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"Come Live with me and be my love and we will all the pleasures prove."
-Marlowe

You are cordially invited to witness the blessed union of
Elizabeth Marie Parker
and
Maxwell Phillip Evans
Saturday, the Twenty-second of June, Two Thousand Five
One o' clock in the afternoon
At the home of Mr. and Mrs. Phillip John Evans
6540 Murray Lane
Roswell, New Mexico

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"My baby girl...you're all grown up. And now you're getting married and having your own baby girl. I'm just so..." Nancy Parker said, walking over t o her daughter and cupping her face in her hands.

"Mom," Liz said, rolling her eyes and smiling. She rubbed her hands over the mid-section of her dress, which showed off her very-pregnant belly beautifully.

"Elizabeth, I love you. Your Mom and I love you so much, we're so proud of the wonderful young woman you've become...you're going to be a wonderful wife and an even better mother..." Jeff Parker said, enveloping his daughter and wife into a group hug.

"...And doctor..."Nancy chimed in, beaming with pride.

"Guys, stop it. You're going to make me cry..." Liz said, smiling, the tears of joy shining brightly in her big brown eyes.

Maria knocked on the door, opening it a crack before entering. "Can I come in?"

"Of course...we're all done in here..." Nancy said, taking Jeff's hand and leading him out of the door. She blew her daughter a kiss on the way out.

"You look beautiful, honey."

"We'll see you out there." Jeff said. "Bye, Mom. Bye, Dad. I love you." Liz replied, blowing them a kiss in return.

Maria walked over to Liz and smiled. "Liz...you look so beautiful...you're glowing." She gave her best friend a huge hug.

"Stop it...I'm big as a house." Liz said, turning around to look at herself in the mirror.

"No, you're not...you look incredible." Maria replied.

"I'm so glad your mom agreed to make this dress for me, Maria...the maternity section in the bridal shop was a bit lacking, to say the least..." Liz said, laughing.

"You know, the whole pesky 'morals' issue..." Maria said, smiling.

Liz rolled her eyes. "Those pesky morals, they'll get ya everytime!" She sighed, looking around the room she was in. "It's hard to believe, this was Max's room...he just seems so different now...." Max and Liz had decided to have a small wedding in the Evans' backyard back in Roswell, so all their family and close friends could come.

Maria smiled, walking over to a dresser and picking up a photo of Max, Isabel, and Michael in a silver frame. "Yeah...well we've been gone from Roswell for like four YEARS, Lizzie...things have changed..."

"Yeah..." Liz said, sighing. She sat down on Max's bed, snuggling up with one of his pillows. She closed her eyes.

"Lizzie...no time for a nap, chica, you're getting married in like ten minutes!" Maria said.

"It's not that, Maria...I just feel really...funny." Liz said, holding her head in her hands.

"Funny?" Maria said with alarm. She rushed over to Liz's side. "What kind of funny?"

Liz shook her head. "No, it's nothing." She said, smiling. "I'm just being paranoid."

"No, tell me, what is it, Liz? No secrets, remember?" Maria said. "Let me feel your head." She put her hand to Liz's forehead. "You're burning up!"

"It's just nerves...it's nothing..." Liz said, reaching out for Maria's hand to help her stand back up.

Then she felt it... a sudden, sharp, blinding pain ripping through her, then a warm surge of water sliding down her legs.

"Oh GOD!" Liz cried, falling backwards onto the bed.

"What, Lizzie, what? What is it? Is it the baby?" Maria asked, holding her hand.

Liz shook her head. "This can't be happening..."

"What?" Maria asked, suddenly looking down at the growing pool of wetness on the floor between Liz's legs. "Oh my God!" She whispered. "I-I..."

"Do something, Maria!" Liz said, between forced breaths. She was only four months pregnant, she had figured the lamaze classes would come much later on.

"I, I-- I can't handle this pressure!" Maria screamed. "Where's my cedar oil?" She began frantically searching the room for her purse.

"Go get Max! I'm having this baby!" Liz screamed, grabbing Maria's arm.

