Ending Two, Part 11 (or Part 87)
Isabel stretched and yawned widely as she opened her eyes and looked around. She couldn't remember getting home so she knew it must've been late the night before because she was tucked in her own bed in her own bedroom. The sun was streaming in through the windows, the curtains pulled back to let the light in. She got up and blindly felt around the floor with her toes, searching for her fuzzy pink slippers and sighing happily when she found them. She slipped her feet into them and looked down at the bunny faces, smiling when she wiggled her toes and made the little whiskers dance.
She reached for the door that had been pulled nearly closed and jerked her hand back when she felt like she wasn't alone. Suddenly feeling wide awake she slowly turned around and her wide-eyed gaze searched her room. She bit her bottom lip as she paused on her closet and a moment later on the dark space beneath her bed. She waited a moment, her gaze bouncing back and forth between the two possible hiding spaces before she shook the feeling off and hurried out of her room.
She pushed her brother's bedroom door open and walked right in, absentmindedly kicking a basketball across the floor. Her attention was drawn to it when it rolled into the tower built out of an old set of Construx and the creation toppled over, hitting the floor and sending pieces flying everywhere. She rolled her eyes when Max didn't even move at the disturbance. She was just about to jump on his bed and give him a rude awakening when she heard Daddy clearing his throat behind her.
Her features relaxed into pure innocence as she turned to look up at him, giving him the angelic smile she had perfected. "Good morning, Daddy."
Philip's expression softened as he motioned for her to come with him. "Why don't we let Max sleep in this morning and we'll go see what's for breakfast?"
Her hand slid into his as she fell into step beside him. "Do you have to go back to work now?"
"I'll run in to the office for a bit this morning just to make sure the place didn't burn down without me."
She laughed at his comment, knowing he didn't mean it like that. "Daddy, why don't grownups get summer vacation like kids do?"
"Because someone has to pay the bills and you don't get paid for not working," he answered as they stepped into the kitchen. He smiled indulgently when the subject was dropped as she ran over to her mother and nearly lost one of the pink bunny slippers she would deny owning if it ever got out. He chuckled quietly and made himself a cup of coffee, snatching up the morning paper, and settling down at the breakfast table.
He looked up from the stock report when his son came shuffling in, his hair standing on end, one leg of his pajama bottoms hung up around his calf, and yawning widely. "Morning, son." He sipped his coffee and shook his head at the half-asleep, mumbled response the boy gave and went back to perusing the paper.
Isabel glanced at her brother, rolling her eyes at his appearance. "You're such a slob."
"Shut up," he muttered as he leaned against the counter next to Mom.
"You two stop it," Diane said as she handed her son a glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice and sent him over to sit at the table with Philip.
"Mom, can we go to the park today?"
"Well…" she turned the eggs in the pan and glanced at her children when Max posed the question. It was a question she dreaded but she and Philip had discussed it and he was confident they were old enough to walk to the park and spend a little time there on their own. She controlled the urge to roll her eyes when her husband cleared his throat and snapped his newspaper, knowing full well he was trying to get her attention. Men just did not understand things from a woman's perspective. "Alright, but you know you have to check in and you'll need to be home for lunch." And after they did their chores around the house that wouldn't leave them a phenomenal amount of time alone at the park.
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Max kicked a rock across the ground as he followed his bossy sister to the park. He just didn't understand why Mom let her be in charge. He was old enough to be the one in charge, to be the one to decide where they would go to play. But no, Mom said Isabel was in charge so instead of going to the school playground with the cool new slide they were going to the park with the old playground and the same old slide that had been there for as long as he could remember.
"C'mon, Max, you're walking too slow!" Isabel ordered.
"You're not the boss of me," he declared and kicked another rock.
She stopped walking and whirled around to face him as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I am so the boss of you and Mom said you have to do what I say."
"I like the other playground better."
"You just wanna go there 'cause Liz Parker's probably there." She rolled her eyes. She didn't know why her brother was always staring at the other girl but if Liz Parker was anywhere around Max was going to be watching her with that goofy look on his face. "And you've got a crush on her!"
"I like the slide better," he said, shoving his hands in his pockets. So he thought Liz Parker was nice. So what? At least his sister didn't tease him about it in front of anyone else. It was kind of an unspoken rule that he took comfort in.
"Liar, liar, pants on fire!"
