Driving to school, Max had given her worried glances all the time until Liz cried: "Max! You are driving me crazy! I am FINE." He had just given her an unbelieving look, but had at least tried to act more casual.

Max was fighting hard to keep his panic under control. Liz had seemed fine when they reached the school and he had checked her out every chance he got throughout the morning. The color had returned to her cheeks and the smile was back on her face. But he couldn’t shake the worry that something was going on with her. He hadn’t said anything this morning about the fact that she might be pregnant. If she were, there was nothing they could do about it now and he didn’t want to worry her before she went to Boston. On the other hand, did he want her so far away from him in that state? Who knew what would happen to her? He was not exactly a normal guy… And how could she be pregnant? She was using birth control pills and had been ever since they had gotten back from the camp the first time. Granted, they haven’t been using anything else lately, but the pills had seemed to work fine for months now. He shoved his hand through his hair in agitation. If only there was some way he could make sure she was fine!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"So Max tells me you were sick this morning." Maria leaned against the counter in the girls’ bathroom and looked at Liz. "Are you okay?"

Liz sighed. "Max is overreacting. I was nauseous. It passed. I’m fine now."

"Chica, you know you might be…" Maria floundered, wondering if Liz was purposely ignoring one of the obvious potential causes for her sickness. Taking a deep breath, Maria decided to wait before creating panic until there is more proof of a possible pregnancy. One morning of nausea does not a baby make! "You didn’t seriously think your better half would NOT freak if he saw you ill, did you? How long have you known Max Evans again?"

Turning to look at Maria, Liz put her hands on her hips. "Did he send you in here to check on me?"

"Damn! I told him you would figure it out." Maria grinned at her. "So what do I report to him?"

Sighing, Liz picked up her backpack and took Maria’s arm to steer her out of the bathroom: "Let’s go tell him he’s busted. And then maybe I’ll drag him into the Eraser Room to show him how fine I am…"

A few minutes after they left, one of the stalls opened and a very pissed Tess Harding came out. It was time to phone Nacedo, it sounds like the earth girl may be breeding…

~*~*~*~*~*~

Everything went well until lunchtime when Liz suddenly became sick again and fled the table in the quad where all her friends were gathered. Max took off after her and found her in the nearest bathroom, which he entered without even bothering to worry about the modesty of any girls that may be in there. Luckily, there was only one sophomore busy admiring herself in the mirror and who was too shocked to see one of the school’s biggest hotties come storming in after his girlfriend to make too much of a fuss.

He found her hunched over in one of the stalls and dropped to his knees next to her. "What is wrong with you?" he cried in despair. This was horrible. He could heal bullet wounds, but he couldn’t help Liz when she was feeling so awful. He brought her some water and watched her in growing concern as she cleaned herself up in front of the mirror.

"Max, please stop worrying. I’m sure its nothing." But she sounded weak even to herself.

Max looked at her for a long moment. "I’m taking you to a doctor."

No amount of protesting from Liz could sway him and before she knew what hit her, they were in the Jeep on the way to the emergency room.

Max died a thousand deaths while he watched the doctor run all sorts of tests on Liz. He hated not knowing what was going on or how to help her. So he did the only thing he could, he held her hand fiercely.

The doctor returned after completing some forms to go with the blood work: "Should I run a pregnancy test too?"

Max felt his heart lurch and looked at Liz, whose eyes were wide with shock. It seemed so much more real now that someone else was voicing the possibility. "Yes," he said softly.

"P-pregnant?" Liz was getting dizzy. She had been blocking out the possibility ever since this morning, but now she admitted that deep down she HAD been worried about it. Glancing anxiously at Max, she wondered what he thought. Would he hate her for making them parents so young?

"Never." He answered her thought. "I love you."

Liz closed her eyes but felt the tears squeezing from beneath her lids. "I’m sorry."

Max was on his feet in an instant and cradled her against him. "For what? We both did this. And maybe you’re not… so let’s just deal with whatever the doctors say, okay?"

