Max sat on the bed silently watching Michael in amusement.

Michael turned and caught Max smiling at him and he frowned at his best friend and brother. "Why the hell aren't you nervous!" Michael couldn't help but ask in a frustrated voice as he threw up his hands and placed them on his hips.

Max grinned, his eyes glowing with inner peace, contentment and sheer happiness. "I don't know." He just shook his head knowing that answer didn't please Michael.

"How can you sit there so calmly and wait for them to call you out there so you can commit yourself forever to someone." Michael swallowed still shaking his own head.

"Not just someone Michael. Liz." Max answered softly, saying her name almost reverently. " I'll have her forever after this. Liz and I committed to each other a long time ago, but now we can finally make it legal and let the world know that we belong together. That Liz is mine and I am hers, forever." Max smiled wider; his eyes seemed to gleam even more.

Michael swallowed. He didn't know if he'd ever be that calm when he was getting ready to walk down the aisle with Maria. He felt the same things Max had just explained, about being able to make the girl of your heart yours forever and to let the world know, but he still knew he would be a wreck while waiting for his Maria to come down the aisle towards him.

There was a small knock on the door and then Phillip Evans opened the door, grinned and stepped in, closing the door behind him. He just stood looking at his son who sat on the bed in total contentment, and then to his other "son" who was pacing. "It looks like Michael, your sister and I are more nervous than you are, Max." Phillip Evans stated with amusement.

"What about mom?" Max grinned already knowing the answer.

"As happy, content and relaxed as you seem to be." He shook his head in amazement.

"It's not normal!" Michael threw another look at Max.

Phillip smiled at Michael and put an arm around Michael's shoulders. "I think you and I are nervous enough for him." He teased.

Max just watched his father and brother joke and he smiled even more. He was amazed at how everything was working out for all of them. They were really becoming one big family.

Phillip and Diane's total acceptance of Max and Isabel's history, and Michael's place in their lives had bound them all even more in the past week...

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Max remembered the night they had told his father. He and Isabel had been so nervous even though they knew in their hearts that their father loved them like their mom did. But Diane Evans had smiled calmly at them and then had put her hand on her husband's arm and let them tell their father.

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Max returned to the present and winked at his dad.

Phillip Evans saw his son's smile and knew he was remembering last Monday night, when they had finally enlightened him all about themselves.

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Phillip remembered that night himself. At first he had just sat there silent and shocked. Then going back and analyzing all he knew about finding the children and all that had happened over the years he finally nodded and met his children's eyes with warm ones of his own. "I should have known." He said shaking his head at how blind he had been. Ever the analytical one, which was where Max got it from, he put all the little pieces together and now it all made sense.

Finding the children in the desert unclothed, unable to speak any language and then how everything was so new to them. And the healing that he and his wife had witnessed from Max many times while the boy was growing up.

Then realizing that his children looked a little anxious and unsure, he got up and grabbed them both to him. "You are ours and we love you. And now I thank God and whoever else is responsible for bringing you to your mom and I." He said in a choked voice and hugged his children closer.

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Phillip Evans came back to the present when Michael made another comment to Max about being so calm on his wedding day. Phillip took Michael's side and they teased Max.

Michael looked over at Mr. Evans. He shook his head as he realized how comfortable he now felt with the Evans. He himself was amazed at how Mr. and Mrs. Evans had not only totally accepted their children, but him as well.

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As soon as they had realized that Michael was Max and Isabel's sibling, they'd just automatically treated him as if he was theirs as well. Mr. Evans hadn't made a big fuss or tried to embarrass Michael, he had just grabbed him in a big hug and welcomed him to the family 'for real' he'd said.

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Michael returned to the present when Phillip Evans gave him a slap on the shoulder and started toward the door. "Well, I'll come back and get you when the bride is ready. You obviously have everything under control in here. No need for me to calm the groom. Michael you're doing a great job!" Phillip winked and then left.

Max just laughed and looked out the window. It was a beautiful Saturday morning for the wedding. He smiled as he remembered last night.

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They had come up here last night, and Jordan had welcomed Mr. and Mrs. Evans and they had thanked him for all his support. Jordan had just smiled and thanked them for the wonderful job they had done with the children, and how he knew that his sister and her husband would be so happy with the way their children had grown up surrounded by unconditional love and caring.