"You can't possibly be having this baby! You're only four months pregnant, Lizzie! Don't be silly! We'll just sit here until the pain passes, then we'll go downstairs and you'll tie the knot with Mr. Wonderful...okay?" Maria said, hyperventilating.

"NO, MARIA! Aren't you forgetting...this baby..." Liz moaned in pain "This baby is PART CZECHLOSLOVAKIAN? Who knows how long it takes CZECHLOSLOVAKIAN babies to come into this world! GO GET MAX!" She squealed.

"Oh, God, oh, okay, Lizzie, I'll be right..." Maria didn't get to finish her sentence, she was halfway down the stairs to find Max.

* * * * *

"Max, what the hell is the matter with you... There's no time for one of your 'headaches' again..." Michael said, pacing in the Evans' kitchen. People were milling about outside in the backyard, waiting anxiously for the ceremony to start. Meanwhile, the groom was hunched over at the kitchen table, complaining of a piercing headache.

"Michael, this is different...something's wrong..." Max replied, shaking his head.

"It's just nerves, Maxwell...okay? So get up, you're marrying your dreamgirl in like ten minutes..." Michael said, patting his best friend on the back.

A squealing noise carried throughout the house, finally ending up in the kitchen. Maria appeared to Max and Michael, out of breath.

"Maria! What is it? Is there something wrong with Liz?" Max cried, jumping up from the table.

"Get Alex and Isabel. WE'RE HAVING A BABY!" Maria screamed.

Max's eyes lit up with a mix of complete elation and utter terror.

"She can't be having the baby...she's only four months..." Michael cried to Maria.

"Czechloslovakian babies? Jordana's a Czechloslovakian baby, you people failed to realize this one..." Maria said. "I promise you, this isn't a joke...Liz is in a lot of pain...her water just broke..."

That was all Max needed to hear. He needed to be with her. He pushed Maria out of the way, leaving she and Michael in the kitchen. He bolted up the stairs and ran into his room. "Liz! Liz, honey, I'm here, I'm here..." He ran into the room, flinging his arms around her.

"Oh, Max! I'm so scared! So scared..." Liz screamed in pain. Her face was covered in sweat and she'd already ripped apart one of his pillows.

"Liz, I'm not going to leave you baby, never...I'm here...let's get you out of this dress and prop you up onto some pillows... maybe that will relieve some of the pressure..." Max said, quickly moving into "Protective Husband" mode.

"Oh, Max...Max..." She groaned in pain, falling into his arms. "I can't do this...I'm not ready...it's too soon..."

"Shh..." He said, putting a finger to his lips. "Yes you can. I'm here...we can do anything." He carefully undid the zipper in the back of her dress and slid it down around her hips, laying it on the back of his desk chair. He started pulling out the tiny clips holding her hair back tightly into soft brown tendrils. "There...that will relieve some of the stress to your head..." He walked over to his dresser drawer, relieved to find some old house clothes lying inside. He pulled out an old West Roswell High School t-shirt for her to wear. He walked back over to the bed, propping the pillows up against the headboard so she could sit up slightly while still feeling somewhat comfortable. He pulled the shirt over her head and rubbed her belly, chuckling. "Hey, little one...you sure have terrible timing..."

Liz laughed at him, putting her hand on his cheek. He kissed her open palm. "Max..." She whispered. "I'm really afraid... what if I can't do this?"

Just then, another painful contraction washed over her. Without thinking, Max placed his hands on her lower abdomen, suddenly feeling a shocking pain ripping through him. He was connecting with her, taking some of the pain away from her and feeling it himself.

"Oh, man..." He cried, his body crashing onto hers in pain. "God, Liz..."

"Max...no...please...you don't have to do that!" Liz said, frantically shaking her head in disapproval.

"Liz, I'm not going to sit here and watch you in pain while knowing that I can do something to help relieve it." Max said, sweat pouring off his brow.

