"I'm getting the ice cream as we speak." Liz yelled up the stairs to Maria and Isabelle. It was late on a Saturday night and the girls from Roswell, New Mexico were giving new meaning to the term "slumber party." It had been a stressful two weeks, but things were starting to finally get back to normal, heck, even Liz's parents trusted her to run the cafe for the weekend while they went on a second honeymoon. She wasn't about to let them down.
Within a matter of minutes, Liz had a tub of chocolate chip cookie dough in hand and three spoons in the other. Turning out the lights she scurried up the stairs, not wanting to miss any of the gossip above.
"So Alex really does suck his thumb in his sleep?" Isabelle chuckled.
Maria nodded, wiping the tears of laughter from her eyes. "At least, when we were kids and he would sleep over with us all the time!" She joked back, turning to Liz. "Ahhhh, cookie dough! My favourite!" Like a vampire at a bloodbank, the three girls dove into the tub of ice cream and managed to devour a good half of it before starting up their conversation again.
"So Isa," Liz began. "does Max do anything funny I should know about?" She didn't know why, but she could feel her cheeks reddening slightly.
Nodding with half a mouthful of ice cream, Isabelle took a minute to respond. "Sometimes he calls your name in his sleep. He thinks we don't notice, but when I get up to get a drink in the night, he's there, whispering it over and over again. He's like a big puppy my brother." Grinning, Isabelle went back to the fast dissapearing ice cream.
"Really? Wow, that is cute." Liz chuckled, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear, an old habbit she got herself into as a child that she never quite grew out of.
"I wonder what he's dreaming about." Maria joked. "For that matter, I wonder what they're all dreaming about!"
"What a great idea Maria!" Isabelle piped up. "You know how easily I could find that out for you." A sly grin was already spreading on her face as the girls quickly caught on and burst out laughing.
"You would seriously go into the minds of hormonal teenage boys for us? Awww, your a great friend Isa." Maria smiled.
Liz stood and headed for her desk, her mind temporarily in it's own little world. "I only wish I could see what Max was dreaming about." She absentmindedly picked up a picture of Max from her desk and was running a finger along his jawline.
"You know." Isabelle began. "I've never even bothered to try and bring someone else into their dreams with me. I'll bet it could be done if I passed on my power to you for a while."
"How is that possible?" Maria questioned.
"The same way it's possible for you and Liz to see visions when your spacemen kiss you. It all depends how open your mind is to the thought of them. It could easily be done. After all," she grinned. "the only reason you aren't able to do it is because my mind is so much more advanced then yours."
Within minutes the two girls were attacking Isabelle with a shower of pillows. "Not fair! Two against one!" She shouted.
"Who said it had to be fair? We less evolved mammals shouldn't even stand a chance agains the likes of you!" Liz shouted, trying to keep back the fit of giggles that threatened to bring her to the ground.
Maria collapsed on the bed, snorting with the effort of keeping her laughter in check. This, in turn, only made the other two girls laugh harder.
"That's one I'm telling Michael when I see him next!" Isabelle threatened.
"No! You wouldn't! I would never live it down, Isa."
"That's the point I think." Liz grinned.
Holding all jokes aside, Liz picked up her yearbook and flipped open to the page Michael was on. "It is worth a try. Besides, who would know?" For the first time in her life, Liz sounded devious and daring.
"I'm impressed with you, Liz. Are you getting a mean streak girl?" Maria joked. It was quite a change from the quiet, goody two shoes Liz she was used to.
"I'm game if you are." Isabelle piped in, her mind already racing with the possibility of being able to teach others her secrets. She trusted Liz and Maria more then any other girl she had ever known. To her, this was strictly girl stuff.
"I'll go first!" Maria shouted, clapping her hands together in an effort to remain under control. The whole idea of getting a glimpse at the mystery man Michael's mind was just too much of a thrill. She wanted to see what made him tick as badly as Liz wanted to see inside of Max.
