Chapter 48

One week later

"Hey man, how're you doin'?"
Max just nodded at Michael, walking past him into the leaving room as Michael stepped to the side to let him in.
Michael's eyebrows slightly lifted, forming an 'oh okay' expression.
"Come inside, please," Michael murmured, closing the door behind Max.
He turned around to see Max walking back and forth across the living room floor, running his hands through his hair.
"So, what's up?" Michael asked lightly, his voice giving no indication of the turmoil Max's agitated behavior was igniting.
"Can I talk to you about something?" Max asked, glancing quickly at Michael, while continuing his pacing.
"Of course, man," Michael said and sat down on the armrest of one of the armchairs Maria had forced him to buy when she had gotten fed up with the fact that his only piece of furniture was a worn out couch. According to Maria, the couch smelled. Michael still didn't know what she meant.
"Liz is pregnant," Max said.
Michael smirked at him. "Eh, yeah. I was there. At dinner. When you and Liz told us, remember?"

"I mean… She can't be pregnant."
Michael scratched his head and spoke slowly, "Riiight. But she is? Right?"
"Yes, I just… I don't want her to be pregnant."
Michael frowned, staring at his best friend. Max's pacing wasn't making it easier for him to think either. "Man, could you please stop wearing a hole in my carpet?"
Max sighed and sank down on the old couch.
Michael rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache coming on. "I thought that you and Liz had talked about this,"
"We had," Max said.
Michael looked at him, took in his washed out face, the four days old dark stubble on his chin and cheeks, and the dark shades under his eyes. Something had happened. "So what changed?"
Max rubbed his tired eyes, a slight shiver coursing through his body. "I had a dream… no, I have been having several dreams. I can't help but think that they are trying to tell me something, that-"
"Okay, Maxwell, I barely slept last night and I haven't eaten in six hours. You are really not making any sense at the moment."

Max directed his eyes up at the ceiling, emitting a sigh of exhaustion. "I keep dreaming that I find Liz dead. The first dream she was in the bathroom, the second dream was in the kitchen. Now they are starting to mix with my nightmares of Tess and instead of Tess dying in the car crash it's now Liz-"
"Max, it's probably perfectly normal for you to be scared-"
Max looked up at Michael, interrupting him, "It feels like it's more than that. I have this really bad feeling that this pregnancy is a bad thing."
"You know better than I the risks involved in Liz's pregnancy," Michael said, "but something must have gotten you to support her before. What made you decide that she should go through with the pregnancy before?"
"It was Liz," Max swallowed and Michael guessed this was where the dilemma was. "She wants this child so much. She never thought that she could get pregnant."
Michael rubbed his forehead again. Didn't people know by now that he was really not the right person to talk about these serious things with? "What about you?"
Max looked down at his feet, feeling the world weighing down on him even more than before. "I want the child too. I know that I still need more time to deal with Josh's death, but maybe this child would help me to start a new life…"
"But now you don't feel like that anymore?" Michael enquired.

Max shook his head slowly, his eyes closed in anguish. "I don't know. I just feel that I don't care about the child if Liz might die. I can't sacrifice her for this child."
"There are no guarantees of what will happen if she continues the pregnancy," Michael said, knowing enough about this topic than he ever thought thanks to Maria's worried ranting. "She might die, but she might live. The child might die, but the child might also live."
Max let out a harsh, frustrated sigh, covering his head in his hands. "That's the thing. We don't know."
"Have you talked to her?" Michael asked.
Max voice was muffled in his hands when he finally replied after a couple of seconds of silence. "I don't want her to feel like I'm betraying her. I said that I would stand by her and support her decision, but now I just want to tell her to get an abortion." Max looked up and Michael's throat thickened at the anguish in Max's red eyes. "I can't tell her that. I can't tell her that I want her to remove our child. Our baby."
Max's voice cracked and he leaned back in the couch, placing his head on the top of the back, staring up at the ceiling as he tried to reign in his feelings.
It was at this point that Michael wished that Maria or Isabel was here. He had no idea what to say.
"Uhm… You want a beer?"
A snort, which was intended to be a laugh, was heard from Max. "Sure, thanks Mike."
"Right," Michael mumbled to himself and disappeared into the kitchen, his mind fervently trying to figure out what to say to Max to help him out.

