Thanx to RedJewel2662.
Chapter 48 Thanksgiving dinner and the aftermath
The next morning the people in the castle Valenti were up early, although some of the kids would have liked to sleep a little longer, because they fell asleep rather late. Thankfully Amy just knocked at the doors of the bedroom to wake them up and didn´t look inside. Because then she would have noticed that Michael wasn´t sleeping on the spare mattress besides Kyle´s bed and Tess not besides Marias. As soon as the clock had been ringing midnight the siblings had changed their sleeping arrangement to be with their other half. Of course everything happened really quietly, because they would have drawn the attention of their parents, which slept in the room right from Marias or Lindsey rooming left from Kyle´s. Now hours later, the four had managed to crawl successfully out of the bed and even managed to look well rested, even if it wasn´t the case by a few of them. Here and there a yawn would be hidden behind a hand or eyes were on the brink to close. And yet Amy didn´t see any of that. Maybe that was because she was too excited to think clearly at the moment. She was smiling brightly at everybody and had a bounce in her step.
" Don´t worry about her. She´s like that every year. She doesn´t see her family so often", Maria explained her boyfriend when they were standing in front of the staircase, already waiting for their assignments for the day. It was the same procedure every year.
Michael just picked up half of the sentence. Part of his brain was still upstairs in the nice, cozy bed, which smelled like Maria. Bloody hell, he thought he could sleep in during his vacation and not be up before dawn. All right, it wasn´t exactly so early, but it felt like that to him right now. " Why couldn´t we sleep longer? I´m still dead tired".
Maria tenderly caressed his right cheek. " Poor baby. I know you didn´t have enough sleep, but remember it´s just for today. Tonight everything is over and we can enjoy the rest of the weekend".
" So. I hope you rested enough last night, because there´s so much to do and you all will help me", Amy stated cheerfully. She even overlooked the wasted looking youth in front of her. Well, she knew they were still tired, but she couldn´t take that in consideration right now. She had been digging out her plan from last year. She turned to the two boys closest to her. " Kyle and Michael, you will drive to the airport and get the grandparents. Bring them to the hotel on mainstreet, help them unpack their suitcases and then bring them back here", she faced her husband and her nephew and pointed with her finger at them. " You both whip the garden into shape and no excuses", then she let her eyes wander to the remaining family members. " Lindsey, Maria and Tess, your assigments are the cleaning of the house and the decoration while I´ll cook".
The boys mocking saluted as soon as Amy turned their backs on them. At least three of them knew how busy it would be getting today and how much better it was to be away from this madhouse for the next hours. Grinning gleefully they made their way to the upstairs bedrooms to change into street clothes and make them presentable. The girls meanwhile huddled together and spoke about their assignment. Surprisingly quick they worked out a plan and who would do what. Tess had the order to think about the decoration, Lindsey was in charge of the upper floor and Maria took the first floor. Sometime later the males came back down from changing their clothes. Michael and Kyle kissed their girlfriend goodbye while Jim and Sean immediately sneaked outside to get to work.
5 hours later
The house was slowly filling with many people. Every place and every corner was crowded with people animatedly talking to each other. Children were running through the rooms and screamed loudly. In the midst stood Maria and Michael, both looking like they just jumped out of a vanity fair magazine. She was wearing a long tight white pin striped skirt with the matching blouse. Her hair was falling around her shoulders in slight waves and drew attention to the implied cleavage. Her Make up was simple, she just used a bit of mascara to accentuate her sparkling green eyes and a dab of lip gloss. Michael meanwhile had choosen a casual style. He was wearing a blue jeans, a white shirt and a black jacket. His hair was neatly brushed backwards and gel was holding it there. His cheeks were sporting slight red spots from the many pinching from the Valenti and De Luca clan. Both sets of grandparents already took him into her hearts and hoped that they would see each other more often. Maria was encouraging standing besides him and holding his hand. She knew how overwhelming her family could be and some of them were even a little from the slight crazy kind.
" You´re almost through. Just a few minutes of smiling and you´re free. Then we can go outside until the dinner".
