Sighing heavily, Max Evans forced himself not to slump at the steering wheel of his Land Rover. It had been yet another long day of splitting his time between work and lounging in his house, doing nothing except brood for what might have been, and he was minutely gratified the twilight hours had finally arrived.
 
At least now he had the chance to do something, even if all he did was patrol the desolate streets of the Roswell.
 
Though some of his personal effects were still in storage in New York, he spent much of the past nine years back at his childhood town of Roswell. He had even gone through the motions of becoming a deputy sheriff, a job he had now held down for close to six years. The young man wasn't sure why he stayed in the small town, what brought him back to it, but after he divorced Tess there was certainly nothing but dismal memories in New York so he saw little point in remaining there.
 
"Hey, no more brooding," a stern voice warned.
 
Max looked up to meet the iron-willed, blue-eyed gaze of his sister, Isabel. He wasn't sure what he would do without her presence. When he had returned to Roswell after the divorce, it was Isabel and his best friend Michael who forced him to move on at a point in his life when all he wanted to do was walk over the nearest cliff.
 
As the leader of the Royal Four, Max had felt it was his responsibility to be the first to accept his 'destiny' with Tess and lead the way for Isabel and Michael to follow suit. Things hadn't worked out the way it was meant to, of course; when was life ever predictable? As it was, over the past years since the beginning of the end of his disastrous relationship with Tess, it was Isabel and Michael who were his life line to sanity.
 
It hadn't worked that way; instead, he had succeeded in hurting his only true love Liz Parker to the point of forcing her to leave Roswell forever. And ironically, it had been Tess who had relinquished her responsibilities and left him for a biologist she had met from his college biology class. It was then he finally realized that all he had sacrificed was really for nothing, for a world he didn't know and didn't want to know.
 
Now he was alone, his continual attempts to track down Liz in vain.
 
It was hard watching Isabel make a new life for herself while his was falling apart as each day wore on. No longer the aloof teenage girl he once knew, his sister had begun teaching first grade at Roswell Elementary School soon after gaining her teaching diploma, and was now considering of starting a family with her husband of two years, Kyle Valenti.
 
Hell, even the rebellious Michael was more settled than him, carving a half-way normal life with Maria DeLuca. Watching his friends become happy couples only seemed to emphasize that everyone was moving on except him.
 
Of course, as with him, Isabel and Michael was still part of the Royal Four. With that burden always hanging over them, they did accept their alien roots might play a part in their future. Nonetheless they would always keep their human lovers and friends close to their side. Unfortunately for Max, he learned too late to learn that no matter what his DNA says, his home would always be Earth. That was something that of all people, Tess had taught him.
 
And, as the saying went, Max had made his bed twelve years ago and now he had to lie in it...not matter how lonely it was. Besides, the dark-haired girl who had once held his heart then had probably washed her hands of him ages ago, especially given the atrocious way he had treated her.
 
Max sighed, attempting in vain to push away unwanted memories. "It's okay, Issy, I'm fine," he reassured his sister. "And I wasn't brooding, I was thinking."
 
"Yeah, sure you were." She opened the door, and taking a moment to muster up the energy to move, he stepped out into the chilly night air. "If 'thinking' was an Olympic sport along with brooding, you'd be a double gold winner."
 
He shrugged. "Then at least I would have achieved something," he muttered. "The troops inside?"
 
Not waiting for an answer, he began to traipse toward the front door of the modest, two-bedroomed bungalow that was the Evans-Valenti residence. Isabel took in his slouched shoulders and depressing aura, he looked like he was carrying the weight on the world on his shoulders.
 
Determined not to give in to her brother's sullen mood, she ran to catch up with him. "So what have you been up to?"
 
"Huh? Oh, nothing much." Well, that did not surprise Isabel- when did he ever do anything?
 
Isabel's frustrated squint informed him that she was once again on her mission to force him to take some pleasure in the world. She worried for him, she couldn't help it. They may not have seen eye-to-eye over that rocky period years ago when 'King' Max tried to throw his weight around, but he was her brother and she would always cared for him. That would never change. Only, it was like a role-reversal of the old days where it was who he now occupied the Ice King of the relationship and she was the relaxed and understanding one.
 
"Oh, Max, you should be out there doing things, living..."
 
"I am living," he pointed out.
 
Isabel pursed her lips in suppressed amusement. "Okay, but you should be doing the things other alien pod people do when they're not fearing for their lives from the FBI."
 
"There's nothing I *want* to do, Is," Max admitted. "I know I should be grateful we're safe and free...but now what?" He sighed, looking up into his sister's deep blue eyes. "Nothing interests me anymore."
 
There was a perfectly obvious reason why nothing really interested him; there was nothing or no-one in his life that matched up to his template of what he wanted. Isabel knew that in the last decade years all that Max did was scrutinized against what his life would have been like if he had remained with one woman- Elizabeth Parker, Roswell's former first class student and his ex-girlfriend.
 
During the brief two-and-a-half years Max and Liz were together, striving to maintain a balance between being normal teenagers and hiding the pod squad's alien heritage from the authorities, it was blatantly evident the pair were so much more than childhood sweethearts. They were soulmates who would do anything for the other.
 
Isabel had come upon this realization a few months after her brother and Michael had returned to Roswell after achieving killing off the rest of the Skins. She had found him staring mesmerized at a photo of him and a laughing Liz, frozen in happier times before all the trauma of Tess' arrival and Alex Whitman's death.

In her younger days, Isabel was consumed with resentment over Alex's tragic death and with that fact that Max's domineering manner was just his way of punishing the others for the fact he was putting Tess and destiny before his own happiness. As she matured and settled into a happy marriage with Kyle all she could feel was pity and sorrow that her brother had lost whatever chance he had with Liz the day he walked out on her.
 
Although Max denied it, Isabel knew her brother would sometimes pine for Liz for the time that had passed was not enough to separate soulmates. That was an old lesson. Now free for their so-called destiny as the Royal Four and released from Tess, try as she might to make Max to show an interest other pursuits and other women, she knew it would never be enough.
 
Isabel could only pray he would find happiness elsewhere when- or should it be 'if'- he learnt to let go of a girl he would probably never see again.
 
Suddenly, an idea popped into Isabel's stubborn mind. "Hey, I've got a great idea!" she exclaimed, grinning broadly.
 
Max's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Okay, I'll give. What's your 'great' idea?"
 
Biting back a smile, Isabel had to admit how well Max knew her. "Well, the guys and I decided to go out tomorrow night, do something interesting. Would you like to come? It'll be fun and you can do the patrolling while we're there since half the town will be there."
 
Max wasn't really getting a choice in the matter, Isabel was determined to bring him into the real world even if she had to resort to bullying and blackmailing.

Sighing heavily, Max could see the young woman's resolve. "Where are you going?"

Momentarily stunned at how easily he agreed, Isabel hesitated then pulled out a leaflet from her pockets and smiled. It was advertising a carnival being held in the town in aid of funding the elementary school library. "*We're* going to the fair, it'll be good to pretend we're young again."

"The fair? I haven't been to a carnival since I was fourteen years old and got sick from the beer we manage to pinch from Dad's drinks cabinet."

Isabel wrinkled her nose in disgust, recalling how her brother and Michael had spent half the night hanging over the toilet after that little escapade. "Come on, Max, there's something at the carnival for everyone, and this time you can handle your drink. You'll enjoy yourself." Deliberately, the young woman added a pinch of sisterly pleading into her tone.

Max rolled his dark eyes and sighed once more. "Oh, okay, but just for a little while." A slow and rare smile crept across his handsome features. "So 'something for everyone', huh? Well, I'll be holding you to that."
 
                                                              *********************************
This little trip to the carnival was certainly not in Max's itinerary for his 'active' social life. Usually he would have persuaded Jim Valenti to send one of the others to act as the police presence. The only reason he had agreed to come was to reassure his sister he had not been totally sucked into the realm of darkness.  Still, it was a fairly large event with many attractions and he knew, if he tried, he could enjoy the break away from the tedium that was his life. But being here only served to bring home just how dull he had become.
 
Children swarmed the park, tugging onto their parents with laughter and excitement...it all represented something Max would never have. He blew his chance of being with the only woman he had ever loved when he put his obsession for 'Destiny' over her. Liz had always accepted him, one hundred percent and complete with skewered blood type, until he had pushed her one step too far.
 
"Are you enjoying yourself?" Isabel asked.
 
She smiled as Kyle jogged up carrying an ice cream for her. Following nearby were Michael and Maria, too intent on each other to bother about keeping up with the others. God, was everyone paired up except him? Max didn't even have a damned dog for company.
 
Forever the deputy sheriff, Max just shook his head. "Would you believe I caught some kids drinking beer behind one of the stalls? Brought back some not-so-pleasant memories."
 
"You really look on the bright side of life, don't you, Max?" Kyle said, dryly.
 
Max smirked and just as he was about to reply, a small girl running a full speed plowed into him at such force he staggered and the child fell backwards to the ground.
 
"Are you okay?" Isabel asked in concern, supporting Max.
 
He shook off her hold. "Yes, just got bumped, that's all." He turned to the fallen child, holding out a hand to him. As he helped the little girl to her feet, he smiled faintly at her. "You're quite the runner."
 
The girl grinned and nodded. "Yeah...I'm sorry for bumping you..." She trailed off abruptly, scowling at him suspiciously.
 
Suddenly, sprinting up behind towards the girl, came a young boy with a mop of silky dark hair and wearing a pair of simple thin-rimmed glasses that seemed to enhance his intense hazel eyes. As he took in the boy's angelic features Max, for no apparent reason, was hit was a sense of deja vu the moment he set eyes upon the youngster. Familiarity washed over him the longer he gazed at the boy; the deputy sheriff wasn't sure how or why, but he felt some vague connection with this child.

For the boy's part, he didn't notice Max's shock and was more intent on the girl, glaring at her reprovingly.
 
"That was real boneheaded running away, Nat," the boy said sarcastically. "You can be such a goof. Wait ‘til I tell Mom and-"
 
"Yeah, whatever...Come on, Lex," the girl said urgently, pulling the boy away but keeping her dubiously blue eyes on Max. "We gotta find Mom."
 
"Why?"
 
"Just come."
 
The two children dashed off leaving the five adults open-mouthed. "Interesting children," Maria commented. She smiled coyly at her husband. "Wouldn't mind a pair like that sometime soon."
 
Michael grinned. "It would be kind of neat."
 
It was then Isabel noticed Max's puzzled features. "Max? Max, what's wrong?"
 
"That child..." Max muttered, his eyes on the path the children had retreated off in. "The boy...there was something about him."
 
Kyle frowned. "What? They looked like normal kids to me. They weren't Skins, or anything, were they?"
 
"No, they weren't Skins," Max replied, distractedly. "I just...I don't know, it was probably nothing."
 
"Well, they didn't look like local children," Maria said, "they're probably just passing through."
 
"Mmm." Max's attention wandered away from his friends.
 
For the next half-an-hour, Max moved around in an almost dreamlike state looking for the little boy while trying to keep up with the others.  Abruptly, he wandered into a herd of kids eager to take their turn on the ghost train and when the mob cleared it was then he found himself face-to-face to one Elizabeth Parker, former star student of West Roswell High and long-lost love...
 
To say he was stunned would be a major understatement; his jaw dropped to the ground as he met her equally astonished gape. Despite all the turmoil of skins and Tess and dealing with the fact he was a stranger to Earth, he could not say he was more shocked than he was now.
 
Liz had not changed much in the last twelve years, rather her girlish beauty had matured. Her eyes bore dignified solemnity of experience that was lacking in her youth and there was a slight intensity to her rather than the uncertain hyperactivity that once encompassed her. She was dressed casually in jeans and a shirt which she wore confidence; her silky dark hair was cut slightly shorter giving her a sagacity of the twenty-nine-year-old woman she was rather than the seventeen-year-old girl he remembered
 
And she was also rapidly turning very pale as the blood had drained from her face in complete and utter shock. The feeling was most certainly mutual.
 
Twelve years was a long time- more than a decade- and no doubt, there were aspects in each other’s lives that had changed considerably. Not to mention, they hadn’t parted on exactly the best of terms. He had never thought he would ever see her again…and here she stood not ten metres in front of him.

Suddenly, after all the years of wondering about her and of dreaming to see her once more even for just one day, he was terrified she would not want him, that he had decided twelve years ago she was better off without him in her life. His fear of her rebuke eased as she smiled that gentle smile he thought he would never see grace her features in his presence.

Max should have known better, Liz was never one for grudges when she believed the cause was worth saving. Hesitantly, he closed the gap between them until only three foot separated them…three foot and twelve years long apart.

"Liz…" He trailed off as if not knowing what to say. He smiled bashfully. "Eh, how have you been?"

She shrugged. "Good…I’ve been good. And you?"

"Good too."

Her attention was drawn behind him and he turned to find Isabel and Kyle approaching. They were frowning at this new- or old- acquaintance. After a moment of awkward silence, Kyle smiled broadly at the woman that was once his high school sweetheart and, if Max was correct, still occupied a soft spot in his heart. Isabel's expression remained neutral but Max could see she was pleased to see an old friend

"Hmm, hi, Isabel, Kyle...How are you?"

"Fine," replied Isabel.

She was cut off when Kyle pulled the young woman into a hug. Liz stiffened briefly then returned the gesture. "It's so good to see you, Liz. *We* missed you." The emphasis on 'we' was not lost on Max.
  
Liz just smiled softly, taking in Max's police shield he carried on his belt. "I like the badge."
 
"Well, I guess I found my calling," Max shrugged sheepishly, the irony of his statement not lost on anyone.
 
"And I bet you make a great cop." Ever the observant one of small details, Liz also instantly noticed the Isabel's wedding band. "So you're married now, Is?"
 
Max could tell from her expectant glance around, she assumed Isabel had given way to their supposed destiny  and was now married to Michael, so it was amusing when he caught sight of the surprise as Isabel nodded in pride, putting her arm around Kyle.
 
"Yep, this is the brave guy willing to take on the bad guys from both this world and others on my behalf," Isabel said.
 
Liz grinned. "Well, congratulations." She shared a secret smiled with Kyle, confirming to Max that she had always known of his crush on Isabel.

"So, Liz, what are you doing here?" Isabel asked, curiously, "Where is it you live now? Nearby?"
 
"No, I'm now an Miami girl. My parents have gone up to Canada to see to my Aunt Mary and so I said I'd come down for a while a look after things saving them the bother of trying to arrange a sitter or something.."
 
"Why you?" Max asked, in surprise.
 
It was no secret in town that Jeff and Nancy Parker had shut their cafe and left Roswell a few days previously in an unexpected rush, the couple jumping on the first available flight to the home of Nancy's elderly aunt, who had suffered a stroke. While the Roswell residents had wondered who was going to manage things, the last thing anyone would expected was the return of the prodigal daughter.
 
To the group's knowledge, Liz had never once set foot in Roswell since her departure in her teens.
 
For the first time since meeting, the beginnings of a dark glower passed across Liz's eyes. "Just because I left here, doesn't mean I would never return. This place has been my home long before I discovered the truth about the 1947 rumours."
 
She was clearly referring to discerning the truth about Max, Michael and Isabel, and the effects their secret had on her life. Max felt a well of guilt open up; albeit she wasn't the most popular kid in school but because of him, her whole life changed irrevocably when she was shot that day as a sixteen-year-old sophomore. When he had healed her, he had brought her into their house of cards and the uncertainty of what lay ahead. They had altered her life forever, her childhood dreams and beliefs lost to the knowledge she now carried.
 
Still, however selfish it sounded, he was glad she was living close by for now...closer to him.

"So what are you up to now?" Kyle asked. "Become a brain surgeon?" He added mischievously.

"Same occupation, different field." Liz paused. "I finished up my MD course six years ago. I specialised in paediatricts, I now work in the children's ward of the local hospital."
 
"So you did become a doctor?" Kyle smiled before shrugging. "That's cool."
 
