This is the end of this story and I want to thank everyone reading it and especially RedJewel2662 for leaving feedback everytime. Hope you enjoy the end just like every chapter before.
Chapter 66 Epilog
It was a cold winter day. Roswell saw snow for the first time after ten years. The ground, the houses and buildings were covered with a white blanket while the christmas decoration gave a little color back to the town. Everything was draped with santa clauses, string of lights in green, red and white, reindeers and snowmans. The smell of gingerbread, cinnamon and eggnog was hanging in the air which matched the sound of christmas songs playing on the streets. People walked around with warm jackets, caps in all variations and gloves. Sometimes they even had red noses from the cold, not being used to this freezing temperatures. The mood was mixed after knowing that aliens were real and wanted to take over Roswell. Some of the people were grateful that they were still alive and safe from the threat and others feared that it would be just the start. But all in all almost everybody was in holiday cheers and tried to live like nothing had changed. The Parkers opened their restaurant on christmas eve for the families not able to afford a nice dinner like they did every year. Liz helped them, this year with her boyfriend at her side and the future in laws at her back. Alex and Isabel celebrated the festive day with his parents a new tradition for the family because usually the Whitmans were with the rest of the family in Canada at christmas day. Tess and Michael hadn´t left after everyone was released from the hospital and were still in the house of the Valentis together with their grandfather and their Cousin, who had been invited to join the family at their traditional dinner. Sean, Kyle and Jim were on the way to buy a christmas tree in the neighbor town while Amy, Tess and Laurie started cooking. The remaining two people were at the cemetery to visit a few graves to pay their respect and close open wounds or at least trying to. Both parted halfway and went into different directions.
Maria placed a porcelan figure on the tombstone of Lindsey. Her sister liked those and she was collecting everything of them. From pixies, fairies and unicorns over couples and families. Maria had chosen an angel this time, thinking it would fit more." Hey Lindsey. I´m back again. I even remembered to bring your christmas present. I´ll miss you terribly and especially now".
" Don´t cry because of me. I may be gone physically, but my soul is still with you".
Maria startled, shocked to see her little sister sitting on her tombstone with the white dress they had put on her. Her hair was curly and framing her brightly smiling face. Her feet were bare, but as a ghost she wouldn´t need those anyway. She wasn´t walking. " What? Oh damn I knew that I came off too well. Now I´m staring to hallucinate".
Lindsey swung her naked feet back and forth, just like she would sit comfortably on a chair and not on a tombstone in the middle of winter. Her twinkling eyes gave away her amusement about her big sister and her funny way. " You´re not. I´m real. Well as real as a ghost can be".
" What are you doing here?", Maria touched her forehead, trying to check if she was had a fever, because that couldn´t be real. However everything seemed normal, a little cold but fine. She was tempted to call after Michael, but he would think she lost her mind or worse tell it her parents. They were already worried enough, they didn´t had to worry about that, too.
Lindsey chuckled slightly, already knowing what the older girl was thinking. She could see it in her sisters eyes. " I´m the ghost of the future, trying to help you back on the right path", wriggling her arms and altering her voice so that she sounded deeper she tried to get the seriousness out of the situation. Unfortunately her older sibling seemed to have lost her good humour. " Okay here´s the deal. I can´t go into the light until I know that you´re not gonna destroy yourself from the guilt trip you have going on. Don´t think I haven´t noticed your depressed mood".
Maria felt tears shooting in her eyes. She could fool everyone else with her fake happiness or they let her believe that they would buy it, but obviously not her sister. " I´m so sorry for not keeping you safe. I can´t cope with the guilt of being unable to save you. It´s so hard trying to be happy when all I want to do is cry".
" Crying is good and helps. But don´t you dare feel guilty for something you had no control over. I´m not blaming you for what happened. There are things you can´t see beforehand or prevent. That´s the way of the world", Lindsey wanted to go to her sister and embrace her. But she didn´t have a body and she couldn´t leave her place. The sorrow hit her in waves and it made her sad what her dead had caused.
