[I]Part 4[/I]
Early the next morning, Liz stared at herself in the rear-view mirror, running a brush nervously through her hair for what felt like the twelfth time in as many minutes. She wasn't sure why she cared so much what she looked like. It wasn't like it should matter what Max thought, but she wanted to look more put together than she felt. It amazed her still that something as simple as coming home could turn her back into the insecure little girl she had been when she left. This was all turning out to be much harder than she had thought it would be.
Thank God she had brought Serena with her. Her best friend was helping to remind her of the new life she had made for herself in New York, that as much as she was beginning to regret cutting all of her ties to Roswell, in the end, she didn't need any of these people. All she really needed was Max's signature on the divorce papers and she could go back to the life she now belonged in. While she was going to try and make amends with Maria and Alex, if they rejected her, she would get over it.
She didn't [I]need[/I] any of them anymore. She had Sean, she had Serena, she had a job she loved and lived in a city where she felt at home. No, she didn't need a history or people who had known her for her entire life. Because, in the end, they had never really known her at all. With them she had always felt insecure, unsure of herself - or at least she had after Tess appeared in Roswell to change everything. And, for Liz, Roswell and Tess were now so intermingled in her mind, she barely remembered a time when the blonde hadn't been there, haunting her.
Now Tess had taken her place, likely what had been meant to be all along. She didn't even mind, couldn't hate the other woman anymore because Liz had built a new life for herself that she would not trade in a million years. In New York she knew exactly who she was and where she belonged.
And, yet, Liz was still nervous. Being in Roswell, the memories were inescapable. She had forgotten in New York, after the devastation that had driven her from her hometown, that it hadn't all been bad. She knew that seeing Max again was going to affect her. He was her first love after all. He would always hold that place in her heart. In spite of everything - her love for Sean, his new life with Tess - they would always have that special bond between them. It was scary and, yet, kind of reassuring at the same time.
Max had only ever tried to make her happy. He would sign the papers and he wouldn't make it difficult for her. It wasn't his style. Besides, he was bound to want their legal ties eradicated just as much as she did, what with Tess being his fiancée and all. Liz had most likely just beaten him to the punch.
This thought gave Liz the courage she needed to open the car door, to walk up the front path of the small split-level in front of her (she had looked up his address in the phone book, not wanting to alert her parents to her presence in town until the dirty work was done) and to ring the doorbell.
It was only then, when she forced herself to focus on what she doing, that she heard the racket coming from within the house. A dog was barking, a T.V. was blaring, a phone was ringing and.oh Lord, Liz's knees became weak at this.a baby was crying.
"Just a minute!" Liz heard a voice yell from behind the door. She swallowed, recognizing it immediately as Max. Even raised in that slightly panicky way it, it still sounded exactly the same. He was really only just a few feet away. She heard the T.V. click off and heard him say something firmly to someone, likely the dog because it stopped barking. Liz forced herself to take a deep breath and bit her lip, managed to keep a business- like expression on her face.
She still wasn't prepared. Because when the door opened, it was worse than she expected.
Liz's eyes widened. How on Earth could he have not changed a bit? Sure, he looked older, but he was still the most beautiful thing she had ever laid eyes on. His dark hair was a bit longer, as though he hadn't recently found time to have it cut - or to use his powers on it anyway. Her heart started to beat erratically in her chest as her gaze met his. She watched in fascination as his golden eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed, as though maybe he wasn't so shocked after all. Those eyes.
Damn him. They were still as soulful as ever, but now with a new maturity that made them even sexier than they had been before. And the reason for that maturity was what she found herself staring at in horrified fascination. He was holding a screaming baby in his arms, patting it lightly on the back. She almost couldn't believe it, but here was the proof right in front of her. They weren't married yet, but Max and Tess had actually made an even bigger commitment to each other than he and Liz had ever done. They had a child.
For one split second, all her girlhood fantasies about him holding their own baby came flashing through her mind. She barely managed to control the tears that suddenly wanted to burst from within her.