He didn't have a comeback. He didn't even know how to respond to her taunt. He could tell he wasn't going to win an argument with her. He never did. He just sighed and gave in when she shot a triumphant smile at him. He couldn't wait until one day when she liked a boy. Not that any boy would ever like her back, he thought as he started to follow her once more. She was so bossy and no boy liked that. He was a boy and he knew he didn't like her when she was all bossy.
Isabel settled into one of the swings while Max went off to the slide and she wrapped her hands around the chains and dug her toes into the sand as she pushed herself. She loved the swings, loved the feeling of freedom as she flew through the air. The sky was a perfect shade of blue, the few trees scattered around the playground leafy and green, and the air was warm against her skin. The chains creaked as she began to swing in earnest and she closed her eyes as she turned her face to the sun.
She felt that itchy sensation at the back of her neck and her eyes snapped open. She scanned the playground carefully, certain that someone was watching her. She lowered her legs, letting the toes of her shoes drag through the sand to slowly bring her to a stop. Her gaze sought out Max and she spotted him sitting at the top of the slide, his legs dangling over the sides and swinging through the air. Her senses were tingling as she stood and walked over to the slide, climbing up the steps to stand behind her brother.
"What're you doin' now?" he asked, annoyed when she came up and started crowding him.
"Don't you feel it?"
"Feel what?" He scowled and rubbed the back of his neck. "Quit breathin' on me!"
"I think he's here."
Max paused, his irritation with his sister temporarily forgotten as he turned his head to look at her. "The man in your dream?"
"I think he was in our house, Max. I had that weird feeling when I got up this morning, like he had been there. It's the same feeling that I got when I had the dream."
He frowned. "How come you didn't say anything to Mom an' Dad?"
"I don't know."
"Did you touch stuff an' see him?"
She chewed on her thumbnail. "No. But you get the flashy things more than I do. Maybe when Mom goes to the store later you can try."
He made a face. "Mom won't buy the good cookies if we don't go with her."
"This's more important than your stupid stomach, Max!"
"Okay, but if she doesn't buy the good ones it's gonna be your fault and I'm not gonna talk to you no more."
"Good."
From his hiding place Michael watched them and shook his head. The success of his mission rested on the shoulders of these two children. What the hell was the Granolith thinking? He should've thought to insist on Maria accompanying him on this mission prior to her being returned to her universe. She knew what to do with children, how to talk to them, and he was sure these two would've been a lot more comfortable with her than him.
He watched them a while longer before deciding this wasn't the right moment. The playground was too open and surrounded by nice little houses with nosy people peering out the windows or looking over their perfectly-trimmed hedges to monitor what was going on around them. He was going to have to wait a little longer.
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Max moved around the living room, picking things up, touching things, and trying to find anything that would indicate that a stranger had been in their house. He'd done the same thing in his bedroom and in Isabel's and so far nothing had yielded the desired result. Isabel was following him around, hanging over his shoulder and bossing him like she always did.
"Hurry up, Max. Mom's gonna be home soon!" Isabel said impatiently.
He smirked and intentionally slowed his pace just to annoy her. He had been trying to get a flash from things since Mom had left to go to the grocery store instead of watching cartoons and he was ready to quit. "This's stupid, Iz."
"Just keep going. He was in our house so he had to touch something."
He stepped up on the hearth in front of the fireplace and held onto the mantle as he stretched up on his tiptoes to touch the pictures there. His fingertips brushed over the frames one at a time as he moved down. He stared at the back of his hand as he shifted further down, barely paying any attention because he was tired of this and wanted to go watch cartoons before they went off for the afternoon.
Isabel jumped backwards when Max suddenly jerked his hand away from the picture he had been touching. Her right hand shot out without thinking and the handful of pictures he had knocked over floated to the ground where they settled without breaking. "It's that one," she said excitedly as she pointed to the one of her brother and dad standing next to their car. "That's the one you were touching!"
Max momentarily forgot about his annoyance with her for being taller than him and he reached for the picture when she held it out to him. He looked up as the room around him shifted into shadowy darkness and his heart started to pound when he saw the man standing there holding the picture. His face was caught in the moonlight coming in through the window across from the fireplace and Max stood frozen to the spot when the man looked up before replacing the picture on the mantle and walking out of the room.
Isabel watched her brother as he held onto the picture and started to walk to the doorway. She hurried to follow him and she remained silent when he went into the kitchen and stood there, staring. She turned her head when she heard a car and she ran to look out the living room window. When she saw Mom she ran back to the kitchen and grabbed her brother's shoulder. "Max! Max, Mom's home."
