita laughed as she looked around. Maria too glanced around and realized that there were indeed fresh flower arrangements on all the tables around the room that helped brighten it up.

They heard the front door open and then close again before a girl wrapped in a towel came running into the room. Maria recognized her from the many pictures on the wall, and by the fact that she was in a swimsuit, this was Katie. A tall blond man came into the room behind her and Maria found herself looking at the floor. She couldn't bring herself to look at him.

“Mommy! I did it! It was so cool! I'm gonna be in the tournament next month!” the girl smiled in excitement.

“Congratulations sweetheart!” Rita smiled as she gave her daughter a brief hug. “Why don't you go take a shower, then we can celebrate.” Katie nodded her head and ran down the hall to the back of the house.

Steve greeted his wife who motioned toward Maria and when he turned to her he was frozen in his tracks. She was just as beautiful as her mother, more so even. There was no need for Rita to tell him who she was, he knew right away.

“Maria?” his voice was hoarse with emotion.

“Hi,” she looked up shyly, hoping for acceptance.

“I'm glad you came,” he smiled as he walked over to her. “I was beginning to think you might not want to know me.”

“I couldn't not...”

“Why don't we go out on the back porch and talk for a while, huh? I'm sure you have questions that you'd like answered. I know I'd like to hear about your life, if you want to share.”

“That sounds great,” Maria smiled as she followed him out. Staring at her birth father's back she realized that a person can never have too much family.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Michael sat on the porch of the Valenti house just looking out at the hills. He had to admit that the countryside was charming; he could easily just sit and watch in peace. Maria had been gone for a little bit now and he had a sneaking suspicion about where she might be. He had noticed that the letter was gone from her desk where it had been since he'd found it. He hoped she found some closure at least.

Jim saw Michael sitting on the porch as he walked up the front drive to the house. The boy looked deep in thought, so he just sat beside him quietly for a while.

“It is rather relaxing out here, isn't it?” Jim commented after a while.

“Huh?” Michael looked up to see that he was no longer alone. “Oh, hey Jim. Yeah, it's definitely nice out here.”

“So where's Maria? I noticed a car was gone.”

“She went shopping...but I think she might also have stopped to go see her father.” Michael wasn't sure how much Jim knew about the letter Maria had had from her father, but it wasn't something she could really keep a secret.

“Ahh...so, what are you out here contemplating?” Jim knew something was bothering the young man.

“Well...I was just thinking about when I have to go back to San Diego. I don't want to have to leave Maria and Carolyn...I love them.” He bent his head down in a slight attempt to hide his face. He really was going to miss his pixies if he had to go.

“Have you talked with Maria about this?”

“No...it's different now, talking with her I mean,” Michael tried to explain. “It's not the same as it was when we were just good friends.”

“So make it the same,” Jim suggested.

“It's not that easy...”

“Why not? What's there to do but be honest with one another?”

“I...”

“Michael, let me tell you something. Now, I haven't known Maria for too long, but I do know that she really cares about you. She's not going to keep your daughter from you. Just talk to her from the heart, and she will too.” With that Jim stood up and began walking toward the door.

“Thanks Jim.” Michael's voice reached the man's ears and he grinned to himself. That boy was just like him at that age. Michael would turn out fine, and he'd be a great father, Jim was sure of that.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Michael, I want you to move in with us in San Diego,” Maria spoke softly. “No...that just sounds dumb...” she continued mumbling to herself. She'd gotten back from visiting her father an hour ago, and Michael hadn't tried to come talk with her yet. Talking with Steven had made her realize some things. She knew what she really wanted now, she just had to make that clear to everyone else. Clearing her throat she started again.

“Michael, I want you to be an important part of Carolyn's life, and I think you should move in with us when we go back to San Diego.” Shaking her head she paced away from the mirror she had been looking at and walked to the window, looking out at the few clouds dotting the endless blue sky.

“Why is this so hard? I love him...all I want is for us to be together...raise Carolyn together...like a family...” she sighed, leaning her forehead against the cool window pane.

“I love you too, Maria,” Michael's hoarse voice spoke softly as he wrapped two arms around her waist as he came up behind her.

“Michael!” Maria's surprise was evident in her face when she turned herself around in his arms. “When did you...” but she didn't get to finish her thought as he leaned down and softly kissed her lips. It was short and sweet, and when he pulled back Michael watched the beauty in his arms.

“Did you mean it?”

“Mean what?”

“That you want us to be a family?” Hope radiated from his voice, his eyes, his whole being.

“Yes,” Maria's voice was soft at first. She leaned her body into his, resting her head against his chest, his scent surrounding her. “Kyle's going to San Diego next week to look at houses. He's going to share a place with me and Carolyn cause he wants to be able to keep an eye on me,” she rolled her eyes slightly at Kyle's over-protectiveness. “I want you to move in with us too.”

“Thank you,” his breath sent shivers down her back. Gently he urged her to look up at him, his hand beneath her chin. “I love you Maria!” With that he kissed her once more only with more passion then ever before. This was exactly what he'd always prayed for, and now he had it all, a family. Life was good.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Part 60

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Ha ha. I found it!” Tess heard before she felt herself being picked up and flung through the air. When he finally put her down she looked into her boyfriend’s grinning face and couldn’t help but smile. He looked so excited. “I finally found it,” he finished, the smile never leaving his face.

“Alright baby, what have you found?” Tess asked, chuckling slightly.

“The house. Oh, it’s so prefect. Maria will love it. It’s just a simple little four bedroom house, just enough for me, Maria, Michael and Carolyn.”

“That’s great, Kyle. Where is it?”

“It’s in Clairemont. Oh come on Tess, you have to come see it.” He said pulling on her arm. Tess couldn’t help but laugh. He was like a little boy who wanted to point out the toy that he wanted more than anything in the world.

“Hold on Kyle. I am working here, remember? Now I’ll be off in about an hour, do you think you can wait that long?” she said, a smirk on her face.

“Alright, but then we’re going out to celebrate,” he said definitively, his tone leaving no room for question.

Tess just laughed again. He was so cute! “Ok,” she nodded, tauntingly. “Can I get you anything to tide you over?”

“Well…” he trailed off thoughtfully, “How about a café latte. And I could use a little kiss.”

