Part 53
It wasn't the sound of snow-laden branches creaking. It wasn't the sound of the wind howling around the corners of the silent cabin. It wasn't even the icy cold air inside the cabin that woke him from a sound sleep. It was the disturbance created by Maria kicking off the covers and exposing his naked flesh to that arctic breeze that had him hissing and burrowing closer to her in an effort to hold onto the heat.
The arm around her waist flexed as he hauled her back against him and he swung his leg over both of hers to keep her still. He made a grab for the mountain of covers they had piled on top of them to ward off the chill that had been lurking outside the heated area created by the fire he had started. Once he was save from losing a layer of skin to frostbite he inhaled deeply, drawing her scent in before letting out a soft but languorous yawn and settling them back into the warmed spot.
He sighed contentedly and closed his eyes again. Something tickled his face and he quickly determined that it had to be her hair because no bug was brave enough to venture out in these temperatures. He blew at it and for a moment the sensation abated but just about the time he started to ease back into sleep it started again. He growled and reached up to bat it away and the motion was enough to chase away the last vestiges of sleep.
He looked around, taking in the darkness. After a few minutes his eyes had adjusted and he could make out the outlines of the furniture and the shadows that played on the wall across from them. The outline of the window was reflected on the television screen and he wondered absently if the stupid thing would crack if he turned it on. He stared up at the ceiling and rubbed his nose against the covers when it started to itch.
He tugged the covers down just enough to expose his mouth and he blew an experimental breath into the air. Yeah, that was just too damn cold to be inside, he thought with a shake of his head. His attention was pulled back to Maria when she snuggled back into him and tried to kick the covers off again. Oh, no you don't. He couldn't help but smile at how completely relaxed she was in his arms. It had been too long since they had been this close.
Her skin against his brought their earlier lovemaking to mind and the memory caused heat to rush through him, starkly contrasting with the freezing temperatures outside their little cocoon. He let his hand travel over her curves beneath the covers, drawing a quiet sigh from Maria before he withdrew it to take aim at the fireplace.
He craned his neck to glance around his splayed hand and he imagined the fireplace with a fire roaring and heating up their little corner of the cabin. He growled under his breath when the darkened interior of the fireplace remained dark and cold. He made a face and splayed his fingers wider, glaring at the fireplace as it gave it another shot. "Secret powers suck." He released an exasperated breath before dropping his head back on the pillow. "Crap," he muttered quietly, "must be outta wood." He smirked to himself when Maria shifted again. Well, not completely outta wood.
The smirk was short-lived when her foot snaked past him and she succeeded in kicking her foot free of the covers. The intrusion of freezing air into their warm space made one of them hiss and he wasn't sure if it had been her or him. He covered her up once again and his hand patted along the edge of the mattress in search of the thermal shirt he had been wearing earlier. He jerked forward and grabbed for the edge of the mattress above his head when he nearly fell off onto the floor. It didn't matter that it was only 6-8 inches. That floor was going to be like sitting on a block of ice. What the hell was he doing on the edge anyway? Because his girlfriend had managed to move him across its wide expanse every time she had kicked the covers off. That in itself made him smile. She hadn't slept so peacefully since before they had broken up.
His face felt like it was frozen and when he couldn't find his shirt he settled for grabbing his coat instead. He gently rolled Maria and tucked the covers in around her to keep her warm while he slipped out for a few minutes. He shrugged into the coat and decided it would be quicker to get the fire started than it would be to try and find his pants. He took the few necessary steps to reach the fireplace; the temperatures that he was certain were below freezing making them feel like he had just walked a mile.
He worked quickly, stacking the logs in the fireplace and using his powers to boost the little fire into a roaring blaze. He smirked and blew across his fingertips before brushing them over the front of his jacket. He turned his head to stare at his girlfriend, his mind replaying every moment of the night before when he had really looked at her after responding to her apology.
It was the first time he'd done that since she had broken up with him. He had looked at her and felt her longing to be with him to the fullest extent. It was a physical ache she had held onto that had only begun to abate when he had accepted her apology. Taking her hands afterwards and opening up to her about Courtney had exposed a painful wound, but rather than hold onto it he had seen and felt her desire to release it the moment had had started to struggle with the words he needed to talk about his time with the other girl.
He watched her sleep, completely relaxed for the first time in months, and it was as if the weight of everything she had been carrying around had been lifted. In spite of his skin almost burning from the heat of the fire now raging in the fireplace his thoughts continued. He had been determined to confront their past, they had finally both been ready to tackle that old wound, and he winced as he recalled the way he had shut her out of his life. He had told her at one point that it was better for the both of them; that aliens and humans didn't mix.