Max sighed again, his mind filled with thoughts of what had transpired the last couple of days. He had tried his best to hide it from Liz, but he was aware of that his appearance might be giving her clues to that something was not right. He hadn't been able to get himself to eat or even shave. He was continuously tormented by what to tell her. Because he knew that he had to talk to her eventually. None of them were sleeping very well, because he kept waking her up when the nightmares scared him out of his sleep, sometimes several times per night. He jumped out of his reverie when he felt the cold moist texture of the chilled glass beer bottle against his hand.
"Thanks," he said, straightening up. There had never been a doubt in his mind to who he should talk to this about. Many might not consider Michael their first choice to discuss serious personal matters with but Max needed Michael's simple outlook on life. Michael didn't get worked up or took it personally. He saw things for what they were. That was something which differentiated Michael from Max, and Max had realized a long time ago that he needed Michael to counterbalance his tendency to feel strongly about most things with Michael's tendency to take everything lightly.

"You should talk to her, she has the right to know that you are feeling this way," Michael said after a long silence interrupted merely by the soft sounds of beer being swallowed, had transpired.
"I know," Max said quietly. He wanted to ask Michael what he thought. If he thought that Liz should keep the child or not, but he already knew that there was no use asking him. Michael wouldn't give his opinion on a thing like that, because he didn't think he had a say in it. Max knew that it wouldn't help him to ask Michael either, because Max was the one that had to make the choice in the end.
"How is Liz feeling?" Michael asked.
"She wants to keep the bab-"
Michael waved his reply away. "I don't mean that. How is she doing? Is everything okay?"
Max was surprised that Michael would ask such a question, but recuperated fairly quickly. "She hasn't really mentioned anything. She says that she is a bit lightheaded, but that's normal for pregnancy. Tess had the same thing."
"Right," Michael nodded. "I was just thinking… If there was any indication that the pregnancy is hurting her in any way it might, you know, make it easier for you to reach a decision."
Michael looked fairly uncomfortable, as if he had just voiced something that he was not allowed to, but Max stilled his worries. "I know what you mean. But no, she hasn't told me anything…" His voice trailed off as a thought occurred to him. What if she had been feeling bad, but had avoided to tell him, afraid that it would give him a reason to tell her to terminate the pregnancy.
"I'm sure it's nothing then," Michael said casually, suspecting where Max's thoughts had gone.
"Yeah, yeah," Max agreed absent-mindedly and then stood up quickly. "Thanks, Michael."
"Uhm… you're welcome," Michael replied, feeling that he had not really said anything helpful at all. Before he knew what had happened, Michael was staring at the closed front door through which Max had disappeared.

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"I still can't believe you are pregnant," Maria said over Liz's shoulder.
Liz jumped slightly in surprise at her voice and dropped the small sized sweater she was holding. She thought that Maria would spend more time in the jewelry section and hadn't been prepared to be caught.
"I thought I would find you here," Maria continued when Liz turned around to face her.
"I know it's stupid. I'm barely one month into the pregnancy and I'm already looking at baby clothes," Liz said weakly, a blush of embarrassment coloring her cheeks.
Maria smiled at her. "It's not stupid. It's called 'making plans for the future'."
Liz returned her smile.
"So, how are things? How are you feeling?" Maria asked as they started walking through the rows of baby articles, Liz trying her best to pretend to not look at all of the miniscule clothes.
"I'm fine. My morning sickness is not that bad anymore."
"That's great. What about Max?"
"No, Max never had any morning sickness," Liz said absent-mindedly as she touched a pair of miniature sneakers. Maria's laughter brought her out of her dream world.
"Well, that's good. 'Cause I was a bit worried about that for a while."
Liz laughed softly, realizing what she had just said. "Sorry, I haven't been sleeping that well."
Maria frowned. "Why not?"
"Max has been having nightmares," Liz answered, picking up a small pink cap.
"Nightmares? About what? Tess?"
"No, me," Liz said, and Maria wasn't surprised to hear a tinge of guilt in Liz's voice. Typical of Liz to be guilty about someone else having nightmares about her.