Oh why hadn't she spoken to her parents first? They could have told her this, could have prepared her.
"Well, I can't say that I'm surprised to see you here." Max's wry tone made Liz snap her gaze back to his.
"You're not?" Liz returned, knowing that her voice was reflecting the shock that she felt.
"I do read the newspaper Liz," Max told her quietly. "I just didn't expect to see you so soon." He turned away, rubbing the baby gently on the back as it finally settled against his neck, no longer screaming as if the world was ending. Liz blinked, guessed that he meant her to follow him. They passed through a neat living room, where a dog was sprawled on the floor looking guilty, and into a sunny kitchen, where the toaster was just popping as Liz entered.
"So Tess [I]didn't[/I] tell you I was in town?" Liz was surprised that the blonde had kept her word. She had been half-expecting someone - anyone - to come confront her at the hotel all last evening, but when no one had, it only reinforced to her that she had probably truly burnt all of her bridges in Roswell. It had never once crossed her mind that Tess really hadn't told anyone she was back.
Max didn't answer right away, was in the process of gently laying the baby in the basket waiting for it on the kitchen table. Liz forced herself to watch, made herself examine the child more closely. Its small hands were now fisted in sleep. It was younger than Liz had first realized, maybe only a couple of months old. And it really was cute. It's long eyelashes brushed its smooth cheeks as its eyes fluttered closed and it settled into slumber. Liz still couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl, but she was beginning to think a girl. Not that she really knew. She had no experience with babies at all. In her crowd in New York, children existed, but they weren't generally [I]seen[/I]. She knew, for example, that Sean's older brother had two, but she didn't even know their names.
Liz frowned, realized for the first time that this fact was really, really weird.
She forced herself to push the inane thought away as Max straightened and moved to the toaster, throwing the two pieces of toast onto a plate. He opened the fridge, took out some strawberry jam and ran it over the bread before reaching around the basket on the table to grab the Tabasco sauce sitting there. Liz smiled slightly despite herself.
Well, some things apparently hadn't changed. It somehow made her feel better.
"Tess knew you were here?" Max asked, ending the comfortable silence that Liz hadn't even realized it was until it was broken. She frowned slightly.
"I ran into her yesterday," Liz replied, trying not to grimace at how literally true the statement was.
She frowned again when Max rolled his eyes and muttered, "I'm going to kill her."
"Where [I]is[/I] Tess?" Liz asked quickly, hoping against hope that the blonde would not suddenly appear in the kitchen. While she had accepted how things now stood, it didn't mean that she wanted to be confronted head-on by their happy little family. The baby was bad enough. As Liz lowered herself into a chair near the basket, she stared at it, wondered why Max had not sought her out long before, why he hadn't wanted to make sure that he and Tess were married before the little one's arrival.
"Is it a boy or a girl?" She asked, knowing that she sounded stupid, but not caring. She was tired of thinking of it as an 'it'. She wanted to think of it as a person. It existed. She was going to have to accept it.
"Her name is Eliza," Max said, making Liz's eyes snap up in shock.
"What?"
"Maria insisted."
Liz stared at him, dumbfounded. "What does Maria have to do with it?"
"A lot." Max suddenly grinned at her, startling Liz even more. "She is her mother after all."
Liz knew her mouth was hanging open, but couldn't seem to force it shut. "You.you knew!" She finally spluttered. "Max! You knew I thought she was yours."
"I did?" He asked innocently. "She's not mine Liz. She's Michael and Maria's. It's why they got married, because she was on the way." He paused, then said quietly. "They both thought they were still too young, but." He shrugged. "I guess fate made up their minds. It's my day off so I'm baby- sitting. She gets passed around a lot. We all fight over who gets to take care of her." He glanced at the clock. "Isabel should be arriving at any moment to tell me I'm doing it all wrong. But Ellie and I understand each other." He reached into the basket, gently touched Eliza. Her small hand opened in her sleep and the little girl wrapped her fingers around Max's larger one. A lump entered Liz's throat as she watched him.