He had been reluctant to bring that topic up regardless of which of them got to it first. But as he had sat across from her trying to hold up his part of the deal and trying to confront that particular issue, he had been able to feel her compassionate, loving response in spite of the hurt it had caused her in the past. He had started to shake as he revealed the fear that he was responsible for Courtney's death, that he had gotten her killed, and that Maria would be next because of something stupid he did.
She had stunned him into silence with her response: "You've kept us alive and safe while we've been on the road and no one can or will ever tell me differently." He had been overwhelmed by her words, by the expression in her eyes, and mostly by the feelings he had gotten from her. His thoughts shifted to her explaining how she had felt inferior because of her status as the last remaining all-human in the group. His lips tightened into a thin line as he thought about the times he had shut her out and unknowingly making her think that she wasn't a strong person.
He blinked when Maria stirred and he studied her face in the firelight. Truth be known, she was the strong one, the one who believed in him when he wouldn't or couldn't believe in himself. She didn't need him to save her. The truth of the matter was she had saved him over and over again with nothing more than her belief in him. She was the miracle in him; she made him want to be the best he could be for her and for himself.
He began to sweat and he shifted in the heavy coat. It had felt good when he had grabbed it to prevent his body from turning to ice but the heavy material against sweating skin didn't feel so great. He shrugged out of it and quickly took the few steps back to the mattress, spreading the coat out over the covers and then diving below them when the cold threatened again.
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Max was staring at the wall, his mind going over everything that had happened the day before. The temperature in the cabin was comfortable and he was sprawled out on the bed, his right foot sticking out from under the covers. He had slept like a rock once Liz had finally drifted off and he had woken first but hadn't had the heart to disturb her. He had lain awake as dawn broke and the darkness had given way to a light grey skyline. As the minutes had passed the sky had slowly become more of a whitish grey and he imagined it was probably an imminent sign that more snow was on the way.
Michael would love that, he thought sarcastically. The girls actually would love it because the more snow that fell the likelier it was their stay would be extended. If things were different he could picture them staying for a while but he knew they would have to move on and it would have to be soon. It wasn't just themselves they put in danger by staying in one place for so long and the Stevens' had done so much for them. Not that they would intentionally put anyone at risk but this family, this community, had become so much more than just passing acquaintances in the short time they had been stranded there.
Eventually they were going to have to split up. They would be afforded a certain protection if they could safely cross into Canada, but even then putting some distance between them would be wise. He sighed as he considered what that would do to Liz. She had lost contact with her parents and when they split up it would just be the two of them; they wouldn't lose all contact with the others but they wouldn't have the constant interaction they were all so accustomed to.
He turned his head and his gaze settled on his wife's pallid features. She had been a wreck the night before. Not just because Maria had seen her mom and it brought home just how much Liz missed her own parents, but because she felt guilty for the jealousy she felt over the brief meeting her best friend had been gifted with. He shifted onto his side when she sighed quietly and he realized she wasn't asleep.
"How long have you been awake?" he asked quietly.
"Not long," she whispered as if she was afraid speaking any louder might disturb the near silence in the cabin. "What're you thinking about?"
"Moose Jaw."
Her eyes snapped open and she looked at him in surprise. "What?"
"It's a city in Canada. Straight shot up north from back home." He shrugged one shoulder. "Maybe one day it'll be safe for your parents to visit."
"And yours," she said softly as she rolled onto her side to meet his gaze. She brought her hand up to rest alongside his jaw and her thumb traced over his bottom lip. She knew the reality of their situation as well as he did and she knew it may never really be an option for them. Not as long as there were Special Unit agents searching for them. But she appreciated his efforts to try and cheer her up. Her eyes dropped to their hands when he reached for hers and their fingers interlocked.
"What?" he asked when she smiled for the first time in what seemed like days.
"I was just remembering the morning we faced our parents after spending the night out in the desert. Remember? We went searching for that orb and…" She nodded when he grinned at the memory. "Yeah. They were so not happy with us."
"Our moms more than our dads," he said and laughed. "Your dad wasn't ready to stake me out in the desert for the fire ants at that point."
She elbowed him as she laughed with him. "I don't think it ever would've come to that."
Max snorted. "I beg to differ. There was a time when it could've."
"Thank God for Jane Covendall." The elderly woman had been such a help the night of the New Years' party at the Crashdown, making her see things a little differently. Although she had a feeling Jim Valenti had helped too. She had seen him sitting at the bar talking to her dad that night although neither of them had ever said anything about that conversation.
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Travis wandered out of the den and headed for the kitchen, yawning widely and rubbing his stomach when it rumbled loudly. He wondered absently if the Stevens would mind if he had something to eat and then just as quickly discarded that thought. Julia had told him to make himself at home and he took her offer at face value. He paused in the living room doorway and started to walk over to the picture window to see if it had snowed overnight but the sound of snoring caught his attention before he could move.