Diane Evans had teared up and Jordan had laughed and hugged her. Then teased her about being like his wife, and that he would have to remember to keep a tissue available for her as well now.

Max then thought of Liz. He hadn't seen her since they parted last night at her bedroom door. She had stopped teasing him about the sleeping arrangements, finally. She'd just smiled at him last night, gave him a sweet, loving, light kiss and whispered how she couldn't wait for tomorrow night. Because he would never keep her from him after that. He had laughed and agreed completely.

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Max came out of his thoughts when there was another knock on the door and Diane Evans came in. She smiled widely at both boys who were not really boys any more but young men. She came to Max and as he stood up, she hugged him, kissed his cheek and stood back to proudly look him over in his Tux. "Your bride will swoon over you. You are so handsome." Diane sighed with pride.

Max actually blushed as he grinned, making both Michael and Diane laugh.

Then Diane turned to Michael and casually put her arm around him in a confiding hug. "How are you holding up?" she teased with a wink.

Michael smiled warmly and put his arm around her so comfortably. He couldn't believe how close he felt to Diane Evans now. Before she had always been like the fantasy mother he always wished he could have. But now, he felt her love and sorrow for the missed years with him. At first he'd felt shock and then love for her as well. She was the only mother he had ever really known.

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Michael remembered the other night when Diane had asked to speak with him alone. He'd felt confused and nervous. But when he'd seen the love in her eyes, and the total acceptance of him, he'd known it would be okay. And when she'd asked him to forgive her for not finding him out in the desert that night as well, he had suddenly felt overwhelming love and protectiveness for her. He didn't want her to feel guilty about what had happened to him. It had been his own doing. But he told her how she had made him feel like part of the family all the time, even when he'd been fighting it.

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And since then, he had been her son. He knew that in Diane's heart she saw him as her son now and always would. And he felt the bond and love with her that he had always wanted in a mother.

"You two make me proud. And I know you make your father and Jordan proud as well." She smiled still hugging Michael as she spoke to both young men.

"How's Liz doing?" Max asked knowing his mother had just come from Liz's room.

"She's beautiful, no radiant, and just as calm as you are. And I think she has that same glow in her eyes as well." she teased, looking into her son's eyes.

Max just grinned and sighed. *I love you Liz Parker* Max sent to her.

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Liz let Maria, Isabel and Cassie fuss over her hair and make-up one more time as she sat quietly in a chair in front of the long mirror they had brought in.

The knock on the door made them all turn around, and then Liz smiled when she saw her mother. Her mother and father had driven up this morning, and Liz could tell by the happy look on her mother's face, that she was okay with this marriage.

"You look beautiful my lovely baby girl. Although you aren't my little baby girl anymore are you?" Nancy smiled through her tears.

Liz stood up, tears in her own eyes and they hugged. "I'll always be your girl mom. I'm just not a baby anymore." She whispered.

"I know." Nancy whispered back and kissed her daughters cheek and squeezed her tightly before stepping back and looking her over again.

"Oh Liz...wait until your father sees you." She swallowed and smiled, holding a hand to her chest that was filled with love and pride. Liz was wearing and off the shoulder shawl type long white flowing soft silk wedding gown. It had pearls down the back of the dress, and as the girls put on her veil, the wedding outfit was complete, and Nancy teared up again.

Then she turned to her daughter's closest friends. The girls who had become so important to her daughter. Maria had been there for her forever. And she was still her life long unwavering friend. And now there was Isabel and Cassie who completed the small but very close-knit group that surrounded her daughter. They all looked beautiful, and she knew her daughter had chosen her friends well, for she knew they were all as solid and good for Liz as Maria was. She knew that they would always be there for her daughter, even if she and her husband couldn't always be.

"You girls all look so beautiful." Nancy swallowed overcome with emotion and happiness. "Your own men will be wondering why it isn't you going down that aisle." She grinned and saw the other three girls blush happily.

Liz sighed at how perfect this day was starting, and she knew how perfect it would end as well, she smiled thinking of what she would do to her husband tonight.

Then she heard his voice. *I love you Liz Parker* and she smiled, her own eyes glowing, as she threw back at him. *You are mine now Max Evans* she teased.