Author's Note: Thanks for all the reviews! I'm feeling the love! The moment you've all waited for is finally here: the birth of Max and Tess's baby boy. (I'm having fun writing this. –It's probably hard to understand, 'cause it's jumping from one character to another…but I was doing it on purpose, to make it funnier and seem more chaotic.) If you could see me writing this, I swear I've got tears in my eyes from trying to keep from laughing out loud. (I'm at "work"…so I'm trying to be quiet and keep my co-workers from thinking I'm a nut case.)
Michael stood by the door watching as Liz and Tess walked out of the Valenti's to have their private 'girl talk'. As he watched, he couldn't help but rub his forehead. A pressure formed in between his eyes; it was a twinge, so slight, insignificant, and indefinable that it could be easily ignored. Funny, though, how it seemed impossible to.
He didn't know why or even understand what was happening to him lately. Michael stared at the ground, trying to make sense of it. The twinge was getting stronger, making his head ache; this feeling, this connection…for lack of a better term, was causing him pain.
Opening the closet, he grabbed his jacked and started following them without a single solid reason. This feeling had taken over his body, leaving his mind a confused mess as to why he couldn't control himself. Maybe it was instinct, he thought, or a premonition, like ESP or something…but he had a bad feeling. A feeling that something was going to happen unless he was there to stop it.
Max and Isabel called out; he didn't hear them, nor bothered to look back, as he continued on his trek. The pain was getting worse, making him bite his lip to stop himself from groaning out loud. Forcing himself to continue…he had to find his queen. He'd walked, practically crawling to catch up to Liz and Tess. Finally, when it seemed as if he'd collapse before he'd reach them, Michael saw them from across the street. He was only a street away! It was only a few feet more, yet Michael had to stop; his head was becoming unbearable, it felt as if his brain was going to split open; he shut his eyes in attempt to relieve the pain, wanting nothing more than to slip into a blessed oblivion until the pain stopped.
Every sound, every light, every outside stimulus was flowing directly into his brain, so it wasn't hard for him to hear Liz's hard, jealous voice yelling at Tess about ruining her relationship with Max from across the street. Heck, it wasn't hard to believe the entire town probably could hear her, she was yelling at the top of her lungs.
"TESS!" Liz's shout made him jerk up, then grasp his head…it was if he could feel his brain hit the back of his skull as he moved. Forcing himself to open his eyes, his heart shot into his throat as he watched Tess fall to the ground, grasping her belly and crying out in severe pain.
Michael didn't even bother to look, crossing in front of moving vehicles in the road, before he ran as fast as he could to her side. Liz gasped at him, surprised at his presence. "Michael, Tess—she's bleeding!" He pushed the girl out of his way to kneel by Tess's side. He bit his lip from swearing as he saw the blood.
Tess's face was almost a pure white as she cried out in pain, barely breathing. She was able to grunt out Max's name in between her gasps and moans. "Don't worry, Tess. I'll get you home," Michael vowed. His own pain was now secondary, he didn't matter. Reaching under her legs and shoulders, he lifted her in a 'damsel's in distress' manner, letting her head rest against his shoulder. Bracing himself, he pushed forward, walking as quickly as he could back to the Valenti's without dropping his precious burden.
The chaos begins…dum dum dummm
Once Tess was safely at the Valenti's, safe in Max's healing hands, the adrenaline that had kept him from collapsing on the street along with Tess wore off. Michael felt so weary; he'd never been this tired before in his entire life. He'd never really noticed until after but, Liz had been following behind them, opening doors and removing obstacles in the way.
The second Liz opened the Valenti's door, it was almost pure chaos. The type of chaos that if someone had been videotaping it, and had watched it after, it would be almost hysterical in comedy; like a chicken running around with its head cut off. Kyle was running into the kitchen to 'boil water' for some odd reason, while Alex ran around in a circle colliding into Maria again, knocking them both to the ground. Max and Jim seemed to fight over who was going to carry Tess to the bedroom, while Isabel stood watching the exchange in shock, not knowing what to do. Ava followed behind Max and Jim, who eventually decided to BOTH carry her to the bed, while Michael sort of collapsed near the doorway.
