Part 3

"Ok, here’s what I’m thinking. You’ll love it, it’s so simple. You just tell him, and then let nature take over. Once Max knows it was all a sham there’s no force in the universe that will be able to keep him from Liz," Maria said, clearly proud of herself. Kyle looked at her skeptically.

"That’s it? That’s your big plan? I’m just supposed to walk up to Max, say ‘Hey there, you know how you saw Liz and me in bed together? Well, we never actually did the deed, it was all a show so that you and Liz would break up and avoid the destruction of the world.’ Are your serious Maria?" Kyle asked. Maria reached over and patted him on the shoulder, winking at him.

"I knew you’d understand. Now, go at it," Maria said, motioning him to walk over to Max’s booth. Kyle shot her a dark glare.

"I think I’m going to need to think of a better way to approach this first," he said. Maria nodded, then leaned closer.

"Ok, just don’t take too long," Maria reminded him. Kyle nodded and slid off the stool, shaking his head as he sat back down in the booth across from Tess. She looked at him curiously and he shook his head, indicating he didn’t want to talk about it. Kyle still felt overwhelmed at what Maria had recruited him to do and he was still uncertain with his course of action when Liz came out from behind the kitchen, walking towards Max, her order pad ready. They were right behind him, so he could hear their conversation clearly.

"Hey Max."

"Hey."

"So, can I, um, get you anything?"

"Just some Saturn Rings."

"Ok."

Kyle listened as Liz’s pen scratched on her order pad and her shoes squeaked as she pivoted to turn away. Then Max’s voice stopped her.

"Liz, are you ok?"

"Yeah, Max, I’m fine. Thanks."

With those words Liz walked away. And Kyle’s decision was made for him. He’d known Liz Parker all his life, he’d even dated her for a few months. He might not know every secret there was to know about her, Max clearly held the title of that minus one grave indiscretion, but he did know when she was obviously unhappy. And when she’d said she was fine, there was no way she was. And he realized that Max was the only one who could fix the hurt she was feeling.

"Kyle, what is going on?" Tess asked, waving her hand in front of his face. Kyle blinked and looked up, finding her eyes concerned. It took only a few seconds for him to decide a little alien help might be in order.

"I’ll tell you later, when we get home," he promised. Tess nodded, looking satisfied that he would let her in on the secret later on and Kyle breathed a sigh of relief. Of all the people he’d wanted to tell, Tess was one of them. He knew he had no reason to feel guilty, but sometimes he did. Tonight, he’d tell her before their dinner with his dad and Maria. His mind wandered off, contemplating what a dinner with the four of them was for.

Maria knocked on the Valenti door at fifteen minutes after six, still dressed in her Crashdown uniform. The door opened quickly and the sheriff smiled at her. She found it easy to smile back, Jim Valenti had proven himself to be a valuable person to have around in the last few months. Plus, Maria couldn’t be more pleased with how happy he made her mom. He opened the door wide and ushered her in, taking her coat and hanging it on the hook by the door.

"Dinner is almost ready. Why don’t you join Kyle and Tess in Tess’ room?" Jim suggested. Maria nodded and walked down the hall, laughing to herself that Kyle’s room had somehow managed to become Tess’. She had to give it to Kyle, his generosity was occasionally surprising. She came to the door and found it closed. She knocked quickly before opening it.

"It’s Maria, please don’t let me find you two practicing any inter-species mating . . ." Maria trailed off. She walked into the room and found Tess with her arms crossed, staring out the window, her face registering shock. And Kyle was sitting on the bed, leaning his elbows on his knees. He looked up at Maria.

"She knows."

Maria threw her hands up in the air.

"No Kyle, I said tell MAX. Not TESS. M-A-X looks, sounds and is nothing like T-E-S-S," Maria said sarcastically, though inside she was terrified. Tess had made it her business to break up Max and Liz when she’d come to Roswell. What would she do now?

"Don’t worry about me Maria. I want to do anything I can to bring Max and Liz back together," Tess said softly. Kyle stood up and walked over to her, putting an arm around her shoulders as she turned around. Maria was speechless at the unspoken communication between them as their eyes met and the Tess looked over at Maria.

"I know I’ve done nothing but wreck Liz’s life since I came to Roswell, but I promise you, all I want to do is help her. She did this amazingly generous thing that I’m not sure I ever could have done for someone I didn’t even like," Tess replied. Maria nodded.

"I’m not sure any of us would have been able to do what she did," Maria admitted. Kyle rubbed his hands together.

"Ok, so how should we bring these lovebirds back together?" Kyle asked. Before they could come up with a plan, Jim called them to the table and they quickly went, sitting around the table. Maria was frustrated, she wanted to tell Max soon so that he and Liz wouldn’t have to suffer any longer. Her mind wandered as Jim asked questions about school and she nodded in all the right places though she anxiously wanted the dinner to be over. And she still didn’t even know why the sheriff had asked her over in the first place.

