by Meredith (roswelldreamer@aol.com)
To the Dreamgirls....
Keep on believing.
Max held Liz's hand as he drove them home. He thanked God that the day this happened was the day he had taken Michael and Maria to the airport and had driven to school. He didn't think he could stand a long train ride home with her. He wanted to get her home as soon as possible. The ride home was relatively quiet, mostly because Liz was taking a little cat nap and Max was too enraged to speak.
He gripped the steering wheel tightly as he pondered his options. If Tess was going to continue to endanger the safety and well-being of Liz and their daughter, he was going to have to take matters into his own hands. On the other hand, he could never kill anyone- especially the mother of his first born child, and one of his own kind.
Then there was the matter of Nasedo or Morgan, or whoever the hell he was now. Max was fairly certain he had gone on to take another human form by now. Max beat himself up for not putting two and two together earlier. After the incident the night Liz found out she was pregnant, and all the things she told him about Morgan's odd behavior, Max should have insisted that they not have contact anymore- just to be on the safe side. But he didn't listen to the side of him saying he was just being paranoid, and that almost cost him is soon-to-be-wife and daughter. He was getting married in like 2 months! They hadn't even begun to plan or do anything for it. He couldn't believe that all this shit with Tess and Nasedo was really happening. And on top of it all, they had finals and graduation in less than 3 weeks!
Max couldn't take all the pressure and stress anymore. He waited until it was safe and pulled over on the side of the road once they'd reached the neighborhood of Brighton, which was about 10 minutes from home. He put his head on the steering wheel and began sobbing uncontrollably.
The sound of his sobbing and the feeling of the car's engine switching off startled Liz out of her sleep. She put her hand on his cheek.
"Sweetheart..." She said, trying her best to calm him down. He looked into her eyes and she saw an emptiness... fear, rage, pain... it scared her. Those eyes did not belong to the eyes of her Max. All this stress was making him change...on the inside too.
Max began breathing shallow breaths. "Liz..."
"What..." She said, taking his hands into hers. "Talk to me..."
"I...I...keep having these...feelings, these strong urges..." Max said, gripping his hands tighter on the steering wheel.
Liz's eyes grew wider as she listened to the man she loved speaking to her. "...Urges? To do...what?" She asked, her voice cracking with fear.
"When I saw you lying there, you dying, Jordana...dying..." Max said, choking back sobs. "...I thought only one thing...I wanted to...kill...whoever did this to you. So you would always be safe."
Liz gasped.
"I know, I know, it's crazy, and stupid, and awful..."
"Max, that's not like you... you could never...kill...anyone." It made Liz grimaced to even say the word.
"...but if I don't, she's going to kill you, and she's going to kill Jordana." Max pleaded with her.
"Max, I know you, maybe even better than you know yourself- and you could never kill anyone, especially the mother of your son." Liz said. "Even if she is a monster."
"But, Liz..." Max cringed. He was even scaring himself about what he was thinking. He just wanted her dead. Both of them. She and Nasedo.
"Max. There are other ways we can get her out of our lives."
"Liz, what happens the next time she does this and I'm not there to help you?" Max said, taking her fingers and lacing them with his. "I would never forgive myself if..."
Liz wiped his cheek with her hand. She placed a gentle hand on his cheek where the tear used to be. "Nothing's going to happen to me. You and I, we're stronger than hate. We're stronger than evil. We're stronger than Tess."
Max looked into her eyes. He'd never been so scared in his life. He knew he couldn't just sit around and wait for Tess to attack Liz again. There was just too much at stake.
"Let's go home." Liz said, smiling. "I'd love to take a nap with you in my arms."
Max tried to smile, but he was terrified. He resolved to call Michael and Isabel when he got home. He needed their help, now more than ever.
* * * * *
Tess and Adam-Michael's Home
Later that afternoon
"Mommy, can I watch another video?" Adam-Michael asked his mother, who was pacing in the kitchen, the cordless phone in her hand. Nasedo had just called her to tell her that Liz discovered that she was really Morgan. Nasedo also told Tess that Liz was in noticable pain when he last saw her.
"Fine, whatever, Adam...just leave Mommy alone, ok? I have some very important business to take care of."
"Ok, Mommy. I'm sorry." Adam said, frowning. Tess didn't even notice the hurt in her son's eyes as he went back to the VCR and popped in a Barney video. He went back to drawing a picture with crayons. It was of a little boy holding hands with a man. They both had brown eyes and brown hair. There was also another woman in the picture he drew, a woman with long brown hair. She was a lot smaller than the man and was holding the little boy's other hand. Adam drew little red hearts between the hands. Over the stick figure man was the word "Daddy", over the little boy was "Adam-Michael", and over the woman was "Daddy's girlfriend". He smiled as he drew a sun, and grass, and the horse his mom had promised him and he had never received.
When it finally dawned on her that her son was hurting, Tess walked over to the living room where he was coloring. Her eyes welled up with tears when she saw the drawing of a girl with long brown hair holding hands with the little boy in the picture. "Adam..." She said, breathlessly.
"Yes, Mommy."
"Who is that?" She asked, pointing her finger to the dark-haired woman in the picture. She swallowed in anticipation, knowing exactly what her son would say.
"That's Daddy's girlfriend. The one holding hands with him at the airport that day. She was nice."
"Nice, Adam? She barely spoke to you!" Tess said, grabbing the picture from her son. "You are never to speak of her again, do you hear me? She is an evil, evil woman! She is keeping you from your Daddy!"
Adam's eyes welled with tears. "Mommy, why are you yelling at me?" His bottom lip quivered. "I don't want to live with you anymore. I want to live with my Daddy." He said, turning over his box of crayons and running into his room, slamming the door behind him.
