Chapter 28

Max carefully closed the bedroom door behind him and warmth, passionate in its presence, spread through every cell of his body when his eyes connected with hers across the room.
"Hey," she said softly.
"Hey," he answered, standing there almost content by just watching her. But he knew that it wasn't enough. It was never enough. He needed to touch her. He needed to make sure that the feelings he felt wash over their connection were true. He needed to confirm that the life he felt from her, tingling every nerve ending in his body, was real. He needed to make sure that the feeling of her heart beating in sync with his was not a hallucination on his part.
"How are you feeling?" he asked, his eyes still carrying some concern. Concern that would always be part of him. Concern that he would always feel for her until he drew his last breath. Because he would continue to watch over her, worried that something might cause her harm or snatch her away. She knew that by now. Thus, when she saw the concern in his eyes she wasn't afraid, she didn't feel like scolding him, she was warmed to the core. Because the concern was in absence of everything else she had seen in his eyes the last couple of months. Fear, guilt, shame, loneliness, anguish. This was Max. She could see him again. She could feel him again. Something was telling her that this time, it was forever.
"Haven't you heard? An alien king swooped in and saved my life. Again."
Max smiled. "That's not the story I heard."
Liz raised one eyebrow in mock disbelief. "Really?"

Max sat down on the side of the bed, looking down into her beautiful face, looking up at him with complete confidence and unwavering love. He raised his hand and gently pushed a strand of her dark hair behind her ear. Like he used to do. Like he had always done. Liz's eyes drifted close at the sensation of him touching her so gently. She would never get used to the tenderness he treated her with. The love he put into everything he did; every kiss, every touch, every word. She had almost forgotten what it felt like. He had drifted away from her so far that the feelings she felt at the moment seemed almost surreal. Feelings she had been so intimate with a couple of months back were now new and foreign.
"From what I heard, this alien is not a king. Not any longer."
"Oh," Liz retorted deadpanned.
"He decided to return to Earth and try to lead a human life with his children and his beautiful wife."
"A normal life?" Liz asked, feigning surprise.
Max leaned over her and tenderly captured her lips with his. Simultaneously, Liz felt heat following the featherlike movement of Max's hand along her bare arm. She didn't have to look to know what he was doing, having seen the light trail emitting from his hands several time when he was caressing her body. She looked up into his eyes, still tasting him on her lips, and waited to speak until he opened his eyes and met hers.
"Completely normal," Max answered the amusement in her eyes.
"Well, it's a good thing that I caught him before he turned strictly human," Liz mumbled, her fingers now tracing the outlines of his strong jaw. "Otherwise he might have been reluctant to heal me."
"On the contrary," Max answered, pausing to place soft kisses on the side of her neck while moving his body to more fully cover hers. "I would say that he would make an exception for you."

Three months later

"Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Liiiiiz. Happy Birthday to you."
Liz laughed warmly as Emma started clapping her hands excitedly. The last two months Max and Liz had worked hard on making Emma feel secure enough to give her the courage to return to the real world. Max had dreamwalked Emma every night to be able to hold Emma's hand when she was standing in front of Khivar in one of her ever reoccurring nightmares. He was there to kiss her forehead and hold her tightly when the men in her dream would hurt puppies just to see if she would heal them. A week back, Emma had had her first dreamless night since her rescue from Khivar. They were making progress.

It was like watching a flower blossoming in front of their eyes, as the child Emma had been before being kidnapped was gradually returning. Emma was now looking at her mother with excitement, barely able to stop herself from helping Liz to blow out her candles. In her opinion, Liz was taking forever.
Feeling Emma's eager impatience through the connection, Liz pulled her daughter over to her side of the table. Emma followed with a giggle as Liz in the process tickled her stomach.
"I think I need some help, Em. There are so many candles."
Liz heard Maria's snicker behind her and rolled her eyes.
"On three, okay sweetie?"
"Mmhmm," Emma nodded, her eyes large as she with acute concentration stared at the candles.
Joining in, their loved ones standing around them in a circle chimed in; "One… Two… Three!"
But the candles were still burning and neither Liz nor her smaller replica made any indication of blowing candles, their faces imitating each other from the frown on the forehead to the biting of the bottom lip. In the few seconds that Liz's parents, Max's parents, Isabel, Alex, Michael and Maria tried to figure out what was going on, Max broke through the mass of people and rushed forward to Liz. Everyone who was excluded from the connection between Max, Liz and Emma watched speechlessly as Max kissed Liz's forehead, his hand coming down to gently touch Liz's protruding stomach.