"I guess you kids are wondering why I wanted us all to have dinner," Jim said, putting his fork down. Kyle and Tess glanced at each other, then at Maria and all three nodded. Jim cleared his throat.

"This might make me seem old fashioned, but I felt I needed to clear something with all of you, but most importantly with Maria," Jim turned to face Maria, who was seated to his left. Maria finished chewing the chicken in her mouth and looked at him with a mixture of expectancy and curiosity.

"Maria, I’d like your permission to ask your mother to marry me."

Maria froze like a statue, her eyes locked on Jim’s. She looked for any hesitation, any uncertainty, any sign of a joke. She thought of all the ways she could respond, of all the flippant answers, of all the silly jokes she could make.

But then, all she could think was: he makes her so happy.

And then she smiled, finding tears in her eyes. She reached up and wiped them away, noting the concern on Jim’s face as he looked at her. And she took the box of kleenex Kyle offered her, finding Kyle’s eyes also filled with concern.

"You have my permission and my blessing."

Jim literally sagged back against his chair in relief, and then he surprised her by standing up and pulling her up with him and into a tight hug. Maria was still for a minute, and then she relaxed. She never would have thought that she would ever be seeing the sheriff as her future family, not until he’d changed their lives in little under a year. And even though she wasn’t used to the sheriff hugging her, she looked forward to when it wasn’t something that surprised her. When Jim finally pulled back, he seemed a little embarrassed, but she gave him a reassuring smile. She stepped back and turned to find Kyle standing nearby, a smirk on his face. He held his arms open wide.

"Hey sis," he teased. Maria laughed and hit him lightly on the arm. They all laughed and then sat back down at the table. Jim took a deep breath.

"What’s the matter Dad? You look a little flushed," Kyle said, grinning at his father. Jim just grinned and then settled his elbows on the table.

"I wanted to clear it with you kids first, before I ask Amy. Because it will affect you all, very much. And I know that I need to talk to Tess, Max, Isabel and Michael before I ask Amy," Jim said. Tess looked surprised.

"Why? Why do you have to talk to us first? You shouldn’t have to have our permission to marry Mrs. DeLuca," Tess replied. Jim smiled at her, then reached out and took her hand, squeezing gently. Maria watched with interest, she hadn’t noticed how close Jim and Tess had gotten.

"It would be nice if that were true, but I do have to talk to the alien contingent of Roswell first. Because it will be diffcult to keep everything a secret from Amy if we are married and living together. Besides, I don’t really want to continue lying to her, but I will if you kids don’t want to tell her," Jim said. Tess nodded in understanding, then she looked at Maria.

"What do you think Maria? Will she be ok with it?" Tess asked. Maria was surprised at Tess’ honesty, and her question, addressed to her. Maybe she’s underestimated Tess. She waved her hand in the air.

"Are you kidding? It’ll just be confirmation of something she’s always thought had to be true. You’re talking about a woman who owns an alien-themed shop," Maria pointed out.

"Yeah, but living in a town that is alien crazy and knowing that there are aliens living in your town are two very different things. We need to make sure none of them are in danger," Kyle said, his eyes on Tess the entire time. Maria watched as Kyle took Tess’ other hand and she felt a twinge of jealousy at the sight of Tess, so vividly protected by Kyle and Jim. It was amazing, how they’d brought her into their lives and made her family. And as Tess smiled at both men, her face reassuring, she then looked at Maria.

"It’s fine with me. I can’t speak for the others, but I agree that she needs to be told," Tess said. Then she stood up and picked up the phone. Jim looked at her.

"Who are you calling?" he asked.

"Max and Isabel," she paused, seeing Jim’s blank look. "We should ask them tonight, don’t you think? Then you can ask Amy right away."

Jim shook his head in amazement, finding more and more to be thankful for that Tess had come into their lives. Kyle met Maria’s eyes and she knew he was thinking the same thing she was. Their lives had just become more complicated, but only in a way that was indescribably good.

"Max, it’s Tess. Can you and Isabel come over here as soon as possible? Great. Yeah, I’m at home. Pick up Michael on your way too, we have something to talk about. No, it’s not bad, it’s actually good for once. Ok, see you soon."

Tess hung up and walked back to the table.

"They’re on their way."

"What’s going on?" Michael asked, leaping into the jeep behind Max and Isabel. Max shifted into first and pulled the car away from Michael’s apartment building, the tires squealing a little. Isabel waited for Max to answer, to explain, but he stared straight ahead, his expression unreadable. Sighing, she turned around in her seat to look at Michael.