Tess sat on the floor, clutching her stomach. "Oh, God..." She said. "What have I done? What have I done?" She repeated, sobbing. "Tessa..." She said to herself, pulling her body from the ground. "You have to pull yourself together. Your son loves you, and so does Max. And soon, you will be a family again." She said, smiling. She opened the balled up picture she had been clutching in her hands and took one look at Liz and Max's images. Adam had drawn the two of them with big smiling faces and Liz with a big pregnant belly. How on earth could Adam have known Liz was pregnant? Perhaps there was a connection already between the new baby and Adam? How could he have known he had a sister coming? Tess had to stop this. She would never lose her son to Liz and Max, no matter what she had to do to stop it.
* * * * * *
"A mother understands what a child does not say."- unknown
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"Michael, I've never been so scared in my whole life." Max said, pacing in the kitchen of their apartment, trying carefully not to wake a resting Liz in the other room. "Not even when Pierce was torturing me in that white room...that doesn't even compare."
"Maxwell..." Michael said, unconvinced.
"No, Michael...when I saw Liz lying there, she and our baby...dying...I felt myself dying inside, too. It was Nasedo. He did this to her. He was pretending to be Morgan, he prayed on her Michael...he's dangerous."
Michael nodded, trying to understand the gravity of what Max was telling him. "He said he'd do anything to protect us...and our destiny...to each other."
"That's not a good enough excuse anymore, Michael! I'm not going to sit back and wait until he takes Liz and our daughter away from me!" Max said, the blood pumping through his veins like hot fire. "They don't deserve that! If Nasedo wants to kill, let him kill me!"
"Max, calm down...we're not going to let anything happen to her. Listen, we're almost finished packing up here, and Maria can stay behind here for a few days and close up the place...I'll fly back out there and stay with you guys...I know you need as much power against them as you can get right now."
"Thanks Michael. But I don't need your help to keep Liz safe. I need you here to hold me back. I've been having these...urges..." Max said, clenching his fists.
Michael raised his eyebrow. "What...kind of urges?"
"After seeing Liz hurt like that today, I wanted someone to pay...I wanted someone to suffer as much as Liz and our daughter had to suffer. All I could think about was...killing...Nasedo and Tess." Max said firmly, afraid of himself for what he was proposing. "I just wanted them dead."
Michael gasped in anger. "Maxwell, how DARE you! They are our family! Tess is my sister, for God's sake! I'll kill YOU if you lay a finger on her!"
Max paused. "She's killing my baby! She's killing Liz!"
"Liz is more important than your family? Your blood? Your people?" Michael screamed at him.
"Liz IS my family! Tess means nothing to me! She's done nothing but deceive and trick me since the day we met! She kept my son from me for five years!" Max screamed. "What is wrong with you Michael? Liz is the best thing that ever happened to me, and you've NEVER been able to accept her!"
"I don't have anything against Liz, Maxwell. I don't want her to die...but I think you need to get your priorities in order, that's all."
"She's two months away from being my wife! She's carrying my daughter! Liz, Jordana, and Adam-Michael! They are my first priority, they are my family! I have to save them, I have to have them here with me, safe...they'll never be safe with her around..." Max said, beginning to quietly sob. "Never..."
"Maxwell, I know you want to spend more time with Adam-Michael. But are you really willing to end the lives of Nasedo, who helped save your ass all those years ago when you were being tortured by Pierce, and Tess, who you used to care about, used to be involved with, and is Adam's MOTHER? Do you really think he would ever forgive you for killing the only parent he's ever known?" Michael cried. "You really have a problem, man."
Max paused. "I'm...sorry, Michael. I know Tess and Nasedo are important to you. But I'm trying to make you see that Liz and my children are the MOST important things in the world to me. And if you want to come out here, that's fine, go ahead. But don't think you can stop me. If Nasedo or Tess do ANYTHING at all to endanger Liz and Jordana's lives, I WILL be forced to do something...drastic."
"Max, are you even stopping to consider what you would be losing by killing them? Nasedo was sent here as our guardian. What happens if anyone tries to hurt us again? Like the FBI? Torture? That white room they locked you in? Alien hunters? Do those ring a bell?" He paused to catch his breath. "And what makes you think you can even kill Nasedo? If you kill him, we'll just find him and use those crystals we used to save his life the last time, and you'll just be back to square one again..."
"Wrong, Michael...that's where you're wrong. Those crystals require all four of our energies combined. You, Isabel, Tess, and I. And I'll tell you one thing, I will never do it. Never. And Isabel would never betray me, or Liz." Max said, firmly. He walked over to the refridgerator and smiled at the picture they'd received from Isabel and Alex announcing Michaela's birth. The two of them were cuddling with their newborn and they looked so happy. Max longed for that to be he and Liz, holding Jordana. It made him sick to think that it may never happen for them. They may never be able to hold their baby in their arms and tell her how much she's loved.
Michael sighed. He knew Max wasn't going to back down from this crusade of his. And he didn't want to see Max hurt, that was the last thing he could ever want. He knew there was no use in trying to get through to him. He was just going to have to try to stop him from doing something that would tear them all apart.
****"The daughter never gives up on the mother, just as the mother never gives up on the daughter. There is a tie here so strong that nothing can break it. I called it 'the unbreakable bond'".- Rachel Billington****
In the other room, Liz was barely asleep and was listening intently to what Max was saying to Michael on the phone. She felt torn on the inside. She was relieved to have him standing up for her against his own people, but she was becoming more and more terrified at what he was becoming- he was actually thinking about taking a life. She hated Nasedo, and she hated Tess even more, but she would never want to see them killed by Max. She wanted their baby girl to be able to look up to her father as a brave, loving, caring, honorable man. A man who keeps his promises, respects others, and would never endanger anyone.
*What was happening to him? *
She rolled over on her side, her growing belly propped up with pillows for extra comfort during the night. The warm tears swelled in her eyes as the screaming in the other room intensified. She tried in vain to keep from sobbing herself to sleep, but she couldn't contain the pent-up emotion she was feeling.
"God, I'm so confused." She whispered, looking up to the heavens. "Lord, tell me what to do..." She placed a single protective hand on her belly, which donned the intriguing glowing symbol that comforted her to no end. "Goodnight, baby girl. I love you so much." She said, smiling through tears and kissing her palm, then returning it back to rest on her stomach.