"Ok then. Get something that reminds you of them you can hold on to." Isabelle took charge, looking around her bag for something that would remind her of Alex to use. She knew though, that a simple picture would work for her, yet it was fun adding to the already building excitment. As she was rummaging, Liz and Maria were scrambling around her room in search of their own little treasures.
Liz came back with a rose that had been pressed and stored in one of her many science textbooks. "From the night Max got drunk." She explained sheepishly. "He picked it for me right before he made the streetlights burst into a thousand tiny stars."
"How sweet." Isabelle cut off, not allowing her to go into more depth. If they got to talking about all the nice things their men had done for them, this could well be dragged into the early morning hours. Turning to Maria, she looked over the small key she held firmly in her hands. "Is that what I think it is?" Isabelle questioned, eyebrow slightly raised.
Grinning, she nodded. "Yeah. Michael gave it to me a couple days ago. Said I was too big a part of him to stay away for long. Told me to stop by whenever I wanted." Maria eyed the key again in disbelief. Over the last two weeks, there was a suprising change in Michael that had allowed him to open up more to her. She loved every minute of extra attention he bestowed upon her. "So what do you have Isa?"
"Oh." As if snapped back into the real world, Isabelle held out a guitar pick for the girls to puzzle over before she explained it. "Alex wrote a song for me and then gave the pick he used to play it with to me so I would have something to hold on to." She blushed at the sound of her own words. Still finding it hard to believe that Alex and her were together. Having passed him over for so many years, she was amazed at the kind of person he turned out to be. He was a large part of her life now, and she loved every minute of it.
"What do we have to do to get your power Isa?" Liz asked, almost nervously.
"You chickening out there Liz?" Maria poked at her.
"No, I was just hoping that we wouldn't have to kiss her!" Liz chuckled.
In a few moments, the girls broke out in a fresh set of giggles.
"Your all a bunch of sicko's!" Isabelle announced. "I was planning on resting my hand on your forheads and giving it to you that way, or holding on to your hands as you fell asleep. Either way would more then likely work seeing the open moods the both of you seem to be in."
Grinning, Maria joked. "Darn it. I so wanted to kiss you Isa!" Ducking, she watched the pillow fly safely over her head. "Not today girl!"
"I'll get you yet, Maria." Then, as an afterthought Isabelle added, "The night is young."
"Yeah? Well, I'm getting older and growing edgy. Let's get on with it." Liz snapped before she grinned and laughed once again.
Both girls looked to Liz and then to each other. "Sugar rush." They both stated and smiled.
"I must admit, I'm a junkie!" Liz joked, resting her head against her one remaining pillow on the bed. "I'm game if you are."
"Alright, Maria. Get comfortable and we'll get started."
In under a minute, the girls had all shifted to a more comfortable spot on the bed, each taking up a generous amount of room.
"Hope this works." Maria muttered as she smiled and closed her eyes, one hand resting on the key. The other, laced softly in Isabelle's. Popping open an eye. "If it does, expect details girls!" With that, she was the first to fall into a light sleep.
~*~
Maria stepped out from the haze of sleep and into Michael's dream. She gasped when she realized she was in the desert surrounded by weird writing on the ground. Looking out, Maria spotted her dream self. A rough clash from the pj's she wore, Maria DeLuca was dressed up in an elegant gown. The deep blue folds of the dress blew gently in the wind, competing with the silk shawl she wore around her thin neck. The front was done up in thousands of glittering diamonds matching the tiara she wore in her hair. Pulling her eyes away from the dress, she noted the low cut bodice and more then enough of her pale skin prodruding from it. Her skin, like the dress seemed to shimmer with some inner light. Maria truly looked like an angel.
The real Maria ducked behind a rock as Michael stepped from the cave. Her jaw dropped when she saw what he wore. Complete with black leather shoes and tux, Michael came out with a genuine smile lighting his face and a single iris in his outstretched hand.
