Max – The Shadow World

"Please, no more," Max begged staring at him. I only feel it when I wake up here, the dying…Taylor and Cooper are all alone. My Taylor and Cooper. They need me. So many…42 resets. Kenny killing me over and over. Killing Taylor, Luc, Sarah, anyone and everyone I care about. I can't. "Please stop. Kenny wouldn't want this. Not the Kenny I married."

"You made him."

"Please, my kids need me."

"Yes, Taylor is quite sad. Reset 44."

Max & Lucas

"You look very…I love a man in uniform."

Lucas smiled, looking at his wife. "And I love you."

My Luc, she thought, a deputy in small town Wisconsin. A perfect place to raise Maya. "Well, Deputy, you better get a move on."

It's be 12 years, he mused, since I met her in the hallway of that snotty school. Sturggled to make ends meat, go to school, raise Maya…she's so smart. My Max…who is excited to have a job as an ER nurse. To us talking about having another baby. "You too."

She kissed him for a long moment, feeling the same tingle and excitement with him she always did. "I'll see you tonight."

"Mom, Dad, really?"

Luc kept her close, as they looked at their 10-year-old. "We are bad examples, Darlin."

"None of my friends parents ever do this. They're…old."

She did get a lot of crap about her teen parents, Max thought, especially because I'm white and Luc is black. That she's such a pretty solid mix of us…all caramel skin, those dark curls…my face. "How about I drop you off for your first day? No more kissing your dad."

Maya giggled at that. "You always kiss Dad."

"I can't help it."

"You never could, Darlin."

"And with that," she smiled. "Work and school?"

Kenny & Lucas

I don't like him, he thought, looking at his new partner. He's too cocky and…this guy has a 10-year-old? His wife is hot in the picture on his desk. The kid looks just like her…just a different color. His wife…she looks so familiar. "You two aren't from here?"

"Vermont originally," Lucas offered. "We ended up in Maine, finished school, and…then here."

"What does your wife do?"

"Max? She's a nurse."

Max, he thought, I like that.

Max & Lucas

"Team Cooper."

Max smiled at that, as he took her hand in his. It has been for 12 years…I knew I'd be his wife. Who falls in love at 14? Me. "I look okay?"

"You look lovely," he teased. "Gorgeous, sexy, it really isn't fair that you can look this good."

Max smiled at that. "You are so biased."

"Nah. I see how guys look at you. I worry when Maya gets older because she looks just like you and I'm going to be beating boys off with a stick."

Max pressed his lips to his. "She's a smart kid who will make good choices."

"You must be Max."

She looked up, as she intertwined her fingers with Lucas'. "Uh, yeah. Hi."

He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "This is Kenny, Darlin. He's my new partner. And Kenny, this is my wife, Max."

Damn, he thought, damn. Look at her. She's perfect. Obviously easy, with her having a 10-year-old. She shouldn't be with this guy. She's too pretty. "It's very nice to meet you, Max."

She nodded, her heart racing in her chest. Danger, she thought, this is wrong. The way this guy is looking at me. Hungry and…forget it. "You too."

Lucas looked at his wife who moved a step closer to him. Ah, Darlin, he is undressing her with his eyes, and she hates it. She does look good in jeans and this tight sweater. She smells good too. Not a chance, buddy, this here is my soulmate. "How about a drink?"

"We should. We've been home every night since we moved here."

"Painting and unpacking. And Maya is at her sleepover."

Kenny watched as he wrapped his arm around her. Claiming her. Her melting in to him. She doesn't feel it? She's looking at me like…she's mine. She knows it. "Welcome, Max."

Max & Kenny

"Kenny," she said, her heart racing again. "Hi."

Without him, he thought, or her daughter. Looking delicious in a sundress and ponytail. "What are you up to?"

Run, she thought, he's going to hurt me. Why? He's Luc's partner. He just looks at me… "Just errands and…stuff."

"I was going to get a beer. Want to come?"

"Oh, I…I can't. I'm meeting Luc and Maya when I finish up. We've both been working a lot and…the three of us need to hang out."

"We should hang out."

Luc's partner, she thought again, that's all this is. He's being nice to his wife. "I'll run it by Luc."

"Not with him. Just you and me."

She stepped back. "I'll see you around."

Lucas & Max

"Yeah?" he teased, resting his hands on her stomach. "You sure?"

She nodded, as he kissed her. "I'm really sure."