[I]They were too young.[/I]
His earlier words sank in and she understood that he was not just talking about Michael and Maria. Liz stared at him, met his eyes as he raised them again, couldn't for the life of her figure out what he was thinking. It was strange. She had always known before, but those golden depths were shuttered against her now.
"I thought.you and Tess." She knew she sounded like a fool, but couldn't seem to connect words into a coherent whole at the moment. "Since you're engaged and all."
Max raised an eyebrow, looked momentarily taken aback, but replied, "Like I said, she's not mine." He sat back, started eating his toast, never taking his eyes off Liz.
"You know why I'm here?" She asked as the silence stretched out between them again, no longer comfortable.
"You want a divorce," Max acknowledged, after he finished chewing.
"I'm engaged to a really wonderful guy."
"Hmmmm," Max sounded disinterested as he threw the crusts back on his plate. Liz watched this, felt like smiling again. He had always hated eating the crusts. It had brought on one of their first fights after they were married. It annoyed her that he wasted them, being as they were so broke, any food they managed to afford was generally treated like gold. But he never would eat those damn crusts. She wondered why she found it funny now when it had irritated her so much before. "He's rich huh?"
Liz blinked. It was so not what she was expecting him to say, it momentarily threw her off balance. She had expected him to say, [I]"Well, I'm glad you're happy Liz. Tess and I are both thrilled for you."[/I] or some such inanity. Because that's what the Max she remembered would have said. Well, maybe not the part about Tess. That would have been a bit like rubbing her face in it.
"What does that have to do with anything?" She demanded, wondered why she felt a bit defensive.
"Nothing." He wasn't smirking at her, was he? Max Evans never [I]smirked[/I]. "Good for you."
"I'm not marrying him because he's rich!" Liz flared, suddenly annoyed. Why was he being so infuriating? This wasn't the Max she remembered. If she was not mistaken, he was being deliberately confrontational.
"Okay." Max shrugged, started munching on his second piece of toast, apparently unconcerned. "So, you want me to sign something?"
Liz started, felt a wave of relief run through her. Thank goodness. Whatever little demon he had momentarily been victim to was apparently gone. She pulled her bag forward from where it was draped across the back of her chair and pulled out the blue legal papers. She even had a pen.
Standing, she moved closer to him, ignored the fact that she could now smell the clean scent of his soap. She [I]tried[/I] to ignore it anyway, but couldn't help but reflect that he still smelt exactly the same. Liz moved the plate in front of him aside, set down the papers and handed him the pen.
He picked up the document, leaned back and began to scan it. Liz's eyes narrowed suspiciously as she watched his eyes move with careful precision. Somehow she just [I]knew[/I] that he was still trying to get to her. What on Earth was the matter with him? Shouldn't he want this as much as she did? He was engaged for God's sake!
"So when's the wedding?" Liz asked through gritted teeth, trying to remind him that his behavior was inappropriate.
Max didn't look up. "Why are you asking me? It's your wedding."
Liz sighed, prayed for strength. She wondered if Max had been drinking this morning. The only other time she had found him completely beyond her comprehension was that time Kyle had gotten him drunk. But she knew that he hadn't been. He was baby-sitting and it was nine o'clock in the morning. No, this was all Max. "I meant your wedding to Tess."
Max was quiet for a moment, finally looked up, then said, "What makes you think that Tess and I are getting married Liz? That's the second time you've implied it."
"Max." She was suddenly inexplicably weary. "I told you I saw Tess yesterday. She was wearing an engagement ring."
"And you just naturally assumed that it was [I]me[/I] she's marrying?" Max demanded.
"Isn't it?" Liz snapped back.
"Liz, I'm still married to you," Max replied, his voice abruptly gentle.
She blinked, so surprised she didn't know what to say. For one split second, the way he looked at her.But his next words changed all that. "I'm not the kind of person who gets engaged without getting divorced first."
Liz stared at him, then jumped to her feet. "Just sign the papers Max."