Tess laughed aloud at the pouty look on his face. “Oh, well that’s gonna cost you extra,” she teased.

“Come here,” he growled, dragging Tess to him for a passionate kiss that left her reeling. When she finally opened her eyes it was to see his smiling face. “Now how about that coffee?”

Tess just giggled before returning to the counter to get the coffee. How could life be any better? He boyfriend was moving to San Diego and starting school with her in just over two weeks. Things couldn’t be more perfect.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Liz, are we ever going to talk about what happened the other night? We’ve just kind of ignored it for the last couple days.” Liz had called Max asking him to come over as soon as she’d gotten off work. He assumed she was finally ready to talk about what happened between them, but so far, she hadn’t said much of anything since he’d arrived. They’d barely seen each other over the last couple days, and Max was beginning to think that she was avoiding him.

“I know,” Liz said quietly, avoiding his eyes. But still, she remained silent.

“Come on Liz. We need to talk about this. Did I do something wrong? Did I hurt you? I mean it’s not everyday that you’re kissing a girl and she breaks into tears.” He didn’t want to push her, but he needed to know what was wrong, what he could’ve done, so he could fix this.

“No Max! It wasn’t anything that you did. Don’t think that.” She was quick to correct him.

“Then what Liz? What happened? I can’t help until you tell me what went wrong.”

“We just needed to slow down. I wasn’t as ready as I thought I was.”

“Why do I have the feeling that there’s more to it than that?”

Liz took a deep breath, calming her nerves. When did he get so good at reading her? She should just tell him, what was the harm in telling the truth?

“Look Max, it’s not you ok. There is more but…I’m just not ready to talk about that yet. I promise that I will tell you, eventually, but for now…can we please just forget about it?”

“Where does that leave us now Liz? Where do we go from here?”

“We just need to slow down Max, take things slower. I want to start…”

But Max cut her off, “Start over. Yeah, I get it.” It came off more bitterly than he’d intended; this was better than nothing. But who was he kidding; he was disappointed to say the least. It seems like all they were ever doing was trying to start over, to just forget everything. And so far, that didn’t seem to be working. He loved her, was in love with her. And that wasn’t something that he could just toss aside while they ‘forgot’ about the past.

“No Max. I was going to say start fresh. We can’t just ignore the past, everything that we’ve been through. But knowing that, I want to put it aside and focus on the now. No looking back. No trying to make up for the mistakes of back then. No harping on what could have been. We go on as two people who love each other, but we need to readjust to each other. And that means finding a new beginning, taking it from square one. Does that make any sense?” She asked after her ramble.

“Yeah, I think I get it,” Max smiled, finally closing the distance between them on the couch and cuddling her body up to his. “It means we love each other, but no more nookie.”

Liz just laughed, hitting him lightly on the shoulder. “For now, at least.”

“I think I can handle that,” Max said, squeezing her to him to show his sincerity. “As long as I have you, that’s all I need.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Isabel sighed and snuggled more into Alex’s side. She didn’t want to wake up yet. She just loved laying here in Alex’s sweet embrace. She felt Alex stir beneath her, her head lying on his chest and she sighed again. She just didn’t want this moment to end, cause when it did, she knew that meant it was time for him to leave.

Alex glanced down to see golden hair splayed across his chest. He leaned up slightly kissing her head, before laying back down with a groan. Isabel didn’t make a move, but he knew she was awake, could tell by the way she held on to him tighter whenever he moved.

Alex brought his hand down to her head, running his fingers through her hair. “I should probably get going,” he started, breaking the silence. “I have a long drive ahead of me.” Alex was leaving today for Roswell to spend a week with his family and pick up his sister Julia, who would then be staying with him until she moved into her dorm a month later. Needless to say, that meant that he and Isabel wouldn’t get too many moments like this for a while.

“No,” Isabel moaned. “I’m not ready for you to leave yet.”

Alex just chuckled lightly. “Are you ever really going to be ready for me to leave?”

“No. Damn, I guess you’ll just have to stay here then,” she said, finally turning her head up to him, eyes shinning.

Alex laughed again. “I’m not going to be gone that long, just a week.”

“I know, but we won’t get to be together together for a long time.”

“I warned you about this.”

“I know. But then it seemed so far away. Now, I don’t want to go without you for that long.”

“As much as that is every man’s dream to hear his girlfriend say that, I still have to go.” He made a move to get up from the bed.

Isabel just held on to him tighter. “One more time,” she bargained, not giving up on her fierce grip.

“Iz, if I don’t get out of this bed now, I’m never going to.”

“Just a quickie,” she said, ignoring his last statement and moving up his body to lay a kiss on his lips. She then starting trailing down his body, kissing down his chin…his neck…his chest…

“Iz, I really do need to go. I wanted to get home at a somewhat reasonable time.”

…his stomach…his

“Alright,” he conceded, flipping them over so that he was on top. “One more time.” Isabel just giggled, she knew she’d win.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Hello.”

“Hey mom, it’s me.”

“Alex honey, where are you? I thought you’d be here by now.”

“Um, I’m still on the road. I just stopped for gas and I wanted to let you know I was gonna be late. I uh…just got out a little later than I thought this morning.” Alex blushed despite himself, remembering just what had made him late this morning.

“Alright honey, but when will you be home?”

“About another three hours or so, I think. Whatever it is, don’t worry about waiting up for me.”

“Alright sweetie. Thanks for calling to let me know. You have your key to get in right?”

“Yes mom, I have the key. See you when I get home.”

“Ok. Drive carefully,” she shouted as a last remark.

“I will mom.” Alex couldn’t help but laugh as he hung up phone. Why his mother always felt the need to say that to him he didn’t know. Like he was ever anything but.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“So, did you enjoy the movie?” Max asked as they made their way out to the car. It was their first date since their talk, and so they’d left it simple, a movie before heading to meet their friends for pizza.

“It was great, thank you.” Max had been the perfect gentleman all evening. Picking her up from the apartment, he had simply held her hand as he walked her to the car and put his arm over her shoulders during the movie. Not even so much as a hello kiss, but Liz knew that he was just trying to abide by her wishes of starting fresh. She was going to make sure that she got a goodnight kiss though; there was no doubt about that.

