Max: sitting in the jeep in his driveway having just returned home from Liz's, he's emotionally exhausted: he used his powers on Liz and himself to get rid of the puffiness and red eyes from their earlier crying, but that only took care of the exterior: the interior still needs work: plus there is tonight to get through, not to mention Mom wants to spend a little time with him: the sooner he gets done with Mom, the sooner he can go lay down for a little while: gets out of the jeep and enters the house through the kitchen door: greets his Mom with a tired smile…. "Hi, Mom. That looks good, smells good too."

Mom: in the kitchen working on this evening's dinner: taking in how her son looks… "Honey, are you OK? You look tired."

Max: taking a seat at the dinner table "I am a bit tired, not too bad…uh… Mom about tonight…I kinda invited Michael and Maria DeLuca over for dinner too. I… uh… hope that's OK?"

Mom: a little surprised by this, but she has an idea as to the reason for it… "Hmmmm, I was hoping to keep this just family, but I suppose Michael qualifies… need a little extra support for tonight, huh? But Maria, too?" She takes a snack over to Max and sits down at the table with him… "Here have a little something. Dinner's not for a little while yet."

Max: grabbing the Tabasco and smothering the cookies with it… "Maria is Liz's best friend and… well… she and Michael have this…* thing *… going."

Mom: grossing out watching him eat… "Max for the life of me, I cannot understand how you kids can love Tabasco so much. Could you do me a favor and not do that at dinner tonight? So anyway, Maria is coming to lend Liz a little support. She and Michael have a…* thing *, did you say? Care to elaborate on what's passing as a * thing * these days?"

Max: feeling a bit self-conscious… "Sorry…uh… yah…um… I'm not really sure what they've got. Not really sure they do either, or more precisely if Michael does. She's good for him though. She can give as good as she gets, or even better. She's quite a match for him."

Mom: her curiosity is piqued…. "Well, that's wonderful. Michael is like a brother to you and Izzy, I often worry about him being on his own. I'm glad he has someone special. Maria's a nice girl. I'm glad you invited them. Now that you've described their * thing * how about describing yours and Liz's?"

Max: {Oh, crap} "Uh…well…she's special…um… we sorta…um… just fit together. I've known her since the third grade, but we just …connected last year." Avoids looking at his Mom, he instead concentrates very hard on eating the cookies: {I so do not want to have this conversation right now, please Mom. I'm too tired for a long drawn discussion about my love life right now.}: giving Mom his best little boy look and tiredly rubbing his eyes… "I was thinking of taking a nap before dinner. I guess I didn't get as much sleep as I should have last night."

Mom: seeing a very familiar look on her son, she knows what he is trying to do: regardless of how grown-up he is, he's still her little boy sometimes and right now she knows he is playing it for everything it's worth to escape her inquisition… "We can talk some more later. I'm looking forward to getting to know Liz and her family a little better tonight. Go get some rest. I'll call you before it's time for our guests arrive."

Max leaves his Mom so she can finish preparations for tonight, and collapses into his bed in an exhausted but fitful slumber.

Max: the turmoil of recent events in his life is reflected in his dream {he's running down the school hall with Michael: he feels the heat of flames singe his back: he hears Izzy screaming at them both to stop: he looks over his shoulder to see a fire breathing dragon, dragging a mud-splattered quilt behind it, all the while it continues to scream for them to stop: {Oh God, got to run faster!}: he crashes into Michael, who has come to a complete stop {Michael are you crazy, she's going to catch us! We've got to get out of here!}: notices Michael's shocked look and turns to see what he's pointing at: absolute terror takes hold as another dragon appears directly in front of them: this one is also spewing fire at them in between screeching something about always disappearing after screwing things up: oddly it is carrying a picnic basket: he grabs a hold of Michael and they escape into a classroom: as they barge in, they interrupt an ongoing class: his Dad is giving a lecture on sex education and tells them to join in, that they might learn something: the classroom door suddenly crashes open and the two dragons' fiery breath roars towards them: Michael grabs him and they jump through a window: once outside, they continue to run towards the Crashdown: upon entering they immediately encounter Jeff Parker, only he's a giant T-Rex, and he's pissed: he backs both of them into a corner and is going to exact his revenge on them for daring to touch his daughter and Maria…}. Suddenly he feels himself being shook and wakes with a start.

