Parents
by
Disclaimer: Not mine, don't own them. Jason Katims and Melinda Metz own them. The WB might, UPN might, I don't know. But not me!
Author's Note: I don't know why, but I've always envisioned Isabel as the midwife when one of the aliens has a child. So. Just to let you know. Canon through just after 'Baby, it's You', then AU.
Author's Note 2: The fate of this series will be determined by feedback. Nobody likes it, it won't continue. If people like it, I'll finish it. So, please tell me where you stand!
Chapter Note: The latter half of this chapter was written in a hurry, and has not been proof-read. Please excuse any grammar or spelling mistakes.
Summary: After 'Baby, it's You', this is my version of what might have happened.
Rating: PG-13
PART FOUR
Later that night, Max once again snuck from the room, this time leaving Joshua Michael with his mother. They were both sleeping, and Max almost didn't want to give up the chance to get some sleep himself, but decided he needed to talk to Isabel.
"Iz?" He asked, knocking softly on her doorframe. She looked up from her computer, and smiled at him.
"Come in, Max."
He sat on her bed, and yawned. "Could we try to do this quickly?" He asked. "I don't mean to be rude, but the baby's asleep, and I could use some sleep, myself."
Isabel nodded. "Okay." She took a deep breath, and looked at her brother. "Max, is there something wrong between you and Tess?"
Max looked up at his sister with surprise, and a little guilt in his expression. "We thought nobody noticed."
Isabel shook her head. "Well, you're pretty quiet about it. But you two are just so sickeningly affectionate when you're getting along, that it's hard not to notice when you fight. Assuming that's what's wrong."
Max shrugged. "I don't know what's wrong. We're just tired, I guess, drained from all the daily life that never ends."
Isabel looked thoughtfully at her brother for a long moment. "Why don't you get away from all of it, then?"
"How?" Max looked a little wistful. "Joshua Michael isn't even weaned yet."
"Leave him with me. I can take care of that."
Max shook his head. "I'd love to, Iz, but I don't think Mom and Dad would go for it. Tess and I had to fight for our right to live in the same house, even, remember?"
Isabel nodded. "But would you go, if it were an option?"
Max smiled tiredly. "Hell, yes. I love my son, but I'm just tired of the monotony."
Isabel grinned at her brother. "Vacation here you come, Max. Just leave it to me, and be ready to go when I say."
Max looked at his sister skeptically, but decided not to pick a fight regarding her statement. "Okay."
Isabel stood, and Max followed her lead, getting ready to leave the room. "Get some sleep, Max," His sister told him.
Max yawned. "You can be sure of that," He told her.
Three days later, Max and Tess were on their way to Southern California, courtesy of Isabel's bank account which had suddenly grown in suspicious amounts, per the famed turning dollar bills into hundreds trick. Sitting in the coach seats of the jet plane, they felt a little funny without the baby and endless baby supplies, but seemed otherwise comfortable.
Joshua Michael was at home with Isabel, who was perfectly capable of turning formula into alien-suitable breast-milk. The rest of the group pitched in when they could, and the Evans' helped, too, having agreed with Isabel that Max and Tess need a break surprisingly easily.
"Max?" Tess asked, turning to look at him from where she sat at the window. For an alien, she was awfully afraid of heights, Max had discovered rather belatedly.
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry things have been so tense." She pushed the arm away, and snuggled up against Max. He put an arm around her shoulder, and kissed her on the head.
"Me too," He told her. "Let's just forget about it, though, okay? We should have some fun on this vacation, who knows when the next time we'll see one is, right?"
Tess smiled, and shifted a little, making herself suitably comfortable, and Max decided that nothing could equal the happiness that he got when his family was happy.The plane landed uneventfully, and Max and Tess carried their luggage off the place. They caught their rental transport, and got the little car that they would drive for the next five days. Then they headed to the hotel where they were going to stay.
The clerk didn't blink when he handed them their key, even though an older woman, standing behind them in line, gave them an odd glance as they announced they had one room. They went to their room, and collapsed, having decided that the first day and night would be devoted to sleeping as much as possible, before having to go back to Joshua and his twice a night feeding rituals.
But halfway through the night, both found themselves awake, and with no baby to feed, they yearned for something else. Contact. Which was something that hadn't really been discussed during the time after Joshua Michael's birth. Max had assumed Tess would be uncomfortable with it, and both of them had too many things to do in too little time.
But now, away from all of that, Max wrapped his arm around Tess and kissed her softly, and Tess snuggled closer to his side. She ran her hands up and down his chest and back, kissing his neck, clearly wanting more. Max pulled away long enough to look her in the eye.
"Should we do this?" He asked. "I seem to recall that a certain son of ours in the result of not asking ourselves that last time this happened."
Tess smiled, and dug into the nightstand drawer. Her hand came out clutched around a foil-wrapped package. "This might help," She said. "And I'm on the Pill. It should have just started being effective last week."
"But, there's still alien physiology to contend with." Max answered.
Tess shrugged. "It should be enough. After all, it's about 200% more protection than we used last time." A wry smile crossed her face.
Max smiled at her, and nodded. Then he kissed her solidly, and rolled over, pulling her on top of him.
