"I'd be a little quiet about the hating the Red Sox thing...Max is kind of a die-hard fan now." Isabel said as she played with Ryan on the floor nearby. Max playfully gave Kyle a molten stare.

"The Sox are a religion to me, I know it's weird." Max replied, shrugging his shoulders. "Never picked you out as the jock type, Evans." Kyle said, turning a questioning gaze to the quiet soul sitting across from him.

"Well, we've all changed a lot, Kyle." Liz replied, smiling, sitting on the other couch with Maria and Max, who were each holding a baby.

"Those little buggers are cute, I hate to admit it..." Kyle said, smiling, and reaching out his pointer finger towards Matthew, who was sitting snugly in Maria's lap. Matty instinctively grabbed on to the Sheriff's finger tightly. Liz and Max smiled. "I can still remember when Lauren was that age... she was so cute, with all that blonde hair..." Lauren rolled her eyes and covered her face with her hands, sinking deeper into the couch cushions. "Dad, stop it."

Kyle smiled, pulling his finger away from Matty's firm grip. "Stopping."

Liz smiled at Kyle's easiness with his daughter. Before tonight, she never saw him as the "Dad" type. But now that she's seen how he is with Lauren, as well as her own children, she knew she couldn't have been more wrong about him.

There was an uncomfortable silence as Kyle sat back, easing himself into the soft cushions of the couch. He casually wrapped his arm around his daughter and turned to Adam-Michael.

"So, Adam-Michael... I don't think we've ever met. I'm Sheriff Valenti." He extended an outstretched hand to the teenage boy sitting next to him.

Adam-Michael hesitated, then tentatively shook the hand offered by Lauren's father. "I don't believe so either. It's nice to meet you, sir."

"It's so wild that you and my Lauren have become good friends so quickly... you know your parents and I go way back..." Kyle said, winking at Liz.

Adam-Michael stifled his laughter and nodded. "Yeah, actually, Mom told me today that you used to date."

Kyle laughed too. "Yeah, but that was a long time ago. We were kids... about your age, would you say, Lizzie?"

Max scrunched his face as he heard Kyle call his wife "Lizzie". He sure was getting comfortable real quick. Max didn't understand why after all these years he was still wary of Kyle. Max always thought Kyle had a hidden agenda, and that would probably never change.

"Yeah," Liz managed to say after the inital shock of hearing him call her "Lizzie." He hadn't done that since they were sophomores in high school. Kyle stole a glance at Max, who was looking at him with concern in his eyes. Did he know where this line of questioning was going? It was making him uncomfortable. Kyle chuckled subconsiously. He loved seeing Evans squirm.

"So..." Kyle pressed on. "You're about 16, right, Adam-Michael?"

"Will be in December, sir." Adam-Michael replied firmly.

"Only a couple months older than my Lauren. Lauren was born the year after we graduated from high school. So I guess you were too, huh?" Kyle asked. He turned to Liz. "I had no idea you were even pregnant, Liz... not that I blame you for not telling me, I seem to recall we weren't on very good terms back then." Liz turned to Max with alarm in her eyes. Adam-Michael's eyes grew wider. This exchange between the three eldest members of the Evans' clan didn't go unnoticed by the Sheriff. He arched his eyebrow. "Is something the matter? I mean, I did the math correctly, didn't I? If Adam-Michael was born in December of 2002, then you would have had to been pregnant in March of 2002, right? When we were still seniors?"

Max tried to stand up from the couch and remind Kyle to mind his own business when Liz grabbed his arm, pulling him back down to the soft cushions with a thud. Kyle noticed Max's face flushing with anger, the resentment pouring from his eyes. This didn't go unnoticed by Adam and Lauren. They looked at each other painfully behind Kyle, who was leaning forward on the couch. Lauren couldn't explain it, but just looking into Adam-Michael's eyes for a split second made her realize something was very wrong.

"Kyle." Liz said calmly. "Max and I weren't together during our senior year, or our junior year for that matter..." Max turned to her, pleading with her not to say anything. With her eyes, she reassured him everything would be all right. He would find out the truth about Adam-Michael's mother eventually.

Kyle gasped, suddenly remembering. He smiled sarcastically. "That's right, Evans... I forgot, you dog, you. First you stole Liz from me, then you stole that cute little Tess from me too... I can't believe I forgot about that." Adam-Michael's eyes grew wide as he felt his mother's presence wash over him again. He could feel her tingling in his brain.

*See, Adam, someone remembers me... Love me, Adam. Love me."

Adam-Michael's brown eyes shot open and he jumped off the couch like a rocket. He ran out of the living room, into the kitchen and out of the front door.

"Adam!" Lauren cried, running after him. Liz and Max looked at each other with terror. Liz knew that something was happening to Adam again. She wanted to run out there and hold him close to her, but she knew she had to stay here and run interference with the lifelong rivals. *Lauren's watching over him,* Liz thought to herself. *He'll be fine.*

"What's wrong with your kid, Evans? Did I say something to upset him?" Kyle asked with a look of concern.