He leaned back again, threw the pen down on the table. "I think I'd like to have my dad go over them first." He looked up at her, his dark eyes gleaming strangely.
"Max!"
"Liz," he returned mildly. "I think it's the least you can do. You've waited this long. What's another day?"
She glared at him for a long moment, then couldn't resist asking, "If you're not engaged to Tess, than who is?"
Max narrowed his eyes at her. "You really haven't spoken to anyone, have you?"
Liz felt a mild flash of guilt. "I wanted to see you first," she replied lamely. "I wanted to get the hard part over with."
"So it [I]is[/I] hard then?" Max snorted. "You could have fooled me."
"Of course it's hard!" She knew that her voice was far too loud, but didn't care. "Do you think I wanted to come back here?"
Max looked away. "I'm sure you didn't. You've built quite the life for yourself in New York." He sounded disdainful.
"Not that it's any of your business but, yes, I have," Liz snapped. "I hoped that you would be happy for me."
Max looked back at her, his eyes unreadable. "I am happy for you Liz. You did what you always wanted to do. You escaped the alien abyss, as you and Maria once so kindly dubbed knowing us." He picked up the papers, stood and moved towards her. Liz took an involuntary step back. She wondered if she imagined the way he momentarily looked hurt by that, but she didn't imagine the deliberate way he picked up her bag and tucked the divorce papers back into it.
"What are you doing?" Liz screeched, rushing forward and grabbing the bag away from him. "You said you were going to let your dad read them!"
"Don't need to," Max replied easily, casually thrusting his hands into the pockets of his worn jeans. "I'm not signing them."
"[I]What?!?[/I]" Liz wondered if she had ever felt so outraged before. She was almost positive she hadn't. "Why not?"
There was a long pause, then Max said carefully, repeating his earlier words, "So your fiancé is rich huh?"
Liz stared at him in disbelief. "You want me to pay you off?" Her mouth fell open for the second time in the past half an hour. What on Earth had happened to Max Evans since she had left here?
"You make it sound so mercenary Liz." He grinned at her, only maddening her more. "It's not like he'll miss it and I could use the money." He paused. "There haven't been many tourists this year and the UFO Center is suffering," he elaborated. "Let's just say that a silent investor would be [I]really[/I] helpful right about now."
"You still work at the Museum?" Liz demanded in disbelief. "But you went to college Max!"
"You make it sound like a death sentence." Max shook his head, sounding disgusted with her, even though [I]he[/I] was the one blackmailing her. "You really couldn't wait to get out of this town, could you?"
"If this is how you turned out, I'm really glad I did," Liz shot back. "You've changed Max and not for the better!"
"Ditto." He still didn't seem particularly upset though as he continued, "Liz, a settlement when a marriage ends is not unnatural. I just want what's coming to me."
"It's not [I]my[/I] money you want," Liz reminded him, still completely disbelieving that he would have the gall to ask such a thing of her. "I'll give you some of my money if that's what you really want. I have lots," she elaborated, wanting to make him feel worse. She knew it was wrong, knew that she shouldn't feel smug that she was a far greater success than he, but he deserved it, the jerk.
"It's not," Max told her firmly, apparently not upset. Her anger increased.
"Why not?"
"Because I don't think your fiancé even knows I exist and I don't think that's fair," Max told her, shaking his head in mock concern. "This way I [I]know[/I] you'll have to tell him."
Liz could feel her blood literally boiling. "It's none of your business [I]what[/I] he knows!" She shrieked, so loudly the baby started to cry. She felt instant remorse but it was too late to take it back.
Max sighed, moved to pick up Eliza. "Now look what you've done," he reprimanded her. "And all because I just asked for my due." He grinned at her again, but it faded as the baby started to screech louder, as though sensing his strange mood. "You should just leave Liz and think about what I've asked for. I don't think it's much, compared with your complete liberation from me."
"I'm going, but don't think I won't be back! And don't think it will be with money," Liz snapped, no longer sorry. Let Max deal with a screaming baby. God was punishing him, and rightfully too!
With that, she stormed out of the house.
