Moving his arm so he only had to open one eye to squint at his watch, Max nearly had a heart attack when he saw the time. "Oh my god!" He jumped up, pulling Liz upright. "We have to get back!"

Frowning at him in confusion, Liz pushed her tangled hair out of her eyes. "What’s going on? Are we late for something?"

He looked at her with worried eyes. "Yeah. I called our parents to come in for… for a reunion. They should be at the camp already." And this time they’re REALLY going to kill me! Not exactly the impression I wanted to make before I talk to them.

This spurred Liz into action. She ran around finding her clothes that were strewn all over the cave and pulling them on hastily. After she finished dressing, she turned to Max. "I guess you have to fix me again, huh?"

In spite of the situation, Max had to grin. "Yeah. And I’m starting to like doing it too!" He ran his hands over her, removing all traces of their passionate union. After that he grabbed her and slung her over his shoulder, causing a loud shriek from her. "Let’s go, woman! Before your dad comes looking for me with a shotgun!"

~*~*~*~*~*~

Back at the camp, Isabel was trying to salvage the situation. "Uhm… Liz and Max went to see someone quickly. They’ll be back just now. In the meantime, I need to speak to the moms." She saw the frowns on Diane and Nancy’s faces. Smiling at them nervously, she added: "Girl talk." She looked at Alex pleadingly. Help me!

"Uhm…" Alex moved forward hesitantly. "Why don’t we all go get something cold to drink?" He looked at Jeff and Philip, who nodded reluctantly.

Isabel herded the moms away and hissed at Michael when she passed him: "Wring his neck when you see him, please!"

~*~*~*~*~*~

The jeep arrived back at the camp in a cloud of dust. Michael and Maria stood waiting with folded arms for the two lovers to get out of the Jeep.

"I can’t believe this," Max muttered to Liz as he helped her out, "Michael is going to give ME a speech about responsibility." He shot her a glare when she laughed. "This is all your fault, you know."

Michael pounced on him immediately. "They’re here already, Maxwell. Great way to start the ‘I want to—‘."

"Michael!" Max’s voice cut into the rant. "If you don’t mind, can we talk about this later?" He gave Michael a meaningful look that was enforced by Maria slapping Michael’s shoulder.

Michael clamped his mouth shut, glaring back at Max. If Max would only quit with the never-ending romantic surprises he plans for Liz, then the rest of us can stop living in fear of blabbing about them all the time!

Maria took hold of Liz’s arm, pulling her in the direction Isabel had disappeared with Diane and Nancy. "We better let your mom see that you are not permanently attached to Max by now!"

Liz cast a glance to Max as they walked away. When oh when will my life return to normal?

"So Liz, how is that woman you guys went to see?" Maria practically yelled at Liz when they neared the tent Izzy had taken the moms to.

"Maria!" Liz had nearly jumped out of her skin when Maria went on like that.

Leaning over, Maria whispered conspiratorially in her ear. "Just letting you know that Iz told the parents that you and Max had gone to see some person… You know, to get you two off the hook for not being able to keep your hormones in check." She pointed at the tent. "They are in there. Now, at least TRY and look like you’ve actually been TALKING for the last few hours…"

Glaring at Maria, Liz tried to defend herself. "Maybe you and Michael should just get it over with already, because if you’re going to be this way about Max and I all the time…"

"Whatever, Lizzie!" Maria seemed unperturbed by Liz. In fact, she seemed particularly chirpy…

~*~*~*~*~*~

Max found his and Liz’s dads in the dining tent with Alex, who seemed really relieved to see him. He had a moment of complete embarrassment, looking at the man whose only daughter he had just been intimate with. But this was not a time for embarrassment. It was a time to take action… And make one of his dreams a reality.

"Hey Dad. Mr. Parker. I’m sorry you had to wait, but I really need to talk to both of you…"

~*~*~*~*~*~

Liz found three pairs of eyes on her when she entered the tent with Maria. And none of them looked fooled as to where she had just been. Or more accurately, what she had just done. She felt a dark blush creep over her cheeks. What had become of the old calm and logical Liz Parker? Sighing, Liz recognized that THAT Liz Parker had apparently disappeared somewhere in Max Evans’ arms.

