ForcedTogetherpart26

�Ohhhh, the weather outside is frightful and�� Maria stopped in mid song when she heard her daughter wailing through the baby monitor causing her to run into the living room to check on her.

�Emma baby, what�s wrong?� Maria asked as she lifted her little girl out of her cradle and rocked her gently in her arms.

She had to laugh when her baby smiled and reached out a chubby hand to latch onto a clump of her hair. �Oh no you don�t.� Maria cooed happily to her daughter as she went over and sat on the quilt she had on the floor for her to play with Emma on.

�Hey Maria, I�m home.� Michael called out from the kitchen.

�In here. Could you please come and keep your daughter occupied so that I can finish frosting the cake for the party at the inn?� She asked as she watched Michael come into the room.

�I think I can handle that.� Michael said as he joined them on the quilt, kissing both his girls hello.

�Thank you.� Maria said as she got up and headed back into the kitchen. Smiling to her self as she heard Michael begin to tell his daughter all about his day.

�Hey, I talked to Karen and her, Peter and Josh are going to be able to go tonight. Seems the sheriff said that he could just be on call.� She shouted so that she could be heard from two rooms away.

�Cool, I was hoping he could talk the sheriff into that. I haven�t see to much of Karen lately, it�ll be nice to see them together.� He shouted back.

�Oh I think Karen feels you�ve seen too much of her. She�s still mortified that you walked in on them and she would never admit it, but she�s been avoiding you because of it.� Maria said with a laugh.

Up until a month ago her best friend and her husband had been going through a rough time. Maria had spent a lot of time talking with the other woman, trying to help her with her problems. Realizing how ironic it was considering not to long ago the tables were turned and Karen was helping Maria.

It broke her heart to see her friend get upset. The worst was at first she didn�t realize that there were problems in the marriage. It was hard to tell because Karen was the type of person who always addressed her problem with a snappy comment and a vicious joke.

It wasn�t until her and Michael were getting ready to �renew� their vows that Maria truly understood how bad things were with the other couple. What she had thought were just jokes about lack of sex and their inability to talk became something she couldn�t just joke about without getting emotional.

The next few weeks after the ceremony, before Emma was born and then the weeks following her birth the women spent even more time together discussing Karen�s problem. She couldn�t believe how quickly it seemed her friend�s marriage was going off course, but the day after Emma�s six week birthday they had a breakthrough.

Maria still teased Karen about getting caught fooling around with Peter by Michael and Josh that rainy day. She never realized how happy she could be for someone else until Michael came rushing in ranting about what he had saw. She had to laugh as he tried to appear disgusted but knew deep down inside he was as relieved as she was.

Later Karen told her how her and Peter talked about everything that had been bothering them. It seemed that the �hummer� didn�t sit to well with Peter and that he felt betrayed and a little threatened that she would need a machine to satisfy her urges. She confessed to him that she thought he didn�t find her as attractive as before, that maybe having Josh had turned him off or something.

So after much debate and a noble argument by Karen to try and get Peter to let her use the �hummer� during sex. It was agreed that Karen would get rid of her little toy, her and Peter would try something more conventional; yet playful, in the sex department and Peter swore that he wouldn�t let what was bothering him eat at him and take it out on her.

Now it was Christmas Eve and everything seemed to be good in their lives. Her and Michael were happy, they had an amazing little girl they adored. Their best friends were on the road back to a happy marriage and all their other friends were healthy and happy.

Maria finished icing the cake she was bringing to the party and went into the living room.
�I�m gonna hope in the shower, we have to be at the inn in an hour or so.� She called out as she ran past Michael before he could yank her down for a little play time of their own.

�Hey, what�s the hurry.� He shouted as he flopped down and laid his head next to Emma. �Your Mommy is evil, I guess no pre party nookie for Daddy.� He told his daughter who smiled and gurgled happily to her father.

�You still love me don�t you angel?� Michael cooed to his little girl as he picked her up and laid her little body against his and rubbed her back gently, soon both father and daughter were fast asleep.

************************************************************************

�Wasn�t midnight mass nice?� Maria asked as everyone filed out of church.

�I�ll say, Pastor Plum said a beautiful sermon.� Karen agreed as she took Peter�s hand in hers.

�I can�t believe it�s already Christmas morning.� Ruthie said as she accepted Michael arm to help her down the stairs of the church.

�Hey, I have an idea. Why doesn�t everyone come back to the cottage. I have muffins and coffee cake, I could brew a pot of coffee. We could watch the sun come up over the water.� Maria suggested.

�Sounds like a great idea, I mean we won�t be able to do this next year because Josh will be into Santa.� Karen agreed as she reached up and ran a finger along her son�s check as he slept against his father�s shoulder.

�Well I guess were heading back to the cottage then.� Jeanie said as she looked at her younger son Marc who shook his head yes to the idea.

Maria and Karen brought their children upstairs to the nursery. Maria placed Emma in her crib and Karen placed Josh in the bed that Maria had sleep in her first month when they moved in.