Michael relaxed immediately. Even if the people he got to know today had been nothing but nice to him, he was glad when he could give his face a little rest. He would get cramps tomorrow from all the grinning and talking. He didn´t know how exhausting it could be to be friendly towards other. " Thank god. I don´t feel my cheeks anymore. Are they still there?".
Maria turned to him and took his face in her hands to eye it properly. Except for a few lipstick marks on his cheeks, two or three bursted blood vessels and one imprint of an fingernail there wasn´t anything unusual. " Yeah they´re still there. But let me check it correctly", slowly she bent forward and gave him a kiss on his reddened cheek. " Did you feel that?".
" Yes. But now it wandered to my lips. I think you should check that, too", Michael smiled down at her while his arms snaked around her body and pulled her to him. He momentarily forgot that he was standing in a house full of Maria´s family members and her overprotective father.
Until her paternal grandmother drew the attention of the others on the lovestruck pair in the middle of the room. " Oh look at them. They´re so sweet. I miss the beginning of a new relationship, when everything is so new and exciting", she faced her husband with a frown. " Why can´t you be more romantic, Morty?".
The adressed older man snorted loudly at his wife. She wanted romantic after almost fivty years of marriage? Either she was senile or she hit her head somewhere. " Because I don´t need it anymore. I´ve got you. We´re married for heavens sake!".
" Does that mean that a woman shouldn´t except something romantic after the marriage? That she will be romanced until the man has her in the sac or what?", the elder lady asked angrily. Her hand had made it´s way on her slightly broad hip and her eyes were sparkling dangerously.
Morty looked to his two sons, asking for help with his glance. But unfortunately they both just smiled at him before they turned around. Traitor! The both of them! He raised them, gave them shelter, food everyday and that was the way he was thanked for that! Grinning innocently he faced his wife again. " Now Estel. That wasn´t what I meant. You misunderstood me".
Estel´s glare intensified and it looked like she wanted to kill him for a moment. But then she turned on her heel and walked quickly in the direction of the kitchen all the while muttering something about dicks thinking they ruled the world, when in reality it was the woman behind them. Before she dissappeared from sight they just heard her say that Morty could sleep in the bathroom when they came home.
Maria giggled into the shoulder of her boyfriend. She had hid her face there as soon as she heard her grandmother talking about them. At first she had been embarrassed at being caught kissing Michael in front of her whole family. But then she thought that everybody should see that she was in love, they hadn´t done anything disgusting like making out or trying to undress each other. It wasn´t a shame to express their love. Her Parents made that often and they didn´t care who was present or not. " Tell me that my family has found something else to do than watching us".
Michael was still trying to get his heating cheeks under control. He had never felt so weird like he did now. Here he was standing in the house of his girlfriend, full of her family and he had been kissing her in front of the crowd. Unfortunately they hadn´t turned their attention away from them and some even grinned in their direction. Yeah that was helping him immensely calming down. " Sorry. I think we have to escape to get away from their prying eyes".
" That´s what I thought. Do you see my brother somewhere?", Maria still had buried her face on Michaels shoulder. She just wanted to be away from her family for the moment and maybe Kyle could help her vanish without anyone noticing it. He was good at creating a scene and holding the attention for awhile.
Michael let his gaze wander through the room, looking for his best friend or at least his sister. Immediately he saw a familiar blonde curly head standing out from a circle of people standing by the window talking. Well it wasn´t as much her hair that drew the attention as much as the designer dress she was wearing. It was creamcolored with black flowers painted on it, creamcolored spaghetti straps and a black velvet band tied under her breasts. She was looking the exact opposite to Kyle, who was just dressed in a black shirt and black jeans. His hair didn´t look like any different from his usual styling. " Yeah. I´ve found him and Tess".
Maria finally dared to take a peek and turned her head away from the comfortable place at her boyfriends shoulder to glance at her brother and her roommate. They were as it seemed to be involved in a witty conversation with two of her uncles and their wifes. " Try not to appear to obvious. Follow after me. But without attracting too much attention".
" What are you doing?", yeah fat chance of disappearing without anybody noticing it. Marias family was eyeing them like hawkes. How should they make a retreat if anybody was staring at them? Oh shit, it wasn´t even time to eat and he already gave reason to gossip and one more reason for her father to hate him more. Maybe he should start saying goodbye to his beloved penis, because after today he would never see him again.
