Chapter Three: Family Loyalty
May 9th, 1991
Liz watched her new friend Raelyn out of the corner of her eye as the teacher talked. There was something about her that teased the edges of her mind. Not quite like her sister did, but similar. She smiled as her head tilted a little farther to the side and she saw Raelyn's brother Michael also watching his sister, a protective glare on his face as he ignored Kyle who was flicking a paper football onto the other boy's desk.
Maria thought he gave off scary vibes while Tess had been oddly silent on the subject of her new friend and her brother, only saying that they seemed nice but weird when pressed for an answer.
Liz shrugged to herself and turned her attention back to the blackboard where the teacher was writing an equation, she solved it in her head and raised her hand before anyone else, patiently waiting to be called on. She liked Raelyn, and if Michael ever actually spoke to anyone but his sister she was sure she would like him too, that was all that mattered.
Later on the playground during recess she tried to get Tess to follow the other two to the corner where they always sat while the other kids played but her sister resisted. "No Liz, let's go swing, there's two open."
"But I know you'll like Lyn, and Michael can't be that mean if Lyn loves him."
Tess just stubbornly shook her head, blonde curls swaying as she darted a nervous glance at the other two kids and Liz sighed, taking her sister's hand as they skipped towards the swings. Tess still was not sure she liked Maria so she could not be mad at her sister for not wanting to make other new friends.
After all it was not that long ago that she would not talk to anyone but Liz and she only got to see her at recess because the teachers put them in different classes so Liz would not help her sister cheat. She would never do that, but sometimes adults were silly.
So as their legs started pumping to propel them through the air, Liz pushed all thoughts of her redheaded friend out of her mind and grinned at her sister. 'Bet I can go higher than you!'
Tess just stuck her tongue out, blue eyes sparkling as their laughter filled the air. 'Bet you can't!'
August 20th, 1991
"I wonder if we made the right decision to not introduce Tess and Liz to the Evans' kids last year after Tess was ready to go to school," Jeff stated concernedly, a line appearing between his eyebrows as they watched the two girls swing at the park. Tess had bonded well with Liz and was doing well in school, but she did not seem to make any friends of her own, and it had taken quite a while for her to warm up to Maria. "Maybe they would have connected."
"Diane didn't think her kids were ready, said they were both too shy and she didn't think meeting another child who had such an obviously traumatic past would help. She seems pretty determined to do everything for them on her own," Nancy replied, lacing her fingers through his where they rested on the bench between them.
He looked down at their entwined hands and smiled, remembering how nervous he was the first time he asked her out. "I think we were lucky that we already had Liz, she's been wonderful with Tess and we're both a little more relaxed now that we've already had one."
He chuckled, Nancy may have been a worrier, but Diane, while she had a heart of gold, was definitely all about plans and plans for the plans.
"Very true," his wife said, favoring him with a light kiss, "And it's not like the kids won't meet eventually once she starts them in public school. As for Tess I'm sure she will start to make more friends, Liz isn't shy and she's more than capable of 'encouraging' her sister to be more social."
Jeff almost snorted, "More than capable, I think Liz got all of Mom's stubbornness.
"None of it came from you, of course," Nancy said dryly, glancing at him out of the corner of her eyes before returning her gaze to the two girls.
"Of course not!" he exclaimed in mock affront, "Me stubborn?"
The discussion might have continued from there but the two girls had grown tired of swinging and came running up to them, Liz latching onto Jeff's legs while Tess hovered just behind her. "Can we go to the library daddy? The new science book and Tess's fairytales are supposed to be in today."
"Of course we can," Jeff said with a smile at both of his daughters, still pleased beyond measure that both seemed to have an academic bent even at that age.
Standing up he took both of their hands and followed Nancy towards the car, swinging them into the air with each step and trying to hide the wince at the strain on his shoulders. There were not too many months left where he would be able to do things like that and he planned to enjoy them.
October 17th, 1992
At first Liz had been Tess's teacher, showing her how to read and how to figure sums, perfecting her handwriting and all of the other things the brunette girl loved to do like riding her bicycle, and coaxing baskets of french fries out of the cook Jose, even swimming at their new friend Alex's house.
It was Liz's instruction that had allowed Tess to enter second grade with her sister instead of having to stay a year behind, something that amazed and delighted their parents.
Then Tess became the teacher, just a year later Liz had begun to develop more active abilities just like her sister, and while their parents knew there was something different about the little girl they had found in the middle of the road, neither of the girls thought it would be a good idea for them to know just how different.
So they kept the powers a secret, and Liz proved to be just as apt a student as Tess had. She learned how to fix the plate they broke while sneaking food out of the refrigerator, and she learned how to control the extremely strong bursts of telekinetic energy that sent their deck chairs floating over their heads. That one had been hard to hide.
Luckily it had been summer when all of that had happened, so they were home rather than in classes, both girls had long ago realized the dangers of anyone discovering their secret.
And at that moment, months later, both of them were becoming students again; they were nine-years-old as Liz had decided to share her birthday with Tess, and their parents had finally agreed to let them start working at the Crashdown. It was just a couple of hours a day, and not every day at that, but the two of them were so excited that they did not care.
Dad had been forced to order specially made uniforms for them because they were both so small and after changing into them they had both collapsed into helpless giggles on the floor of their bedroom.
"The antennae, they're just sooo..." Tess gasped out, her blonde curls bouncing as she laughed.
"I know!" Liz replied, as her chocolate eyes danced with merriment. "If dad knew you were really an alien he would burn these."
Tess grinned a little evilly "I'm not the only one, you're half alien now too missy and I think green is totally your color."
The brunette gasped in mock horror. "You take that back Tessie, I'm not half anything, I'm all super-powered-human-alien-girl."
"Whatever," was all the blonde said before their eyes met and they collapsed into each other's arms, giggling again.
That was how Jeff found them five minutes later. Folding his arms in front of him, he tried to maintain a stern expression even as his lips twitched with the effort of hiding his smile. The two girls turned and tried to straighten their uniforms, smiling innocently up at him.
"Hi dad!" Liz chirped, taking Tess's hand with her own. "We're ready for our first day!"
Finally releasing his smile, he grinned down at them. "Good, it's time to introduce you to the glamorous life of the restaurant business."
Tess just laughed while Liz rolled her eyes. "Sure dad, green antennae are the height of fashion."
"Hey now, the customers love the theme, including the uniforms."
"They love the short skirts," Tess muttered under her breath, eliciting a stifled giggle from Liz and a paternal glare from Jeff.
"Come on you two, it's time to work; and no smart mouthing the customers!" he said firmly, wrapping his arms around their shoulders and steering them down the hallway towards the stairs.
They both giggled and he smiled, his heart swelling with pride at the thought of his girls working in the family restaurant; he never thought his life would turn out so well.
A/N: So I'm referencing Alex as their friend earlier then he is stated to becoming their friend in canon, only by a year but thought I'd mention it in case anyone else has an obsessively mapped out Roswell timeline like I do :-D