Maria had heard that sentence so often now and still it wouldn´t get through her thick skull, as she got told from her family rapidedly. But it wasn´t so easy to accept something you thought you could have prevented or change. She had tried to find the Granilith again and maybe find something in it to help her. Unfortunately it was gone. Disappeared after it had done its work. " But I should have done something. Anything to keep you all out of harms way. I screwed up. Again".
Lindsey shook her head and her hair was swinging from side to side with the motion. Suddenly the wind picked up speed and blew more cold through the trees around them. Even a little snow flew in the air from the gust. " I don´t want to hear that ever again. You saved so much people. Mom, Dad, Kyle and Sean are alive as are your friends and their family. You can´t imagine what would have happened had you failed. You were great and you´re a hero".
" I´m just a child. A child with no experience and two kids on the way", Maria was so sick of people telling her how great she was and how proud they were of her. She was unhappy with the way things went and she would need a lot of time and maybe a lot of kicking in her ass to get over the feeling.
Lindsey knew that she wouldn´t get far with that approach. She could talk to her sister until she was blue in the face and it wouldn´t change anything. But she would at least not break from the guilt any longer. " How are my nephew and my niece by the way?".
Maria opened her thick black jacket and showed her round belly covered in a nice black wrap blouse. She looked like she would house four children instead of just two. But maybe it was the way she was eating now that she had so much time at her hand with preparing the birth of the twins. " They´re good and extremely healthy. The doctor says that I´m ready to give birth any day now, which makes me kinda sad. I´m so used to being alone with the twins that I don´t want to share with anyone. Mom told me that she felt like that, too when she had Kyle and me. Dad had turned into a control freak and calls every five minutes to ask about my wellbeing. Like I´m deathly ill and on the brink to die. Even Sean is more friendly towards me, which is kinda freaky. Even though we called it truce, I´m not used to him being so careful around me. It´s unnatural".
" He grew up, like you all have", Lindsey was so proud of her family and the way they handled things, although destiny was not even on their side. Quite on the contrary, everything was pointing against them. And still they managed to survive this war and save a whole universe in the process.
Maria wanted to reply that it maybe applied to the others, but not to her. But she didn´t want to make the smaller girl angry. It wasn´t nice to anger the dead. So instead she swallowed her negative comment and focused on the goods things happening around her. " Yeah. He has a steady girlfriend now. Her name is Laurie and the cousin of Tess and Michael. They´re both very much in love, after less then two weeks".
Lindey looked to the right side at that to hide her smile. She couldn´t imagine her cousin so normal. He had been always a little bit crazy and she had liked it. She had loved her siblings, but they had been so boring sometimes. " A war can change a man".
" You´re telling me. Larek sold his UFO-Center to Michael. Alex and Isabel are taking a year time out to go tramping through America after the holidays, Max wants to join the army now while Liz will go with him as a paramedic. Kyle shocked our parents with the news to pack the college in and go to the police academy. Tess will follow him, even if her grandfather doesn´t know it yet. And Michael will probably blow a gasket as soon as he finds that out", everything was changing so fast that Maria was afraid to miss it. Everyone had a plan for the future. Well except her. The only thing she knew for sure was that she wanted to be good mother for her children. And that she didn´t want to move away from Roswell. But that wasn´t a problem any longer anyway.
Lindsey saw the uncertainty in her sister´s eyes. After the war was over now and nobody expected something from her, she felt useless. But that wasn´t the case. Destiny had still a few tricks up the sleeve. And being the mother of the next step of evolution and with that the mother of the most powerful children on earth would keep her occupied for centuries. " And what are your plans?".
Maria shrugged careless with her shoulders. She had pondered that question for so long and she was still not sure if she made the right decision. Maybe she should just let everything come her way and then deal with it. Her parents wanted her to go back to college, her friends told her what she wanted to hear and Michael had completely different ideas. " I had the chance to be Queen. This oracle guys came and offered me the position as defender of the current King and as his daughter. Thankfully I told them that I was neither of it and sent them to the rightful Queen. Corly deserves it more than me and I wouldn´t have been happy up there. My family and my home is here on earth".
