Family Tree

By Danielle

Disclaimers: I don't own any of the fictional characters portrayed within this fic. If you even recognize where they're from I give you mad props, G. (Sorry- that was my Dupe imitation.)

Notes: I have this strict policy- don't question where your ideas come from, just write them. This may be odd, but go with it. I hope it's fun. This one's for Karen. I think she'll know why.

"Okay, what the hell were you thinking, exactly?"

"Me? I was just trying to get us out of yet another weird situation. A thank you would be appropriate."

Michael glared at the girl who was slipping on her antennae before heading out to her mid-Saturday morning shift. God she infuriated him! "How is going out to breakfast with Max's boss getting us out of a sticky situation?"

"Hello, Michael, in case you didn't notice, the guy likes me, which is more than I can say for you lately. He asked me to lunch yesterday, and I didn't exactly say no. So when he came in this morning all pissed off that we were invading the UFO museum at 7:30 am, I thought it wise to distract him. And it worked. A lot better than telling him Rath was your twin brother from New York."

Michael crossed his arms over his chest. "I just don't understand how you can justify cheating on me like that."

Maria's eyes bugged out of her head. "WHAT? ME? Cheating on you? Do you even remember Courtney?"

He cleared his throat and looked at his feet. "That was different."

"Oh yeah? How? Oh wait, that's right! I didn't sleep with Brody."

Michael stalked closer, pointing his finger at her. "I did not sleep with Courtney and you know it."

"Oh do I? You said you didn't but can I believe you? Who else are you lusting after these days, Michael? Or is it just Rath who has the hots for my best friend?"

He looked incredulous. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Rath made a move on Liz yesterday. And she thought it was you, but conveniently refrained from mentioning it to me. So I'm asking you Michael, is it only your double that wants to "kick it" to Liz or are you secretly hoping to do the same?"

Michael nearly choked on his own laughter. "Liz? Are you serious?"

"Yes, I'm serious. You and Rath have the exact same gene pool. What's to prevent you from suddenly deciding you want Liz now that she and Max have broken up?"

Michael grasped her lightly by the shoulders and looked into her eyes. "Maria. Read my lips. I do not now, nor have I ever wanted Liz Parker. Got it? Besides you can't just judge a person by their genes, Maria. It's what the person does with them that counts."

She raised one eyebrow skeptically. "Oh really? And what exactly does that mean?"

He thought for a minute how to phrase his latest revelation. "Well, take you and your mother for example."

She ground her teeth together already not liking where this was going. "What about us?"

"Well, you and your mom are a lot alike. You're both… beautiful and spunky and… well you get the idea. But you're quirky, where as your mom… well, she's kind of kooky, Maria."

"Don't you dare insult my mother, Michael Guerin. You know nothing about the kind of people I come from, and as far as I'm concerned I'd be lucky to turn out anything like her!" She spun on her heel and instead of heading into the restaurant she headed out the back door to get some air. She was more than a little surprised when Michael joined her moments later.

"What do you mean you'd be lucky to turn out like her? Do you want to have a baby too young and end up stuck in Roswell forever?"

"Hey, as far as I'm concerned it'd be a hell of a lot better than my other alternatives."

"Which are?"

She turned her back to him. "Just go away Michael. I don't want to talk about this anymore."

"Why not? Are you hiding some deep family secret from me? Is there something I should know about?"

"Don't you know when to quit, Michael? Argument over- you win. Go home."

Again he grasped her shoulders gently, this time spinning her around to face him. He wiped away the stray tears that had started to fall. "What is it, Maria? What's so bad? Is it something about your dad?"

She took a deep breath. "You really want to know?" At his nod, she continued. "Okay, fine. I don't know too much about my father's family but what I do know is I never want to turn out like any of them."

"Why not?"

"Well, lets see, as if being the kind of guy who'd run out on his family isn't enough of a stupendous trait to leave me with, my dad also saddled me with some fabulous relatives."

"So? At least you have some. What's so bad about them?"