When the doctor came back, she found Liz huddled on Max’s lap and marveled for a moment at the strong bond she could see between these two young people. "You can get dressed now and go home. We’ll phone you later with the results."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Max had refused to take her back to school and now Liz was tucked into their bed with Max making her some of Maria’s herbal tea in the kitchen. When he came back he lay down on the bed with her, looking at her seriously. "It’s killing me, Liz." For a blind moment she thought he was talking about her possible pregnancy. "I hate that you are going to be in Boston and maybe ill or… pregnant. And alone." He trailed his fingers over her lips, concern marring his features.

"I know." Liz kissed the fingers that were caressing her. She was feeling great again, these bouts of nausea seemingly coming and going at intervals. "I promise I will call if something weird happens." He nodded, but did not look like he was feeling much better, so Liz slid closer to him and pulled him into an embrace. "It’s going to be okay."

She rained little kisses all over his face while pressing herself against him and trying to absorb all his worries into her body. His only reaction was to hold her so tightly that she could barely breathe. "Max, honey, do you still want to take me on that date tonight?"

His head jerked up: "Why? Are you not up to it, cause I --."

"No, I would just need some air to stay alive until then," she reminded him gently.

"Oh god, I’m sorry!" He loosened his hold and Liz pushed him on his back so that she can curl up on his chest.

Not much later, Liz’s cellphone started ringing and they looked at each other before Liz answered. "Oh, hi Mrs. Evans…. Yes he is. Oh! Yeah, I’ll tell him. I’m sorry, I wasn’t feeling well so he brought me home… No, I’m fine now… Okay, bye." She looked at Max. "The school was looking for you so they phoned your mom. She’ll phone them back to say you weren’t feeling well."

Max sighed, worrying about school was not very high on his list right now. He pulled Liz back to him and slowly flattened his hand against her womb. Was his baby growing in there? It was a scary and wonderful thought. Scary, because they were so young and because they knew nothing about human/alien babies. Would Liz even be okay? And so wonderful, because he had never thought he would be able to have children, much less with Liz.

Liz held her breath as she experienced every one of his feelings through their connection and she realized how much they both wanted this baby. And how much they would love him or her when they arrived. And for the first time since Liz was so ill that morning, both of them smiled.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Tess stood in Liz’s room and knew that Liz hadn’t slept there for a long time. The room looked pristine, almost untouched and very few personal items littered the place. A picture of her and Max was pinned to a board over her table, but the rest of the stuff was old. Clenching her fists, Tess had trouble controlling her rage. She couldn’t believe that the Parkers let their precious little girl move in with Max. Because that is now becoming crystal clear to her. Max and Liz were shacked up together somewhere.

She hated Liz Parker. She hated the girl who had everything she had been told was hers. Liz had Max swooning at her feet. Liz had the position that Tess had always believed was hers. Liz had the adoration and protection of Max’s people. And now, Liz apparently had the next King in her womb.

Tess stared furiously at the picture of Max and Liz. Max was a weak idiot who was ruled by his indiscriminate heart. Yes, he was a babe and Tess wouldn’t mind getting in his pants, but she didn’t really care about him all that much. She wanted what he represented. Being royalty. Being revered by an entire race. Being important.

She would have to take action on this. Nacedo had been nothing short of livid when she spoke to him about Liz’s pregnancy. Tess rolled her eyes. When push came to shove, Max Evans had been just like any other guy, his hormones ruled his head. And while Nacedo makes sure that dear Lizzie does NOT produce the heir to the throne, Tess would make sure that Max’s hormones work in the right direction this time. Hers.

~*~*~*~*~*~

The phone jarred them awake and Liz blearily fumbled for it while trying to disentangle herself from Max. She suddenly didn’t have the guts to speak to the doctor and Max took the phone from her after seeing her pleading look. Liz was dying while he spoke to the doctor, his face gave nothing away and all he did was hold her hand tighter and tighter.

When Max switched off the cell phone he turned to Liz with a mixture of emotions in his eyes. Leaning forward slowly, he pressed his forehead against hers and squeezed his eyes shut.

"Max?" Liz didn’t know what to make of Max’s reaction.