"I don't believe her! That she kept my own son away from me. That she thought I would kidnap him from her."
"It doesn't surprise me, Max, back then even I wasn't sure what you were capable of." Isabel's voice did not hold condemnation or vindictiveness, she spoke with pained honesty.
Liz Parker may never have been her favourite person when they were high school but they were not kids now, and Isabel had to admit, however hard it was for Max to see, she understood why Liz had chosen to keep Lexie away. God only knew, if she were in a similar position, she might have done the same thing.
Unfortunately, Max was still simmering with anger. "Did you really think I would take my son from his mother?" he asked, his eyes blazing at his sister. "Do you think so little of me, Isabel?"
"Not you, but I think little of the Max who allowed Tess Harding to influence him so much." At this, her brother deflated and sank down into a nearby lawn chair. Isabel pulled over another chair and sat beside him, taking his hand in hers. "I thought you understood everything after listening to her story."
Isabel certainly did; she was still in awe for what all Liz did as a teenager, what she sacrificed. In so many ways, Liz had given her and Michael life. Events may not have played out exactly as the future Max warned yet still Liz had relinquished her love and happiness without bitterness. How could Isabel not be grateful to the other woman when she had shown her immense bravery as a mere teenage kid?
"I do," muttered her brother, "but that doesn't excuse hiding my child from his own father."
"No, but you understand what has been driving Liz all these years. It can't have been easy for her at all; seventeen years old and raising an alien baby on her own. At least we had each other for support, she had no-one and had no clue about what to expect with a child like Lexie. She must have been so scared."
"God, what possessed me, Isabel? What possessed me to say such a stupid idiotic thing to a seventeen-year-old kid? What kind of person in there right mind would shatter the dreams of the only girl I've ever loved?"
Max sounded so forlorn and so unlike the strong, resolute man she had grown up with. Isabel squeezed his hand to capture his attention. "That wasn't you, that was another Max from a different world and you aren't him." Isabel scruntinised carefully before voicing her next question. "What are you going to do now?"
"What do you think?" Max retorted, his anger apparent once more. "I'm going to get my son back."
"Are you sure that's all you want back?"
"What do you mean?"
"Don't play coy, Max, you know fine what I mean. Hell, you've been pining away after Liz like a lovesick dog for twelve years so don't pretend otherwise."
"Isabel, please..." whined her brother, sounding all of six years old again.
"Don't 'Isabel, please' me. Liz came back for a reason and if you go throwing your weight around you're not only going to lose Lexie but you'll lose her as well."
Of that she was sure. Liz was so tenuous now, dubious and uncertain of whether she should trust; one wrong move and Isabel didn't doubt that she would high-tail it out of Roswell never to be seen again. She'd done it once as a mere teenager and she could do it again. Isabel wasn't about to let her brother do something stupid and jeopardize whatever chance he had with Liz, his true love- a fact evident to anyone who wasn't blind and deaf.
"What do you expect me to do?"
"Well, for one, don't go barging in there. In case you forgot, Lexie isn't very fond of you and I don't think finding out you're his dad will change that." Isabel didn't want to be so frank about that but Max had to be reminded, for his sake and the boy's.
Max gave a humourless smile. "It had to be the kid who hates me."
"He's a child who just wants to protect his mother, Max, it's nothing personal."
"I know, I know...She named him 'Alexander', that was what I wanted to call Vaklesh."
"You and Liz have always thought alike, this just shows it even more."
Max's smile become more genuine. "I'm a dad, Isabel. Can you believe that?"
Isabel couldn't help but grin back. "You'll be great."
She didn't hold any illusions of a Disney-archetype reunion but Isabel wished with everything in her heart that both Max and Liz would make peace of this situation. Max had been punished enough of the past, he deserved to have the love like she and Kyle shared. And Lexie Delaney deserved to have his father's presence in his life.
*********************************
"Lexie, I don't want you to ever use your powers and expose yourself to save me," Nick lectured his nephew. Liz kept quiet, using the time to think of that one impending question which was no doubt whirling about in her family's minds.
