Beth swung her legs over the edge of the bridge as she stared down at the smooth surface of the water. She glanced over at Max, who was staring down the path they’d come from. She watched as he looked down at the ground, studying his sneakers, and then brought his eyes back to the path. Reaching for his hand next to hers on the ledge of the bridge, she squeezed his hand gently. He brought his eyes to stare at hers and she gave him a smile. Max returned the grin, his features easing into a quick smile. They both looked when they heard footsteps coming from the path.

Beth hopped down from the ledge of the bridge and found that she couldn’t let Max’s hand go. Everything depended on his father meeting them that afternoon. She’d always felt as though their lives were in a kind of limbo because their mothers held out for the reappearance of their fathers. If her father came back, everything would be exactly how she’d always dreamed. Max squeezed her hand as his father came into sight. She breathed a sigh of relief as Max walked up to them and tentatively gave both of them hugs. She was surprised, but pleased.

"You kids look so much like your mothers," Max said, his voice amazed. Beth looked at him, puzzled.

"Really? Mom, Aunt Liz and Aunt Isabel have always said how much Max looks like you. I know I look like Mom, and she says Mike takes after our father," Beth grinned, a dimple appearing in her cheek. Max smiled, he remembered that Maria had the same smile as Beth.

"I see so much of Liz in you Max, her eyes especially," Max said, studying his son’s face.

"I guess we see the people we love reflected in each other," Max replied, catching his father’s eyes with his own. Max looked back at him, understanding what he was saying and nodded without a sound. Finally, he tore his eyes away and quickly looked at Beth.

"Michael’s on his way, or at least he should be soon," Max said, knowing she would want to know. Beth’s heart stopped and she blinked back tears. The thought of seeing her father left her speechless. She managed to nod and reach for Max’s hand, squeezing it gently to show her thanks.

"Did you tell them? Liz, Maria, Alex and Isabel, did you tell them I’m here?" Max asked softly. Beth laughed out loud.

"Do you think it would be just the two of us here if we had?" Max asked his father, his eyes laughing. Max shrugged, honestly unsure of what to expect from Liz or anyone after he’d been gone for ten years.

"We split up from Aunt Isabel, Belle and Mike a little while ago. We can’t be gone for long. Max, why can’t we tell them? Don’t you think they’ve suffered enough?" Beth pleaded with her Max.

"I know Beth, I just have to make sure Mom won’t get her heart broken again. And I won’t do that to Maria and Isabel," Max said, turning his eyes back to his father.

"What do you want to do?" he asked, deciding the straightforward approach was the best. Max sighed, putting his hands in his pockets as he leaned against the bridge.

"I’ve been thinking about this all night. I didn’t even sleep. Meeting you two has really proven something to me. I’ve missed so much. Seeing Liz in the museum yesterday made me realize how much I still love her. I know she’s missed me, and I know she’ll be happy to see me. I also know she’ll be angry that I left like I did. My only defense is that I thought I was doing the right thing," Max said, his eyes fixed on the two kids.

"She knows that. She does, really," Max pressed on when his father didn’t object. "I think that if she knew you were here, she’d want to know. We all have a second chance here. Actually, our mothers have the second chance. It’s our first chance to know what it’s like to have fathers."

"Even if she can forgive me, I’m not sure I can forgive myself for everything that I haven’t been there for. I wasn’t there when she was pregnant, when she and Maria came here all alone. I wasn’t there when you needed me either. Maybe I’ve missed too much," Max said, his voice lowering to a whisper. Beth unzipped her backpack and pulled out a book, leather bound and thick with pages. She handed it to Max, who looked at her in surprise.

"Max said we should bring this to you, to show you. Mom made it a long time ago, and she made it for you, for when you came back," Beth said. Max ran his hand over the smooth surface of the book, his heart beating rapidly as he wondered what was inside. The kids jumped up to the ledge of the bridge, sitting on either side of Max as he opened the book to the first page.

It was dated simply July 16, 2002 with a picture of Liz standing in front of an old apartment building in New York City. Her arms were held up high as she gestured to the dark cement shape. In Maria’s angular handwriting, underneath the picture of Liz read: "Our first apartment". Max grinned at the picture, imagining what the two girls must have felt once they’d made in to New York on their own.

"Aunt Maria owns a photography studio in Greenwich Village. She started taking pictures, chronicling what happened while you guys were gone so they could show you when you got back. Maria made this one mainly about Mom and her pregnancy to show you," Max told his father. Max shook his head, amazed at Maria generosity and love for Liz. Because Maria knew Liz would want him to see the pictures.