Isabel: standing over her startled brother, she crosses her arms and with a peeved look… "That must have been some dream. Mom's been calling you for ten minutes. She finally sent me in to drag your butt out of bed. It's a little after 6 and she wants you to get cleaned up for tonight. So you better move it!" Her mission accomplished, with a big smile she leaves her doomed brother so she can finish getting ready as well for tonight's entertainment. Let the fun begin.

6:30PM, the dinner guests are just arriving. Philip: answering the doorbell… "Jeff, Nancy, glad you could make it. Nice to see you again, Liz." Before he closes the door, he notices a red Jetta pulling up and waits for the new arrivals… "Miss DeLuca, nice of you to come. Michael, good to see you use the front door for a change, glad you could make it for dinner."

Maria: putting on her most endearing persona… "Thank you for having us Mr. and Mrs. Evans. We've been looking forward to it. Haven't we Michael?"

Michael: remembering their earlier heated discussion and the potential danger if he didn't play nice tonight… "Ya, Mr. and Mrs. Evans, couldn't wait… uh… thanks for the invite."

Diane: "I'm so glad everyone could make it, why don't we go into the living room for a bit. Dinner is just about ready. Jeff, Nancy would you care for a drink or something?" Turning towards her daughter… "Izzy, why don't you get the kids some sodas?"

After Philip fixes the adults their drinks and Izzy fetches the sodas, they all relax in the living room and start to get to know each other.

Jeff: remembering a night last fall: with a small chuckle… "You know, I have to admit, I was pretty surprised when I caught Max one night outside Liz's balcony, serenading her in Spanish with a mariachi band as back-up."

All eyes turn to Max, accompanied with varying degrees of shocked expressions all around.

Philip: {I was right, he does have it bad for her!}: notices how red his son has become and tries to keep his chuckling from becoming an all out laugh.

Michael: looking like he could belt Max {do you have any idea the hell Maria is going to put me thru over that little stunt of yours?}: chancing a glance at Maria {yep, I'm right, she's not going to let this one go}…. "Great going Maxwell."

Izzy: refusing to believe that her brother would do something so lame… "Max, tell me that Kyle got you drunk again and you didn't know what you were doing." Seeing her brother's new look of horror she immediately realizes her mistake, but it's too late. She soundlessly mouths… "I'm sorry."

Philip: no longer amused… "Max, explain to me about this drinking and who is this Kyle?"

Max: wishing he could be anywhere but here; he relaxes a little as Liz slips her reassuring hand into his, and gives her a thankful smile: becoming more contrite as he addresses his Dad… "It was only once last year. I only had a small sip really…but…uh… I guess I can't handle liquor too well."

Diane: "Exactly what were you doing when you couldn't handle your liquor?"

Max: "Uh… well…uh…ya see…."

Liz: "He was coming to my rescue from a boring blind date last year." She gives him a shy smile and as he squeezes her hand.

Nancy: "Wait a minute wasn't the only blind date you had last year the one that the radio show arranged for you? Come to think of it, there was a commotion that night. Now I remember, your Dad and I went to your room to find out what was happening and found the radio show people, your date and Kyle Valenti there. We were panicked when the radio announcer said you had been carried off by…oh…how did he put it? Oh, by a dark haired, mystery man from an exotic place. Thank God Kyle was there to tell us it was just Max. I do seem to recall that Kyle was a bit intoxicated. He left with the radio people. What exactly went on that night, anyhow?"

Philip: "Kyle as in Kyle Valenti? Don't tell me you got drunk with the sheriff's son then ran off with Liz in the middle of the night?"