Arriving at the restaurant, Max held open the door for her, guiding her through with his hand on the small of her back. Liz still couldn’t believe the tingles he was able to send through her body. Why had he always had this affect on her?

They found their friends and made their way over to the table. Kyle and Tess were sitting on one side of the booth while Courtney and Isabel sat on the other. Max pulled up two chairs on the end, pushing in Liz’s chair for her before sitting down himself. Liz made a mental note to scoot their chairs closer together when she got the chance. No point in moving that slow.

“So Kyle,” Courtney started once they got settled back into conversation, “you found a house, huh?”

“Yeah. It’s great. Just what Maria was hoping for too. She just wanted a nice, simple house, something that would be comfortable for the four of us. I just know she’ll love it.” Kyle looked to be brimming with pride, the older brother who’d do anything to make his sister happy.

“It’s beautiful,” Tess commented. “I saw it the other day and it’s just the kind of house Maria always wanted. Looks like my boy did good,” Tess teased, while giving Kyle’s thigh a squeeze.

“So, when can you guys move in?” Courtney asked. She hadn’t seen Maria in like forever and just couldn’t wait to see her friend again.

“That’s the only problem. We can’t move in till the end of September. The current occupants aren’t moving out for another few weeks and then they have to finish repainting. So, it looks like I’m gonna need somewhere to stay for the first few weeks of school.”

“Oh, you can stay with us,” Isabel offered. “There’s plenty of room at our place. Unless you’d rather sleep on Liz and Tess’s couch for a month?” she smirked.

“No actually, that would be great. Sorry Tess, you know I love you, but I can’t take that couch for that long. That thing is as hard as a rock.”

Tess just laughed, smacking him playfully on the shoulder. “It’s not that hard. You’re just picky,” she admonished.

“What can I say, I want only the best,” he said, looking at Tess so she would see his meaning. Once he knew she understood him completely, he reached over taking her lips in a powerful kiss. One that demonstrated exactly what he meant; she was the best, to him.

The meaning was not lost on the others in the group and they simply looked on with admiration, happy for their friends.

The waiter came up and they ordered two pizzas. They talked on for a while before Courtney excused herself to go to the bathroom; Isabel went with her.

“I will never understand what it is about you girls that you have to go to the bathroom in groups,” Kyle commented once they’d left.

“So we can gossip of course,” Tess said without thinking. “Plus, if you get lost on the way, at least you’re lost with a friend.”

The guys couldn’t help but laugh at Tess’s logic. Would they ever understand women?

“Lizzie!” someone yelled from across the room and everyone turned their heads to see where the voice had come from.

“Hey Justin,” Liz smiled as he came up to the table. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m just here with some of the guys. We’re on our way out actually. I just thought I’d stop by to say hi.”

“Oh hey Justin, before I forget,” Tess started, “I want to introduce you to my boyfriend, Kyle.”

“Ah, Maria’s brother Kyle?” Justin asked.

“Yeah. Nice to meet you.”

“You too. How’s she doing?”

“When I left she and Carolyn were both doing great. Um, we actually just got a house out here and Maria should be coming back the middle of next month.”

“Really?” Justin asked excitedly. “Wow, it’ll be so great to have her back.”

“Yeah,” Liz added in agreement. Max rubbed her back comfortingly, knowing how much she missed her friend.

“Alright, well I hate to run, but I’ve really got to go. It was nice meeting you Kyle.”

“You too,” Kyle said as the group waved goodbye to Justin as he made his way out the front door of the restaurant.

Just as the front door closed, Courtney and Isabel came back from the bathroom. It wasn’t much longer before their order arrived and conversation slowed as they ate.

“Hey Kyle,” Isabel started between bites of pizza. “I was wondering…did Maria ever have a baby shower?”

“No. We thought about it, but with school and everything, Amy thought that Maria already had enough on her plate without having to deal with that, especially without all her friends there.”

“Cause I was thinking,” Isabel continued. “That we could all throw her a baby shower when she came back, ya know? I think it would be fun. We could…” but she was interrupted by the ringing of her cell phone.

“Hello…Yeah, it’s me…What?”

Her friends watched as Isabel’s bright continence turned somber. In a matter of seconds the smile had disappeared from her face and you could see the beginnings of tears fill her eyes.

“Oh my god…I…Yeah, I’ll be there as soon as I can. Where is it? …Great. Thanks for calling. I…Yeah, bye.”

“Oh my god,” Isabel breathed when she got off the phone, a look of shock almost masking the anguish that painted her features.

“Who was it Iz? What’s wrong?” Max asked, wondering what could’ve caused Isabel’s mood to change so quickly; watching as the tears silently ran down her cheeks.

“That was Julia Whitman. Alex was in a car accident.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Maria, I am not leaving here without you.”

“You have to Michael.”

“If you’re staying here, I’m staying here,” he continued stubbornly.

“I am not going to let you give up your education for me. Now you have classes, you have to go back to San Diego.”

“Then come with me.”

“I can’t. We can’t move into the house for another month and a half.”

“Then come stay with me; there’s plenty of room for you and Carolyn.”

“Look Michael, I need this time with my mom. She’s been there with me through everything, and it’s kind of hard imagining going through this without her. I’m just not ready to say goodbye yet.”

“Then I can’t leave. I’ve missed too much already.”

“Just nine months of pregnancy,” she smirked.

“This isn’t funny,” he said seriously, seeing the mocking look on her face. But then as he looked at her, he couldn’t help but break into a smile.

After a moment her expression turned serious again. “You have to go back. You are not putting your future on hold for this.”

“You are my future. You and Carolyn are my future.”

“To have a future, to be a family, you need to go to class; you need to graduate. And that’s not going to happen if you’re here and school is there.”

“I know…you’re right,” Michael finally conceded, seeing that there was no changing her mind. “But how am I supposed to stay away from you and our daughter for so long? How did I possibly ever survive so long without you?”

“The same way I did, one day at a time.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“No, you listen to me. We need a ticket to Albuquerque tonight. So I don’t care what you have to do, but find me a flight,” Courtney yelled exasperatedly at the attendant behind the counter.

“I’ll see what I can do,” he replied tiredly.