His gaze settled on the couple tangled up on the couch peacefully sleeping and oblivious to the rest of the world. He chuckled to himself and turned back to go into the kitchen. He could check the snowfall from there just as easily without disturbing them. He was making himself a cup of coffee a few minutes later when he heard the sound of little feet coming down the stairs, the rapid patter indicating that someone wasn't following the rules.
He poked his head around the corner to catch sight of the red and white blur that was Miss Maggie Stevens as she practically flew down the stairs. Her destination was clear judging by the intent look on her face as she eyed the living room doorway. He moved to block her path before she could catch Kyle and Isabel by surprise and he smiled when she came to a sudden stop on the third step.
Maggie looked up at Travis with wide eyes and she bit her bottom lip as she slowly turned her head to look over the railing and down the hallway to see if Mama and Daddy were there. After a few moments she relaxed and smiled as she looked at Travis again.
His eyebrows lifted as he watched her and after a few seconds of silence she dropped her gaze and dragged her right foot across the step unconsciously. He bit back a grin as the sound of the jingle bells her mama had sewn onto the toes of her little pointy elf shoes rang out cheerfully. "You must be the Christmas elf I've been hearin' about."
She looked down at herself. "It's me, Mr. Travis. I'm Maggie."
"No." He shook his head. "Can't be. I've seen Miss Maggie before and she's never had one of these snazzy elf outfits on."
Her nose crinkled. "What's snazzy mean?"
"It means bright and colorful, kinda fancy like your elf outfit. I've heard about you, ya know? See, there's this big to-do over at Mr. Tony's place here pretty soon and I hear Santa's gonna be there. There's this pretty lady organizing the whole thing and she's been tellin' everybody about this special little elf that works directly with Santa." He took a step back and looked at her for a moment before nodding. "Yep, that's gotta be you."
"Nuh-uh," she said, shaking her head.
"Oh," disappointment clouded his tone, "so you're not Santa's Chief Elf?"
She studied him for a moment and then giggled. "Mr. Travis, you're funny. You know it's just me. But I do get to help Santa. Isabel said so."
"That's gotta be the most important job there is."
"Oh, yes, and I'm gonna do it real good." She smiled widely and held up her beloved stuffed bear that was now wearing a tiny red hat. "Looky, Mama made it." She shook the toy and the bell sewn onto the end of the hat jingled. "It's just like mine. I'm gonna go show Isabel an' Kyle."
He chuckled at her enthusiastic comment. "Maybe you could help me with puttin' some breakfast together first?"
"Well…" She leaned to the side to try to see around him.
"C'mon," he cajoled, "you know how much you like it when you wake up to breakfast, right? And you guys have a big day today with that rehearsal. Probably wouldn't hurt to make sure everyone's got a full tummy before they get the day started."
"Mama makes the best applesauce pancakes."
"Not too sure about that but I can make blueberry pancakes."
She made a face. "I like the kind with chocolate chips. Daddy tries to make them so they look like animals but they don't really." She took his hand and fell into step beside him, her silver bells jingling with every step and bob of her head. "I think Michael would like chocolate chip pancakes and sausage. Oh, the hot kind though. He likes things sweet an' spicy like Santa does." Her eyes widened and she covered her mouth with her hand as she tried to remember if that was a secret.
Travis held his forefinger to his lips. "The secret's safe with me." He lowered his hand to hold it out to her, his pinky raised. He had grown up with a younger sister so he understood just how sacred little girls held a pinky promise.
"Okay," she said, clearly relieved once the sanctity of the secret had been upheld.
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It was the scent of bacon frying that teased his nostrils and began to lure him from the depths of the most restful sleep he'd had in a long time. He inhaled deeply as he mentally stretched and snuggled back into the warm comfortable spot his body had settled into overnight. His eyelids flickered for a few seconds before his blurry vision slowly began to clear and when it did it landed on the sofa across the room.
He frowned and tipped his head slightly as he studied the sofa that was suspiciously free of its occupant. Beneath the pillow he could feel the arm of the couch and he rubbed his head against it to scratch an itch. He was warm and content, he could smell breakfast cooking, and without thinking much beyond the moment his eyes started to drift closed. It wasn't until he flexed his arm and stretched without conscious thought that he realized the cushions he was so comfortably snuggled into weren't cushions at all.
His heart that had been so calmly beating a moment before suddenly started to pound and he forced his body to obey him and ignore its natural inclination. He could just imagine Isabel's reaction if she woke up and realized that wasn't a reindeer antler poking her in the back. He rolled his eyes and ever so slowly eased his hips back, pushing back into the sofa as far as he could. Please don't let her wake up, he sent a silent prayer to Buddha.
He was vaguely aware of the quiet voices and the muted sounds of dishes clanking together as he began a painfully tense and slow twist and slide to the end of the sofa, hoping to make it off of the couch before she woke up. He froze and held his breath when she shifted and sighed softly as she settled into the spot he had just vacated.