Early the next morning, Liz stared at herself in the rear-view mirror, running a brush nervously through her hair for what felt like the twelfth time in as many minutes. She wasn't sure why she cared so much what she looked like. It wasn't like it should matter what Max thought, but she wanted to look more put together than she felt. It amazed her still that something as simple as coming home could turn her back into the insecure little girl she had been when she left. This was all turning out to be much harder than she had thought it would be.
Thank God she had brought Serena with her. Her best friend was helping to remind her of the new life she had made for herself in New York, that as much as she was beginning to regret cutting all of her ties to Roswell, in the end, she didn't need any of these people. All she really needed was Max's signature on the divorce papers and she could go back to the life she now belonged in. While she was going to try and make amends with Maria and Alex, if they rejected her, she would get over it.
She didn't [I]need[/I] any of them anymore. She had Sean, she had Serena, she had a job she loved and lived in a city where she felt at home. No, she didn't need a history or people who had known her for her entire life. Because, in the end, they had never really known her at all. With them she had always felt insecure, unsure of herself - or at least she had after Tess appeared in Roswell to change everything. And, for Liz, Roswell and Tess were now so intermingled in her mind, she barely remembered a time when the blonde hadn't been there, haunting her.
Now Tess had taken her place, likely what had been meant to be all along. She didn't even mind, couldn't hate the other woman anymore because Liz had built a new life for herself that she would not trade in a million years. In New York she knew exactly who she was and where she belonged.
And, yet, Liz was still nervous. Being in Roswell, the memories were inescapable. She had forgotten in New York, after the devastation that had driven her from her hometown, that it hadn't all been bad. She knew that seeing Max again was going to affect her. He was her first love after all. He would always hold that place in her heart. In spite of everything - her love for Sean, his new life with Tess - they would always have that special bond between them. It was scary and, yet, kind of reassuring at the same time.
Max had only ever tried to make her happy. He would sign the papers and he wouldn't make it difficult for her. It wasn't his style. Besides, he was bound to want their legal ties eradicated just as much as she did, what with Tess being his fiancée and all. Liz had most likely just beaten him to the punch.
This thought gave Liz the courage she needed to open the car door, to walk up the front path of the small split-level in front of her (she had looked up his address in the phone book, not wanting to alert her parents to her presence in town until the dirty work was done) and to ring the doorbell.
It was only then, when she forced herself to focus on what she doing, that she heard the racket coming from within the house. A dog was barking, a T.V. was blaring, a phone was ringing and.oh Lord, Liz's knees became weak at this.a baby was crying.
"Just a minute!" Liz heard a voice yell from behind the door. She swallowed, recognizing it immediately as Max. Even raised in that slightly panicky way it, it still sounded exactly the same. He was really only just a few feet away. She heard the T.V. click off and heard him say something firmly to someone, likely the dog because it stopped barking. Liz forced herself to take a deep breath and bit her lip, managed to keep a business- like expression on her face.
She still wasn't prepared. Because when the door opened, it was worse than she expected.
Liz's eyes widened. How on Earth could he have not changed a bit? Sure, he looked older, but he was still the most beautiful thing she had ever laid eyes on. His dark hair was a bit longer, as though he hadn't recently found time to have it cut - or to use his powers on it anyway. Her heart started to beat erratically in her chest as her gaze met his. She watched in fascination as his golden eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed, as though maybe he wasn't so shocked after all. Those eyes.
Damn him. They were still as soulful as ever, but now with a new maturity that made them even sexier than they had been before. And the reason for that maturity was what she found herself staring at in horrified fascination. He was holding a screaming baby in his arms, patting it lightly on the back. She almost couldn't believe it, but here was the proof right in front of her. They weren't married yet, but Max and Tess had actually made an even bigger commitment to each other than he and Liz had ever done. They had a child.
For one split second, all her girlhood fantasies about him holding their own baby came flashing through her mind. She barely managed to control the tears that suddenly wanted to burst from within her.