Max: taking in the looks around the room, they are about what he expected: Izzy and Michael are barely containing their hysterics, even Maria is trying not to laugh; Mom, Dad and the Parkers just continue to stare at him and Liz waiting for an explanation: he turns to Liz who is as equally dumbstruck…

Maria: comes to their rescue, sort of… "Why he took her to see me sing with Alex's band that night, naturally." Even she can't resist turning a bit mischievous… "Of course with Liz as part of the radio blind date promotion, she had to come up on stage and the radio announcer asked her to pick which guy she wanted as her dream date and each guy had to convince her he was the one. Kyle was his usual self and left the stage after announcing her was going to puke, that Doug guy the radio show picked was Mr. Boring, but boy did our Max surprise everyone with that [b]wicked[/b] kiss he gave Liz, all the while up on stage in front of almost the entire student body. Guess which one she picked? He had every girl there swooning over that kiss!" As she ends, she bursts out laughing, along with Michael and Izzy; eventually even the parents start chuckling.

Diane: "Max, is that why all those girls started calling and suddenly dropping by to see you last year?" Seeing that Max looks like he just might indeed die from embarrassment, she changes the subject… "I think dinner should be ready, why don't we go into the dinning room. Izzy I could use a hand."

Maria: as she takes her seat at the table, she whispers to Michael… i"Michael, napkin." She takes a second glance to make sure he followed through with her implied instructions and rolls her eyes at the results… "Michael, put the napkin on your lap, not tucked into your shirt collar and elbows off the table." She resumes smiling sweetly as he complies with her commands.

Michael: with a defeated sigh {this is going to be a long meal, it better be good.}

Jeff: "So tell me Max, what are you considering as your future occupation?"

Max: briefly wonders what the reaction would be if they knew the truth {you see, I'm really a hybrid clone of an alien king and I'm a little busy defeating my enemies right now but as soon as I'm done, I'll get back to you on that. Nope, don't think that would go over very well.}: instead… "Well, I haven't really decided yet, I had thought about teaching, but recently political science interests me as well."

Jeff: "Have you thought of what college you'd like to attend?"

Max: looking at Liz…. "Harvard would be nice, might have the grades to get in, but most likely UNM."

Jeff: "What about after college, any idea where you want to be living?"

Max: "Earth?" He gets a swift kick in the shin from Michael; at the same time Izzy elbows him in the side.

Jeff: chuckling… "That's very funny. No, I mean do you plan on moving away or staying in the area?"

Liz: pleading… "Dad, would you stop with the third degree? Please."

Philip: while he is finding out quite a bit about his son from this questioning, he decides to change the subject… "So Jeff, how's business been lately? You seem awfully busy, ever thought of opening another restaurant?" Philip manages to keep the dinner conversation steered to more general topics through the rest of the meal.

Diane: "Well, who's up for dessert? I have strawberry shortcake with fresh whipped cream."

Liz: trying to escape before her giggling fit starts… "Mrs. Evans, why don't you let Maria and I get that. It's the least we could do after you fixed such a wonderful meal. We insist." As she and Maria leave, Michael has an opportunity to ask Max a question…

Michael: somewhat quietly… "So Maxwell, what's the deal with you and Liz and strawberries? She gets all funny when they're mentioned, you know like just now?"

Max: as quietly as he can since his Mom is now watching… "Let's just say there's a history and leave at that."

Maria: while in the kitchen helping with dessert, she gets her first really good look at her friend, and immediately realizes something is different but can't quite put her finger on it: suddenly it dawns on her… "Oh my God, you're glowing!"

Liz: in a panic she turns and comes face to face with Maria… "Oh no, where?" She proceeds to look herself over.

Maria: "No, I mean glowing from within. What do you mean where? Wait a minute, just how far did you guys get on that picnic yesterday?"

Liz: calmly hands Maria her platter and takes the other herself… "Not far at all just a quick goodnight kiss. It's what happened later that's worth glowing about." With that she walks back into the dining room with her tray leaving a speechless Maria bringing up the rear.

The evening progresses normally and ends on a good note with the Parkers inviting everyone over to their place next time.