Hey everyone! I made a grave error in my calculations (math is not my strong point), the babies are due in April, not June. They are supposed to be five months pregnant. Sorry, about the confusion. I went back and changed the last chapter. Thanks for your patience! Less than a month till graduation! I am so sorry for the wait. The next part would be quicker. I've been so busy, but the load is lightening up. We're at the point in school where it is "Can we please have our diploma now?"

Lissa

Chapter 18

Liz woke expecting to hear the steady beat of her husband's heart. Puzzled when she didn't she turned to sit up. The sun was streaming in and she was dressed. Finally realizing that it was the middle of the day she shook her head to clear it. She had something to do today but she couldn't remember what.

Then she heard the voice. Her mother was here.

Rising and checking herself in the mirror Liz smoothed her hair down knowing she was going to get criticism. Her face was flushed from sleep, but there was nothing she could do about that. She was pregnant; she was allowed to nap during the day. No one, not even her mother, was going to put her down.

"How dare my daughter not be here to greet her guests?" Nancy Parker-Valenti huffed. She was in the front entryway.

"She's resting, Mrs. Valenti." Max said again. She was going to wake Liz up in a moment if she kept yelling. "Mary here will show you up to your rooms, please be quiet, she needs her sleep."

"Well, if you wouldn't allow her to work, over exhausting herself, she wouldn't need to sleep now." Nancy huffed. "Come on, Jim. I cannot believe I raised a daughter like this."

"Sorry, Mama, I fell asleep." Liz stood on the stairs overlooking them.

"Liz, what are you doing up?" Max asked. She had been down for little more than half an hour. "You need to rest." He said as she joined him.

"I'm fine." She accepted his kiss on her forehead before turning to look at her mother. "Hello, Mama."

"Elizabeth, you know better than to keep your guests waiting." Nancy stepped closer to her daughter. She hugged her and pulled back with a puzzled look on her face. "Why…" A smile spread across her face.

Liz flushed when she noticed her mother had felt her stomach.

"Elizabeth, why didn't you tell me? A girl should have her mother with her when she delivers." Nancy said delighted.

Liz shrugged and looked up at Max. "This was why she was resting." Max explained as he held his wife's hand.

"I see." Nancy nodded. "When are you due?" She asked.

"April." Liz informed her. "Same as Serena."

"Yes." Nancy said. There was a gleam in her eye and Liz didn't like it. "Where are Serena and my grandchildren?"

"Kyle took them into town." Liz said.

"Why?" Nancy asked. "They knew I was coming and they went into town?"

"They had things that needed to be done." Liz said patiently. And a little something for Max as well, though Max didn't know. "She'll be back in the evening. Why don't you and father go put your things down and rest?"

"Fine." She said. "We have things to discuss, Elizabeth."

"I know, Mama." Liz said, "I'm glad you made the trip alright, it wasn't too hard?"

"Not something I hope to repeat soon."

Liz smiled and looked up at her husband when Nancy and Jim started up the stairs.

Max turned to Liz and studied her face carefully. There was already a strain in her eye that Max wanted to clear away. She smiled up at him, reassuring him.

"I'll be alright." She told him, taking his hand in hers. "You'll be here with me."

"Yes."

Lifting unsteadily onto her tiptoes she pressed a kiss to his cheek. He wrapped his arm around her waist to steady her against him.

"Elizabeth." Her mother snapped.

Pulling back abruptly, Liz turned to her mother. "Yes?"

"Do not show displays of affection in public, it is offensive and vulgar."

Her cheeks flushed but she looked up at her mother, with fists at her side.

"We are not in public, we are in my home, if it offends you, I cannot apologize, Mama. If you find it vulgar, look elsewhere."

Nancy Valenti looked stunned for a moment before shooting a look at Max. With a last look that could kill, she turned and continued up the stairs.

Liz sat facing her mother discussing their Christmas plans. She tried to keep a look on her face that didn't speak of the boredom she was feeling inside.

"I understand where you're coming from, Elizabeth, but we've always eaten Christmas meal together on Christmas day, not Eve." Her mother insisted.

"I know." Liz said calmly replacing her tea cup and smoothing a hand over her round tummy.

"Stop rubbing your stomach and drawing attention to yourself." Nancy said. "It's most unladylike."

"It's also a most uncomfortable position to be in, Mama." Liz retorted angrily. She would not be harassed in her husband's home. "And we will be eating on Christmas Eve like Max's family does on tradition."

"Elizabeth."

"That is how it will be Mama." Liz said firmly. "This is my home. I became part of my husband's family and I will uphold his traditions and my children will be raised in his traditions."

Nancy was about to say more when Cassidy came bursting into the room.

"Aunt Liz!" She ran to her aunt and hurriedly kissed her cheek.

"Hello, Cassidy darling." Liz smiled at her niece.