Of course, it was common knowledge to Max that Liz was far smarter than she would ever have admitted. In fact, it was always one of his regrets that he had never ensured she attended college when it was evident she had surpassed the teachings of high school instead of allowing her to waste her potential with him in tenth grade. But in those early days he had a need to have her near him then later he had allowed her to drift away. Still, Max was proud that she had managed to achieve her full capability, and it was nice to know she had built on her interest in the medical arts.
 
Max felt vaguely out-of-place when Isabel and Kyle smiled at her. They hadn't let Liz leave under such terrible circumstances. They didn't feel such shame for destroying the best friendship they had ever had. Max thought back to that fateful day twelve years ago, allowing the bitter memories to pervade him.
 
                                                                *********************************
TWELVE YEARS AGO...
"Why can't you accept it, Liz? Alex killed himself, there *is* no big conspiracy here. Maybe we missed the signs of just how depressed he was but there is nothing else to it."
 
Max couldn't believe he had sounded so harsh but what he said was, in essence, the truth. He wished Liz would stop trying to justify Alex's death. He too couldn't even begin to contemplate why his friend had taken his life but Sheriff Valenti had shown him the evidence and no matter how much he wanted to dispute it, whatever led a person to suicide was not a science.
 
And what hurt more than Alex being dead and watching his sister cry for what might have been, was Liz's tenacity to believe otherwise. That she could even blame his heritage for Alex was just cruel- did she not see how such a statement would cut into Isabel?
 
Liz was nothing if not determined though. "There is a conspiracy, Max, you just choose not to see it. Maybe if you spent less time oozed all over Tess..."
 
Max jerked up at this. He admitted Tess was not the most easiest person to know but she was his girlfriend and he wished Liz would come to grips with that. Her jealousy over the fact that Tess was one of the Royal Four, part of his true fate, was irritating. Besides, if it wasn't for Liz and her little escapade with Kyle Valenti, he wouldn't even be with Tess in the first place so for her to act all superior was so vexing.
 
"And maybe if you hadn't been so distant and gone off to shack up with Kyle, you would might have more attentive to Alex in the first place."
 
At Liz's sudden bleached pallor, Max would have given anything to recall those thoughtless words. The friendship Liz shared with Maria and Alex was much akin to what he shared with Isabel and Michael, and for him to suggest she held some blame for Alex's suicide was like saying he was capable for harming his own sister or best friend.
 
Before Max could even open his mouth to apologise, Liz's dark eyes narrowed back. "I was thinking of leaving Roswell for a while, get away from all this junk here. I'll see you around, Max, and I just hope that for your own sake one day you'll come to your senses and see the world for what it is."
 
The boy watched as she walked off, not turning back once. If he had known what she was planning, if he had known her little 'vacation' was going to last for more than a decade, then he would have called her back and begged for her forgiveness for as much as he liked Tess, it was Liz who would forever hold his heart and his love.
 
But for all his supposed royal blood, Max was just a typical self-absorbed teenage boy, and with his inflated dreams of leadership he assumed he knew everything. So he let Liz walk off completely unaware that she was also walking out of his life...
 
                                                                *********************************
PRESENT...
 
Five weeks after the balmy March afternoon, Max learnt that Liz had really quit the Roswell and her whereabouts were unknown. He tried to persuade Jeff and Nancy Parker to divulge their daughter's location after finding her bedroom bare and any hint of her presence gone, but they were unwilling- determined to place their loyalty to their child above his need for forgiveness. Liz Parker was gone, she did not want to be found and he had no idea of where to look...until now. He wanted desperately to take her in his arms and verify she was really here in front of him, he wanted to erase these twelve years of misery and start off from that day, determining to remain by her side. But from the slightly guarded expression on her beautiful face, Liz wasn't ready for that.
 
"Did you find what you were looking for?" Liz asked, clearly meaning Tess though not bringing herself to mention his intended's name.
 
"Yes," he said sadly, "yes, I did." But at what costs was something he would always ponder...
 
She let a smile pull at her lips. "Good."
 
Before another question could be voiced an auburn-headed man gamely walked up to the small congregation. He was a handsome man, possibly in his early thirties, and judging by Liz's wide smile of greeting, the pair were very close though just how close was Max's guess.
 
"Found some old friends, huh, Bethy?" he said, smiling warmly.
 
"You could say that," Liz smiled back, not in the least bothered by the nickname he bequest her.
 
"Good, that's good." He then gave Liz a resigned shake of his head. "It seems we have a little situation."
 
"What's wrong, Nick?" Liz asked, frowning now.
 
"Nothing that hasn't been explained now." Nick's eyes shifted from Max's badge to Liz. "Two junior FBI agents decided to wander off. I've located them and they've just reported to me that they saw an 'evil-looking' man in the crowd, carrying a weapon. I just wanted to check it out but it seems they were referring to Max here."
 
At this, both Max and Isabel blanched. They hadn't heard of another FBI team scouting in Roswell. The last time the FBI decided to grace their town with their presence, the alien trio had been lucky to escape undetected. Years of living in relative peace, they were not ready for another visit and were caught literally with their pants down.
 
As numerous escape route flitted through Max's mind, Liz just sighed at this information. "I want to talk to the junior FBI pair. We have much to discuss, like spying. Come on out. Don't bother hiding, it won't do you any good."
 
Now all the gang were puzzled as to what right Liz had to be disciplining the FBI. But when she called, they understood.
 
From behind some nearby bushes, two children- the girl who had bashed into Max and the glasses-wearing boy who was so familiar to him- sheepishly stuck their heads out and inched forward. Liz gestured them forward and sighed at them. As she did, Max then realized both children were wearing holsters with a water pistol in place and plastic police badges hanging from their belts. Even Max had to admit it was very cute.
 
Liz raised an eyebrow. "Well..."
 
"We weren't following them," said the girl. "I bumped him and I saw he had a gun. I thought he looked like this evil guy I saw on 'America's Most Wanted' the other day. We were armed so you don't have to worry." She held up her water pistol.
 
"I tried to stop her running off," her brother said, once the small girl had finished her spiel, "but he *did* have a gun and we thought we should check him out before we told you and Uncle Nick."
 
"Had he been a real criminal, water wouldn't have hurt him," Liz chastised the children. "And, Nathalie, I thought I told you not to annoy strangers, you don't know they'll react."
 
The girl did not seemed fazed. "Water wouldn't hurt a felon but this isn't water. It's a bleach mixture. I made it up this morning."
 
"We can take care of ourselves, we're not five years old anymore," the boy backed up. He then took in his sister and amended, "Well, *I'm* not five years old. And it's our duty as good American citizens to keep an eye out for suspicious things- Dad said so- and we thought *he*," the youngster pointed a condemning finger to Max, "looked very suspicious."
 
"Guys, this is Max, my..." Liz seemed lost for words for a moment, "... an old friend, and he's carrying a gun because he's the local sheriff."
 
"Deputy sheriff," Max corrected.
 
"Okay, deputy sheriff so that means we don't arrest him."
 
The boy scowled dubiously. "You're a real cop?"
 
Max nodded. "Yes, that's right..." He wasn't always sure how to act with children, but he found himself taken in by these two, wondering what their connection was to his ex-girlfriend. "I take it you two are the FBI team that 'caught' me."
 
"Yeah," the girl replied enthusiastically. "Me and my brother are partners." The boy rolled his eyes in typical older brother derision but said nothing to ruin his sister's game. "We're gonna catch lots of bad stuff together when we grow up and join the real FBI, aren't we, Uncle Nick?"
 
"That's right," Liz's male friend, who was apparently called Nick, smiled.
 
"Well, you're well on your way," Max said, biting back a smile, "and it was very observant of you to notice I'm carrying a gun. Maybe when you guys are a little older I might let you join me."
 
"See, another cop said we're observant and we can bring in some felons," the little girl beamed. "Cool, huh, Mom?"
 
Max nearly collapsed on the spot when he processed the words- or more accurately word- the girl had said to address Liz. He had assumed these children were maybe the offspring from one of Liz's friends or anything but what they seemed to be. Had he heard correctly or did he need a hearing test? Mom?! Liz- a mother?!
 
Liz's life centred around studies and the world of building a career, she had never shown any inclination to wanting a husband any time soon let alone a child. And the girl had said her young boy companion was her brother...did that mean the boy he felt a bond to was Liz's *son*? Fate could be so ironic at times.
 
Judging from the equally surprised raised eyebrows of Isabel and Kyle, they too had not been expecting this revelation. But now as he really looked at his former girlfriend and the children he could see how much of her there was in them.
 
The little girl was like an encounter of what Liz might have appeared like as a small child; she was a miniature version of her mother with soft dark locks flowing down below her shoulders, although her sparkling cerulean blue eyes were no doubt inherited from whoever her father was. In her features, she carried Liz's sharp intelligence and considerate personality.
 
Then there was the boy...He too, was graced with his mother's raven hair and olive complexion, making him a striking child well on his way to growing into a man that would have the attention of many a women. While, like Liz, the boy had brown eyes filled with the same astuteness of his mother, his were of a slightly paler hazel colouring. Nonetheless, the youngster was very much his mother's son in every other manner.
  
Kyle spoke first. "Liz, this...this is your daughter?"
 
On seeing their expressions, Liz seemed faintly amused. "Perhaps I should introduce everyone."
 
"So, you found the brat?" interrupted a brash youthful voice.
 
Everyone turned to find another young boy approach them. The boy spared a curious glance to the Evans siblings and Kyle then turning his full attention to Liz.
 
"Want me to torture her, Mom?" the fair-headed youngster asked, wiggling his fingers at the little girl threateningly. The younger child squealed, not in fear but in delight.
 
"No, Josh," Liz smiled, "it's okay. I'll talk to your sister about her wandering later."
 
"Are they all yours?" Isabel spoke up, finally.
 
"Yes," was her absolute reply.

Max himself was too stunned to even voice a grunt. Three children?! Liz was the mother to three children? His mind couldn't even wrap itself around the concept. The small girl he could come to terms with, she looked barely five or six years old and Liz must have been in her early twenties when she bore this child.
 
But what of the two boys...?
 
The features of dark-haired boy who had been chasing his sister still carried the softness of mid-childhood and seemed a little too baby-faced for adolescence leading Max to estimate his age to be around ten, perhaps eleven. Stranger considering, they had only been separated for barely *twelve* years. So when did this boy enter Liz's life?
 
There was the possibility youngster was in fact a tall eight-year-old, or maybe Liz had flung herself into a relationship the moment she had quit Roswell, though he couldn't see that happening. The third possibility, one Max dreaded to allow to cross his mind, was that this boy was Kyle Valenti's son and the reason why Liz had left Roswell in the first place.
 
Then there was the eldest child, the one whom was referred to as Josh, was nothing like Liz. His dark blond hair and azure blue eyes made him her opposite- his profile too fair in comparison to her bronzed complexion. There was also the fact that the boy was a few inches taller than his brother and nearly the same height as Liz, his developing breadth indicative of the a child on the cusp of puberty.
 
However, Liz was only twenty-nine years old, she was just seventeen when she left Roswell, so where the hell did she acquire a teenage boy. Maybe during their school years together she had been keeping secrets from him, namely a son born in her mid-teens, an explanation just too ridiculous to consider.
 
God, Max hated mysteries. He had enough complications in his life already.
 
Yet there was no denying these were Liz's children. She looked to both of them with tenderness and devotion, love that was mirrored with equal intensity in their young eyes. Max was inexplicably covetous- would he ever get the chance to have a similar relationship with a child? He didn't even know if he could father a child with a human woman.
 
Liz finally decided to put her childhood friends of their misery. "Kids, this is Max, Isabel and Kyle. Remember how I said I used to live here when I was a kid, well, these are my old friends who I went to school with." Liz hesitated then gazed up at her old classmates. "...And this is Nick, my brother-in-law, and my sons Josh and Lexie and my little girl Nathalie."
 
"Yo," Josh greeted, relaxing slightly.
 
As the Roswell trio all digested this information, the little girl- Nathalie- quickly scowled indignantly at her mother. "I'm not a little girl, Mommy, I'm big."
 
Liz smiled at her. "Sorry, Nat, sometimes I forget how big you're getting. You'll always be my little girl though." As she spoke in a soothing manner to de-rail a potential tantrum, she smoothed Nathalie's raven hair.
 
Max watched, fascinated to see the only girl he had ever truly loved in the role of the caring mother. He smiled wryly at the picture before him. Liz smoothing the girl's hair, the boys standing by her side near their 'Uncle Nick'. It was quite adorable and despite his own envy, he was pleased for her to have created such a beautiful family.
 
That led him to the intriguing question: who was the children's father? A surge of envy gripped him. Despite the control he had managed to rein in over his temper through the years, he felt the familiar stirring as he thought of this man who not only fathered three cherubic children but also had Liz's love. A love that had lead Liz to marry him given that she introduced Nick as her brother-in-law.
 
Where was this husband? Max was desperate to size him up as he allowed a sense of extreme loss to envelope him inwardly. If Liz was married, he had lost her. The finality of it was too much for him. He had always hoped for a second chance with her, his aspirations going into over-drive the second he found she was visiting. Those hopes now lay crushed and abandoned.
 
It wasn't fair. He couldn't even bear children and when he did have Liz, he kept an physical distance from her, finally abandoning her in a fit of irrationality. And now she was content after all these years from him. He didn't want her to be miserable but Max did hope she would have missed him a little more than she appeared to have.
 
"Lexie as in 'Alexander'?" Isabel asked, her eyes still wide from all the revelations of the evening.
 
"Yes." Liz gazed fondly at her younger son. "I didn't think Alex would mind."
 
Isabel smiled faintly at the boy and his mother (God, the concept of Liz, someone he still saw as his teenage girlfriend, as a mother was mind-boggling!). "No, I think he would be proud."
 
"Nobody calls me Alexander," piped up Lexie. "Only my witch first grade teacher and Mom when she gets me into trouble. 'Alexander' is kind of a geeky name."
 
"Then I'd say it fits," smirked Josh. "A geeky name for a little geeky kid."
 
"You can talk, *Joshua*," was his retort, as Lexie self-consciously fidgeted with his glasses.
 
"At least *I* don't look like I could star as Harry Potter's twin brother."
 
"They're always like this," Nathalie said, matter-of-factly as the boy began scuffling. "Boys always behave stupid though 'cause girls are better." She glanced at her uncle and quickly corrected, "But not you, Uncle Nick, you're not a *real* boy like them."
 
"Thank you, Squirt, I'll take that as a compliment."
 
"Liz?!"
 
The squabbling was interrupted at this shout and Max looked away from Liz and her family to see Maria and Michael strolling towards them. Maria, grinning from ear-to-ear, ran up and threw herself into Liz's equally excited arms. The two women embraced, the action almost making Max forget twelve years had passed as he was reminded so much of when they were just a gang of seventeen-year-old kids.
 
"I can't believe it's you," Maria gushed, "you came home."
 
Liz, despite being happy to see her old best friend, was more collected. "Visiting, I told Mom and Dad I'd look after the place while they were in Canada."
 
"It's great to see you," Michael said, exchanging a quick hug with her.
 
"You too, Michael."
 
"Mommy, who are they?" Nathalie interrupted, her question met receiving a stunned silence at Maria and Michael stared at the three children then at Liz.
 
At their frowns, Liz began a second round of introductions. Unlike Max, Maria took this information in her stride, cooing over the children. Michael flicked a glance at him to see how he was coping. Max just sighed and gave him a discrete tight smiled. What could he say? Liz's life had never revolved around him, and who was he to dictate what she did when so much had changed between them.
 
"So, d'you all live here?" Josh enquired.
 
"Yes," Maria replied, "I've lived here since I was born. Your mom and I were even in the same nursery class together."
 
"Have you ever seen any aliens?" Nathalie asked, in complete innocence.
 
The adults startled at her question and it was Isabel who responded in a light-hearted tone, "Why do you ask that, sweetie?"
 
"I saw this programme on the Sci-Fi Channel about how loadsa aliens came to Roswell years ago and I just wondered if you saw one."
 
