PART 15


Max woke up to Michael’s frantic tapping on the car window. He sat up and opened the door.


“What is it Michael?”


He was whispering. He didn’t want to wake Liz up. She was having enough problems already. He had known that it would be hard. An Antarian-Human pregnancy? Who knew how it would be? What it would cause? A normal pregnancy was hard enough for a woman and Liz’s was multiplied by a million.


They had no clue about how the pregnancy was going. At home, they had planned everything. They’d had their own lab to examine the progress day by day. But now it was all miles back in Albuquerque and they knew nothing except that it was growing fast. Really fast.


The baby was growing in almost a triple rate. Liz was huge and she was only three months along. Max never voiced his worries near her but he feared that she would go into labor any time now. He was prepared to do it himself but being on the road, in a car with hardly any medical equipment present… He had healing abilities but if anything should go wrong he could lose Liz or the baby or both.


“I need the car. I need to find a phone.”


Michael’s face was contorted in pain. Max panicked. Michael was sick? He was never sick!


“What’s wrong? Let me heal you. What happened? Are you hurt?”


Michael shook his head. He wasn’t hurt. There was nothing wrong with him. The pain had been there all night but now it was getting out of hand. And if what he suspected was right, he didn’t have any more time ignoring it.


“Nothing is wrong, I need to make a phone call.”


“Michael you’re in pain!” Max protested as his brother started the car.


“Not mine Maxwell… It’s not mine.”


- - -


Michael was getting fidgety after an hour of driving. Where the hell was the civilization? They had passed three gas stations but none of them had any working phones. How the hell could those people live like that?


“Why don’t we have a cell Maxwell?” Michael was sitting in the passenger seat, his knees drawn to his chest, his forehead resting on the cool glass.


“Cause they are traceable?” Max offered. He had given up long ago asking him what the hell they were doing. Now he was just trying to calm him down.


“And how do we know those stupid aliens can trace phones? They are not the FBI you know.”


“Well Michael, it was you bright idea to leave the phones in the first place.”


“When did you start listening to my suggestions Maxwell? You never listen. And now, when I suggest something stupid, you don’t even question it…”


Max had every intention of killing him if he uttered one more word, but Michael was saved by the bright lights of a diner on the roadside.


“Okay, go on and make your call, I’m waiting.” But Michael was already out the door and running.


- - -


Kyle jumped from the couch where he fell asleep watching TV. He tried to reach for the stupid purple phone without getting up but he ended up on the floor instead. F-uck! Who the hell was that in the middle of the night?


He finally got himself off the floor and grabbed the receiver. “Yeah?”


A frantic voice greeted him. “Kyle is that you?”


“Yeah. Who the hell…… Guerin?”


“Where’s Maria?” Kyle was officially confused now. It felt like the opening scene of a horror movie. They just lacked the soundtrack.


“Sleeping?”


“Go, check her!”


His orders were pissing Kyle off. “What the f-uck is your problem?”


“Kyle, go check her! She’s not okay!”


Kyle wanted to ask him how the hell did he know but something in his voice stopped him. Something he had never heard in Michael Guerin’s voice before. Something too much like desperation.


“Hang on.”


Michael sighed with relief. At least he could reach her. He didn’t want to think what he would do if he couldn’t find her. He probably would run all the way to LA. Running was good, it was a good way to contain his worries and to keep unwanted thoughts away.


He leaned his forehead to the cold wall and shut his eyes. Beads of sweat trickled down his temples and neck, making him shiver. He silently prayed and held his breath, both dreading and anticipating Kyle’s return.


- - -


Kyle didn’t have time for pleasantries. Guerin’s voice and cryptic talking was good enough reason for him to barge in her room without knocking. The guy was a jackass but a super natural one at that, so when he was worried Kyle tended to listen.


“Maria?”


He had no idea what he was expecting to find there. He hit the lights with caution and found her on the bed lying curled, her knees drawn to her chest.


He was near her in a second. “Maria? You okay? What’s wrong?”


Tears were spilling down her cheeks. She was awake. She opened her eyes and met his gaze. She saw his worry and tried to smile in a reassuring way.


“I’m okay. It’s just cramps.” Her smile faded when another wave of griping pain hit her.


Kyle helped her sit up and smoothed her hair away from her face. He then remembered the alien on the phone. He hesitated for a moment. What was he supposed to do now? Tom would have known. But unfortunately he wasn’t there, so he had to make that choice. He cussed under his breath and reached for the phone on Maria’s bedside.


He gave her an encouraging smile and handed her the phone. “I think you should take that call.” Then he turned away and left her alone.


- - -


Maria sat there holding the phone, puzzled at Kyle’s weird behavior. She tentatively brought the phone to her ear and said “Hello?”


On the other end of the line Michael’s breath caught in his throat. His whole body turned ice-cold all of a sudden and was engulfed in flames just as quickly. His knees felt weak and he found himself crouching on the pavement. The name that had invaded his thoughts but always left unvoiced left his lips in a whisper. “Maria?”


