Liz grinned as she waved to her ten-year-old son. After a minute he turned his attention back to the game and she quickly walked over to the stands where all the other parents were seated. She nearly rolled her eyes as she saw that Maria and Isabel had chosen the highest seat on the bleachers, and the seat hardest to get to with all the other people in the stands. With a multitude of apologies and stumbling, she finally managed to get to her seat next to Isabel. Maria glanced at her archly and Liz held up her hands in defeat.

"Okay, so I’m a couple of minutes late!" Liz said, exasperated. Maria nodded and Isabel just smiled. They watched the game in silence for a few minutes before Liz turned to Isabel.

"Where’s Alex?" she asked, glancing around. Isabel checked her watch.

"He should be here in time for the break halfway through the game. Look at Beth and Max out there," Isabel said, pointing to the outfield. Liz turned her gaze towards the right field and smiled. Max was talking animatedly with the girl playing right field, who had walked into the infield. She had long curly hair, blond just like her mother’s. Liz glanced over at Maria, who was watching her daughter carefully. Maria looked back and gestured to the first baseman.

"Liz, your son is distracting Beth from her duties," Maria noted. Liz grinned.

"He gets that from his father. Uh-oh, looks like you aren’t the only one to notice, Mike’s moving in for the kill " Liz replied. Maria looked back out at the field as her son, who had been playing second base, came over to break up the conversation Max had been having with his twin sister. Just as the three kids looked like they were about to begin an argument the crack of a ball hitting a bat sounded and the entire team scrambled to catch it. When Maria’s son managed to dive after the ball she stood up and cheered loudly, like any proud parent. Liz and Isabel followed her, perhaps cheering louder than was necessary, which noticeable embarrassed Mike. He ducked his head and tried to ignore the yells.

The three women in the stands grinned at one another, taking odd pleasure in the ability to still embarrass the kids. Isabel’s eye lit up as she caught sight of Alex approaching on one of the park paths and she climbed down the stands to the grass. Liz and Maria followed her, not paying attention to how gracefully they clambered over the other observers. Perhaps it was because they’d all been to close since high school, but sometimes Liz felt as though they’d never left that place where it really was just the six of them together. Except now it was the four of them plus four new additions. Liz smiled at the youngest of the new additions, Isabel and Alex’s nine-year-old daughter Belle. She clung to her father’s neck as he walked, her eyes laughing and her red hair swinging around like a curtain. Belle grinned as she saw her mother and held out her arms for Isabel. Alex handed their daughter to Isabel, who smiled happily as her daughter squeezed her around the neck before pulling back.

"Did you have a good day at school sweetie?" Isabel asked, to which Belle nodded energetically.

"It was so much fun! I saw Max and Mike fight Carl, James and Kevin after they were teasing Beth on the playground during lunch, when Kevin called Max a dork for defending his girlfriend and Beth punched him," Belle said all in one breath. Maria sighed as Liz turned a quick glance at her.

"That’s my girl," Maria said, her voice exasperated. Belle took little notice and continued.

"And then Max pulled Beth back far enough so that he could go after Kevin, and then Kevin called his friends over and then Mike and Max were about to go after them and then Beth pulled them both back," Belle finished, clearly disappointed.

"Where were you during all of this?" Alex asked his daughter, slightly concerned. Liz smiled, Alex had a tendency to be over protective of Belle. He still insisted on carrying her everywhere even though she had largely outgrown that phase. She hadn’t quite outgrown her ability to humor her father though, so she still let him carry her most of the time. Liz turned her attention back to the matter at hand. Max normally wasn’t so confrontational, and the amount of attention their children had brought to themselves was slightly alarming.

"Don’t worry Daddy, I was standing behind Mike and he was careful to keep me out of the way," Belle reassured Alex.

"Did you know anything about this?" Liz asked Maria. Maria nodded just a little.

"Well, when did this happen? Why didn’t you call me?" Liz asked, her voice slightly accusational. Maria threw up her hands.

"Liz, I didn’t think it was necessary. The teacher on yard duty didn’t even take them to the principal, she just gave them a warning and called me at the studio. I’ve been waiting to see if they brought it up, but none of them has yet," Maria replied. They both looked back at the game, which was breaking for a few minutes before resuming. Beth, Max and Mike walked over slowly, cautiously. They studied their mothers carefully and Max groaned at the expression on his mother’s face. He could tell that she knew what had happened. He traded looks with Beth and Mike and they silently looked at Belle who meekly smiled.