They shared one of their trademark looks...the one that made Maria comment one time when they were in high school, "you and Max- you've got that whole...look into my eyes-soulmate thing."

"In that case..." Liz replied, smiling. She began undoing his bowtie and tuxedo shirt. "...let's get you out of those clothes, Daddy...we're having a baby." She then knew that she had no fear, no regrets, no pain was too great - this perfect man was here, was hers, and nothing else mattered...

* * * * *

"How's my precious little grandbaby doing?" Diane Evans said, smiling.

She was bouncing Michaela on her knee while Adam-Michael sat in Isabel's lap next to her, coloring in a coloring book she had bought for him. Mr. and Mrs. Evans had joyfully accepted Adam-Michael into their lives with open arms, and he seemed to accept them just as easily as he had Max, Liz, Maria, Michael, Isabel, and Alex.

"Grammy, see what I made for you?" Adam said, holding up a finished page in the book for Diane to see.

"Oh, Adam, it's beautiful! That's for me?" She replied, smiling. It was a picture of a woman pushing a baby in a baby carriage.

"Yes, it's for you. It's Mommy pushing Jordana in the baby stroller." Adam said, smiling.

"Well Adam, she's just beautiful. You did a wonderful job on the brown hair." Diane replied, putting her gentle hand on her grandson's jet black hair. She couldn't get over how much he looked like Max at his age.

Adam nodded proudly. "Long brown hair, just like my Mommy's." Adam hadn't called Liz "Lizzie" since the day Tess had died. He kept a picture of he and his mom next to his bed in a gold frame, but he rarely talked about her. As far as he was concerned, his mother was gone, and Liz was his Mommy now.

Diane was saddened to hear that Tess had died in a car accident (that's what they told everyone back home) but relieved that Adam-Michael had come into their lives before that happened, and that Liz Parker, who Diane had always loved and respected for making her son so happy, had adopted Adam-Michael into her heart just like he was her own son.

Isabel smiled, holding her baby's tiny hand as Diane bounced her on her knee. She looked over to her mom with concern. "Mom, it's getting kind of late...shouldn't Max and Michael be out here by now?"

Diane looked at her watch. "Yeah...I hope everything's alright..." She said, turning her head back towards the house. "Maybe they need our help with something..."

Isabel then felt a surge of pain rock through her body. "Oh, God..." She moaned. Diane looked over at her daughter with alarm.

"Honey! What's the matter?" Diane asked, putting her arm around Isabel. "You need some medicine? I can go inside the house and grab you some..."

"No, Mom...it's not that...I just have this strange feeling...like something's wrong..." Isabel said, holding her head in her hands in pain. Max was in pain. She could feel it, he was connecting with her. What was going on? Adam-Michael looked up at her with delight.

"Jordana's coming!" He cried, climbing quickly out of Isabel's lap and running towards the house.

"What?" Diane cried. "That can't be! What is he talking about, Izzy?"

"Oh, it's nothing...you know how weird 4-year-olds can be...I'll go check on them...can you watch Michaela for me?" Isabel said, looking at her Mom with concern.

"Of course dear. I hope everything's alright. Please come out and get me if something is wrong, ok?" Diane asked.

"Of course, Mom." Isabel said, kissing Diane on the cheek and looking through the crowd, trying to find Alex. She found him over by the refreshment table set up in the back of the yard. "Alex!" She cried out to him.

"What? What's up? Are they finally ready to start?" Alex asked her.

"No, I think something's wrong with Liz..." Isabel said, frantically.

"WHAT?" Alex cried. He grabbed Isabel's hand as they walked quickly back towards the house.

They ran right into Maria and Michael.

"Michael- thank God, what's going on with Liz and Max? I felt this really sharp pain, then Adam went running towards the house..." Isabel said.

"That's cause Liz is in labor." Michael said casually.

"WHAT?" Isabel and Alex cried at the same time.

Maria and Michael walked out towards the crowd as Isabel and Alex ran back into the house to be with Liz and Max.