The week went by too quickly, though Max and Tess tried to cram as much sightseeing, sleeping and physical... contact into it as possible. They were calmer, happier than they had been since Joshua Michael's birth, and unrivaled by anyone in the world of their gratefulness to Isabel.
When the time came to board the plane, Max and Tess grabbed their carryon, and headed into the large plane. For her part, Tess couldn't imagine that this immense number of people actually had any interest in a town as small as Roswell, or the surrounding cities the airport served, but apparently they did, because the plane was packed.
Finding their seats, Max pushed down the arm rest between them, and pulled Tess into his lap, cuddling her to him. She sighed happily, and rested her head on his chest, pushing herself as closely against him as possible. They stayed this way until the flight attendant came by, and told them they had to buckle into their individual seats for takeoff.
Max almost argued with her, but realized that she had no way of know that the two seemingly ordinary teenagers had superpowers and probably wouldn't get any injuries that couldn't be taken care of, no matter how rough the takeoff was. Reluctantly, he returned Tess to her seat, and put the arm rest down. Reaching over, he buckled her seatbelt, and then took her hand. She leaned over the barrier between them, and put her head down on his chest, and this was how they took off.
The plane had been in the air for about half an hour when Tess suddenly caught a glimpse of the clouds flying by the window. Giving a little cry, she buried her head in Max's chest for a second, and then looked up, but deliberately away from the window. Max smiled. It was cute, her vulnerable side. He'd never really seen that part of her personality, before Joshua.
He tucked his head into her neck, and whispered in her ear. "You know, Tess, it's one of the benefits of being an alien. If something actually did go wrong, we could just fix it."
Tess didn't answer, and Max smiled. Her body twitched a little as the movement of his face tickled her, and Max grinned harder. "Chicken," He whispered teasingly.
Tess looked up at him, but caught sight of the clouds out the window again, and ducked her head back down. Max grinned. "Tess..."
She looked up at him again, this time being very careful not to see out the window. "I am not a chicken!" She protested half-heartedly. Looking at their neighbor, an elderly man who was asleep and snoring in his seat, she leaned close to Max, and whispered, "In fact, we probably have no biological relation to chickens at all, Max." She smiled at him, and he leaned down to plant a quick kiss on her lips.
The rest of the ride was uneventfully calm, and Max and Tess continued to talk, occasionally seriously, usually light-heartedly about trivial matters, for the entire time. The elderly man awoke once and glared at them when they spoke too loud, but for the most part, nobody bothered them.
The woman traveling alone across the aisle wasn't much older than them, and she watched them wistfully most of the trip. The couple next to her smiled and nodded and held hands sweetly when they saw the way that Max and Tess were behaving, beaming with understanding.
Funny, Max thought, that none of these people would behave the way they are at all, if we had brought Joshua with us. It really amused and bewildered him, the way that the general population reacted when they learned that Max and Tess were the child's parents. Sure, he wouldn't wish it on someone else, but what was, was, and he thought that Joshua was pretty well taken care of. He was certainly better off than many children of unmarried teenagers.
The plane unloaded directly onto the tarmac at the airport, and Max and Tess walked inside, knowing that though people were allowed out with the planes to greet the arriving travelers, whoever was there to meet them wouldn't take Joshua and his sensitive infant hearing outside.
Pushing their way into the crowded airport, trying all the while not to lose sight on one another, Max and Tess made their way slowly out of huge crowds of people pouring out of the plane, and the equally large amount of people there to greet them. Finally, a flash of Isabel's bright blond hair caught Max's eye, and he steered them towards the baggage cart where she was waiting with Joshua Michael in her arms.
Laying eyes on her son for the first time in a very busy week made Tess realize how much she had really missed him. How much the unwanted nuisance had grown on her, how that growth of understanding and caring had in turn grown into a mother's love.
Watching Max take his tiny son gently into his strong arms made Tess feel indescribable sensations. Warm, and comfortable, and secure in her life. Observing the life that she and Max had made, that had been formed by nothing but their bodies and minds, and whose upbringing would be shaped very much by their influence, Tess realized the enormity of the burden they had placed upon themselves.
But, at the same time, she realized the potential for love, and growth, and emotional fulfillment that this brought with it. That someday, she might marry Max, that from this day on, she would always have a son, that there would always be a being in the world who depended on her, to some extent, in some form.
Simply watching Max smile at Joshua, cooing to him, and then seeing their tiny baby boy react with a toothless grin, Tess felt her face crack into a grin of her own. Isabel smiled on the sidelines, watching the father-son reunion, and Tess could feel the waves of happiness radiating off of her, too. Happiness for Max's happiness, she realized. Isabel was genuinely happy about how this was shaping up, as long as her brother was.
Max noticed, eventually, that Tess was standing on the sidelines, and frowned a little. "Is everything okay?" He asked with concern.
Eager to put that contented grin back on her boyfriend's face, Tess smiled reassuringly. "I'm great, Max."
Walking up to him, she took her son from his offering arms, and pulled the baby close. Joshua Michael smiled a little as he saw his mother's face, and Max wrapped his arms around Tess, putting his face close to the baby's. "Hey, Joshie."
Tess felt an immense outpouring of love, and just looked from Max to Joshua Michael, and back again. "Yes, I'm really great," She murmured under her breath happily.
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