Oh why hadn't she spoken to her parents first? They could have told her this, could have prepared her.
"Well, I can't say that I'm surprised to see you here." Max's wry tone made Liz snap her gaze back to his.
"You're not?" Liz returned, knowing that her voice was reflecting the shock that she felt.
"I do read the newspaper Liz," Max told her quietly. "I just didn't expect to see you so soon." He turned away, rubbing the baby gently on the back as it finally settled against his neck, no longer screaming as if the world was ending. Liz blinked, guessed that he meant her to follow him. They passed through a neat living room, where a dog was sprawled on the floor looking guilty, and into a sunny kitchen, where the toaster was just popping as Liz entered.
"So Tess [I]didn't[/I] tell you I was in town?" Liz was surprised that the blonde had kept her word. She had been half-expecting someone - anyone - to come confront her at the hotel all last evening, but when no one had, it only reinforced to her that she had probably truly burnt all of her bridges in Roswell. It had never once crossed her mind that Tess really hadn't told anyone she was back.
Max didn't answer right away, was in the process of gently laying the baby in the basket waiting for it on the kitchen table. Liz forced herself to watch, made herself examine the child more closely. Its small hands were now fisted in sleep. It was younger than Liz had first realized, maybe only a couple of months old. And it really was cute. It's long eyelashes brushed its smooth cheeks as its eyes fluttered closed and it settled into slumber. Liz still couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl, but she was beginning to think a girl. Not that she really knew. She had no experience with babies at all. In her crowd in New York, children existed, but they weren't generally [I]seen[/I]. She knew, for example, that Sean's older brother had two, but she didn't even know their names.
Liz frowned, realized for the first time that this fact was really, really weird.
She forced herself to push the inane thought away as Max straightened and moved to the toaster, throwing the two pieces of toast onto a plate. He opened the fridge, took out some strawberry jam and ran it over the bread before reaching around the basket on the table to grab the Tabasco sauce sitting there. Liz smiled slightly despite herself.
Well, some things apparently hadn't changed. It somehow made her feel better.
"Tess knew you were here?" Max asked, ending the comfortable silence that Liz hadn't even realized it was until it was broken. She frowned slightly.
"I ran into her yesterday," Liz replied, trying not to grimace at how literally true the statement was.
She frowned again when Max rolled his eyes and muttered, "I'm going to kill her."
"Where [I]is[/I] Tess?" Liz asked quickly, hoping against hope that the blonde would not suddenly appear in the kitchen. While she had accepted how things now stood, it didn't mean that she wanted to be confronted head-on by their happy little family. The baby was bad enough. As Liz lowered herself into a chair near the basket, she stared at it, wondered why Max had not sought her out long before, why he hadn't wanted to make sure that he and Tess were married before the little one's arrival.
"Is it a boy or a girl?" She asked, knowing that she sounded stupid, but not caring. She was tired of thinking of it as an 'it'. She wanted to think of it as a person. It existed. She was going to have to accept it.
"Her name is Eliza," Max said, making Liz's eyes snap up in shock.
"What?"
"Maria insisted."
Liz stared at him, dumbfounded. "What does Maria have to do with it?"
"A lot." Max suddenly grinned at her, startling Liz even more. "She is her mother after all."
Liz knew her mouth was hanging open, but couldn't seem to force it shut. "You.you knew!" She finally spluttered. "Max! You knew I thought she was yours."
"I did?" He asked innocently. "She's not mine Liz. She's Michael and Maria's. It's why they got married, because she was on the way." He paused, then said quietly. "They both thought they were still too young, but." He shrugged. "I guess fate made up their minds. It's my day off so I'm baby- sitting. She gets passed around a lot. We all fight over who gets to take care of her." He glanced at the clock. "Isabel should be arriving at any moment to tell me I'm doing it all wrong. But Ellie and I understand each other." He reached into the basket, gently touched Eliza. Her small hand opened in her sleep and the little girl wrapped her fingers around Max's larger one. A lump entered Liz's throat as she watched him.