"People find you using them and they'll hike you off to NASA," chimed in Josh, at his most solemn. For all his devil-may-care attitude, Liz knew that he would do anything to protect his younger, special brother. "You'll spend the rest of your life with tubes stuck up your ass in a glass lab."
"I know, I know," Lexie said with a roll of his eyes having heard all this before. "I'll be more careful next time."
"You better," his uncle warned. "I won't have you ruining your life because I broke a rib or two. Never use your powers unless it's the more dire of circumstances and only then if it's safe to do so from prying eyes. This may be the Land of the Free, Ace, but there are still some very evil people out there who would do anything to get there hands on a special kid like you."
"But I wasn't in any trouble today, was I, Mom?" Lexie cast a probing stare at Liz. "Max won't tell on me...He's my father, isn't he." It was a statement from a boy who was more intuitive than most of his years. Unfortunately, Lexie did not sound thrilled at this disclosure.
This was not the way Liz planned to have this particular conversation and the earlier escapade was certainly not how she wanted Lexie and Max to know the truth. Liz was leaning against the kitchen worktop facing the expectant gazes of her three children and her brother-in-law from where they sat around the kitchen table, an incarnate of the Spanish Inquisition.
"Yes," Liz said to her disgusted son, "Max Evans is your father."
"You sure knew how to damn well pick 'em, Mom," cursed the child, his face downcast at this. Liz resisted the urge to scold him, he had the right to express his opinion and he desrved some leeway in this instance. "What *is* he?"
Liz sighed heavily. What was she supposed to say to that? How does one tell their eleven-year-old child that their father wasn't from their planet, wasn't even completely human? It was something which definitely not discussed in all those parenting books she had read in preparation for motherhood.
"Is he genetically engineered?" Josh asked. "Or a mutant?"
"Is he an alien?" Nathalie piped up.
"Don't so dense, Nat, there's no such thing as aliens," Lexie snapped.
"Actually, Lex, your sister is right," Liz admitted. Four sets of eyes were suddenly riveted to Liz, each displaying different emotions; Nathalie's awe, Lexie's horror and the twin scorns of scepticism from Josh and Nick. "It's true, Max isn't quite human, he wasn't even born on this planet. He, Isabel and Michael came here a long time ago."
"Why?" Lexie asked, his voice terse but calmer.
And so Liz began to tell them everything she knew about Max and the others; their destiny, Tess, the pods. It was liberating sharing this secret after so many years of hoarding it to herself. The only time she ever talked of Max's true heritage was with David when Lexie's powers had begun to manifest at age two. He had been so accepting of her son and the background details of his powers when she had spilled the story to him.
Of course, Nick and the other children had always been aware of Lexie's abilities since Liz had never wanted her son to be ashamed of who he was and it would have been too much to expect a child to hide them from everyone. But to this day, in accordance to the promise she made to the podsquad when she first learned of them, only she and David knew where Lexie's powers originated from.
Nick ran a hand through his auburn hair when she was finished. "I can't believe this." He couldn't bring himself to say the word. "I mean, I know you said Max wasn't what he seemed and I know Lexie's powers at the extreme but I was always thinking along the lines of faith healing or something...But aliens...?"
It was Josh who voiced the question, "So, Mom, does that mean Lexie is some kind of alien too?"
"Neat!" clapped a delighted Nathalie, "My brother is an alien!"
"Not just an alien but a royal alien." A smirk and the sparkle in Josh's eyes warned Liz that he was about to indulge in some typical elder brother tormenting. "If Max is some kind of king then you must be Prince Lexie."
"I'm not a stupid prince!" Lexie made a move to jump on his brother, fortunetly Liz was close enough to put a restrictive hand on his arm. "Mom, am I a freak?"
He sounded so young when he spoke, so scared of the consequences of not being fully human. No child, especially a boy nearly reaching his tenuous teens, wanted to be differ from his peers in any way.
