PART 21


Everyone took their positions as planned in less than ten minutes. Max, obviously, was delivering the baby. Maria was holding Liz’s hand while Isabel was running around playing nurse and occasionally shouting at the guys.


Liz was calm at first. She had her family with her and everything was going as planned. But when her contractions became frequent, she started screaming.


She was screaming at Max at first. To take the pain away. Then she started cursing the day she’d f-ucked an alien. After that she lost all logic. Maria supposed it wasn’t an easy job to form meaningful sentences while you're in labor.


Liz screamed unintelligible things for like two hours and Maria wasn’t able to feel her fingers for the last hour or so. That was when Kyle fainted. One minute he was talking to Alex about how he hated this, the next he was a heap on the floor.


Liz started screaming Kyle’s name and tried to get up. Maria couldn’t believe how powerful a woman in labor could be. Thankfully, Michael appeared right next to her and helped her hold Liz down on the bed.


Isabel slapped Kyle while Alex was trying to wake him up with a wet cloth. After they convinced Liz that Kyle was alive, Liz turned back to her ritual of screaming obscenities and squeezing Maria’s hand.


Another hour passed without any babies in sight and everyone started to get bored. Alex and Michael were sitting on the floor eating popcorn while watching the interaction between the dream couple with interest.


Maria was now sure they would have to cut her hand after the baby was born, and she was trying to figure out how the hell was she going to paint her nails with only one hand. It was physically impossible. Maybe with her mouth… Hmm…


Isabel had lost all her enthusiasm and was filing her fingernails out of pure boredom when she could do them perfect in a second with her powers.


Some time -suspiciously resembling a century- passed and Maria found herself almost drifting off. Liz was exhausted, covered in sweat. She was mumbling something about how she had changed her mind about the baby.


Maria looked around and her eyes caught Michael. He was watching her. Or maybe he was sleeping his eyes open and fixed on her. She couldn’t be sure.


Then she looked to her left and saw Isabel asleep on the floor, her head resting on Alex’s knees. He was caressing her hair. Such a lovely picture. It was so… not Icy Bitch. So that was who Isabel was… Maria sure was glad to meet her.


Kyle was standing next to Max and chatting with him, while Max stood between Liz’s knees. They were talking about cars. Wait? Cars? That was odd. It was kinda disturbing.


The room was strangely silent when finally Max asked Liz to push harder with excitement. Liz pushed and squeezed the life out of Maria’s hand but in the next half hour, it was over.


The ending of the event was much quieter than the beginning. It was so quiet, it didn’t even wake Isabel. Maria watched from afar as Max placed the baby in Liz’s arms. They looked so beautiful together, so in harmony.


It hit Maria suddenly then. Of course they were, they were a family. A complete family. A happy family. Something she, unfortunately, was denied, not just once but many times.


“He is so quiet.” Maria didn’t mean to say it out loud but the thought escaped her lips in a whisper.


She felt Michael’s breath near her ear as he talked to her. She hadn’t been aware of how close they’d been.


“Of course he is. Look at his parents. What were you expecting, it’s Max and Liz’s kid.”


She was happy to hear the humor in his voice. She liked it when he made jokes, even if they were all sarcastic.


“He would have been wailing and screaming our ears off if he was our baby.”


Michael’s body stiffened the minute he realized that he said it out loud. He felt Maria’s body still next to him but he couldn’t move his eyes from his hands.


Maria checked her brain once more to be sure that it was working properly and not playing tricks on her. Their baby? He’d said their baby… Oh God… He’d said their baby. She wasn’t sure what to do, what to say. She was paralyzed.


She gathered all her strength and used it to turn her head slightly to her right to see his face. His face was emotionless, closed off. But she could see that he wasn’t happy with what he’d said from the way he kept staring at his hands.


She took a deep breath, realizing she’d stopped breathing altogether and claimed his left hand. He jerked slightly but didn’t refuse her touch. She was the one that flinched at the contact.


Her hand was sour from all the squeezing Liz had done. He saw that or maybe felt it, he wasn’t sure and softly massaged her hand. He was creating miracles. Maria wasn’t sure if he was using his extra features or not, but it felt good. He felt good.


He stopped massaging the moment Maria felt all pain leave her. Again, she had no idea if he’d felt it. He raised her palm to his lips and kissed it softly. Then to her surprise he got up and left the room without even turning to look at her.


- - -


Maria felt pure rage start to burn inside her, turning all hurt into fury. She was literally burning. Her cheeks were red and she was fuming.


She left the room and found him in the balcony looking at the sky. She shut the door behind her. They didn’t need to hear that.


Michael faced her with dread. She was going to make it more difficult, he knew it. It was taking his every last shred of strength to walk away, but she just had to ruin it by following him.