"Don't be stupid, Nat," Josh said, with all the patience of any elder brother. "There ain't no such thing as aliens."
 
"There's more chance of us winning the lottery than there is of proving there is real alien life," agreed Lexie. "that's why they show that junk on the *Sci-Fi* Channel in the first place. You're better of sticking to catching bad guys, Nat."
 
The little girl rolled her eyes. "That's what the bad army people want you to think. If space is so big, we can't be the only ones. That would be too boring."  After suitably chastising her brothers, she focused back on the Roswell group. "Well?"
 
There was silence for a moment. For such a small child, Nathalie was certainly a tenacious young girl with her mother's intellect to match. Judging by Liz and Nick's indulging smiles, they were evidently used to the girl's exuberance and vivid imagination. Max, not feeling up to lying to Liz's child, wasn't sure how to respond to Nathalie's expectant gaze.
 
However, he was spared when, surprisingly, it was Michael who spoke up. "Well, I heard a guy who saw an alien once. He was green and round."
 
"On this show it said that aliens are grey not green," Nathalie said, suspiciously. It seemed this girl had inherited her mother's sharp wit.
 
"Hey, maybe there's more than one type of alien out there," Michael recovered quickly.
  
The others listened in amusement as Michael Guerin, social-outcast and the epitome of paranoia, spin a whole tale of little alien princes and nasty step-mothers to the awe-struck children. His story was a mix of every fairy tale ever told and their real lives, and it was even enough to keep the sceptical Josh and Lexie captivated.
 
Nathalie laughed when Michael was finished. "I know that wasn't true but it was good."
 
Michael gave a gasp of feigned shock. "It wasn't true? And all these years I was waiting for little green man to land in my back yard."
 
"I think you'll be waiting a long time," Lexie said, with a grin tugging at his lips. "But that sure was a neat story, almost as good as Dad's and his are the best."
 
A wave of resentment washed through Max as he watched the children chatter away to Michael like any kids would with an uncle. It was a stark contrast to the glowers of wariness the boys, Lexie in particular, would occasionally shoot at him.
 
Isabel arched her eyebrow at Michael before turning back to Liz. "So, when are we going to meet the lucky guy?" she asked.
 
"'Lucky guy'?" Liz repeated, not understanding the question though Max could see where this was taking them.
 
His assumption was confirmed when Isabel reiterated the question. "Yeah, the lucky guy who these cute little kids belong to?"
 
Liz paled slightly and Nick's easy smile fell away leaving him subdued at the simple statement. Before Liz could reply her daughter interjected, "Daddy's gone now, he got runned over by a drunk car so we don't have a daddy anymore."
 
To Max's surprised, both Liz and Nick fidgeted nervously at the child's abrupt statement. It was evident there was more to the story of the children's father than what they had told the kids themselves.
 
"That’s right, Nat." Liz shifted then not-so-tactfully changed the subject. "Well, we should head home. It was a long drive and some of us need their rest."
 
"Aww, do we have to?" whined Lexie.
 
"Yeah, we haven't bought any of those tacky alien toys yet," Josh agreed.
 
Their young sister wasn't so keen on returning home either. "Can we not just stay here and look for bad guys? Max can help me 'cause he's a cop."
 
Liz scooped her daughter up. "Max can deal with it on his own. Plenty of time for catching bad guys when you're older, until then it's bed for all of you."
 
A flash of fear, not for the first time in the evening, washed through Max. Though he knew it wouldn’t be good for either of them to just plunge into re-establishing their friendship, too much time had passed for that, he wanted to spend more time with her. There was so much he wanted to ask her, so many questions. He couldn't allow her to leave him, not now that they've finally come together again.
 
"Liz," he said quickly, "you don't have to leave now, do you? Why don't we grab a coffee or something first, maybe a milkshake for the kids?"
 
Isabel, already aware of his feelings towards their reacquainted friend, spoke up. "Yeah, it'll be fun to catch up on old times."
 
"I can't wait to hear more about these little guys," Maria agreed, already taken in by her best friend's children.
 
Nick looked questioningly at Liz, making it clear this was her call, and it seemed she was not taken. "The kids have had a long day, they need to get some sleep. And so do us adults, driving for four days from Miami is not much fun."
 
"I understand." Max was proud of himself for keeping the pang of woe from his voice, after all he could not just force himself into Liz's life if that was not what she wished. He had hurt her enough to realise that any chance of reconciliation rested upon her choices.
 
Nonetheless, Liz met his gaze properly for the first time- her dark orbs fusing with his. Then she spoke, haltingly to begin with until confidence once again bloomed. "Max, we're going to be in town at least until Mom and Dad find someone else to take over. So, why don't you stop by sometime? Maybe give me a run-down of what's up in this town. I'm kind of out of touch with small-town life and it would be nice to go over old times."
 
He nodded swiftly, hoping he didn't look like an over-eager puppy dog. "That would be great."
 
"Well, I take it you still know your way to the Crashdown," she replied. "See you soon then."
  
She waved them off and Max watched the little family as they walked away until they could no longer be seen in the mingle of people, Liz carrying her daughter and the boys dangling from Nick's strong arms. Max wanted more than anything to run after them, to join them, but at least he had made a start in reclaiming the friendship that had once existed between him and Liz so easily.
 
"I hope you're going to go on some of those rides, Maxwell," Michael said with a mocking grin, breaking the silence. "You've become so dull, you're rotting away."
 
"Lets go on the rollercoaster," Maria suggested, sounding like a hyperactive child. "I've always loved riding the rollercoaster when I was young."
 
Max just grunted in agreement, his mind no longer interested in them. His only focus was his Liz.
 
It had been too early for her to stay for much longer in his company, she wasn't ready for that yet. Still, Max was delighted she had agreed to invite him to the cafe. It showed she too wanted to restore their frayed ties. He knew for certain there was no way in hell he would let her go, he had done that before and he was determined not to make that mistake again.
 
                                                                  *********************************
"You don't have to see them again if you don't want to."
 
Briefly, Liz glanced away from the road to her fellow passenger, who was watching her fixedly trying to gauge her emotions. Nick had fallen into over-protective, big-brother mode shortly meeting Liz twelve years ago although his watchful behaviour had intensified shortly after David, her husband and his younger brother, had died.
 
She didn't know what she would have done without David and Nick Delaney in those dark days when she had ran off to Miami to escape her problems, to escape her memories of Max and her feelings that she had harboured for him. She had spent two months in Miami working in some greasy restaurant while juggling an intensive university psychology course after successfully gaining an impressive set of SATs.
 
It wasn't an easy life for anyone, let alone a teenage girl in her 'particular' circumstances.
 
It was only when she met Nick, a post-graduate medical student offering to tutor her, that her life started to turned around. For not only did Nick help her with schoolwork but later introduced her to his younger brother David, the man she later married only to lose after six measly years. If it hadn't been for him and Nick, she didn't think she could have coped with raising a child.
 
As it was, she took to motherhood like a charm, determined to ensure she would be the loving parent to make up for her son not having a father. Lexie was a happy infant who had grown into a very affectionate little boy, fiercely loved by his mother and later on was equally doted on by David and Nick. Yet there were times, as Lexie grew from a tiny baby to a hale and healthy young boy, when her son would smile or would frown when confronted with a problem and Liz would be reminded that there was more of his father in him than she would admit.
 
But, settled into her new life, she had not intention of returning to Roswell and in turn her feelings towards Max lay dormant...until now.
 
"I know," she murmured, concentrating on her driving.
 
"Do you?" Nick was watching her carefully from the front passenger seat. "He hurt you last time, Beth. You don't owe these people anything."
 
Liz looked up at the rear-view mirror to see the children slumped in the back seat of the SUV sleeping. They were so innocent and pure. They had no real clue as that their mother had brought them back to the Lion's Den, the place where many secrets burned beneath the surface and could threaten their family right to the core of their security she had sought to build for them in the safety of Miami.
 
Nonetheless, while at only five years old Nathalie was oblivious to many things, Liz knew she had to be careful around Josh and Lexie. As they grew older, and particularly in the aftermath of their father's death, the boys were becoming increasingly aware of every nuance, especially if it involved their mother. There was many an occasion when Liz worried that the boys, even the easy-going Josh, took David's constant reminders of 'looking after their mother and sister' should anything happen to him too seriously.
 
She inhaled a calming breath. "I know, Nick, things are very different now...It was time to come back."
 
Liz had somehow always known the fates would conspire to bring her back to Roswell and Max one day. Once upon a time, this thought gave Liz a warm fuzzy feeling- she had already sharpened an axe especially for the occasion. She had moved passed her anger now, being a widow and raising three children alone made one absolve the past easier than she would have as a teenager.
 
And now she was ready to face that past.
 
"How do *you* feel about him?" she asked, knowing that her brother-in-law did not exactly harbour warm fuzzy feelings about Max after what little she had divulged after Lexie's birth.
 
"I'm not sure really. He seems like a normal guy...But nothing around here is normal, is it?"
 
"Tell me about it...You know, if you want, I'll avoid them for however long we're staying here."
 
From the uncertain pause, it must have took Nick a moment to understand what she was saying, that in a roundabout manner, she was asking his permission. David was his brother, his loyalties should remain with him, and perhaps Nick wouldn't like the idea of his sister-in-law hanging around with men whom she used to date in high school.
 
"No, Bethy," he said, firmly, "you need to do this. It's been two years, David would never want you to spend your whole life grieving for him. Being here, seeing old friends again, will be good for you. Little bro would be happy to see you mixing with people again...And I'm going to stand by you through whatever happens. Hopefully, Max had learnt and thing or two since he was a kid. "
 
Liz smiled. What would she have done without him? As her honourary big brother, he had been there for both her whole family through the good times and the bad then later, when David's sudden death jolted them away from their fairytale life shortly Nathalie's second birthday, Nick took on the role of surrogate father to the troubled boys and her toddler daughter. 
 
"So, are you going to tell him?" asked Nick.
 
"About what?"
 
"You know perfectly well 'what.'"
 
She sighed. "I don't know..." She smiled sardonically. "Anyway, we have much bigger problems ahead."
 
Nick cocked his head curiously. "Oh, yeah, like what?"
 
"Like stopping you from giving Max the third degree the minute he steps in the door."
 
                                                                  *********************************
It felt oddly soothing to be back at his boyhood hauntings. He hadn't been to the Crashdown for a good few years, probably since he left town with Tess. There were a variety reasons why he had chosen to voluntarily avoid the place upon his return to Roswell.
 
Not only was the cafe the hangout for the present high school kids, who wouldn't appreciate the local deputy sheriff spying on them, Max knew he wasn't really welcome anymore. He always sensed that somehow Jeff and Nancy Parker blamed him for their daughter's departure, perhaps rightly so. Even now, the couple remained cool with him compared with the almost parental joviality they showed towards his sister and the others.
 
Nonetheless, there was a wonderful sense of reminiscence at being back.
 
Max had waited forty-eight days before his patience waned and he had to phone Liz, desperate to see her again. He was proud of the fact he had managed to resist skulking in the darkness to catch a glimpse of Liz again, he didn't think she would have appreciated being stalked and she had to be the one to decide the ground rules.
 
So here he was, two days after last seeing her and twelve years after shrugging off her friendship and love, standing outside the Crashdown Cafe.
 
He was astonished to see how much the place had changed. The last time he had seen it, the place looked like the typical tacky, tourist restaurant it was. Now, a tended garden bloomed around the white-washed building and a sign written in bold colourful lettering with the words 'Crashdown' and a cute little three-dimensional spaceship hung over the entrance.
 
"I'm glad you could make it."
 
Nick's voice jarred Max from his inspection. The older man stood in front of the building, regarding him frankly, the familiar mistrust so evident in his nephews was now flashing in his own blue eyes. He pushed away from the wall he was leaning against, no doubt he had been waiting for Max's arrival, and he strolled up.
 
"Eh, hi," Max said, uncertainly.
 
"Bethy's inside getting the kids ready, she'll be out in a few minutes." Nick regarded Max for a moment. "So you're Liz's ex-boyfriend from when she was in high school."
 
"Yeah, I guess you could say that."
 
"She told me about you."
 
Max's brow furrowed. "She did?"
 
Just how close was this man to Liz? Had she let him into Max's secret? No, he rebuked himself for considering that, Liz would never tell anyone about his alien roots no matter who they were to her. Whatever argument or bad terms that lay between them, Max knew in his heart that Liz would guard his secret with her life if need be.
 
"Yeah, I was one of her first friends when she came to Miami. In fact, I was the one who introduced her to David in the first place, they looked cute together."
 
"David?"
 
"Her husband, my baby brother. You know, Davey told me to look out for Beth should anything ever happen to him, that's why I came with her to Roswell- that and I'm a good, cheap babysitter. I like Bethy, she's like a kid sister to me. I would hate to think what I would do if someone was to hurt her." Nick smiled, charmingly. "Get my drift?"
 
Max nodded. "Yes, I think I do. And don't worry, I would never hurt Liz, not again."
 
Despite the other man's unnecessary threats, he couldn't help but smile inwardly. Where it was once Alex who had acted as the protective brother-figure for Liz, it seemed she had found another 'brother'- one who sorely lacked Alex's subtlety.
 
"Nicholas!" came the tutting scold.
 
The men looked up to see Liz standing at the cafe entrance with her children, her hands on her hips. She flicked a small smile to Max before casting her brother-in-law a glare.
 
"Didn't I tell you not to go all over-protective?" she said, in a mixture of amusement and reproach.
 
Nick graced Liz a look of wide-eyed innocence. "I'm just having a chat here with Max."
 
"Hi, Max," Nathalie greeted cheerfully, skipping over to the deputy sheriff.
 
"Hi, Nathalie, how are you today?"
 
"Okay. Have you caught any bad guys today?"
 
"No, not yet but it's very early."
 
"Uncle Nick's taking us to look around the town. D'you think I'll see some aliens?"
 
Max hide a smile; this kid was so sweet. "Maybe, you never know what will happen in Roswell."
 
Lexie slowly approached Max, tucking the laptop computer he was carrying under his arm. "Are you here to see my mom?"
 
"Yes, I am."
 
"Are you staying long?"
 
"I'm not sure." Max was more than aware the boy's quizzing meant he was not succeeding in adhering himself to young Lexie.
 
"Mom said you used to date her when she was younger. How come you broke up with her?" Not only was Lexie scrutinising him, but at this question Josh and Nathalie seemed to be waiting for a response as well.
 
"That isn't something you have to worry about, Alexander," interjected Liz, taking pity on Max. "And you don't have to take the computer with you. You won't have time to use it."
 
Josh doubtfully took in the desert landscape blending into the horizon. "Mom, I think he will. I don't think Roswell is the bustling metropolitan that Miami is. It looks deader than a do-do."
 
"It might not be the most busiest place but I'm sure your Uncle Nick will find some things for you to do."
 
"We could stay here," Lexie offered, eyeing Max.
 
His brother stared at the Crashdown in disgust. "There's even less to do here. No wonder you never visited Grandma and Grandpa here. It's so dull."
 
"No," corrected Lexie, "Mom doesn't visit Grams and Grandpa 'cause when she was young some stupid guy-"
 
"I'll get the squirts out of your hair now, Beth," Nick said, before Lexie could go on although Max was very interested in what the boy had to say, "we'll be back in a coupla hours."
 
"Don't do anything we wouldn't do," smirked Josh.
 
"Joshua Delaney, watch your mouth," Liz warned as her impish son shrugged helplessly.
 
Nick herded the children up to the black SUV parked in the driveway. Nick headed for the driver's side of the car, pausing to give Max one last warning in the form of a scowl. Max and Liz watched the SUV drive up the dusty road until it disappeared into the horizon. Turning back to face Liz, Max was surprised to find her observing him intently. He wondered what she was thinking.
 
Finally she broke the lull. "I see you made it." 

He moved closer to her. "I wouldn't have missed it for the world," he said, sincerely
 
She seemed lost for words, not a condition to afflict Liz Parker for long. "Well, I thought I'd better come out and protect you from Nick. He gets a little carried away sometimes, especially when I meet strangers."
 