"No," Liz said, sharply. She reached to pull the child into her arms, bending to his height so they were eye-to-eye. "You will never be a freak, Alexander, *never*. Just because Max comes from another planet, doesn't mean he is much different from us. He hurts, he laughs, he feels and thinks like anybody else. His blood is just a little different."
"But what about all these things I can do? Like healing people and changing the shapes of things?"
"Those are gifts which you are blessed with. I heal people too, I just do it different. We all have gifts, Lexie, yours and Max's are just a little more special. That different make you a freak. Understand?"
The boy sighed. "I guess. Did Dad know? About Max and all?"
"Yes, he was my husband and we shared everything, especially something as important as that."
"Then why didn't you tell me?"
"When you were younger, you couldn't have handled the truth since you were only a little boy. After that, it just got harder and harder to admit the truth."
"What did Dad think about me?" This question was mumbled out, Lexie evidently fearing the answer.
"What kind of question if that, Lex?" Nick retorted before Liz had the chance to think of a suitable answer. "You know that your dad loved you like he did Josh and Nathalie. Think about this, come to terms with it but don't ever doubt David's love for any of you kids, got it?"
The three children nodded obediantly at his atypically gruff tone and Liz shot him a grateful smile. Nick might have been astonished by the circumstances but she never once doubted whether he would stand by her. He was as honourable as David and would had seen her family through much laughter and tears; his devotion would not waver now and she loved him for that much like any sister loved their big brother.
Lexie's jaw set stubbornly. "But that doesn't mean I want to see *him*."
"Lexie, we need to discuss this," Liz said, not needing to ask who 'him' was. And she was aware that now Max was aware of his newly-discovered paternal role, he would be looking to access with Lexie.
"Sorry, Mom," replied Lexie, "but there is no 'we' here. This is all my decision and you can't force me."
*********************************
A day had passed since the truth behind Lexie's parentage had been revealed and Max had yet to approach them. Liz didn't allow herself to be lulled into a false sense of security; it was only a matter of time before Max came to her, he just needed time to process everything.
And so, as she considered the past and the people they were back then, Liz found herself involuntarily drawn to the cemetery and Alex's grave. She had avoided it for long enough and it was time to visit her childhood friend again. Surprisingly, when she finally reached the plot where Alex was buried, it was well tended and free of weeds despite the fact his parents had left town years ago.
"Hello, Alex," Liz murmured, kneeling down and laying the bouquet of flowers she had brought for the visit. "So much has happened since you left us but I'm sure you know that. You always did look out for me and Maria..."
Liz gazed at the grave stone. When Alex's death was still sinking in twelve years ago, her grief had been distorted with the utter shock that one of her friends had actually died and he was never coming back. Now that grief was tempered with a sadness for a boy, someone who was little more than a child, who would never have the chance to realize his dreams and experience the life that came with marrying and having children. Alex didn't even have the chance to graduate high school.
In many ways, his death was what lead Liz to specialise in paediatricts in the first place. For every child that she saved, she was giving those young patients the chance to enjoy the adulthood that was denied for Alex. And every day she watched Lexie flourish, she thought of her old friend and how, in some ways, he lived on in his namesake.
Suddenly, Liz became aware of someone approaching behind her and there were no prizes for guessing who that someone was.
"I thought I'd find you here," Max said, crouching down beside her.
There was a moment of silence in deference to their fallen friend. "He seems so young now," Liz whispered in a barely audible voice, unwilling to break the hush out right.
"Yeah...looking back now, we were so young. We knew nothing, hell, we were only kids." A sideways glance to Max showed he wasn't looking at her but his eyes were on the grave stone. "I think he'll always hold a place in Isabel's life, in her past." The way he spoke, it was clear that it was Isabel who had continued to maintain Alex's grave after all this time.
"I can understand that," Liz flicked a glance at him.
"Is that all I am? Just your past?" Liz sighed. "I think we need to talk about us and about Lexie."
"Yes, it's time we do."
Bidding goodbye to Alex, the pair stood up and silently walked out of the cemetery together.