Maria grinned reassuringly at him. She knew what she was doing, Kyle and her had a few years of training to escape their family at such events. They often had made emergency plans beforehand and sometimes they even had put it into practise. Now it seemed like this year was no exception. " Just be quiet and let me speak". She breathed deeply in before she walked straight in the direction of her brother with her most charming smile. " Hey guys".
Immediately the people stopped talking and turned their attention towards her. One of the men stepped forward and embraced her wholeheartly. He had dark brown hair with a few grey parts, brown warm eyes and he was as tall as Michael. " Hey sweety. Finally found the time to come to your favourite uncle, he?".
" What? Is uncle James here?", Maria looked around like she was searching for someone. Then she faced her uncle with a evil grin before she jumped slightly when he pinched her side. " All right. You are my favourite uncle".
Now the other man besides them started to cross his arms over his bulky chest. His blue eyes were glaring at Maria and he was looking like her father at this moment. He coughed quietly behind his hand to get the attention. " I always thought I was your favourite uncle?".
Maria shrugged her shoulders. " I´m sorry uncle Robert, but uncle Pete makes the better presents". Of course that was just a joke and everybody laughed about it. " Oh my. Aunt Helen, I can finally see your belly. You got bigger since the last time I saw you".
The red haired woman stroked over the bulging belly with a happy expression. She was emitting this glowing like every expectant mother and her dark green eyes were glinting joyful. " Don´t remind me. I look like a fat sumo wrestler and I feel like an overriped tomatoe on the brink to explode".
" I think you look wonderful", Maria was a family man, the more the better. Even if she had always complained about not having any privacy or the occupied bathroom, she couldn´t imagine her life any different. She wouldn´t want to change a thing in it. Maybe it was because of the way she had been growing up on Antar and now the Marianna part of her wanted to make up for all the lost opportunities.
Pete laid an arm around his wife´s shoulder and chuckled slightly. " See. I told you the same. Hopefully now you finally believe me".
The black haired woman, who had been quiet the whole time, entered the fray now. " Yeah. Like that will happen. She´s pregnant and until this thing doesn´t pop out of her, she will feel like that".
" True. Victoria told my nothing else throughout the whole pregnancy", Robert made a face at the others while his wife punched his arm. Grinning he embraced her lovingly to tell her he wasn´t serious about that.
Tess and Maria turned to each other and grimaced. They still had a birth in front of them. Not that they were to keen to experience it in the next few years after the description they just received, but they wanted children. Although it was still a little early to tell if they would even marry someone. They didn´t even know if they still would be with Michael and Kyle that long.
" I think we scared the girls a bit. But believe me, when you see your child for the first time you forget immediately the pain, the worry, the swelling of the feet and the added weight", Victoria should know it, she gave birth to two children already. Strangly her figure didn´t suffer under it and she was slim as a teenage girl. Just the slightly wider hips showed that she had been carrying around medicine balls.
Pete noticed the paniced expression of the young men. Yeah, he thought like that when he was a teenager, too. But then he found the right woman and the right time and now he wouldn´t want his life any different. Even if his wife was often like two persons in one. First she´s normal and talks to him in her usual voice and then bam, she starts screaming or crying and mutats in this psycho person. " What are you both thinking about children?".
Kyle´s eyes widened and he swallowed visibly. Oh Oh, why was his uncle asking him that? Damn now he had to find an answer fitting for calming his family and satisfying his girlfriend. " I uh never thought about it actually. I uh mean I´m still young and I still have enought time to think about it when I´m older and married".
" That´s a good anwers", Pete was pleased with the things his nephew told him. It was smart not to rush into anything. They still had time. Slowly he faced Michael, who´s expression was rivaling that of Kyle. He had seen the boy kissing his niece and it wasn´t looking innocent. " And you?".
Michael tucked uncomfortable at his collar. Was it hot in here or what? He was sweating like crazy and the air seemed to get stuffy. Oh god, he was getting his first panic attack! He needed fresh air immediately. But suddenly he felt Maria taking his hand in hers and the action calmed him. " I´m with Kyle on that. I mean we just started college, we want to see the world and experience many things".