Maria’s body stiffened at the familiar, deep, husky voice. Her heart was running and her blood was pounding in her ears. All coherent thoughts left her brain. She could only utter one word. Michael. Michael. Michael. “Michael?”


Michael’s brain leaped suddenly and came back to life, reminding him why he was calling her at this hour. “Maria, what’s wrong?”


Was that weird or what? The guy was calling after all that time and all he could ask was that? Well, what wasn’t wrong? “What do you mean what’s wrong?” She meant to sound angry but ended up sounding only tired.


“I know something is wrong. You’re in pain. Why?” He didn’t want to admit that he was feeling it. He wasn’t supposed to talk to her in the first place. This conversation had a very good potential of getting out of hand.


“Oh. It’s okay. Nothing important.” She was so dumbfounded that she couldn’t even manage to wonder how he would know that.


His voice rose in fury. “What do you mean not important? Tell. Me. What's. Wrong. Now!”


“It’s just cramps.” She said in a small voice. She felt a little self conscious talking about this with him. This wasn’t exactly the way she fantasized their reunion.


Michael sighed with relief and his body sank, involuntarily losing its edgy posture. “Just cramps?” he asked in a soft, hopeful tone.


“Yeah.”


Silence took over for a moment. Neither of them knew what to say or do. Then Michael’s brain caught another disturbing thought.


“Is it always this bad?”


“God, no! I kinda fell asleep in the tub the other day, so I guess I caught cold or something…” Her soft voice trailed off. Were they really, seriously talking about this? Maybe she was still dreaming? Yeah, that would explain it.


“Oh, okay.” Oh, okay? That was good. Real smooth. What now? What was he supposed to say now? He banged his head to the wall a couple of times but couldn’t do anything more than to listen her faint breathing through the phone.


Maria wrecked her brain to find something to say when silence took over again. She wanted to ask where he was and tell him to come home, come to her but she knew it would only scare him more. So instead she asked “How’s Liz?”


Michael stopped banging his head and looked at the sleeping figure in the backseat. “Liz is……big.” He chuckled softly.


“Big? She’s only three months along, she can't be showing much.” Maria defended her friend.


“This is not exactly a normal pregnancy, so believe me, she is big. Max says the baby’s almost equal to a nine months along one.”


Maria shrieked. “So she’ll give birth any time? And you’re still on the road? Are you out of your mind?”


“The guys just won't stop coming! What else can we do?” Michael was feeling the familiar tingles of irritation he always felt when they were fighting. God, he’d missed that!


“Is Max there? Michael put him on the phone!” Oh, great… Now she was using the motherly voice!


“No, I'm not putting him on the phone! That’s not why I called! We don’t have time for this!” It hit Michael the moment he said it but there was no taking it back now. That’s not why I called. What if she asked why really he was calling? How the f-uck would he explain that?


He changed his mind and interrupted her before she could say anything. “Wait, I’ll get Max.” Yeah, let Max deal with her. It wasn’t a good time for answering serious questions like why are you calling?. That required thinking and after hearing her voice, thinking wasn’t exactly one of his brain’s functions that actually worked.


- - -


Maria waited, sitting on her bed her legs crossed. She regretted the moment she asked for Max. Talking to Max meant not hearing Michael’s voice and that sucked.


Hearing her name from his lips after months felt like finding water in the middle of the desert. She couldn’t even remember why she was supposed to be angry. Oh yeah, cause he’d f-ucked her and left her, that was it. But at that moment, she refused to process that's meaning.


The thought of Liz alone with two guys on the road nine months pregnant… It was just too much. She couldn’t let that happen. She knew how it felt to be pregnant and alone. Granted, Liz wasn’t alone, Max was with her but with all those hormones working overtime Maria knew Max wouldn’t be enough.


She could remember wanting her mother and her best friend with her. There was this constant fear that her baby wouldn’t be alright, she wouldn’t do things right… And Liz’s was half alien to top it all. God, how Liz had survived till then was beyond her but she had to rescue her soon, before she went into labor.


“Hello?”


“Max?”


“Maria. Hi.” Max sounded unsure. Of course, God knew how Michael got him there. Probably didn’t make any explanations and just threw him the phone. It was so like him.


“Hi. Max, can you please explain to me why my friend is still in a car 24/7 when she is about to give birth to her baby?”


This part of Maria DeLuca was new to Max. The protective and bitchy part. ”Uh… Maria what are you talking about?”


“Max, listen to me. I know you love her so I'm hoping you would understand this. Pregnant women tend to be fragile; both emotionally and physically. I know you’re trying to protect her but turning her into a nervous wreck wouldn’t help that.”


Maria was touching a sore spot. Max knew Liz wasn’t good. She was crying in her sleep, eating only for baby’s sake and never talking. But he had to keep her safe, so he couldn’t take her to her mother, to Roswell. It was the basic rule; if your enemies knew where you were, you just didn’t stay there.


“I know. I know. But I have to keep them safe. I can't lose her or the baby. Maria, I don’t know what else to do.”