"Excuse me, everyone, can I have your attention please?" Maria asked, standing on the makeshift altar in front of the rows of chairs. The minister looked at her with confusion. The buzzing noise of voices slowly creeped down to silence as she continued. "Um, there isn't going to be a wedding today..."

A chorus of "WHATS?" and "Oh Nos!" floated through the crowd until Maria explained. "There isn't going to be a wedding, because there's going to be a birth instead...Liz has gone into labor."

Gasps floated through the crowd. Nancy and Jeff stood up from the front row and ran towards Maria.

"Where is she?" Jeff asked.

"Have you taken her to the hospital?" Nancy asked, frantically.

"No, Liz's contractions are too close together. There isn't any time..." Maria said. *And we don't know if the baby's going to come out green and slimy...* She added in her mind.

"That's ridiculous! We'll call an ambulance right now! She'll be at the hospital in five minutes!" Jeff cried.

"NO!" Michael screamed at them. Jeff looked at him with anger and hatred. He wasn't going to have his niece prodded by doctors at the hospital.

"What did you say to me?"Jeff asked.

"I said No. Max and Liz want to have the baby at home. They're having it here. There will be no ambulances called, we have everything under control." Michael replied calmly.

"UNDER CONTROL?" Nancy cried. "You all are just a bunch of kids, you don't know anything about having babies..."

"Michael and I don't. But Max's sister, Isabel Whitman does. And so does her husband, Alex. They just had a baby girl at home a few months ago. With no help. They were by themselves." Maria said calmly.

"And they're up there with Lizzie now?" Jeff asked.

"Yes." Michael said.

"We know you're worried, but everything's going to be fine." Maria said, putting her hand on Nancy's shoulder. Nancy hugged Maria tightly in fear.

"Well Jeff and I are staying here. We won't get in your way, just promise us that you'll let us know if something's wrong...and then we can take her to the hospital?" Nancy said, looking up into Maria's eyes.

"Of course, Mr. and Mrs. Parker." Michael said. Maria linked her arm with Nancy's as she and Michael led them into the house. Michael walked over to Diane and Phillip Evans and led them inside the house, taking baby Michaela, who was named after him, into his arms.

"I'll gather up some blankets...some washcloths...you're going to need some ice for Liz, and a small tub or something to wash the baby in after she's born..." Diane began, rummaging through the downstairs of her house in frantic search of the necessary items. She began piling them into Michael's arms.

"Yeah...we're going to need some scissors, too...to cut the...the..thing..." Michael said, trying to remember the name.

"The umblical cord? Yeah. You'll need scissors. And something to suction the baby's nose and mouth...I'll see what I can find around here." Diane said as she and Michael walked back into the kitchen to find the rest of the items. Phillip was playing with his granddaughter, flying her around like a superhero.

"And here comes 'SUPERBABY'!" Phillip said, making Michaela giggle with glee. Her face then began to quiver and she began screaming hysterically.

"Oh, that's a hungry cry, Phillip..." Diane said, smiling.

"Well, did Isabel leave anything for her...?" Phillip asked, looking through Michaela's diaper bag on the table.

"She said there was a bottle of breast milk in the fridge. Just put it in the microwave and heat it up for like twenty seconds...you can give her that." Diane said. Phillip walked over to the fridge, grabbing the bottle and putting it in the microwave. He bounced Michaela in his arms, but she wouldn't stop crying.

Michael looked over at him. "Can I take her?" He reached out his arms.

"Sure, Michael. Give it a shot." Phillip said, smiling and handing the screaming baby to him. She was immediately calmed by Michael's soothing touch. For the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Evans actually saw their children's mysterious friend smile.

"Wow..." Diane said. "You're a natural!"

Michael nodded, in awe of this precious thing nestled in his arms. He knew then what he was ready for... what he had wanted all along.

* * * * *

"Push, Liz, you have to push!" Isabel cried, throwing instructions to Liz as Maria and Max pushed against her feet.

Michael, Alex, and Adam were near Liz's head, holding her hands and feeding her ice chips. Adam held a cool washcloth and dabbed it on Liz's forehead every few moments, pushing her sweat-covered hair back from her face.