"Tess called and said we needed to go to the sheriff’s right away. Something that we all need to discuss. That’s it," Isabel supplied. Michael nodded once, quickly understanding why Max was quiet. Max’s behavior had turned more than sullen, down to depressed in the last few months, ever since the whole mess with Kyle back in October. Michael had heard the rumors about Liz and Kyle, but even he hadn’t believed it. He hadn’t tried to talk to Max about it and he was more than shocked that Max would even believe that Liz would ever sleep with Kyle. Max didn’t want to talk about it and Michael almost preferred it that way. Things were less complicated.

"We’re here," Max said, parking the car in the driveway. They climbed out and walked to the front door. Michael started when the door swung open to reveal Maria.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. Maria gave him a wry smile.

"Get used to it Spaceboy," she replied. Tess ushered them in and over to the living room where she joined Kyle on the couch. Isabel and Maria joined them and Michael slouched in the armchair. The sheriff was pacing around in front of the TV while Max stood on the other side of the room, his hands shoved in his pockets. Finally, Jim turned around and met the eyes of six expectant teens. He rubbed his chin nervously before speaking.

"I know you’re all wondering why you’re here. I’ve decided to ask Amy DeLuca to marry me," Jim said. Michael immediately looked up at Maria and he found a happy smile on her face. Max met Isabel’s eyes and then they looked back at the sheriff.

"That’s great sheriff, congratulations. But what does it have to do with us?" Max asked.

"As I explained to Tess, Maria and Kyle, if Amy says yes, the five of will be living together. There’s no way we’ll be able to keep the secret of you four a secret. She won’t understand what is going on if we don’t tell her, so I’d like your permission to tell Amy the truth," Jim said. Isabel looked up, meeting the sheriff’s eyes.

"Sheriff, would you mind giving us a minute?" she asked. Jim nodded and headed for the den, leaving the teens alone. Isabel stood and walked to the window.

"What do you think?" Maria asked. Michael shook his head.

"I don’t know. How many people are we going to tell? The more people we tell, the more dangerous it gets," Michael asked. Kyle leaned forward.

"When has it backfired? Of all the people who know, none of them has brought on danger because they knew, because they told someone," he said. Maria fixed Michael with a stare.

"Are you saying my mother can’t be trusted?" she asked. Michael shook his head violently, realizing he was digging himself a hole.

"That’s not what I’m saying. We decided not to tell Max and Isabel’s mom, and how is this different?" he asked.

"Because she didn’t need to know. I think Amy does," Max said softly. Everyone looked at him, their leader, who had only just then spoken. The room was silent for a few minutes until Isabel spoke up.

"I think we should let the sheriff tell her. We have no right to stand in the way of his happiness. In fact, we should be helping him achieve a little happiness after the mess we’ve gotten him into. And he’s right, she needs to understand why we do what we do, why we disappear, why we miss school, why we’re different in order for them living as a family to work. I want him to tell her," Isabel said. Max nodded slowly, letting her words sink in. The sheriff had put absolute faith in them since he’d found out their secret. He would die to protect them and Max knew it was only right to give back that respect of faith.

"I agree with Isabel," he said. Tess echoed her approval and they all turned to Michael, waiting for his usual rebuke. Instead, he was looking at Maria when he finally spoke.

"Yeah, he can tell her," he said. Maria smiled broadly. Then Michael looked up at Kyle and Tess.

"Can we be there when he does? I’d love to see the look on her face."

Liz crawled out onto her balcony, clutching her journal. She wrapped a blanket around her body and lit a few candles before settling down on her chair. She opened the journal and flipped to the next blank page. After what seemed like hours she shut the book and put it down next to her chair. She hadn’t been able to write anything for weeks. Before, when Max was in her life, she could write pages and pages. Now, he was almost apart from her life and she found that not only was her life empty, but even her future, which she often speculated about in her journal, seemed barren. And the pain never seemed to fade, which she had hoped it would, with time.

Staring up at the night sky, she didn’t here the voice calling her until her name became loud and insistent.

"Liz!"

Liz got up and walked towards the edge of her balcony, peering over the brick edge. She started at the sight of Max, looking up at her, his eyes clouding with relief at the sight of her face. It felt like a year hadn’t even passed, and Max was standing under her balcony, wanting to come up to her because he couldn’t sleep. Trying to clear her mind of the memories, she called out to him quietly.

"Max, what are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to you. Can I come up?"

"Sure."

Liz stepped back from the edge and waited as she heard the fire escape rattle a little under Max’s slight weight. She tried to quell the wild beating of her heart, tried to tell herself to calm down. But she couldn’t help it, no matter what her head said, her heart wouldn’t listen. So, she waited patiently for the welcome sight of Max Evans, climbing up to her.