He released the picture when she tugged on it and they rushed into the living room, righting the pictures and throwing themselves on the floor in front of the television just as the front door opened. "Think you can try the dream thing tonight?" he whispered.
She nodded. "Maybe I can make the connection using the picture since we know he touched it."
"I gotta be there too, Iz. He looked scary."
"He was kinda scary but I think he's sad too, Max. Really sad but I don't know why."
He made a face. "I think he's just scary."
She shrugged, unconcerned with her brother's opinion. "We'll try it tonight."
"Max, Isabel, why don't you two come give me a hand with these groceries," Diane called as she walked into the living room and saw them lying on the floor watching cartoons. "Once everything's put away we'll have a snack."
That was all the incentive Max needed.
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Michael walked past the fountain at the entrance to the city park, restlessness keeping him on the move. He had gone back to the hotel after leaving the playground but he hadn't been able to sit still. He had finally given up trying and decided to go for a walk. He needed to get the kids alone so he could talk to them but so far the right opportunity hadn't presented itself. He knew he had to handle the meeting the right way because they were nine years old and he was a 25-year-old man. It wouldn't look right for a man his age to be caught talking to a couple of children. He sighed and rubbed his hand over his face. He hated complications.
He drew up short when a kid on a skateboard cut across his path and he cursed out loud. He reached out and grabbed the boy by the back of his shirt, jerking him off of his skateboard and hauling him around to look at him face-to-face.
"Hey man, hands off!" the teenager yelled.
"Watch where you're goin' you little sonofabitch," Michael snarled. "Come by me again and I'll shove that skateboard up your ass." He shoved the kid away and smirked to himself when he snatched the board up and ran across the street, shooting a furtive glance over his shoulder as if he was afraid he might be following.
"That wasn't a very nice thing to say."
He looked down at the little girl standing there with a plastic dish of ice cream and the angry response died on his tongue when she trained a pair of deep green eyes on him. He simply shrugged when he couldn't come up with a suitable response. "You live around here?"
"Do you?" she countered and sat down on a nearby bench. "'Cause I've never seen you before and I know everybody in Roswell."
He lifted an eyebrow at that. "Everybody?" he echoed.
She wrinkled her nose and shifted around to settle back against the bench. "Mostly everybody." She shrugged. "But I don't know you." She looked up at him when he didn't introduce himself. "Who are you?"
"Just visiting."
"You have friends here? Family? Or are you just here to see the aliens?" She took a bite of her ice cream and studied him thoughtfully.
His lips quirked up in the barest of smirks at her inquisitive questions. "You have aliens here?"
"Duh," she said and rolled her eyes. "It's Roswell." When he didn't say anything she shrugged. "They're not really real but my best friend Liz, she has a picture of one."
"A real one?"
She laughed and shook her head. "It's this really funny looking thing that she says is an alien. She tells people her grandma took the picture before the crash got cleaned up by the government. People always believe her though 'cause she can keep a straight face when she's tellin' that story. I know better though."
He watched her and after a few minutes he sat down at the opposite end of the bench. "Sounds like you're pretty smart."
"Uh-huh, I am." Her tone was matter-of-fact and she fell silent as she finished her ice cream. "I gotta go now. My mom and me are gonna go to a movie and then we're go home and make pizza. Mom makes the best homemade pizza. One day when I'm all grown up I get to have her secret recipe. I just hope I make it as good as she does." She slid down off of the bench and dropped the plastic dish and spoon in the trash. "Bye," she waved as she took off down the street.
He leaned back against the bench and watched her until he disappeared from sight. Even knowing how small the town was he hadn't expected to run into a nine-year-old Maria. Even as a child she was opinionated and talked a mile a minute. There were six years difference in their ages in the current timeline and he knew she was going to drive his 15-year-old self to the edge of insanity. He had known it before but now… oh, she was going to make him crazy.
He got up and against his will his thoughts went back over the conversation he'd had with her. His mind slipped back to his own kitchen and his Maria rolling out dough for a pizza. She had told him it was her mom's recipe, rolling her eyes and admitting that some of the spicier ingredients were her own additions when he had snorted. She had taken his beer from him, stolen a quick sip, and then handed it back before giving him a teasing grin and going back to work on the pizza.
He wondered if she would be as good a cook in his universe. He shook himself, pushing the memory away. He couldn't afford to get lost in the past… future… whatever. He left the park and headed back to the hotel. He would have something for dinner, try and work out a plan for meeting the kids, and then catch some shuteye. And if he happened to catch up with Maria while he was sleeping, well, there wasn't much he could do about that, was there?