Maria, upon seeing Michael on the ground, started crying and screaming for help as she struggled to untangle herself from Alex to run towards him. Isabel did a walking version of a double take, not knowing which person to go to: the collapsed man on the ground, or the screaming pregnant woman in labor. Liz, since she was still standing at the doorway, went to Michael. Isabel, knowing Michael was in good hands, ran into Tess's bedroom.
Michael lay on the ground, barely breathing, and moaning that his brain was going to explode. Liz turned to look towards Tess's room. Her screams were getting louder; Max's voice clearly heard encouraging her and telling her that she was doing a great job. Kyle ran from the kitchen carrying a big pot of boiling water, walking as quickly as he could without spilling a drop.
"I'm coming. I'm bringing the boiled water! Hold on!" Kyle shouted, completely focusing on the fact any time a pregnant woman had a baby on TV, boiling water was essential to the labor. He walked into the room, "OH MY GOD! THAT'S A HEAD!" The water pot dropped on the ground, spilling boiled water all over the floor and Kyle's legs. He screamed in response, jumping up and down, "Oh, crap!"
Alex, finally up off the ground where Maria had pushed him in attempts to get to Michael, ran to the bedroom and not noticing the water, slid all the way down the hall before hitting the back of his head against the wall with a resounding "oww."
Isabel's voice was clearly heard as she ran out of the bedroom, jumping over the water puddle, and holding a hand against her mouth, "Oh, my god. I'm going to be sick." Pushing past Alex, who was rubbing his head to run into the bathroom, Isabel slammed the door behind her; the sounds of vomiting making everyone else turn green. A few minutes later, she came out, white as a sheet, mumbling how she was never going to have a baby.
The screams were getting louder and louder from the bedroom. With every sound Tess made, Michael groaned in reaction, clutching his head and biting his lip to keep from screaming. Maria stared at him…his reaction was almost identical to Tess. "Michael, you're in labor! Well, not in labor—labor, but you're screaming exactly like Tess! Oh, my god. This is some sort of weird alien sympathy pain." Maria sat up on her heels, commanding Michael to follow her directions, "Michael, okay, just breathe. Hoo Hoo HEE. Come on, keep breathing."
Liz looked at her best friend in horror, "Maria. He isn't really having a baby!" Michael just passed out, not answering. Maria shook his shoulders, pounding on his chest to wake up and keep breathing. "You're not giving up on me, Michael! Keep breathing!"
Jim's voice sounded clearly from the bedroom, "Okay, Tess. One more push, come on now. He's almost here. Just one more."
There was one big long shout before the room became quiet again.
Shortly after, the sounds of a newborn crying filled the small home. Liz and Maria, ignoring Michael for the moment, ran into the bedroom, peeking their heads in to see the new baby.
Everyone was looking at the little pink-skinned bundle now wrapped in Tess's arms, huge smiles on their faces. Jim's voice wasn't even a whisper, "What're you going to name him, Tess?"
Tess didn't take her eyes off of the life she had brought into the world, "His name is Zan." Max, taking in a breath, whispered his name. "It's perfect." Ava, tears in her eyes, just nodded in agreement.
Kyle stood besides the bed, wiping at his eyes, a goofy grin on his face. "Oh, he's so cute." Isabel, standing besides him didn't say a word, tears streaming down her face as she smiled brightly. Alex handed her a napkin, not being able to take the grin off his face either.
Maria stood smiling, holding out a finger for the baby to hold. "Oh…I want one! Can I have him?"
Tess looked her straight in the eye, "Not after what I had to go through to get him out!"
Laughter filled the air, hysterical giggles where mixed in with guffaws and chuckles.
Michael walked in on them laughing, rubbing a hand through his now messy hair, asking, "What'd I miss?"
This set off another round of laughter.
To be continued…
This is one of the shortest, but hardest chapters that I've had to write. (I swear, it's taken me almost three weeks to even get an idea as to how to write this one.)
(I hope that it came out all right… I hope it's understandable, if not let me know.) I tried to get someone to "Beta" for me, but I never got a response, so…all mistakes are mine.
Next chapter: Michael knows what happened with Liz/Tess, but will he tell Max? Also, Alex and Ava say goodbye to Roswell.