" You´re evading my question. I ask what you have planned for the future", Lindsey folded her hands on her lap while her legs still swung back and forth. Her glance was fixed on her big sister and there was something in her eyes that was daring the older girl to try that stunt again.
Maria fidget with the zipper of her jacket, cursing her younger sibling for her fabulous insight. She had always be the one getting things out of her or she was the first to notice when something was wrong. Something that Maria had hated immensely and now more than ever. " As I said Larek sold his UFO-Center to Michael. What I didn´t mention was that it half of the building belongs to me, because now that Larek´s married to Corly and they´re both on Antar ruling over the planet, he won´t need it any longer. I thought about what to do with my half and came to the conclusion that I want to manage the museum".
Lindsey felt that there was a catch hidden somewhere in the statement. Maybe Michael didn´t want to stay in Roswell and live there, leaving his family behind in Tucson? Or it was something complete different. " Why do I hear a but in this?".
" Because you know me too well", Maria sighed. There was still something that was nagging at her and she hated to feel that way. " I don´t know how to manage a museum. I have no experience and no education, aside from my Highschool diploma. What do I have to offer? Besides I don´t even know where the relationship with Michael is leading at the moment. How can I decide something so huge if I can´t even decide what to do with my boyfriend?".
Lindsey smiled at her sister. She had more confidence in the ability from the other girl than she in herself. It was a wonder she got into college that way. " Okay. First thing first. Did you talk to Michael about the way your relationship may lead or are you too afraid to ask?".
Maria dropped her gaze on the ground below. She was ashamed to admit that not Michael was the problem in that situation but her. He acted mature and like the perfect boyfriend. She was the one putting her foot down while he wanted something more. He even suggested buying a house here to raise the children and being close to her parents. " Yeah we talked. He asked me to marry him and I refused. He´s a little disappointed but to proud to show it. I really hurt him. But I can´t be his wife just because he thinks it´s the right thing to do. I mean I want him to marry me because he loves me and can´t live without me. Not some tradition thing"
" He loves you. Everyone with eyes sees that. Believe me he would have asked you to marry him someday. The birth of your children just pushed it a little forward", Lindsey was glad to not feel jealousy or emotions in that direction, because she would feel it right now. She didn´t had and never would have the chance to experience love and especially that kind of passion which existed between her sister and Michael.
Maria was surprised to hear such grown up words coming out of her sisters mouth. When did they change their places? Because as much as she hated to admit it, it sounded logical. Maria knew that Michael loved her and he told her that often enough. And still there was something missing. " Can I have that written? I still think it´s his head doing the right thing and not his heart wishing for me to be at his side forever".
Lindsey rolled her eyes, something she had picked up from her sister. Maria always wanted to be sure to do everything perfect and please everyone. She had played the nice daughter for their parents, the supportive sister for her siblings and the crazy person for her friends. But sometimes even she made a mistake and she had taken it really head everytime, like she was a screw up. Knowing about her past life was making a few things clear. But the older girl had to finally realize that it was okay to be wrong or to stumble. " Hey do what you want. But don´t bitch when you let this chance go. Believe me not every guy is like Michael, who´s putting your life above him or loves you so much that he sat three days straight at your bedside to watch over you".
" Can we talk about something else? Something not reminding me what a bad person I am?", Maria knew all those things alone, she didn´t need some small teenager to point that out to her. She knew that Michael was the perfect match and that she would never love some other man like she loved him. But would he have asked her six month from now or even before everything went crazy, she wouldn´t have even needed a second to say yes. Now it seemed to her like he wanted her to be his wife because of obligations.
Lindsey crossed her legs and her arms while intently staring at her sister. She didn´t care what they talked about, they didn´t need to talk at all. But she knew that it was important to her sister to talk to someone not involved in this mess right now. " Have you decided what you want to name your twins?".
