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Chapter 15

Maria gasped at the sight of the girl holding Max's hand. It couldn't be. She looked just like... No, how bizarre wouldn't it be that Liz's daughter walked into the Crashdown, holding hands with Max Evans. She inhaled deeply and moved towards Max and the little girl, oblivious to the rest of the hungry children crowd.

Max looked up and saw Maria approaching. She looked like she had seen a ghost, and she couldn't stop staring at Emma.

"Hi...Max," Maria said slowly, her eyes still glued on Emma.

"Hi, Maria," Max said. Maria obviously had seen the same resemblance to Liz in that girl as he had.

"Now...aren't you gonna introduce us," Maria said, her voice monotone, like she was being hypnotized by the girl with the amber eyes.

Max smiled. He had never seen Maria having such difficulties with speaking before.
"Uhm, Maria - I like you to meet Emma."

Maria kneeled in front of Emma and put out her hand to the girl.
"Hi, Emma. Nice to meet you."

Emma held Maria's gaze, something that reminded her of how Liz had always looked into her eyes - not looking away. Maria had always felt like she couldn't hide anything from Liz. Liz had always been able to see right through her.

"Hi. My best friend's name is also Maria," Emma explained.

Maria smiled. "Really? Another Maria? Well, you have to introduce us then."

Emma eyes immediately began searching the restaurant and landed on her blonde friend.
"There she is," Emma said and pointed. She let go off Max's hand and went to fetch her friend. Maria looked up at Max.

"Max..." she said.

"I know, I know," Max said. "She looks a lot like Liz. I was a bit spooked too."

Maria stared at him. Was he joking?

"Max, you're not telling me that you don't see that she is Liz's daughter?"

In the seconds to follow, a thousands emotions were displayed in Max's expressive eyes. Panic, joy, grief, nervousness, denial, disbelief, hope, love...

"What do you mean? That she is Liz's daughter?" Max asked dumbfounded.

"That's what I said, didn't I?" Maria whispered, herself completely shocked by the situation.

That's when Isabel and Michael decided to join the conversation.

"What's going on, Max?" Michael demanded.

"I-I..." Max stuttered, his eyes fixed on the little girl who was talking with her friend at the other end of the CrashDown, emphasizing her words with exaggerated movements of her hands.

"Max....she looks just like Liz," Isabel whispered, her voice not strong enough to speak in a normal conversational tone.

"Is that your daughter, Maxwell?" Michael asked, cutting right to the chase.

"We don't know," Maria said as Max wasn't answering. "But it's pretty obvious, isn't it. I mean, we all see that she looks a lot like Liz and she has Max's eyes."

"Has someone taken Max's eyes?" Emma's voice questioned. Everyone turned their heads to look at her.

"No, Emma. We were just talking," Maria said. "And this is Maria, I presume."

Emma nodded excitedly, her concern for a possible removal of Max's eyes quickly replaced by her excitement to show them her friend.



Santa Fe, New Mexico

"Elizabeth, god damnit! Can you get anything right today?!" her boss yelled. Elizabeth closed her eyes and focused on pushing the pain far back in her head.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Manes. It won't happen again," Elizabeth apologized.

"So you say. Should I remind you that you said that the last time you messed up an order too - and the time before that and before that. I'm telling you, Miss Owens. There are probably many who would want to have an extra income. You would not be difficult to replace!"

"I'm sorry, I really am," Elizabeth murmured and swallowed hard, forcing down the nausea.



Roswell, New Mexico

Emma's stomach churned, and she rubbed her hand over it unconsciously. Max noticed the movement right away.

 
"Emma, are you hungry?" he asked.

Emma contemplated about that for a few seconds. She had been feeling really hungry just a minute ago, but now she felt sick to her stomach. With a small grimace she shook her head.

"Are you all right, honey?" Maria asked.

They had all settled at one booth. The sight was actually a bit comical. Four adults in their early twenties with one little girl at four - while all other four-year-olds were grouped in adjacent booths with their teachers.

Emma nodded her head - already picking up on her mother's classical behavior.

"Don't you wanna eat something?" Isabel asked. "You probably haven't eaten anything for hours."

"I..I want a soda, please," Emma said hesitant, suddenly feeling uncomfortable sitting there. She wanted to go home. She wanted her mommy.

"I'll get it," Maria said and stood up. Maria didn't work at the CrashDown anymore but she still knew her way around the familiar restaurant and Mr. Parker didn't mind that she helped herself around the kitchen.

"So, Emma. Did you have a good time at the UFO center?" Isabel asked.

Emma nodded, excitement grazing her features.
"It was weally funny! Max help us climb into space plane!"

Isabel looked at Max and smiled. She couldn't quite interpret Max's expression. Max himself couldn't sort his feelings. He didn't know what to feel. The others all seemed convinced that the little girl sitting beside him was his daughter - the daughter he had searched after for four years. Instinctually he somehow knew that it was in fact his daughter.
Maria came back with Emma's soda and put it down in front of her.

"I picked cherry coke, is that okay?" Maria asked.

"That's my favewit," Emma said, smiling broadly.

"I guessed that much," Maria said, unable to not smile.

"Emma, we have to leave now. The bus leaves in ten minutes," Ms. Harris announced, stepping up to the group.

