Chapter Two: Forming Bonds

September 12th, 1989

The tiny girl watched every move her sister made in the mirror, when she finished, Tess reached her hands up to her own blonde curls and separated them into three parts, weaving them seamlessly into an identical braid.

A wisp of blonde hair refused to stay in the braid and settled in the middle of her forehead, tickling her eyes. She blew it up with a frustrated breath and heard the brunette giggle when it fell right back down.

She smiled, still getting used to the sound of laughter, and pointed at her hair. 'Braid?'

Liz nodded and spoke out loud, carefully enunciating each word. "It's a perfect braid. You did a really good job."

"Thank you," Tess said, her voice soft and shy. She knew that Liz wanted her to try talking out loud more so everyone could hear her instead of just her sister, even though she was not sure she wanted everyone to hear her. But some instinctual part of her knew she needed to fit in and if talking was part of that then she could do it.

Liz grinned and jumped to her feet, grabbing the other girl's hand and pulling her towards the open door of the bedroom they shared. "Come on! Let's go see if daddy will make us a milkshake to share!"

"I like strawberry," the blonde forced herself to say and was glad she had when Liz squeezed her hand encouragingly. Maybe she could get used to the normal thing.

May 30th, 1990

"Are we ready for this Jeff?" Nancy asked again as she looked up at her husband with worried eyes, remembering a similar question just nine months earlier but unable to stop herself.

"We've had her for almost a year now and I think we have all grown too attached to let her go now. Liz will be so happy when we make this official and she knows we'll never take her sister away."

"You're right; this is the best thing to do," she said, smiling as once again she pushed down her doubts. Tess had not caused any problems, had even less of a temper than Liz who was always an even tempered child.

She had not ever planned on having more than one child, much less one with such a shadowed past, but it was a special circumstance and she did not want to lose her new daughter.

"Yes it is," Jeff declared and kissed his wife's head before leaning down to sign the papers that officially declared the little girl to be Tess Parker, the newest member of their family.

The two girls had become inseparable in the past months and as the authorities had not been able to find any records of her in the system in addition to the Roswell Orphanage being full to capacity, she had been allowed to stay with them indefinitely as a foster child.

When they decided to make her stay permanent the adoption had been pushed through much faster than usual due to the same circumstances, and Philip and Diane's expert help.

Folding the papers he slipped them into the envelope and sealed it, as soon as the county received the documents Tess would legally be theirs. Following Nancy into the living room he smiled as he saw the two girls curled up asleep on the couch, Liz's book of fairytales lying open next to them.

Exchanging affectionate glances, he picked up Tess as Nancy picked up Liz and they carried them into Liz's bedroom. It was a good thing that Liz did not mind sharing as they had no other room to put her new sister in. They only hoped that situation would not cause problems when they were older.

After the girls were tucked in, he and Nancy stood in the doorway and watched their peaceful faces, their small hands linked even in sleep. "I love you," he whispered to his wife, heart swelling with happiness.

She pulled his face down to hers for a lingering kiss, "I love you too Mr. Parker, you are the most caring, intelligent man I know and you make a wonderful father." He blushed and she smirked, tugging on his shirt. "Let's go to bed and I'll show you just how much I appreciate you."

He grinned and pulled her into his arms, laughing at the surprised expression on her face when her feet left the ground. "Sounds good to me Mrs. Parker."

The two little girls listened to the giggles as they disappeared down the hallway and smiled at each other before their eyes drifted closed once more.

December 25th, 1990

Last Christmas Tess had been too frightened by all the lights and sounds to really enjoy herself, and that year Liz was determined to show her how special her favorite holiday could be. So they had spent the week before making and decorating sheets and sheets of cookies and dozens of homemade ornaments. On Christmas Eve their daddy even got them a gingerbread house kit and they had spent hours pushing peppermints into the frosting on the roof and making little Christmas trees out of gum drops.

On Christmas morning she had gotten up earlier than normal and made Tess a crown out of tinsel, a crown she would wear while she handed out presents. It was a job Liz usually did and loved but that year wanted her sister to have. She crept back into their room and set the crown on Tess's chest so it would be the first thing she saw when she woke up, then she walked over to their window and sat on the sill, watching the Christmas lights twinkle on the balcony, far too excited to go back to sleep.

A little while later a small sound from the bed alerted her and she turned to see Tess's blue eyes glowing happily at her as she picked up the crown and set it crookedly on her blonde curls.

Liz grinned and jumped down to the floor, taking Tess's hand as they walked in silent accord out through the door and to their parent's room. Oh so quietly they opened the door and crawled onto the foot of the bed before standing up again and exchanging devilish smirks.

Then they pounced and the room was filled with shrieks and giggles and one low baritone laugh.

Tess's crown got a little squished but their mom straightened it as best she could and their dad carried her to the living room on his shoulders as Liz and their mom followed like a little parade.

Hours later, after the presents had been handed out and the hot cocoa and cookies had been served for the rare treat of a Christmas breakfast, the two girls curled up with their favorite presents. Liz was writing in a brand new journal from Grandma Claudia and Tess was reading a new big book of fairytales.

'Merry Christmas Liz,' the blonde said, resting her chin on the top of the book and Liz looked up at her and grinned.

Merry Christmas Tess.' Tess's eyes widened and Liz winked before going back to writing in her journal; My name is Liz Parker and I'm special just like my sister.

A/N: There are reasons why Liz's changes took longer to manifest than Raelyn's and they will be explained in the third story in this series.