Maria DeLucca silently crept out of her beloved daughter's room. Michaela slept peacefully every night; something that both amused and perplexed her mother. Maria had worried about her baby's happiness and peace of mind since she was born. When Maria had cried the first time she'd held her tiny daughter, the nurses thought that it was out of happiness, the labor had been difficult, but Alex and Liz both knew better. They knew that the eighteen-year-old wept because her little girl would never know her father. Michael had left a year before. He and Max and Isabel had found a way home, and even though he loved Maria, he had to go. The night before the ship came, he and Maria had made love out in the desert. It was their first time, and Maria knew it would be her last. She would never love anyone as much as she loved, and still does, him. But, still, he left the next day. A few weeks later, she discovered that a tiny being was growing inside of her. And now, exactly two years after he'd left, it still amazed her as to how her baby could sleep through the night, knowing that she would never meet her father. Maria herself barely could. Oh, well, Maria thought as she walked into her own room. She switched on the radio as she flopped onto the bed. She had found that she slept better when she listened to music. A familiar song came on the radio as Maria drifted off to sleep, whispering the words.
Things around here haven't changed much
It's all pretty much the same stuff day after day
The only thing that keeps me goin'
Seems to be our baby girl I'm trying to raise
She's my life my morning angel
Always seems to find the rainbow after the rain
Lately she's so busy growin'
I don't even think she knows you've gone away
Maria was in that stage of being asleep and being awake. She was in what she called her 'flash-stage'.
Flash
Her and Michael making love on the sand...
Flash
Michael's ship leaving, him inside, looking out the window and waving to her, tears in both their eyes...
Flash
The birth of Michaela...
Flash
She's finally learned to say goodbye
She's sleepin' through the night
She don't wake up cryin'
And she's walkin' on her own
She don't need no one holdin' her hand
And I hate to admit she's stronger that I am
Maria had finally drifted off to sleep, dreaming, again, of Michael. This dream was different, though. It was like she could feel him there with her. As she dreamed of her beloved entering her dream, she let go of Michaela's hand. Her little baby raced over to her daddy and he scooped her up into a big hug. Tears ran down his cheeks as he and Maria walked into the sunset with Michaela perched on his arm.
She ain't crackin' under pressure
First one step and then another she goes along
And if she falls and skins her knee
She cries a while and smiles at me and just goes on
To many things that she can teach me
Full of life and so completely innocent
She still says she loves her daddy
Goes on just like nothin' happened
Forgives and forgets
Flash
Michaela's first word...
Flash
Michaela's first step...
Flash
The last time she, Alex and Liz saw each other...
Flash
She's finally learned to say goodbye
She's sleepin' through the night
She don't wake up cryin'
And she's walkin' on her own
She don't need no one holdin' her hand
And I hate to admit she's stronger that I am
Maria twisted and turned as her dream turned into a nightmare. Her Michael was leaving her again.
She's just like her old man
Stronger than I am
Maria bolted awake. She knew that Michael had had the strength to leave her. To go to a planet and fight for it when he wanted to stay and love her, but it seemed as if she and Michael had communicated in that dream. She laughed. Yea. Right. Communicated. You crack yourself up, DeLucca. Her laughter turned into heart-wrenching sobs as she wished with all her heart that it was true.
Themalico bolted awake. He was used to the name now. He hadn't been called Michael for the past two years, except by Max and Izzy. What the hell was that? he thought. Something about him and Maria, and there was a little girl there, too. A little girl with his brown eyes and little smirk, and Maria's blonde, bouncy curls. She'd run into his arms and he'd picked her up and spun her around. Then he, Maria, and the little girl perched on his arm walked off into the sunset. The dream ended with him leaving her again. And, in the background, Michael could faintly hear two lines from Maria's favorite song. Well, he reasoned, her favorite song when I left. If I can recall them correctly...yes, it was something like 'She's just like her old man; Stronger than I am.'
Stronger than I Am is by Leeann Womack