"Is that what I am to you?" Max wondered. "A stranger?"
 
Liz mulled over it then shrugged. "I'm not sure what you are anymore, Max..." There was an awkward silence. "So, d'you want a coffee? Or I think I could rustle a Milky Way Milkshake?"
 
"That sounds great."
 
Her response to his previous question hadn't been what Max was hoping for but he decided to let it rest for now.
 
Following her into the restaurant, he commented, "Why does he call you 'Beth'?"
 
"Who? Nick? When I first moved to Miami, calling myself Beth Parker was my way of giving myself a new life. It didn't last more than a few weeks but for some reason Nick just stuck with it. Don't ask me why, he can be like that sometimes, nicknames for everyone."
 
At least it wasn't a petname from a potential boyfriend. Max couldn't help but morosely wondering what nickname Liz's big brother figure had cooked up for him- no doubt it would be something not to be shared with the kids.
 
For the first time in a long time, Max took a good look around the interior of the Crashdown. "I like what's been done with the place. It's nice, changed a lot."
 
The inside foyer of the cafe had been refurbished too; the alien theme was still evident with the photographs of the supposed 'Roswell 1947 Landings' held in a glass show cabinet and small spaceship models hanging from the roof but there was also a classy sixties ambience to the place. It not only looked like a nice place to eat but there was also a homely feel to it.
 
"I think Mom and Dad decided to let the place grow up.  Not having a kid around does that to parents," Liz said.
 
It wasn't a jibe but Max couldn't help feel responsible for in some ways costing Jeff and Nancy their daughter.
 
"Well, having kids certainly seems to have a positive effect on you."
 
A mellow expression softened Liz's earnest features. "Yeah, it did. I don't know where I'd be without my babes." His curiousity must have been evident for she smiled, "It's okay, Max, you can ask."
 
Managing to swallow back most of his eagerness, he asked, "Okay, what is the story with them? Tell me about them, I mean you're the first of us to have kids."
 
"Josh has just turned thirteen, Lexie is eleven and Nat is five. I adopted Josh eight years ago. He was David's natural son, his mother committed suicide not long after he was born, so David took full custody. He was only twenty at the time and raising a three-month-old baby so we understood each other well. Anyway, when we married, Josh became as much my child as his, and vice versa."
 
"And the other two?"
 
"They're both mine," was all she said.
 
"They're seem like great children, you must be a wonderful mother."
 
Max desperately wanted to pursue the subject. It was obvious that David was Nathalie's father given that Liz had been with him almost from the moment she arrived in Miami but then there was Lexie. He was itching to have his suspicions about Lexie being Kyle's son confirmed. If he was correct then it wasn't really any of Max's business what Kyle would do in regards to the boy but a small selfish part of him felt if Liz had carried Kyle's son then she wouldn't betrayed or enraged when she inevitably found out that Tess had once carried his son too.
 
It was a terrible but he couldn't stub out that juvenile line of thought. He was eager for everything to go smoothly between he and Liz, to maybe revitalise their fractured relationship, that he'd accept any aid possible
 
She shrugged. "I try, it isn't always easy raising three young kids alone, though Nick is a big help."
 
Max followed Liz into the kitchen area, all now fully refurbished since his last visit. While Liz took a shot at making two vanilla milkshakes, Max's eyes were drawn to a pin-board located on the wall beside the doorway. Along with the typical notes and lists pined to the board were several photographs of the children, depicting them at various ages from babyhood to their present age.
 
Of course, Jeff and Nancy Parker had to have been aware of their grandchildren's existence and the new life their daughter had carved from herself. From the looks of the photos, obviously the couple had come to know the children well and were like any other grandparents despite the fact they let on nothing to their friends in Roswell. Max had to admit he felt a wave of anger that they had could have hidden this all like misers when he was so desperate for any shred of news, but understood that they had to respect Liz's feelings.
 
On the desk beneath the pin-board, there was also framed photo of the children- the boys dressed in baseball uniforms and Nathalie clutching a baseball glove- sitting between Liz and a handsome blond haired man.
 
"That's David." Max turned to find Liz standing behind holding two glasses, her eyes on the photograph. "The photo was taken a few weeks before he..." She sighed, looking down. "Lexie had just made the Little League team that year, David was so proud watching his two boys play together."
 
"I see Josh takes after his father." Just as Nathalie looked like a young Liz, with their identical sandy blond hair and mischievous blue eyes Josh was David in the miniature.
 
"Oh yeah, and not just in looks. He has David's odd sense of humour, in case you haven't noticed. And Nat carries on his huge imagination, David used to say it came from being a lawyer that he could spin the most interesting stories for the kids."
 
Max focused on the image of her younger son, so solemn in comparison to his siblings. "And Lexie, he's more like his mother?"
 
At this, a wistful smile creased Liz's lips faintly. "Oh, I think sometimes he can be a lot like his father...David's death has been tough on him, Lexie idolized him. That's why I was so keen to leave Miami and the memories behind for a while."
 
"You must really love him?"
 
"Yes...yes, I did. He gave me so much."
 
When she said this, Max couldn't help but wonder what place, if any, he had in Liz Parker's life. Hell, he didn't even know her name; she had probably changed it to Liz Delaney since her marriage.
 
He berated himself for his selfishness. What did he honestly expect? Just as he had gone on with his life, Liz would have moved on as well. Only his life was a circle that always seemed to return to Liz and what might have been. If he hadn't been so stupid twelve years ago, he would have been the father to Lexie and Nathalie.
 
Liz's soft voice broke through his thoughts. "You know, Max, we're not kids anymore. A lot of things have changed since we were seventeen."
 
"I know that." Inwardly, he cried for the mess he had made.
 
Only Liz wasn't finished. "But just because we have changed, doesn't mean we're not friends. I just wanted you to know that. What we once shared was special; it still is special, just different."
 
Max felt a wide, glowing smile lighting up his downcast face. "Different is good." 
 
                                                                  *********************************
"I can't get over how different you are."
 
The afternoon Liz had spent with Max had been enjoyable and though they both avoided the thorny subject of the past and what really happened, they had managed to touch on their stilted friendship. She wasn't ready to take the plunge and spill out everything on her mind yet she and Max had a refreshing talk and they were ready to see what the present had to offer them. It wouldn't be like before but it was a start.
 
Now, the following morning, Maria had invited- or more accurately, dragged- Liz to have breakfast with her and Isabel at her house. It was nice being in the company of her childhood best friend once more, she had missed Maria dearly and it brought back so many good memories being with her.
 
It was ironic, nevertheless, that in Liz's absence, Maria had grown much closer to the once loner Isabel. In their younger days, it had always been Maria who was never quite sure of Isabel so who could have predicted that the female 'Czech' would become Maria's closest friend. Of course, Liz was prepared for changes in her friendship with Maria. Just as the Liz they once knew and the person she was today were two different people, it was only a given that both Maria and Isabel would have grown over the years also.
 
"Hey, I'm not the only one," Liz said truthfully. "You and Kyle, Isabel? I never saw that."
 
Isabel shrugged. "Neither did we, but he was such a good friend to me after Alex died and things just moved forward from there."
 
"But you seem to have changed the most," Maria repeated.
 
"Wait 'til you have some little Michaels' running around and we'll see how much you'll change," Liz joked.
 
Maria's joviality fell away. "You're so lucky, Liz."
 
"What do you mean?"
 
"We've been trying for a year and still nothing. I don't even know if Michael and I can have children, you know with his Czechoslovakian 'complications'."
 
Liz reached for Maria's hand and squeezed reassuringly. "It will happen, sometimes you just have to be patient." Feeling uncomfortable under Maria's now probing stare, she maneuvered the subject elsewhere. "So what about you, Isabel? Any thoughts of expanding the family?"
 
"Me?" Isabel said. "No way, not yet. We both see enough kids at work to have them at home as well. No, really, Kyle and I have decided to wait, we're thinking of moving to LA. He's been offered a great job at a LA high school and it would be a big jump in wages." She was referring to Kyle's position as the high school PE coach.
 
"You're going to leave Roswell?" Liz asked in surprise.
 
"Might leave but yes, it's a possibility."
 
"But what about the pod chamber and everything?"
 
"I haven't been up there in months and leaving Roswell has always been something I've thought about going back to when we lost Alex. It would be good to getaway, start fresh where nobody knows us."
 
"What about you?" Maria questioned. "Would you ever think of coming back here to live?"
 
"No, I've got a good life in Miami, the kids have friends and go to good schools. It wouldn't be fair to uproot them and I'm not sure I leave everything I have there behind."
 
"Why not? You managed it before." There was a pinch of hurt in her voice, the hurt that had no doubt been harboured from when a confused teenage Maria tried to understand why her friend had up-and-left without word.
 
Before Liz could defend her actions, a laughing Michael burst in juggling an upside-down Nathalie whilst keep up his end of the conversation with her two boisterous boys. It appeared that, like her, Michael had undergone the most changes over the past decade. From the bitter, isolated boy came a happier, confident young man who was no doubt immensely enjoying his life with Maria and, judging from his developing friendship with her three children, seemed more than ready for fatherhood.
 
"Are you okay, Mom?" It was Lexie who voiced that question, ever the thoughtful child.
 
"I'm fine, Lex. Are you guys having fun?"
 
"Yeah," exclaimed Josh. "Michael said he'd take us to see the fire station he works at. Can we go, Mom?"
 
"Please, Mom," giggled Nathalie, as Michael turned her back up and hauled her onto his shoulders.
 
Liz's eyes met Michael's over the top of the boys' heads, unsure of letting her children roam off with someone they barely knew. Still, despite their differences in their teens, she trusted Michael with her life and the lives of her children, a rare privilege for even her closest friends back in Miami.
 
"Where's your Uncle Nick?"
 
"He's gone shopping," Lexie replied.
 
"I think he's finally reached the brink," announced Josh.
 
"The brink?"
 
"Yeah, of boredom."
 
"We know what a true city boy Nick is. Okay, you can go look at the fire station but you'd all better be good for Michael and listen to what he says."
 
"'Course, Mom," assured Lexie.
 
"We're always good," Nathalie piped up.
 
As Michael waved the three women off and lead the children away, the unmistakable mischievous voice of Josh could be heard, "Hey, Michael, think I could light a fire and you could show us how to put it out."
 
"I don't think that would impress your mother much," Michael replied, amused.
 
"They'll be fine," Maria said when her husband and the children had left in the same whirl wind of activity they had arrived in. "Michael will take good care of them."
 
"It's not them I'm worried about, they can be a handful when they want to."
 
"They do seem quite a group, like we used to be..." Maria paused. "Lexie seems a real sweetheart."
 
"He's a lot like his namesake." This wasn't a line of conversation she wanted to continue, not with Maria. Her childhood friend still carried that intuition when it came to discerning if Liz was being entirely honest. "In more ways than I thought possible," Liz laughed. "Eleven years old and Josh already has him hacking into the school files to change grades. Anyway, enough about me- tell me what's been going on here."
 
"The regular stuff or the gossip?" asked Isabel.
 
"The gossip, definitely."
 
Relaxing now she had successfully managed to steer the conversation away from her and her family onto more neutral territory, Liz didn't notice the thoughtful glances Maria would occasionally shoot her.
 
                                                                  *********************************
"How was your day?" Maria asked of her husband as Michael put a casserole in the oven then slouched into the opposite seat at the kitchen table.
 
"It was great," he replied, opening the newspaper. "Who would have thought Liz Parker would have such cool kids, especially that little Josh. He reminds me of bit of myself at that age, apart from the whole alien thing."
 
Michael hadn't had so much fun in ages and it was bemusing to think the source of his glee was the children of Liz Parker. He was used to the local children visiting the fire station on school trips but it was different this time. He was spending time with children whom he was beginning to see as surrogate nephews and niece. The trio were just great company, their laughter infectious and their disposition sunny. Their bundles of unbridled energy were also enough to test all his intense training as a fire fighter.
 
"It's Delaney now."
 
"Huh?"
 
"It's not Liz Parker anymore; her name is Liz Delaney, or Beth Delaney as Nick always calls her. I'm not sure."
 
Michael didn't miss the cool tone to Maria's voice, and he looked up from the paper to sure enough take in his wife and her wounded expression. "Does that still bother you?"
 
"A little."
 
He wasn't fooled by the nonchalant response, he knew that the whole situation with Liz had more than 'a little' succeeded in hurting Maria. He could clearly remember watching Maria wander around school, crest-fallen, when the news of Liz's runaway had spread through town. It had taken months for her frequent crying jags to taper off, and even then, she was so lifeless.
 
Liz's departure was also the catalyst in the first changes in his and Maria's relationship. With Alex dead and Liz gone, Maria was alone- the only human with the pod squad. But in many ways, he too had shared in her sense of abandonment. Max had been totally absorbed with Tess and Isabel, mourning Alex's loss and enraged by her lofty brother, preferred to remain on the outer fringes of the group leaving Michael to turn to Maria for company and in turn their shallow adolescent relationship became something much more.
 
Out of the shadows which had seen Isabel lose Alex and the bond between Liz and Max fray away, it was only he and Maria who survived.
 
His recollections were disturbed as Maria suddenly stood up and began to make coffee, clattering the cups down with more force than necessary.

"She was my best friend, Michael," she glowered. "My best friend since we were playing in the sandbox at nursery. It wasn't just that she up-and-left without telling me so soon after Alex, but she went onto get married and have two kids and adopt another. She could have said something. All I asked for was one damned letter at least."
 
Never let it be said that Michael Guerin couldn't be sensitive, especially when his wife was in pain. "Liz didn't mean to hurt you, Maria, I don't think things were so simple for her."
 
"How is Max taking all this?"
 
That was the million dollar question. Michael thought back to the night before when Max came round for a drink after spending the day with Liz. His friend had been vacillating between hyperventilating with excitement at new possibilities and subdued with all he had missed. Three children Liz had, and if things had been different, two of them could easily have been Max's as well.
 
"Maxwell isn't looking a gift-horse in the mouth," Michael said, a major understatement. "Aren't you happy to see her again?"
 
"I am, I've missed her," Maria admitted, reluctantly, "I just get the feeling that she's hiding something. Before, she used to tell me everything and now it's like speaking to a brick wall."
 
She wasn't the only one who noticed, Michael had never even been a close friend of Liz's but he could see she was being evasive. There was something bothering her and he was damned if he knew what it was.
 
Michael pulled Maria close to him. "If there is something, Liz will tell us. She came home for a reason, and I don't think it had anything to do with sick relatives. When she's ready, she'll tell us, and until then we should make her feel at home."
 
"My husband, the peace maker," Maria teased. "My, how the tables have turned."
 
Michael grumbled a protest, not wishing to ruin his reputation as the resident tough guy.
 
                                                                  *********************************
"I bet I can dive to the bottom of the lake!"

"Josh, I’ll throw in your ball and see if you can get it!"

"Nathalie, stay near Max. I don't want you going too deep, you can't swim as well as your brother yet."
 
The latter instruction, met with a muttered protest, was voiced by Liz from where she lazed on a sunbed protected by the shade of some trees she sat under. Max listened in content to the squeals and vigorous splashes of the boisterous children and his eyes more than occasionally glancing over at Liz, a fond smile gracing his face. This was just how he imagined having a family to be like.
 
Only this wasn't his family, those weren't his children and, as much as he would have like otherwise, Liz was not his wife.
 
Liz had been in town for over a week now, and Max had taken every opportunity to spend time with her. It was amazing that despite the years between them, what he felt for her had never diminished in the slightest. He loved her as much in the present as he did when they were in high school.
 
However, despite his own feelings towards her, Liz never once gave any hint of whether she still held the torch for him or that she was being one-hundred percent true to the saying 'never look back'. Max understood much of her reluctance came with being a widow with three young children but he was becoming desperate. All he wished for was a sign that his feelings would be reciprocated. He knew that if something didn't happen between them now than it would never happen.
 