Amazingly enough, no one said anything about her and Max.

"Liz honey, you look wonderful!" Nancy got up to hug her daughter, silently admitting that her decision to let Liz come to the camp after her ordeal yesterday had been the right one. Liz looked healthy and the stars in her eyes were back.

Diane also smiled at Liz. "You had us all really worried yesterday! I’m so glad everything worked out." She looked at Nancy. "Do you mind if I borrow Liz for a bit? I just want to talk to her about yesterday and I’m sure you don’t want to relive everything…"

"Sure." Nancy accepted so quickly that Liz was concerned. What is going on with everyone? They are all acting so weird.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Nancy arrived at the dining tent to join Jeff, Philip and Max. Upon seeing her, Alex jumped up and invited Philip to go see the computers again. Philip shared a look with Max, knowing where this is going after what Max had just asked them and got up to leave.

This left Max alone with Nancy and Jeff, and suddenly he was scared. What if they say no?

"Uhm…Mr and Mrs Parker, I… I wanted to ask you something. Important." He stared at them trying to gauge their reactions. Jeff was looking confused, but Nancy watched him warily.

Taking a deep breath, he plowed ahead. "I cannot tell you how much I love your daughter. I don’t think there are words to describe it…" Seeing Jeff’s eyes widen, he realized how sappy he was sounding. "And I know this must all seem incredibly strange to you, me being… you know, an alien. But I want you to know that Liz will always be my first priority."

Jeff was finally catching on. And he didn’t like it one bit. "What are you trying to say to us, Max?"

Max shifted in his chair, this was going worse than he had hoped. "I’m saying that I love Liz and I want to marry her one day." Hearing Jeff’s indrawn breath, he rushed ahead. "But since we can’t get married right now, I want you to attend our bonding ceremony."

Jeff looked at Nancy. "Bonding ceremony?"

"It’s like a marriage for my people. Please, it would mean a lot to Liz. And me." Max’s voice was quiet.

"And what rights would this give you over my daughter?" Jeff was starting to get worried. Too many little things he had seen and heard the last few days are starting to make sense to him.

Max hesitated, not sure how to answer the question. And not sure whether he should admit that Liz was already his alien wife and that he only wanted to do this so she could have something close to a real wedding with her parents present. He looked up at Jeff and decided to go with the truth. "It would make her my wife."

Jeff was flabbergasted. "Your… wife! I don’t think… She is way too young to make such a decision. Nancy?" He couldn’t believe she hadn’t gone through the roof by now.

But Nancy was still watching Max. "You’ve already done it, haven’t you?"

Max paled, thinking for a wild moment that she was talking about them having sex. "If you mean the bonding ceremony… yes, we have." He saw that Nancy didn’t act surprised, so he continued. "It gave her the protection of all my people. That’s why they are all looking out for her. I needed to protect her as much as possible."

"So you’re doing this re-bonding only for Liz?"

"And for you. So you can share in this with us." Max was starting to hope that maybe Nancy would help him. "Please."

And she did. "Then I agree."

Jeff was looking at his wife like she was losing her mind. "What?" He turned to Max. "I’m not agreeing to this! Lizzie is too young and you will only use it as an excuse to… to…" He couldn’t even say it. The thought of his daughter having sex was just too horrible to think about.

Nancy took his hand. "Jeff, after everything we saw the last few days, I don’t think we can treat this as something other than a rare occurrence that we could either approve of and share, or deny and be left out of. They are ALREADY bonded. They have ALREADY made a commitment. And I, for one, would like to share in this with our daughter." She also turned to Max. "And whatever else forms part of their marriage. Well, that’s up to them."

Seeing the way his wife was looking at Max, Jeff blanched. He finally admitted what he hadn’t wanted to all along. It is too late. My Lizzie already belongs to the young man across the table. Heart AND body…

Something flashed in Jeff’s eyes that made Max’s fear that Jeff was actually going to kill him, return. There was nothing he could do but meet the eyes of the man who had sired the love of his life and pray that his feelings for Liz were clear. "She means everything to me, Mr Parker. Please, give us your blessing."