"Kyle... I would appreciate it if you not ask anymore questions about Tess Harding around Adam-Michael... or any of us for that matter." Liz said calmly. She squeezed Max's hand. Tears were forming in his eyes.

"Okay." Kyle said quietly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset anyone, I was just... curious."

"It's NONE of your business, Kyle." Max said, his tears threatening to overcome him. Kyle looked into Max's eyes, then to Liz's.

Then it dawned on him.

"Tess Harding is Adam-Michael's mother, not you, am I right, Liz?" Kyle asked, arching his eyebrow. "Wow." Kyle said as Liz nodded slowly. "What happened to her?"

Max was getting very annoyed. "It's a long story, Kyle... she died ten years ago. She was in a car accident."

"But you and Liz have been married ten years, right? What about Tess?" Kyle asked. He didn't mean any harm by the questioning. He was a policeman, it was in his blood. He didn't realize the hurt he was causing Liz until it was too late. The tears were forming in her eyes and her bottom lip was quivering. He felt like the scum of the earth for making Liz Parker... Liz Evans... cry.

"I'm only going to say this once. Then Tess will never again be brought up around me, my wife, or my kids again, do you understand me?" Max said, with fire in his eyes.

"Are you threatening me, Evans?" Kyle asked, sitting forward on the couch and glaring at Max. "You're threatening my family, so yeah." Max said, pursing his face into a delibrate scowl. Kyle glared at him, sitting back on the couch. "Tess and I broke up at the end of our senior year. Liz and I went to Boston University together and got married. I didn't know Tess had Adam-Michael until ten years ago."

Kyle's jaw dropped. "You missed the first five years of his life? Rough. There must have been a reason she did that."

"Yeah, there was. But I've said it before, Kyle. It's NONE of your business. Now I don't want to have to ask you to leave, because your daughter has been such delightful company. So please, I'm begging you, don't bring up Tess anymore. She's gone. She's not coming back." Max replied, soothing Liz, who was crying on his shoulder.

The last phrase he uttered..."She's not coming back"...burned in Liz's ears. Her eyes grew bigger until she looked like a frightened child. She clasped onto Max's sleeve until she was almost scratching his skin.

"Fine, Evans." Kyle said, turning his attention from Max to an obviously frightened Liz. "Look, I didn't mean to upset you..."

"You didn't know... it's OK, Kyle." Liz said reassuringly. Kyle just nodded, getting up from the couch to go talk to the others who were surrounding the kitchen table. Max felt his heart swell for his wife. She was so forgiving, so loving, so caring, even to those who had hurt her. He instinctively pulled her tighter into his arms until she was almost in his lap. Tears began to fall from his own eyes. He felt like he was trying in vain to protect his wife from some invisible force threatening to harm them all... if only he knew what it was and how he could fight it.

* * * * *

"Adam, Adam, please wait!" Lauren cried. She ran out of the door to the Whitmans home and found Adam-Michael in the front yard, curled up on a porch swing which had been set up in a garden surrounded by countless beautiful flowers of all colors and sizes. Isabel and Max's mother had done the garden for the Whitmans as a housewarming present. She felt sadness wash over her as she saw her friend with tears streaming down his face, rocking back and forth without end. "Oh, Adam-Michael..." She said, sitting down on the bench with him. She debated on whether or not to touch him, deciding to just sit with him at first. After a few moments, Adam wiped his eyes with the back of his palm.

"God, you must think I'm such a weirdo. I'm sorry." He said, getting up to leave the bench. She reached out and grabbed his arm.

"No...stay, Adam. Please?" She gently pulled on his arm, causing an electric shock to course throughout his body. He looked down at her blue eyes, gasping inwardly. She had the face of an angel, and here she was, asking HIM to sit with HER. This must be a dream. Maybe his mother is playing mind games with him again...His feet nearly betrayed him as he sat down. His legs were shaking violently. He hugged them to his chest again, resting his forehead on his knees. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Adam-Michael was silent. He looked into her eyes for a moment then turned back to his knees.

"I'm a really good listener." Lauren said, smiling, putting her hand on his knee.

*Dear Lord,* Adam-Michael thought. *Please don't let this be a dream, please don't let this be a dream...* "I just don't want to burden you...with my problems."

"Adam-Michael, you're not burdening me. You're my friend, and I want to help you. I hate to see you feeling so awful. What can I do?" She asked, sighing. He took a deep breath and went for it.

"OK." Adam-Michael said, slowly exhaling. "I can't believe I've never told anyone this before...no one knows this- well no one outside my family."

Lauren returned her hand to Adam's knee, this time, grabbing his hand. "Go ahead."

"Liz Evans, my mother, well she's...not...my real mother." Adam-Michael said firmly. He was surprised to hear himself say the words out loud.

"She's not?" Lauren asked, tilting her head to the side with bewilderment.

"No." Adam-Michael said. He wanted to blurt out, *my mother's an alien, and my father's an alien, oh, and by the way, I am too!* "My real mother... she was killed... when I was five."

"Oh, Adam." Lauren said, bringing her hand to cover her mouth. "I'm so sorry..." Her eyes flooded with tears and Adam-Michael's heart sank.