“You do that,” she shot back snidely before making her way back to where Isabel was sitting in the waiting area.

After Isabel had gotten off the phone with Julia and explained everything that was going on and that she needed to get to the airport, Courtney had been more than willing to take her. They stopped by the house quickly so Isabel could pack a bag and then high tailed it downtown to the airport.

Now Courtney was trying desperately to get Isabel a flight, Isabel sat stock still trying to come to terms with everything. What really worried Courtney though, was that except for a few stray tears, Isabel hadn’t let herself cry. Which told her that Isabel really wasn’t dealing with this at all.

“They’re working on getting a flight. Then you can get a cab at the airport to take you to the hospital.”

“Thanks Court,” Isabel said tiredly, finally moving her eyes from the spot she had been staring at for the last few minutes.

“So,” Courtney started after a pause. “You wanna talk about it? How you holding up?”

“Truthfully. I feel terrible. I can’t help but think that this is all my fault. If…” but Courtney didn’t let her finish.

“Isabel, don’t even finish that thought. This is not your fault and you know that.”

“I know, but I can’t help thinking that if I hadn’t kept him this morning, then he wouldn’t have left as late as he did and he wouldn’t have been there when that car ran the red light.”

“Look Isabel, there is no way that you could have foreseen this, and there is nothing that you could have done to stop it. Now you need to focus on Alex now. The last thing he needs is for you to go in there blaming yourself.”

“I guess you’re right.”

“Of course I’m right, I’m Courtney.” The girls both laughed, grateful for relief from the tension of tonight’s events.

“You gonna be alright?” Courtney asked after a pause.

“Yeah, I think so. It’s kind of a lot to take in, but I think I’ll be okay. All Julia could tell me was that they said he was in stable condition. So at least I know it could’ve been worse,” Isabel said trying to look on the bright side, but tears were already beginning to slide down her face.

Courtney took this moment to wrap her friend up in a hug, letting her cry on her shoulder as she tried to transfer all her love and support to the girl in her embrace.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Isabel couldn’t sleep. It seemed like she’d been lying there for days, but it’d only been a couple of hours. Courtney had finally been able to get her a flight out and she’d gotten into Albuquerque several hours later without problem. She’d immediately grabbed a taxi to take her to the hospital where Alex was staying, and after the longest ride of her life, she had arrived.

Of course, when she got there visiting hours were over and the family was just starting to leave, knowing there was nothing left that they could do for the night. Upon seeing her, Julia had immediately run up to her, grabbing her into a hug and telling her that everything was going to be all right.

On their way back to the Whitman’s, Julia had told Isabel everything that they’d learned about Alex’s condition. He was fine, luckily; just a broken arm and some bruised ribs. So she shouldn’t be worried right? She shouldn’t be spending sleepless nights hoping that he was ok? Cause he was ok; she knew that. But for some reason she knew she wouldn’t be able to convince herself that he was really all right until she saw him.

So here she was, lying awake in Julia’s room wondering what would have happened had he left earlier like he wanted to this morning. She could help but think about it, it was the only thing that kept the worry from her mind. She couldn’t stop thinking that she was the one who’d made him late, and if it wasn’t for her, he wouldn’t have gotten in that accident. She knew it wasn’t her fault, it was just…God, if only she hadn’t been so persistent about not letting him go.

Finally giving up on actually getting any sleep tonight, Isabel made her way towards the kitchen; she suddenly felt the need for a glass of water. She had just gotten a glass out of the cupboard and was making her way towards the sink when a voice interrupted her.

“Couldn’t sleep either, huh?”

Isabel looked around, startled, before her eyes settled on Alex’s mother. A soft smile played across her lips, and Isabel couldn’t help but smile back at the kind woman.

“Nope. I was just getting a glass of water.”

“Well if you want, there’s some hot water for tea on the stove if you’d like that better. And if you can’t sleep, I wouldn’t mind the company.”

Isabel just smiled again; turning back to the cabinet and grabbing a mug in place of the glass she had gotten before. She poured herself some water and stuck a tea bag in from where she saw a few beside the stove; apparently Clara had been expecting company all along.

“Sugar?” Isabel asked after the drink was sufficiently darkened for her tastes.

“In that bowl, next to the spice rack.”

Isabel nodded and after finding a spoon, began pouring spoonful after spoonful of sugar into her tea. Clara laughed and Isabel gave her an odd look.

“I’m sorry dear, it’s just funny. Just like Alex, a little tea with his sugar.” Isabel laughed too, finally finishing stirring her drink, and sat down across the table from Mrs. Whitman.

They sat in silence for a while, each sipping their drink and Isabel’s thoughts began to return to where they’d been earlier.

“My son was with you this morning wasn’t he? That’s why he was late?” Clara’s question wasn’t accusatory at all, seemingly driven simply by curiosity.

“Um, yeah. How did you…?” but Clara cut her off.

“Oh sweetie, I’m a mother. I just know these things. Alex is never late; has always been just on time, if not early, for everything. It wasn’t too hard to figure out what would have made him late.” Isabel just blushed. “I figured after his call that he’d just had a little more trouble than he’d expected saying goodbye to his girlfriend.”

Isabel just blushed more thoroughly, hoping Mrs. Whitman hadn’t figured out exactly what they were doing that had made him so late.

There was a short silence between them before Mrs. Whitman started again. “The reason I asked,” she began, “was that I know what you’re probably thinking. And I want you to know that it isn’t your fault that this happened to Alex.”

“I know…” but Clara wasn’t finished.

“There is nothing that you or anyone could have done to prevent that situation, no way that you could have foreseen it. So, I want you to stop blaming yourself.”

Isabel just smiled. She was amazed at the depth of this woman’s understanding. How did she know exactly what Isabel had been thinking?

“Okay,” was all Isabel could think to reply. “Thank you,” she said after a pause, realizing that Mrs. Whitman had been able to make her feel a lot better in these last few minutes.

“Anytime dear. You’re good for my son. He really cares for you and I don’t want you beating yourself up over this.”

“I really love him too,” Isabel admitted. Then she took a deep breath and for the first time that night, felt like she was tired. “Thank you,” Isabel said again. “I actually think I might be able to sleep now.”