"Belle!" they yelled in unison. Maria shook her head.

"Don’t blame Belle, she didn’t say anything we already didn’t know about! Kids, what happened? You know that fighting in school is not acceptable," Maria said, trying not to lose her temper. Liz took a slightly different tactic. She walked over to her son and gave him a hug. His arms wrapped around her middle until she pulled back and looked into his face. Her eyes softened as she looked at his brown eyes, so like his father’s. And the concern and worry on his face mirrored that of Max’s as well.

"Honey, are you okay?" Liz asked softly. He nodded slowly as they turned away from the group for a quieter conversation. Without Liz even asking, Max sighed and began to relay the events from earlier in the day.

"Beth was swinging on the swing when Kevin came up from behind her and stopped her. Mike and I were across the playground and we didn’t see what was going on. Beth said he was teasing her about hanging out with just us and about being different. You know how she gets Mom, when anyone suggests that we’re different," Max said, his voice lowering to a whisper. Liz closed her eyes briefly as she nodded. She did know how fiercely protective her namesake could be. Liz called Beth a lioness, and she knew that the girl balked at the idea that anyone might call any of them different.

"Well, Mike and I came over and Kevin was being a jerk, so I told him to back off. He called me a dork for defending my girlfriend and Beth went flying after him," Max grinned at the memory, caught his mother’s stern expression and returned to the story. "I pulled her back, just so she wouldn’t get hurt, and then I went after him. That’s when his friends started to show up and Beth tried to break it up. Miss Johnson came over and separated us and told us to stop. We didn’t think she was going to call you or Aunt Maria though."

Liz sighed as she looked at her son and wondered, not for the first time, what she should do. And she wondered what Max would have done, if he were there. And she tried to think what her own parents would have done in a similar parental situation. The trouble was, she hadn’t even spoken to her parents in over ten years and she had no idea what they would have done. Trying not to think about Max or her parents, she turned to her son, his eyes anxiously awaiting her punishment for him.

"I understand that you boys were just defending Beth, but you need to be careful. Any of you could have been hurt and you know what we’ve told you a thousand times," Liz said, emphasizing every word.

"I know Mom. I’m sorry," Max replied, grateful he was getting off so easy. Liz smiled and kissed his forehead, to which he pulled back and glanced around, slightly embarrassed. Liz noted sadly that he was just hitting that stage where she could so easily embarrass him.

"You don’t have to be sorry for all of it Max. You were right to defend Beth, it reminds me of something your father would have done," Liz said softly. Max looked at her solemnly and nodded. They turned back to the group where Maria was finishing her own lecture to Mike and Beth. It rang similar to Liz’s, except Maria was slightly less lenient with her daughter. Beth traded glances with Max when her mother wasn’t looking and rolled her eyes. Max laughed, suppressing the sound as a cough when Isabel looked at him sternly. Of all the members of their group, Isabel was the most worried about the turn of events. As far as she knew, she was the only alien left to guide the children on the nonhuman half of their heritage and she took that responsibility seriously. The coach was blowing his whistle as the kids ran back to their places on the field. Belle found a patch of grass and dandelions to play with as Isabel, Liz, Maria and Alex formed a group, standing facing each other seriously.

"Should we be worried?" Maria asked, her voice betraying her fear. Liz thought for a moment before shaking her head.

"I don’t think so. If we were any other parents and they were normal kids it would just be a little conflict at school. I know how different they really are, but we have to remember that they are just normal kids too," Liz said. Alex reached for Isabel’s hand and squeezed it gently. She smiled at her husband gratefully.

"I think Liz is right, but we need to keep reminding them of how careful they need to be. We left Roswell for a reason: to keep them safe. And we have to keep them as safe as we can. Max and Michael would have wanted that," Isabel said, her voice wavering a little. Liz’s hand found Maria’s and they clutched at each other. Liz closed her eyes and breathed carefully as she tried not to cry. She knew that she should be able to let go of the past after ten years. Things had changed so much, and yet she couldn’t let go of Max and what had happened back in Roswell. When she finally opened her eyes they were shining with unshed tears.

"Yes, they would have," Liz whispered quietly, gazing at the children that had resulted from such a wonderful and horrible night nearly eleven years ago.

