Part 12

Campbell Valenti snuck a peak at Jules, who was perched on her bed, her chin in her hand as her eyes lazily read her English book. The radio played softly in the background, just quiet enough that he could barely hear the words. Sometimes he felt like pinching himself when he was with her. Julianne Evans was the prettiest girl in school and she didn’t even know it.

Cam knew some people might argue with him. Jules had a twin sister, identical in every way. Kat was the more vocal of the two, she was more outgoing, she laughed easier and she stood out in a crowd. But, as he looked at Jules, her long blond hair swept up in a ponytail, her dark brown eyes shifting across the page, a soft sigh escaping her lips, he felt his heart quicken. The fact that she was part alien and could turn his book into a pile of ash with barely a thought didn’t even cross his mind. Ever since he could remember he’d been surrounded by aliens. They were a part of his family.

And Jules was his friend, his best friend. She stood up for him when he got in trouble, which was often, and she tried to reassure him, make him feel better about the mistakes he made. Cam knew he was labeled as a "problem kid", but he didn’t think that he did anything worse than most of the kids at school. His father just happened to be the sheriff and he seemed to get caught more often than not. And he never did anything that would hurt anyone.

Jules seemed to be the only one who believed that without question. She trusted him implicitly and her good opinion matter to him. She was angry at the injustices of the world and sometimes her moral character surprised him. She wanted to do something good in the world and she wanted to make a difference. He wondered if she even knew that she was someone he aspired to, someone he looked up to. But he knew she didn’t, which was another reason he admired her.

That was why Julianne Evans was the prettiest girl in school. Not because she won some beauty contest, though Cam had no doubt she could, but because she sensed that there was good in the world and she wanted to find it. Because she sensed there was good in him and didn’t doubt it. Making her laugh was a triumph, making her smile a constant goal. Because it didn’t come as easy around her, because when her smile or laughter was given he’d done something to truly lift her spirits.

Cam realized he’d been staring and he turned his eyes back to his book, trying to concentrate on the lesson. It was late, after Jules’ shift at the Crashdown and he’d stopped by so she could tutor him in English. Even though it was Winter Break and they had two more weeks until school started again any excuse for time spent with Jules he would willingly subject himself to. Even if it meant studying. Besides, she really had seemed to want to help him with his studies when she’d suggested it earlier that day.

And with everything that had happened with her brother being taken hostage, almost feared dead and thankfully coming home soon, Cam had wanted to be there for her. He sensed that part of her suggestion had come from her not wanting to be alone and he didn’t question it. Growing a little bored with his book, he heard the radio change to a new song and he looked up and around Jules’ room, taking in the pictures and things around him. Sometimes his mind just could not switch away from the subject of Jules and it was more than a little distracting.

There were pictures of her family everywhere. Of her sisters, of her sitting with her twin and their younger sister Alexandra on the swings in the park on a warm spring day. Jules facing Kat, wearing their Crashdown uniforms and facing each other across the café counter, their smiles a mirror of one another. Jules standing with him after a football game on the West Roswell field, a smile on his face after the sophomore team had won the first game of the season. Her father and brother, the two people Cam knew Jules admired the most, sitting at the park with Liz between them on the bench.

Cam’s eyes came across the book titles on Jules’ shelf, shaking his head at some of the titles. It was so unreal, to see them as teenage girl’s reading material. They were all UFO related, all speculating on aliens among humans and visitors from another planet. He knew it was a hobby of hers, to research and find out what she could about her alien heritage and he knew she didn’t listen when her sister tried to convince her that their alien heritage wasn’t important. Because Jules thought it was.

Cam knew she was completely oblivious to how much she really meant to him. He didn’t know that he would ever be able to work up enough nerve to tell her. His mother had died when he was very young and his father had never married. His Dad sometimes teased, only when Jules’ mother was within earshot, that he’d lost his heart at the age of sixteen to a dark haired girl who left him for an alien.

He knew his dad was joking, Kyle and Max were actually very good friends and they often joked together about the fact that their own children were such friends while they’d had a strong competition in high school. Kyle was always the first to say that there was no way he could have competed with how Liz looked at Max and Cam saw it every time Jules’ parents were in the same room.

Sometimes Cam wished he had someone female he could talk to. Usually he went to his Aunt Maria, his father’s sister, but sometimes it was risky talking to her because her son Jack was Cam’s good friend and Maria was best friends with Liz. She wouldn’t knowingly say anything, but Aunt Maria sometimes had a tendency to accidentally blurt things out. And his grandmother, Maria’s mother, had the same DeLuca quality.

Cam’s eyes continued to rove over the shelves in Jules’ room and they rested on a thick glass box, holding a midnight blue rock inside. He knew without asking what the rock was. It was one of the few pieces of history from the planet that Jules’ father had come from. It was also the rock, along with four others, that had been used to save Michael’s life over sixteen years ago.

