Relatively Speaking
Chapter 51
LI
After returning from dinner, Liz put Jeffy in his crib and let Maya, Andya, JoLeesa, and Alyyx go over to Kyle and Jeliya's house to play with Rayyn and Taz. Jeliya promised to bring them back when she returned to pick Kyle up at the end of his shift at the palace. With the palace temporarily free of children, Max sat down in his oversized Antarian easy chair and leaned back to relax. Liz sat down across his lap and leaned her forehead against his, smiling playfully. Max smiled back.
"How about a little kiss, Max… I need something to go on here."
Max pressed his lips to Liz's, and Liz put one arm around Max's neck and ran her fingers up into his hair. Max pulled her tighter against him, enjoying the sensuous feel and taste of her soft, welcoming lips. He ran his right hand under the back of her blouse. A touch… and a clasp came loose. It was one of the advantages of having certain… powers. Max gently ran the tips of his fingers back down along the center of her back all the way to the tip of her spine then slowly brought his hand around toward the front. Liz smiled and parted her lips further, deepening her kiss as she allowed herself to be lost in the passions of the moment. Suddenly, she exhaled with an audible though almost whispered gasp or sigh.
"Omigod, Max, what was that?"
"Do you like it?" Max smiled. "It's just a mild electric pulse… from my hand."
Liz didn't answer. Instead, she turned around to face Max. Straddling his lap, she took his face in both hands and pressed her lips to his waiting mouth again. Though fully dressed, Max felt every contour of Liz's body pressing against him in all the right places. It felt good. He could feel a rising pressure, as Liz pressed harder against him… or maybe that was him.
Liz felt it, too.
"You want to go up to our room for a while, Max?"
Max looked into Liz's eyes, and a grin inched over his face. "Yeah. That sounds good."
Liz put both of her arms around Max's neck, and he stood up with her in his arms. Then a voice interrupted from the parlor entrance.
"Ahem."
Max turned around to see where the offending noise had come from.
"Sorry, Max, but you have visitors," Kyle said. "Michael and Maria."
"Oh! Uh… Okay, well… send them in, Kyle. Just give me a moment to… comb my hair… or something," Max said, setting Liz down on her feet and trying clumsily to stand up straight and not look too totally obvious.
Kyle nodded solemnly then turned and walked out of the room. As he walked toward the front entrance, his solemn look was replaced by a grin.
"We really need to put a bell on him," Max said.
Liz giggled.
Max finished tucking his shirt tails back in, and Liz straightened her blouse, then Max nodded to Kyle, who was with Michael and Maria in the foyer. Kyle showed them into the parlor. Michael and Maria didn't really need an escort. They were thoroughly familiar with the palace. Besides, Michael still had his own private room there. He rarely stayed there anymore, but now and then, he and Maria… and sometimes their children, too… would stay over.
"Michael! Maria!" Max said, smiling.
Liz smiled at Michael and hugged Maria.
"What brings you guys out tonight," Max asked.
Michael smiled and looked back and forth between Max and Liz. "I… uh… we're not interrupting something, are we? Cause if we are, we can come back later… or tomorrow…"
"No! No! No… You're not interrupting anything, Michael," Liz said.
"Not now, you're not," Max said under his breath. Then he smiled. "No. You're not interrupting anything, Michael."
"Alright, 'cause if I was, I could always come back later, you know."
"No, no. I was just helping Liz get something out of her eye."
"Oh! Well, go ahead, Max! I'll wait."
"Uh… No. That's all right. I think I got it."
Liz winked at Maria, and Maria smiled and winked back. Michael noticed.
"You got something in your eye, too, Maria?"
Maria smiled coyly. "I think so. Maybe you should take a look at it… up close."
Michael looked at Maria for a moment then turned his head to the side and smiled. Then he turned his eyes back toward Maria and grinned, as he shook his head.
"Can it wait till we get home?"
"I think so."
"Good. 'Cause I got the right… uh… tools there."
"Sit down," Liz said, motioning to the sofa. "I'll get you something to drink. Coffee? Snapples? Cherry Coke? Jubish? Whatever you want."
"Yeah… okay… uh, a little cherry Coke with a dash of jubish and a couple o' teaspoons of Tabasco would be very nice," Michael said.
Liz looked at Max. "Yeah… I'll go for that," Max said. "Sounds good."
Maria nodded. "Same here… minus the T-sauce."
"Gotcha," Liz said as she headed for the kitchen.
"I'll help you, Liz." Maria hopped up and headed toward the kitchen, too.
"Kryys told us you got Jeffy back."
Liz nodded. "Thanks to Kryys. That wonderful son of yours is a miracle worker, Maria. The Nogi-Ky'a could learn from him. A billion years of evolution and experience, and they've got nothing on Kryys."
Maria grinned and nodded. "I want to see Jeffy, Liz. Can I? Is he asleep?"
"I think so, but you can see him. Help me take these drinks out to the coffee table, then we'll go up and get him."
Liz and Maria returned and set the drinks on the table then went together up to Jeffy's room. He was sleeping with a smile on his face.
Maria gasped. "He's beautiful, Liz! Omigod! What a little angel!"
"Yeah," Liz said, smiling, "but I think he's going to be a handful. I've just got a feeling."
"Well, if you need any help, Liz, you know Auntie Maria is always here," Maria said with a grin.
"Thanks, Maria. I'll keep that in mind. You can count on it."
