Max POV

   "I can't do this!" Allie moaned, rocking from one foot to the next.

    "What? Face your in-laws?" Alex asked with a mischievous grin.

    "Yes! I haven't seen them since Riley was born and I haven't seen Isabel since they moved here. You know what happened the last time we saw each other. What if she follows through on her threat? What if she really does kill me? What if-"

    "Allie! Calm down. She's not going to kill you," I said, fighting the urge to laugh.

    I couldn't blame her, though. Isabel and Allie started out as best friends, but Isabel flipped when she found out that Allie was pregnant and said some rather nasty things to her. Considering how much bigger Iz is than her, its no wonder Allie is intimidated by her. Isabel is around 5'9 and big boned; Allie is 5'2 and weighs around 110 pounds. I mean, Iz could crush the poor girl! Then again, if Iz tried anything, she wouldn't get away with it. Cedric would have her killed in the blink of an eye.

    Oh yeah, you guys don't know who Cedric is, do you? Well, Cedric O'Connor is Allie and Alex's older brother and head of the Irish mob. Yeah, that Cedric O'Connor-the most notorious boss in history. That's why their parents were killed. No, I didn't lie to you-it was a car crash. A car crash that was the result of cut brake lines. Another thing I didn't tell you is that Allie's connection to the mob is one of the reasons my family moved.

    My relationship with her and Isabel's relationship with Alex (yes, they were together) got us deeply involved with the O'Connor crime family. Allie and Alex's father wanted to go legitimate, so he pulled out, leaving Cedric in charge. Unfortunately, Allie wasn't prepared to leave the family, so she remained a part of the mob. About a year ago, Allie got into a rather nasty fight with Seamus Finnegan, the head of another family, and she won. Naturally, he was pissed and took his revenge by killing her parents. Now Cedric has gone to war against the Finnegan family and has several bodyguards moving to Roswell to keep watch over Allie, Alex, Riley and myself. The fact that a bunch of mobsters could be plotting my death isn't what scares me-what scares me is that if anything happens to Cedric, its already been decided that Allie will take over as the first female boss. Scary, isn't it? So basically, I'm married to the mob, not to mention a hit woman.

    Yep, you heard me right. My lovely, petite, eighteen-year-old wife used to be a hitter for her brother. She's killed more people than I've met. However, when she became pregnant, Cedric made sure that no more hits were passed her way. Thank God for that. So, what do you think of my life? Crazy, isn't it? I bet you never saw it coming. Lord knows Isabel didn't. When she first found out, she flipped and broke up with Alex. After that, she became incredibly hostile toward Allie and Alex, though she never said anything rude or nasty because she was afraid that they'd have someone take her out. A month or two later, she was fine with it, but all hell broke loose when she found out that Allie was pregnant. Okay, I think I've rambled on enough.

    Taking a deep breath, I rang the doorbell to my parents' house. A moment later, Iz flung the door open, surprise written all over her face.

    "What are you doing here?" she demanded icily.

    Allie, Alex, and I each raised an eyebrow. Who is this ice queen and what has she done with my sister?

    "Um, didn't Mom and Dad tell you that we were moving here?"

    She blinked. "Yeah, it must have slipped my mind. Come back in an hour."

    The bitch formally known as my sister then slammed the door in our faces.

    "Well," Allie finally murmured, "at least she didn't kill me."

    Alex and I stared at her for a moment before Alex's eyes lit up.

    "I got an idea."

    "Do tell," I mumbled dryly.

    "Well, this is your family's house and you are still part of the family, so just walk in."

    "That's your idea? Just walk in?"

    Allie and Alex nodded.

    "Yeah, it could-"

    "-work. Isabel-"

    "-would never see-"

    "-it coming. She'd-"

    "-freak. God--"

    "-I wish I had-"

    "-a camera."

    See?! Incredibly strange siblings. I shook my head and turned back to the offending door.

    "Here goes nothing," I muttered and opened it.

    The three of us looked at each other and the sleeping Riley, then shrugged and stepped inside. We crept silently down the entryway hall, trying not to alert my sister to our presence. Allie suddenly giggled.

    "I feel like we should be humming the 'Mission Impossible' theme."

    "You would," I said, rolling my eyes.

    A sudden scream prevented further smart-ass remarks.

    "Iz! There's strangers in your house!" a bubbly blonde with green eyes shrieked.

    Isabel, two guys, and the most beautiful girl I've ever seen came running into the hall.

    "Max," Isabel seethed dangerously.

    Allie, Alex, and I gulped in unison. Izzy did not look pleased and that's a very scary thing.

    "Iz," the three of us said in unison.

    "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

    "Well.our plane just got in and we're really tired and we didn't really feel like coming back in an hour-so we just opened the door and came in. Do you have a problem with that?" Allie asked innocently, though there was an undertone of 'I can do horrible things to you, so you better not mess with me.'

    Isabel's eyes narrowed, but she shook her head. "Of course not. Why don't you four go into the living room and make yourselves comfortable?"

    "Thanks, sis," I said brightly and the three of us, me carrying Riley, walked casually into the living room. I just love messing with my sister.

**************************************************************************** ************

Liz POV

    Wow, the guy with the kid is incredibly hot! I wonder who he is.

    "So, Iz, who exactly are those people?" Michael asked as Isabel, Maria, Kyle, Michael and I walked into the kitchen.

    Isabel sighed. "The one who was carrying the baby is my brother Max; the girl is his wife, Allie; the other boy is Allie's twin brother, Alex; and the baby is Allie and Max's son, Riley."

    "Whoa, he's married and has a son?" I asked, sorely disappointed. "And why haven't you ever told us you have a brother?"

    "Yeah, and how old are they?" Maria added, also surprised that Iz had never mentioned it.

    "Yes, Max is married and a father. I never told you guys because I prefer not to think about them and all of the trouble they caused. And, the three of them are eighteen-Max is my twin brother."

    This is too much. Max cannot be married. Oh, my life sucks.

    "Why don't you like to think about them?" Kyle questioned.

    "Because thinking about them acknowledges their existence and doing that puts my life in danger!" Isabel shrieked.

    "Huh?" Michael, Kyle, Maria and I said in unison.

    Isabel's eyes widened. "Nothing, forget I said anything. Come on, let's go into the living room before they think we're being rude."

    This should be interesting.