It wasn’t hard to imagine the things that had happened before he was born, the rest of the family had made sure they all knew the importance of the alien heritage among them and what the rocks meant. Beth, Max, Mike, Belle, Jules, Kat, Alexandra and Jack all had one of the eight amber or blue rocks encased in a glass box for protection.

They had the responsibility of keeping it safe and making sure that if needed they could be brought together. And Cam knew that the glass protected the outside world from the power of the rocks, Michael had almost died when he’d touched them before without the others with him. Isabel had worried that maybe it was safer if the rocks were kept together, but Jules’ father had been adamant that all the children should have a piece of their heritage.

Suddenly, he had his answer of who he could talk to. Beth. He had a feeling that Beth could help him in dealing with another Evans, considering her past with Max, and she could also resist sharing his secret with the world.

"Cam, it doesn’t look to me like you’re studying very much," Jules noted, her eyes fixed on him. Cam gave her a sheepish smile.

"Guilty. Look, why don’t we skip this for now? We have two weeks of vacation ahead of us and plenty of time later on to worry about school," Cam suggested. Jules nodded and shut her book, putting it back in her backpack. Cam eagerly put his own books out of sight and then he turned to Jules, smiling mischievously.

"Are you excited for your birthday?" he asked. Jules looked thoughtful for a minute before answering.

"I’m more excited about Max coming home, but I guess so. Mom’s always saying how sixteen is an important year. How that’s when Dad saved her life and everything changed. I don’t think anything that exciting is going to happen to me though," Jules admitted. Cam wished he could reassure her, but he found the words caught in his throat. He wanted to, he wanted to tell her that someday maybe he could change her life in even a minimal way, like her father had done with her mother, but he doubted himself. He knew Jules cared for him, but how could she ever look at him the same way Max Evans did Liz Parker?

Jules suddenly leaped off the bed, startling Cam from his thoughts. He looked at her in surprise, her eyes dancing as she reached for the door, dragging him along.

"Come on! Max is back!" she said excitedly. Cam willingly followed her down to the restaurant, knowing that Kat and Alexandra wouldn’t be far behind and not questioning how Jules could possibly know that her brother was near. She just knew.

Liz had been sitting with Alexandra on her old balcony, watching the stars with her daughter as the six year old slowly drifted off to sleep. Liz held her daughter tight, swaying gently in the slight breeze picking up. It was cold in Roswell that year, Liz even thought it just might snow. Alexandra’s muffled, soft voice caught her attention.

"Momma, where’s Dad’s stars?" she asked sleepily. Liz smiled and turned a little, her eyes passing over the clear skies, looking for the bright stars forming a V in the sky. She moved so Alex could see and her daughter lifted her head a little and then reached for the sky, as if she could stretch enough and maybe reach them.

"Sweetheart, what are you doing?" Max asked as he ducked outside from Alex’s room to join them on the balcony. His arms went around his wife and daughter.

"I was trying to catch them for you," Alexandra said, her mouth forming a small pout as she realized she couldn’t. Liz kissed her daughter’s cheek, rubbing her nose against hers. Alexandra laughed, as she always did when Liz did that.

"Momma! Your nose’s cold!" Alexandra exclaimed. Liz smiled as Max leaned down and kissed her, their noses touching. Alexandra giggled at the sight. Max pulled back and looked at his daughter skeptically.

"I don’t know, her nose feels fine to me," Max said. Alexandra erupted into a fit of giggles and Max took her from Liz, tickling her gently as Liz climbed back into the house and then Max followed. Max tucked Alexandra into bed as she looked up at him, her wide brown eyes following his every move.

"Thanks for trying to catch my stars for me," he whispered to her before kissing her on the forehead and pulling back to stand next to Liz in the doorway.

"Night Dad, night Momma," was Alex’s tired reply.

"Goodnight, baby," Liz replied, switching the light off and shutting the door behind her and Max. She started to walk down the hall, but Max caught her in his arms and nuzzled her neck. Liz turned in his arms and smiled, trying to keep the worry off her face. Max noticed and stroked her long hair gently.

"He’ll be home soon," Max promised. Liz nodded, she knew that Max understood her concern for their son. She wanted him home, safe and sound with his family. She wanted her husband, her son and all three of her daughters around her.

"Where are the girls?" Liz asked.

"Kat’s in bed, she was tired and wanted to get some sleep before Max comes home. Cam and Jules are in her room, studying," Max said. Liz rose an eyebrow skeptically.

"’Studying’? Are you sure that’s all they’re doing? If Cam is anything like his father, studying is not what they are doing. I fell for that Valenti line too. Why are they studying anyway, its two more weeks until school starts again," Liz questioned. Max smiled.

"Have you forgotten how devoted to school you were at fifteen?" Max teased. Liz groaned and nodded.

"I guess I have," she admitted. Max grinned at the memory.