May 2002
Roswell

"Oh, my God Liz, help me with my dress! The zipper’s stuck!" Maria’s voice, near panic, reached Liz through the open door between the bathroom where Liz was curling her hair and Maria was pulling on her dress. Liz let loose the tendril of hair from the iron and walked into the bedroom. She was still dressed in her robe, but Maria had already finished her makeup and hair. She glanced at the clock on the wall and reassured herself that she still had lots of time to get dressed and finish getting ready before the guys came to get them. Liz walked over to Maria and looked at the back of her gown, noting where the zipper had snagged on the pale green fabric. Maria was shifting nervously while Liz worked on the zipper, twisting her neck around to try and see Liz’s progress.

"Maria, calm down, I’ve almost got it," Liz said patiently.

"I know, I know, I’m just nervous. I mean, this is the big night. Prom. Man, I never thought I’d make it here," Maria said thoughtfully.

"Why do you say that?" Liz asked, happy to keep Maria distracted.

"I guess I should rephrase. I never thought I’d make it here with Michael," Maria said wryly. Liz grinned.

"I never doubted it. I knew Michael would cave in and ask you," Liz replied. Maria snorted.

"Michael never asked me! I had to practically wrestle him for it. Not that the prospect of tumbling around with him on the ground was such a bad one," Maria laughed. Liz laughed with her and both their heads turned as Isabel entered, camera in hand. She snapped a picture of them, the flash causing Liz to see stars.

"Isabel, we’re not ready yet!" Maria yelled. Isabel merely smiled.

"That’s the idea. We’ve got to have these pictures to show people years from now all the memories we've made," Isabel said wistfully. Liz gave a sound of triumph as she loosened the zipper and pulled it the rest of the way up, which wasn't really that far on Maria’s low cut dress.

"Been reading the yearbook again Isabel?" Liz said, a teasing grin on her face. Isabel shot her a brief glare before Maria turning around in her gown interrupted them. Both girls whistled and clapped like construction workers as Maria modeled her dress. It was made of floor length silky fabric, a seafoam shade of green that offset the light color of Maria’s skin tone. She’d kept her hair pretty short in the last two years, it had some curl and body to it held back by a headband. The fabric of the dress clung to Maria’s body as it fell straight to the floor from the smooth neckline and thin straps. Maria began searching for her jewelry as Isabel walked over to the two remaining garment bags hanging by the closet and Liz returned to the bathroom.

The three of them were in Liz’s room, getting ready for the senior prom. The prom was being held at the only ballroom in town, not too far from the Crashdown. It had been Liz’s idea for the three of them to prepare for the prom at her house while their dates got ready at the Evans’. Liz smiled in the mirror as she reached for the curling iron to resume her hair styling. Her eyes fell on a photo she’d stuck in the corner of the mirror. It was taken just that last Christmas during the third annual Evans/Parker vacation up to Snowmass, Colorado. It had been their winter break trip up north as a group and with Maria, Alex and Michael along for the trip, it always managed to be eventful. In between the skiing and ice skating they had somehow managed to plan a campfire outside on Christmas Eve. The photo was one of Max and Liz, curled up under a blanket together. They were smiling at the camera, the firelight dancing across their faces.

Liz had pictures of her and Max scattered all across her room, in frames, collages and fitted in the corners of every mirror. Somehow her room had become littered with an amazing collection of pictures of Maria, Isabel, Alex, Michael, Max and herself. Alex sitting crosslegged on the grass in the quad at school, playing his guitar with Isabel stretched out on her stomach next to him, quietly reading a book and listening to the tunes he played. Maria and Michael in woodshop class when Michael had been determined to teach Maria how to make a breadbox. Isabel, Maria and her in the Crashdown behind the counter after Isabel had started working with them as a waitress. The Father’s camping weekend their junior year when they’d all played poker over the fire. Max winning a stuffed alien for Liz at the Crash Festival, his face slightly embarrassed as he handed her the green creature. As Liz entered her bedroom from the bathroom she looked around at all the memories around her. Each one reminded her of how lucky she was to have her friends. And how her life had changed so drastically since that day she’d been shot and Max had healed her. Isabel looked up in surprise as Liz entered the room.

"Liz, shouldn’t you get your dress on?" Isabel asked curiously.

"That’s what I’m doing now. With you and Maria around I’ll never be late for anything!" Liz said, walking over to the remaining garment bag hanging by the closet. Isabel was just finishing zipping up her dress as Liz began to slip into her own. Liz had seen Isabel’s dress the day they’d been out shopping and she’d bought it, but she couldn’t help but marvel at how it defied gravity. It was dark navy blue without straps to hold the bust up. The dress was off the shoulders and fit Isabel like a glove over the top of her body. The skirt had more fullness to it before the hemline brushed the floor. Isabel and Maria both carefully fastened earrings and necklaces as Liz sucked in her breath and zipped up her dress in the back.