"What's not so bad, you mean. Let's see, first off, there's my Uncle Roy DeLuca. See my dad's family all grew up in New York, and my grandfather died when my dad was really little. My Uncle is 10 years older than my dad is, and Roy was about 13 at the time. So without a father around, he started to get into gangs. Eventually he got kicked out of school, and started running drugs and stuff for the Mafia. That's right, my uncle was in the mob. He was working for some guy named Frank Smith, trying to assassinate some politician when he finally got busted. They threw him in jail for 20 years. He turned states evidence against the guy that he was working for, making him not only a criminal and a hit man, but a snitch, too. They used to let him out every once in a while on furlough and he'd go visit his daughter, my cousin Hannah. Who he'd pretty much left abandoned by getting arrested. Of course, he lied to her and told her that he was in the FBI and that was why he had to go away all the time, but hey, what's one more little thing like lying to your kid on top of that list?"

She stopped for breath and Michael took the opportunity to interject. "Maria…"

"Oh no, wait, Michael, it gets better! Then there's my Aunt Kit. See after Uncle Roy got thrown in prison, my grandma moved my dad and his big sister, Kit out here to Roswell. Things were okay for a while, until Kit got pregnant at the age of 16, and ran away to LA to have an abortion. She stayed there and started doing drugs. The money my grandma sent her wasn't enough, so guess what she did, Michael. That's right, she became a prostitute! I remember when I was little she used to call up sometimes and beg my dad for money. Of course we didn't have any, so she never really had any use for us. If some friend of hers, Vivian, I think, another prostitute, hadn't married some millionaire about a year after my dad left then she'd probably be dead by now. Her friend threw her into rehab, and when she got out she basically supported my Aunt. Still does as far as I know. "

She took another breath, and this time Michael was smart enough to let her finish. "And then there's my dad. Good old Bobby DeLuca. Who knocked my mother up his senior year of high school, married her and basically sponged off her for 7 years until he got tired of us and took off with some 19 year old stripper named Bambi. Who knows where he is now, cause we haven't heard from him since. See what shining examples of the human race I have to look up to, Michael? Good thing you dumped me when you had the chance. I could turn out just like them. Or I could be lucky and turn out like my mother who has worked her ass off to make up for a stupid mistake she made when she was 16 years old. She loves me Michael, and she'd never let me down. I wish I could say the same for you."

She took a deep breath and wiped at her eyes, which had started overflowing with tears the minute she started talking about her father's family. Michael was speechless. He hadn't known any of the things Maria had just told him. Why couldn't he have left it alone?

"Maria, you'll never turn out like them. Never."

"Oh, and how do you know that, Space boy?"

"Because, look at who you are. You are a good kind person, you care for and watch out for your friends, you work hard to help your mother, and you have goals and dreams. Anyone with any kind of hope like yours could never turn out like that. And besides, you don't really know any of them, including your father. There could be some good in them, reasons why they did what they did. Even if there isn't, just because you have their name doesn't mean you'll make their mistakes. It's the same with Isabel and Lonnie- just because this Vilandra chick that they used to be betrayed the rest of us doesn't mean Isabel will. And I don't have the hots for Liz. I am nothing like Rath. I mean look at the guy's hair for one…"

At that, Maria burst out laughing. "You are not one to talk about anyone's hair, Michael."

He smiled knowing that he'd cheered her up a little. "Hey- at least I never grew sideburns like his. I mean the guy looks like Mr. T."

Maria cackled with laughter, so he continued. "And could he pierce any more body parts? God, I cringe just thinking about it."

Maria's laughing died out, and she looked up at him, a somber expression on her face. "Are you sure I won't turn into a bad seed and let everyone down?"

He smiled at her. "I'm positive. And I'll help you. I'll make sure you don't become your family if you make sure I don't become anything like mine."

A slight grin appeared on Maria's face as she turned to head back into the Crashdown. "Oh I don't know, maybe you could be a little more like Rath. The tattoos were cool."

Michael shrugged. "Yeah they were okay, I guess."

"And I wouldn't mind one or two strategically placed piercings. After all, Mikey G, they're all about the stimulation!" she said sarcastically, mocking the dead skin that she had disliked so much.

"Stimulation? I'll show you stimulation!" He mercilessly began tickling her, and her laughter could be heard echoing through the back room.

In the front of the restaurant, Amy DeLuca smiled hearing the happy noises. She was glad Maria had found someone who could make her smile. Their family tree, and Michael's too from what she understood, could use a little happiness. Smiling, she took the money Jeff Parker had just given her for her latest batch of pies and headed back to her shop, happy to work at becoming the kind of woman she hoped her daughter could respect and look up to some day.

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