"What happens?"
"I die," Liz answers, swallowing back the emotions elicited by the memories of Max's anguished screams in the middle of the night. She had desperately needed to get out of the house today. Max's worn down appearance was starting to really worry her and she needed to put her feelings on hold for a couple of hours to regain her powers.
"Oh," Maria said quietly.
"Yeah." Suddenly Liz didn't feel that much like walking around in the baby section anymore and walked over to the make up section. Maria followed her, trying her best to still her inquisitive mind. But she could try all she might; she knew that she would lose eventually.
"How do you die?"
Liz glanced at Maria over her shoulder, swallowed back the anxiety, while running her fingers over a pearl necklace. "It's the pregnancy. My heart gives up because of the pregnancy."
Maria nodded. Of course. "Is he really okay with all of this? I know that you said that he was against it in the beginning but that he came around and decided to be on your side."
Liz frowned. "Yeah, of course he's on my side. Otherwise I don't really know if I could still go through with this. I don't think I would be able to do this alone." And I need to know that he is going to be there if something happens to me, to take care of the child, she added silently in her head.
"Right," Maria said. "Just wondering."
"Yeah," Liz said lightly, forcing the image of Max's haggard face to the back of her mind. Was there something Max wasn't telling her? She had thought that his increasing moments of silence and him barely eating was due to the nightmares alone. Was there something else that was tormenting him?
Maria interrupted her train of thought. "Could you help me find a present for Michael?"
"It's his birthday?" Liz wondered, trying to shake her thoughts off her.
"Yep… and he keeps saying that he doesn't want anything, but I want to give him something. What would you give him?"
Liz stared at her. She was kidding, right? "Uhm… an action figure?"
Maria rolled her eyes. "Haha, very funn- hang on, that's not such a bad idea."
Liz laughed. Spending time with Maria never lost its novelty.

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His arms sliding around her waist made her sigh. Before her sigh would've been filled with feelings of contentment and love, but her conversation with Maria had planted doubts and insecurities in her mind instead.
"Hey," he murmured, softly pressing his warm lips against the skin of her neck.
"Hi," she answered, her hands not halting for one second in their movements of chopping the cucumber into rectangular pieces.
"Did you have fun?" Max asked softly, almost huskily. Liz's eyes closed without her being able to control it when his lips traveled further up her neck and his hands forced her closer to the hardness of his chest.
"Uh-huh," she answered, unconsciously licking her lips, all of the sudden feeling very warm.
His hands slowly left her waist, not losing contact with her body for one second as he moved them out towards her bare arms. Her head fell slightly backwards and her breath hitched in her throat as he stroked her arms languidly, running his fingers down her arms to her fingers, lacing them together.
"Good to see Maria again?" Max continued, his lips gently caressing the skin along her shoulder blade, where her shirt had fallen down. His fingers squeezed hers, making her breathing quicken. She should stop this. She really shouldn't allow herself to be seduced. She needed to talk to him. He loosened his grip on her fingers and started to slide his hands up her arms again, leaving a trail of goosebumps in their wake. His mouth moved upwards, nibbling her earlobe as his fingers stroke the bare skin between her shirt and the lining of her skirt.
"Yes," she partly whispered, partly moaned in response to his question. "Did you…get the sour…sour cream?"