****After a few minutes, she had drifted off to sleep. Her dream started out so peacefully-it was different from the beach scene that terrified her so much. This time, it was from her point of view. She was walking down the aisle, her father's arm linked with her own. She could fill her eyes brimming with tears of joy as she looked on both sides of the aisle and saw her friends and family members looking at her with ecstatic faces.
Her heart skipped a beat when she saw Max standing at the altar, waiting for her to join him. His soulful brown eyes matched her own in that they were filling quickly with warm tears. She smiled at him then, but he just couldn't do anything but stare at her immense beauty. She looked to Max's left and saw Michael, the person he always considered to be his brother, standing strong beside him as his Best Man. Alex was smiling sweetly at her, as Max's usher. He winked at her. Liz smiled back at him. Liz looked to her left and her heart filled with love.
It was her best friend Maria as her maid of honor in a beautiful satin lavender wedding gown, with Isabel smiling at her side. Liz loved Maria and Isabel like her own sisters, but the sight of the beautiful baby girl in Maria's arms took Liz's breath away.
Liz didn't have to be introduced to this baby, she knew for certain deep in her heart that the baby was Jordana. She was wearing a white lace dress with a white satin headband on her tiny head filled with short, dark brown hair. Liz wanted to reach out and hold her so badly, she felt this aching in her heart. But she knew what she had to do first. She looked back at Max with love and pride, and took his hand.
The moment they joined hands, the scene changed.
She was sitting in a dark, cold room. Her hands and feet were bound together and she could feel something covering her mouth. She tried to scream out but no one was coming to her rescue. Tears of terror poured from her face, which was contorted wildly from crying so hard and so long. She looked to her right and saw Jordana crying in a crib. She was about a year old, because she was able to stand up in her crib. She held out her tiny arms and screamed for Liz to pick her up. Liz's heart broke over and over as her daughter's cries grew louder and more forceful. Then she heard voices over to her left. They were hard to make out but then grew more distinct.
Tess and Morgan/Nasedo were walking towards her with big grins on their faces.
"Liz, I told you. I always get what I want." Tess said, walking over to Jordana's crib, picked her up, and kissed her head softly. She immediately stopped crying. Liz glared at Tess in anger and tried to scream out, but she couldn't.
Morgan/Nasedo smiled at Liz. "Oh, isn't that sweet?" She said, smiling devilishly. "You're probably wondering what I did with the REAL Morgan, huh? Your best friend? Well, I'm sorry to be the one to have to tell you this...but she's dead, Lizzie. Yup, I killed her."
Liz gasped and she felt her heart break all over again. She shook her head and tried to mutter the words "No...NO!"
"Yup, and unfortunately, it was pretty painful for her. I heated up her body to a temperature exceeding 185 degrees farenheit, basically melting her." Nasedo chuckled. "At least it was quick."
Liz felt like she was going to throw up. She didn't know what was worse- the fact that Nasedo tortured and murdered her best friend or watching Tess comfort a crying Jordana.
Nasedo pulled a needle out of his jacket pocket. He smiled as he examined it. "Sodium chloride..." He began, wickedly. "It's what Dr. Kevorkian gives to those dying cancer patients. It's a virtually painless death...I'm going to inject this into your bloodstream and within moments, you will feel a tingling start in your arm and travel to your other extremities, finally creeping into your midsection and your vital organs. Then you will...peacefully...drift off to sleep..." He smiled at Liz. "Our leader did love you for a long time, Elizabeth. So we decided that you deserved a more...painless...death than the one your friend suffered through." He ripped off the gag from Liz's mouth and she screamed out as loud as she could, trying to wiggle around in the chair she was bound to.
"Please...don't!" She felt herself scream out. Tess started to leave the room with Jordana, flashing Liz a look of almost sincere apology. "Tess! No! Don't leave! Don't take her away from me! Jordana, baby, I love you! Mommy loves you so much!" She cried out. Nasedo got closer and closer with the needle.*****
"NO!" Liz screamed, sitting up in her bed in a cold sweat. Max jumped up out of bed as well when he felt her distress. "No! Oh God!"
"Liz, Liz, sweetie..." He cried, grabbing her and holding her tightly to his body. They laid back and she held on to him so tightly that her fingernails left white marks in his skin. He smoothed her head with his hand and tried to calm her cries with a kiss on her forehead.
"Max, it was just, so awful...I can't...I can't talk..." She said, breaking into fierce sobs.
Max knew she had another nightmare and he lifted up her nightgown to see if the symbol had stopped glowing. It was as bright as ever. He sighed with some relief but was still distressed to know his lover was hurting. "Just relax." He said, shushing her. She shut her eyes slowly. He put his hand to her belly and was immediately flooded with images of a wedding, and then the horrific nightmare of Liz being held by Tess and Nasedo against her will. When the flashes ended, he looked up into her eyes. "Oh, God, baby..." He said, his own eyes filling with tears of pain and rage. "I am so sorry...I'm so sorry you had to suffer through that...God, it's all my fault..." He pushed his face into her stomach, kissing the symbol and the surrounding skin. "It should have been me..."
"Max, stop that." She said, lifting his chin to meet her own loving gaze. "Stop blaming yourself. We're in this together, remember. We're not going to let anything happen to Jordana."
"What about you, Liz? If I lost you..." He began, shuddering.
"Max, you're not going to lose me." Liz said. "We're going to graduate, get married, have Jordana, and live happily ever after, okay? Tess probably sent me that nightmare in my brain to try and scare me."
"She can communicate with you?"
"I don't know...lately I've been feeling her presence inside me somehow...like her breaking into my subconscious...getting me to have this nightmares...these doubts...trying to reject our baby. I'm not going to let her."
Max took her hands in his own and pleaded with her. "You have to fight it. You have to, Liz. Do you hear that?"
Liz smiled. "I'm as strong as I can be, I have you to support me, to protect me. When I'm with you, I feel invincible."
"That's just it, Liz...I can't be there to protect you all the time. I can't make sure that Tess and Nasedo are away from you- not if they're breaking in to your mind like that..." He pleaded, shaking his head at what he just said. "I can only protect you by..."