Robert´s face twisted into a mask of anger. The tigh fists at his side were clenching and unclenching. His tall height and his trained body were appearing threatenly. " Are you implying that my niece is just an experience for you and as soon as it will get more intense you will throw her away?"
" Of course not. I´m through with that. We´re in love right now. I don´t know if it will hold until we both die or not. But I can guarantee that if I would have not any feeling towards Maria I would say it immediately and she knows that", Michael was so sick of the male family member. Everybody was deeming him as the enemy as it seems. All of the females had loved him and told him that, too. But the men were trying to protect Maria like a treasure.
Maria was slowly getting pissed at her uncles. She had expected that rude behaviour from her father, but not from them. She was tempted to blast them into the next millenium at the moment. How dare them treat her boyfriend like that. All right, they loved her and wanted to look out for her, she knew that. But she wasn´t some damsel in mistress or defenseless, especially towards Michael. " You know what. I´m so fed up with being treated like a dumb little child. You have something against my boyfriend, fine. But keep your opinion to yourself, okay?", she had to pause suddenly to breath. She could feel her power trying to break from her body and she needed much strength to prevent that from happening.
Immediately Michael noticed something was not right and wrapped his arms around her to hold her upright. She didn´t look like she was stable on her feet any longer. " What´s wrong? Should we go outside to get fresh air?".
" Yeah", Maria rubbed her temples with slow movement. She hadn´t even known that her body had that much power in it. She was drained from using so much strenght to fight for holding everything in, because she would have destroyed the house otherwise.
Kyle and Tess made a move to go with them, but Michael put them both of. He could do it alone, he didn´t need help taking care of his girlfriend. Besides he wanted to be with her without her whole family eyeing them. Careful he pushed a way through the crowd in the living room and led Maria out of the house. When he breathed in the air he felt that his body started to relax again. He didn´t even know that he had been uptight the whole time. Slowly he walked to the white bench, sat down and pulled his girlfriend on his lap. He was a little hurt that her family didn´t like him and showed it openly. Crestfallen he hid his face in her hair and smelled the unmistakable scent of Maria. It was always a mystery to him how she made it that she smelled like a fruit basket mixed with something spicy. But he liked the flavor and it calmed him everytime. Seconds later he felt her hands taking his arms and wrapping them around her body. Then she took his hands and interwined them with hers.
" I´m so sorry for just now. I don´t know what possessed them to act like that".
Michael pulled her tighter at his body and laid his chin on her shoulder. He liked it that they both didn´t have to say something to know how the other felt. And he liked it that they both felt so comfortable with each other that they just could spent their time not talking. " Don´t worry. They just want to protect you".
Maria sensed that the things her uncles had said to him were hurting him more than he let on. " But that doesn´t give them the right to treat you like that. You´re not some criminal for heavens sake".
" Can we just not talk about it? I want to enjoy the last minutes before we have to go back and they can ring the next round?", Michael was determined to prove to the male members of Marias family that he was worth her and he would always treat her like an equal. Too bad that he couldn´t tell them about their past lifes and that their love survived even death. They had been apart for 18 years and suddenly they went to the same college and found each other again. If they weren´t meant to be then who was?
Maria lowered her head and laid it on his shoulders while her right thumb was drawing circles on his hand. " Whatever you want".
Inside
Jim and Amy were standing in front of the window and watched their daughter snuggle with her boyfriend. They both looked content and so in tune with each other that it appeared like they both just existed to be with the other. It was beautiful to see them like that, like Shakespeare himself had written their love.
" I hate him".
Amy turned to her husband after he said that. She thought he was slowly warming up to Michael, at least it appeared so. " Why? I think he´s a wonderful boy. I like him".
Jim sighed defeated, because this exactly was his problem with his daughters boyfriend. He was a young man from a good family, he had money, could give Maria the life she deserved, he had ambitions and most of all, he really loved her. He was the kind of man he always wanted for his daughter. " I like him, too. But he will be the one taking my child away from me".
" Oh honey", Amy had to do everything to keep her laughter in. Finally she understood his more than rude behaviour. At first she thought he was just worried that Michael was some loser like Billy had been and he wanted to protect his daughter from making the same mistake again. But now she knew that he was just scared that he wouldn´t be the only man in Marias life anymore and she would leave the house soon. " You don´t know that. They could break up tomorrow and you would have been worried for nothing".