[I]They were too young.[/I]
His earlier words sank in and she understood that he was not just talking about Michael and Maria. Liz stared at him, met his eyes as he raised them again, couldn't for the life of her figure out what he was thinking. It was strange. She had always known before, but those golden depths were shuttered against her now.
"I thought.you and Tess." She knew she sounded like a fool, but couldn't seem to connect words into a coherent whole at the moment. "Since you're engaged and all."
Max raised an eyebrow, looked momentarily taken aback, but replied, "Like I said, she's not mine." He sat back, started eating his toast, never taking his eyes off Liz.
"You know why I'm here?" She asked as the silence stretched out between them again, no longer comfortable.
"You want a divorce," Max acknowledged, after he finished chewing.
"I'm engaged to a really wonderful guy."
"Hmmmm," Max sounded disinterested as he threw the crusts back on his plate. Liz watched this, felt like smiling again. He had always hated eating the crusts. It had brought on one of their first fights after they were married. It annoyed her that he wasted them, being as they were so broke, any food they managed to afford was generally treated like gold. But he never would eat those damn crusts. She wondered why she found it funny now when it had irritated her so much before. "He's rich huh?"
Liz blinked. It was so not what she was expecting him to say, it momentarily threw her off balance. She had expected him to say, [I]"Well, I'm glad you're happy Liz. Tess and I are both thrilled for you."[/I] or some such inanity. Because that's what the Max she remembered would have said. Well, maybe not the part about Tess. That would have been a bit like rubbing her face in it.
"What does that have to do with anything?" She demanded, wondered why she felt a bit defensive.
"Nothing." He wasn't smirking at her, was he? Max Evans never [I]smirked[/I]. "Good for you."
"I'm not marrying him because he's rich!" Liz flared, suddenly annoyed. Why was he being so infuriating? This wasn't the Max she remembered. If she was not mistaken, he was being deliberately confrontational.
"Okay." Max shrugged, started munching on his second piece of toast, apparently unconcerned. "So, you want me to sign something?"
Liz started, felt a wave of relief run through her. Thank goodness. Whatever little demon he had momentarily been victim to was apparently gone. She pulled her bag forward from where it was draped across the back of her chair and pulled out the blue legal papers. She even had a pen.
Standing, she moved closer to him, ignored the fact that she could now smell the clean scent of his soap. She [I]tried[/I] to ignore it anyway, but couldn't help but reflect that he still smelt exactly the same. Liz moved the plate in front of him aside, set down the papers and handed him the pen.
He picked up the document, leaned back and began to scan it. Liz's eyes narrowed suspiciously as she watched his eyes move with careful precision. Somehow she just [I]knew[/I] that he was still trying to get to her. What on Earth was the matter with him? Shouldn't he want this as much as she did? He was engaged for God's sake!
"So when's the wedding?" Liz asked through gritted teeth, trying to remind him that his behavior was inappropriate.
Max didn't look up. "Why are you asking me? It's your wedding."
Liz sighed, prayed for strength. She wondered if Max had been drinking this morning. The only other time she had found him completely beyond her comprehension was that time Kyle had gotten him drunk. But she knew that he hadn't been. He was baby-sitting and it was nine o'clock in the morning. No, this was all Max. "I meant your wedding to Tess."
Max was quiet for a moment, finally looked up, then said, "What makes you think that Tess and I are getting married Liz? That's the second time you've implied it."
"Max." She was suddenly inexplicably weary. "I told you I saw Tess yesterday. She was wearing an engagement ring."
"And you just naturally assumed that it was [I]me[/I] she's marrying?" Max demanded.
"Isn't it?" Liz snapped back.
"Liz, I'm still married to you," Max replied, his voice abruptly gentle.
She blinked, so surprised she didn't know what to say. For one split second, the way he looked at her.But his next words changed all that. "I'm not the kind of person who gets engaged without getting divorced first."
Liz stared at him, then jumped to her feet. "Just sign the papers Max."
