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Chapter 6: A Good Night

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Three days had passed since Abby and Connor's night together, three days since the signal had gone off. In the three days since, they had tried to spend every possible moment together, attempting to learn everything they could about each other. The two had officially started dating, and, after some momentary concern from various family members, everyone had accepted it. Now they lie side by side on Connor's bed talking.

"These past couple of days have been incredible," Abby said, looking up at Connor. He brushed the hair out of her face.

"I know exactly what you are saying," he said, leaning in and kissing her softly. She responded and kissed him back, slightly harder. Connor reached across the few inches separating them, wrapped his arm around her waist, and pulled her across the bed to him. He started to kiss her harder while running his hands over her body.

"Wait," she said, pushing herself away from him. "Remember, we agreed we were going to slow down a little?"

"Yeah, we did," Connor agreed, if not a little unhappily. "I just want you so bad sometimes I forget." Abby smiled at him.

"I get that same feeling too, but it's not as crazed as it was that first night. I loved it, don't get me wrong, but I felt like I couldn't control myself, you know. I mean, I wanted to keep going, but I knew I should stop, but I couldn't. It almost seemed as if there was something else in control of me, and I don't like feeling like I'm not in control. I've never felt that way with anybody before."

"Well I hope not," Connor laughed, rubbing her hand softly. "But I know what you're saying. I wasn't in control either. I still want you, but now I feel like I'm more in control than I was that night. It was just like you said, like something else was controlling me. It was great, and, believe me, I'm up for a reprise whenever you are.... but I'm willing to wait until you're ready." Abby smiled and kissed him softly.

"When you go and talk like that it makes me feel REALLY ready, but I want to wait a little, to make it more special the next time."

"Every time I'm with you is special." Abby laughed and rolled over on her back.

"Ok, now you're just trying to get into my pants," she giggled. He climbed on top of her.

"Yeah, I am," he answered, smiling before he kissed her, "but I can deal with just getting in your shirt." They began kissing, attempting to restart their physical relationship at the beginning.

~*~

Downstairs there was a knock on the door and Max answered. A slightly hysterical Ava and a very confused Sean walked in. Max brought them to the living room and had them sit down.

"Good, I'm glad you guys are finally back," Max said. He looked at Ava. "Did you see it too?"

"Uh huh?" she said, visibly shaken.

"Well, what was it?" Max asked. "You seem to know more than the rest of us."

"I'm not sure," she answered. "I just know it's important. Very important. And it's not meant for us specifically, but for all of our race."

"But, my kids didn't see it, nor did Michael's."

"I don't know," Ava said honestly. "Maybe they were sleeping or something. I woke up for it, but maybe they're different because they're younger. Or maybe because they haven't lived on Antar before."

"Sean said you mentioned something about a king or something the night you saw it. What was that about?"

"I don't know, Max. I've been really confused since it happened. I really don't remember what I said that night. I know I knew what it meant when I saw it, but now I don't remember. I'm... I'm sorry." Sean rubbed her back, attempting to calm her.

"Hey, it's ok," Max said, "none of us know anymore than that either. We just wanted to know if you knew anything extra."

"I'm just sorry I can't help you anymore." Max nodded, understanding Ava's constant need to prove herself to them.

"Maybe we should go home and let her get some sleep," Sean said to Max, standing up.

"Wait," Max said. Ava looked up at him. "There's one more thing I want you to know before you go."

"What is it?" Ava asked. Sean was visibly frustrated, wanting to get Ava home and not stand around debating intergalactic light beams.

"It's just, Zan, my son with Tess.... I guess our son, found me about a month ago. His name is Connor now and he's been living with me. He really wants to meet you, I think he thinks of you as his mother, and I just wanted to give you a little advanced notice." Ava's eyes brightened and she stood up, evidently very excited.

"Is he here right now?" she asked. Max nodded. "Well," she continued, "can I see him then? Maybe just to say hi or something?" Max nodded again and smiled, glad she was so happy about this. Connor was, after all, biologically her son.

"He's upstairs in his room, with Abby," Max said. "I'll run up and see if he wants to come down." Ava nodded and Sean, frustrated and knowing he was going to be there for a while, sat back down.

Max went upstairs to Connor's room and knocked on the door.

"Hey, Connor," he said, "I need to talk to you for a minute." Max smiled to himself as he heard some shuffling and hurried movements on the other side of the door, knowing he had interrupted something.

"Yeah, come in," Connor choked out after a few moments. Max opened the door to see his son sitting up against the headboard of his bed with the TV remote in hand, pretending to turn it off, and Abby sitting at the end of the bed reading a magazine. Max laughed; they were definitely amateurs at this. He walked in the room.

"Big fan of 'Maxim,' Abby," he asked, gesturing at the magazine she was pretending to be engrossed in. Abby looked at the cover and silently cursed herself.

"Oh uhm, yeah," she answered, smiling up at Max, obviously flustered "It's got great articles... very interesting, you know."

"Yeah, I know," Max replied, doing his best to hold back the laughter.

"So, Dad, what'd you need?" Connor interjected, trying to get Max out of there as quickly as possible. Max smiled. He loved hearing Connor call him 'Dad.'

"Connor, you said you wanted to meet Ava, your mother's duplicate, and she's downstairs," he began. "She just wants to say hi and hopes that maybe...." Max stopped talking because Connor was already out the bedroom door and headed down the stairs. He and Abby amusedly followed the boy. Connor slowed when he reached the bottom of the stairs and saw Ava.