Jim shook his head at his wife. He had a pretty good instinct and it was telling him that his daughter and this boy would be forever. If he wanted or not, he was just looking at his future son in law. " No Amy. He´s like Maria. I felt it as soon as laid my eyes on him. He´s special like her".
Amy bit her lip worriedly. She had noticed the same as soon as Michael stepped into the kitchen. But she thought she was just imagine things and that her mind was playing tricks. Obviously it wasn´t the case, because her husband was rather clueless in this area and if he realized the same, then it must be true. " You felt it, too, he".
" Yeah and it bothers me that I can´t hate him, because it would be like I would hate my own child", Jim knew from the moment his daughter sneezed and destroyed the good china vase in the process, that Maria wasn´t like any children. She was special and he made sure that not the wrong people knew of her gift. He even took the evidence from the crime scene at the crashdown, where Liz Parker had been shot and miraculously healed within minutes. He knew that his daughter and her best friend lied to him, when they told him the lame story about the supposedly ketchup, which he later found out was real blood. But he kept this things for himself, because he trusted Maria and he knew that one day she would come to him and trust him with her secret.
Amy kissed her husbands cheek and then snuggled her head on his shoulder. She loved it when he played papa bear trying to protect his young ones, a reason why she was still in love with him. He was a devoted father and he took his role pretty seriously. " Then maybe you should let him know that. Cut him some slack".
Suddenly Jims body tensed up and he let out an angry growl. " What is this scum doing here?".
" Holy shit", Amy just discovered the worst scenario that could happen in a new relationship. The appearence of the ex boyfriend.
Outside
Michael was on the brink to fall asleep, lulled from the rocking motion, the quiet melody Maria was humming and the calming scent in the air. But suddenly he felt his girlfriend stiffening in his arms and she made a startled noise in her throat. Alarmed he opened his eyes and looked past her to the front of the garden. There stood Billy with an angry expression on his face. His clothes were dirty and it appeared like he hadn´t washed for some time now. He was looking like a homeless person, if not worth.
Maria stood up from her comfortable place and walked closer to her ex boyfriend. She was shocked about his appearance and even if he treated her badly, she still worried about him. " Billy. What happened to you?".
" This is what happens when you lose the person you love", Billy pointed at his clothes and his face, which hadn´t seen a razor for weeks. In his right hand was a brown paper bag with what seemed to be J.Ds. in it.
Michael followed Maria and put himself in front of her. He didn´t trust this guy one bit and after the stunt he pulled the first time he saw him, he wouldn´t do that the near future. " What are you doing here? Didn´t I tell you to never come near her again or I would kill you?".
Billy raised the bag to his mouth and took a swig from the bottle. Then he threw it with much force in the direction of Michael, who could avoid getting hit at the last minute. " It´s your fault that I lost Maria. If you hadn´t entered the picture I would still be happy with her. You destroyed everything".
" Please Billy. We can talk about everything another time, but not now. You´re not thinking clearly at the moment and you will probably say things you regret", Maria was scared that something bad would happen. The house was full with her family, who hated him from the moment they saw him. If they would see him, blood would be flowing.
Billy staggered drunkenly towards the house." No. I won´t move away from here until I speak my mind".
Michael made a threatening step forward. He didn´t want this piece of shit anywhere near Maria right now and he would do anything to keep it that way. " I will just say this once and I hope you listen, because if you don´t it will get painful. Piss off and crawl back in your hole. Maria doesn´t want anything to do with you. She´s with me now".
" You brainwashed her! She wasn´t like that with me! You changed her!
Maria pushed Michael softly aside and went to Billy. She didn´t want a scene here, in front of her home and in front of witnesses. Besides half of her family were cops and she was sure that in the next few minutes her uncles and her father would barge out there and hurt someone. " Listen to me. I´m really sorry for the way things went between us. It wasn´t pretty fair from me and I apologize for the pain I have caused you. But Michael had nothing to do with our break up. Our relationship was already over before I went to college, we just weren´t brave enough to admit it".