"Buddha, I swear I'll pray more and do better at keeping my soul open to your wisdom if you just get me off this couch with my dignity intact," he muttered under his breath. He was so busy trying to covertly disengage his feet from the covers so he could make his escape that it caught him off guard when something jingled behind him and at the same time Isabel suddenly shifted to sit up.
Isabel frowned sleepily as she braced her forearm along the back of the couch and stared at Kyle. He was perched in an awkward position at the other end and looked like he'd just gotten caught doing something he wasn't supposed to do. "Um… Kyle?"
He moved too quickly and ended up taking a dive rather than making the graceful exit he'd had planned. He landed on his back with a loud thud and for one stunned moment he stared up at the ceiling wondering just how it was he ended up in situations like this. The sound of laughter caught his attention and he turned his head to look at Maggie wearing her elf costume and holding Miss Cindy Bear. His gaze dropped when she shuffled her feet, causing the little bells on the tips of her pointy little toes to jingle.
"Kyle, you're so funny," she giggled.
He flipped over and started a demanding regimen of pushups before this situation managed to move any further from funny than it already was.
"Kyle, are you alright?" Isabel asked as she stood and moved to the end of the couch to look down at him.
"Sure, just doin' my mornin' exercise routine," he panted while keeping up a punishing pace. "I always do pushups right outta bed."
She looked at him skeptically. "Uh-huh, I don't recall that morning routine ever including you taking a swan dive."
"Like you'd know since you're usually still asleep when I get up."
"What's a swan dive?"
She rolled her eyes at him and turned to look at Maggie when the little girl voiced her curiosity. Her eyes shone brightly as she took in the outfit she was wearing. "Oh, wow, your costume is just beautiful."
"I know." Maggie stood even taller and grinned widely. "Mama made it with just her scissors an' needle an' thread." She stuck one foot out and shook it back and forth so that it jingled. "And look, she put jingle bells on my elf shoes too."
Kyle was grateful for the inanity of the Santa's elf costume conversation as he was finally able to haul himself up off of the floor, carefully shifting the waistband on his sweatpants to give him more room. "Think I'm gonna grab a quick shower before breakfast," he said with a grin at Maggie.
"Travis an' me made breakfast an' it's almost done."
He reached out and tugged the jingle bell hidden in the fluffy white ball at the end of her hat. "Sounds good."
"He's keeping them warm in the oven so when everyone gets here they can have hot pancakes."
Isabel smiled at Maggie as Kyle took off for the shower. She finished folding up the blankets and placed them at the end of the couch. "Are you all ready for rehearsal today?"
"Oh, yes! I can't wait for tomorrow when Santa finally comes an' Michael can give him my picture. You 'member the one I made for him of my puppy? He's gonna give it to Santa for me." Her eyes sparkled gleefully and she suddenly switched gears. "Oh, Isabel, may I put in the Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer DVD? Mama lets me do it if it's after nine o'clock. Just not before, that's not allowed." She hurried over to the living room clock, the bells on her toes jingling cheerfully. She stopped and looked up at it, frowning as she tried to make sense of the hands.
Isabel squinted at the clock on the wall and nodded. "Sure you can, just don't turn it up too loud, okay? Your mom and dad aren't up yet."
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Edward would've been hard-pressed to pin down what it was that roused him from a deep sleep. As his fuzzy mind slowly focused he began to identify the sounds of movement in the house: the footfalls coming down the hallway, the sound of the bathroom door creaking as it was opened and shut, and the quiet that reigned now that the wind was no longer howling and causing the windows to rattle. His eyes cracked open just enough to take notice of the gray light that was filtering into the room and heralded an overcast morning. No matter what it was that had woke him the fact was he was awake now.
What day was it?
After a week and a half of waking up alone before the dawn it was a shock to find himself in bed with his Julia sleeping peacefully beside him. He stretched, enjoying the movements, and in spite of the pleasure it gave him to settle against Julia and feel her skin against his, something felt off. There was a nagging thought just beyond his grasp that prevented him from fully enjoying the sight of his wife's deep auburn hair spilling over the ice skate print pillowcase. He rose up on his elbow to peer at the bedside clock, noting the time and day of the week.
Just before nine on Friday morning.
He stared at the hand-carved woodpecker on the windowsill, a gift of apology presented to Julia a couple of summers back. His eyes were locked on it but he wasn't really seeing it as he tried to navigate his foggy mind to latch onto that nagging thought. He sighed and eased back into his warm spot under the covers, his arm settling around Julia's waist.
Ah, it's Friday, he realized. That meant it was rehearsal day for the big Christmas on the Lake event that would take place tomorrow. He frowned. No, that wasn't it.