"He had been paying attention!" she though. "how else would he know that was my favourite flower?" She continued to ponder this though and watch, as the dream Maria's smile widened when she watched the iris turn into a thin neclace as Michael placed it around her neck.
"For you, my princess." He whispered, brushing a whisp of hair away from her ear. "...and the way our life turned out. I love you." He let his fingers linger on her neck as both Maria's shivered in pleasure.
"That boy knew exactly what he was doing." The real Maria thought.
Within the blink of an eye Maria was no longer in the dessert. The scene around them seemed to melt away with the setting sun to a new home that seemed strangely familliar. The dream Maria was gone and when the real Maria looked down, she was in a cool light green spring dress. Taking a moment to adjust herself to the dream she walked over to the reading nook and sat down by the window.
Wherever they were, it wasn't Roswell. Trees surrounded the home and a single dirt path led away into unknown territory. She jumped in her seat when a truck pulled up. Standing Maria fiddled with the hem of her dress as a strand of long hair fell loosely in her face.
"Oh my..." She started, holding a piece of her long hair in her hand. She would have gotten out more had Michael not walked in the door just then.
"I had the best day my love!" He smiled. No, that was an understatement, he was beaming. In his hands there was a bundle of colorful money. For some reason Maria just knew it was Canadian. They lived in Canada!
"Really dear? What happened?" She smiled, knowing full well that this was just a dream, but oh well, she had every right to play along!
"I sold two pieces of my art!" He said as he closed in the distance between the two of them and scooped her up in an embrace. To Maria, this was getting to be a little too real. Not that she was complaining.
"That's wonderful. Which one's were they love?" she smiled, still quite taken aback by the passionate kiss.
"My oil on canvas of you, and the abstract I did titled hope. You have always been my muse. Heck, you were the only one who believed in me when I wanted to start painting all those years ago and now look at me! I'm greatly gaining popularity in the art world as one of their fresh new faces! I owe all my success to you."
Maria couldn't contain her suprise, or her excitment. Michael was a wonderful artist in the real world and only she truly knew how great he could become, apparantly Michael had dreams too. He was so open, so different then what she knew him as. Yet, in the dream, he was open to her. That meant a lot to Maria. Deep down inside no matter how he acted, she knew he loved her.
"I just want to hold you all night long." he whispered, planting light kisses down her neck, he was already undoing the zipper of her dress in the back, exposing her skin that his hands freely roamed over. Maria was as much a prisoner to the dream that Michael was. There was no way she was going to wake up!
"I cooked us dinner Michael." She mumbled between kisses. She didn't know why she said that, only that she knew there would be food on the table if she turned around at that moment.
"Don't care." he stated, picking her up and taking her up the stairs.
The smells of vanilla assaulted Maria's sense of smell as the door to their bedroom was opened up. Their bathroom was connected to their room where a bath tub stood with Maria's various shampoo's and soaps on it.
"Your smell just gets better and better love." He grinned as he entered the bathroom to clean his paint smered face and hands.
Stepping up behind him, Maria slipped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his shoulder. "You look so beautiful like that you know." She sighed dreamily.
Turning, he looked down at her and laughed. "I'm a mess love! I've been painting all day and it shows!"
Taking her finger, she placed it to her lips to silence him. Her hands then began to lower themselves to his shirt as she undid the buttons one by one. She almost gasped when she saw Michael's bare chest. Her mind raced. "Michael had muscles! More muscles then his waking self should have." She stifled a laugh as he looked down at her slightly confused.
"I never knew my chest was that interesting love." He stated as he slipped the rest of the way out of his shirt.