“Good. Then off to bed,” she said laughing. As Isabel got up and was heading towards the hall, “I’m glad that we got to talk Isabel.”

Isabel just turned around and smiled. “Yeah, me too.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“That’s a good girl, come to mommy,” Maria said softly as she brought their little girl up into her arms. It was the middle of the night and Michael could still see the sleepiness in her eyes. But despite the ruffed up hair and rumpled appearance, she couldn’t look more beautiful to him.

She walked over to the rocking chair sitting in the corner of the room, where she always took Carolyn to be fed, singing a soft lullaby the whole way. Maria had yet to notice that he was there, so he just stood silently, enjoying the moment. It was hard to believe that he’d be gone in less than a week. Maria and Carolyn had become such an integrate part of his life in such a short time, it was hard to imagine being away from them for so long.

“You can come in ya know,” Maria said quietly, breaking Michael from his thoughts. Maybe she had known he was there after all.

Michael walked into the room slowly. Wordlessly, he made his way over to where Maria was sitting and sat in a chair next to her.

“I was beginning to think you were just going to stand there all night,” Maria said, breaking the silence.

“I was just thinking.”

“About?” Michael and Maria had made an agreement that they would talk things through before it became a problem.

“About how I have to leave you and my daughter behind in a week,” he admitted easily.

Maria just nodded knowingly. She knew there wasn’t much she could say to make the situation any better; they’d already talked it to death.

When Carolyn finished feeding, Michael walked around with her, patting her back lightly until she fell asleep. Putting her back in her crib he felt Maria come up behind him, while they both stared down at her in awe.

“I still find it hard to believe sometimes that she’s really ours,” Michael said quietly, not able to tear his eyes away from his daughter.

Maria just nodded. “She’s beautiful isn’t she?”

“Just like her mother,” Michael commented without thought. He then pulled Maria into his side, hugging her to him, and placed a soft kiss on his pixie’s head. “I’m gonna miss you,” he said before he even realized he was saying it aloud.

“Me too, Mikey. Me too.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Isabel sat in the waiting room as patiently as she could. They had just gotten to the hospital a couple minutes ago, but to her it felt like hours. She understood that his family should be the first to see him, agreed with it even, but that didn’t mean that she could stop the intense need she had to see Alex. Until she was sure he was all right, could see it with her own eyes, the anxiety was not going to go away.

It wasn’t long before she saw Mr. and Mrs. Whitman and Alex’s sisters coming down the hallway.

“He’s asking for you,” Julia said as soon as she reached Isabel. “From the moment we told him you were here, all he asked for was you.”

“Thank you,” Isabel got out, trying to stop the silent tears from flowing down her face. She made her way back to the room she was told Alex was staying in, all the while trying to prepare herself for what she might see. Coming to the door she took a deep breath before knocking lightly.

She heard the light, “Come in,” and she knew it was Alex’s voice. He sounded pretty normal, if not a little tired. A little bit of her worry dissipated.

She opened the door slowly, amazed at how anxious she had been to see him just moments ago and how now she was finding it hard to open the door. Once the door was opened she came face to face with a bright and smiling Alex, and she let out the breath she didn’t know she was holding. Of course he was fine, she knew he would be, but something about seeing him smiling back at her, made her finally believe it.

“Hey,” she said, walking to his bedside. Suddenly she didn’t know what to say to him.

“Hey,” he smiled back, just happy to have her there, finally. All he could think about during those few moments before the truck hit his car was would he ever get to see Isabel again. It was a scary thought, but it also put a lot in perspective. She was it for him; there was no doubt about that.

“How’re you feeling?” Isabel finally broke the silence that stood between them.

“I’ve been better. But not too bad; it could have been a lot worse.”

“I know,” Isabel spoke immediately. Then, after a pause, “Do you know how much you scared me?” She took a step closer to him, so that she was leaning against the side of the bed.

“I’m sorry,” he said honestly. “But it’s not exactly like I had this planned,” he noted with a bit of sarcasm in his voice.

“Don’t ever do it again,” she teased, hitting him lightly on his good arm. “Really though, how are you?”

“Not too bad, considering. A little shaken up, but I guess that’s to be expected. Glad that you’re here,” Alex finished smiling.

“How long are you going to be here?”

“Not too long. No more than a couple of days. They just want to keep an eye on me for a little while to make sure that there isn’t anything that they missed. But if all goes well, I could be out of here as early as tomorrow.”

“That’s great,” Isabel said smiling. She didn’t like seeing Alex in the hospital, it just made everything so much more real.

“Yeah, but unfortunately because of these bruised ribs, I’m afraid there won’t be any extra curricular activities for a while,” at that last part he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

“Alex,” she scolded, but couldn’t keep the smile off her face. “Well I guess we’ll just have to find something else to keep you entertained,” Isabel said as she leaned down, finally bringing her lips down to his. “I’ve wanted to do that all morning,” she admitted.

“Me too,” Alex said softly before leaning up to capture his girlfriend’s lips once again.

But it didn’t last too long, as they were interrupted by Julia’s voice. “Sorry to interrupt, but Meggie and Jessie are going to die if they don’t get to see you soon, and I don’t think that I’ll be able to hold them back much longer.”

Alex and Isabel just laughed, as Isabel moved to sit in a chair that was placed next to Alex’s bed.

“Let them in,” Alex said still laughing, shaking his head at his sisters’ quirkiness. But he would always love them, just the same.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“This is ridiculous,” Courtney said to herself, picking up another book off the shelf. Why oh why did these textbooks cost so much? It was outrageous. Courtney had decided to do her textbook shopping early to avoid the crowds. And just like every year before she was amazed by how much her books were going to cost.

Grabbing the last of her books, Courtney began to make her way to the register with her heavy stack.

* * * *

“That’ll be fifty-four sixty. Is there anything else I can help you with?” Justin asked the guy standing in front of the counter. He’d gotten this job at the bookstore just a couple of weeks ago, realizing that his savings wasn’t going to be able to pay the rent forever.

“Actually,” the customer started. “I was wondering if you had the philosophy 190 books in yet. I looked, but I couldn’t find them.”

“I’m not sure, but I can double check for you. Sometimes it’s a little tricky.”