*********************************
Back at the Crashdown, they solemnly sat down with coffee, the somber mood such a contrast to the times they had spent here before. Max gazed at Liz, who was toying with her teaspoon and her gaze fixed into her coffee as if the contents of the cup held the secrets of the universe. Clearly, she was waiting for him to make the first move.
Inhaling deeply to gather strength for the impending emotional conversation, Max started, "We need to talk about what going to happen now, Liz, especially about Lexie."
"What about him?" Liz quizzed, defensively.
Max fought the urge to bite back a retort, resorting for a more understanding response. This had to be hard for Liz as it was for him, and at the end of the day she was the one who had struggled through her late teens and early twenties raising their child and dealing with all the complications that came with it.
"He's our son, I want to get to know him at least. He's the first proof that me, Is and Michael can have children with humans." The second he spoke the latter statement, Max winced inwardly, knowing those were not what Liz wanted to hear.
True to nature, Liz's usually calm features darkened in anger. "God, is that all it ever comes down to? You and your alien-ness?! You know, this is part of the reason I kept away. It was never just about you guys. Maybe in the beginning it was but when I got shot that day Maria, Alex and I were sucked into this almost as much as you were. Alex died for this."
"I know, I know that, Liz." He paused, finding the right words. "What I meant was I didn't think it was possible...I didn't think I could father a child. Look at all the problems Michael and Maria are having, they've been trying to start a family for three years and now to find that we can have children, it changes everything."
Liz sighed. "I did carry him for close to seven months; I was so scared he was premature but everything went perfectly, he weighed in at eight pounds seven ounces. I had him deliver in some backwater town near the Canadian border in case they tried to trace us or there was going to be problems but Lexie was a hale and healthy baby." She smiled at the thought of her baby son, and Max envied her for the memories. "Of course, we had to leave before the doctors could perform the usual blood tests. It was hard making sure he was fine, never being able to have him checked out at the clinic or worrying about if he made the mistakes of using his power in public."
It was disheartening to think of all the problems he had brought Liz. If she could have come to him back then, if he had been more understanding, then Lexie could have grown up knowing his father. Not to mention, it wasn't the first time Max had contemplated all that could have gone wrong. All it took was for one person to suspect what Lexie was and the boy would have been locked up in an FBI lab never to see the light of day.
As if sensing his thoughts, Liz smiled grimly, "Don't worry, David and Nick were there to help me, I wasn't alone. Besides, I would rip open the chest and tear out the heart of anyone who comes between me and mine. I wouldn't dare let anyone harm my kids. You shouldn't worry too much."
Max smirked, despite the grave situation. "Yes, I believe Nathalie already said told me about you being the new Lethal Weapon. But what if the FBI found out?"
"I have insiders to warn me if such a thing were to happen." She bit her lip then ploughed ahead. "Max, Nick is a federal agent, he's a pathologist with VICAP. And his father, whose a terrific grandfather to the kids and a good man, is holds a high position in the Bureau also. We're safe with them looking out for us."
Yet again, he found himself completely speechless in Liz's company. The fact that she had developed a habit of shocking him since her return was not lost on him. First there was the surprise of her new family then his secret son, and now an FBI brother-in-law, albeit he worked for the violent crimes unit rather than whatever department dealt with stranded aliens?! Max was afraid to ask what else she was hiding. He wasn't sure whether to berate Liz for knowingly bringing an FBI into the pod squad's 'territory' or fearing for the consequences of the enemy knowing the truth.
And when he gave some thought to this new development, Max realized he had always sensed Nick was some kind of law enforcement officer. It wasn't an Altarian empathy or anything so extravagant, it was from one cop to another, the way Nick conducted himself was similar to the behaviour of Max and his colleagues. And from that perspective, Max felt Nick was not some blood-thirsty alien hunter but a guy to be trusted.
"Then I know Lexie is in good hands," Max said finally. "I trust him not to let anything happen to you or him...Liz, do you think Lexie would, I dunno, want to do something with me? Go out as a normal father-and-son together for a few hours? I want to get to know him."
