Max was holding her against him, his arm slung around her waist and his hand splayed over her stomach. She could feel his breath on her bare shoulder and smiled contentedly to herself. She would never get used to waking up in Max’s arms. From that very first time in their sophomore year out in the desert near the old radio tower, she had remembered to be thankful for every time she could experience this pleasure. Of feeling his body pressed along her back and relishing the protective and possessive way he held her even in sleep. She loved this man more every day!

Glancing at the bedside clock, she saw that it was still early enough for her to make Max his favorite breakfast before he had to go to work. Moving slowly, so she wouldn’t wake him, Liz slipped from Max’s hold. He mumbled her name and she turned around to kiss him softly: "I’ll be right back."

She skipped downstairs wearing one of Max’s old T-shirts that reached her thighs. She had learnt not to run around the house without clothes since their elderly neighbors had the habit of popping in at the most inopportune times. She and Max loved Mr. and Mrs. Kellerman and they had them over for tea occasionally, but there had been some near misses when they had come over unexpectedly. Of course, the Kellermans thought it was "cute" that their young neighbors were so in love, but it created for some panic in the Evans household! Liz prepared the blueberry pancakes quickly so they would have time to sit and chat while they have breakfast, then she doused Max’s stack in Tabasco sauce and hers in maple syrup before taking it back to the bedroom together with a coffee for each of them.

Placing the tray next to the bed, she crawled over Max quietly, but she could see from the twitching at the corners of his mouth that he wasn’t sleeping anymore. She straddled his waist and leaned over him until her face was mere inches from his. Liz kissed his eyelids, his forehead, his cheek bones, his nose and by the time she kissed his mouth, he was kissing her back and running his hands down her back to cup her bottom. "Hmmm," she murmured against his lips, "I’m not breakfast."

He made a disappointed sound and pulled away. "You’re not?"

"No!" she laughed one of her wonderful laughs, warming Max to his toes. "Your OTHER favorite is." She located the tray next to the bed and made him sit up so she could place it between them. The way his eyes lighted up was enough payment for her efforts. Men were so easy to please, feed their appetites, and they were happy!

"I heard that!" Max mock glared at her. "I’ll have you know that it takes more than jut food and sex to make me happy."

Liz popped a piece of her pancake into her mouth, making a whole show of licking the syrup from her fingers. His attention was arrested immediately. "Like what?" she asked innocently.

He looked completely befuddled for a moment and Liz burst out laughing again. "Eat your breakfast, honey!"

Later, as she was putting the dishes into the washer, Max came breezing into the kitchen, wearing his lecturer’s outfit: khaki chino’s, a crisp white shirt and a tie. He grabbed her around the waist and lifted her up against him to kiss her. "I love you, sweetie! Thanks for breakfast." He put her down again and kissed her forehead. "What are you up to today?"

"I have to go into town to get some stuff for the spare bedroom, like a crib!"

They looked at each other quietly after the mention of a crib. It had been their decision to wait with having kids until they had completed their studies and had settled down. Max traced her cheek with his fingers tenderly. "I love you," he repeated seriously before kissing her hard.

Liz watched him leave, he seemed reluctant to go and kept looking back at her. "Bye, Max," Liz said when he finally turned to go. A feeling of melancholy had suddenly overtaken her. She always hated saying good-bye to Max. Normally they were rushing to work and she didn’t notice it so much, but with him leaving her here in the quiet house that smelled like him was depressing her. She moved to the bathroom quickly to take a shower so she could get everything done that she needed to today. Maybe she would go by Max’s class and sit in, that would help her get through the day until she could see him again…

~*~*~*~*~*~

It was the period before lunch when she made it into the building where Max taught his class. She had managed to buy a little crib that still needed assembling, something Max could help her with tonight and everything else was now set for Nick and his family to come visit.

The class hadn’t started yet and Max was writing something on the board while the students were still talking to each other. Liz slipped into a seat at the back of the lecture hall and looked around her. She had come to some of his classes before, just to listen to his voice and watch him work. He didn’t mind and she got to see him during the day.

"I hear he has a really pretty wife." The voice came from one of the girls sitting to her left. Their eyes were on Max, so Liz assumed they were talking about him. Her own eyes drifted to his butt and she breathed in deeply, starting to feel all tingly. Max’s writing faltered. Damn, he knew she was here, that puts an end to her surprise.