He rolled onto his back, raising one arm up over his head and under the pillow as he began to tick off the previous day's events. It had been a long one that had started at breakfast when their guests had shown up late for the meal looking like they were coming from a funeral. Especially Liz, he mused. One thought led to another and he frowned as he recalled the night before last. He had been watching when two of them had gotten into a physical confrontation only to be separated by Michael just before the door had closed and hidden them from view. Odd, he thought, if he were to choose which of the boys would be involved in a fight Max would've been his last choice.
His muscles tensed as he remembered Michael's demeanor as he and Maria had walked back to Grandma and Grandpa's cabin later that night. He had waited in the shadows of the garage, watching as Michael had turned and fixed his gaze on him with unerring accuracy. His hand flexed beneath his head as he recalled his intention to finally get some answers from his guests at dinner the night before.
And what had happened to that plan?
He sighed internally as he sorted through the cobwebs of his mind. They'd had dinner, all of his favorite foods and his comfortable recliner in front of the fire after a long day working in subzero temperatures. Later he'd offered to give Isabel a ride over to Mr. Tony's when she'd decided to go and check on Kyle. A ride she had turned down in spite of the excessively cold temperatures. Somewhere in there he'd decided he was gonna take a walk out to his woodworking studio/office to do a little surveillance when… He frowned as he tried to get a grasp on what had happened next.
Of course, he thought and shook his head. Hot chocolate with little marshmallows, magic bars with walnuts, and Julia's shining eyes matching the smile she had turned on when she presented him with all of his favorite treats. He rolled his eyes and expelled the breath he hadn't realized he had been holding in. Bingo, he'd been set up.
He was momentarily pulled out of his thoughts when the bathroom door creaked shut and the bed shifted when the sound caused Julia to stir. "One of these days, woman…" the words died on his lips when the covers slipped to expose her bare shoulder. Her eyes fluttered open and her face eased into a smile that effectively tamped down his annoyance with her obvious meddling tactics the night before.
Julia snuggled back down into the covers, watching Edward's low-lidded eyes as they shifted to settle on her. She wasn't a morning person by any means and she really hoped the look on his face was because he was sleep rather than anything else. Maybe if she just went back to sleep, she thought, snuffling happily as her own eyes became heavy.
"Hey," he said, his voice raspy.
Or not. She stretched just enough to qualify her movements as a stretch. "Hey back." She felt the bed shift beneath her and she watched as Edward moved to lie right next to her. He pulled his hand from under his pillow and reached over to gently run his fingers through her hair.
"G'mornin'." His mind fumbled for what came next. After the past couple of weeks it was almost unprecedented to actually be in bed with her at the same time in the mornings. Here lately it was all about planning Christmas on the Lake, cooking, sewing, and coming up with chores for him to do. "Aren't we late getting up this morning?" he mumbled finally.
"No," she yawned, "we're not late. Rehearsal isn't 'til 11."
He tried to hide his grin as a thought occurred to him. He would be eternally grateful they'd had the master bathroom put in when he and her dad had built the house. "I could run us a shower," he offered, wiggling his eyebrows.
A slow smile crept across her face as she contemplated her wonderful guy's attempt to romance her. She snorted internally at that thought and then moved into a slow pleasurable stretch. "Hmm, not sure I'm so dirty I need a shower this morning," she said with a teasing grin.
His fingers moved from her hair to stroke her shoulder. "Who said anything about you bein' dirty?"
Her eyes locked on his as she bit her bottom lip. "I should probably make breakfast…"
His eyes glinted as they locked on her. "Breakfast is ready and that's not what I'm hungry for," he growled, making her laugh like the young girl he'd met as a teenager. He was reaching out to capture her in his arms when he was suddenly interrupted by his little girl singing along with the television. He unconsciously hummed along with her for a moment and that was all it took to identify the song and the video that had to be playing. We Are Santa's Elves. He'd never be able to get it out of his head now.
Julia smiled and reached for him when he hesitated. Her kiss was slow and enticing. "No worries, she has 16 more songs to go," she whispered as she broke the kiss.
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Maria awoke to the cool air in the cabin and it barely registered that while the air was frosty it wasn't frigid the way it had been the night before. She stretched languorously and inhaled deeply, drawing in the freshest, cleanest breath she'd taken in a long while. Her sleepy gaze traveled over Michael's sleeping form that was wrapped around her. His long muscled legs were draped over hers, effectively keeping her from kicking the covers off and exposing them to the cold.
She smiled at the rasp of his skin against hers as she stretched again just for the enjoyment of it. How long had it been since they had slept together? You could sleep with someone without really sleeping with them. Emotional distance could put miles between a couple no matter how close they were physically. For so long the ghosts of past decisions had haunted them, creating an ever-widening chasm, but they had finally confronted them the night before and laid them to rest. There was something to be said for sleeping without that weight bearing down on your shoulders, she mused as she shifted enough to face him. She reached up to let the tip of her forefinger trail down over his nose. Her thoughts slipped back to last Christmas as she studied him and she shook her head as she remembered part of that conversation.