"Oh, God, Lauren...I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry!" He said, instinctively wrapping his arms around her. He had never hugged her before. He could hold her forever.

She pulled away from the hug after a few moments and wiped her tears with the back of her hand. "It's not that, it's just... my Mom's dead too..."

Adam-Michael gasped. "I didn't know!"

Lauren nodded. "Yeah. She left us when I was five. She cheated on my Dad with some UNM football player... she left us and then a year later she was killed in a car wreck."

"Lauren," Adam said, pulling her back into his arms. "I'm so sorry..."

"I just wish we'd talked about this sooner...it would have been nice to have had someone to talk to... someone in the same situation." She replied.

Adam-Michael took a deep breath and looked into her crystal blue eyes. "Well... we have each other now."

Lauren paused, searching his eyes with her own. She had always thought he was cute, and one of the sweetest guys at West Roswell. But it wasn't until that moment that she recognized his immense inner beauty as well.

"Yeah." She managed to whisper out. Her tears seemed to fade as a smile spread across both their faces.

* * * * *

The ride home to the Evans' house was silent. Jordana had ridden home with Adam-Michael, their parents following behind in the Jeep Cherokee with the sleeping twins strapped safely in the backseat.

"So when are we going to talk about this...whatever you wanted to talk about earlier?" Max said quietly, squeezing her hand that he held in her lap as he drove. He briefly took his eyes off the road to look into his wife's eyes. She was too busy staring out of the window in silence. "Liz?"

"Oh," She said, startled. "Yeah, we can talk about it when we get home... it's about..." Max's heart pounded fiercely in his chest. "It's about...her... isn't it?"

Liz looked at him in silence. She didn't say another word, he knew what she was thinking.

She was terrified.

* * * * *

"I'm never riding in the car with you again, Adam-Michael!" Jordana cried, giggling. Adam-Michael tried to hide his flushed cheeks.

"What? What did I do?" He asked as they filed out of his Honda Accord onto their driveway.

"Because, all you did was talk about your *girlfriend* the whole way!" Jordana said, teasing him. "She's not... my girlfriend, OK? We're just...friends."

"Sure. And I don't like boy bands." Jordana said. Adam-Michael rolled his eyes and quickly picked his little sister up, throwing her over his shoulder. Jordana squealed with delight, banging her fists on his back as their parents drove up in the driveway. Max couldn't help but smile at their playfulness. He looked over to Liz to see if she was witnessing the fun, too.

Her eyes were tightly closed, her eyelids twitching ever so slightly as fat, warm tears escaped from them. He gently placed his hand on her left cheek. "Angel. We're home."

She opened her eyes and wiped her tears with her hand. She nodded silently, opening the car door and going to the back of the car to take a sleeping Dylan out of his car seat and back into her arms. Max picked up Matthew and they headed towards the front of the house, Jordana and Adam-Michael a few steps ahead of them. Liz relished the feel of the warm baby snuggled close to her neck. She held him tightly as he squirmed a little at the change in location. The baby yawned, breathing into Liz's neck and she felt a wave of tears rush over her. If she were to lose him, she'd die.

At that moment, she felt sympathy for Tess...the woman who lost her only child... the woman who tried to take her baby girl away from her so many years ago. Would she do it again?

Jordana's piercing scream broke Liz out of her reverie. "Mom! Dad!" She screamed as she and Adam-Michael opened the door to the house.

Max quickly ran up the steps, closing the last feet between he and his oldest son. "What? What is it?" He cried.

"Someone was here... look!" Jordana cried, pointing to the living room. The pictures on the mantel had all been knocked down, the glass scattered all over the carpet. Chairs had been overturned, papers ripped off the refridgerator, glasses broken all over the floor. Max and Liz looked at the scene in shock. Adam-Michael closed his eyes, putting his hands over his ears as they throbbed in pain.

"She was here." He said firmly, his voice unwavering. "She's alive!" Liz felt her legs give out, but luckily, she grabbed onto the kitchen table to keep from falling over. She felt all the air escape from her lungs. Jordana began crying. Adam-Michael ran up the stairs, looking for something he could feel she'd left in his room, but not sure what that would be...

"Mom, who's here...Mom?" Jordana said, rushing over to her Mom, who was sinking slowly to the floor, a sleeping Dylan in her arms. "Mommy!" She cried, throwing her arms around Liz. Jordana felt an inborn fear of Tess Harding, after everything she'd done to try to keep her from coming into the world. It was instinctual. Jordana saw that her mother was unresponsive, she was too busy crying and rocking Dylan. She turned to her father, who was still in shock at what Adam-Michael seemed to so desperately believe. "Daddy! Daddy, help me, I'm scared! Daddy?" Max could do nothing but wrap his free arm around his only daughter, pulling her tightly to him, kissing the top of her head. Salty tears dropped freely from his eyes onto her soft brown hair. How was this happening? It was over so long ago, they had been so happy...free of Tess, free of Nasedo... free of deception and fear...

His mind turned to one thing.