Determined not to see their friendship/relationship dwindle into nothing for a second time, Max decided it was time to move onto the next stage of their reunification. It was obvious if he wanted to be close to the mother then he had to be friends with the children. In them was the key to unlocking this new closed-off Liz.
 
And so, Max invited Liz and the kids for a day by the lake. They had always enjoyed the water when they were younger and there was no better way to spend the day with your childhood sweetheart than to visit your old stomping-grounds.
 
As it was, everything was coming along fine; he volunteered to take the children for a swim, giving Liz some time to herself and, as Michael had found previously, babysitting them was not a chore. The children were great fun and a real credit to Liz.
 
Nevertheless, while he had little problems keeping an eye on the youngsters, Lexie's demeanour remained lukewarm in Max's company. In many ways, the boy reminded him of Michael back in the old days when Max first started hanging out with Liz. He didn't like the idea of Max interacting with humans just as Lexie no doubt still saw Liz with no-one else but his father.
 
"Max, can you give me a boosty?" Nathalie asked, paddling over to Max with the adorable clumsiness of any five-year-old determined to be as able as her brothers.
 
"Sure," Max replied, smiling at the eager child, "if you can tell me what 'boosty' is."
 
Nathalie giggled. "You don't know? It's when you throw me up into the water."
 
"Okay then." Max swiftly hauled Nathalie above his shoulders, glancing up to find her wide-eyed and laughing in delight. "Ready for take-off?"
 
"Ready!"
 
"Five...four...three...two...one!" At that, Max pitched her into the air and watched cautiously as she landed in the water with a splash.
 
When the girl surfaced, she grinned broadly at her brothers. "Did you see me? Wasn't it neat?!"
 
"Can I get a go?" Josh  asked, in his excitement forgetting all his adolescent disdain of being too superior to carried around like one of the younger kids.
 
With a smile, Max complied. Josh's 'boosty' was not as impressive as his sister's since his weight was more of a strain but nevertheless the boy was pleased at his impromptu flight. It didn't escape Max's attention that the younger Delaney boy was watching the procession, his brow furrowed.
 
"Do you want a go, Lexie?" Max asked.
 
The boy flushed at being caught staring but he recovered quickly. He shook his head, his lips pursed thinly. "No thank you, I prefer to swim properly. My dad used to say it's dangerous to fool around in water."
 
"But Daddy used to give us boosties all the time," Nathalie pointed out.
 
"Shut up, Nat," Lexie said, in digest.
 
Max decided not to comment on the boy's aloofness. It wasn't as if the kid was being rude or had said anything directly against him, and it wasn't Max's place to reprimand Liz's child. It was better to lay off and give Lexie the space he wanted.
 
After half-an-hour in water, Max tired and pulled himself out the water to sit on the rocky edge. He leaned against a large stone leaving his feet to dangle in the water, his eyes keeping a close watch on the three children splashing nearby. So focused was he that he didn't notice Liz sneaking up behind him and swatting him lightly on his shoulder.
 
"How's things going?" she asked, sinking down to sit beside him.
 
"Great, those are pretty terrific kids you've got."
 
"Even Lexie?"
 
Max hesitated. "Aah, so you heard."
 
"You could say that, Mom Radar picks up all kinds of things."
 
"I supposed he's just an eleven-year-old boy who's lost his father," Max reasoned. "His reaction is understandable, I guess, and maybe all he needs is me keeping a distance for a while."
 
"Yes, maybe." There was something in her voice, something almost of a wistful quality, that made Max sharply turn to her but Liz's eyes were focused on her son.
 
She looked so solemn in her contemplation that Max couldn't resist it. With a swift tug he threw himself into the water, dragging Liz in with him, his prank so abrupt that Liz only managed a shriek before being dunked in the tepid lake.
 
When Liz surfaced with her face a mixture of amusement and indignation, Max blessed her with his most charming smile. Liz just pursed her lips, casting him a look she probably reserved for her children when they were disobedient, then without warning she skimmed her arm across the surface of the lake drenching Max.
 
"Not bad, Parker," he grinned.
 
Damn, he forgot she wasn't 'Parker' any longer, hadn't been for a good few years. Still, Liz didn't make any comment, but instead victoriously him soaking his head a second time. Not allowing her another chance, Max retaliated and quickly a water fight ensued, an ecstatic Josh and Nathalie joining in.
 
Splashing about in the water like a pair of care-free kids was the most relaxed Max had felt in a long time. It was good to be unburdened of worries and destinies for once, to have Liz back at his side...
 
And as the two adults and two children played without a care in the world, they were unaware of Lexie watching them scrutinously from the bank, his hazel eyes darkening as they fused on Max's form. He might only have been eleven years old but the boy was not going to let this stranger, a man who had already succeeded hurting his mother once, enter his family circle without a challenge.
 
                                                                  *********************************
Another week passed without trouble, Max spending as much time as possible with Liz and her family. Although Nick remained ever vigilant to his sister-in-law's welfare, he opted not to join them in most of their outings, allowing the couple some privacy. In fact the only problem Max had was the knowledge that with every day that went by, the day of Liz's departure back to Miami drew closer. She had made it clear from the beginning that Roswell was not her home.
 
But he was determined not to dwell on such a depressing subject for the moment and instead enjoy the time he had with her, let the future take care of itself. Only today, Max did not have Liz all to himself; Maria had organised a barbecue in honour of her childhood friend and the gang were, for the first time since Liz's arrival, reunited. It did bring home Alex's absence all the more yet a sense of peace which had settled over the group. It had been many years since they were all together.
 
"Max," asked a happy little voice, "do you want to help fly my plane?"
 
Max looked down to find Nathalie regarding him hopefully, clutching onto a large model airplane almost as big as her. A few metres away Josh and Lexie were fiddling with a remote control panel.
 
"I'd love to," the man replied, his smile broadening in response to the child's wide grin which showed all her baby teeth.
 
Max followed the little girl- he really had no choice when Nathalie grabbed his hand and tugged him after her- who skipped over to the boys. Upon seeing him approach, Lexie shot him a filthy glower before backing away to stand with Nick giving Max a wide berth. Max watched the youngster morosely, wondering if he would ever win over Liz's middle child.
 
"Maybe you should ask your Uncle Nick instead," Max offered.
 
"Why?" Nathalie asked, in her innocence seeing nothing in her brother's behaviour.
 
The older, more-astute Josh just shrugged, briefly glancing to Lexie and Nick. "Lex is always like that with guys sniffing around Mom."
 
Despite the circumstances, Max couldn't help but smile at that. He forgot how straight-forward children could be. "Is that what you think I'm doing? 'Sniffing' around your mother?"
 
"Well, aren't you?" Josh questioned guilelessly.
 
Unsure of how to respond, Max settled for, "I do have feelings for your mother, yes, but it doesn't mean I would come between you guys and her."
 
"Oh, you don't have to worry about that," Nathalie said, "Mommy said she would murder with her bare hands anyone who hurt us and I think she would have beat you up already if you were hurting us."
 
"That's very reassuring, Nat," Max said dryly, indulging in the child's nickname for the first time.
 
"Come on, let's fly this thing," Josh impatiently said, leading them into the front garden where the tarmac driveway would provide a better runway from the toy plane.
 
Nathalie placed the model on the ground, then nodded to her brother. With that, Josh used the controls to rev up the model's engine and the trio watched as the airplane took off. Along the ground, Nathalie chased after the plane gleefully as Josh controlled it with more ease than Max expected in a boy his age.
 
"You're very good at that," Max commented.
 
"I'm gonna be a pilot when I'm older," the boy said, not without the touch of pride at hearing Max's compliment.
 
"Maybe you can be an astronaut and go to space and find the aliens," Nathalie shouted, her eyes still on the model plane.
 
"Yeah sure, Nat, and maybe Captain Kirk will help me," muttered Josh sarcastically.
 
Max smiled inwardly at them, remembering the number of times he had used a similar tone with Isabel in their younger days. Watching the children interact and play gave Max a valuable insight into why Michael was so desperate to become a father. It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world have a few children by the right woman...by Liz.
 
He thought back his short marriage to Tess and how close he had come to realising his wish. It was not long after Liz had left when Tess had come to him to inform him she was pregnant. He knew he should have felt some joy in becoming a father but there was nothing. He didn't want to be bullied into fatherhood just to produce a heir to the throne of Altar and he sure as hell hadn't wanted Tess to be the mother of his child. It was not the best of memories as Tess was finally comprehending that she would always come second to Liz, whatever they did have deteriorating when their son was miscarried.
 
His thoughts were disturbed when Nathalie gave a disappointed shriek. Max looked up to see the remote controlled plane careering into a tree where it was promptly lodged in some dense branches. Josh tried to coax it free from his controls to no avail.
 
"That's good," Nathalie whined.
 
"I'll go get it," Josh said, thrusting the controls into Nathalie's arms.
 
As Max was about to halt the boy's venture, a deep voice called from behind them. "I know you weren't thinking of climbing that tree, Skipper." The trio turned to find Nick eyeing Josh in admonishment. "What would happen if you fell?"
 
"Splat?" Josh said, hopefully.
 
"That's not funny, your mother would go out of her mind if something happened to you."
 
"But that's Dad's plane, he built it when he was in college. I can't just leave it up there."
 
Nick regarded the boy carefully then sighed. "Fine, I'll get it. God knows how many times I was the one to get it when Davey crashed the damned thing himself."
 
"Maybe I should get a ladder," Max offered uncertainly as he took in the not-too-sturdy tree.
 
"Nah, it'll be fine. Don't tell me you never climbed trees when you were a kid, Maxwell."
 
Max sighed in resignation when Nick referred to him as 'Maxwell'- just what he needed, another Michael hanging around. As Nick started heaving himself up the lower branches of the tree, Josh moved over to Max with a familiar mischievous smirk creeping across his handsome face.
 
"So, Maxwell, huh?" the teenager quipped, "Can I call you that too?"
 
"Sure," Max replied, nonchalantly, "as soon as I start calling you Joshua."
 
"No, no, Max is a great name."
 
*Yeah, it would certainly be fun having a kid or two,* Max thought to himself.
 
Suddenly, just as Nick reached the higher, less stable branches which held the plane there was an ominous creaking. Max and the two children could only watch in horror as the branch supporting Nick's foot snapped and he dropped, his desperate attempts to grab onto a safehold in vain. With a sickening thud, the man landed on the concrete ground.
 
Nathalie let out a blood-curdling scream, running to her fallen uncle's side, her actions followed quickly by Max and a pasty-white Josh. The little girl reached to tug at her uncle but Max lifted her to the side before she could act on her intentions.
 
"Josh, look after your sister," he ordered the boy, who obediently kept a restraining hand on his crying sister.
 
With the children out of the way, Max was able to concentrate on Nick, his police training kicking in on reflex and cataloguing the injuries like he would any accident victim. The other man lay in a slight fetal position with his left leg twisted in an unnatural position and blood oozing from a gash on his temple.
 
Despite the fact Nick groaned as he began to surface from unconsciousness, Max knew he was seriously injured with God only knew what kind of internal injuries. Sure, Liz was a doctor and he ought to call an ambulance but could Nick afford to wait?
 
All it took was one touch from Max to save him. One touch. A glance at the young boy and girl watching him with trusting eyes only re-enforced Max's resolution to help Nick in a way that could also see him, Isabel and Michael locked up forever. It would be worth it not to have Josh and Nathalie haunted with the memories of their uncle slipping away before them.
 
Max held a glowing hand towards Nick, ignoring gasps- not of fear but surprise- from the children when shouts from behind distracted him.
 
 "Nick!"
 
"Uncle Nick...?"
 
Max turned slightly from where he knelt by Nick's side to find Nathalie's screams had brought the others running. Lexie swiftly pulled away from the adults and threw himself to Nick's side. Without even hesitating, Max watched open-mouthed as the boy closed his eyes, placed one hand on Nick's chest and one on his leg, light emanating from his small palms.
 
In the space of a few seconds, Nick's leg realigned and the cut on his head closed. Max was rendered motionless by the shock of the boy's abilities, abilities only previously seen in the Royal Four. Apparently healed, Nick looked up to meet the earnest gaze of Lexie.
 
"Oh, Lexie," he murmured, reaching to smooth the boy's hair.
 
"I know what I did was bad," Lexie said tearfully, "but I couldn't let us lose you too."
 
Remembering, or perhaps just realising, they had an audience, the man and boy stood up leaving Max still on his knees. The drama over, the children stared in astonishment at Max's glowing hand, who in turn stared wide-eyed at Lexie. The boy shifted back allowing his now-healed uncle to step protectively in front of him, also swiftly shoving Josh and Nathalie behind him.
 
Liz seemed speechless for a moment, then she cleared her voice. "Nick, take them to the car."
 
"Wait..." Max said, still in shock at what he had seen in Lexie.
 
Nick curtly nodded at Liz then, ignoring Max, he scooped Nathalie up and nudged the boys forward. For once, even the boisterous Josh obeyed without question, although Lexie did spare an anxious glance to his mother. Liz waited until they were safely in the SUV and out of earshot before turning back to Max and the others.
 
"I suppose you have some questions," she said, keeping a steady eye on Max as he moved to his feet.
 
That was a major understatement; damned right he had questions regarding Liz and her younger son. There was so many things whirling around in Max's mind, so many questions he needed answered; like why was she not surprised by her son's powers or did anyone else know? But the most prominent in his turbulent mind was, of course, the obvious.
 
"Is he mine?" Max managed to utter out, his voice low and confused. "Is Lexie *my* son?"
 
"And so what if he is?" Liz replied, flatly, choosing not to outright answer his question. "You come into his life, then what? A few days later go off to find another Tess to make destiny with? Try to spirit him off to some distant planet? Lexie has a normal life, Max, here on Earth and he has plenty of stable male-role models to look up to."
 
"How?" Knowing how obtuse that sounded, Max clarified, "I mean, when?" Try for the life of him, he could not remember when he and Liz were close enough to have produce a child...except for that one time.
 
And his suspicions were confirmed when Liz said with a grim smile, "Don't tell it meant that little to you; the night a few days after Alex died. I came to you after seeing the car wreck. You let me into your room and the rest is history."
 
Max couldn't help but ponder on how life was ironic though. The first time he and Liz had made love it was to consummate a relationship which seemed doomed yet had also produced his beautiful son. Liz had been so despondent and heartbroken that night when she'd come to him and he was so confused about Tess and what, if any, connection she might have had in Alex's suicide. Perhaps, it was inescapable that all their pent up emotions, from Alex's death and witnessing their relationship deteriorate before their eyes, were going to burst.
 
"Lexie is one hundred percent your child, there was no-one else, I can promise you that."
 
"What about Kyle?" Max asked, those niggling doubts needing to be extinguished.
 
Liz almost seemed amused by this insinuation. "Oh, you don't have to worry about that, Max. Trust me when I say Lexie is definitely *not* Kyle's."
 
He was stunned; she was so absolute on this that he found himself unable to deny Lexie's paternity. Max had been so sure the boy was Kyle's son, perhaps Liz had brought him here for an impromptu reunion but never once did he consider the possibility that Lexie was *his*. He was a father! Only the child was not a newborn infant but an eleven-year-old boy who did not hold a very high opinion of him, and it didn't have to be like that.
 
"You should have told me, Liz," Max hissed, tired of pussyfooting around his former girlfriend. "He is my son too and I had a right to him. You know damn well I would never take my child away from his own mother."
 
"I was seventeen years old, a child myself," Liz spat back, "and you had changed. I didn't know what the hell was going through your mind. I mean, one minute you were with me then next you were off with Tess to make your precious destiny."
 
Max gaped at her incredulously, ignoring his sister's pointed stare warning him not to push this too much. "Me and Tess? The only reason I was with Tess in the first place was because you looked pretty damned cosy with Kyle."
 
Liz looked past Max to exchange a glance with Kyle. "Since today is the day of revelations, there's something you should know, Max...Kyle was never more than a friend, we never did anything together."
 
"But that day? You slept with him..." His voice held less conviction now, Liz's open features taking out some of the certainty of her betrayal twelve years ago.
 