"No, Max, no. I'm not going to let you kill them. You are the most wonderful man I've ever known, and will ever know. I'm not going to let you kill two of your own kind just so I can sleep better at night." Liz said, shaking her head.
Max paused. "I know, I know it's wrong, Liz. But how right is it for them to target you like this?"
"It's not right, it will never be right, Max. But there are other ways we can protect ourselves."
"Like what? Run from them? They'll find us." Max said, sighing.
"Max, we don't have to run. We need to stand up and fight them. We need to take back our lives. You, Michael, Isabel, Alex, Maria and I...we need to combine our energies, our lives, our souls, our minds...we CAN defeat them. Just like we saved Michael's life all those years ago, the six of us can save me. We can save this baby." Liz said, holding his hands and kissing them. "The six of us, we can do anything, as long as we're together."
Max gently placed his hand on the side of her face. He couldn't believe how wonderful she was. She turned her head and kissed his open palm. "Liz...I love you."
She smiled. "I love you, Max." They shared one of those deep open kisses that looked far into each other's souls. All the pain and anger from the dream Liz had seemed to slip away as Max moved his hands further down her body, caressing every inch of her hot skin. The longing they felt for each other was consuming them both. Neither said a word, passion was taking over and language was just a fading memory. She wrapped her long, slim legs around his back as they continued their seemingly endless stream of soul-stroking, sensual kisses. He broked away from her lips and traveled down to her neck, finally resting his lips on her waiting breasts. She grabbed the back of his head with her hands, pushing her body as close to his as possible. After a few moments of ecstasy, she felt a sudden burst of empowerment and flipped his body over so she was on top of him. She began to deliver to him the same pleasure she had just received. He couldn't speak, his head swam with so many thoughts, but the biggest one being just complete awe- how did he ever find this perfect creature? He couldn't imagine his life without her in it. And at that moment he knew that he would do everything in his power to protect her existence on this planet.
Even if he had to kill.
"I'll stand in the gap for my son.
I'll stand till the victory's won.
This one thing I know, that you love him so,
And your work with my child is not done.
I'll never give up on that boy.
Nor will you, for you promised him joy.
For I know it was true
When he said "yes" to you,
Though the enemy seeks to destroy.
And so in the gap I will stand,
Heeding your every command.
With help from above,
I unconditionally love,
And soon he will reach for your hand."
-Shirley Pope Waite
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It was less than a week later, and the sun finally shone again in the city of Boston. Max and Liz had decided to go to the Public Garden downtown and have a picnic to study for finals and to celebrate having a "good week". Since the night Liz had the horrific nightmare in which Nasedo killed her, neither she nor Max had had any visions or dreams involving Nasedo, Tess, or death in general. Liz was feeling energetic and happy, and Jordana seemed to be developing nicely. Liz's belly had already grown a considerable amount in just one week, and she had begun to feel Jordana moving around inside her.
She and Max were eating their sandwiches and watching the people go by. Liz laid on her back, suddenly feeling a little sleepy and wanting to get some well- deserved shut eye. With finals just two weeks away, they were both feeling the pressure of studying and work, on top of the ever-present wedding plans and feeling of imminent disaster looming over their heads at all times. Max looked up from his anatomy text book and chuckled.
"Lying down on the job already, short stuff?" He asked her, playfully throwing a pretzel stick at her arm.
"Oh, bite me, Evans. You don't have this little person moving inside you all the time, keeping you up all night." She said, turning her head to face him and smiling at him.
"Oh, boo-hoo." Max said. "You want me to quiz you on your chem stuff again?"
"Are you kidding me? I have that stuff down cold." Liz replied, laughing.
"Oh, really? I guess we can't all be as smart as Miss Elizabeth Marie Parker..." Max teased, shifting his body closer to hers. "...Soon to be Evans." He added proudly.
"Well, Mr. Maxwell Phillip Evans, we've always known that I'm the brains in this operation." She chuckled slyly, teasing him.
He smiled, sighing. "Yeah..." He leaned in to whisper into her ear. "And we've always known I'm the alien in this operation." He nibbled on her earlobe and she smiled.
"Max!" She cried.
He laughed. "Wow, you're really getting sensitive...I like this pregnancy stuff!" He said, returning to her earlobe.
"No, it's not that..." She said, laughing. "Not that it isn't...quite lovely..." They looked at each other lovingly and shared a kiss. "It's just...she's moving! The baby!" She grabbed Max's hand and placed it on her belly.
Max smiled, in awe of the feeling. They didn't ever have to wonder anymore if Jordana was all right- she was making her presence felt. He was elated. He'd never felt so relieved in his life.
"She's amazing..." Max began, looking into Liz's eyes.
"Well, she gets it from her mom." Liz replied, smiling and sticking her tongue out at Max. He leaned in and kissed her. Max was angered to see visions of Tess and Adam-Michael invade his brain while kissing Liz. He broke back from her quickly and Liz saw that something was wrong. "Honey?" She said, her voice wavering. "What is it...What did you see?"
"Tess is here. I can feel it." He said, frantically grabbing her hand and standing the two of them up from the blanket. They craned their heads around, looking through the large crowds of people, trying to find any sign of Tess, Naesdo, or Adam-Michael.
"D-do do you see her?" Liz asked, terrified.
Max didn't hear her ask the question... he had found what he was looking for. Not even 100 yards from where they were sitting, he spotted Tess and their son standing beside a bench. They were both smiling and laughing. Tess was teaching him how to fly a kite. Max's heart sank. He wanted so badly for Adam-Michael to be with him-to be able to share simple moments like that with his son. His first born. "Liz, you stay here. I'm going to go talk to her." He began to walk away, but she grabbed his arm and looked frantically in his eyes.
"Max, don't leave me here alone. What if...Nasedo's nearby or something?" Liz said, knowing that her paranoia sounded ridiculous outloud but it was something that needed to be said.
Max leaned down and kissed her forehead.