Maria rubbed her belly, a small smile playing around her lips. For the first time since she came to this place something bright was shining in her eyes. " We choose Lindsey for the girl and Rath for the boy", it was the easiest decision she and Michael had made so far. She wanted to have a reminder about her sister and he wanted to honor the man who gave up his own life to save his.
" That´s so sweet. You named your daughter after me", Lindsey smiled, really happy about that small gift.
Maria wanted to reply some smart ass remark to lift the sad atmosphere a little when she noticed that it was time for her to sit down. She couldn´t stand around so long any longer since she got so big. Looking around she spotted a small bench just across from her sister´s grave. Lifting her arm she slide the big thing towards her and melted the snow on it before taking a seat. Sighing contentedly, she lean her hurting back against the backrest. " Now that´s a lot better".
Lindsey glanced at the sides to see if anybody saw her sister using her powers. Watching an older pair walking through the path between the graves, she wondered why they weren´t shocked or afraid. They just winked at Maria before continueing their way. " Are you crazy? You can´t just use your alien mumbo jumbo".
" Why not? Everyone knows about us. It was on every tv channel for two weeks and we were like the new superhero´s. We even had to give interviews, which we refused mostly, because we hadn´t wanted to be treated different. Okay not everyone likes us and we hear a few nasty things, but most of the people accept us. Strangly the teenager and the children love us. A few wanted me to come to their birthday party. But I told them quickly that I´m neither WonderWoman nor SuperGirl or SpiderWoman", unfortunately that didn´t phrase them. Hollywood already knocked at their doors to make a movie about their life on Antar. It was a little crazy and sometimes she wondered when the whole chaos would stop and she was just plain Maria again.
Lindsey was stunned about that revelation. Who would have thought that it would get that far in a world where people were beaten or put behind bars because they had the wrong skin color or because they had the wrong nationality or the accent was not acceptable. " Isn´t it strange? I mean people aren´t just that understanding over night. Aren´t you afraid that not everyone is so peaceful about knowing that aliens are here on earth?".
Maria had thought hard and long about it, especially worrying about her children who would be growing up in a town where people made a living with aliens. But she was sure that Michael and she could protect their kids and would do everything to keep them safe. Besides she was already almost a member of the human army base outside of town. All the soldiers promised to keep an eye on her, her family and her friends. Nobody would dare to mess with her or the people she loved. " Believe me, before someone would even come close to us, he/she or they would be toast. We have enough support".
" I just want you to be careful. I don´t want to see you here so soon", Lindsey noticed that her time was slowly passing and she needed to go back. But she couldn´t go without getting a few things out first. " Listen, take it easy on Michael. Tell Mom and Dad that I love them, give hugs to Kyle and Sean. And don´t make me come back to haunt you because you didn´t take good care of you".
Maria noted the wind picking up speed around her and that it got a little bit colder. Looking up at the sky she saw a few clouds parting and a ray of sunshine fell down on the tombstone where her sister was sitting on. " I will do that. And you promise me that you don´t make too much trouble up there".
Lindsey grinned at her sister, knowing that it was a promise she couldn´t keep. She would raise hell no matter where she was, even if it was heaven. " I will try".
" Hey. Are you ready to go? It´s freezing and I´m hungry", a new voice was cutting into the conversation.
Maria turned her head to see Michael coming in her direction. He looked really good in his dark blue coat with the matching scarf and gloves, the black cloth slacks and the expensive leather shoes. He was looking as rich as he was, but she didn´t mind it any longer. " Just a moment. I just want to say goodbye to Lindsey", drawing her attention back to the grave, she saw that her sister had disappeared and at the place she had been sitting was just the porcelane angel. Standing up with a little help from her boyfriend she went to the tombstone, kissed her finger and then touched it. " Goodbye".
Michael waited until she was finished with her farewell. He knew that she took the death of her sister really hard and that she just put up a front for everyone else. But now he sensed some serenity in her that hadn´t been there before. The darkness wasn´t so crushing anymore and some light was visible. Maybe it had been a good idea to come here before the big christmas dinner. He finally had been having the chance to thank Rath for the sacrifice he had made and talked about a few things he feared would upset Maria. After all so much had changed that he was afraid that he would miss the changes or that he would stay behind. Thankfully he knew that he wasn´t alone and that he had so much important people at his side to help him. " Come on. I don´t feel my legs".