Liz's voice was softer. "No, no, I never, Max, my first time was with you and resulted in Lexie."
 
"Wha...?"
 
"Believe me or not, I don't care, but that's the truth. All my lies were the key to protecting Isabel and Michael." A quick glance to the blank look mirrored in the faces of his sister and best friend informed Max he was not alone in being in the dark here.
 
Unconsciously, a warm rush of emotions filled his soul. For both of them, their first time had been together with each other. Whatever stupid path Nasedo had willed him to walk, not even he could refute that true destiny was not to be denied. He and Liz were meant to be together and Lexie's very existence was proof.
 
But he couldn't allow himself to indulge in such thinking just yet, not when he was torn between anger at Liz from hiding his child and anger at himself for being so unapproachable as a boy that Liz couldn't come to him when she discovered her pregnancy results. And then there was this new complication...
 
"What do you mean, Liz?" When her eyes narrowed in that sharp stubborn way of hers, Max scowled. "You can't keep my son from me then not explain why. I deserve an explanation at least!"
 
With a sigh, Liz conceded. "It happened before Alex died, I got a visitor from the future; it was Max aged thirty. He came from a time where we did eloped as kids and were deeply in love." Her gaze was not on her attentive audience but had drifted over the horizon wistfully. "Unfortunately, our love had consequences just like everything else in our stressed-out lives. Because of us, Tess left Roswell and when it came time to fight the Skins, you guys were simply not strong enough with one down...Michael and Isabel died that day. You, the future you, told me that in order to prevent their deaths we had to sacrifice what we had for each other. I had to make you fall out of love with me." She laughed harshly. "Damn, our lives were always doomed to be so complicated."
 
There was stunned silence when she finished the story, which had no doubt been weighing down on her for so long. Max's jaw had dropped somewhere near the centre of the Earth, his voice devoid of making sound. What could he honestly say to that? There was nothing but self-recriminations.
 
What the hell was his future self thinking? Imagine being seventeen years old and having the fate of your friends resting on your shoulders. It was little wonder Liz hadn't cracked. Max, no matter from what time, had no right to place that strain on an innocent kid, even if that girl was his love. He was twenty-nine years old now and he would *never* do such a thing to the teenage Liz or any of the others. The version of Max, who had violated Liz's trust so deeply, should have found another way to save Michael and Isabel, a way that didn't involve an act that would break down the bonds between him and Liz.
 
Liz was the first to speak, clearing her throat to choke back her emotions. "So now you know? Kyle didn't even know the truth, he just went along with me because I asked it of him." She smiled at Kyle, a warm beatific smile. "And I thank you every day for that, because that other Max was right. Our love was never worth it if it was at the expense of Michael and Isabel."
 
Before Max could speak up and protest, Liz backed up creating a larger gulf between them. "I'd better go, the children will be worried."
 
With that, she walked towards her car leaving a hushed Max and his equally stunned friends watch her retreat.
 
                                                                  *********************************
"I don't believe her! That she kept my own son away from me. That she thought I would kidnap him from her."
 
"It doesn't surprise me, Max, back then even I wasn't sure what you were capable of." Isabel's voice did not hold condemnation or vindictiveness, she spoke with pained honesty.
 
Liz Parker may never have been her favourite person when they were high school but they were not kids now, and Isabel had to admit, however hard it was for Max to see, she understood why Liz had chosen to keep Lexie away. God only knew, if she were in a similar position, she might have done the same thing.
 
Unfortunately, Max was still simmering with anger. "Did you really think I would take my son from his mother?" he asked, his eyes blazing at his sister. "Do you think so little of me, Isabel?"
 
"Not you, but I think little of the Max who allowed Tess Harding to influence him so much." At this, her brother deflated and sank down into a nearby lawn chair. Isabel pulled over another chair and sat beside him, taking his hand in hers. "I thought you understood everything after listening to her story."
 
Isabel certainly did; she was still in awe for what all Liz did as a teenager, what she sacrificed. In so many ways, Liz had given her and Michael life. Events may not have played out exactly as the future Max warned yet still Liz had relinquished her love and happiness without bitterness. How could Isabel not be grateful to the other woman when she had shown her immense bravery as a mere teenage kid.
 
"I do," muttered her brother, "but that doesn't excuse hiding my child from his own father."
 
"No, but you understand what has been driving Liz all these years. It can't have been easy for her at all; seventeen years old and raising an alien baby on her own. At least we had each other for support, she had no-one and had no clue about what to expect with a child like Lexie. She must have been so scared."
 
"God, what possessed me, Isabel? What possessed me to say such a stupid idiotic thing to a seventeen-year-old kid? What kind of person in there right mind would shatter the dreams of a kid?"
  
Max sounded so forlorn and so unlike the strong, resolute man she had grown up with. Isabel squeezed his hand to capture his attention. "That wasn't you, that was another Max from a different world and you aren't him." Isabel scruntinised carefully before voicing her next question. "What are you going to do now?"
 
"What do you think?" Max retorted, his anger apparent once more. "I'm going to get my son back."
 
"Are you sure that's all you want back?"
 
"What do you mean?"
 
"Don't play coy, Max, you know fine what I mean. Hell, you've been pining away after Liz like a lovesick dog for twelve years so don't pretend otherwise."
 
"Isabel, please..." whined her brother, sounding all of six years old again.
 
"Don't 'Isabel, please' me. Liz came back for a reason and if you go throwing your weight around you're not only going to lose Lexie but you'll lose her as well."
 
Of that she was sure. Liz was so tenuous now, dubious and uncertain of whether she should trust; one wrong move and Isabel didn't doubt that she would high-tail it out of Roswell never to be seen again. She'd done it once as a mere teenager and she could do it again. Isabel wasn't about to let her brother do something stupid and jeopardize whatever chance he had with Liz, his true love- a fact evident to anyone who wasn't blind and deaf.
 
"What do you expect me to do?"
 
"Well, for one, don't go barging in there. In case you forgot, Lexie isn't very fond of you and I don't think finding out you're his dad will change that." Isabel didn't want to be so frank about that but Max had to be reminded, for his sake and the boy's.
 
Max gave a humourless smile. "It had to be the kid who hates me."
 
"He's a child who just wants to protect his mother, Max, it's nothing personal."
 
"I know, I know...She named him 'Alexander', that was what I wanted to call Vaklesh."
 
"You and Liz have always thought alike, this just shows it even more."
 
Max's smile become more genuine. "I'm a dad, Isabel. Can you believe that?"
 
Isabel couldn't help but grin back. "You'll be great."
 
She didn't hold any illusions of a Disney-archetype reunion but Isabel wished with everything in her heart that both Max and Liz would make peace of this situation. Max had been punished enough of the past, he deserved to have the love like she and Kyle shared. And Lexie Delaney deserved to have his father's presence in his life.
 
                                                                  *********************************
"Lexie, I don't want you to ever use your powers and expose yourself to save me," Nick lectured his nephew. Liz kept quiet, using the time to think of that one impending question which was no doubt whirling about in her family's minds.
 
"People find you using them and they'll hike you off to NASA," chimed in Josh, at his most solemn. Despite all his devil-may-care attitude, Liz knew that he would do anything to protect his younger, special brother. "You'll spend the rest of your life with tubes stuck up your ass in a glass lab."
 
"I know, I know," Lexie said with a roll of his eyes having heard all this before. "I'll be more careful next time."
 
"You better," his uncle warned. "I won't have you ruining your life because I broke a rib or two. Never use your powers unless it's the more dire of circumstances and only then if it's safe to do so from prying eyes. This may be the Land of the Free, Ace, but there are still some very evil people out there who would do anything to get there hands on a special kid like you."
 
"But I wasn't in any trouble today, was I, Mom?" Lexie cast a probing stare at Liz. "Max won't tell on me...He's my father, isn't he." It was a statement from a boy who was more intuitive than most of his years. Unfortunately, Lexie did not sound thrilled at this disclosure.
 
This was not the way Liz planned to have this particular conversation and the earlier escapade was certainly not how she wanted Lexie and Max to know the truth. Liz was leaning against the kitchen worktop facing the expectant gazes of her three children and her brother-in-law from where they sat around the kitchen table, an incarnate of the Spanish Inquisition.
 
"Yes," Liz said to her disgusted son, "Max Evans is your father."
 
"You sure knew how to damn well pick 'em, Mom," cursed the child, his face downcast at this. Liz resisted the urge to scold him, he had the right to express his opinion and he desrved some leeway in this instance. "What *is* he?"
 
Liz sighed heavily. What was she supposed to say to that? How does one tell their eleven-year-old child that their father wasn't from their planet, wasn't even completely human? It was something which definitely not discussed in all those parenting books she had read in preparation for motherhood.
 
"Is he genetically engineered?" Josh asked. "Or a mutant?"
 
"Is he an alien?" Nathalie piped up.
 
"Don't so dense, Nat, there's no such thing as aliens," Lexie snapped.
 
"Actually, Lex, your sister is right," Liz admitted. Four sets of eyes were suddenly riveted to Liz, each displaying different emotions; Nathalie's amazement, Lexie's horror and the twin scorns of scepticism from Josh and Nick. "It's true, Max isn't quite human, he wasn't even born on this planet. He, Isabel and Michael came here a long time ago."
 
"Why?" Lexie asked, his voice terse but calmer.
 
And so Liz began to tell them everything she knew about Max and the others; their destiny, Tess, the pods. It was liberating sharing this secret after so many years of hoarding it to herself. The only time she ever talked of Max's true heritage was with David when Lexie's powers had begun to manifest at age two. He had been so accepting of her son and the background details of his powers when she had spilled the story to him.
 
Of course, Nick and the other children had always been aware of Lexie's abilities since Liz had never wanted her son to be ashamed of who he was and it would have been too much to expect a child to hide them from everyone. But to this day, in accordance to the promise she made to the podsquad when she first learned of them, only she and David knew where Lexie's powers originated from.
 
Nick ran a hand through his auburn hair when she was finished. "I can't believe this." He couldn't bring himself to say the word. "I mean, I know you said Max wasn't what he seemed and I know Lexie's powers at the extreme but I was always thinking along the lines of faith healing or something...But aliens...?"
 
It was Josh who voiced the question, "So, Mom, does that mean Lexie is some kind of alien too?"
 
"Neat!" clapped a delighted Nathalie, "My brother is an alien!"
 
"Not just an alien but a royal alien." A smirk and the sparkle in Josh's eyes warned Liz that he was about to indulge in some typical elder brother tormenting. "If Max is some kind of king then you must be Prince Lexie."
 
"I'm not a stupid prince!" Lexie made a move to jump on his brother, fortunetly Liz was close enough to put a restrictive hand on his arm. "Mom, am I a freak?"
 
He sounded so young when he spoke, so scared of the consequences of not being fully human. No child, especially a boy nearly reaching his tenuous teens, wanted to be differ from his peers in any way.
 
"No," Liz said, sharply. She reached to pull the child into her arms, bending to his height so they were eye-to-eye. "You will never be a freak, Alexander, *never*. Just because Max comes from another planet, doesn't mean he is much different from us. He hurts, he laughs, he feels and thinks like anybody else. His blood is just a little different."
 
"But what about all these things I can do? Like healing people and changing the shapes of things?"
 
"Those are gifts which you are blessed with. I heal people too, I just do it different. We all have gifts, Lexie, yours and Max's are just a little more special. That different make you a freak. Understand?"
 
The boy sighed. "I guess. Did Dad know? About Max and all?"
 
"Yes, he was my husband and we shared everything, especially something as important as that."
 
"Then why didn't you tell me?"
 
"When you were younger, you couldn't have handled the truth since you were only a little boy. After that, it just got harder and harder to admit the truth."
 
"What did Dad think about me?" This question was mumbled out, Lexie evidently fearing the answer.
 
"What kind of question if that, Lex?" Nick retorted before Liz had the chance to think of a suitable answer. "You know that your dad loved you like he did Josh and Nathalie. Think about this, come to terms with it but don't ever doubt David's love for any of you kids, got it?"
 
The three children nodded obediantly at his atypically gruff tone and Liz shot him a grateful smile. Nick might have been astonished by the circumstances but she never once doubted whether he would stand by her. He was as honourable as David and would had seen her family through much laughter and tears; his devotion would not waver now and she loved him for that much like any sister loved their big brother.
 
Lexie's jaw set stubbornly. "But that doesn't mean I want to see *him*."
 
"Lexie, we need to discuss this," Liz said, not needing to ask who 'him' was. And she was aware that now Max was aware of his newly-discovered paternal role, he would be looking to access with Lexie.
 
"Sorry, Mom," replied Lexie, "but there is no 'we' here. This is all my decision and you can't force me."
 
                                                                  *********************************
A day had passed since the truth behind Lexie's parentage had been revealed and Max had yet to approach them. Liz didn't allow herself to be lulled into a false sense of security; it was only a matter of time before Max came to her, he just needed time to process everything.
 
And so, as she considered the past and the people they were back then, Liz found herself involuntarily drawn to the cemetery and Alex's grave. She had avoided it for long enough and it was time to visit her childhood friend again. Surprisingly, when she finally reached the plot where Alex was buried, it was well tended and free of weeds despite the fact his parents had left town years ago.
 
"Hello, Alex," Liz murmured, kneeling down and laying the bouquet of flowers she had brought for the visit. "So much has happened since you left us but I'm sure you know that. You always did look out for me and Maria..."
 
Liz gazed at the grave stone. When Alex's death was still sinking in twelve years ago, her grief had been distorted with the utter shock that one of her friends had actually died and he was never coming back. Now that grief was tempered with a sadness for a boy, someone who was little more than a child, who would never have the chance to realize his dreams and experience the life that came with marrying and having children. Alex didn't even have the chance to graduate high school.
 
In many ways, his death was what lead Liz to specialise in paediatricts in the first place. For every child that she saved, she was giving those young patients the chance to enjoy the adulthood that was denied for Alex. And every day she watched Lexie flourish, she thought of her old friend and how, in some ways, he lived on in his namesake.
 
Suddenly, Liz became aware of someone approaching behind her and there were no prizes for guessing who that someone was.
 
"I thought I'd find you here," Max said, crouching down beside her.
 
There was a moment of silence in deference to their fallen friend. "He seems so young now," Liz whispered in a barely audible voice, unwilling to break the hush out right.
 
"Yeah...looking back now, we were so young. We knew nothing, hell, we were only kids." A sideways glance to Max showed he wasn't looking at her but his eyes were on the grave stone. "I think he'll always hold a place in Isabel's life, in her past." The way he spoke, it was clear that it was Isabel who had continued to maintain Alex's grave after all this time.
 
"I can understand that," Liz flicked a glance at him.
 
"Is that all I am? Just your past?" Liz sighed. "I think we need to talk about us and about Lexie."
 
"Yes, it's time we do."
 
Bidding goodbye to Alex, the pair stood up and silently walked out of the cemetery together.
 
                                                             *********************************
Back at the Crashdown, they solemnly sat down with coffee, the somber mood such a contrast to the times they had spent here before. Max gazed at Liz, who was toying with her teaspoon and her gaze fixed into her coffee as if the contents of the cup held the secrets of the universe. Clearly, she was waiting for him to make the first move.
 
Inhaling deeply to gather strength for the impending emotional conversation, Max started, "We need to talk about what going to happen now, Liz, especially about Lexie."
 
"What about him?" Liz quizzed, defensively.
 
Max fought the urge to bite back a retort, resorting for a more understanding response. This had to be hard for Liz as it was for him, and at the end of the day she was the one who had struggled through her late teens and early twenties raising their child and dealing with all the complications that came with it.
 
"He's our son, I want to get to know him at least. He's the first proof that me, Is and Michael can have children with humans." The second he spoke the latter statement, Max winced inwardly, knowing those were not what Liz wanted to hear.
 
True to nature, Liz's usually calm features darkened in anger. "God, is that all it ever comes down to? You and your alien-ness?! You know, this is part of the reason I kept away. It was never just about you guys. Maybe in the beginning it was but when I got shot that day Maria, Alex and I were sucked into this almost as much as you were. Alex died for this."
 