"I'm sorry, angel. How could I have been so stupid? Come with me." He said, pulling her towards him. They walked slowly over to Tess and Adam with their arms around each other's waists, holding onto each other for support. When they were within 20 feet of them, Tess looked over to Max and smiled. She leaned over to Adam-Michael, who was too busy playing with his kite to notice his dad was standing before him.
"Adam...there's your Daddy." Tess said, kissing his head. Adam dropped the kite and smiled.
"Daddy!" He screamed, running over to Max and Liz. He ran into Max's arms and hugged him close. Liz and Tess looked at the two of them in awe, neither of them expecting for Adam to accept his father, who was a virtual stranger to him, so quickly. Max picked him up and held him in his arms, spinning him around. He pulled Adam's face away from his neck so he could look into his son's eyes. Tess looked over at Liz to try to give her a look that said "look, he belongs to me now." but she wasn't paying attention. She was too busy looking at how well Max interacted with this child he barely even knew.
"Hey, pal." He said, smiling. "I've missed you."
"I missed you too, Daddy. Mommy taught me how to fly a kite! Look I'll show you! I can do it all by myself!"
"Okay!" Max said, smiling. He put Adam-Michael back on the ground and he grabbed the kite.
"Now, remember to get a running start, Adam!" Tess said to him as he picked the small red kite up from the grass.
"I know, Mommy, I can do it myself!" Adam said, beginning to run from them with the kite flying high above them.
"Adam, honey, don't run too far, okay? Stay where Mommy can see you!" Tess cried. She looked over at Max when Adam was out of earshot. "He really is a wonderful child. He's so well behaved."
Max grabbed Liz's hand. "Well, Tess, you've done an excellent job raising him."
Tess smiled. "Thank you, Max. It's been hard...being...alone." She wrapped her arms around herself. "But I suppose I have a few friends I can always count on...when I need them." She glared at Liz.
"Oh, like the one you tried to get to kill me those couple of times? Real great friends, Tess." Liz said, glaring right back at her. Max squeezed her hand tighter and Tess laughed.
"Liz, I don' t have the foggiest idea of what you're referring to! If someone's threatened your life or the life of your precious little baby, it hasn't been my fault..." Tess said, keeping her distance.
"We didn't come here to fight with you, Tess. We just wanted to say 'Hi' to Adam." Max said, trying to keep the peace between them. He felt torn in a way. He hated Tess as a person, but she would always be Adam's mother.
"Max, I told you that you're welcome to spend time with him. Just as long as your little whore isn't around." Tess said, smirking at Liz. Liz lunged for her but Max held her back.
"Tessa, Liz is going to be my wife in less than two months. She's the mother of my child. You better start respecting her or you will have no relationship with me whatsoever- not even as my friend."
"But you want to see Adam-Michael don't you?" Tess said. "He's been asking about you so much, Max...he misses you...he wants you to come live with us..." She said, walking over to him and putting her hand on his muscular shoulder. She rubbed her fingers down his chest seductively. Liz reached over with her free hand and smacked her across the face. "You BITCH!" Tess screamed. She raised her hand to smack Liz but Max grabbed her arm and twisted it.
"Now, Tess, that's not going to get you anywhere, is it?" Max asked her.
Liz lunged at her again. "Keep your hands off my husband."
Tess laughed. "He's not your husband...yet." She said ominously. She quickly put her hand to Liz's growing belly. "It would be a shame if something happened to that beautiful baby, now wouldn't it? What a tragedy." Max pushed her away from Liz.
"Don't EVER touch her." Max said. "Do you hear me Tessa? NEVER!" He screamed, grabbing her wrists and shaking them.
Adam ran over to them. Tess and Max quickly let go of each other and stood in front of their child, ashamed. Adam looked up at his mom. "Mommy, I need to tell you something." Adam said. Tess squatted down in front of him, fearing the worst.
"What, honey?" She asked him, smiling sweetly.
"Please don't hurt my baby sister." He said quietly.
Liz sank to the ground in shock. Max gasped as he felt tears come to his eyes. He put his arms around Liz and they both sat there in shock. Adam walked over to them and hugged the two of them. He put his hand on Liz's belly and rubbed it.
"Hi, Jordana...I'm your brother. I love you." He said, kissing her belly.
Liz smiled and began crying. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"How do you know her name, Adam?" Liz asked, looking into Adam's eyes.
"I see her in my dreams. She dances with me. We play at the beach and build sandcastles. Me, you, Daddy, and Jordana." He said, smiling. Liz and Max looked at each other with wonder.
"Well, after your sister is born, we'll take you to the beach someday. Would you like that, buddy?" Max asked his son.
"Yeah, Daddy. That would be so much fun!" Adam replied, his face lighting up with excitement.
Tess bit her lip, vowing not to let Liz or Max see how upset she was. Her eyes threatened to spill over with tears, but she suppressed them.
"Max, how does he...?" Liz asked him, smiling through tears of happiness.
"I'm not sure," Max said, smiling back at her. "Maybe because he and the baby are both...you know..."
"They have some sort of connection...maybe that's why she's been kicking so much since we've been at the park..." Liz began, rubbing her belly.
"...Cause she knew her big brother was nearby." Max said, smiling. "That's so cool..."
Tess grabbed Adam-Michael into her arms. "As fun as this little reunion has been, we really have to go now. Come on, honey."
"No, Mommy, I want to stay with Daddy and Lizzie!" Adam screamed, punching his fists into Tess's chest.
"No, Adam, you can't!" Tess screamed.
"PUT ME DOWN!" Adam-Michael screamed. He put his hand up to her chest and an inexplicable force pushed her onto the ground, releasing him from her grip. He ran over to Max and clung to his legs.
"Oh my God..." Liz whispered, covering her mouth with her hands. Tess was still sitting on the ground, in awe of what had just happened.
Her son was turning against her.
"No..." Tess said, shaking her head and screaming. "No, no!" She raised her hands and looked like she was about to snap.
Max knew something awful was about to happen. He turned to Liz and screamed at her. "RUN! Run, Liz!" Liz didn't waste any time. She ran quickly back towards their blanket and Max picked up Adam-Michael, running back towards Tess. She fell into his arms, sobbing uncontrollably.