Maria was the first one to voice what everyone wanted to know. "Uhm…guys? What's going on?"
A few seconds of silence followed before Emma jumped up, as if broken out of a trance, with a cry of joy that made everyone jump from its suddenness.
"My brothers are coming! My brothers are coming!"
Still getting used to the extraterrestrial touch to Liz and Max's family, Nancy and Jeff watched the little girl run around the dining table, knowing that she was saying something but not being able to fully fathom grasp the meaning of this bizarre situation.
"Oh my God," Maria gasped behind Nancy and followed Max's example by rushing up to Liz, almost pushing Max out of the way in the process. She pulled Liz into a tight hug.
"Okay guys, calm down," Liz said, trying to breathe in Maria's crushing embrace. "These kinds of things take time. This was just the first one."
On the other side of Liz, Diane blinked rapidly as it hit her. "Sweetheart, are you in labor?"
Max looked up at his mother, his radiating smile telling her the answer before his voice did. "Yes."
Max's one worded answer rustled life back into everyone in the group and Liz was adored with hugs from everyone.
"Isabel!" Max yelled out to be heard over the buzz of voices, moving away from Liz to find his sister.
"Max," Isabel said, a smile from ear to ear, and hugged her brother tightly.
Max relaxed in her arms for the duration of the hug, but as soon as she stepped back the nervousness hit him with full force. Isabel took one look into Max's eyes and read him like an open book. Laughing, she affectionately patted the top of his head. "Don't worry, Max. I've got it covered."
She couldn't help but be amused by his anxiety. After everything they gone through the last couple of months, Max shouldn't have to worry about Liz giving birth. If he had been able to bring her back from the brink of death – twice – he could handle labor. But Max obviously didn't see it that way, his nervous attempt at a smile quickly turning into a grimace. Smiling, Isabel shook her head at his hopelessness.
"Don't worry, okay?" she said slowly, emphasizing every word, even though she knew that there was nothing she could say that would stop him from doing just that.

Their conversation was interrupted by Liz's voice, loud and commanding but interlaced with happiness and bemusement. "Okay. Everyone. Calm down!"
The buzz quieted down some, until only Maria and Emma's bubbling conversation was audible.
"…then we can go to the park and play on the swings!" Em cried out, looking happily at Maria for confirmation. But Maria was looking away from the little girl, looking around her with a sheepish smile as they had become the focal point in the presently quiet room. Liz shook her head at her favorite girls. Trust them to get the most worked up about this.
"I don't know about you, but I really want some cake," Liz continued.
Emma, with the typical attention span of a child, rushed up to the cake, momentarily forgetting about her brothers. As commotion and voices commenced anew, plates being distributed and cake being cut, Liz rose and followed the string of the connection that was vibrating with anxiety towards the bathroom. She leaned against the doorframe, watching him rummage through the cabinet, spreading towels over the floor. Watching his fervent search for the right towels, knowing that the poor towels had to fulfill very specific criteria in softness and texture, her love for him washed over her. Watching the muscles move under his thin white shirt, knowing that he was so worried for her wellbeing at this point that he hadn't even noticed that she was standing there, the increased strength in the connection usually a dead give away, making hide and seek games with Emma close to impossible. She opened her mouth to reveal her existence when another contraction rippled through her lower abdomen, temporarily knocking the wind out of her. Through the blur of sharp pain, she saw Max bend forward in a motion mimicking hers, experiencing about half the pain she was feeling. She registered that he pushed himself off the floor, knowing that she was there, and helped her down on the toilet. Kneeling in front of her and pressing his forehead against hers, their heavy breathing was synchronized as time ticked them through the contraction.

"It's too soon," Max whispered when the pain subsided, referring to the fact that the second contraction had only been about five minutes after the first one.
Liz smiled and pressed a gentle kiss on his lips. "I think they are in a hurry."
But Max didn't respond to her smile with a smile of his own, his worried eyes tracing her features. "What should we do about them?"
Liz's ears tuned in to the laughter and excitement coming from the living room, her smile growing larger. "I guess we should clear the area."
Cradling his cheek, her small thumb brushing over his newly shaved skin, she murmured, "Relax. This is the good part."
He mustered up a smile and turning his head in her hand, he kissed the soft surface of her palm. "Let's get this show rolling."