Max’s tired voice was laced with pain. Maria knew this pain too well. Fear of losing a baby. And she knew how it felt to actually lose one too. They didn’t need to feel that. They were a lovely couple, they deserved to be a lovely family.


“Look, trust me, she needs to settle down and relax right now. The stress is not good for the baby.” Her voice thickened with unshed tears. “Max I once lost a baby because of stress and I wouldn’t want her to go through that.”


Max was speechless. What would you say to something like that? “I'm sorry.”


“No, I’m not telling this to you to make you feel sorry. I want you to not make the same mistakes. If you want your family safe and sane, stop running.” After months of absence Super Maria was back. “Where are you right now Max?”


Max looked around. Really where were they? “I have no clue…”


“Okay, now I want you to find out where you are and either go back to Roswell or come here to LA.”


Max cut her off mid-sentence. “No, Maria, I’m not gonna risk anyone else’s lives. No. We can't come there or go back.”


“Max, you’re missing the point here. I make the decision. Liz is practically like my sister and I want her here. And if you can't make it here, you have to take her to Roswell, to her mother and friends.”


“But…”


“No! No buts! Kyle can help you with the bad guys and I can take care of her. And you know what, call Isabel and Alex. They can help too. The more the merrier.”


“Maria, you don’t understand. We can't just…”


“Max, don’t make me come there! Just shut up and think about it. Call me in the morning. And Max?”


“Yeah.”


“Tell that big log I missed him.”


- - -


“Brought you some breakfast.” Max had bought pancakes for them from the diner. He figured he would need some kind of a peace offering before telling him their new route.


Michael just took the package Max handed him and didn’t say anything. His head was full of Maria. Her voice. The dreams lacked that. They were silent. And now after all this time, hearing her say his name… it was intoxicating. She was intoxicating.


He could close his eyes and replay everything she had said. And picture her saying them. The way her lips move to form his name and the glint in her eyes… God, she had to be illegal.


“We’re going to LA.”


That got Michael out of his Maria induced thoughts and elicited the expected effect. “What?”


“Maria says Liz needs rest and she’s right. This isn't going anywhere.”


“Have you lost your mind? No! No way we’re getting her involved in this s-hit again.”


Max looked at his brother with soft eyes. He could understand his protectiveness but there was no other way.


“Michael, I just checked the map. Why are we headed for LA if you want to keep her out so much?”


Michael couldn’t answer that. No. He didn’t have any answers when it came to the things she made him do. He had noticed that he somehow instinctively started heading for LA two weeks ago. But he just couldn’t turn back. He wasn’t planning on seeing her. Maybe he could just watch her from afar. He didn’t know.


All he knew was that he was drawn to her against his will. And that this could be deadly, for both of them.


- - -


Kyle brought a glass of water and some painkillers for Maria after she hung up.


“So they are coming?”


She took the pills thankfully and smiled at him. “Have you been spying on me Valenti?”


“Not on you but on that jerk. You want me to kill him?”


She laughed at his innocent look. He was just too cute for words. “No, no. I think I want him alive.”


Kyle got serious suddenly. “You sure you can handle that Ria? I mean I can understand if you want Liz here, but Michael? You sure it will be okay?”


Maria offered him a smile which she hoped looked reassuring. “It will be okay Kyle. I can handle it. I have to. And if I can't… Well, you can always kill him, right?”


- - -


Tom watched Maria’s frantic cleaning for a good ten minutes before giving up and finding Kyle.


“Kyle, what the hell is she doing?”


“Uh… Cleaning like a lunatic?” Kyle suggested.


“Kylie, babe, she NEVER cleans. And I mean never. That thing inside is not Maria! It’s like invasion of the body snatchers or something…”


“She talked to Michael last night.” Said Kyle calmly, as if offering an explanation.


“Oh.” Tom relaxed. So that was why… Hmm. “What did they talk about?”


“They are coming here. To stay.”


“Holy s-hit! You think that’s a good idea?”


“Nope. She already started to act all demented, I really don’t want to find out how she would react to his actual self.”


Maria came in with a dustrag in her hand and started to dust the perfectly clean door. “Hey Tom!” Her face beamed with a smile.


“We need to go shopping today! We need beds, lots of beds. And baby stuff for Liz. And of course food, healthy food for the pregnant lady. And we can stop by the book store and grab some books on delivering babies. Then we should buy some more of these cleaning thingies… The pink ones. They smell great… Ooooh. I gotta make a list or I’ll definitely forget some of them.”


She ran out of the room to make a list and left two shocked guys gaping at her retreating back.


“Okay, now that was scary! Are you sure she’s not one of those pod people?”


- - -


Two very tired and pissed guys followed Maria around in the mall, their arms full of packages and bags.


“Are we still on for tonight?”


“Well, yeah, she looks weirdly out of her depression but Lucy will expect us there.” Tom snickered at the grin that started spreading on Kyle’s face when he mentioned Lucy. Then he saw Maria cooing at some baby shoes.


“Kyle, I think this might be demonic possession. We may need a priest.”

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