"Hi," she said, slowly approaching him. "I'm Ava." He walked closer to her.

"I'm Connor," he spoke in a barely audible voice before tentatively hugging her. "It's really great to finally meet you." Ava was moved. She put her hand on his cheek.

"You look so much like your father," she whispered to him, thinking about her now-deceased lover Zan, Max's duplicate, and how much she loved him. Connor smiled at her, able to feel the love she had for Zan radiating off of her. He took her hands in his own.

"I know you're not actually my mother," he began, "but I'd still like to get to know you... find out more about you. You're my only connection to her and, in a sense, you are my mother." Ava smiled through a tear of happiness. All her life she had wanted to have children. After she had left Lonnie and Rath and settled down with Sean and the others she had thought that was what would happen. Unfortunately, neither she nor Sean were stable enough for a child, since they were restless, slightly irresponsible, and always on the move. Hearing this boy tell her that she was his mother was the most incredible experience of her life. She wrapped him in a tight hug.

"I want to know everything about you, and I want you to know me," she said to him. "As much as you think of me as your mother, that's how much I think of you as my son." They stood there, in front of everyone, hugging for the longest time. Finally Sean, who was becoming both very bored and very jealous by this time, cleared his throat. Ava turned to him.

"Don't you think it's time to go, baby?" he asked. She nodded.

"Connor, this is my boyfriend, Sean," she said. Connor nodded in Sean's direction. "I need to get going, but we'll get together sometime soon, ok?" Connor nodded and hugged her one last time, not really willing to let his new mother go.

After their hug ended, Max walked Ava and Sean to the door while Connor and Abby returned to his room. Max made a mental note to interrupt them more often, if only for humor purposes. He did the same with Lane and Nate, though it was slightly different because Lane was still, in his mind, his baby girl. Plus, those two were becoming old pros at hiding what they were doing. It was nice to have some fresh meat.

Once back in his room, Connor shut the door, pressed Abby against it, and kissed her passionately. He took her breath away.

"What was that for?" she asked when he had finished. Connor had a huge smile on his face.

"Oh, I'm just incredibly happy right now," he replied, "and wanted to make things better by kissing the prettiest girl in the world." Abby blushed but then responded by kissing him back, harder, until she had, with the force of her body, pushed him onto his bed.

"I love you," she said once they were on his bed, lying side by side. Connor paused before speaking.

"Where did that come from?" he asked.

"I just felt it," she responded. "Watching you with your mom, I knew. I love you." He pulled her back to him.

"I didn't say this before, because I was afraid of scaring you," he began, " but I love you, too. I would have said it sooner, but you rarely ever let me feel your emotions or see what you're thinking, and I'm just really insecure about...." She kissed him to stop his talking.

"Say it again," she commanded. Connor happily obliged.

"I love you." She began kissing him again, molding their bodies together.

"I think this whole waiting thing is highly overrated," she panted into his ear. "Especially when you've already been together before." Connor nodded in mock seriousness.

"I agree completely," he said, his hands quickly sliding her shirt off. "In fact," he continued, placing kisses over her body, "I think we should take extreme measures to prevent conforming to this silly idea. We are, after all, not of this world." Abby mumbled an agreement and he continued.

~*~

Later in the evening Abby left to go home. She was flushed and exhilarated when she walked down the stairs to the front door, having had one of the better evenings of her life. Max was in the next room reading.

"Abby," he said, stopping her before she could make a quick escape. She turned around to face him, afraid he knew what they had been doing and was angry.

"Yeah, Max?" she asked, trying to look innocent.

"I just wanted to warn you that your shirt was on inside out." He laughed as Abby looked down, realized he was telling the truth, and rushed out of the room in embarrassment. "Good night, Abby," he shouted, laughing as he shut the front door. Liz was behind him.

"You need to go talk to Connor about this," she said sternly. He turned to face her.

"I know," he said. "I just don't want to be some overbearing parental figure." Liz laughed.

"Just think about if you were Michael," she replied. "Think about the way you acted when Nate and Lane started dating." Max nodded.

"I think I'll go talk to him," he said quickly, jogging up the stairs in a flash.

Max knocked on Connor's door and Connor told him to come in. He walked over to his desk and sat down in the chair.

"I need to speak with you about something," he began. Connor put down the book he was reading and turned to face Max.

"Sure, about what?" he asked.

"Abby," Max said. Connor paled and tensed. He cleared his throat and scratched his head, visibly nervous.

"Um, ok," he said.

"Well," Max began, "I just want you to keep in mind a few things. Remember she's three years younger than you, she's my best friend's daughter, and you two haven't really been together very long. In fact you've only known each other for a month." Connor knew exactly where this was going but tried to play dumb.

"Yeah," he said slowly, "I know all that. Was there anything else?"

"I know what's going on between you two." All the blood left Connor's face and he laid a death grip on the pillow next to him.

"You do?" he managed to choke out, hoping maybe Max was thinking of something else.

"Yeah, you guys don't hide it very well," he said. "And I don't mind, hell, I understand, but I just want you to keep those things in mind, and, also, just be careful. Make sure you're using protection, and be good to her." Connor nodded.

"Of course I will," he said. Max started to stand up.

"Good," he said, "Because you do realize if you hurt her you're a dead man." Connor laughed nervously.

"It's not something you have to worry about, and we are careful," Connor reassured. Max said goodnight and left. Connor, still slightly shaken, lay awake for a while thinking about the events of that evening, which now ranked as one of the best nights of his life.