"I can't..." Liz moaned. She'd been pushing for over an hour. Maybe Jordana decided she didn't want to come out today after all. "I can't do it anymore..." She closed her eyes and a vision rocked through her mind...

***

The same one she had of she, Max, and Jordana at the beach.

Max and Jordana playing in the sand.

Liz watching from a safe distance, fixing her family's lunch.

Max and Jordana pleading to play for a little while longer.

Tess grabbing Jordana out of Max's arms and running with her into the ocean.

Jordana screaming and crying.

"Mommy! Daddy! Help me!" Jordana squealed, as Tess disappeared with her, further into the dark, lifeless ocean.

***

Liz was brought out of her mind by a screaming Max. "Liz...baby, Liz you have to push. Look. Look at your stomach. The symbol's fading. It's getting dark. You have to get her out of there, she's dying..."

Liz looked into Max's eyes with terror and exhaustion. "I'm just so...tired, Max..."

Max put his hands on her abdomen as she pushed. "Push, Liz, push!" He connected with her once again, feeling the absolute torture ripping through her body. He fell over her in a great amount of pain, but kept the connection open.

"That was good, Liz! That was awesome!" Isabel cried. "The baby's head is crowning! One more good push and she's out of there, okay?"

"Hang on, Lizzie, you're doing so great!" Maria said, scared for her best friend but so excited that her goddaughter was coming into the world.

Max and Liz looked into each other's eyes, knowing in the next few minutes, their lives would be changed forever.

"Okay, Liz, I'm going to count to ten, alright? I want you to bare down for me as hard as you can, and I think that will do it..." Isabel said, motioning for Alex to hand her one of the towels set up by the head of the bed.

"Okay..." Liz said, exhausted, as Adam put the washcloth back down on her forehead.

"Mommy, you can do it." Adam-Michael said.

Liz smiled at him. "Thanks, kiddo." She said, breathlessly. She looked up at Max as Isabel, Alex, Maria, and Michael began to count.

"One...two...three..."

Max put his hands on Liz's belly and got another flash.

***

The first time he ever saw Liz. They were seven. He was getting off the school bus for the first time and Liz smiled at him as she played with some of her friends.

Liz in biology class, the sun streaming in from the windows, her looking so beautiful as she took notes from the chalkboard.

The day at the CrashDown when she was shot.

Their first kiss.

Melting into each other.

*

"Four...five...six..."

*

Spending the night in the desert, finding the orb that would eventually tell him his destiny with Tess.

The mind-numbing pain they both felt when Liz let him go.

All the times he saw her in the hallways of school, wanting to hold her, touch her, kiss her...

Graduation. The night they made love at the rock formation.

*

"Seven...eight...nine..."

*

Their happy memories in college.

Their lazy afternoons.

The night he asked her to marry him.

Moving in together, Tess and Adam-Michael coming back into their lives.

The night she almost died.

The night Tess took her from him.

Max vowing never to let Tess get near them again.

Liz vowing to take care of Adam-Michael after Tess died.

*

"Ten!" They all cried as Liz, with help from Max, pushed down for the last moment when the baby was free of her body.

A breathless moment passed before Jordana began squealing.

"Oh my God!" Isabel cried, smiling. Tears streamed from Isabel and Maria's face. "She's got ten fingers, ten toes, she's beautiful! She's perfect!" Isabel wrapped her up in a towel, suctioned the fluid out of her mouth and nose, and put her onto Liz's stomach.

Liz and Max looked at each other blissfully. They kissed.

"We did it!" Max cried. "We did it!"

"Hi, baby..." Liz cooed, kissing her head. "I love you so much, Jordana... we're so glad you're finally here."

"Hi Jordana." Adam-Michael said, kissing her forehead. "I'm your big brother."

Max smiled, tears streaming down her face. "You are so beautiful..." Max said. "I love you, sweetheart..." He leaned down and kissed her tiny forehead as she began to stop crying.