Max turned the pages carefully, not wanting to bend the edges or put fingerprints on the glossy surfaces of the photos. Each picture told an amazing story. He watched as Liz grew bigger and rounder as the pictures progressed. There were pictures of Liz measuring her stomach every few months, pictures of Liz and Maria together, their stomachs both swollen. Max felt tears come to his eyes when he came to a picture of Liz and Isabel, sitting on the couch. Liz was leaning back, her feet propped up on the coffee table. Isabel was leaning over Liz’s stomach, her ear pressed to the side. Liz was smiling at Isabel while Isabel had her eyes closed. His sister had an expression of calm on her face, and her hands gently on Liz’s stomach, she almost seemed to be cradling Liz.

"Mom said that when that picture was taken Isabel was so happy. Aunt Isabel said it was he first time she felt close to you since you left," Max said. His father nodded, understanding that Isabel must have felt utterly alone without the feeling of Max and Michael nearby. Max continued to turn the pages until he stopped at a picture labeled January 1, 2003. He stopped breathing at the sight of Liz, over eight months pregnant.

She looked beautiful, curled up in the window seat of their apartment, her feet tucked as close as her stomach would allow. The picture was in black and white, the shades of gray giving away the wintry day outside, which announced itself in the soft snowflakes falling. Liz was staring outside, unaware that Maria was even taking the picture. Her hands were gently wrapped around her stomach, and Max drank in the sight of her body, rounded in pregnancy. From what they had done together, from their love.

Reluctantly, he turned the page, which showed Liz holding her son. He looked at the date, which read January 4, 2003. Searching his memory, he tried to recall where he and Michael had been the day his son was born. Narrowing his eyes, he finally remembered. They’d gone to the west coast of Mexico around Christmas time and stayed until late spring. Neither of them had seen the Pacific Ocean before and Max had spent hours staring out at the green and blue waves, wishing Liz had been there with him.

"Beth and Mike were born two days later," Max said, turning the page to a photo of Maria holding both of her babies. On the opposite side of the page Max smiled at the sight of Liz holding Max, Maria holding Beth, Isabel holding Mike and Alex standing in between his pregnant wife and Liz. They looked like a family, Max thought.

He wasn’t blind though, he saw the tired look in Liz’s eyes in the pictures, how sad she looked. He also saw how her eye lit up in the pictures of Liz with her newborn son and Max realized that their son had been Liz’s sanctuary. In a way, Max thought that maybe their son had saved her.

"Aunt Isabel had Belle March 8, we were all premature by human standards by about a month. Really soon after that Grandma and Grandpa came up," Max said as his father flipped to the pictures of his parents holding their grandson. He couldn’t believe how happy his parents looked, his mother holding Max and his father holding Belle.

"Do they know?" Max asked, suddenly wondering how his parents had taken their disappearance.

"Yeah, Isabel told them before she and Alex came to New York. She needed them to understand why you two had left and what it had done to all of them. They understood, and they come up here a couple of times a year," Max said, anticipating the next question, he continued. "None of our parents have ever gone back to Roswell."

"What about Liz’s parents? Yesterday you said they wouldn’t support her, but didn’t they come at all?" Max asked. His son fell silent and looked away. Beth looked at him sympathetically before she explained.

"Aunt Liz’s parents have never met any of us kids. They never came when Liz sent them pictures, she sent them a few letters telling them when we were born, but they never responded, so she stopped. Max has never met them," Beth said softly. She knew it was hard for her Max, he didn’t understand what kept Liz’s parents away. Max looked at his son and felt sad that Liz’s parents had not been apart of his life. He put a hand on his son’s shoulder.

"You must know it has nothing to do with you. Liz’s parents always had certain hopes for Liz, and when she and I were together they thought I was changing those hopes too much. I don't know that they ever realized that Liz was following her own hopes. They thought I distracted her too much, that we were too intense. They didn’t understand that Liz and I were meant to be," Max said. Young Max nodded, meeting his father’s eyes once again.

"When did you know that you and Mom were meant to be? I mean, what was the exact moment that you realized that?" Max asked. His father smiled easily, knowing the answer right away.

"I knew there was something special about Liz the second I saw her when I was getting off the bus with Isabel that first day of third grade. We knew each other for the next few years, but we never really got close until that day in the Crashdown when Liz got shot. But I knew from the first time I saw her," Max replied, smiling as he turned his gaze back to the photos. Max and Beth’s eyes met as his father continued to look at the pictures.