"Sorry, I just never get tired of seeing you. Your amazing, did you know that?" She was glad to see him smile timidly as he lifted a hand to his hair and ran through it the way he always did when he was uncomfortable. Compliments still did that to him, Maria noted. "Your beautiful, your wonderul hands full of paint shows you love what you do, your eyes are full of love, your smile I could kiss all day, and your wonderful hair has a mind of it's own. I love every inch of you." Delighted at the wantd reaction she got, Maria waited until he could look up at her without blushing before she traced his jawline with her finger.
"How did I ever get so lucky?" He whispered, his body tensing at her touch.
"The same way I did when you came into my life, Michael. I love you." All those things she couldn't say in the waking world came flowing out here. This wasn't just his dream any longer. This was what Maria wanted. Just to be with the man she loved.
Taking her tiny body in his arms, they somehow managed to get to the bed, losing their clothing on the way. The feeling of him inside of her was so intense, the walls shimmered, threatening to wake her up if she enjoyed this any more. He was slow and gentile, whispering reassuring words into her ear. It was the complete and utter love in his eyes that made Maria never want to stop. When they finally did though, Michael eased himself down on Maria, placing his elbows on the bed so he could look down at her. A single tear escaped her eyes.
"What's wrong love? Did I hurt you in any way?" There was a slight alarm in his eyes as his body tensed up on top of her.
"No. It's not that, Michael." She sniffled, refusing to let the rest of her tears come. "It's just that I'm so happy. I can't believe this his happening!" It was the truth. All she knew was this moment, Michael had taken her into his heart, had let her into his soul and it was wonderful. She was part of him now, in more ways then one.
Smiling, Michael wiped the tear from her cheek and kissed her pouting lips gently. "Then I give you permission to cry as much as you want to." He grinned. She noticed his eyes were looking a little glassy as he said that. There was just too much love inside of him. It only made Maria want to try even harder to break his shell in the waking world.
Again, the scene melted away, leaving Maria in their home once again by herself. She was seated at the window, a pen and paper in hand though she didn't know what for. Incoherent words were written upon it. A babies wail jolted her from her thoughs.
Running up the stairs, she threw open the door to her bedroom where she found Michael holding a small child in his arms. He was rocking on the balls of his feet gently, rubbing his hand over the child's back and whispering calming words into it's ear. Turning, he saw her and smiled as the baby stopped crying.
"I said I would get little Anya this time, Maria. Your supposed to be writing your latest chapter, remember the deadline." He turned the little girl in his arms so she could face her. The child's eyes glowed with a hidden energy so much like Michael's it startled her for a second.
"Our baby girl." She said with wonder.
"Who else's woud it be?" He grinned and passed the child to her. "She reminds me of you. Her smile, that short spiky blonde hair. On second though, I guess she's a little bit of the both of us!" Laughing, Michael let Anya take his index finger in her fist and suck on it contently.
"She's so beautiful." Maria whispered, still taking in the shock that the latest turn of his dream took them.
"She has a beautiful mother." Michael whispered back, taking both child and mother in his arms gently. Kissing Maria on the forhead, he began to rock them both gently. It was then that Maria noticed the silver wedding band on her finger.
"Married." She stated to herself as Michael nodded.
"Almost three years to the day love, or did you forget already?" Grinning he let his hand meet hers as their wedding bands brushed against each other.
"I could never forget." She smiled and for some reason just knew how the day went. The memories were embedded in her mind, her entire life with Michael flashed before her eyes. Their meeting, the way they just got under eachother's skin until they couldn't take it any more, their growing love and trust through all the hardships, and finally Michael getting fed up with it all after Maria had been badly hurt trying to protect him. She remembered that was where he drew the line. Where he always drew it, at her safety. Their new life in Canada, the small British Columbia town the in the mountains they now lived in and their child. The one year she had been living, the utter joy she brought them, the simple fact of knowing that they created her and she was beautiful and perfect. Their life was perfect.
Then suddenly the mists began to creep up on Maria again as the room grew dark.