"You okay?"

She broke into a grin. "We're having a baby, Lucas."

He grinned back her, ah she makes me so happy. "You're glowing, Darlin."

"Oh, stop."

"Never."

She wrapped herself around him, kissing him. "You're the best dad…and husband. I'm so lucky. I love you so very much."

"Ah, I love you too. I can't wait to grow our family together."

3 Months Later

"Luc!" Max sobbed, crawling on the floor to her bleeding out husband. "What did you do? Luc!"

Kenny pointed the gun at her. "Get up."

She cradled her dead husband, her heart shattering into a million pieces. "No…"

"Max. Now."

Maya, my baby…Luc. "Get out!"

He yanked her to her feet, looking at her swelling stomach. "It's you and me now. Like it should be."

"No."

"Lucas and Maya won't bother us and I can take care of that for you too. Don't fight me, Max."

My family…No…

"We are going to be so happy."

She grabbed the gun and shoved him with it. "I'll kill you!"

"Don't you fight me!"

"No!" she screamed again, shoving the gun at him and firing.

Max – Shadow World

"You killed him. Very nice, Maxine."

"No," she groaned. "I can't. Not again."

"You are a fun toy that Kenny gave me."

"Leave her alone."

"Lucas," she breathed, feeling his love and warmth just like she did in life. My Luc. "Oh."

"She isn't yours. She's my soulmate. Max, I love you, but you need to go and go now. Taylor and Cooper need you. Go."

"Luc, I…"

He grinned at her, pinning the shadows back. "I'm always with you…this just took longer than I thought. Ghosts are assholes. I love you, so much, Darlin."

"I love you too."

"Then go raise your kids. We'll see each other again."

Max – The Hospital

"Mommy?"

She cracked her eyes open and stared at Taylor. My baby…Taylor. "Tay…"

"Mommy!" she cried, hugging her tightly. "Mommy!"

This is real, she thought, this is real. Taylor… "I'm here."

"Me and Baby Cooper need you."

"I'm never leaving you two again," she murmured. I remember…I remember it all. Dying. Luc saved me. With me. Always. My Luc. My Taylor and Cooper. Kenny…cursed me. He's going to come for us.

Max – A Month Later

"It's the only way," she said softly, cuddling Cooper to her. "He won't stop. He wants to kill me…I won't let him hurt my kids."

Jill looked at her old friend, still too thin and tired looking. "The hospital pronounced you dead. Taylor and Cooper in protective custody."

"He won't remember. Tay will."

"They have you."

They almost didn't. I remember dying. Over and over. I feel Luc with me. "I made a mess of everything. I broke him with my affair…it got Lucas killed. My daughter is traumatized. It still didn't give him the right…"

"Mommy," Taylor said, climbing onto the hotel bed next to her and hugging her. "Don't go away again."

She shifted Cooper and hugged her tightly. "Never, Tay. I love you and Cooper so much."

"The bad man, Mommy, he's going to get us. He hurt you."

"Oh, Kiddo," she sighed, as Taylor sobbed against her. "No one is hurting us. We're safe."

"He's going to get me."

Not if I get him first, Max thought, I have so much money and…he can't hide. No, I have to protect my kids. I'm not a monster. Protective custody. Witness protection. It's not just him, his drug empire…it's not forever. "We're going to have an adventure, Tay."

Kenny

"Who are you?" Kenny demanded, waking up to the gun to his head. "Max?"

He chuckled. "She is very lovely, but no. Her parents have long memories and didn't like their daughter being murdered. Say good-bye."

Kenny closed his eyes, cursing her name one last time, as his world went dark.

"Hello, Kenny."

"Who are you?" Kenny said. "Am I dead?"

He smiled. "You said you cursed your wife, that you'd give up your soul to punish her. I had fun punishing Maxine, but now it's your turn."

"What?"

"Welcome to your hell."

Max – One Year Later

"They are lovely children, Max."

She looked at her parents, still a bit wary at their fledgling relationship. Me, back in Vermont, after Kenny's corpse and his partners was found…killed by rivals. Safe here, I can raise my kids here, have a relationship with my family again. "They are."

"You have a home here."

"I know. I want them to have their own space and…to feel normal again."

"Kenny isn't coming back."

"I know," she trailed off. "I loved him, Mom. I know I cheated on him, and it…I want my kids to be okay."

"They will. We'll make sure of it."

The End