Oh my God, I just realized that I've forgotten to update chapter 58 of this story. I came here to update chapter 59 and saw that I only had 57 chapters. I'm so sorry!

alvernogrl and Brieepbreee – Thank you SO much for your feedback!!

Chapter 58

Maria frowned as she saw Max's immobile form in front of the door, keys inserted into the lock.
"You okay?"
He turned around so quickly that Maria gasped.
"Maria," he breathed.
Maria stared at his hand that had grabbed a hold of hers. "Yes?"
"Go back to the car, okay?"
Maria looked at him, confused and concerned. "What's going on?"
"I think someone's in the house," Max whispered, already pulling on her arm to get her moving towards the car.
"What?!" Maria hissed. "Like a burglar?"
"I don't know."
Max was looking over his shoulder, afraid that the person inside had heard him turning the key in the lock or something. He had to get Maria to safety. He pulled the car keys from Maria's unresponsive hands and unlocked the car. Within seconds Max had opened the door and pushed Maria in. With a 'wait here' he closed the door, leaving Maria too look after him in fear. She opened her purse and pulled out her cell phone. Her fingers were shaking so badly that she had to dial the number twice. How could a three-digit number be so difficult to master?

Max carefully pushed the door open. He listened intently for more sounds, but the rhythmic sound of his heart thudding in his ears was making it very difficult to hear anything. He tried to decide what to do in a situation like this, compiling information from the numerous criminal shows he had watched over the years in his head. The person in the shows being in Max's position would usually decide to yell out 'Who's there?', 'Hello?' or something similar, something that had always struck Max as slightly careless. He had no intention of revealing that he was there. As his feet moved slowly across the wooden floor he realized that it might've just been better if he had called the police. What was he doing walking into the house on his own? The intruders could be armed. There could be several of them. He wouldn't stand a chance. He heard a sound behind him and he quickly spun on his heels, his heart lurching up into his throat. Fighting the desire to call out 'Who's there?', he fearfully watched the shadow from the intruder spread across the floor.
"Mommy?"
"Oh my God," he breathed. Out of the shadows walked a little girl, the familiar voice rapidly followed by a face.
"Uncle Max?"

He fell to his knees, his mind quickly figuring the rest out. For some reason, Isabel was in the house with Michelle. There was no other explanation to why Michelle would be here. He opened his arms in invitation and Michelle happily ran into them. She hadn't seen her uncle in a couple of days and she missed him.
"Sweetie, what are you doing here?" Max asked into her golden curls.
Before Michelle could answer, an "Oh shit!" came from upstairs. Max looked up and saw Michael standing at the top of the stairs.
"Michael?" He rose, bringing Michelle with him, who naturally put her legs around his waist and tightened her arms around his neck. "What are you doing here?"
Michael coughed and plastered a surprised smile on his face. "Max? Fancy meeting you here."
"It's my house," Max said. "Is Isabel here too?"
Michael nodded, starting a descent down the stairs. "Uhm, yeah. Isabel is here."
"What are you guys doing here?"
Michael came to stand in front of Max and offered his hands. "Here, I can take her."
Michelle's hold on her uncle grew firmer and she whispered into Max's ear, "I's want to be wid Uncle Max."
"It's okay, I've got her," Max said to Michael. "How did you get in here? I'm pretty sure I locked the door."
Michael looked guilty and absent-mindedly scratched his head. "I was given an extra key and I keep forgetting to give it to you."
Max reminded himself that the previous owner of the house had been Michael's work colleague so the explanation was highly plausible. "So what are you doing here?"
"We bwuilding house for the baby," Michelle answered.

Michael looked at Michelle with an expression of being caught in the act, and he laughed nervously. "He he, she's funny that one." He ruffled Michelle's hair, which only resulted in Michelle burying her head further into Max's neck. She hated when people messed up her hair. Like mother like daughter. "Where do they get everything from these days?"
Max narrowed his eyes and looked past Michael up the stairs. Raising his voice, he directed his question to the second floor. "Isabel?"
"Come, Uncle Max. I's show the way."
"Thank you, Michelle," Max said, giving Michael a long look. Michael was staring at Michelle, his eyes spelling out Traitor.
As the first floor had been immersed in darkness, the second floor was bathing in light. He could hear voices from the round tower room.
"Over dere," Michelle announced, pointing towards the room.
"Thanks spunk," Max murmured.
He pushed the half-open door fully open and to his surprise found Isabel standing in front of one of the walls with a paint brush in hand. Having heard her daughter's voice, Isabel turned and met Max's eyes.