Suddenly, Max’s head shot up, which caught Beth’s attention. She knew instantly why he’s moved. Isabel must be calling them back, communicating with Max. He hopped down from the ledge and faced his father.

"We have to go, Isabel is going to start looking for us if we don’t get back," Max said as his father reluctantly handed the photo book over.

"Thank you for bringing that. I can’t tell you how much it meant to see those pictures," Max said as Beth put the book back in her pack.

"Do you think you’re ready to see her again?" Max asked his father. Max sighed and ran a hand through his dark hair.

"I don’t know, I just don’t know if I can yet, if it’s the best thing for her," he admitted, staring at his hands. His son considered his answer for a minute before he spoke up.

"You can think about it until tomorrow. We’ll meet you on the terrace of Belvedere Castle tomorrow at five. How’s that sound?" Max asked. His father nodded and the kids quickly packed up their stuff before they ran down the path towards Isabel. Max watched them go and resisted the urge not to follow. He knew he could see his sister, his friends, the woman he loved, but his uncertainty won out in the end.

The next day, Liz was packing up her papers and books after a long day of teaching. Midterms were finally over, but that didn’t stop her class schedule from being busy. She flipped through the messages Shelby had given her and smiled when she came across one from Isabel, reminding her about a prearranged girl’s night for that evening. Alex was going to be on babysitting duty as she and Maria and Isabel went out. She slung her bag over her shoulder and left her office, turning the lights of as she went. She checked her watch and saw that it was four thirty. She walked across campus to the subway stop and got on, gazing out into the dark tunnel as she thought back to what Max had asked her the night before.

"Mom, when did you know that you and Dad were meant to be?" Max had asked. She’d been putting dishes back into the cupboard and she’d frozen at the question. It had been the first time that Max had referred to his father as "Dad". She’d thought for a second before answering, somehow knowing that her answer was very important to her son.

"Even though we didn’t really fall in love until high school, I knew there was something about Max from the first time I saw him, with Isabel in third grade. I didn’t know it then, but later I realized that even at seven years old, Max and I were meant to be," Liz had replied. Max had merely nodded and smiled. That morning, he’d asked her to meet him in the park at five. She was heading to Belvedere Castle to see what her son had planned.

"Max, are you sure this is a good idea?" Beth asked nervously, pacing a little as Max stood calmly next to her on the open terrace of Belvedere Castle.

"Relax Beth. At the rate my father is going, he’s never going to know that he’s been ready to see my mother again since the day he left. I’m just speeding the process along," Max stated carefully.

"But, what if she’s mad?" Beth asked fearfully. Max shrugged.

"She probably will be, but that’s not what’s important. What’s important is that I know how much my parents love each other. There’s no reason they should be apart," Max replied, glancing over the edge of the castle terrace. It was getting close to five and the sun was getting low in the sky, casting long shadows over the park from the tall buildings. He was a little nervous about bringing his parents together, especially about deceiving both of them, but he couldn’t wait. Ten years had been long enough.

Max looked up as his father came around the side of the castle, catching sight of the kids and coming over. He waved and smiled. Beth gave him a tight smile, which he caught and looked at her, puzzled.

"Everything okay, Beth?" he asked. Startled, she nodded.

"What? Oh, yeah, I’m fine. Just dandy," she replied, almost a little too sure of herself. Max shrugged and turned to his son.

"So, did you kids have anymore questions? What did you have planned for today?" Max asked, enjoying the prospect of spending some time with his son and Beth. He suddenly realized that Max was staring behind him, over his shoulder to the path he’d just come from. He turned his head to look.

Liz walked up the rickety and uneven path to Belvedere Castle, choosing her way carefully on the stone steps. She finally came to the top of the rise and she caught sight of the tower of the castle poking above the trees. She knew she was a few minutes late, so she hurried her steps. She was out of breath as she came round to the terrace of the castle and she looked around, distracted as she searched for her son.

She was puzzled as she saw Max and Beth standing with a dark haired man whose back was to her. Max’s eyes seemed to lock on hers and she cocked her head at her son. His gaze was so intense and serious, she felt her heart speed up. Beth looked scared and Liz grew worried. She took a few steps closer, wanting to know why the kids were talking to someone who obviously had them upset. She stopped in her tracks when the man turned his head to look at her.

Liz’s thoughts echoed and roared like a train as her eyes met those of Max Evans. She drew a shaky breath and felt the blood pound in her head. She was frozen in place as she looked at the man she loved, standing in front of her after she’d been longing for him and missing him for ten years.

"Max!!!"