Disclaimer: You know the drill…the characters aren't mine. A lot of stuff in the beginning is taken from End of the World. God knows THAT'S not mine. Anything that makes sense and makes it all better, now that's mine. Seriously, Roswell and all characters belong to Jason Katims, 20th Century Fox etc. I'm just borrowing them.

Rating: PG-13 – possibly to R

Chapter Thirty-OneAre There Cliff Notes For This Book?

"Liz, did you hear me?" said Alex. "We think you might be pregnant."
"I heard you the first time, Alex," said Liz. "I just think you don't know what the hell you are talking about, there is no way I could be pregnant. And even if you thought I was, what gives you the right to make such a pronouncement, in front of a room full of people. Besides, there is NO WAY I could possibly be pregnant!"

"No way?" asked Isabelle, her eyebrow raised. "Are you trying to tell me that you and Max haven't,"
"No, Isabelle!" shouted Liz. "I'm not telling you ANYTHING! I thought my parents were out for the evening, but apparently, I was wrong. I guess all six of my parents are here to night to confront me about my slutty behavior!"

"Liz, relax, nobody is here to confront you about anything, least of all, being a slut," said Alex. "I mean come on, this is us here."
"Well, what makes you so certain that I'm pregnant, Alex," Liz snapped. She glared angrily at her friend, but everyone could see the glimmer of fear in her eyes. Maria clambered up out of the beanbag, and crossed the room to where Liz sat. She sat down next to Liz and took her hand in hers and squeezed it tightly.
"Liz, chica, just listen to him. Alex loves you. He wouldn't be saying this if he didn't think he had a reason.

Liz yanked her hand from Maria's and glared at her. But even as she looked at her best friend in anger, her expression began to crumble and the tears welled up in her eyes. She struggled to remain composed as she said, "Fine, I'll listen." But her anger and fear were apparent to everybody in the room.

"At the risk of sounding like everybody's favorite science teacher, Mr. Seligman, everyone open your books to the page that I marked," said Alex. Eight copies of the book flipped open in unison. Liz read the passages that Alex had highlighted, and her stomach began to churn. She jumped up, the book sliding unnoticed from her lap. She ran across the room, to the bathroom and slammed the door shut before she slumped on the floor in front of the toilet. Her stomach heaved, and she began to retch. She heard the door click open, but she didn't turn her head to see who had followed her. Another wave of nausea hit, and he felt someone pull her hair back as she threw up.

"Hey, relax," she heard Ava say as she rubbed her back. "It ain't so bad. Babies are pretty cool. Besides, look at the daddy. I'd a loved to have a baby with Zan," she added, wistfully. Liz groaned and used the sink to pull herself up. She grabbed a glass and rinsed out her mouth. When she was finished, she sat back down on the cool tile floor and rested her head on her knees.

"A baby," she whispered. "I'm going to have a baby."
"Yeah, I think we already figured that out," said Ava. "The question is, what are ya gonna do about it?"
"What do you mean, what am I going to do about it?" asked Liz
"Not everybody who gets pregnant ends up havin a baby," Ava answered.
"No! I couldn't do that," said Liz. "This is a baby; a living, growing child. That is so not an option." She put her hands protectively over her abdomen.
"I didn't think it was," said Ava with a smile. "It wouldn't have been for me neither, but it got you thinkin' in a good way about the baby. Now come on, lets get outta here before the Michael tries to blow up the door or somethin'," said Ava.

Liz and Ava exited the bathroom and joined the others in the bedroom.
"What did we miss?" asked Liz, sitting down next to Max
"Pretty much nothing," answered Kyle. "We all just stared at each other with blank looks on our faces.
"Well, we are an exciting bunch, aren't we," she said, brightly.
"Liz, don't you think we should talk about this?" asked Max.
"Don't," said Liz, holding up her hand. "Just don't. Not here, not now. I cannot do that right now. I think we need to start looking at this book, page by page, until we know it inside and out. Alex, can you give us a brief overview of the book?"

"The book has about forty chapters," said Alex. "They detail the history of Antar, the war, how you guys came into being, your physiology. There are also chapters on your abilities, and how they work, and what they think your lives will be like on Earth. There is also a section about activating the granolith to go home," he added quietly.
"What!" shouted Michael. "We have a way of going home?"
"Michael, wait," said Alex. "There is more to it than just going home. It says that unless you have been contacted by a member of the Royal Senate, not to consider using the granolith unless it was an emergency."

Maria looked down at the book in her lap, her face flushed. Michael threw his arms around her and hugged her excitedly.
"Did you hear that, Maria? We can go home!"
"I am home," she said softly, but Michael didn't hear her in his excitement.
"Michael!," Max said, his voice sharp. Michael looked at his friend, puzzled, and saw that Max was pointing at Maria, who was struggling not to cry.
"I did it again, Maria, didn't I? I opened my mouth before I thought. I'm sorry. I meant what I said outside, Maria. I belong here. Here is where home is. I just got so excited when I heard we had a way to go back there, that I reacted. I spent almost all my life trying to figure out where I came from and how to get back there. It was just a gut reaction, Maria. Will you forgive me?"

Maria wiped the tears from her eyes, and tried to smile.
"I won't deny that it hurt, Michael. It hurt a lot, but I guess I do understand. I mean, if someone from Capitol Records walked through the door and offered me a recording contract, I'd probably say yes, right away without thinking about how it would effect you, or anybody else."

"Okay, if we're clear on the topics we're not going to discuss," said Isabelle. "And we have removed all feet from the mouths in which they've lodged themselves, can we please get back to business. I say we each take five chapters and start breaking this book down. Liz, do you have anything we can write on?"
"Yeah, in my desk, the lower left drawer, there are some notebooks. Pencils are in the center drawer," said Liz.

Kyle opened the desk drawer and pulled out a stack of brand new legal pads, still in their protective shrink-wrap.
"Uh, Liz," said Kyle. "Why do you have a stack of brand new, never been opened notebooks and a bunch of newly sharpened pencil. School's been in session for a couple of months now?"
"It never hurts to be prepared," Liz said, defensively.
"You are such a geek, Liz," Kyle said affectionately as he passed out the notebooks and pencils. "You know," said Kyle as he flipped through the book, looking for the chapters he was going to read. "This book looks pretty intense. I don't suppose there are Cliff Notes for it."