Part Twenty-Five
Liz
Saturday May 13th 2006
"There you go," I say with a smile as I adjust Max's silver cap on his head and straighten the tassel so that it hangs on the right-hand side. I take a step back to admire him in his graduation robes.
"Well?" he grins, holding out his arms to show the effect.
"Wow," I murmur, raking my eyes over him. "You look so… intellectual."
"Is that so?" he grins.
"Yeah," I grin and bite my lip. Who knew graduation robes could look so sexy? He looks gorgeous in his and I'd bet anything no one else could make silver look this good!
"Hey, come here," he smiles, reaching for me.
I happily comply, slipping my arms around his waist as he leans down for a kiss. I close my eyes and allow myself to get lost in the feel of his soft lips caressing mine and it is then that I realise that I'm really am getting over what happened in March and I am once again looking forward to our future together.
"You did it, Max," I murmur against his lips when we finally come up for air. "In just a few hours you'll be an official college graduate."
"Hey, you did it too," he replies, pulling back a little to look down into my eyes as he reaches up and tucks a free strand of hair behind my ear. "You practically aced all your exams, Lizzie."
"I did not," I scoff and roll my eyes.
Okay, so I did pass all my finals and I will be graduating in a couple of weeks' time, but by no means did I ace those exams. My official GPA according to my final results yesterday was a 3.3, not exactly top of the class considering that I was competing against some of the best students in the country.
"In my eyes, you got the best grades possible," he murmurs softly. "I'm so proud of you, Lizzie, for getting through the last couple of months and for not giving up on college."
"Thank you," I smile gently. "And I'm proud of you, too."
We share one more kiss, before the doorbell rings, indicating the arrival of Max's parents and his sister. After they've hugged us both and commented on how grown-up Max looks in his robes, we gather our things together and head over to The Pit, UNM's basketball stadium, for the ceremony.
I can't contain my grin as the graduating students make their way down the arena steps and towards their seats, especially when I spot Max in the crowd, or at least, I think it's him – there are so many students here that it's hard to tell.
As the speeches take place, my eyes search the sea of silver caps and gowns for the back of his head, but I can't see exactly where he is. I finally spot him when, after the dean of his school has asked all the English students to stand so he can confer the degrees to them as a whole group, they line up to walk across the stage individually.
I can't help grinning happily at Max's parents and Isabel, when Max confidently makes his way across the stage and shakes hands with the dean of the English department, whilst accepting the keepsake scroll, which is handed to each student instead of their official diploma – for some strange reason, Max won't receive his real diploma for another few weeks. I have to force myself to sit calmly through the remainder of the ceremony, as the other schools and colleges within the university are called up to the stage. All I can think about is congratulating him with a hug and a kiss as soon as we can get out of here.
When the ceremony is finally over and the students all make their way back up the arena steps, I am quick to urge the Evans' to come with me to find Max outside and when I do finally spot him in the crowd, I immediately run straight into his arms.
"Congratulations!" I exclaim as I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him enthusiastically. His hands come up to rest on my lower back and he chuckles against my lips. "What?" I ask, my tone affectionate as I pull back a little to look up at him.
"Nothing," he grins and shakes his head. "Just… that was a very enthusiastic greeting!"
"Well, I'm happy for you," I grin. "You're a college graduate now."
"You'd better believe it," he murmurs cockily, causing me to chuckle back and roll my eyes.
I give him another quick hug as I press my lip to his neck, before pulling back and slipping my hand into his.
"Come on, your family is waiting to congratulate you," I tell him, nodding towards the left where Philip, Diane and Isabel are standing, waiting anxiously to see him. "And don't forget the reception hosted by the President of the university in a minute."
"Yes, ma'am," he grins, and I stick my tongue out at him playfully as we approach his family.
We attend the reception being held at the arena's main concourse, before heading back to the campus and Max's department for his convocation ceremony. On the way, Max offers greetings and congratulations to several of his fellow students as they walk by with their families. I don't recognise many of them, apart from his roommate, Mark with his family, and his friend, Alex with her parents and boyfriend – Max told me a few weeks ago that she had been seeing someone new; I think his name is David… something. We stop so Max can give her his congratulations before we carry on to the English department.
The convocation ceremony is somewhat similar to the main event at The Pit, albeit a scaled down version. The dean of the school invites a gust speaker to make their speech and then the students are once again acknowledged by name. I can't help but watch with a silly grin on my face as the dean then wishes congratulations to the class of 2006 and then they all throw their caps in the air in celebration. Just think, in a few weeks, that'll be me.