Together they went to the philosophy section, and Justin looked over the shelves. “You’re right, I don’t see it, but why don’t I go check in the back. Sometimes the books don’t make it out to the shelves right away.”

“Alright. Thank you.”

“No problem.”

* * * *

Courtney was just turning the corner to make her way to the front cash registers when someone came up quickly beside her, knocking her arm and causing her to nearly fall over.

“I’m sorry,” she felt a pair of steadying hands behind her. “Are you alright?”

“Yes I’m fine, thank you,” she answered, still trying to retain her balance without dropping the books.

“No problem,” the guy replied before continuing on his way. Courtney turned around just in time to see someone disappear through a backdoor. Shrugging it off, she continued on her way to the counter to pay for her books.

* * * *

After several minutes, Justin came back to the guy that he was helping earlier.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “It looks like we still don’t have the books you wanted. But it’s still early, so I’m sure that we’ll get them in before classes start next week.

“That’s alright. Thank you, though. I just thought that I’d check while I was here.”

“Not a problem. Thank you for shopping and have a good day.”

“I will, thank you.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Amy watched as Michael and Maria sat on the floor playing with their child. Michael was taking Carolyn in his hands and lifting her way up over his head as he lay on his back, Carolyn giggling and smiling all the way. Maria just lay next to him, her head on his chest, enjoying the moment. They both talked to their daughter warmly; it was enough to bring a tear to Amy’s eye.

That it was hard to watch her daughter with a child of her own was an understatement to say the least. She was happy for Maria, supported her in every way, but it was hard not to notice how much her daughter had already had to change her life because of Carolyn. She loved her granddaughter, but that didn’t mean she was necessarily happy about the sacrifices Maria had to make on her behalf.

But what was even harder than that was watching Michael with Carolyn. Seeing how much support that he gave Maria, how much he loved her, how amazing it was that Carolyn was getting the father that she deserved, one who loved and cared for her and her mother unconditionally. It was times like these that Amy realized how much Maria had really missed out on by not having a father. She hopped Maria realized how lucky she was to have Michael, despite whatever conflicts the past may have held.

“So when’s your flight Michael?”

“Saturday morning…unfortunately,” he added after a pause. Amy knew that he was disappointed about having to leave Maria and Carolyn.

“You guys haven’t had all too much time for yourselves lately,” Amy commented. “How about I take Carolyn on Thursday night and you two can go out?”

Maria wasn’t sure how to respond to the offer. On one hand, it would mean leaving Carolyn, which she hated doing even for a moment, let alone for an evening. She was still so young; she needed her mother. On the other hand, she would get to be with Michael, without crying babies and dirty diapers, something that she’d been wanting for a while now.

Looking to Michael, she saw in his face that he was leaving this completely up to her. He wanted it to be her decision, but she could still see the hope in his eyes; he wanted this as much as she did.

“Ya know what mom, that would be great. Thank you,” she smiled, hoping she was doing the right thing. But looking to Michael, seeing the excitement he was trying to hide, she knew that it was. They were finally gonna get the first date that they never had; she couldn’t wait.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“So, can I come in?” Kyle asked with a smirk as they approached the door to Tess’s apartment.

“I don’t know,” Tess answered thoughtfully. “I think you’re being a bit forward, don’t you?”

“Hmmmm,” he thought for a while. “I don’t think so,” he finished with a smile.

“Oh you don’t, do you?” she laughed. She leaned up to kiss him then, her arms draped over his shoulders, his around her waist as they had been the whole time.

Tess broke the kiss and leaned away so she could see his face. “And what, pray tell, would you do if I did invite you in?”

“Mmmm…sleep,” he said definitively.

“Sleep?” she asked disbelievingly.

“Well, unless you’re suggesting some other activities?” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and she couldn’t help but laugh. Kyle frowned.

“I think I should take offense at that.”

“It’s not you baby, it was the look on your face. It was just so cheesy, I couldn’t help it.”

“Glad I’m such a riot,” he said pouting.

“Oh…I’m sorry. I won’t tease you anymore.”

“Now you’re just mocking me.”

“You’re right! But you know I love you, so it’s ok.”

Kyle just smiled down at his girlfriend. “Yeah, I know.” He pulled Tess tighter to him, bringing their lips together once again.

“I don’t want you to leave tomorrow,” Tess huffed when they pulled apart.

“Me either. But it will only be gone for a little while. I just have to go home and get my stuff and I’ll be back before you know it. And then I’ll be here all the time; you won’t be able to get rid of me.”

“Hmmmm…I like the sound of that,” she decided.

“Me too,” Kyle agreed. “But can we go in now. I really should get to bed, I have an early flight in the morning.”

“Oh…well if you really want to sleep,” Tess mumbled, turning to the door to unlock it. “And here I thought that you wanted to do something else…” she trailed off. When she turned around, the door opening, she had an evil glint in her eye.

Kyle groaned. “Please don’t tease me like that.”

“Like what?” she asked sweetly, sidling up to him and planting a deep kiss on his lips, licking them teasingly as she pulled away.

“Ugh…Like that!”

“Oh, but it’s so easy,” she replied nonchalantly, turning on her heel and walking through the door, leaving Kyle in the hallway to follow.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Ok, so her bottles are in the fridge. And don’t forget to check to make sure that it’s not too hot before you give it to her. Oh and…”

“Maria, I know. Believe it or not, I have done this before,” Amy laughed. “Now why don’t you stop worrying and just go finish getting ready.”

“Alright,” Maria conceded and headed towards the stairs. “Oh and mom?”

“Yeah sweetie?”

“Thank you.” And with that Maria made her way towards the stairs to get ready for her first date with the father of her child.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Come in,” Maria answered to the knock at her bedroom door. She looked up from where she was sitting at her vanity to see Michael standing there with a bouquet of fresh snapdragons in his hands.

“I uh…didn’t know what was your favorite, so I just got something that reminded me of you.” He looked up at her expectantly, hopefully.

Maria smiled, walking over to him to take the flowers out of his hand. “Thank you, they’re perfect.”

Michael smiled, feeling a little bit of the nervousness leaving his body; this was Maria after all, he didn’t want to screw it up. “So, you ready to go? Six-thirty on the dot.”

“Yeah, just let me go put these in some water and we can go. Ok?”