"Michael, no. I… look, I… I want to, but it's just… We're just gonna wake up tomorrow and things'll be… Like back to how they were.
His expression had been uncomprehending of why that wasn't a good thing. "That's not a problem for me."
She mentally kicked herself. Just what the hell had she been thinking? She retraced her path and rubbed over the frown lines between his eyes, smiling when it eased with nothing more than her touch. No, this was where she wanted to be. It was where she'd always wanted to be. She shifted to run her hand lightly along his jaw line, carrying on the silent one-sided conversation. I'm not going anywhere without you. I'm gonna make you see that every time you look at me.
Her mom's words floated across her mind, gently reminding her once again that Michael had stayed for her and given time he'd come around. Her heart filled to nearly bursting as she reveled in the peace of the night she had spent in Michael's arms. Mom was right, she thought with a smile.
She shifted beneath the covers, loving the way her naked skin felt against his, and fully aware of where his hands were. Especially the one on her hip that slipped lower with her movements and created an instant burn that traveled across her nerve endings at lightening fast speed. The sensation spread to her core and her cheeks flushed deeply.
The quiet mew she gave in response caused Michael to stir and he sleepily opened his eyes. "Hey," he said, his voice gravelly.
She ducked her head. "Hey," her voice expressed the knowing smile on her face. Her hand slid down from his jaw to rest on his shoulder. "That was some talk, huh?"
He flexed the arm beneath her neck, curling it slightly to pull her closer. "Yeah." His dark eyes followed her every move as her hand ghosted over the scar that had been left after Max removed the King's seal. It was something she hadn't done in the past six months.
"I love you, Michael." She dipped her head, placing gentle kisses across the expanse of the scar.
"Maria."
Her heart filled once again in response to her name being whispered in a way that only he could say it. It had been so long since she'd heard it said in just that way. She kissed her way up to his lips and her eyes locked on his as she placed a finger against them to still the words. "I know," she said in a hushed voice.
He watched her, feeling his heart catch when she suddenly smiled and lifted herself up to look around the room. She turned her head and he craned his neck to brush his lips against hers before following her gaze. Maggie's picture, he mused. The yellow puppy she wanted for Christmas. He had stuck it to the fridge with a magnet, the bright orange W that he had flipped around to make an M. He hadn't even realized he had done it until the next time he'd been in the kitchen and seen it.
"Oooh, Michael, it's rehearsal day and you know what that means."
He yawned and slumped back against the mattress, enjoying the view she presented. It was warmer in the cabin but there was still a chill in the air, he thought with a smirk as his gaze dipped lower. It means we're a day closer to pulling out of here. But he didn't vocalize the thought. "It means the Christmas Nazi's gonna be nagging everyone in earshot."
Maria rolled her eyes. "No, it means Santa's near and I can't wait to see Santa."
He couldn't help but smile at the way she jumped from one subject to another, making him think of the happy child she must've been. It was something he had always loved about her – the ability to enjoy life. He caught himself almost smiling from ear to ear and commanded his facial muscles to revert to their default setting – the crooked half-smile that didn't reveal very many teeth. "Yeah, well, he's got the day off. The fat man doesn't do rehearsals." His eyes darkened as he lost control of the grin. "But Snowflake does."
She turned her head to look at him. "Even Santa can't say no to Isabel."
He just snorted. "That's what you think"
"We'll see." He would never make it though the day without being assigned some rehearsal task and they both knew it. "We should head over to Max and Liz's so we can grab a shower."
He took her hand and pulled her down to rest against his chest. "Shower's not goin' anywhere," he murmured.
Maria grinned and leaned in for a short, noisy kiss. "Nope, but if we don't put in an appearance pretty soon we're gonna have a Christmas Nazi pounding on our front door and you know she won't be happy if she has to come get us and then wait while we grab a shower."
He growled deep in his chest, making her laugh when the rumbling sound radiated out and transferred itself to her body.
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Max finished wiping down the countertops with the blue kitchen cloth and then switched to the yellow sponge to scrub out the stainless steel sink, his hands moving on autopilot as his mind saw his mom's kitchen at home. He smiled when he realized he was following her routine after washing dishes when dinner was done. The only thing missing was the rubber gloves and the fake manicured nails. He looked up as the sound of Liz's voice pulled him from thoughts of his mom. Mom, he thought.
He took in his wife's appearance. She was freshly showered and dressed, towel drying her hair as she spoke to him.
"Hey, do you know what time we're supposed to be at the house to get ready for rehearsal?"