Billy turned his head in another direction and wiped at his eyes with the sleeve of his sweatshirt. Slowly he faced Maria again and it was evident that he was close to cry. " It wasn´t over for me".
" Don´t listen to him. He´s just trying to pull you in again. You can´t trust him", Michael didn´t believe this drama for one moment. But he had to admit, Billy was a really good actor and if he wouldn´t be such a good reader of emotions, he would have really believed it.
Maria already knew that something wasn´t right at this picture, but she wasn´t sure how far Billy would go to get what he wanted. She just wanted to prevent from someone getting hurt or worse killed, because she had seen that her ex boyfriend was in the possession of a few illegal weapons. She hoped he left them at home today. " How about we two meet somewhere and talk about everything that bothered us? You know drawing a final stroke under our relationship?"
Billy appeared like he pondered the possibility for a few seconds before he shook his head. Suddenly his hand shoot forward and grasped Maria forcefully on her arm. " No. I don´t want that. You´re staying with me forever".
" Hey, keep your hands off of her, bastard", Michael immediately reacted and tried to push Maria away from the crazy man. He was slowly starting to piss him off and he wasn´t exactly the most peaceful person on this planet. On second thought on every other planet probably, too. But as soon as he touched his girlfriend, he was bombarded with flashes.
FLASH - Marianna talking to a young man with dark hair. They both laughed about something. All of the sudden the boy bent forward and kissed her.
FLASH - They both resting on the sand in front of the red sea. Snuggling lovingly in each others arms and talking quietly. A giggle escaped Marianna while the boy drew hearts on her palms.
FLASH – Marianna and the boy snuggling under a blanket. Obviously after they made love, according after the lack of clothes. Both smiled happily
FLASH – The boy kneeling on the ground with one knee. In his right hand was a small casket with a ring in it. In his other was a single bright pink flower. Marianna was wiping her tears from her face before she embraced him.
Michael reeled back from the force. He was slightly confused what just happened and from where he received those pictures. But suddenly it dawn on him who was standing in front of him and why he always felt this raging hatred for this lowly creature. " I would say my last prayer right now, because you won´t have the chance again when I´m through with you"
Maria had tears in her eyes when she opened them again. Why hadn´t she felt something before? She should have noticed who he was from the beginning. " Lykus. What are you doing here?"
" I´m here to get back what is mine", he stroked her cheek lovingly with his right hand. Didn´t she realize how much she meant to him, that he even went against every rule to be with her? If his king knew what he was doing here, he would be killed. There was just one person knowing about his relationship with Marianna.
Michael finally had enough from the advances from this scumbag. Powerful he slapped away the hand caressing his girlfriends cheek. He was the only one allowed to touch her in any kind. " I said keep your hands off of her!Are you not grasping the concept of pissing off!"
Before either Maria nor Michael could react, Lykus pulled an army knife out of his jacket and held it towards them. " I´m so sick of you and the way you always treated me. Now I will show you who´s the better man".
" Then let´s do it. I´ve waited a long time for this moment", careful Michael pushed Maria behind him and tried to get her out of harms way. He didn´t want anything happen to her. Besides that was just a thing between this wanker and him.
Maria ignored the attempt from her boyfriend to protect her and stepped between both men. She wanted to stop them from doing something stupid and prevent them from harming each other. She didn´t want neither of them injured or killed. " Are you both mental? My whole family is in the house behind us and if anyone sees this they won´t hesitate to intervene. You could end up in jail".
Lykus made an impression like the words got through to him and it looked like he wanted to put the knife back into his jacket. But then he pushed it towards the girl he loved more than anything else. Michael immediately shoot his right arm forward and grasped the hand with the knife, while his left arm dragged Maria behind him. For a moment he kept her at his back, just to be sure that she was safe for now and not in harms way. After that he concentrated on the motherfer trying to hurt his girl and he felt Rath breaking out from his hiding place inside him. He just needed a second and Lykus was dangling five feet from the ground and gasping for breath, because Michael had gripped him at his throat and had lifted him with one arm in the air. The knife was long forgotten and was now lying in the gras without anyone noticing it.