"Hey, big Daddy- you want to cut the cord?" Isabel asked Max, handing him the scissors.

"Of course." Max said, smiling, cutting the cord as Jordana was finally free from Liz's body. Liz felt an immediate disconnection- not a sad one, but one that made her baby so much more real.

As Isabel and a hysterical Maria took the baby to clean her up in the sink, Alex wrapped his arms around Liz and kissed her cheek.

"Great job, Mama." Alex said.

"Thanks, Alex. Thanks so much for being there." Liz said.

Michael stood in the corner, smiling. Max walked over to him as Adam climbed into Liz's arms and closing his eyes.

"That's one lucky baby." Michael said. "Thanks for letting me be here, you know..." He hated these emotional moments.

"Michael...you're my brother, man...if you weren't here, it wouldn't have been right..." Max said.

"I know, it's just..."

"Just what?" Max asked.

"Seeing a baby come into the world like that... it really got to me..."

"What do you mean?" Max asked, intrigued.

"I think...I think it's time...Maria and I got..."

Max smiled, hugging him. "I think I know what you mean." Max walked back over to Liz and Adam and cuddled with them on his bed.

"So Adam, what did you think about all that, huh, son?" Max asked his tiny son.

"It was great, Daddy...scary, but good. I'm glad Mommy and Jordana are okay now." Adam said. Liz smiled through her closed eyes. She definitely deserved a catnap.

Max leaned down and whispered in her ear. "I love you so much. Thank you for giving me a beautiful baby."

Liz opened her eyes and kissed him. "Thank you."

Just then, Nancy, Jeff, Diane, and Phillip burst in, with Michaela in tow. Alex grabbed his baby out of their arms and smiled.

"Let's go meet your cousin, Mimi!" Alex said, smiling and walking into the bathroom to see how Maria and Isabel were coming with the baby preparations.

"Lizzie! Baby!" Nancy cried, flinging herself into her daughter's tired arms.

"Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad." Liz said, exhausted.

"We heard a baby squealing...is she alright?" Jeff asked Max.

"Jordana is fine...she's beautiful, perfect- ten fingers, ten toes - head full of dark brown hair." Max said, beaming. Jeff hugged his soon-to-be son-in-law tightly.

"Thank you, Max. Thank you for taking such good care of Lizzie." Jeff said, tears forming in his eyes. He walked over to his daughter and kissed her head "Are you okay, pumpkin?"

"I'm fine, I'm just tired..." Liz said, yawning.

Nancy smiled. "That's understandable."

Diane and Phillip hugged their son, then walked over to greet Liz.

"We're so proud of you kids...for doing this on your own..." Diane said, smiling.

"Yeah, it seems so much more special with everyone here, doesn't it?" Phillip asked.

Max and Liz looked at each other, sending each other a message telepathically. "It was the most special thing that has ever happened to us."

"Grandpa!" Adam said, running into Phillip's arms as he scooped him up.

"Hey, kiddo!" Phillip said, tickling his grandson. "How do you feel? You're a big brother now! Lots of responsibility!"

"I love Jordana, I want to be her big brother, no one else's..." Adam-Michael said, smiling. "We're going to go to the beach, and play in the water, and make sandcastles, and color together, and ride bikes together, and fly kites..."

Everyone in the room smiled at Adam's excitedness.

The room got silent when Isabel, Maria, and Alex walked back into the room. Maria was holding the now-clean baby in a pink blanket. Her eyes streamed with tears at the excitement of holding her goddaughter. "Here she is, everyone..." The grandparents gasped at the child's beauty.

"She looks just like Lizzie did when she was born..." Nancy commented as Jeff put his arm around his wife, tears falling from both their eyes.

Maria placed the baby carefully in her best friend's arms as Liz was held in Max's arms. Michael's heart swelled with love as he saw how natural Maria seemed with the baby. She walked over to him and he put his arms around her, kissing her cheek.

"Mom, Dad..." Max said, smiling.