He leaned back again, threw the pen down on the table. "I think I'd like to have my dad go over them first." He looked up at her, his dark eyes gleaming strangely.
"Max!"
"Liz," he returned mildly. "I think it's the least you can do. You've waited this long. What's another day?"
She glared at him for a long moment, then couldn't resist asking, "If you're not engaged to Tess, than who is?"
Max narrowed his eyes at her. "You really haven't spoken to anyone, have you?"
Liz felt a mild flash of guilt. "I wanted to see you first," she replied lamely. "I wanted to get the hard part over with."
"So it [I]is[/I] hard then?" Max snorted. "You could have fooled me."
"Of course it's hard!" She knew that her voice was far too loud, but didn't care. "Do you think I wanted to come back here?"
Max looked away. "I'm sure you didn't. You've built quite the life for yourself in New York." He sounded disdainful.
"Not that it's any of your business but, yes, I have," Liz snapped. "I hoped that you would be happy for me."
Max looked back at her, his eyes unreadable. "I am happy for you Liz. You did what you always wanted to do. You escaped the alien abyss, as you and Maria once so kindly dubbed knowing us." He picked up the papers, stood and moved towards her. Liz took an involuntary step back. She wondered if she imagined the way he momentarily looked hurt by that, but she didn't imagine the deliberate way he picked up her bag and tucked the divorce papers back into it.
"What are you doing?" Liz screeched, rushing forward and grabbing the bag away from him. "You said you were going to let your dad read them!"
"Don't need to," Max replied easily, casually thrusting his hands into the pockets of his worn jeans. "I'm not signing them."
"[I]What?!?[/I]" Liz wondered if she had ever felt so outraged before. She was almost positive she hadn't. "Why not?"
There was a long pause, then Max said carefully, repeating his earlier words, "So your fiancé is rich huh?"
Liz stared at him in disbelief. "You want me to pay you off?" Her mouth fell open for the second time in the past half an hour. What on Earth had happened to Max Evans since she had left here?
"You make it sound so mercenary Liz." He grinned at her, only maddening her more. "It's not like he'll miss it and I could use the money." He paused. "There haven't been many tourists this year and the UFO Center is suffering," he elaborated. "Let's just say that a silent investor would be [I]really[/I] helpful right about now."
"You still work at the Museum?" Liz demanded in disbelief. "But you went to college Max!"
"You make it sound like a death sentence." Max shook his head, sounding disgusted with her, even though [I]he[/I] was the one blackmailing her. "You really couldn't wait to get out of this town, could you?"
"If this is how you turned out, I'm really glad I did," Liz shot back. "You've changed Max and not for the better!"
"Ditto." He still didn't seem particularly upset though as he continued, "Liz, a settlement when a marriage ends is not unnatural. I just want what's coming to me."
"It's not [I]my[/I] money you want," Liz reminded him, still completely disbelieving that he would have the gall to ask such a thing of her. "I'll give you some of my money if that's what you really want. I have lots," she elaborated, wanting to make him feel worse. She knew it was wrong, knew that she shouldn't feel smug that she was a far greater success than he, but he deserved it, the jerk.
"It's not," Max told her firmly, apparently not upset. Her anger increased.
"Why not?"
"Because I don't think your fiancé even knows I exist and I don't think that's fair," Max told her, shaking his head in mock concern. "This way I [I]know[/I] you'll have to tell him."
Liz could feel her blood literally boiling. "It's none of your business [I]what[/I] he knows!" She shrieked, so loudly the baby started to cry. She felt instant remorse but it was too late to take it back.
Max sighed, moved to pick up Eliza. "Now look what you've done," he reprimanded her. "And all because I just asked for my due." He grinned at her again, but it faded as the baby started to screech louder, as though sensing his strange mood. "You should just leave Liz and think about what I've asked for. I don't think it's much, compared with your complete liberation from me."
"I'm going, but don't think I won't be back! And don't think it will be with money," Liz snapped, no longer sorry. Let Max deal with a screaming baby. God was punishing him, and rightfully too!
With that, she stormed out of the house.