Afterwards, Max's parents treat us all to a celebratory meal at a really lovely restaurant downtown, which is absolutely wonderful. The food is delicious and since Max has just graduated, the waiters bring a complimentary bottle of champagne to our table. The five of us spend the rest of the day together, laughing and joking and just generally enjoying the day. I chat with Diane about the flowers and catering for the wedding and Isabel informs me that she and Maria attended a dress fitting last weekend, and that the bridesmaid's gowns are looking wonderful.
But the thing that really sticks out in my mind about the day is that I really am enjoying life again. Whenever I look at Max, everything around me fades away and all I can think about is being with him, both emotionally and physically. That's when I realise that I'm ready to be intimate with him again. Back in March, I thought I knew what I wanted when I asked Max to make love to me, but even though I fell asleep before anything major could happen, I knew afterwards that it was mostly my grief talking. Now, though, it's different. I've finally gotten over what happened back in March and I feel ready to move forward and not dwell on it any longer.
At about eight pm, Diane and Philip drop Max and I back at his apartment. We're going to stay here tonight and drive back home tomorrow, but Max's parents have offered to load up their car with some of his things so that we don't have to try and get them into the jeep in the morning. When we've stuffed as much of Max's junk as possible in the Evans' station wagon, the Philip, Diane and Isabel, say their goodbyes and head back down to Roswell, leaving Max and I alone in an empty apartment (all three of his roommates are spending the night at hotels with their families, since they've all travelled a long way to get here).
"So," I murmur, closing the front door behind me as I advance towards my fiancé.
"So…?" he questions, with a smile.
"Well, I was thinking…" I murmur playfully, a mischievous grin sliding onto my face, as I come to a stop in front of him. "That you deserve to be congratulated properly for your success."
"Yeah?" he grins indulgently, as he raises an eyebrow.
"Yeah," I confirm with a nod, bringing my hands up to rest on his chest. "Let's go to your room."
"My room?" he gulps, bringing his hands up to cover mine. His expression turns serious. "Liz, are you sure about this? It'll be our first time since…"
He doesn't have to say he rest; I hear the unspoken words just fine…since before I lost the baby.
"Yes, I'm sure, Max," I state firmly, looking right into his eyes. "Totally and completely sure."
"Okay," he says finally, with a gentle smile. "Okay."
He lowers our hands and links his fingers with mine, leading me through the apartment to his bedroom. For some reason, I find myself feeling nervous, yet exhilarated at the same time. I guess it's because Max and I haven't been intimate in so long. Actually, now that I think about it, I almost can't believe we haven't been together in five months – it seems like forever!
When we reach Max's room, he gently guides me inside and then pushes the door closed, before turning to face me. At first, we simply stand there, a few feet apart, just staring at each other. However, after a few seconds, Max walks towards me, gently cups the back of my neck with his hand and brings his lips to mine for a kiss that is filled with both emotion and love. I sink into his soft, warm kisses, sliding my hands up over his chest to tangle in his hair as his other hand slips around my waist and pulls me closer.
There's nothing rushed or impatient about the next few minutes; we simply enjoy the feelings and sensations of being together again. Slowly, Max walks me backwards towards his bed and we sink down onto the mattress as one. Tonight is about reacquainting ourselves with one another, thoroughly and lovingly. I savour the feel of Max's warm body against mine, as items of clothing are removed and dropped to the floor one at a time.
I suck in a much-needed breath when we finally join after months of separation. As Max begins to rock his hips, we both let out a moan of pleasure and relief. It feels so good to have him inside me again, bringing me to a kind of pleasure only he can. As out movements become more frantic, he urges me to open my eyes and look up at him. I do so and suddenly a strange calm settles over us. I get lost in his eyes and it's like everything else around me disappears and there's only him and me, in our own little world as we head towards completion.
Afterwards, we curl up together in his bed, unwilling to let go of each other now that we've renewed our physical relationship again. We talk about various things; we reminisce over the events of the day; we talk about Max's impending job interview in Santa Fe next week and how I'm going to drive up with him and we'll make a day of it; and we discuss what we're going to do between now and the wedding. Eventually, Max falls asleep and I follow shortly after, wrapped up in his arms, sated and happy.
TBC…