She couldn’t help but think she was in some period piece movie every time she wore her prom gown. It was a deep crimson red, with an embroidered corset style top secured by thin straps over her shoulders. The skirt was full like a ball gown and billowed like a cloud. The folds and fabric fell to the floor, not quite touching it. Liz couldn’t help but twirl around in the gown; it made her feel like a princess. Her hair was loose and curly nearly to her waist and as she found her jewelry, Liz glanced once again at Isabel and Maria, finding their shoes and handbags. She started to apply her lipstick and then she paled noticeable at the results. The color was the wrong shade. It didn’t match her dress, in fact it clashed. Isabel noticed her sudden look of panic and walked over. Liz gave her a helpless look and Isabel smiled confidently. With a quick wave of her hand over Liz’s mouth the lipstick disappeared. Isabel then touched a finger to the fold of Liz’s dress and then touched the offending tube of lipstick in her hand. Liz smiled with delight as the makeup suddenly matched her dress perfectly.

"Thank you," Liz said, to which Isabel merely nodded. After a few more minutes of primping the girls were ready. Nancy Parker knocked on the door quietly before entering, her eyes softening at the sight of them.

"You girls look beautiful. There seem to be three slightly nervous, but incredibly handsome men waiting downstairs for you," Nancy said with a smile. The three girls exchanged excited glances as they carefully walked out of Liz’s bedroom and towards the stairs. Their dates were waiting downstairs in the Crashdown and would have a perfect view as they descended down the stairs from the apartment above. From the top of the stairs all Liz could see were three pairs of shiny dress shoes, one calmly standing still, another fidgeting slightly and the last pacing back and forth. She knew without seeing that it was Max, Alex and Michael respectively awaiting them. Maria took the lead, followed by Isabel and Liz down the stairs. Liz held up the skirt of her gown carefully so she wouldn’t trip and her hand strayed against the wooden rail of the stairs. The eyes of all three guys watched them carefully and Liz caught Max’s gaze riveted on her and she smiled.

He looked amazing in the black and white tuxedo, the colors contrasted against one another sharply. And the black of his hair nearly matched his coat in hue. She saw his jaw tighten as his eyes swept over her and when his eyes finally met hers, Liz’s heart rate sped up. His intense gaze made her feel like she was the only person in the room, the only person in the world. When she finally made it down the stairs Max came forward, holding her corsage in one hand. His hand reached for hers and the warmth of it against her own was so soothing. He glanced at her repeatedly as he slipped the corsage of snow white tiny roses on her wrist.

"Liz, you look beautiful," Max whispered. She smiled at him shyly as she reached for his jacket lapel to fasten the red rose boutonniere with a pin. When she finished she stood on her toes and kissed him tenderly.

"You look pretty handsome yourself," she replied. His hands went to hold hers as they glanced around, realizing everyone else was ready to go. Maria and Michael led the way with Maria’s hand gently looped through Michael’s arm. Isabel had taken Alex’s offered elbow and Liz’s fingers intertwined with Max’s. Liz waved to her parents as they left and she thought she caught her mother sniffling a little as Max escorted her out the door and to the prom.

Since the prom was literally just down the street, they walked to the hotel. The music could be heard filtering out the open doors as they approached and followed the gathering number of students entering the lobby and the ballroom. Maria, Michael, Isabel and Alex continued to walk into the ballroom but Max held Liz back, gently pulling her aside. She looked at him questioningly as he looked around them, taking in the lights and decorations with an expression resembling disbelief.

"I was just thinking about how I used to dream of taking you to the Senior Prom. Back when we were freshmen and you started dating Kyle at the end of the school year I thought that was it, and that you’d be with him for the rest of high school. I never thought-I never thought that it would be me," Max marveled as he gazed at her. Liz pulled his arms around her waist and touched his face gently with her free hand.

"Max, it could never be anyone else. It will always be you," Liz vowed, her voice low. And then Max smiled at her with the smile she knew was reserved just for her. His whole face was so open and there was no hesitation in his eyes. He leaned his forehead against hers for a moment before she found his hand with her own and they turned towards the open doors, ready to enter the most unforgettable night of their lives.