Hurt. He could see it in her eyes. Carefully hidden behind rage. But it was there nevertheless. It was there because of him. Again.


“I am sick of this.” Maria said calmly. Calm was the last thing he’d expected her to be.


“Sick of what?” he replied coolly, like he couldn’t care less.


“Sick of you. So I’ll clear things between us a little bit.” She was still calm but her voice was raised a little with the anger she couldn’t seem to contain.


He shrugged. She laughed bitterly at that. Did he really not care? Had she been dreaming all those thing?


“You think I'm a whore.” Michael winced at her words. Did she really believe that?


“You have been using me as one, both emotionally and physically.” His brow furrowed. He seemed like he wanted to say something, but Maria held her hand up to silence him.


“I'm talking. I'm sick of waiting for you to talk. So you will listen.” He nodded, feeling numb and not really knowing how to say what he should.


“I thought I saw something different in you. Something I could relate to. Something I thought I wanted. But it doesn’t work like that. There are two sides to this and you obviously can't see anything there. So, just to make things less awkward and more clear between us, I just wanted to let you know…”


A bitter and mocking smirk covered her beautiful features. “You are not the first Michael. I have been f-ucked before. I have been f-ucked many times before you. And I will be, after you. You don’t have to feel bad about it or anything. We used each other, that’s it.”


She stood defiantly as she waited for him to respond. He thought for a moment. What was he going to say? It meant more to me? It meant everything? Of course not. He had wanted this. To cut loose. And now she was doing it for him. Okay then.


“Alright.” He said as he felt his heart contract. He couldn’t say anything else. He knew his voice would crack if he’d tried.


Maria stood there emotionless for a moment expecting more. That was it? Alright? She wasn’t expecting him to declare his undying love for her but he could at least say she wasn’t a whore, out of pity if nothing else. So she’d been right. He did think of her as one.


“Okay.” She whispered and turned around to leave. She couldn’t just start crying in front of him again. She wasn’t weak. Okay, maybe she was. But even if she was, there was no way she would let him see that.


She grabbed her jacket and stormed out of the door, leaving a perplexed Kyle behind. The last thing she heard before leaving the building was Kyle’s bellowing voice.


“What the hell did you do to her?”


- - -


Kyle had been waiting outside the balcony door, just in case. When Maria stormed out he’d tried to say something but her fiery eyes made him stop in his tracks. He knew that he would get burned if he tried to touch her.


He stepped through the door to face the other part of this mess. Maybe he wasn’t Tom, he couldn’t say the right things to calm her down or make things right again, but he could always kill Guerin. Wasn’t that what a big brother was for anyway?


He found Michael standing frozen with a weird facial expression. He couldn’t figure out what it meant. Michael’s expressions were pretty limited; bored, pissed off and scowling… This one was different though. He looked like he’d just bit his tongue and was trying to not cry out.


“What the hell did you do to her?” Kyle bellowed.


Michael didn’t even flinch. He just slowly raised his eyes to see the unwanted guest who was invading his session of self-hatred and pain.


“Leave me alone.” He said calmly, focusing all his strength on not crying, shouting or showing any other extreme emotion.


Kyle stepped closer and crossed his arms. “No, I will not leave you alone! Not until you explain to me why the f-uck you keep hurting her!”


Michael felt his legs become numb. He had to sit or he was going to collapse. He sat on the floor and leaned his back against the wall.


Kyle watched him intently. He wasn’t getting out of this without giving him a proper answer. He watched as he sat. His movements were too slow, much slower than usual. He saw Michael comb his hair with his fingers. That was when Kyle decided to sit down and talk instead of shouting and fighting as he had planned in the first place. He thought the situation could be a little bit different than his original assumption.


Michael Guerin’s hands were shaking.


Kyle pulled a chair and closed the door. He sat facing Michael who was avoiding eye contact. He waited for a moment to give them time to gather their thoughts. He secretly hoped that maybe Michael would explain without him insisting. But of course not. Michael stayed quiet.


Kyle tried to find a way to say what he wanted to say without causing an argument between them, but he wasn’t really good with words. So he tried being honest.


“Guerin?”


Michael held his head up to face the inevitable. Kyle was going to punch him. He knew it. He knew he’d deserved it. And he was hoping that pain could maybe distract him.


“I don’t really like you. But I respect you.”


Michael didn’t know what to feel or think. He found himself feeling something between disappointment and shock. Why wasn’t Kyle punching him?


“You're not the person I would choose for my sister…”


What was he talking about? Why would Kyle respect him? Who was his sister? And why the hell wasn’t Kyle punching him? Michael’s brain was about to short circuit.