" Michael! Michael stop it! You´re killing him!", not that Maria would have been so sad about the fact, but it wouldn´t look too good if her father saw her boyfriend killing her ex in front of their home, especially when the family was present.
Unfortunately Michael didn´t listen to the cries. Well he couldn´t hear anything at the moment, except for the blood pumping in his ears and the beating of his heart. But otherwise he was dead to the world. All he wanted was to feel the life slowly draining out of this little cockroach and see the lights dying in his eyes. The fingers around the thoat were squeezing tighter and stronger. Lykus was struggling to get air in his lungs and hoped that the grip would ease. He was scared of the cold look from Rath´s eyes and he knew that this time not even Maria could help him anymore. She was pulling at her boyfriends arm and screamed that he should lower his hand and let the scum alive. But Michael didn´t even flinch for a second.
" Michael! Michael! Let him down and step away from him. Don´t make yourself miserable. Think about your future, son".
That sentence got finally through to him and he blinked confused at Lykus, who was close to lose his consciousness. Shocked he dropped him onto the ground and turned around to the voice saving him from doing something stupid. Surprised he saw Jim Valenti standing a few feets away and smiling at him. Then he felt the light tugging at his sleeve and he looked down into Marias face. Worriedly he took it in his hands and checked her for any kind of injury. " Are you okay? Did he hurt you?".
Maria made a strange noise between a sniffing and a laugh. " No. You pushed me out of the way before the knife could get near me".
" Are you both all right? Is anyone hurt?", Jim stepped between them and eyed the kids for stabbing wounds or even a light scratch. But thankfully it seemed that nothing had happened. Relieved he embraced his daughter tightly and prayed to god that he send her a good man in the form of Michael. Joyful he faced him. " Thank you".
Michael shrugged his shoulders. He didn´t do something out of the ordinary, he just kept the future mother of his children alive and he would do it again and again. " It was nothing".
Jim released his daughter and stared at her boyfriend unbelievingly. He thought it was nothing to dodge a fing army knife just with the strength of an arm? In his books that was something big and he saw many things everyday. " All right. We should go inside and welcome you in our family properly".
" I hope it´s not something painful, because I think I had enough action for one day", Michael noticed his hands were shaking lightly and his heart was slowly beating normal again. He was glad that Jim had stopped him from killing this bastard. For a moment he had been afraid of his Rath´s part. But after a while it just felt natural and he liked the feeling of the force. It was a great rush and he let himself get carried away with it.
Jim slapped his newest family member on the shoulder and then lead him back into the house. " Don´t worry. It won´t hurt", quietly he added. "much".
Michael heard the last part and was in the process to escape when the other man wrapped his arm around his shoulders and dragged him through the door. While they both disappeared inside, Maria stayed in the front yard and looked at the place where Lykus had been lying. He bolted as soon as Michael had released him. Unfortunately for him and luckily for her, he left something behind. It was his cellphone, which had to have fallen from his jacket when he scrambled back on his feet and ran away. Without drawing too much attention she bent down and put it in the waistband of her skirt. She would check it out later and see if it could help her finding something out. When she was sure that everything was clear in the neighborhood, she followed the men in the house and eyed the scenery again before she closed the door tightly behind her.
After the dinner
Michael had been the hero of the day and everyone was asking him how he had rescued the damsel in mistress without hurting himself in the process or breaking out in a sweat. Of course he couldn´t tell them the real reason for the boost of strength that made him lift a person from the ground, so he told them something that was close to the truth, but not to revealing. Jim was proudly explaining what he saw from the window and how brave Michael had been and that his first instinct was protecting Maria. Allthroughout dinner the males didn´t have anything else to talk about while the women just rolled their eyes at their mates. The poor boy didn´t have time to eat with answering this many question. At some point Amy had enough and told the men that she wanted a quiet meal. Strangly everybody kept to it after that. The rest of the dinner was held in silence. Until the plates had been emptied and the women were busy with clearing the table. Immediately the men had stood up from their chairs and made their way into the garden with their drinks. There the whole thing started from anew.
