Liz's stomach was in knots. She was panicking about what to say to Michael. Happiness and fear were jumbled up and she felt like she might throw up.
Michael looked around before blowing up a bolder. Liking the feeling of releasing some anger.
"Tell me everything, Liz. Tell me about him. Tell me why you didn't call." As he demanded answers his voice got louder. "Tell me why you kept him from me?"
"Calm down." She tried to swallow back her fear.
Michael chuckled to himself. "Calm down." He repeated to himself. He shook his head. "Liz."
"I was scared, Michael." Liz finally answered. "I was running from Max!" She wanted to tell him about how she felt about him and skipped it. "I'd SLEPT with you before leaving. I got pregnant and I wanted to call. I thought of Max and it scared me. What would Isabel and Kyle think? Max would have killed us. I wanted to keep Parker safe. How could I tell you without telling them?" Liz had lost control and cried through her explanation.
Michael pushed down his sympathy. "I have a son, Liz! I should have known about him."
"But-"
"No, Liz. I should have known. I don't care. I'd have dealt with Max. And it wasn't Isabel or Kyle's business!" Michael got up and paced for a minute before speaking again. "What does he know about me? Tell me about HIM." No matter how angry he still was, Parker was more important now.
Liz's stomach and heart warmed. Michael already loved Parker and that meant the world to her. She wiped her tears as she started to talk, "Parker was born on June 16th." She smiled, looking up to see him in the eye. "The infamous Bloomsday. I knew that it was a sign. I had to name him after something in that blasted book of yours. You'd want it that way. Parker for my parents," and for YOU, she thought, "and James for Bloomsday. I, um gave him your last name. I hope you don't mind. Ava mindwarped the Doctors and nurses to think you were signing his birth vertificate."
Michael fumed. "She shouldn't have done that."
Liz swallowed. "I'm sorry."
"It should have been me, Liz."
"I'm sorry, Michael. I don't know how many times I have to say it. I can't turn back time. What-"
"You can't do anything, Liz. Just keep going."
Liz nodded and hesitated for just a second before starting again, "We started to notice almost from the start that he was different. He learns fast. He started to crawl at 7 months and was stainding by 10 months. He can speak clearly and does it a lot for only being a little more than 2 yrs old. He would touch me and I would get a flash on one of his memories. Moments later, he would toach a paper, the counter, anything really and an image would appear. He creates pictures. He actually taught me how to do it. Ava and I had to work with him from birth with his temper. One bad tantrum and our vases and lamps would break. He had a bad ear infection when he was 1 but nothing else. He's usually very healthy. He loves attention. He loves the color green at the moment. He listens to music non stop and loves when we read to him."
Michael let his guard down and twitched a smile while listening to Liz describe his son. "I want to know more."
Liz nodded. "He won't watch any of the new shows. I can't get him to watch The Wiggles, Sponge Bob or even Barney. He loves the classics. Ava has The Thundercats on DVD. He loves that show. He loves Xmen, Spiderman and for some reason the Rugrats got mixed in there." She shook her head remembering something. "And he found what The Simpsons are. I won't let him watch it but he's really sneaky," she looked at Michael staight in the eyes and added, "like his father."
Michael ignored Liz's look and motioned for her to continue.
"Um, he hates when we talk to him like he's a baby. He absolutley hates it. Can't stand anyone talking down to him. He wants people to talk to him like an equal. My co workers love him. Of course they think he's some kind of genious. When he talks he has this way of making you listen to him. He doesn't force anything on you. It's not mind control but if he saod something to a stranger, they'll look at him like he's a wise old man." She laughed at the times Parker had done just that to people at the grocery store. "But even with all those characteristics, he's still just a 2 year old at hart. He loves to play, to learn, to be loved. He's so innocent, Michael. So loving and so loveable." With tears in her eyes, she tried again, "I am sorry, Michael. I look at Parker everyday and it hurt to know that you didn't know him because I knew you'd love him. I did nothing but watched him grow. Anyone would be lucky to know him. I'm sorry I took that away from you. I was selfish to tll you the truth. I was trying to keep something or someone for nobody but myself. Parker was all mine and I'm trully sorry for that. I can't take back what I did." She kept him to herself because it was the only part of Michael she could keep.
"I have to find a place to stay. I'm staying put Liz. I'm not going anywhere. From now on, I'm staying with Parker."
She nodded and without a thought her mouth opened, "You can stay with us Michael." Her eyes grew wide as she realized what had come out.
"I don't think that's smart. That actually might be dangerous." She thought she saw something cross his eyes but it was gone just as fast as it had appeared.
"Look, if you don't want to stay with us, you can stay with Ava. She watches Parker on the days I work. I know Parker will want to have you close." She knew she'd spoken the magic words.
He nodded.
"Follow me home." She walked to her car and as soon as her door was closed, she called Ava.
"What's up?" Ava answered on the second ring just as she had turned on her engine.
"Remember how much you love me."
She could already see Ava looking up at the ceiling and shaking her head in frustration. "What did you do?"
Liz concentrated on driving for a sec to get enough balls to tell Ava what she'd done. "Well, I sorta gave Michael the ok to live with you."
Liz closed one eye and waited for the explosion.
"What?"
"Well, he wouldn't live with me. And I really messed up Ava. I want him close to Parker. Come on, you know Parker will throw a fit and feel abandoned if Michael didn't stay close. This made sense. Come on, please. It won't be for long. He wants to find an apartment. Maybe he'll find something in the complex." She knew Ava would agree but she wanted her friend to understand and be ok with the decision.
"Ugh. I love you, you know that. I know you're right. And I know how you are. I'm not surprised you offered but I didn't think he'd refuse to live with you." Ava was quiet and Liz didn't say anything because she knew Ava was trying to calm herself. "Did you tell him?"
Liz inhaled deeply and acted stupid. "Told him what?"
"Told him that you've been in love with him for the last 2 years. That when you came to me you were at your worst, that you drank yourself to sleep for nearly a month, that you-"
"Stop it, Ava!" Liz hated remembering herself that way. "That was the past. I made some mistakes. I don't love him anymore. That was over a long time ago. I'm over it. He doesn't need to know a thing and you better not speak a word of it." She let her voice sound threatening.
"You don't scare me Liz. And it's not over. You still love him, whether you want to admit it or not."
Tears spilled over Liz's face and she cussed at herself. She didn't want to relive the past. The first year of leaving her friends were the worst she'd ever experienced. She'd become an alcoholic, she'd become angry and weak. Nobody but Ava, she hoped, would ever know about it.