"Oh Michael no! Please don't wake up." She cried, their child vanishing from her arms as he held on to her tightly, running his hands through her once again short hair. Their wedding bands were gone, Maria was in her pj's as was Michael as he looked at her with pain in his eyes.
"Remember..." He whispered before he was gone and she woke up.
~*~
Within a matter of minutes, Liz had a tub of chocolate chip cookie dough in hand and three spoons in the other. Turning out the lights she scurried up the stairs, not wanting to miss any of the gossip above.
"So Alex really does suck his thumb in his sleep?" Isabelle chuckled.
Maria nodded, wiping the tears of laughter from her eyes. "At least, when we were kids and he would sleep over with us all the time!" She joked back, turning to Liz. "Ahhhh, cookie dough! My favourite!" Like a vampire at a bloodbank, the three girls dove into the tub of ice cream and managed to devour a good half of it before starting up their conversation again.
"So Isa," Liz began. "does Max do anything funny I should know about?" She didn't know why, but she could feel her cheeks reddening slightly.
Nodding with half a mouthful of ice cream, Isabelle took a minute to respond. "Sometimes he calls your name in his sleep. He thinks we don't notice, but when I get up to get a drink in the night, he's there, whispering it over and over again. He's like a big puppy my brother." Grinning, Isabelle went back to the fast dissapearing ice cream.
"Really? Wow, that is cute." Liz chuckled, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear, an old habbit she got herself into as a child that she never quite grew out of.
"I wonder what he's dreaming about." Maria joked. "For that matter, I wonder what they're all dreaming about!"
"What a great idea Maria!" Isabelle piped up. "You know how easily I could find that out for you." A sly grin was already spreading on her face as the girls quickly caught on and burst out laughing.
"You would seriously go into the minds of hormonal teenage boys for us? Awww, your a great friend Isa." Maria smiled.
Liz stood and headed for her desk, her mind temporarily in it's own little world. "I only wish I could see what Max was dreaming about." She absentmindedly picked up a picture of Max from her desk and was running a finger along his jawline.
"You know." Isabelle began. "I've never even bothered to try and bring someone else into their dreams with me. I'll bet it could be done if I passed on my power to you for a while."
"How is that possible?" Maria questioned.
"The same way it's possible for you and Liz to see visions when your spacemen kiss you. It all depends how open your mind is to the thought of them. It could easily be done. After all," she grinned. "the only reason you aren't able to do it is because my mind is so much more advanced then yours."
Within minutes the two girls were attacking Isabelle with a shower of pillows. "Not fair! Two against one!" She shouted.
"Who said it had to be fair? We less evolved mammals shouldn't even stand a chance agains the likes of you!" Liz shouted, trying to keep back the fit of giggles that threatened to bring her to the ground.
Maria collapsed on the bed, snorting with the effort of keeping her laughter in check. This, in turn, only made the other two girls laugh harder.
"That's one I'm telling Michael when I see him next!" Isabelle threatened.
"No! You wouldn't! I would never live it down, Isa."
"That's the point I think." Liz grinned.
Holding all jokes aside, Liz picked up her yearbook and flipped open to the page Michael was on. "It is worth a try. Besides, who would know?" For the first time in her life, Liz sounded devious and daring.
"I'm impressed with you, Liz. Are you getting a mean streak girl?" Maria joked. It was quite a change from the quiet, goody two shoes Liz she was used to.
"I'm game if you are." Isabelle piped in, her mind already racing with the possibility of being able to teach others her secrets. She trusted Liz and Maria more then any other girl she had ever known. To her, this was strictly girl stuff.
"I'll go first!" Maria shouted, clapping her hands together in an effort to remain under control. The whole idea of getting a glimpse at the mystery man Michael's mind was just too much of a thrill. She wanted to see what made him tick as badly as Liz wanted to see inside of Max.
"Ok then. Get something that reminds you of them you can hold on to." Isabelle took charge, looking around her bag for something that would remind her of Alex to use. She knew though, that a simple picture would work for her, yet it was fun adding to the already building excitment. As she was rummaging, Liz and Maria were scrambling around her room in search of their own little treasures.