Soon they joined their husbands, Ruthie, Jeanie, Marc and the sheriff who they had run into on their way to the parking lot of the church and insisted that they join him for coffee and something to eat.

Everyone was laughing and eating and unfortunately no one heard Josh call out for his mommy. Michael and the rest of the men were in the living room watching a hockey game on ESPN when suddenly they heard a cry. Peter and Michael were the first out to the hallway, just in time to see Josh hitting his head on the last step of the stairs.

�JOSHIE!� Peter screamed as he saw his son lying on the floor, his left arm broken at the elbow with the bone painfully cutting through his flesh. Peter quickly ran over to the hysterical child as he shouted to the sheriff and Michael to get the car so they could rush his son to the hospital.

Karen came sprinting in from the kitchen and couldn�t help crying when she saw her son laying on the floor at the bottom of the stairs and quickly knelt down next to Peter. �It�s gonna be ok sweetie, you�re gonna be alright.� Karen whispered soothingly as she wiped some blood off her baby�s chin where he had cut it when he fell.

Both parents were so consume with worry for their child they didn�t notice Michael kneeling across from them or heard him urge their son to look at him. It was the gasp from Ruthie and Jeanie that caught their attention and watched in awe as Michael gently grasped Josh�s arm and suddenly a whitish/blueish light was illuminating from the hand that was holding the injured arm.

The bone that had been sticking out was now back in place and the jagged torn tissue was mended complete. Everyone stood in shook as they watched Michael run his hand over Josh�s body and left it in some places longer than others until the boy was sitting up and hugging his mother who rocked him in her arms.

Michael sat back and rested against the wall. Maria ran over to him and helped him sit up when she saw that he was weak from the healing and had started to fall over. �Michael are you alright?� She asked anxiously.

�Yeah, oh God there was so much damage.� He said as he felt sick when he realized that not only did the child have a broken leg but had three broken ribs too, one had also punctured one of his lungs as well as four broken vertebras.

Peter ran his hand over his son before he stood up and helped Karen stand up as she cradled Josh. He lead her over to the couch and turned to see the sheriff and Marc help Michael up and into the living room and placed him on the couch across from Peter and his family.

�What are you?� Peter asked as he watched Maria hand Michael a glass of water, noticing how the couple exchanged a look of despair.

Michael and Maria looked around the room, looking into the faces of their friends. They saw the look of shock on all their face. They also saw a hint of fear, fear of them. Michael looked at Maria who smiled sadly and said. �They deserve to know.�

So taking a deep breath Michael began telling their friends the story of how he awoke in a pod. Of the other two who were with him when he awoke. Of watching the other two being picked up. Of wandering the desert alone until he was found and placed into foster care. Of finally finding the other two and building a family with them. Of watching his brother expose him and his sister to save Maria friend. Of Maria and her friend joining in the conspiracy of the alien heritage. Of going away with his brother, sister, Maria and her friend. Of seeing the FBI invading the cottage they were staying in. And finally of him and Maria running in fear for their lives and settling on the island creating Michael and Maria Gulliver.

The rest of the early morning was spent answering questions. Maria and Michael told them everything and couldn�t help feeling ashamed as they saw the look of fear replaced with a look of hurt, hurt from being lied to for over a year.

The sun had already risen and everyone felt the tiredness consume them. They all agreed as the sheriff stood up and said. �I don�t think we can digest anymore. Why don�t we all go home and get some sleep and think about what you told us.�

Peter stood up and walked over to Michael, holding his hand out to the other man. �Thank you for saving my son�s life. I don�t know how I feel about everything you just told us and like the sheriff said I think we all need time to think about it. I just want you to know, you and your family are safe here. No one will reveal you to the feds.�

�Thank you. I know we betray you and everybody trust and I am sorry about lying to you.� Michael said quietly.

The sheriff walked over and stood next to Peter. �Peter�s right, we won�t reveal you but saying I�m sorry isn�t going to make everything magically alright.� He said to the young man who hung his head in shame.

�Yes sir.� He heard Michael whispered as he saw the boy try desperately not to cry. The boy, only a few short hours ago he saw Michael as a man with a family and now he saw a boy who carried more on his shoulder than he should have too.

�We�ll talk later today. I�ll be by this afternoon, go get some sleep.� He commanded softly as he patted Michael on the shoulder before leaving.

Michael turned in time to see Maria cry softly as both Ruthie and Jeanie expressed their disappointment in her and Michael. He watched as Karen knelt down and gave Maria a light kiss on the cheek and heard her softly say. �We�re all pissed, but that doesn�t mean we don�t love you, Michael and Emma. We just need time to adjust to this. I�ll call you in a day or so, we can get together and talk.�

He watched as Maria shook her head and saw Peter gather his son and ushered his wife, mother, brother and Ruthie outside leaving Michael and Maria alone to think about what now lays ahead of them now that their secret is out.

TBC