"Take him! Just take him!" Tess said. "He doesn't want me anymore! He doesn't love me! No one loves me, no one cares!"
Max sighed. Adam-Michael rested his head on his dad's shoulder and he put his arm around Tess. "Tess...that's not true." He said, biting his lip. He was lying through his teeth.
"Yes it is. You were my destiny, Max, and you rejected me. MY DESTINY. My reason for living! Now you're gone...forever! Why am I still here? I've failed to live up to my duty- the reason why I was created!" Tess screamed at the top of her lungs.
"Tess, look...just because I don't love you anymore doesn't mean you didn't live up to your duty...I chose my destiny. My destiny is with Liz, it always has been." Max said. "And you're a fool if you think you're going to stand in the way of it."
"A fool, Max?" She asked, looking into his eyes and wiping her tears away. "We'll see. We'll see how happy you are when Liz is gone."
Max's eyes widened in fear. "Gone?"
"That's right. Gone."
"Tess, if you touch her, so help me..."
"You'll do what, Max? Kill me? Go ahead! I don't care! You'll be putting me out of my misery!" She looked at her son and began crying again. "Goodbye, my precious little boy. I love you so much." She kissed his hand. He was too young to understand what was happening so he just looked away from her. This brought on a new wave of torment to Tess's already broken soul.
She looked up at Max. "I'll be over in a few days with his things. Goodbye, Max." She planted a warm kiss on Max's unresponsive lips.
Max watched her walk away and the sky began to cloud up. He and Adam-Michael looked up to the sky.
"Daddy, we better get home...a storm's coming." He said.
Max looked into his son's eyes then looked at the image of Tess walking away from them. He knew then that it wasn't over.
Tess had nothing left to lose- she wanted to die. She was capable of anything...even cold-blooded murder.
Liz and Jordana were far from safe.
The war was just beginning.
*****
"You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth'. But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also."- Matthew 5:38-39
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ONE WEEK LATER- LIZ AND MAX'S PLACE
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.
"Isabel, I can't tell you how wonderful it is to have you here with us." Liz said, sitting on the couch enjoying a late-night snack of ice cream with her best friend Maria and soon-to-be-sister-in-law, Isabel. It had been a week since Adam-Michael had come to live with she and Max, and Maria and Michael were slowly but surely moving into their new place in Boston. After Max called Isabel to let her know about the major problems they'd been having with Tess and how they feared for Liz and Jordana's lives, Isabel and Alex dropped everything in New Mexico, and brought Michaela out to Boston to be with them.
"Alex and I weren't going to stand by and let Tess hurt you guys like this. Besides, I've loved getting to know my sweet little nephew." Isabel said, smiling. She really had changed her once cold and invincible demeanor in the past few years. Being a mother and a wife has made her realize that she is loved, and she can let people into her life without getting hurt.
"He really is adorable, isn't he?" Liz asked, smiling. Maria dug in for another scoop.
"Yeah...he really is, great, Liz. How DID he ever come from the Wicked Witch of the West?" Maria replied.
"One of the great mysteries of the world..." Isabel began. "God, I always knew Tess was selfish...but I had no idea she was so inately...evil!"
"When she came back, I thought she was just going after Max again...I wasn't worried, I knew Max would never leave me for her...but then Adam-Michael showed up, and I found out I was pregnant...and all these awful things kept happening...it's like I'm living a nightmare."
"We're not going to let that twisted chick win, Lizzie, don't you worry." Maria said, gulping down a heap of cookie dough ice cream, a favorite of all three women. Isabel, naturally, enjoyed hers with a splash of Tabasco sauce.
Just then, Adam-Michael toddled in to the kitchen, clutching a teddy bear his mother had left for him. It was his favorite and he couldn't sleep without it.
"Lizzie?" He asked, walking over to her and hugging her.
"What's the matter, hon? I'm sorry, are we being too noisy?" Liz asked him, kissing the top of his head covered with shiny black hair.
"No, I had a bad dream." He said, his eyes red with tears.
Liz kneeled down to his eye level. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Adam nodded a "yes". Liz put down her spoon and grabbed Adam's tiny hand, leading him to the kitchen table and helping him climb up into the chair. Isabel walked over to the refrigerator and grabbed some milk, placing it on the counter.
"Adam, sweetie, would you like some warm milk? When your Daddy and I had bad dreams when we were little, Grandma fixed us warm milk and it always made us feel better." Isabel asked him. Adam nodded another "yes". From his facial expressions, he seemed to be a mix of tired and terrified.
"Adam, can you tell me about your dream?" Liz asked him. He looked up into her eyes, and they began to fill with tears again.
"It was scary," Adam said, crawling out of his chair and into Liz's arms. Jordana crowded most of Liz's lap but he had managed to find a spot to sit on.
"Was Jordana there?" Liz asked.
"Yeah..." Adam said. Maria and Isabel walked over to him with the cup of warm milk. Maria looked at him and frowned.
"Adam, honey, you don't have to tell us about it if you don't want to..." Maria began.
"But I want to tell you...Mommy was hurting the baby." Adam said. "She hurt the baby, then she hurt Lizzie."
Liz, Maria and Isabel gasped. Liz buried her face in Adam-Michael's sweet-smelling black hair. Her own eyes filled with tears and dampened the black hair surrounding her face.
Adam continued. "And I was there and I tried to get Mommy to stop it. I was yelling at her 'Stop it Mommy! Stop hurting them!' But she wouldn't stop. It's all my fault. I couldn't stop her."
"Adam, sweetie, no. It's not your fault... and I'm fine! Your sister's fine, we're both fine. Nothing's going to happen to us, okay buddy?" Liz said to him while wiping the tears of fear from her own eyes. "She's been moving a lot tonight. She wants to come out and play with you, Adam."
Adam put his hand on Liz's belly. He smiled and drew his hand back in surprise when he felt the baby move. "When's she going to be here with us, Lizzie?"