Liz came back with a rose that had been pressed and stored in one of her many science textbooks. "From the night Max got drunk." She explained sheepishly. "He picked it for me right before he made the streetlights burst into a thousand tiny stars."
"How sweet." Isabelle cut off, not allowing her to go into more depth. If they got to talking about all the nice things their men had done for them, this could well be dragged into the early morning hours. Turning to Maria, she looked over the small key she held firmly in her hands. "Is that what I think it is?" Isabelle questioned, eyebrow slightly raised.
Grinning, she nodded. "Yeah. Michael gave it to me a couple days ago. Said I was too big a part of him to stay away for long. Told me to stop by whenever I wanted." Maria eyed the key again in disbelief. Over the last two weeks, there was a suprising change in Michael that had allowed him to open up more to her. She loved every minute of extra attention he bestowed upon her. "So what do you have Isa?"
"Oh." As if snapped back into the real world, Isabelle held out a guitar pick for the girls to puzzle over before she explained it. "Alex wrote a song for me and then gave the pick he used to play it with to me so I would have something to hold on to." She blushed at the sound of her own words. Still finding it hard to believe that Alex and her were together. Having passed him over for so many years, she was amazed at the kind of person he turned out to be. He was a large part of her life now, and she loved every minute of it.
"What do we have to do to get your power Isa?" Liz asked, almost nervously.
"You chickening out there Liz?" Maria poked at her.
"No, I was just hoping that we wouldn't have to kiss her!" Liz chuckled.
In a few moments, the girls broke out in a fresh set of giggles.
"Your all a bunch of sicko's!" Isabelle announced. "I was planning on resting my hand on your forheads and giving it to you that way, or holding on to your hands as you fell asleep. Either way would more then likely work seeing the open moods the both of you seem to be in."
Grinning, Maria joked. "Darn it. I so wanted to kiss you Isa!" Ducking, she watched the pillow fly safely over her head. "Not today girl!"
"I'll get you yet, Maria." Then, as an afterthought Isabelle added, "The night is young."
"Yeah? Well, I'm getting older and growing edgy. Let's get on with it." Liz snapped before she grinned and laughed once again.
Both girls looked to Liz and then to each other. "Sugar rush." They both stated and smiled.
"I must admit, I'm a junkie!" Liz joked, resting her head against her one remaining pillow on the bed. "I'm game if you are."
"Alright, Maria. Get comfortable and we'll get started."
In under a minute, the girls had all shifted to a more comfortable spot on the bed, each taking up a generous amount of room.
"Hope this works." Maria muttered as she smiled and closed her eyes, one hand resting on the key. The other, laced softly in Isabelle's. Popping open an eye. "If it does, expect details girls!" With that, she was the first to fall into a light sleep.
~*~
Maria stepped out from the haze of sleep and into Michael's dream. She gasped when she realized she was in the desert surrounded by weird writing on the ground. Looking out, Maria spotted her dream self. A rough clash from the pj's she wore, Maria DeLuca was dressed up in an elegant gown. The deep blue folds of the dress blew gently in the wind, competing with the silk shawl she wore around her thin neck. The front was done up in thousands of glittering diamonds matching the tiara she wore in her hair. Pulling her eyes away from the dress, she noted the low cut bodice and more then enough of her pale skin prodruding from it. Her skin, like the dress seemed to shimmer with some inner light. Maria truly looked like an angel.
The real Maria ducked behind a rock as Michael stepped from the cave. Her jaw dropped when she saw what he wore. Complete with black leather shoes and tux, Michael came out with a genuine smile lighting his face and a single iris in his outstretched hand.
"He had been paying attention!" she though. "how else would he know that was my favourite flower?" She continued to ponder this though and watch, as the dream Maria's smile widened when she watched the iris turn into a thin neclace as Michael placed it around her neck.