" Don´t rush me. We´re not even married and you already order me around", Maria huffed angrily in his direction. He could be so bossy sometimes. But she was glad that he finally treated her more like himself again. She had missed this commanding tone from him.
Michael watched her slowly walking towards him and he made sure that she didn´t slip on the ice under their feet. Grasping her arm, he held her while they made their way to the exit. Then it registered what she said. " You told me you didn´t want to marry me".
Maria snuggled her head at his shoulder while her hands snaked her way into his coat pockets. She loved this closeness and the feeling to enjoy their time together for once. " I said I didn´t want to marry you yet. That doesn´t mean I don´t want to marry you at all. I just thought it was bad timing. But now I think it´s a good idea"
" And what changed your mind?", not that Michael wasn´t glad about that change of heart. But it was still a little weird that she suddenly wanted something complete different. He just hoped that she thought she had to do it or she would lose him. He didn´t want to push her into something she didn´t was comfortable with. He could wait, even if it would take years.
Maria looked up at him and observed the way his breath was visible as soon as it left his mouth. Despite his red nose and the slight pink coloring of his cheek, she never found him more beautiful than at this moment. How could she ever doubt him and his intentions. " I thought about everything and I figured out that we don´t have any reason not to marry, except maybe our age. But my mother was just a year older than me when she married my father".
Michael smiled down at her and in that moment something old passed between them. Something that was long gone, but never really left completely. Kissing her temple, he pressed her tighter at his body. How could he say no to that cute face. " So if I would ask you again, say maybe tonight in front of our whole family, you would answer with yes this time?".
" Maybe", Maria grinned mischievously, not quite giving into him yet. After all he behaved like a peacock when he thought he won and he would do this little dance, everyone found so embarassing to watch. Especially her and Tess.
Michael stopped in his tracks at that and surprised his girlfriend in the process. Putting his hands on her belly, he bent down until he was on the same level as his children. " Did you hear that? Your mommy just accepted my proposal. Can you believe it?".
Maria had slight problems to keep her laughter in. It was the first time that she felt a little more carefree and not so depressed. Stroking over Michael´s head, she wondered why she loved this dork so much. He drove her crazy, made her pondering her mental health once in a while and most of the time they couldn´t agree on something. And yet she never felt so much attraction to someone like she did with him. " You´re so silly".
" Yeah, you´re doing that to me", rising in a standing position again he wrapped his arms around her to pull her closer to him. Unfortunately his children were a tad bit in the way. But he still found a way to embrace her, even though it was a little difficult. " Did I tell you how much I love you?".
Maria glanced above her, acting like she was thinking really hard. For a few seconds she was frozen in that stance before she turned to her boyfriend. " No. Not today".
Michael framed her face with both hands, looking in her emerald eyes, which seemed to have gotten that happy twinkle back, he couldn´t imagine to ever get tired of watching her. He wanted to wake up every morning with her at his side and go to sleep that way. Damn, he was really turning into a real sap. Strangly he didn´t mind any longer. " I´m sorry. I have to correct that immediately", kissing her slightly freezing lips, he didn´t see the people walking past them and watching the couple with amusement. Well at least until he and Maria came up for air. " I love you".
" I love you, too", Maria noticed the heat rising in her cheeks, a great contrast to the remaining parts of her face, which were almost frozen. She finally registered that they weren´t alone any longer. " I think we should go. We have an audience".
Michael looked around and realized she was right. Laying an arm around her shoulder he steered her in the direction of his car. Smiling at everyone passing them, he pointed at Maria with pride and told them that she was his soon to be wife. Shaking her head, Maria wondered why she ever considered marrying him in the first place. But then she remembered that she loved him, so that made up for his silly behaviour. Everything else they would have to learn with time and a little help from their families and friends.
The End