Fear slammed into Max. He couldn't let her go now! Emma rose and took Ms. Harris hand. The whole group around the table looked at each other - not knowing what to do.

"Uhm, excuse me Ms. Harris," Max said.

"Yes," Ms. Harris said and smiled.

"What's the name of Emma's mother?" Max asked bluntly, not knowing how to sugar-coat the question so he just blurted it out there.

Ms. Harris looked confused.

"Why do you wanna know?" she asked, thinking of a conversation she'd had with Emma's mother. Elizabeth had made it absolutely crystal clear that no one was to know Emma's surname or who her mother was. Ms. Harris had of course wondered why, but Elizabeth had only told her that she couldn't tell but that it could be dangerous for Emma if someone knew that information. That a strange man now was asking for her name, made her very suspicious of his intentions.

"Eh..eh," Max stuttered, taken aback by the unfriendly tone of Ms. Harris.

"It's just that Emma looks exactly like someone we knew growing up," Maria said. "We lost touch with each other and it would be incredible to meet her again."
Max shot Maria a grateful look.

"I really don't like handing out that information just to anyone," Ms. Harris said.

"Sounds like Liz wants to stay hidden," Michael thought.

"Hey Emma, where did your mother grow up?" Michael asked Emma, thinking that it perhaps was easier to go through the girl.

Emma thought hard and then shook her head.

"I dunno," she said.

"It's just that she left without a trace, she never said anything. One morning she was just..gone," Max said.

"She was my best friend," Maria said, "and I would love to know what she has been up to all these years."

Ms. Harris looked around the faces of the people who had spent about an hour with Emma. They seemed to be about the same age as Emma's mother. They didn't seem like bad people, but you never know, right? However, Mr. Evans had been awfully sweet today and helped with the children. He and Emma had sort of hit it off with each other immediately as well.

"Okay...," Ms. Harris said and sighed, "she lives in Santa Fe and her surname is Owens. But more information than that I will not give you."

"Thank you so much, Ms. Harris," Max said, "and I'm sorry if we put you in an awful situation here."

Ms. Harris smiled. He sure was sweet...and cute too.
"No problem," she said.

There was a pause and everyone looked at Emma, which would be separated from them in just a few minutes. Okay, everybody except Ms. Harris who was checking out Max. He was really cute and he had been so good with the children. And they were about the same age. Well, she knew where he lived. Maybe she would pay him a visit sometime.

"Okay, Emma. Are you ready to leave?" Ms. Harris asked.

Emma nodded. Her nausea had disappeared but that meant that her hunger had returned, and now they had to leave and she didn't have time to eat.

"Bye, Emma. It was nice meeting you," Maria said crouching in front of Emma. Before Emma knew what was happening, she found herself wrapped in Maria's arms. Maria couldn't help herself. This was Liz's daughter.

Michael smiled and shook his head at his girlfriend.
Maria pulled back and Emma could see tears in her eyes. Being Max's daughter Emma wondered why she was crying. Was she hurt?

"Why are you cwying?" she asked.

Maria smiled.
"Oh, it's nothing. Just being a bit sentimental," Maria said.

Emma nodded, not really understanding the word 'sentimental'.
"You take care of yourself, okay?" Emma nodded again, puzzled by Maria's tears, "And take care of your mother."

"Yes," Emma said.

"Good girl," Maria sniffed, quickly wiped the tears away from her face with the back of her hand and straightened up.

Max took Maria's position in front of Emma and looked into her eyes. To the observers it seemed as if Max and Emma were talking with their eyes, forming a connection so deep it could only be understood by themselves. Max was watching Emma, memorizing her every feature. He didn't want to let her go, but he had to. He would make sure that they met again.

"You keep safe," Max said and Emma nodded, and then she got a sense of something familiar and warm. Like she was being wrapped in a blanket of security and she suddenly just knew.

"Are you my daddy?" she asked, her voice so low that only Max was able to hear her.
Max was startled by the question. He nodded his head slowly. Now more certain than ever that she was his child.

Emma smiled and jumped into his arms. She was so soft and so warm...and so small. Max wanted to protect her from everything. His arms went around her and he held her tightly, feeling tears stinging his eyes. His hand went into her hair, the same hair as Liz's and tears started to run down his face.

Emma was safe. She felt safe. She knew that this was her daddy and she couldn't wait to tell her mommy that she had found her daddy.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, Mr. Evans, " Ms. Harris said, deeply touched by the whole scene. "We have to leave."

Emma reluctantly left her daddy's embrace.
"Why are you sad?" she asked, seeing his tears.

Max looked at her and smiled softly.
"I'm not sad, Emma. It's happy tears," he answered.

Emma grinned.
"Bye daddy," Emma said and took Ms. Harris hand and walked out of the CrashDown, leaving her daddy still crouching on the floor watching after her.

Max felt Isabel lay her hand on his shoulder.
"My God, Max," Isabel whispered. Max stood up and hugged Isabel to him. His emotions were running overdrive.

"How did she know, Max?" Michael asked, referring to the fact that Emma had called Max 'daddy'.

"I don't know, Michael," Max said and stepped out of Isabel's hug, "I don't know."

"Come on you guys," Maria said, having found a napkin to dry the tears that kept running down her cheeks. "We have a Liz Parker to find!"

TBC...