"For you, my princess." He whispered, brushing a whisp of hair away from her ear. "...and the way our life turned out. I love you." He let his fingers linger on her neck as both Maria's shivered in pleasure.
"That boy knew exactly what he was doing." The real Maria thought.
Within the blink of an eye Maria was no longer in the dessert. The scene around them seemed to melt away with the setting sun to a new home that seemed strangely familliar. The dream Maria was gone and when the real Maria looked down, she was in a cool light green spring dress. Taking a moment to adjust herself to the dream she walked over to the reading nook and sat down by the window.
Wherever they were, it wasn't Roswell. Trees surrounded the home and a single dirt path led away into unknown territory. She jumped in her seat when a truck pulled up. Standing Maria fiddled with the hem of her dress as a strand of long hair fell loosely in her face.
"Oh my..." She started, holding a piece of her long hair in her hand. She would have gotten out more had Michael not walked in the door just then.
"I had the best day my love!" He smiled. No, that was an understatement, he was beaming. In his hands there was a bundle of colorful money. For some reason Maria just knew it was Canadian. They lived in Canada!
"Really dear? What happened?" She smiled, knowing full well that this was just a dream, but oh well, she had every right to play along!
"I sold two pieces of my art!" He said as he closed in the distance between the two of them and scooped her up in an embrace. To Maria, this was getting to be a little too real. Not that she was complaining.
"That's wonderful. Which one's were they love?" she smiled, still quite taken aback by the passionate kiss.
"My oil on canvas of you, and the abstract I did titled hope. You have always been my muse. Heck, you were the only one who believed in me when I wanted to start painting all those years ago and now look at me! I'm greatly gaining popularity in the art world as one of their fresh new faces! I owe all my success to you."
Maria couldn't contain her suprise, or her excitment. Michael was a wonderful artist in the real world and only she truly knew how great he could become, apparantly Michael had dreams too. He was so open, so different then what she knew him as. Yet, in the dream, he was open to her. That meant a lot to Maria. Deep down inside no matter how he acted, she knew he loved her.
"I just want to hold you all night long." he whispered, planting light kisses down her neck, he was already undoing the zipper of her dress in the back, exposing her skin that his hands freely roamed over. Maria was as much a prisoner to the dream that Michael was. There was no way she was going to wake up!
"I cooked us dinner Michael." She mumbled between kisses. She didn't know why she said that, only that she knew there would be food on the table if she turned around at that moment.
"Don't care." he stated, picking her up and taking her up the stairs.
The smells of vanilla assaulted Maria's sense of smell as the door to their bedroom was opened up. Their bathroom was connected to their room where a bath tub stood with Maria's various shampoo's and soaps on it.
"Your smell just gets better and better love." He grinned as he entered the bathroom to clean his paint smered face and hands.
Stepping up behind him, Maria slipped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his shoulder. "You look so beautiful like that you know." She sighed dreamily.
Turning, he looked down at her and laughed. "I'm a mess love! I've been painting all day and it shows!"
Taking her finger, she placed it to her lips to silence him. Her hands then began to lower themselves to his shirt as she undid the buttons one by one. She almost gasped when she saw Michael's bare chest. Her mind raced. "Michael had muscles! More muscles then his waking self should have." She stifled a laugh as he looked down at her slightly confused.
"I never knew my chest was that interesting love." He stated as he slipped the rest of the way out of his shirt.
"Sorry, I just never get tired of seeing you. Your amazing, did you know that?" She was glad to see him smile timidly as he lifted a hand to his hair and ran through it the way he always did when he was uncomfortable. Compliments still did that to him, Maria noted. "Your beautiful, your wonderul hands full of paint shows you love what you do, your eyes are full of love, your smile I could kiss all day, and your wonderful hair has a mind of it's own. I love every inch of you." Delighted at the wantd reaction she got, Maria waited until he could look up at her without blushing before she traced his jawline with her finger.