“…But since she chose you, all I can do is help her out. So, what are your intentions with her?”


Kyle looked at him expectantly. Michael blinked a couple of times to make sure that he wasn’t hallucinating and when he was sure it was real, he said “What?”.


Kyle rolled his eyes. “What are your intentions with Maria? What the f-uck are you trying to pull?”


Michael’s face visibly tensed. “Nothing. I'm trying to keep her away from me… us… I mean this whole alien s-hit.”


“And why the hell is that exactly?”


Michael wasn’t expecting this question from Kyle, since he had never doubted that the jock would want her out as well.


“It’s dangerous.”


“I know it’s dangerous. But we both know, whatever you do, she will never stay away from Liz or Alex. She is one stubborn chick. What I am asking you is why you keep her away from yourself?”


Michael couldn’t answer. What was this? Now he was having heartfelt conversations with the super jock? This was bullshit. He had his own damn brain, he’d never needed someone else’s to help him decide.


“None of your damn business.”


Hallelujah! So Guerin was still alive! Kyle smirked. “You see, it is kinda my business since it involves my family.” He paused but Michael didn’t say anything. So he continued.


“I would have killed you if I believed for one second that you would want to hurt her. Or maybe I would have killed you anyway if I thought she could live with it afterwards. But there is this weird thing… I know she won't move on. She won't give up on you. And I somehow think… I know it sounds crazy, but you two would be good for each other… Not that I care about you…”


“What are you talking about Kyle?” Michael couldn’t believe it. The guy was actually saying that he should be with her… And all he could think in return was… Why?!


“I know… I know… I sound like I'm possessed or something. But I spent months living with her. I talked to her about some things I’d never even talked with my dad or best friends. Hell, I fell in love with one of her quirky friends. But that’s not the point. The point is, I know her now, I understand her. And I know what she needs…”


Kyle made his point known with his eyes. He wasn’t going to get all mushy with Guerin. He might have spent a lot of time with Tom but he still was a jock.


“Don’t make it harder than it already is. It’s not gonna happen. It’s not right. She doesn’t know…”


“No, Michael. YOU don’t know! You think it’s just some coincidence that she fell for you and not Max?”


Michael laughed bitterly. “She should have, you know. It would have been so much better for her.”


“Oh really? And why is that?” Kyle asked sarcastically.


“Do you really need to ask?” Michael looked at Kyle like he should have known this as he knew day from night. “He’s better than me. He is the better alien. He is the better human. He is the damn king for God’s sake! He is safe and normal.” Michael wasn’t raising his voice. He sounded just jaded. These were not thoughts anymore for him but facts. He knew this one thing by heart. Max Evans was better.


“You can't understand this right now maybe Michael, but Maria isn't the little innocent girl she appears to be. There’s so much more fire and strength in her than all of us combined. She would chew and spit out a guy like Max. Or me or Alex for that matter… And she had done it before, lots of times. That’s why Tom calls her a man eater." He saw the sad lines forming around Michael’s face at the mention of other men. He cursed himself for caring but felt the need to help him out.


“It’s not just by chance that she chose you over them all Michael. And believe it or not, it’s not because of your charms. She’d found the one that fit her. I'm not trying to sound like some chick flick. I don’t believe in that soul-mate crap Liz keeps talking about. But I know this is right because I just found the one that fits me, the one person that’s everything I need. I never thought it was possible but believe me it is…”


“I don’t really know what’s happening between you two. She never told me anything specific and I never asked. I know what I need to know though. I know that this is not just a crush or infatuation. And I know it’s not a sex thing. I know that she’d stopped seeing other men the moment she met you. I know she took all her guards down just to take whatever she can get from you, even if it’s just some occasional banter…”


Michael was shocked at the honesty he saw in Kyle’s eyes as he talked. The guy really believed those things. But he was wrong. This was the one thing he had been sure for practically all his life. How could he be good enough for someone like Maria? He had nothing to give her except danger…


“I can't Kyle…”


Kyle chuckled at the irony of the situation. “You know, you are that badass alien who is supposed to be despised and scared of, but all members of her family gave you thumbs up before you even asked. Amy adores you, dad had been thinking of you as his own son since he had found out, and me… Well, though it’s surprising as hell, I give you my permission. So… All you gotta do is let yourself…”


Kyle sighed and got up from his chair, there was nothing else he could do. He patted Michael softly on the shoulder and ignored his dumbfounded look. He was about to leave but stopped abruptly.


“But don’t think I would hesitate one moment before I break your nose if you make her cry again…”


He left the balcony to get some sleep and let the confused alien think things through.