Meanwhile Maria was the only female not attending the women bonding session in the kitchen. She was sitting outside on the bench and watched the orange sun slowly disappearing behind the big mountains. Her feet was hidden under her old flintstone cover and a steaming cup of hot chocolate was standing on the armrest besides her. She was deep in thoughts and was mulling over the things that happened today. She was chiding herself for not realizing sooner that Billy wasn´t what he appeared to be and that she should have noticed it. She always felt this strange familiarity whenever they had been together. But she thought it was just her imagination. Now she knew better. The next time she listened to her instincts.
" Hey. What are you doing here? It´s a little cold".
Maria turned her head away from the sky, which was just in the process to change his color. It went from orange to red and soon it would be black. Now she faced her lover with a smile on her face. Without saying anything she lifted her cover and made a gesture that he should join her.
Slowly Michael sat besides her and put the cover over his feet while Maria snuggled tight at his body. He was strongly stinking of beer and smoke, but surprisingly it didn´t matter to her. " What is wrong? You barely touched your food in there."
" Let´s not talk about it now. We can worry about it tomorrow. I just want to enjoy this moment with you", Maria just wanted her mind to stop thinking, even if it was just for a few seconds. She knew that their vacation would be over soon and the reality would be crashing in their lifes again. The easy part of their life was over and now the hard part made an appearance.
Michael was confused about the cryptic answer he received. What was going on with her? She was so strange since the incident with her ex. " Is it because of Lykus? He won´t come back so soon, believe me. At least I hope he is smart enough not to show his ugly face here again".
Maria wondered for a moment if her boyfriend was that stupid or if he was just acting so. Wasn´t he surprised that someone from Khivars army was here on Earth? Or that he had been so close to her without her noticing it? " I´m not concerned about him. I´m concerned about the fact that he is even here. Do you think he came alone? Or that it was just coincidence he became my boyfriend? No, it was a plan. And if he had been near me all the time without me knowing who he really was, what do you think how many are here and pretened to be my friend or even my family?".
" The same thought crossed my mind, too. But you can´t starting to mistrust the people closest to you. I don´t think your family is out to kill you. They´re strange and even a little crazy, but I can assure you they´re 100 percent human. I would have felt something believe me", Michael barely had escaped from their clutches moments ago. They had been a little overwhelming at first, but now he liked them. He already had a fishing date with a few of her uncles and her father. They invited him to join the male bonding at some lake.
Maria noticed the temperature had dropped a few degrees and the wind was getting colder. She skidded more under the blanket and watched the dark sky. For the first time she thought about the life she had been living up there. The life with a cold hearted man, a self-involved halfbrother and a most absent mother. She had been kidding herself when she thought her childhood had been nice and that it hadn´t mattered to her. She had been living a lie for a long time and now when she thought back, the only bright spot in her life had been the meeting of Rath and his family. For the first time she had felt how it was to matter and to be loved, even if you did something wrong. It had been a painful experience to get that ripped away from her. Everything was calm at the moment. But she knew that it could turn in a matter of seconds and she didn´t want her family get caught in the middle, because this time they hadn´t the advantage of powers. They were just human and an easy target. " Then why didn´t you feel it with Lykus?".
Michael scratched his eyebrow embarressed. " I felt something. But I just thought it was my jealousy breaking out and playing tricks with me".
" Michael I can´t see my family getting killed again. I don´t want to. The first time had been too much, but this time it will probably destroy me", Maria was close to crying. She couldn´t bear the thought that her family could be harmed or taken away. Lykus knew how much she loved her parents, her friends and how tight her bond with her twin brother was. He even witnessed how much she would do to protect them. That were all things he could take against her.
Michael took her face in his hands and made her look at him. She was pretty rattled right now and she would make herself sick with worrying. He didn´t know what he could to make her feel better. No matter what he would say it would sound so stereo typed. Maybe he should try it with honesty. " We will prevent that from happening. We know now that he´s here and probably brought reinforcement, but we also know what we have to except. If it makes you feel better, we can call Nolak tomorrow and tell him what happened. He will know what to do".
Maria nodded slowly. She was okay with the suggestion. Breathing out relieved she gave her boyfriend a kiss. She was glad that he had been keeping a cool head or else they both would have done something stupid. Quietly she pressed herself at his body again and enjoyed the show of the nature. She just hoped that Nolak could help them keeping her family alive and healthy.