Liz looked up to Isabel and Maria and grinned. "We're not completely sure about that one, pal. But when we find out, you'll be the first to know."
Adam smiled. "Okay."
The ladies and Adam-Michael turned their head to the doorway when they heard footsteps come into the kitchen.
"Hey, how come I wasn't invited to this party, huh?" Max asked, his eyes sealed tight with sleep and his hair mussed. Adam smiled and ran into his arms. Max picked him up and held him tight to his neck. "Hey, pal. What are you doing up? Are these ladies being too loud in here with all their yapping?"
"I had a bad dream, Daddy." Adam said, pulling his head back from Max's chest and looking into his eyes. Max stole a glance at Liz and she nodded. Max knew then that the dream had been about Tess and the baby.
"It was just a dream, Adam. Nothing's going to happen to Lizzie or your sister, ok?" Max said, looking into his son's eyes with concern.
Adam just nodded quietly. "Mommy...she scares me sometimes."
"Adam, your Mommy would never hurt you..." Max said, putting his son back down on the kitchen floor and kneeling down to his eye level.
"I know." Adam said. He yawned.
"You want me to tuck you in, sweetie?" Liz asked him, walking over to the little boy and taking his hand. Adam nodded.
"Goodnight, Adam." Maria said, waving to him.
"Goodnight, sweetheart." Isabel said, blowing him a kiss. "We love you."
"I love you, too, Aunt Izzy." Adam said as Liz and Max escorted the young prince back into their bedroom.
"God, I pity that poor child for having Tess as a mother." Maria said, shaking her head.
"But at least he has Max and Liz." Isabel said, yawning.
"For his sake." Maria added in. "I guess I better go, since everyone seems to be turning in..."
"Yeah, I'm sure Michael's wondering if you're ever coming home!" Isabel said, smiling.
"Well, I like to make him wait." Maria said, winking. She grabbed her car keys and hugged Isabel. "Goodnight, girl. Tell Liz I'll call her tomorrow."
"Okay. Goodnight." Isabel said, walking into the guest room and shutting the door behind her. She smiled at what she found.
Michaela had fallen asleep in Alex's arms again.
It made a cute picture but it really wasn't safe and Isabel was very protective of her baby girl. She carefully and quietly pried the baby from Alex's embrace and placed her into the small portable crib next to their bed. She kissed her and rubbed her back until the baby was back to sleep once again. She then crawled back into bed with Alex and wrapped her arms around his back, nuzzling her face into his neck.
"Mmmm..." Alex said, turning around to face her. "Where were you...I missed you..."
Isabel smiled and kissed his cheek. "Just girl talk..."
"You really missed them, didn't you?" Alex asked her, smiling.
"Yeah...I really did. I mean, they're my family. They're our family. It's the six of us again, the way it always should have been." Isabel said, playing with his dark hair. Alex looked like he was in a far off place. "What are you thinking about?"
"Well...what if...we moved out here?" Alex asked.
Isabel's eyes lit up. "Can we do that?"
"Why not? I mean, I can put in for a transfer at work...the world headquarters of the record company is Boston, after all..."
Isabel gave him a slow, sweet kiss. "You are the greatest..."
"No, you are...I still pinch myself everyday when I wake up...I can't believe you're my wife. How did I get so lucky?" Alex said.
"Well, I did kind of just...fall out of the sky..." Isabel said, snuggling up closer to him.
Alex smiled, kissing her earlobe. "I love you, Mrs. Whitman."
"I love you, too, Mr. Whitman."
* * * *
It was the last day of finals week, and Liz had just finished her very last final exam before graduation. Unfortunately, she'd been too worn out to celebrate, so she had returned back home to take a little nap before work.
She turned her key in the door and opened it slowly, taking in her relief and joy that she was done with school- at least for a while. She had been accepted to Boston University's medical school, but had deferred admission a semester to have Jordana. She kicked off her shoes and dropped her bookbag on the floor in the living room. She grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge and gulped it down quickly, falling into bed. She was even too tired to turn on General Hospital. She just pulled herself into the covers and sighed.
The apartment was serene, quiet. It was almost eerie. Ever since Adam-Michael had come to live with them, and Isabel and Alex and the baby came to visit for a while, they had been living in a quasi-zoo. People always coming in and out. The apartment was full of life, love.
Until today. There was something really off about the place. It shook Liz out of her peaceful slumber.
She sat up in bed, her body trembling. She knew something was wrong. Was it Adam? No, Maria and Michael had him for the day so Liz and Max could take their finals. Isabel and Alex had taken Michaela over to Maria and Michael's and they were all taking the kids to the downtown Children's Museum for the day.
If everyone was accounted for, what could it be?
Liz laid back in her bed and pulled the covers tight around her neck. She looked over at the clock on the nightstand.
2:44. Only an hour until Max should be back from his exam.
"Only an hour." Liz thought. "Sixty minutes. I can handle it."
* * * *
"Honey! I'm finished! We're all finished! I got..." Max said, clutching a dozen roses and a bottle of non-alcoholic sparkling cider. He opened up the door, surprised to see it was unlocked. He walked into the hallway in the front of the apartment, feeling an immediate sense of panic.
Something was definitely wrong.
"Liz? Lizzie?" He asked, throwing his bookbag and his presents for her on the kitchen table and sprinting into their bedroom.
The bed had been made, and the TV was still on. A half-empty bottle of spring water was sitting on the dresser. Max frantically ran into the bathroom. "Liz? Liz?" He cried. The bathroom looked untouched. Everything was in its place. Nothing unusual. He walked back into the kitchen and slumped against the counter. Liz was supposed to be home now. Had she gone to run errands? It wasn't like her to leave without at least leaving him a note or something. He took another step towards the kitchen table and heard a crunching noise beneath his shoes.
He looked down to find that he had stepped in a pile of broken glass. Someone had broken a dish and not cleaned it up. Now he KNEW something was wrong. Liz was a total neat freak. If she had broken this plate, she would have cleaned it up immediately. He bent down to the pieces and picked one up with his right hand.
Suddenly, he got a flash.