"Oh Max," she burst out, looking down at the paint brush in her hand and the green paint buckets on the plastic covered floor. She made a futile attempt at moving in front of the buckets so that she would be hiding them, something that in retrospect would strike her as a ridiculous thing to do. "What are you doing here?"
"What are you doing?" Max countered.
Isabelle looked between her daughter and her brother, and sighed. "It was supposed to be a surprise. With you spending so much time at the hospital, we wanted to prepare Miranda's room so that you wouldn't have to worry about that when you got home."
"Suppise!" Michelle exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air with a smile stretching from one ear to the next.
Both Max and Isabel burst out laughing and Max kissed the top of Michelle's head. "Thank you." Looking over at this big sister, he repeated with emphasis. "Thank you."
Isabelle shied away from Max's gratitude and looked at the half-painted wall. "Do you like the color?"
Max looked up at the wall and the dark cyan color. He had in a predictable fashion imagined Miranda's room to be pink but he had to admit this color was fantastic in its uniqueness. "It's great, Isabel."
Isabel shone up. "Really? Guess who picked it."
Before Max had a chance to guess, Michelle slid down his leg while broadcasting, "I did! I did! I pick color!"
"You did?" Max asked, smiling broadly.
She looked up at him expectantly. "You like?"
"I love it, Shelly. Thank you."
Michelle began to jump up and down with joy. "Yaaay!!"

Max stepped up to Isabel and pulled her into a hug, placing a kiss on her cheek in the process.
"Max," Isabel half-complained. "I'm covered in paint."
Ignoring her statement, Max hugged her harder. "It's really great, Isabel. I don't know what to say."
"You don't have to say anything," Isabel answered.
She looked at him closely when he stepped back. "Max, god, you look exhausted."
"I'm fine," Max answered with a soft smile, appreciating her concern but still being positive that he was not as tired as everyone kept claiming him to be. Her statement had Max thinking about why he was here and by association on Maria.
Grimacing he put his hand to his forehead. "Oh no, Maria."
"What about Maria?"
"She's out in the car, probably talking to the police right now."
Isabel looked at him in bewilderment. "The police?"
Just then the ear piercing sound of sirens could be heard in the distance. Chuckling slightly at the absurdity of the situation, Max helplessly shook his head. "I heard you inside and thought that I was being robbed."
"Ooh…"
As the sound of the sirens grew in intensity, Michelle placed her hands over her ears and said loudly. "Wad's dat noise?"
Isabelle pried one of Michelle's hands off her ear and grabbed it. "Come pumpkin, let's go downstairs."
This was shaping up to be an interesting night.

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Next day

His body was aligned with hers, his head resting on her shoulder, his left leg covering her right and his arm positioned securely across her waist. He felt her fingers tighten around his as she gradually left the state of sleep behind her.
"Hey," she whispered, looking down into his eyes. He smiled at her and stretched up to give her a morning kiss.
"Good morning. How are you feeling?"
"Much better now," Liz answered, her fingers unconsciously brushing the hair away from his forehead. He looked much better today and she reminded herself that she had to thank Maria later. "How are you doing?"
"I miss you," Max answered.
She nodded. "I miss you too."
Looking up into her eyes, he said, "I have something to tell you."
She smiled. "What's that?"
"If you're feeling up to it, the doctor has given you permission to see Miranda today."

For a few seconds, she was at loss of words and then she nodded, fresh tears of hope shining in her eyes.
"Would you like that?" Max wondered, tightening his grip around her hand.
She nodded again. "Yes…Yes."
She looked over at the door and then back at Max. "Can we go now?"
Max laughed softly at her impatience. "I think that could be arranged."
He could feel her trembling underneath his body, but he knew it was a good tremble. The type of trembles that stem from barely contained restlessness and excitement. He remained still next to her for another couple of seconds, reveling in being close to her again, before he rose. "I'll be right back."
She nodded. He held onto her hand until the last possible second, when their fingertips finally brushed against each other before being separated by air.
"Be right back," he repeated.

Five minutes later, he was back with a nurse and a wheelchair.
"Ready for a walk?"
He pulled the sheet away from her body and gathered her frail body in his arms.
"Yes," she answered and let herself be lowered into the wheelchair. She reached her hand over her shoulder and Max grabbed it, kissing the back of it.
"Don't worry, Liz, she's beautiful."
Liz smiled. She knew that. She already loved Miranda deeply. Now she was ready to meet her.

TBC...