"Daddy took us by the new house, and it's so pretty and it overlooks most of Uncle Max's land and all of ours. We also got Uncle Max's…"

"Cassidy."

Cassidy stopped and turned around, looked at her grandmother.

Her heart beat faster and she realized she was in trouble. She had not acknowledged her grandmother because she had not noticed her grandmother was there.

She dipped into a curtsy and rose to press a kiss to her cheek. "Good afternoon, Grandmamma."

"Good afternoon, Cassidy." Her grandmother said. "Next time you will wait to see who is in the room before you come barging in. It was very rude that you acknowledged your aunt before your grandmother."

"I apologize." Cassidy said again before stepping back and sitting on the footstool at Liz's feet.

"She did not realize you were there, Mama." Liz tried to make it right. Cassidy had greeted her out of affection, not from any sense of protocol.

"She should stop to look before she comes stomping in here like some street child."

"We do not stand on ceremony here." Liz said again. "Cassidy is not expected to treat her own family as she does strangers."

"Do you mean for three weeks this child has been running around without any manners or any sense of propriety?"

"No." Liz said calmly. "She understands everything very well. We just don't stand on ceremony in the privacy of our own homes."

"Where does she attend school?" Nancy shot out. "Answer me, Cassidy?"

"Jefferson, madam." Cassidy answered.

"It is public?"

"Yes, madam."

"Why?"

"Mama." Liz said looking her mother in the eye. "Cassidy attends a very good public school. Her parents have agreed upon her attendance there and have decided it is perfectly acceptable. I do not want you interfering with anything. This is our life, and Kyle and Serena's child. Not yours."

"You will not talk to you me that way."

"I will talk to you as I must." Liz said standing. "If you would excuse me I must tell the cook that Kyle and Serena are back for dinner. Cassidy, come with me."

The Guerins joined them for Christmas Eve dinner.

Surprisingly Nancy put on a nice face and made nice with everyone there. After dinner everyone retired to the parlor and Maria played a few Christmas songs on the piano.

Cassidy skipped over to Maria and whispered something in her ear.

"Sure." Maria answered. "Have a seat next to me. You ready?"

She nodded.

Cassidy started softly at first, a pretty rendition of "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day". Her soprano voice picked up volume as she gained confidence. After the first verse Maria joined her adding a nice harmony.

When they were done the room exploded in applause Cassidy flushed and curtsied before she returned to her mother's feet.

"Aunt Liz, please tell us about 'A Visit from St. Nick.'" Cassidy pleaded trying to draw the attention away from her. "Please?"

"Alright."

"'Twas the night before Christmas…"

Cassidy, Logan, and Matthew were asleep by the end of the story.

"Next year at this time we'll have our baby." Max said as Liz entered his room. He smiled as she walked over to him. She lacked Serena's grace in carrying the baby, but this was only her first. Of many Max hoped.

Liz nodded, and looked up at him. Her hands behind her back, Lady prancing at her feet, she looked incredibly young to him, with her eyes shining so brightly.

"What?" He asked. He took a step towards her and she took one back.

"Nope." She sang as she stepped from his reach. "I have your Christmas present."

"Early?"

"Just by an evening. I thought you were a little old for Father Christmas to visit you."

He smiled and waited.

"It took me a little while to figure out what to buy for you." She said shyly as she stood. "I think I got the right thing for you."

"I have you, I don't need anything else."

"No." She smiled. "I wanted to get something special for you. It took me a while because you never really show a strong interest in anything. But then I realized you spend a lot of your free time, when you're not with me, in the library."

"Yes." He said.

"And I know you like Oscar Wilde."

"Very much."

"I got us two tickets for a showing of The Importance of Being Ernest."

"You didn't." He said. "I've been trying to get tickets to that forever but they've sold out." He said.

"I know." She said. "I got them as soon as they came out. They're for Santa Fe."

"Is it safe for you to travel?"

"Yes." She said. "The doctor said it was ok. The tickets are for January. I've always wanted to see Santa Fe."

"We'll go." He said and pulled her close. "You're sure it will be ok?"

"Yes." Taking a step closer she looked up at him, her eyes clear of all the laughter. "You know I love you, right Max?"

"Very much, darling."

"I don't always say it." Her voice trembled a little bit. "But I feel it just the same."

"I know, I love you too." He pulled her to him, his hand resting lightly on her stomach. "Both of you."

"We know." She rested her head on her chin. "We leave next week, right after my mother."

"Does she know she's leaving?"

"Not yet." Liz sighed. "I thought we'd let her have a pleasant Christmas and then send her on her way."

"Sounds good." He pulled her closer. "Your present is coming in a few weeks, my mother is going to send the cradle I used when I was an infant."

Her eyes lit and filled with laughter. "I wasn't going to tell you until tomorrow as a last Christmas present, but that spoils it."

"What?"

"We're going to need two cradles, we're going to have twins."

TBC