- - -


Maria walked the streets without really seeing them. Her mind was fixed on one thing and one thing only; a future without Michael. She sat on a bench under a tree where she could see children playing in the park and started to fantasize about her future.


Since the baby was born now, her guests would be leaving soon. Michael, would be leaving. Then what? She was supposed to accept that it was over and move on. She could go back to work, it would take her mind off of things. But she didn’t want to let herself get lost in her job again, like she had done after Colin. She wasn’t going to make the same mistakes, she wasn’t going to hide. She was going to face life and the pain it brought and try to live through it.


She thought about marriage and children… It didn’t look likely that she would get married. She knew she wouldn’t be able to look at other men without comparing them to a certain spiky haired a-sshole. None of them stood a chance. But maybe she could find a good man to have a family with. It might not be passionate or immortal love, but it could be enough. She could be happy. Maybe…


Why had this happened? How? She couldn’t understand. She’d never seen it coming. A man like Michael would claim her heart? Hell, he wasn’t even a man! He’d made her hope things that were against every dream she’d had, ever… He’d made her crave things she’d never imagined. He’d made her feel content with the idea of him being her whole life. And the annoying thing was he hadn't even tried…


“Maria? Maria DeLuca?”


Maria jumped at the unexpected voice coming from behind her. She turned her head and narrowed her eyes to avoid the sun. Then she saw the owner of the soft voice and her jaw dropped.


“Carrie? Carrie North?”


The girl smiled brightly. “It’s Carrie Cornwell now, you know…” she said teasingly and wrapped her arms around Maria.


“Oh my…” Maria was shocked. Carrie had changed.


Maria had loved the girl from the first moment she’d laid eyes on her. She was cheerful, kind and lovable. Almost like a kitten. But now… Now she looked enchanting, charming, bewitching… Maria tried to figure out what was the cause of this sudden change but couldn’t put her finger on it.


Carrie was wearing a simple white shirt with faded jeans. Her hair was loose around her shoulders and she didn’t appear to be wearing any make up. What was so different about her?


“I heard you’re not working right now? I hope nothing’s wrong…” Carrie sat on the bench next to her and watched her face carefully, with worry evident in her eyes.


“No, no… Everything’s fine. I’m just taking some time off.”


Maria had some serious acting skills, but Carrie could see through them easily. She didn’t look tiny bit relaxed for someone who’d been on vacation for months. Instead she looked worn, tired. Sad lines had formed in her face which weren't there the last time she’d seen the girl. It was disturbing to see someone like Maria DeLuca like that. Like something inside her had died.


“Betty had asked for you, for her birthday party last month. You definitely chose a great time to take a vacation.” Carrie joked, trying to lighten up the girl.


“Oh God! I don’t think I could handle her once more.” Maria laughed, remembering the times she considered seriously leaving country because of Carrie’s out of control mother-in-law.


“You look happy.” Maria added a moment later. “Hell, you look radiant!”


Carrie smiled sheepishly. “Thanks to you.” She said shyly.


“What? What do I have to do with anything?”


Carrie looked at her with big grateful eyes. “You stopped me from doing the biggest mistake of my life. I don’t know what I would have done without him.”


“Oh.” Maria lowered her eyes to her hands. “Danny. So you guys are happy?”


“Couldn’t be happier. He’s my everything.”


Maria’s eyes filled with tears. She wasn’t jealous or anything, but it hurt to know that she could never have what Carrie had.


“What? What’s wrong?”


Maria chuckled softly and dried her tears with the back of her hands. “Nothing. Nothing, it’s okay. I'm just a little emotional today.”


Carrie hugged her again, not really knowing what her problem was, but guessing nonetheless. “I'm sorry.” She whispered. She could feel pain pouring out of the small girl in her arms. “You want me to take you home? My car’s right here.”


Maria nodded and they made their way to the car.


- - -


Carrie stopped the car in front of Maria’s building ten minutes later. The ride was quiet and she was worried. She wanted to say something, do something to make her feel better but they had never been real friends, so she had no idea what to do.


Maria muttered a thanks to her and got out of the car slowly. Carrie saw her look up to a window and try to get herself back together. Her body took a defensive and determined stance, and she started to walk towards the door.


Carrie opened her car’s door and did what she thought was right. “Maria?”


She turned back to look at the car with questioning eyes.


“Don’t let it get away.”


Carrie got in her car again and drove away, leaving a frozen Maria behind.


- - -


Carrie drove away watching the girl from her rear view mirror. She had seen the confused and torn look in her eyes. She decided that it was time to repay the favor.


She dialed her husband’s office number and learned the number for the place she needed to call. The phone rang twice before it was picked up by a young girl.


“Hi. This is Carrie Cornwell. May I speak with Tom Lindley please?”

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