"Why do you want to see him so much?" From the tone of her voice, it wasn't a demand but rather curiousity. It was no secret any more that in the past Liz had been afraid he would try to kidnap their son and part of him wondered if that fear had not been entirely extinguished. "To replace the son you lost with Tess?"
Max shifted uncomfortably, wishing he had been the first to tell her. "You know?"
"Isabel and Maria were very forthcoming when I asked about you and Tess."
He was beginning to wonder whose sister Isabel really was- his or Liz's. She seemed to receive some form of entertainment having these little chats to Liz, coming away with the information Max had to fight for. For a pair who were never the best of friends in their younger days, it never ceased to amaze him how close they had become now.
Feeling Liz's eyes boring into him, Max decided he *wanted* to tell her about his other son, just as special as Lexie, and why he had stuck with Tess for as long as he did.
"Tess found out she was pregnant a few weeks after you left," he said. "It would have been a boy as well, he'd be about the same age as Lexie. Ironically, I wanted to call him 'Alexander' too but Tess was determined he would have a proper Altarian name so he was to be named 'Vaklesh'. The whole argument was for nothing; the baby didn't even live long enough to have a name. He died in the womb, unable to survive on this planet."
The fight over the baby's name was when it finally hit Max hard that Tess didn't really love him nor he her, and she was only with him because their destiny dictated her life. This child would have just sealed their life together. But fate saw to it that Max was not to have this son when there was his other little boy named Alexander running around with his true love a thousand miles away.
Liz reached over and squeezed his hand gently. "I'm sorry, Max, it must have hurt to lose a child."
He wasn't all that surprised at the genuine emotion in her voice. Liz always made an effort to understand him even at the cost of her own welfare. Her self-sacrifices were what brought them to this situation in the first place.
They both took a moment to meditate over their thoughts then Liz broke the silence. "I'll talk to Lex, he isn't thrilled with the whole thing just now but I think it's important for you both to spend at least a day together. *But*," she emphasized firmly, "I won't force him nor will I let you take him again if that isn't what he wants. He's only a little boy and I won't have him bullied into something he doesn't want to."
"Yes, yes," assured Max, a broad grin gifting his face and a feeling of euphoria rushing through him.
He wanted to hug Liz, kiss her for giving him the gift of his son. And he was determined to do the best by Lexie, be the best father a boy could have. He wanted to be a part of this boy's life so much.
Smiling faintly at his infectious joy, Liz made a move to leave when Max placed a soft hand on her wrist halting her. He gazed up at her beautiful albeit bewildered face, pondering he could have let her go in the first place.
"And what about us?" he asked quietly.
Liz slid back down, never shrugging off his grip on her. "I don't know, Max," she said, honestly. "I'm not the girl you once knew."
"I know, we've both grown up, but I still..."
"You still feel *it*," she completed for him.
She didn't need to clarify the 'it' she referred to, Max knew what she meant. In their youth, whenever near Liz, he had always been filled with a warm glow. It wasn't anything sexual as such since the feeling had present even when they were young children, and it had never diminished despite the years they had spent apart. But only now had Liz allowed herself to acknowledge it, giving Max some hope.
He nodded. "Liz, I still love you, that's never changed. I...want to try again, this time I won't let anything come between us."
"Max, I'm a widower with three young children, I have a lot of baggage that comes with all that. And I live a good thousand miles away. Your home is here in Roswell, and I don't want to come between that." Liz sighed, looking older than her years under all the stresses she had faced in her life. "We have a son together, maybe that's all we can ever have."
She gave his hand one last squeeze then stood up, leaving him sitting there. Max knew she wouldn't come back down until he was gone. Still, re-affirming his vow he took when he first met Liz a few weeks ago, he wasn't going to let Liz go without a fight. Lexie's birth was a sign that he and Liz were supposed to be together just as Zan and Ava had once been together another life. And he would help Liz to see that if it was the last thing he did.