Max's hands wandered upwards, bringing the shirt along with them, causing her to lean further into him when a sudden weakness attacked her legs. "Uh-huh, sour cream…" His fingers encountered the lace of her bra, "…all taken care of."
"Max?" Jesus, where is your self-control, girl? Before he had time to answer, she turned around in his arms, trying to will her determination to put a stop to this. But she barely had time to turn the full 180 degrees until he had captured her lips with his. Without knowing exactly how it happened, she found herself sitting on the counter, her back pressed up against the microwave, his hands in her hair, his lips ravaging hers.
"Max," she moaned into his mouth, the hands she had moved in his direction to stop him ignored her instructions and instead cradled the back of his head to bring him even closer. He hadn't kissed her like this in a long time. With complete and utter abandon. She could feel his stubble move roughly against her cheeks and chin, which only served to heighten the sensations.
"Max, the food…" she tried, when he moved to kiss her neck, causing her back to arch. He was so close. He was so warm. She was so warm. She could feel his strength between her thighs as he stepped even closer in between her knees.
"I know," he murmured.
"Okay," she groaned, using the heels of her feet to push him even closer, causing him to moan her name against her ear. She wasn't really aware of at what point he removed her shirt or when he decided to lift her up from the counter, crashing their lower bodies together, leaving them aching for more, and placing her on the wooden kitchen table. He stopped, looking down at her laying on the hard surface, her former pony tail unrecognizable with tresses framing her flushed cheeks, her lips red and swollen.
"Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful."

She thanked him by taking a hold of the collar of his shirt and pulling his upper body down on top of her. Next, she took a grip of the hem of his shirt, pushing it upwards, exposing surface and more surface of bronze skin. She threw the shirt to the side, not really caring where it landed as her hands slid over the skin of his back, feeling the muscles ripple under her touch. His mouth adored hers in every way possible; his tongue tasting every millimeter of her while making her tremble underneath him. She frowned as strong smell itched her nose.
"Max…"
"Mmm," Max mumbled, working himself down her body.
Burnt. Something smelled burnt. Liz pushed on Max, her mind suddenly very clear.
"Max, something is burning!"
"What?" Max asked, coming to a halt.
As Max moved slightly to the side, Liz got a peak of flames behind Max. "Oh my God…"
Max whipped his head around. "Shit!"
He crawled off her and quickly opened the door to the storage room, ripping out a fire extinguisher. Before Liz had time to scramble off the table, the fire caused by the shirt Liz had accidentally thrown on the stove was extinguished, just in time for the smoke to set off the fire alarm.
"Shit!" Max repeated and with Liz's help they opened the front door and most of the windows in the kitchen.

When the smoke finally cleared and the fire alarm stopped, Liz started laughing. Max looked at her incredulously. She was now leaning over, gasping for air, tears of laughter joyfully escaping her eyes.
He smiled, a crushing feeling of love tightening his chest. The intense feeling of love was accompanied by sadness and fear. What would he do if anything ever happened to her?
"God, look at us," Liz got out between the fits of laughter. Max laughed softly, taking in her ravaged appearance, topped off with the lack of shirt and the ripped pantyhose that he had obviously somehow torn. He glanced down at himself, at the soot that was now covering his naked chest.
"Next time we do this, watch were you throw that shirt, Parker," Max said.
She straightened, amused disbelief marking her features. "Oh no, there won't be a next time, Evans."
His face dropped slightly, causing another laugh to slip out of her. "In the kitchen. No next time in the kitchen."
He quickly recuperated, trying to pretend that he hadn't for a second there thought that she had told him that they would never have sex again. "But what's the fun in that?"

She stepped up to him, close enough to only be separated by the warmth being emitted from their bodies, and ran her fingers down his chest, letting her nails scrap against his skin. Her eyes fixed on his she watched his eyes turn darker and his gaze hungrily travel to her lips. She rose on her toes and wetted her lips. Slowly, making sure he watched every movement.
"You and I, Max," she whispered huskily, causing his head to automatically lean closer to her, "should see if there is anything left that we can use for dinner."
His muffled head merely registered the small smile on her lips before she was gone, but his hand snaked out, his fingers encircling her wrist. She turned her head towards him in surprise, looking down at where his hand was grabbing her wrist before looking up at him. A chill of anticipation and arousal coursed through her when she looked up into his black eyes, feeling the tight grip on her arm.
"We'll continue this later," Max said in a low voice, "Okay?"
She nodded slowly, transfixed by the sexual magnetism surrounding him. "Okay."

TBC...