"Mom, Dad..." Liz said, smiling.

Max continued. "May we present to you...Jordana Isabel Parker Evans."

Isabel squealed with delight to hear her own name as the baby's middle name. "Max, Liz..." She said, her eyes filling with fresh tears. She leaned the side of her face against her own daughter's sweet-smelling hair.

Liz looked up at Isabel. "You helped bring her into the world...and you are her aunt...it seemed natural..."

"Isabel is a form of Elizabeth, too...so..." Max added.

"It's perfect!" Nancy said, smiling.

"I love you guys." Isabel said, kissing Liz's head, Max's head, and the baby's soft head.

Diane and Phillip looked at each other in pride. Their children had grown into such wonderful adults. They were so proud.

"Oh my gosh!" Maria cried. "You guys... you need to get married!"

"Maria, we can get married another day..." Liz began, yawning. "I'm a little tired right now..."

Max looked down at her smiling. He kissed her head. "No, you can be my wife right now."

"What?" Liz asked, confused. Max looked to his father, who was a federal court judge.

Phillip smiled. "You want ME to marry you guys?"

"Yeah. Can you do it?" Max asked him.

"Well...it will be legal, cause I'm a judge..."

"And we have our marriage liscense already!" Liz added.

Phillip nodded. "Okay, let's get married!"

Max and Liz looked at each other, smiles spread across their face. Jordana opened her eyes and looked up at her Mom and Dad. "Jordana approves, let's do it!" Max said. Everyone in the room laughed.

"Okay, Max...do you take Liz to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold, in joy and in sorrow, in sickness and in health, in plenty and in want, as long as you both shall live?"

Max looked deep into Liz's eyes. "I'll love you forever. I do."

Liz's eyes began filling with tears. Phillip continued.

"Okay, Liz, do you take Max to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold, in joy and in sorrow, in sickness and in health, in plenty and in want, as long as you both shall live?"

Liz looked into Max's eyes. "I'll love you in heaven. So I do."

"Okay then, by the power vested in me by the State of New Mexico, I now pronounce you husband and wife." Phillip smiled. "Kiss your bride, son."

Max and Liz kissed and claps and cheers surrounded them.

"Jordana...you hear that?" Adam said, whispering into his baby sister's tiny ear. "Mommy and Daddy just got married!"

Everyone laughed.

Michael grabbed Maria's hand and led her out into the hallway.

"Michael, what are you doing?" Maria asked him.

"I'm tired of playing games, Maria..."

"Games?" Maria was confused.

"Life's too short...I love you and you love me, so let's just do it, okay?"

Maria's heart stopped as she saw the man of her dreams kneeling down in front of her.

"Maria Amelia DeLuca...will you marry me?" Michael asked.

She squealed, flinging herself into his arms.

"Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!" She screamed. She showered his face with a million kisses and Michael spinned her around in the air.

* * * * *

Later that night....

Max and Liz had fallen asleep together in Max's old bed, with Jordana fast asleep in Michaela's portable crib. Adam-Michael was next to the bed and the crib, on a cot his Grandmother had found in the garage and fixed it up for him to sleep on.

Max woke up, cradling an exhausted but content Liz in his arms. He pulled her close to him, removing a single strand of hair that was pasted to her forehead from the evening's revels. "I forgot...to tell you...I love you..." He began to slowly sing in her ear, more like whisper in her ear, with the slightest hint of a tune. He didn't want to wake their children.

*Their children.*

That had such a nice ring to it.

"...a night's too long, and cold here without you...I grieve in my condition...for I cannot find the words to say I need you so..." He sang to her, rubbing her arms and hands, bringing one of her hands up to his mouth to kiss it. She moved around in his arms, opening her eyes up to him.

"I never knew my husband had such a beautiful voice..." Liz began, turning her body around so their chests were touching.

"I never knew I could love my wife more than I already did...but I keep falling in love with you....everytime I look at you...you amaze me..." Max said.

Liz's eyes filled with tears. "I think that's the most beautiful thing you've ever said to me."