He thought back to last evening and shrugged. His focus had been on Liz and getting her to their cabin after all the stress at Kyle and Isabel's cabin. No, if rehearsal time had been mentioned he hadn't even been paying attention. He opened his mouth to reply and was interrupted by a knock at the door. He shot a quizzical look at Liz and then moved to answer the door. The knock came again, sharper and louder this time. He peered through the front window to get a glimpse of who was standing at the door just in time to see Michael take a step back to wrap his arm around Maria. "It's Michael and Maria," he said as he opened the door.
Liz straightened up and smiled, shaking out the towel she had been using to dry her hair as their friends entered. It was clear they were cold but there was a feeling of genuine warmth between them that she hadn't seen in a long time. It had her wanting to get the scoop on what had changed between their ugly fight the night before and this morning. She flashed a look at Max as their friends stomped their boots to free them from excess snow and began to shrug out of their outerwear.
He nodded and looked at Michael. "Hey, so how's it goin'?"
Damn. Just as he had expected, the King and Queen's place was nice and warm, he thought with a smirk. "Cold, Maxwell."
Maria snorted. "I think our cabin's colder than your dad's walkin at the café, Liz."
Michael shook his head. "More like a meat locker, especially the bathroom." He started to insist on using their shower but thought better of it when he looked at his girlfriend. "You think we can borrow your shower?"
Something lifted inside of Liz as she observed her best friend with her boyfriend. She couldn't help but feel the smile that spread across her face. "Sure. I'll get the towels out of the dryer." She looked over shoulder at Maria. "Who's first?"
He stuck his thumbs in his pockets and tipped his head in Maria's direction. "You go ahead. I need to talk to Max."
She nodded. "Yeah, I wanted to talk to Liz anyway." With a soft smile at him she turned to follow Liz from the room.
The guys were silent as they watched the girls disappear through the bathroom door.
"Girls, huh?" Michael's asked, his eyes locked on the doorway Maria and Liz had disappeared through. "Ever wonder what they do in there?"
Max snorted but didn't comment. Instead he thought about his friend's 180-degree turn from the night before. It was obvious something major had changed. It was different from their past we're-over-it-and-getting-back-together sessions. It seemed more like a real reconciliation than a truce the way it had in the past. "So, you and Maria?"
"Yeah."
"What changed?"
Michael rolled his shoulders. "We just went back to our cabin and I told her that we had to talk. That's pretty much it."
Max's eyebrows lifted in astonishment and he just barely managed to stop his jaw from dropping when he caught his best friend's wide grin. He couldn't help the big snort that escaped though. "Coffee?" he offered.
"Sounds good."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Liz watched Maria as she brushed her hair in front of the full length mirror that hung on the bathroom door that had just closed behind Michael. She heard the water come on just as Maria ran her hand through her hair, the recently blow-dried locks slipping through her fingers like shimmering threads of silk. Her thoughts momentarily went back to the stressful evening before. The jealous feelings she'd had in response to learning that Maria had seen her mom came to mind and reminded her of how badly she'd felt afterwards.
But that was last night.
Things had changed. She had felt better after talking to Max earlier. But with the shocking civility of Michael's knock on the door she had known they were all finding their way back together. Watching her best friend walk into the cabin, at ease with Michael in a way she hadn't been in such a long time had caused her heart to lift. She couldn't hold back the smile as Maria put the finishing touches on her appearance.
Maria glanced up and caught Liz watching her and she smiled as their eyes locked in the mirror. "What?"
"So… you and Michael, you guys talked, huh?" she asked with a soft smile.
"Is it that obvious?" She was so happy she could've burst from it. "Yeah, we did."
Liz grabbed one of the decorative pillows and moved to lean back against the headboard as she made a spot for Maria. "So tell me what happened," she said as she patted the mattress. "When you guys took off last night I wouldn't have imagined a conversation in your near future."
"Right?" Maria snorted and joined Liz on the bed. "I don't know exactly. It started out as an argument. Big surprise, right? But at some point I was yelling at him and I realized it was the same old song and dance we'd done a hundred times before. Neither of us was listening or even talking to each other. It was sad, ya know? I was just standing there, looking at him, and all I could think was I wanted more than that for us, if there was gonna be an us." She looked around the room before wiggling around to get comfortable. "I knew before we got back in that van to leave we had to know where we stood with each other. We both knew it, really."
Liz nodded in understanding.
"But we really talked to each other, Liz. Stuff came out that neither of us has wanted to talk about, stuff that we didn't wanna talk about, and when it was finally out, Michael forgave me." She snapped her fingers to demonstrate. "In an instant, just like that." She shook her head slowly. "That weight I feel like I've been carrying around in my heart for hurting him the way I did, it's finally gone. I've never felt so free or so sure of us, and I could kick myself for ever breaking up with him."