"How did I ever get so lucky?" He whispered, his body tensing at her touch.
"The same way I did when you came into my life, Michael. I love you." All those things she couldn't say in the waking world came flowing out here. This wasn't just his dream any longer. This was what Maria wanted. Just to be with the man she loved.
Taking her tiny body in his arms, they somehow managed to get to the bed, losing their clothing on the way. The feeling of him inside of her was so intense, the walls shimmered, threatening to wake her up if she enjoyed this any more. He was slow and gentile, whispering reassuring words into her ear. It was the complete and utter love in his eyes that made Maria never want to stop. When they finally did though, Michael eased himself down on Maria, placing his elbows on the bed so he could look down at her. A single tear escaped her eyes.
"What's wrong love? Did I hurt you in any way?" There was a slight alarm in his eyes as his body tensed up on top of her.
"No. It's not that, Michael." She sniffled, refusing to let the rest of her tears come. "It's just that I'm so happy. I can't believe this his happening!" It was the truth. All she knew was this moment, Michael had taken her into his heart, had let her into his soul and it was wonderful. She was part of him now, in more ways then one.
Smiling, Michael wiped the tear from her cheek and kissed her pouting lips gently. "Then I give you permission to cry as much as you want to." He grinned. She noticed his eyes were looking a little glassy as he said that. There was just too much love inside of him. It only made Maria want to try even harder to break his shell in the waking world.
Again, the scene melted away, leaving Maria in their home once again by herself. She was seated at the window, a pen and paper in hand though she didn't know what for. Incoherent words were written upon it. A babies wail jolted her from her thoughs.
Running up the stairs, she threw open the door to her bedroom where she found Michael holding a small child in his arms. He was rocking on the balls of his feet gently, rubbing his hand over the child's back and whispering calming words into it's ear. Turning, he saw her and smiled as the baby stopped crying.
"I said I would get little Anya this time, Maria. Your supposed to be writing your latest chapter, remember the deadline." He turned the little girl in his arms so she could face her. The child's eyes glowed with a hidden energy so much like Michael's it startled her for a second.
"Our baby girl." She said with wonder.
"Who else's woud it be?" He grinned and passed the child to her. "She reminds me of you. Her smile, that short spiky blonde hair. On second though, I guess she's a little bit of the both of us!" Laughing, Michael let Anya take his index finger in her fist and suck on it contently.
"She's so beautiful." Maria whispered, still taking in the shock that the latest turn of his dream took them.
"She has a beautiful mother." Michael whispered back, taking both child and mother in his arms gently. Kissing Maria on the forhead, he began to rock them both gently. It was then that Maria noticed the silver wedding band on her finger.
"Married." She stated to herself as Michael nodded.
"Almost three years to the day love, or did you forget already?" Grinning he let his hand meet hers as their wedding bands brushed against each other.
"I could never forget." She smiled and for some reason just knew how the day went. The memories were embedded in her mind, her entire life with Michael flashed before her eyes. Their meeting, the way they just got under eachother's skin until they couldn't take it any more, their growing love and trust through all the hardships, and finally Michael getting fed up with it all after Maria had been badly hurt trying to protect him. She remembered that was where he drew the line. Where he always drew it, at her safety. Their new life in Canada, the small British Columbia town the in the mountains they now lived in and their child. The one year she had been living, the utter joy she brought them, the simple fact of knowing that they created her and she was beautiful and perfect. Their life was perfect.
Then suddenly the mists began to creep up on Maria again as the room grew dark.
"Oh Michael no! Please don't wake up." She cried, their child vanishing from her arms as he held on to her tightly, running his hands through her once again short hair. Their wedding bands were gone, Maria was in her pj's as was Michael as he looked at her with pain in his eyes.
"Remember..." He whispered before he was gone and she woke up.
~*~