Liz picked Jeffy up and put him in Maria's arms.
"Awwwww," Maria cooed softly. "He's so sweet. Look at that smile!"
"Yeah. I wonder what he's dreaming about," Liz said.
"Maybe he's happy to finally be home," Maria replied simply.
Liz looked at Maria, and her eyes misted up. "Yeah, that could be it, Maria."
"Come on, Liz. I want to show him to Michael. Can we take him down…?"
"Sure. Come on."
Maria and Liz walked back down the grand staircase to the parlor with Jeffy in Maria's arms. Maria smiled and held Jeffy out slightly for Michael to see.
"He's adorable," Michael said simply. "You must be very happy."
Liz smiled and wiped away a tear that was forming in the corner of her eye. "We are. Believe me."
"Looks like he's happy, too," Michael said.
Liz nodded and looked at Maria.
"He's happy to finally be home with his mommy and daddy again," Maria said. "I can read baby smiles."
Max, Michael, and Liz laughed, and Liz nodded her agreement.
"Jayyd and Zorel wanted to see
him, too," Maria said… "especially Jayyd, but it was getting a little late, and
we weren't sure when we would be back, so Amy's watching them and Liz-Jolee at
our house. They're going to stay over and go yorith riding in the morning with
Varec."
"Sounds like fun," Max said.
Max looked at Michael, and Michael gave Max a puzzled look.
"What?"
"Nothing. Never mind. Just my imagination."
"Since you brought up imaginations, have you had any more dreams lately, Michael?"
Michael shook his head, as he took another sip of his drink. "Nothing worth mentioning. I'm satisfied with who I am now, Max. I know who I am. I don't hate Rath anymore, and I'm not scared of being him. I understand him. Everything's cool."
"How about the flying dreams?"
Michael looked slightly uneasy. "Well, I had that dream again a few days ago… but it's not bad, so there's nothing to worry about, right?"
"Right."
"Max?" Michael looked at Max again with the same puzzled look as before. "Are you having a rodent problem in the palace?"
"No! What would make you think that?"
"Well, I thought I saw a reddish brown rat or something peek out from behind the door over there. Then I thought it must have been my imagination. But I just saw it again. Something's running around in here."
Maria picked her feet up and crossed them on the sofa, as she looked to see what Michael was talking about, but she saw nothing.
"I think you saw Harold," Liz said.
Maria and Michael both looked at Liz questioningly.
"Yeah, well, it's… that is, he's… well, we're not sure it's a he, really," Liz said. "It may be a Harriet."
"Say what?" Michael said, looking totally confused.
"Harold," Liz called softly. "Come here. I'll give you a cookie."
A small, hairy object the color of burnt sienna moved cautiously out from behind the door and made its way toward Liz.
Maria pulled her legs further up under herself on the sofa. "What is that, Liz?"
"You want to take any guesses, Michael," Max asked with a grin.
Michael shook his head. "Something Danny's pawgor ate that didn't get digested, I'd say. It looks like a pawgor fur ball. And I think it's alive."
Maria slapped Michael on the arm playfully. "Really, Michael!"
"Well, it does."
"Ever hear of a tribble?" Max asked.
Michael looked at Max and slowly grinned a lopsided sort of grin. He knew that Max might be pulling a practical joke on him. Pulling practical jokes on Michael was more up Kyle's alley. Still, he wouldn't rule it out in Max's case. Sometimes Max would pull something off out of the blue. It was usually successful, because it was so unpredictable and because Max was capable of keeping such a poker face.
"I'm not falling, Max. Next, you'll have some guy with pointy ears walk in here and say he's Spock."
Max laughed and picked the furry little creature up.
"It's a tribble, Michael. Really! Want to hold it?"
Michael put out his hand, and Max handed him the little tribble.
"Okay, Max, this may sound crazy but… Where'd you get a tribble? Huh? Oh, wait a minute! I know! You had that little guy, uh… Frebel-Ish make it for you."
Max shook his head. "Nope. Andya made this one. You know she can conjure up animals."
"Yeah, I heard that. But why a tribble?"
"She gave it to Jeffy."
Michael was silent for a few moments.
"Does it bite?"
"No. It doesn't bite, scratch, run away, grow too big, or eat too much. It just has one flaw."
"I know," Michael nodded. I used to watch Star Trek reruns. "Did you take care of that little problem?"
"Not yet… but I guess we'll have to do something. We don't know for sure if it's a male or a female. For now, it's Harold either way. 'Hair'-old, get it?"
Michael nodded.
"Jeffy won't let us get rid of it. We tried, but he brought it back."
"Jeffy?" Maria repeated questioningly.
"Yeah. Didn't Kryys tell you about Jeffy?"
"He told us that Jeffy has the same power that he has to change into atoms at will. But he doesn't think Jeffy understands that he can do it. Kryys said that Jeffy was able to come back, because he had a strong desire to be with you."
Max nodded. "Well, Jeffy knows how to turn a tribble into atoms and bring it back."
Michael raised his eyebrows.
"Oh, wow!" Maria said softly. "Kryys didn't know about his power until he was six. I'm kind of glad. Now I see why you said you may have your hands full."
"You still want to help take care of him, Auntie Maria," Liz asked with a laugh.
Maria smiled and nodded. "Yeah, sure! What's another little wizard or two in the family, 'relatively' speaking?"
tbc