"That would explain why he doesn’t ever look at any of the girls in his classes. It’s a shame, though, I had contemplated failing my labs so I could get tutoring from him." By this time, Liz was grinning and she caught the eye of the girl talking. She was cute and she frowned when she looked at Liz.

Max had turned around by now and his eyes searched the class until he found her. He quirked an eyebrow at her and she gave him an innocent smile, batting her eyelids. The girls next to her turned to her, obviously intrigued that their teacher was showing some interest in someone in the class.

"Are you new?" It was the chatty girl again.

Liz kept her eyes on Max while answering: "No, just here for the view."

They giggled. "Yeah, he is pretty gorgeous, isn’t he?"

Liz was tempted to say ‘you should see him naked’, but didn’t think Max would appreciate her putting ideas into the heads of his students. So she just smiled serenely and sat back in the chair, observing him work. The class hung onto his every word and so did she. Eventually, it was time for questions and she listened to him explaining a few concepts to the students. She had to forcibly reign in her reactions to hearing his voice as this would surely reach Max through their connection and distract him.

After class, the students filed out and she remained in her seat and raised her hand. "Ah, Sir? I have a question?"

Max came over, climbing the stairs slowly to reach her. He stopped in front of her desk and leaned over, bracing himself on his hands. "Yes Miss?"

His voice had turned smoky and slid over her nerve endings like silk, causing her to shiver. "Can I get some special tutoring? I think I’m having trouble concentrating in your classes…"

"As long as you can come to my house, I guess it can be arranged," he whispered against her lips, finally kissing her. "But, you’ll have to come at night, I don’t want my other students to think you’re getting special treatment." The last part was mumbled into her mouth.

"Oooh, I like being the teacher’s pet!" She smiled at him and he lifted her out of the chair to kiss her more deeply.

"Can you have lunch with me?" she asked breathlessly as they broke apart.

"Yeah," he laced his fingers through hers and they stared into each other’s eyes.

"Uh, Mr. Evans?" It was the girl that had sat next to Liz and her eyes widened when she saw Max holding hands with Liz. "Oh, sorry, I just wanted… I could come back later."

Max smiled at her. "No, it’s okay, Julie. Meet my wife, Liz."

"We’ve met, sort of," Liz informed him and had to stifle a laugh when the poor girl turned all shades of red. It must be a bit embarrassing knowing you had drooled about your teacher in front of his wife.

Max, as usual, was completely clueless and wondered what had transpired that he missed. Liz just kissed him again and said ‘I’ll wait outside’ before leaving him and his very uncomfortable student to themselves. She could just imagine what the girl was going to tell her friends after this!

Liz went back home after lunch. She felt restless, though, and wandered from room to room in the house, touching things idly. A feeling of worry had settled in her stomach and she couldn’t shake it off. What was going on? Maybe she was just starting to feel the effects of wanting a baby. Staring at the little crib that still needed assembling, Liz sank to the floor in the spare room and admitted it for the first time. She wanted to have Max’s baby. Not at some undetermined future date, right now! But Max seemed so happy with the way things were at the moment, what if he told her he didn’t want to have kids so soon? Tears slipped from her eyes as Liz grabbed a pillow from the bed and curled up on the floor. She was starting to shake and her mind sorted through all her reactions to try and find a reason for her emotional state. She knew this was not really about a baby, she had only felt like this once before in her life, that time in the camp just before Max was abducted.

This was how Max found her when he got home later that afternoon. He had had a disconcerted feeling the whole time since Liz had left him and, while he knew some of it was coming from her, he also recognized that a large part of it was originating from deep within himself. He tried to concentrate on work, but eventually gave up and went home a little early. He had panicked stupidly when he found the house silent and their bedroom empty. He knew she was in there somewhere, but reason always seemed to flee him when it came to Liz.

His heart contracted when he saw her curled up on the floor in the spare room, tear-tracks still visible on her face. He knelt on the floor next to her and scooped her up into his arms tenderly. She pressed herself to him immediately, wrapping her arms around his neck in a death-grip.

"Liz?"

Her eyes had flown open at the sound of her name. "Make love to me, Max! Please! Now."