“Yeah, no problem.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“How did you know this was my favorite restaurant?” Maria asked in surprise.

“Kyle told me,” he shrugged it off. Truth was he’d had to give Kyle twenty bucks before he would tell him. Not that she wasn’t worth it, but man that boy was evil! Of course, Kyle had given it back right away, saying he’d been joking, but still, it was the whole principle of the thing.

Maria smiled, barely recognizing the guy in front of her from the one that she had left behind in December. He’d definitely changed, they both had. She guessed that happened when people became parents, but it was something different than that. He wasn’t so rash, so brooding, like he’d finally discovered what was important in life.

Michael had been the perfect gentleman all night. Starting when he’d come to her door bearing flowers, to the way he’d just held her hand as they walked, opening doors for her and placing his hand on the small of her back leading her through a door. It was the little things like that that enamored her to him more. She already knew she loved him, but she was just starting to learn how much Michael truly loved her.

He’d brought her to her favorite restaurant, a little Thai food place in town. There was just something about the mix of sweet and spicy flavors that appealed to her. Especially when she’d been pregnant with Carolyn. Kyle had gotten to know this place very well; she’d dragged him here once a week at least.

Maria came out of her thoughts to find Michael staring at her. “What?” she asked in confusion.

“You’re beautiful,” he let out with out a thought. He turned red after a moment, having realized what he’d said. Sometimes he just couldn’t think when he was around her, he lost all inhibition. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright,” Maria smiled. “Girls loved to be told things like that. Besides you’re not too terrible yourself,” Maria teased

“Thanks, I think.” Maria couldn’t help but laugh at the look on his face. And seeing her laugh like that, Michael couldn’t help but smile. The way her face would light up, she was just gorgeous. What had he ever done to deserve her? His pixie.

It was then that he realized he was staring again. “I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s okay. This is kinda weird isn’t it?”

“Yeah. I feel like I have a million things to say to you, yet at the moment I can’t think of a word.”

“Yeah, I know that feeling.”

There was another lull in the conversation, something that had happened recurrently all night, but this one wasn’t as awkward as the others had been. More relaxed. More comfortable.

“So, are you ready to go back to San Diego?” Michael asked.

“I think so. At first it was kind of hard thinking about doing this on my own; I’ve had mom with me the whole way. But now with you and Kyle, I’m sure that I’ll be okay. And then of course I miss everyone, Lizzie and Tess and Alex and Isabel… I guess for the first time I’m starting to realize how many people I left behind.”

“But they understood. We all did. We knew that you needed this time to yourself, time to pick up your life and figure out how all the pieces fit together. I understood…I was just hoping that it wouldn’t take you too long.”

“I’m sorry…” Maria started but Michael cut her off.

“It’s in the past, lets not think about it any more.”

There was another silence, and this time their food came. They ate together with light conversation, never straying back to the previous conversation. When they’d finished dinner they continued talking, somehow finding the voices that they hadn’t had earlier.

“Maybe I should call home,” Maria blurted in the middle of conversation.

“Maria I’m sure Carolyn’s fine. Your mother knows what she’s doing.”

“I know, it’s just…”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“You know I was thinking…” Michael started after a pause. “Maybe instead of going out to the movies we could just rent something and take it home. What do you say?”

Maria looked at him with thankful eyes and smiled. “I think that sounds great.”

And later that night when they returned home with the video, Maria immediately went to go check on Carolyn to find her already asleep. Contented, Maria came downstairs to find Michael putting in the movie they had rented.

Nestling into his side as the movie started, Maria sighed. “I love you,” she said, thinking about tonight.

“I love you too,” he replied. And they both snuggled together to watch the movie, and they were soon fast asleep.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


“Hey Courtney, I thought you weren’t coming,” Dana said running up to her friend.

“Well, I thought it only right that I make an appearance,” Courtney smirked as they embraced. It was Dana’s twenty-first birthday, there was no way she would miss it.

“Good. I was beginning to think that you loved your new friends more than me.”

“Ah, I could never replace my Dana.” The girls both giggled as they embraced again.

“Now that you’re here, I’ll have to introduce you later to a friend of Josh’s. He’s a major hottie and you guys would so be perfect for each other.”

Courtney just laughed, Dana was always trying to hook her up with someone or other. It probably had something to do with the fact that Dana had been dating Josh for about three years now and wanted everyone to have a healthy, happy relationship like hers. But then again, it was only Courtney who she seemed to set up, so maybe it was just cause they’d known each other for so long. They had been friends since grade school after all.

As more people started piling in the already crowded house, Dana excused herself to go mingle with a “Remind me later.” Courtney surveyed the scene around her with interest. It was kinda weird coming back to LA after almost an entire summer away. She was realizing more and more how much she enjoyed living in San Diego. It just felt like that’s where she belonged.

“Hey. Um…would you like to dance?”

Courtney had been so wrapped up in her thoughts that she hadn’t noticed the blond haired stranger come up to her. “Sure,” she answered without thinking. She wasn’t sure what it was about this guy, but for some reason she just felt a pull towards him.

Justin couldn’t believe his luck. From the moment that he’d seen this girl from across the room he knew he had to meet her. She just looked so poised, so confidant, something that Justin found extremely attractive in a woman. And the fact that she was simply stunning didn’t hurt matters. But then there was something else, something that he couldn’t explain. He just felt drawn to her for some reason that he didn’t understand.

He led them out to the dance floor and Courtney was struck with how gorgeous he was. Everything she liked in a guy. Why hadn’t she noticed him before? And why had he picked her?

“So what’s your name?” Courtney broke the daze; they’d started dancing minutes ago, but had yet to say anything beyond their initial words.

“Justin. What’s yours?”

“Courtney.”

“Courtney. I like that.”

They danced for what seemed like forever, talking about themselves and getting to know each other. They were amazed at how comfortable they felt around each other given that they’d just met, but it just flowed.

“So how do you know Dana?”

“We’ve been friends since forever. We actually met in grade school.”

“Wow, that’s amazing. Better than me. I’m just a friend of Josh’s and so Dana and I have kind of become friends through him.”

“Hey, at least you know her. Which is more than I think I can say for the rest of these people.” They both started laughing at her comment. “I mean, I know that Dana can’t know all these people.”

