Chapter 27

Flight two nine one from San Francisco arrived on time gate B. Baggage can be found at carousel eight. The voice droned for the third time. Liz was ready to see the results of that flight. It had been fifteen minutes from the first announcement.

Liz stood in the baggage claim and made her way to the carousel. She was shaking and her hands were sweaty. She could do this, she had to do this.

She had left the kids with Isabel and Alex. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other and looked at the sliding doors leading from the terminal. People were coming out now. Max would be among them; he'd get his bag and then they'd leave.

She spotted him, looking tired and searching the crowd for his mother. He didn't know she was picking him up. She needed wanted to do this.

Max was exhausted from the week at Berkeley. They woke up early went to bed late. But it had gotten him the credits he needed.

He wanted to get home to his family. He wanted to hold Liz to him and never let her go. A week was too long to be away from them. He missed Aidan's sweetness, he even missed Lily's stubbornness. He needed to find his mother so he could get home to them.

"Max." He whipped his head around he thought he heard Liz.

"Liz?"

"I'm here, Max." She said and smiled.

Max studied her for a second. She was pale but she was smiling at him.

"Liz." He swept her into his arms and he felt her trembling. He pressed a kiss to her temple and it was cold. "Are you ok?"

"Yes. Now I am." She held him tight.

"Liz, you didn't have to come." He knew she hated everything airplanes.

"I did and I did it. The kids are with Alex and Isabel. I did it, Max." She said happy with herself. "I didn't want to have to deal with Aidan and Lily, I don't think I could have handled it. I may have wanted to turn back once or twice, but I did it."

"I'm so proud of you, Liz." He kissed her hard. "Thank you. I love you."

"Love you too." She held on tight. "Let's get your bag so we can go home. The kids are probably driving Alex up the wall. Lily's beside herself."

"Max, can I speak with you for a minute?" Liz said when he walked into the front room. He had just put Lily down. Sliding her glasses off and sitting up she looked him in the eye.

"Sure." He sat down next to her.

"Tess came while you were away, three days ago to be exact." She told him.

"Did she do anything, say anything?" He was alert. "Did she say anything to the kids?"

"Wait just a moment, Max." She held up a hand. "I have a question to ask you, will you promise to answer with the best of your knowledge?"

"Yes." He said slowly, studying her face.

"She told me something, something that disturbs me a little. I know it shouldn't matter much, but it does." She placed her hand on his knee. "She said Lily is most likely not your daughter."

"She is!" He exploded.

"Keep your voice down else you'll wake the subject in question." She scolded lightly. "I know she's your daughter, Max, but biologically, is she yours? Is it possible?"

Max looked down. "I'm sure, Liz." He smiled slowly. "I had my doubts at first too. A few weeks after she was born I took her down to a clinic and had our DNA checked, she's mine."

"You're sure. She's ours then."

"Yes, she's ours." Max held her. "Did Tess say anything else?"

"Only that she could probably make more money elsewhere. She made me promise though that we are not to contact her when she's rich and famous. Lily no longer exists to her and that she'll send the papers."

"She didn't?" He asked eyes full of hope.

"She did." Liz answered happily.

Few months later

"Very good, Emma." Liz congratulated the girl sitting at the piano. She had now taken on four other students in the afternoons. She was finding it quite enjoyable to teach them. All the kids were under ten and she enjoyed teaching their age. They were all curious about the mysterious world of the piano.

"We're home, Mommy." Lily ran into the room. "Look, I got a crown for my birthday at school."

"Lily!" Max scolded. "Sorry, Liz, I couldn't catch her in time." He tried to keep the kids out of the piano room when she was teaching.

"It's alright, she's getting ready to leave now." Liz collected the scattered books. "Just practice what I told you, ok?" She patted the girl on the back and watched her walk next door where she lived.

"Let me see that crown, Miss Lily, my little three year old." Liz scooped her up in her arms. She laughed. "Happy birthday."

"Thank you, Mommy." She planted a kiss on her cheek.

"I do believe it is your day to help me get the mail." "Yes." She hopped along in front of Liz and stuck the key in the hole.

"Here, you have a card from Oma and Opa." She handed it to her.

The third envelope caught her eye. It was big and bulky and could only mean one thing. She opened it quickly, not waiting to get back to the house.

"Max!" She sprinted in the door with Lily hot on her heels. "Max!"

"What, what is it, Liz?" He grabbed her arms and looked her over. "What happened?"

"She's ours, Max. Look." She held it up for him to read.

Max swung her around.

"She's ours." Max smiled.

Max's Birthday


Max sat in the seat of honor at the center of the group. His entire family was there with Liz, Aidan, and Lily flanking him, Lily on his lap. He opened the next present with Lily's help and his face broke into a soft smile.

In it was a picture frame. There was a picture of Max and Aidan in the bathroom both with towels wrapped around their centers. Max had shaving cream spread over his face and so did Aidan. Aidan was smiling up adoringly at Max, with the caption. "Like Father..." In the next picture they were standing there surveying Lily's 'big girl' bed with hands on their hips and identical tool belts, Aidan's sagging off his tiny waist, with the caption "Like son." Under it.

Then there was a second with Liz and Lily. They both had aprons on and were staring over a pot in the kitchen, "Like mother..." Was the caption. The second was of them in the garden digging. Liz's hands were cupping Lily's with a flower they were transplanting from a pot to the fresh soil. There was a smudge of dirt on both Lily's and Liz's face, with the caption "like daughter" underneath.

"Thank you, Isabel." Max said with genuine happiness in his voice.

"You're welcome, Liz gave the pictures to me."

"It was a great birthday present." Liz studied the pictures and Lily demanded they get read to her.

"You know, Max." Liz said from where she lay on his chest. They had watched a movie after the kids had gone to bed. She was studying the pictures Isabel had given to them.

"What?" He asked.

"There's two kinds of love." She stated. "I love you with my whole heart. But I love the kids with my whole heart. And being a biologist, I ask myself how this is possible. I think it's because they're different. Yours is burning and passionate, I almost ache with it. Theirs is steady, warm, and comforting. Both are secure. Two totally different feelings. But two wonderful feelings. Two kinds of wonderful feelings. Get it?"

"I think so." He smiled and kissed the sweet smelling hair. He was completely relaxed, exactly in the only place he ever wanted to be

TBC

AN: There's only the epilogue left, now. I can't believe we're done. It's been a wonderful journey you guys. Thank you so much for sticking with me through those rough patches where there were hardly any posts. Thank you all so much for the feedback and reviews.