"I know, I know that, Liz." He paused, finding the right words. "What I meant was I didn't think it was possible...I didn't think I could father a child. Look at all the problems Michael and Maria are having, they've been trying to start a family for three years and now to find that we can have children, it changes everything."
 
Liz sighed. "I did carry him for close to seven months; I was so scared he was premature but everything went perfectly, he weighed in at eight pounds seven ounces. I had him deliver in some backwater town near the Canadian border in case they tried to trace us or there was going to be problems but Lexie was a hale and healthy baby." She smiled at the thought of her baby son, and Max envied her for the memories. "Of course, we had to leave before the doctors could perform the usual blood tests. It was hard making sure he was fine, never being able to have him checked out at the clinic or worrying about if he made the mistakes of using his power in public."
 
It was disheartening to think of all the problems he had brought Liz. If she could have come to him back then, if he had been more understanding, then Lexie could have grown up knowing his father. Not to mention, it wasn't the first time Max had contemplated all that could have gone wrong. All it took was for one person to suspect what Lexie was and the boy would have been locked up in an FBI lab never to see the light of day.
 
As if sensing his thoughts, Liz smiled grimly, "Don't worry, David and Nick were there to help me, I wasn't alone. Besides, I would rip open the chest and tear out the heart of anyone who comes between me and mine. I wouldn't dare let anyone harm my kids. You shouldn't worry too much."
 
Max smirked, despite the grave situation. "Yes, I believe Nathalie already told me about you being the new Lethal Weapon. But what if the FBI found out?"
 
"I have insiders to warn me if such a thing were to happen." She bit her lip then ploughed ahead. "Max, Nick is a federal agent, he's a pathologist with VICAP. And his father, whose a terrific grandfather to the kids and a good man, is holds a high position in the Bureau also. We're safe with them looking out for us."
 
Yet again, he found himself completely speechless in Liz's company. The fact that she had developed a habit of shocking him since her return was not lost on him. First there was the surprise of her new family then his secret son, and now both an FBI brother-in-law and father-in-law, albeit Nick worked for the violent crimes unit rather than whatever department dealt with stranded aliens?! Max was afraid to ask what else she was hiding. He wasn't sure whether to berate Liz for knowingly bringing an FBI into the pod squad's 'territory' or fearing for the consequences of the enemy knowing the truth.
 
And when he gave some thought to this new development, Max realized he had always sensed Nick was some kind of law enforcement officer. It wasn't an Altarian empathy or anything so extravagant, it was from one cop to another, the way Nick conducted himself was similar to the manner of Max and his colleagues. And from that perspective, Max felt Nick was not some blood-thirsty alien hunter but a guy to be trusted.
 
"Then I know Lexie is in good hands," Max said finally. "I trust him not to let anything happen to you or him...Liz, do you think Lexie would, I dunno, want to do something with me? Go out as a normal father-and-son together for a few hours? I want to get to know him."
 
"Why do you want to see him so much?" From the tone of her voice, it wasn't a demand but rather curiousity. It was no secret any more that in the past Liz had been afraid he would try to kidnap their son and part of him wondered if that fear had not been entirely extinguished. "To replace the son you lost with Tess?"
 
Max shifted uncomfortably, wishing he had been the first to tell her. "You know?"
 
"Isabel and Maria were very forthcoming when I asked about you and Tess."
 
He was beginning to wonder whose sister Isabel really was- his or Liz's. She seemed to receive some form of entertainment having these little chats to Liz, coming away with the information Max had to fight for. For a pair who were never the best of friends in their younger days, it never ceased to amaze him how close they had become now.
 
Feeling Liz's eyes boring into him, Max decided he *wanted* to tell her about his other son, just as special as Lexie, and why he had stuck with Tess for as long as he did. 
 
"Tess found out she was pregnant a few weeks after you left," he said. "It would have been a boy as well, he'd be about the same age as Lexie. Ironically, I wanted to call him 'Alexander' too but Tess was determined he would have a proper Altarian name so he was to be named 'Vaklesh'. The whole argument was for nothing; the baby didn't even live long enough to have a name. He died in the womb, unable to survive on this planet."
 
The fight over the baby's name was when it finally hit Max hard that Tess didn't really love him nor he her, and she was only with him because their destiny dictated her life. This child would have just sealed their life together. But fate saw to it that Max was not to have this son when there was his other little boy named Alexander running around with his true love a thousand miles away.
 
Liz reached over and squeezed his hand gently. "I'm sorry, Max, it must have hurt to lose a child."
 
He wasn't all that surprised at the genuine emotion in her voice. Liz always made an effort to understand him even at the cost of her own welfare. Her self-sacrifices were what brought them to this situation in the first place.
 
They both took a moment to meditate over their thoughts then Liz broke the silence. "I'll talk to Lex, he isn't thrilled with the whole thing just now but I think it's important for you both to spend at least a day together. *But*," she emphasized firmly, "I won't force him nor will I let you take him again if that isn't what he wants. He's only a little boy and I won't have him bullied into something he doesn't want to."
 
"Yes, yes," assured Max, a broad grin gifting his face and a feeling of euphoria rushing through him.
 
He wanted to hug Liz, kiss her for giving him the gift of his son. And he was determined to do the best by Lexie, be the best father a boy could have. He wanted to be a part of this boy's life so much.
 
Smiling faintly at his infectious joy, Liz made a move to leave when Max placed a soft hand on her wrist halting her. He gazed up at her beautiful albeit bewildered face, pondering he could have let her go in the first place.
 
"And what about us?" he asked quietly.
 
Liz slid back down, never shrugging off his grip on her. "I don't know, Max," she said, honestly. "I'm not the girl you once knew."
 
"I know, we've both grown up, but I still..."
 
"You still feel *it*," she completed for him.
 
She didn't need to clarify the 'it' she referred to, Max knew what she meant. In their youth, whenever near Liz, he had always been filled with a warm glow. It wasn't anything sexual as such since the feeling had present even when they were young children, and it had never diminished despite the years they had spent apart. But only now had Liz allowed herself to acknowledge it, giving Max some hope.
 
He nodded. "Liz, I still love you, that's never changed. I...want to try again, this time I won't let anything come between us."
 
"Max, I'm a widower with three young children, I have a lot of baggage that comes with all that. And I live a good thousand miles away. Your home is here in Roswell, and I don't want to come between that." She sighed flicking his hold on her wrist until his hand was held in hers. "We have a son together, maybe that's all we can ever have."
 
She gave his hand one last squeeze then stood up, leaving him sitting there. Max knew she wouldn't come back down until he was gone. Still, re-affirming his vow he took when he first met Liz a few weeks ago, he wasn't going to let Liz go without a fight. Lexie's birth was a sign that he and Liz were supposed to be together just as Zan and Ava had once been together another life. And he would help Liz to see that if it was the last thing he did.
 
                                                                 *********************************
Three days later, after an anxious wait, Liz finally called Max to make the arrangements for his access to Lexie. It had taken much persuading on her part but the boy was willing to spend an afternoon with his new-found father. When Max found out, he didn't know what to do with himself in his sheer excitement. He felt like a little kid on Christmas morning. To further buoy his mood, Michael had phoned him earlier in the morning with the long-awaited news that Maria was pregnant with the child they had been so desperate for.
 
Yet, when he arrived to pick up Lexie later on, he found himself having difficulty not allowing his son's evident dismal mood to weigh him down. Max kept reminding himself the boy just needed to spend some time with him before he felt comfortable. Still, it was hard not to be disheartened as Lexie trudged reluctantly to his squad car and, with a heavy sigh, pulled himself into the vehicle.
 
"Hi, Lexie," Max smiled, giving a quick wave to Liz, who was standing at the doorway of the cafe watching them anxiously.
 
"Yeah, hi," mumbled the boy, pulling out his GameBoy and began playing thus ending any further conversation. The sour scowl marring the boy's cherubic face was enough to curdle the milk.
 
It was an extremely quiet journey to the small Pizza Hut where Max had chosen to treat the boy. Lexie was entirely focused on his game, sparing no time for his father, leaving Max to fidget in his seat. He had dealt with children before in his line of work, many of them scared and had trouble trusting strangers. But at the end of the day, he was able to hand them over to social services or back to their parents. It was a completely different situation when the child was his son, the pressure to make it work was immense.
 
Inside the restaurant, the lull between them continued. There were so many questions Max wanted to ask his son; what did he like doing, did he play sports, did he like school, was he popular with his peers? But the fear of scaring Lexie off kept the words from forming.
 
It was only when the waitress came over for their orders, forcing Lexie to look up when Max noticed something different about the boy. The thin-rimmed glasses so customarily gracing Lexie's face were missing and the boy appeared slightly older in their absence.
   
"Where's your glasses?" Max asked.
 
"Mom says don't need them if I'm with you," was the muttered reply, barely heard over the irritating music of 'Tetris'.
 
Max frowned at Lexie's odd statement. "Don't you have problems seeing?"
 
"No, I don't have vision problems. Mom makes me wear the glasses as a reminder not to use my powers."
 
His Liz was always a smart one, Max would have to pass that idea along to Michael and Maria. "It can't be easy hiding it," Max commented. He himself remembered the self-restraint it took not to use his powers as a child.
 
"Mmm..." Lexie replied, disinterested.
 
"I mean, there was three of us and it was difficult enough, especially keeping my parents out of the picture."
 
At this, Max finally found something to pique the boy's attention. Lexie, his brow furrowed, place his GameBoy down. "You never told your parents? Why not?"
 
"I don't know." It was something Max considered after the whole Tess-fiasco and something he deeply regretted. Maybe his life wouldn't have become such a mess in the first place if he had confided in his parents when young. "I suppose it was different for us because I was an adopted child, but I should have told them as soon as I learnt they could be trusted."
 
"Do they know now?"
 
"Yes, Isabel and I finally told them...after an incident." It was after Tess lost their son that he and Isabel plucked up the courage to tell their parents but those weren't details he wanted to share with an eleven-year-old boy. "But I'm glad that your mom has always known, you don't have to tell the lies that I did. You shouldn't be afraid or ashamed of who you are if you trust somebody, you should be proud of your powers."
 
"Yeah, Dad said that if Clark Kent could do it then I could do it ten times better. That's where Mom got the idea of wearing the glasses. If I had them on then I couldn't use my powers and I was only allowed to take them off at home if it was just us."
 
It hurt to hear Lexie refer to his stepfather as 'dad' but Max kept his opinions to himself. "Well, your mom was always the smart one out of us."
 
"If you think she's cool then why did you go off with another girl?" Lexie asked, his eyes fixed on Max awaiting his response. "I mean, you act like you like my mom but you got married to that Tess girl, didn't you?"
 
"Er..." He hadn't expected Lexie to know the events leading up to his and Liz's breakup. "How did you know about that?"
 
"I know what you did, I have eyes and ears y'know..."
 
"Yes, so I noticed. Well, Lexie, I was young at the time and I did some stupid things." Some *very* stupid things. "Leaving Liz was one of them and marrying a woman I didn't love was another."
 
"You hurt my mom. You left her alone and she was pregnant. It's bad when dads' leave their kids."
 
"It is." What could he say to that? In many ways, it was his fault that Lexie grew up without knowing his real father. "I wish more than anything that things could have been different when you were growing up, that I could have known you as a baby."
 
Lexie shrugged, uncaring. "Doesn't matter really. Dad was great and he did stuff with me just like he did with Josh and Nat. He said I was his kid as much as the others."
 
"That's good then," Max said in a soft voice. He more than appreciated the love David Delaney showed Lexie but picking his son up when he fell and tucking him in bed at night were fatherly activities *he* had the right to.
 
The conversation slowly drifted to baseball (Lexie, he learned, was an avid player) and television with Max eagerly trying to soak in eleven years worth of information on his new son. There was so much he had missed but Liz had raised a wonderful child in Lexie and instilled a sense of loyalty and confident in their son. Somehow, he couldn't see Tess coping as well with teenage motherhood as Liz had.
 
As the afternoon came to an end, their table scattered with plates of left-over pizza and bowls of melted ice cream, Max was already desperate to do it again. He enjoyed Lexie's company as much as he did Josh and Nathalie's and, Liz obliging, he was more than ready to repeat the afternoon some time soon, perhaps with the rest of the Delaney Clan.
 
He smiled the smile of an amused father as he watched Lexie stir his discarded bowl of melted ice cream and tabasco sauce (there was no denying the boy's parentage now!) into a pinkish soup. "I was thinking, maybe next time you could spend the night at my house-" Max was about to include Josh and Nathalie in the offer when he noticed Lexie stiffen, the familiar dubiousness once again creeping across his face.
 
"Mom was right," he spat out. The boy swiftly slid out from his seat and jumped to his feet, his stance rigid but ready to split at the first sign of trouble. "I know what you're planning! I spend the night with you a few times then one morning I wake up on some far-off planet surrounded by little green men with you and your Tess pretending to be my parents."
 
Max was stunned by this sudden outburst just when things were going so well. "I don't want to kidnap you." He tried to pull his son closer but the boy backpedaled from reach.
 
"No, I heard Mom say she was scared you'd do this. Well, I'll die before I let you take me to your damned planet." The boy had the sense to keep his voice low but the sharp vehemence in his usually soft timbre made Max wince as each word cut into him. "Take me home! Take me home or I'll phone the FBI. I'd rather be stuck in some lab than let you have your stupid destiny."
 
Max opened his mouth to protest against what he knew was spiel that came from overheard conversations and bits of information pieced together incorrectly by a frightened child. Lexie shook his head sharply.
 
"Just take me home. I want my mom."
 
When the boy spoke, his voice shook slightly, and his hazel eyes were wide with vulnerability and fear...fear of Max. A father should never have to look in his child's eyes and see the fear he saw in Lexie. He choked back his own tears and nodded slowly.
 
"Come on, I'll take you home, Lexie. You don't have to scared of me."
 
Lexie never answered, just followed his father back to the car, the rest of the journey traveled in silence. Not the sulky silence of before but a hush influenced by a deeply hurt man and his bewildered child.
 
                                                                  *********************************
Liz knew instantly that the afternoon reunion between father-and-son had not gone as she and Max had hoped when Lexie came rushing up into the quiet cafe and sprinted off into the back without a word, Max stalking in behind him.
 
"Why does my kid hate me?" he demanded, following as Liz moved into the kitchen to avoid nosy eavesdropping customers.
 
"What?" Liz asked in confusion. Sure, Lexie could be as closed-mouthed and recalcitrant as Michael used to be but the boy was never hateful.
 
"He seems to have me painted as some kind of child kidnapper in cahoots with Tess. Tell me, Liz, where would be get such an idea?"
 
"I don't know but not from me. I never said anything of the such to Lexie." If anything, Liz had always portrayed Max as a guy who was oblivious to his son's existence, at least to Lexie. Although in the early days, she admitted she did express her fear of what Max was capable of to David and Nick. With a sigh, she confessed it to Max adding, "But Lexie was a baby then, if he did overhear he wouldn't have rememebered. I don't know where he got this whole kidnapping thing from."
 
He pulled a chair over from the desk and sat down heavily. "He doesn't have a high opinion of me, does he? I don't know what's worse- you telling Lexie that you think I would take him from you or that he has formulated these thoughts all by himself?"
 
As much as she felt it was Max's own doing he never knew about Lexie's birth, Liz wished relations between her son and his father could be smoother. She couldn't blame the boy for being dubious though. While discovering his new status as a father was hard for Max, Lexie found it difficult to move past the concept of having any other man except David as his father.
 
"It isn't personal, Max, Lexie can be very stubborn. How can he hate you if he doesn't really know you properly? Just think of him as a bit like a little version of Michael."
 
Max snorted at this. "We all know what Michael felt about Hank, don't we?" He paused. "Will you let me have him again? I need to speak to him about this, he needs to know me properly." Liz wondered how to frame her next answer and her hesitation didn't escape his notice. It was then he took in the three full backpacks that lay under the desk. "Taking a trip?"
 