“I’m guessing that you’re not one for crashing parties then.”

“God no! That’s one of my biggest beefs. I think that if you’re going to go to a party and trash their house, the least you can do is know the person.” They both laughed again before deciding it was time to go out to get some fresh air.

“So Justin, tell me about yourself.”

“Well, lets see. I don’t really know what to say. I just got back from spending a year abroad in Italy. I guess that’s pretty exciting.”

“Really. Wow…that’s amazing. How was it?”

“It was great. I had an amazing time and I must say that it was the experience of a lifetime. But at the same time, it’s good to be home. Back with my friends and familiar faces. I loved Italy, but I missed home too.”

“I guess I can understand that. But then…I’d love to go to Italy.”

Justin chuckled lightly, becoming more and more drawn to this girl by the moment. “So what about you. Tell me about yourself?”

“Well, hmmm. I’ve never been to Italy or anything like that, at least, not to live. I’ve traveled with my parents and stuff, but never anything like that. I did though, just move out this summer and I’m living with some friends which is pretty cool.”

“That’s great. But I kinda like having an apartment to myself; I get to have some time to myself. Ya know what I mean?”

“Yeah, things can get a little hectic there. But I still love it.”

“Hey, I was gonna go get a drink, you want something?”

“Uh yeah, just a coke please.”

“One coke, coming right up. I’ll be right back.” He smiled before turning around to leave.

Courtney just nodded her head, smiling. What was happening to her? She wasn’t usually so…giddy about meeting a guy. But there was just something about Justin making her engrossed by everything he said.

“There you are,” Dana said, coming up to her. “Where have you been? I’ve been looking all over for you.”

“Well I was dancing with this g…” but Dana wasn’t listening and cut her off.

“Now we just need to find Justin so we can introduce you,” Dana muttered.

“Justin?” Courtney questioned, confused.

“Yes.” Courtney and Dana both looked up to see Justin standing there with two sodas in his hands looking very confused.

“Justin there you are. Just the person I’ve been looking for,” Dana went on in her somewhat typical busybody manner. “I wanted to introduce you to Courtney.”

Justin just chuckled a little before replying, “We’ve already met,” while handing Courtney her drink.

Dana looked between the two confused for a minute before realization hit her. “Ohhh…” she drew out. “Alright, then my work is done. I’ll just leave you alone then.” She turned to Courtney saying, “I want details later girl,” under her breath before walking off.

Courtney and Justin just laughed after she left, amused by their wacky friend.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Later that night, Justin and Courtney sat together after having spent the whole night talking and dancing together.

“I had a great time tonight,” Justin commented after a pause. And he really had. He had never met anyone like Courtney, and if he had anything to do with it, this wasn’t just going to be a one-time thing.

“Me too.” Courtney had never felt so comfortable with someone before. Sure, she felt comfortable with her friends, but she hadn’t just met them a couple hours ago.

“So I was wondering if…maybe we could get together and go out sometime.”

Courtney’s first reaction was to say, ‘Yes, I’d love to go out with you.’ But the rational part of her brain started working quickly and she knew she couldn’t accept.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t.”

“Oh, alright. I get it. Well, thanks for a great night anyway,” he said sounding more than slightly disappointed.

“No, no. That’s not what I mean. I want to, I really do. It’s just, I don’t live in LA anymore, and I don’t do well with the whole long-distance relationship thing.”

“Oh gee, I didn’t even think about that. I don’t live in LA either. Um, I’m from San Diego. I guess that would be a problem.” Justin hadn’t really thought it through. He just knew that he didn’t want to let this girl slip through his fingers.

“Wait, did you say San Diego.”

“Yeah. Why?” Justin asked confused.

“In that case, I’d love to go out with you.”

“What? I don’t get it.”

“I live in San Diego too,” she said smiling.

“Are you serious?” he asked excited.

“Completely.”

“That’s great. I mean that’s…that’s…just wonderful.”

Courtney laughed a little at his enthusiasm. He looked like a little kid in a candy store. And somehow, she understood the feeling.

Before they could say anymore, Dana came into the room. “Sorry to ruin the moment guys, but it is way past my bedtime. So, unless you’re crashing here for the night, I’m afraid I’m gonna have to kick you out now.”

“Alright, well then I guess it’s time for me to go home,” Courtney commented.

“Well, I’m crashing here. But can I drive you somewhere?” Justin asked hopefully.

“My car’s here.”

“Oh, well then…” Justin trailed off, not knowing what to say. He didn’t want to say goodbye to her just yet.

“But, here’s my number,” she said writing her cell number down on a notepad in the hallway. “And I’m not really all that tired right now, so if you feel like calling tonight…feel free.”

Justin smiled. “I’ll do that.”

Courtney couldn’t help but smile back at him. She made her way to the door and opened it, knowing that if she didn’t make the move now, she might not be able to. “Goodnight,” she said turning around to see him one last time.

“Night.”

And with that Courtney walked out the front door of Dana’s house, a perpetual smile on her face.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“God I’m gonna miss you,” Michael said hugging Maria to him tightly. They were at the airport as the flight attendant gave the final boarding call.

“I’ll be there before you know it.”

“It’ll never be soon enough,” he said, pulling back to look at her. He let go of her then, leaning into the baby carriage to pick up his baby girl. “And I’m gonna miss you sweetie. I might not miss the sleepless nights but…oh hell, I’ll probably miss them too.” He hugged his daughter to him lightly, still amazed at how light and fragile she felt in his arms. A little piece of him and Maria. It still took his breath away.

“Come on Michael, we’ve got to go,” Kyle said from behind him. He didn’t want to interrupt them, but they were going to miss the flight if they didn’t leave now.

“I’ll call you every day,” Michael said, putting Carolyn back and moving towards the gate hurriedly, more because Kyle was pulling him then anything else.

He broke free for a moment, just enough time to run back to Maria and crush his lips to hers. The kiss, though hurried, left them both breathless. “I love you,” Michael whispered before heading back towards the gate. If he didn’t leave now, he never would.

“I love you too,” Maria yelled after him. Michael turned around briefly, giving her a look that melted her insides, before turning around and disappearing onto the plane.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*