Liz shifted and opened her mouth to speak but before she could something fell in the bathroom and after several muffled curses they looked at each other and started to giggle. After several long seconds they calmed and she looked at Maria, her expression serious once more. "Maria, have you ever considered that maybe what you guys went through was necessary to get to a place where you were able to confront the cracks in your relationship?" She watched Maria's features as she mulled over her question.
"You're probably right," she said after several moments of contemplation. "Before last night we couldn't even really fight about it so there's no way we could've really talked about it the way we did." She rolled over to face Liz. "He even brought up Courtney on his own. I didn't even have to prod him or throw it out there after he said something that just pissed me off, which is what usually happens."
She lowered her voice as she continued. "As uncomfortable as it was watching him struggle with his feelings about her, and as much as I was dreading what he was gonna say, in that moment I could just feel how much he loved me. Him being willing to try to talk about it or at least acknowledge what happened with her, it made it so easy for me to just let it go."
Liz thought about the conversation between her and Max when they had finally discussed Zan. Being open with each other had really helped them to find peace, feel hope, accept the past for what it was, and it had allowed them to find their new normal. Yeah, dealing with unresolved issues from the past really was necessary if moving forward was ever going to be an option.
"It sounds like you guys really made some progress this time."
Maria sighed happily. "Yeah, I think we're ready to go when it's time."
They sat up and leaned back against the headboard. "I'm really happy for you guys, Maria."
"Thanks, Chica, I can't tell you how freeing it is to really be with Michael, to finally have that weight off of me." She rolled her eyes. "I don't know why I thought I had to give him up to be me." She shook her head slowly. "All it did was hurt both of us and that's never what I wanted."
"Even though he was hurt, I think deep down he knew that." Liz reached over and took her hand, squeezing it. "And from the looks and sounds of things you guys are on the right path."
"Thanks, I'm happy." Maria's smile faded a bit as she shifted to brush her hair behind her ear, her fingertips momentarily brushing over her naked earlobe. "Liz, about last night, ya know when I was a wreck in the bathroom? I'm sorry you found out I'd seen my mom like that. I know how much you miss your mom."
"It's okay, Maria. I mean, yeah, I miss Mom and Dad so much, but I'm glad you were able to see your mom."
Maria pulled Liz into a hug and rested her chin on her shoulder. "There's one more thing I should tell you. Mom, for some reason she had the pearl earrings Michael gave me for Christmas. Last night I found them in my coat pocket so she must've slipped them in there." She felt her friend tense and she held her tighter. "You're gonna see them again, Chica, I can feel it. Christmas is a time of miracles; we just have to believe it. And I believe it, Liz, now more than ever."
Liz nodded and sniffled quietly. She did believe in miracles and seeing her parents again was probably the biggest miracle she could think of right now. But as much as she believed, she just couldn't see it in the near future.
The silence that fell between them was interrupted by several loud pops in rapid succession followed by muttered cursing.
"Everything's fine, I've got it under control," Michael yelled from the bathroom.
The girls pulled apart to look at each other.
"Do we dare ask?" Liz asked.
"I told him to wipe the shower down after he got out." She covered her face with one hand and shook her head. "I have a feeling he didn't use the method I told him to use."
"What'd he – "
She was interrupted by a loud thud accompanied by yet another round of colorful cursing before he barked out another 'I'm fine'.
Maria used her sleeve to wipe her eyes as she chuckled. "That would be Santa forgetting to put a towel on the floor to step out on."
The door was jerked open and the steam from the hot shower quickly escaped, billowing around Michael as he stood in the doorway, rubbing his head with one hand and holding several of the tiles from the shower wall in the other. "Gonna need the wrangler to wrangle up some reindeer glue for these."
"Did you seriously blow up the shower?" Max asked as he joined them.
"I'm not about to wipe down or squeegee a shower wall." Michael glared at him. "I've never heard anything like that in my life."
"It helps prevent that black furry stuff from growing in your shower. Trust me, Santa, no one likes that." He took the tiles from Michael and shoved him out of the way. "Especially not Mrs. Santa," he said with a meaningful look.
Michael just shook his head and snapped his fingers. "Snowflake, Candy Cane, let's get a move on."
Before the girls had time to respond they heard a familiar thud from the bathroom and just a moment later Max was once again standing in the doorway, his shirt and jeans wet in several spots. "It's not bad enough you blew tiles off the wall, you couldn't even dry the floor?"
Michael looked at him, his gaze moving up and down. "Looks like you've got that under control."
Max ground his back teeth together for a solid minute before he nodded. "I'm tellin' Isabel what you said about reindeer glue. You think you're gonna be untouched by this stupid rehearsal she insists on having today, but you're not."
"Whatever."
"Reindeer glue, Michael."
Liz and Maria collapsed in a fit of giggles as their guys stared each other down without a single hint of animosity or hostility. It was just a show, a flexing of muscles so to speak, and it was just further proof that things were really right between all of them.