Well, it had to happen sometime. She couldn't keep this from Max much longer. "Max, we're going home the day after tomorrow," she explained gently. "The girl my parents hired as manager can cope with things until my folks get back. We've been here a while and it's time we were heading back to Miami. The kids start back in school soon and I do have a job there too."
 
His eyes betrayed his hurt and confusion. "But I thought we were going to try and make a go of things...?" It wasn't a statement but a question. Even as a teenager, Max always spoke with confidence and certainty of the leader he was expected to be, now he sounded like a man who had his life taken away from him.
 
"We live a thousand miles apart," Liz said, swallowing back her own misery. "It would never work, however much we want things to."
 
"What about Lexie?"
 
"He'll be coming with me," she said, firmly. There would be no debate on that and she just hoped Max wouldn't make her regret the decision of bringing Lexie to Roswell. "Maybe for the holidays he could come and stay with you but I'm his mother and he belongs with me in Miami."
 
Max stood up and edged away. "I'd better go." He seemed so lost.
 
"I'll come see you before we go, maybe Lexie will come too *if* he wants."
 
He gave a baleful nod. "Mmm...I'll be seeing you."
 
When he was gone, Liz sank down into the chair, her head coming to rest heavily in her hands. She wanted so much for them to pick off where they left off, to become a couple then eventually a family. However, maybe she was wrong and had expected too much. Perhaps, they had simply grown apart and left whatever the close bond they had shared as kid twelve years in the past, to remain forever untouchable.
 
Liz was surprised to feel a wetness running down her cheek, reaching up to touch her tears. Finally, after weeks of forcing back her emotions and suppressing them for the sake of the children, sobs shook her thin form and a dam of emotions broke inside her.
 
                                                                 *********************************
"So, that's it? You just give up and let Liz leave you again. Have you learned nothing from the past?"
 
Max wondered if it was legal to kill one's best friend on grounds of their irritating logic. He had come to Michael hoping for a beer and some sympathy. Instead, Michael led him into the sanctuary of his large backyard where he proceeded to ream Max out for being a coward when it came to matters regarding Liz Parker.
 
"You want me to fight for custody of Lexie?" Max asked, like a little schoolboy seeking his father's permission. He hated that he, a leader of a planet, felt so powerless now.
 
In his anger, Max had considered forcing the issue with Liz. He didn't want to lose either Liz, Lexie or the other two children yet, while he had no say over what Liz did, he did have some rights over his son. He could have a lawyer demand his legal rights of a father in court but at what cost? Certainly Liz's friendship and perhaps even his and Lexie's freedom. He didn't know if he was on the birth certificate and in order to prove he was the father then he would need DNA tests, not an option in this case.
 
Michael shot his best friend a withering look. "You know as well I do you'll lose. No court is going to give you custody over an eleven-year-old kid who wants nothing to do with you and while you might be given some vacation access, you'll never see Josh or Nathalie again if you try. Anyway, you know you would never do that to Liz...not after all she had done for us."
 
It was true, he was indebted to Liz and truer still, he could never hurt Liz again.
 
"Then what do you want me to do?" The fact that Max was asking Michael's advice when previously he would have stubbornly done whatever he felt worked was not lost on either man.
 
Michael regarded him with penetrative eyes. "Liz brought the boy here for a reason, she let you into her family and allowed you close to her. If you don't start letting go of our 'destiny', you're going to lose both her and Lexie."
 
"This is a change, usually you were the one to keep on about being different, that we have an obligation to Altar."
 
"Don't make this about me, Maxwell. Yes, I used to think that way but things have changed. I have a life here, a wife and a baby on the way. I won't ever risk them, not for Altar and not for some damned destiny I didn't ask for." He moved forward to take Max at arms-length from him. "What I have with Maria is something you can have with Liz and the kids. You just have to want it enough to leave and let go of our past. Isabel had to do it when it came to letting Alex rest and now it's your turn. Whoever sent us here sure as hell let go and it's time you do the same."
 
"Grow up, Max," Michael said, not in his mocking tones instead stern and serious, "grow up and fight for a stake in your own future."
 
                                                                 *********************************
Early the following morning, Max marched over to the Crashdown filled with resolution, determined to once and for all make Liz see he had changed for the better and he wanted to make things work between them no matter what. By the time he entered the cafe and faced a surprised Liz, all his previous convictions oozed away leaving him exposed and feeling like a stuttering adolescent on a first date.
 
"Max, what are you doing here?" Liz asked, setting down breakfast for the three children.
 
Max glanced to where the children sat. Their eyes were fixed on their plates but he knew their ears were pricked into the adult's conversations. Still, what he had to say concerned them too.
 
"We need to talk," he said.
 
"This isn't the time, Max," Liz replied, her eyes darting to the kids.
 
"If not now then when?" he pleaded. "Liz, it's time we get this all out in the open. We've both been hiding in the past and, I don't know about you, but I'm sick of it. We *need* to talk."
 
When Max raised his voice slightly, ever the protective son, Lexie quickly jumped to his mother's defence. "Don't shout at my mom."
 
"Son, I wasn't shouting at your mother, I was-"
 
"Don't call me 'son'," interjected the boy, "I'm not your son, I have a dad. Just 'cause he's dead, doesn't mean I don't love him."
 
Anything Max might have said died on his lips when he took in the pallid small face of his son.
 
He looked at the boy properly and suddenly realized where all this hostility and anger came from. When he himself was ten or eleven and just beginning to comprehend what he was, Max's nightmare had not been that of scientists experiment on him but of going back to his homeplanet, of his real parents coming for him. For no matter what his DNA said, in his mind and heart his parents were, and always would be, Diana and Phil Evans. Nothing would change that and he would fight tooth-and-nail with anyone who would try to convince him otherwise.
 
And just as Diana and Phil were his parents because they were the ones who held him when he cried, picked him up when he fell and had ultimately raised him to be the man he was today, David Delaney occupied that role in Lexie's life.
 
It hurt him, like it would any loving father, to realise that his son would never fully be his no matter what Max did. But he had to let go, it was the right thing to do. Never let it be said Max Evans didn't learn his lessons; twelve years ago, he had learnt the hard way that the world didn't revolve around him when he thought his could put his godforsaken homeworld before Liz. This time he would not put his selfish needs before that of Lexie.
 
Kneeling down in front of the child, Max pursed his lips in thought. "Lexie, I would never try to take the place of your father. I know that you love him and that he loved you and I wouldn't take that away from you. All I want is to know you a little, maybe spend a day with you. I don't expect you to call me 'dad' or anything, that's a very special word but I want you to know who I am."
 
As Lexie mulled over this, Nathalie timidly asked, "You aren't going to try and take Lexie away?"
 
"Of course not, I love him and I know he would be hurt if I did that."
 
"Where did you guys get this idea anyway?" Liz asked, curiously.
 
"We read it in your journals," Josh answered, matter-of-factly and not in the least ashamed. "It said that you were scared Max would steal Lex and take him away to Czechoslovakia, which must be code for Mars or wherever he comes from."
 
"You shouldn't go sneaking in my old journals, those were private," Liz scolded lightly. "But since you have, you all have to remember that I was very young when I wrote them."
 
"You were seventeen," pointed out Lexie.
 
Despite the intensity of the moment, both Max and Liz couldn't help but exchange a smile at this. They had forgotten that to an eleven-year-old kid being seventeen was of a vast age and maturity.
 
"Yes, I was but things are so different when you're a teenager, Josh. I was scared when I wrote in the journals, I've learnt a lot since then. I trust Max."
 
It felt good to hear Liz say that. She'd been so cool and unreadable since she had come back to Roswell, he was never sure what she was thinking.
 
It was Josh who asked the all important question. "What's gonna happen now?"
 
The adults turned to each other and it was Liz who responded, "Well, you'll see Max when we come visit Grandma and Grandpa during the vacation and maybe he can come visit us in Miami."
 
"But I'll miss him," Nathalie said, her sweet tone bringing a smile to Max.
 
And it was Max's turn to spring the surprise on Liz. "They won't have to miss me if I came with you." It was vaguely amusing to see Liz's jaw drop to her knees as know doubt his had on more than a few occasions during this impromptu reunion. "I'm not saying I'd move in with you, I'd get my own flat and that, but this would give us a real chance to start again what I wrecked twelve years ago and I'd get to see the kids."
 
"What about your job?" Liz asked, always the practical one, "What would you do in Miami? And what about Isabel and Michael?"
 
"I am trained as a cop, I'd get a position in the Miami force and I know Jim Valenti would give me a good reference. And as for Isabel and Michael, we're not tied to each, we have our own lives to lead." He moved closer to Liz, sensing she was beginning to crumble. "Please, Liz, I want to do this, I want to try again. But I won't do anything if this isn't what you want."
 
Liz gazed at him, her deep brown eyes reaching deep into his soul. The silence in the room was deafening as even the children were hushed. Max wondered what thoughts passed behind those brown orbs of his childhood girlfriend.
 
Slowly, Liz bridged the gap separating them and clasp his hand. "If you're sure about this, Max, then I think it's time we move forward...together." She smiled warmly as she emphasized the last word.
 
Max grinned, pulling her into her arms. Over her shoulders, Josh gave him a smile and Nathalie did a little dance of happiness. Lexie frowned briefly then nodded faintly at his father, the blessing Max was dearly hoping for. And after twelve years of cold loneliness, they both moved forward, almost hesitantly. Liz slowly lifted her free hand  to smooth over Max's cheek. All their awkwardness and tentativeness flew out the window as his lips grazed over Liz's...
 
It felt...wow! They had kissed many a time during their teenage relationship nonetheless it felt different now. A typical adolescent boy, Max had always worried he wouldn't come up to scratch, that he wouldn't impress Liz with his kissing technique. Now he just enjoyed the intimacy and sensation of being close to Liz after nearly losing her a second time.
 
However, if his inner child was still anxious about his 'performance' then it was for nothing judging by the glowing tint and content smile gracing Liz's beautiful face. Their gazes remained fused until the moment was broken by Nathalie's giggles. Self-consciously, they both blushed and put some space between them though neither made a move to release the other's hand.
 
"Uh, so are you sure you want to do this?" Liz asked, her eyes probing as if trying to discern if he was ready for such a move. "You don't have to do this just for me, I don't want you to be miserable."
 
"I would never be miserable if I'm with you," he reassured quickly, "And this is something I should have done twelve years ago."
 
She flashed him another quick smile then nodded. "Then we'll be seeing you in a couple of weeks."
 
"I'll be there," he promised.
 
Nothing would stop him from following Liz to Miami, nothing.
 
"Well, I'd better go," he said, grudgingly, as the cafe began to fill up with the pre-school time rush.
 
"Don't stay away too long."
 
"Never." That vow wouldn't be too difficult.
 
Reluctantly, Max stepped back and made his way out of the Crashdown. He could feel himself beaming like a man who'd won the lottery and, with his mind preoccupied with thoughts of Liz and his impending relocation, he accidentally bumped into an extremely beguiled Nick.
 
"Not bad, lover boy," he said with a wicked smirk, "one day and already she has your heart."
 
Max had been so certain of Nick's opposition to his relationship with Liz, given that his brother was Liz's husband and the man obviously placed loyalty high on his priorities. Yet, now Nick's tone was almost congratulatory not to mention when the situation regarding Lexie's parentage had blown up, he had not beaten Max to a pulp like expected instead opting for not interfering with the couple's problems. Perhaps, Max had pegged him wrong and he was just looking out for Liz much as the way Max looked out for Is.
 
"She always had my heart," Max replied honestly, taking a risk to see how the other would react.
 
Nick seemed divided between goading Max for being such a romantic and acting his age by complimenting the new couple. He decided on the latter. "It's about time you both did something then, I've never met such a stubborn pair in my life. Now there's no danger of little green men coming down and beaming you both away, is there?"
 
Max arched his eyebrow at a question asked only half-jokingly. "No, I don't see that happening, Nick."
 
"Good 'cause my jurisdiction doesn't extend to ET territory."
 
"And you won't be informing the Men In Black about my 'differences'?" Max questioned, equally as serious as Nick's. This was the first time he had actually referred to Nick's job with the FBI, an organisation he'd come to fear, and he needed to know for sure that he could trust this man with his life and the lives of the others, including his son.
 
"No," Nick said, now sober, "I wouldn't do that to Bethy, Lexie...or you. You're gonna be looking out for my Godkids now and I need you intact." He reached into his pocket, pulling out a laminated card which he handed to Max. "A friend of mine is in the real estate, he's got some good deals going, especially in the area Beth lives. Check him out when you come to Miami."
 
"Thanks," Max said, truly grateful and not in the least surprised that Nick knew of his intentions, "I really appreciate this." He tucked the card securely in his breast pocket and strolled over his squad car when Nick stopped him.
 
"Maxwell?" When he turned, the other man's lips upturned in a humourless smile. "If you hurt her again, not even all the voodoo magic powers in this world and all others will protect you from me and my Smith and Wesson." Max didn't expect any less.
 
                                                           *********************************
NINE MONTHS LATER...
As it was, Nick never found cause to use his gun. As a result of Max's move to Miami, his relationship with Liz flourished with a newfound devotion and a maturer love. Despite having his own flat a few blocks away, he found himself spending more and more time at Liz's home not with any objections.
 
Of course, it wasn't all plain sailing. He and Liz's first inclination was to rush into their relationship but they soon found that such an approach was doomed to failure. Much as changed and there were too many difficulties in pursuing an adult relationship when they were basing their reconciliation on the children they were. Instead, they allowed their bonds to re-grow naturally and gradually they found what they were both looking for in each other and their relationship.
 
Also, Max was now not only the parent to one son but the honourary parent to teenage boy and one sweet-face little girl, a precarious role for anybody especially when he was filling the shoes of the late David Delaney, an exemplary husband and father.
 
The three children he'd met in Roswell were only the outer shells of a very complex trio. In Miami, when the children began to see him as a permanent fixture in their lives, he was treated to Nathalie's tantrums, subjected to Josh's disruptive pranks and Lexie's tendency to use his computer for illegal purposes. He coped with it all, treading the thin line of being a father and fearing that in the childrens' eyes he was trying to replace David completely.
 
Still, when Max was greeted with a warm hug or found them captured in the innocence of sleep, he knew he wouldn't give up parenthood for anything. When, on Father's Day, his efforts was rewarded when he was presented with a huge card from his troop, a gesture so touching Max- alien leader and hardened cop- felt the sting of tears in his eyes. Then, for the last month or so, Nathalie had started to occasionally refer to Max as 'Dad', he felt as if world peace had been declared. He knew it would be a long time before the boys followed suit, if they ever did, but just hearing the word from one child was enough.
 
And when things were bad, he always took perverse pleasure in the knowledge he was not suffering alone. Back in Roswell, Michael and Maria were delighting in the joys of dirty nappies, pre-dawn feeds and constant howling courtesy of their two-month-old daughter Kasey Louise.
 
"What are you grinning at?" Liz asked playfully, entering the living room carrying two mugs of hot cocoa.
 
Max's satanic smirk eased into a smile of sheer joy. "Nothing, just thoughts," he replied, placing his arm around her as she snuggled down beside him.
 
"What thoughts? Am I allowed to know?"
 
"About us, things like that."
 
"Any regrets?"
 
"No, no regrets," he replied, kissing her forehead.
 
How could he? His only regrets were that he left things for so long, he could have been with his Liz for twelve years longer. But, Max had learned not to live in the past and he just appreciated his second chance which Liz had bestowed him. She had given him so much; her love, a family, a life without isolation. And in return, he would remain with by her side for eternity if he could.
 
Denied for too long, Max had taken finally his destiny into his own hands and he liked how things were playing out. He was determined to enjoy every moment of his second chance with Liz and his family and this time nothing, no-one would be allowed to interfere. It was true what they said, 'some bonds were never meant to be broken'...
 
 
 
                    THE END (OR A NEW BEGINNING?)
 
 
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I hoped you liked this, it's my first (though hopefully not last) effort in the 'Roswell' universe. Please email me with your thoughts on this story, it'd be great to hear from any readers!