Liz making a sandwich and singing to some music coming from the bedroom.
"Oh, oh, you've got the best of my love, oh oh..." She was singing an old 70's song. She placed her free hand on her belly as she piled small pieces of turkey onto the two slices of bread lying on the plate. "Hey, baby girl, I know you're hungry. I've got your favorite coming right up..." She said, smiling.
Then there was a scream, and the plate was knocked to the floor.
A strange man had come up behind Liz, holding a knife to her throat and a knife to her belly.
"Come with me, little girl." He whispered in her ear. "Don't make a sound, or Jordana will die."
Liz's eyes lit up in terror as the man tied her wrists together, throwing her on to the cold kitchen floor, then bounding her ankles together. He grabbed a roll of duct tape from a bag he had slung over his shoulder and put a large piece over her mouth. Liz's eyes were spilling over with angry tears. She couldn't struggle or he would slice her open, she just knew it.
"Max. Help. Max." She called out to him in her mind, hoping he would somehow know she was in trouble.
She looked up above her to the cold white ceiling. Her vision was blocked by the image of tight blonde curls cascading down her face. Then a cold hand on her cheek, then a warm kiss on the forehead. "My darling, Liz."
Liz squirmed around in fear.
"Liz, there's nothing to be afraid of. It will all be over quickly, I promise." Tess said sweetly as Liz continued to squirm.
"Ok, everything's ready. Grab her arms and I'll grab her ankles." The man said, picking up Liz's ankles from the cold floor. Tess complied with her partner's orders and they gingerly lead her out into the hallway of the apartment building.
Their across the hall neighbor had just walked out of her apartment carrying a large bag filled with garbage. Tess panicked but quickly sprang into action. She sent a message to the woman's brain, making her see an image of Tess and the man carrying large bags of garbage out of Liz and Max's apartment, not Liz's squirming, pregnant body.
The woman smiled and waved at them. "Are you friends of Liz and Max?"
"Yes, we're their best friends." Tess said.
"Can't talk now, lots of things to do..." The man said.
"Okay," The woman said smiling, in a daze.
By the time the woman's vision was over, Tess and the man had already left with Liz.
"No! God NO!" Max screamed, sinking to the floor, clutching the piece of the broken plate. "Not Liz- don't take my baby, no, God, please!" He screamed, broken and sobbing. He immediately got another flash.
It was dark, except for a bright light coming from over in her right visual field.
Another image of Tess smiling over Liz.
Then a rip and a scream.
"WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?" Liz screamed once Tess had removed the tape from her mouth. "You're NOT going to win! Max doesn't love you! And if you do this, Max is only going to kill you!" She tried in vain to release the ropes bounding her to a cold steel chair.
Tess chuckled at Liz. "Oh, sweetie, you can have him. I just want payback."
"What have I ever done to you...that you didn't bring on yourself?" Liz asked her.
Tess was shocked. She slapped her across the face and tears of frustration filled Liz's big brown eyes. "How dare you even suggest... You TOOK my SON away from ME! You just wait and see how empty you feel when I take your baby away from you...your child...your first born...your only reason for living, breathing..." Tess said, rubbing her fingers across Liz's stomach.
Liz's eyes brimmed over with tears.
Her bottom lip quivered.
"Do what you want to me. Just don't hurt...her." She said firmly.
"Where, where did she take..." Max said, pulling himself off the floor and lightening. His language abilities were breaking down as panic set in. He sank back deep into his subconscious...trying to pull out a clue from the vision he had.
A picture of Owen. There's a picture of Owen.
There's a picture hanging on the wall.
I'm at Morgan's, I'm at Morgan's...
The voices rushed through his head, banging him back into reality.
He rushed over to the fridge and grabbed the list of important numbers Liz had made. "Maria's Cell Phone: 703-9871. Michael and Maria's: 787-0967. Alex's Pager: 505-645-2234." Max's mind was racing as he grabbed the phone and called the first number on the list.
* * * *
Maria and Michael each held one of Adam-Michael's hands as they walked through the dinosaur exhibit at the Children's Museum. Alex was wearing a light blue baby carrier which was holding a sleeping Michaela in it's sling.
A faint chirping noise was coming from somewhere.
"What the hell is that?" Michael asked as Maria rummaged around in her purse for her cell phone.
"It's my phone. You have a problem with the ring?" Maria asked.
"That ring is so stupid, Maria. Why can't your phone just ring like normal phones?" Michael asked. She playfully punched him in the arm as she pushed the "Send" button on the phone.
"Hello?" She said cheerfully. There was a pause.
"M-maria..."
"Max? Max, what's wrong?" Maria asked, frantic.
"She t-t-took her. She t-took Liz."
"WHAT? Wait, Max, WHO took Liz? Was it Tess? Where did she take her?"
"T-Tess took her to M-Morgan's...Maria, they're going to k-kill her...and the baby...help Maria...oh God, no..." Max said, dissolving into sobs.
Michael grabbed the phone from Maria's ear. "Max, Max, it's me. Now look we know you're upset but you've got to calm down, ok? Tell us where Tess took her."
"Morgan's! Do you remember how to get there?"
Michael searched in his mind. He had never been good at memorization. "No." He admitted, defeated.
Max screamed, shouting out directions through sobs.
"Max, Max, I can't understand you..." Michael said. "Max..." Then the phone went dead. Michael looked at Maria, stunned. "Dammit, Maria, I told you to charge your frickin' phone before we left, now look what happened..."
"Michael, stop yelling at me!" Maria screamed. Adam-Michael tugged at her pant leg.
"Mommy has Lizzie, doesn't she?" Adam-Michael asked her. Maria nodded slightly, throwing her arms around him.
"We're going to get her back, kiddo." Maria said, kissing his head. She looked up at Alex, Isabel, and Michael. "I can get us to Morgan's."
"Thank God." Alex said, whispering a silent prayer. "What are we waiting for? Liz needs us. That baby needs us."
Isabel grabbed Alex's hand frantically as Michael scooped up Adam in his arms and the group ran quickly for the exit.