"Well, I certainly remember. That was the year I watched you from afar, tracing every lunch spent with your nose in a book, every break at the Crashdown re-reading your notes," Max remembered. Liz smiled.

"The year before my life changed," she recalled. Max nodded.

"Mine too," he replied, his voice low. Then he led her through their home and down the stairs to the empty Crashdown where the lights were dimmed. Liz watched curiously as he walked to the jukebox and turned it on, selecting a song and returning to her just as the song began. Liz’s smile was broad as she recognized the song from their first date.

"Senior Chow’s," Liz said with a grin. Max approached her slowly.

"Ask a girl to dance," he replied, a playful glint in his eyes. Liz stepped closer to him.

"Is that really what it said?" she asked curiously. Max’s smile widened.

"It still depends on your answer," he replied. Liz gave him the same broad smile she had on their first date.

"Yes."

"Then that’s what it will always say," Max affirmed. Liz laughed as Max put his arms around her and they began to dance to their song. Liz looked at the walls of the Crashdown as they swayed, her hands on Max’s shoulder and her mouth near his ear.

"You were so bad at pool," she laughed. Max pulled back to fix his eyes on her.

"How do you know I wasn’t just pretending so that I could get you close enough to touch me?" he asked. Liz smiled.

"Because I know you, Max Evans. It’s always been one of the most honest things about you. You could have wiped the floor with me, with all your alien powers, but you played fair and square, with no powers and certainly no talent," Liz said. Max pretended to look wounded.

"As I recall, we didn’t get to finish that first dance. Maria interrupted us," Max said. Liz nodded.

"She did. She’s not here now though," Liz said, her eyes locked on Max’s. It had been almost 29 years since she’d looked at Max, really looked at him, and she never tired of his face, of his eyes. Every time he looked at her she saw something different.

"Hey Mom, hey Dad."

Liz whirled around at the sound of her son’s voice, her jaw dropping. Max stood just inside the doorway and she felt a sense of déjà vu looking at him. He had a smile, almost a smirk, on his face just like Max had had when he’d come to her after the shooting and had remembered the embarrassing cupcake dress from kindergarten that her mother had made for her. It was almost like she was sixteen again, but this time her Max was standing next to her, still holding her in an embrace.

And then she was rushing towards her son, enveloping him in a hug and she laughed out loud and yelped in excitement. He lifted her off the ground for a moment before setting her down and then turning to hug his father. Father and son hugged in a tight embrace with Liz watching, her eyes beaming. Liz blinked back tears as her son looked at her.

"I’m so glad you’re home, Max. We’ve all been so worried," Liz said. Max leaned down and kissed her mother on the cheek.

"I’m glad to be home too," he replied. Liz was about to ask him where Beth and the others were when footsteps came pounding down the stairs from the apartments above.

"MAX!"

Max looked up at the sight of his sister rushing through the kitchen doors, Cam close behind.

"Jules!" he replied, meeting his sister halfway and twirling her around, her ponytail swinging in the air, as she laughed and hugged him. And then Kat was close behind, her robe dragging carelessly on the floor behind her.

"Max! You’re home!" she cried. Jules let Max go and he turned to Kat, hugging her tight.

"Hey Kitty Kat," he replied. Kat’s eyes seemed to fill with tears.

"I was worried I’d never hear you say that again," she whispered. Max shook his head.

"You don’t have to worry anymore," he promised. The girls were talking all at once as Max and Cam greeted one another and Max watched his younger sisters with a smile, letting their voices mix and blend together, overlap and try to drown the other out as they talked. He wasn’t even sure what they were saying, but he just enjoyed being close to them.

Max looked down as he felt a gentle tug on his right pants leg and his eyes met those of his youngest sister. Alexandra had somehow crept up to them, unnoticed in all the commotion and she got Max’s attention the only way she knew how.

The joy on her face made a lump form in Max’s throat and he eagerly bent over, scooping Alex up in his arms and cradling her close. She hugged him around the neck, her soft hair brushing against his face and Max closed his eyes. He couldn’t believe how much he’d missed them. He couldn’t believe that two days ago he had planned on not coming home. It felt like he couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.

As Alex pulled back Max looked at her small face, her wide grin and her dancing eyes. He heard Jules, Kat and Cam chattering on in the background. He saw his parents off to the side, his mother standing in his father’s arms and their eyes watching their children with unabashed happiness. He glanced back at the front door windows, hoping to catch a glimpse of Beth, the one thing missing from the room.

"Max, you’re home!" Alexandra’s voice, full of wonder and excitement, as if she thought he might not realize where he was and wanted to remind him, made him smile. Sometimes she made the most sense out of everyone he knew. It was like she knew what a surprise it was for him to be there with them, after he almost hadn’t made it. He nodded, kissing her cheek gently.

"Yeah, I think I finally am."

TBC . . .