“I am so sorry, baby. I’d do anything if it would bring you back to us. But… I know that won’t happen. The way you left us… it wasn’t fair. You didn’t get to live for long and we didn’t have you for long at all. But we loved you. And we’ll always love you. I know you’re in a better place now. Much better than rinky-dink Roswell.” Maria laughed. “You’ve got all the space to play and all the peanut butter and pickle sandwiches you can eat. You’d have liked them. I know it. All your daddy ever eats is Cheetohs and chocolate cake with Tabasco sauce. Of course, you’d probably have liked that too. You’d have been the best of both of us.”

Maria hopped off of the boulder. “I’d better go, baby. Your daddy’s probably worried. But I’ll be back tomorrow to see you. We both will. I promise.”

Maria kissed her fingertips and touched them to the stone. “Goodbye, baby.”

She hummed a lullaby as she walked back to the caves.

***

Michael kneeled at the mouth of the cave. He mouthed a silent prayer and laid a small yellow rose on the ground in front of him.

“I love you, baby.” He whispered as he patted the blossom.

He heard footsteps coming up behind him after he’d been alone for a while. He already knew who it was.

“Hello, Tess,” He said without looking up.

“Hello, Michael,” She replied. She walked over to him and looked over his shoulder. “Is that…”

“No. Maria was only three months along. The baby wasn’t…” Michael searched for appropriate words. “Max and Isabel took care of the baby. But we wanted to have a place for her anyway. Even if she’s not buried there.” He looked around the cave. “This is her place now.”

Tess nodded and knelt beside him. “Did you two ever get the chance to pick out a name for her?”

“Not really. We just kinda joked around about it. I was thinking about one name but I’m sure Maria would have hated it. I like the name Madeline too; Maddie for short. Maria said that’s too many M’s. She suggested Alyssa Elizabeth. That’s too many S’s,” He laughed and patted the rose again. “She probably would have ended up with five or six middle names, just to make everyone happy. Little Alexandra Elisabeth Anne Michaela Marie Isabel Maxine DeLuca-Guerin.”

Tess looked at him quizzically. “Anne? That’s my middle name. On official papers, at least.”

Michael looked up at her. “I know.”

Tess blushed and looked away. “Where’s Maria?”

He stood and walked to the mouth of the cave. “She went for a walk a while ago. She said she needed to clear her head or something. She wanted to go alone and there was no use fighting her. Besides… I wanted to be here by myself for a while too.” He looked back at the flower.

He turned his back to Tess. She stood and walked over to him.

“I’m going,” Her voice shook as she spoke. “I’m leaving Roswell today. I’ve already said goodbye to the others. So I’m on my way out. There’s nothing here for me anymore.” She glanced at Michael and glanced away.

He didn’t speak, so she started again.

“You and Max and Isabel are the only real friends I’ve ever had. But I need to go. I’ve been told what to do and who to be my whole life. With fath-- Nacedo gone, I think it’s time that I try and figure out who I really am. I can’t do that here.” She stole another glance at Michael. “There are too many memories of the past. And everything’s already settled. I’ve got the house up for sale; my things are all packed up in my car and… I’ve settled everything with Nacedo. Agent Pierce died accidentally and Ed Harding is missing, presumed dead.” She sighed deeply. “So that’s it. I just came here to tell you goodbye.”

“Where are you going to go?” Michael finally asked.

“We were in Georgia for a while when I was younger. I really liked it there.” She looked at him and looked away. “I guess I should leave.” She waited for his response.

“I could have killed you a week ago, you know.” Michael said, expressionless. “I thought you were my sister but you really aren’t. You said that we were your best friends but you lied to all of us for so long. And you told him where Maria was. I held you responsible for killing my child.”

Tess’s breath caught in her throat.

“But you gave Maria back to me. Twice. And you saved my life. I can’t ever forgive you for the way you treated me, Max, Isabel, and especially Maria. But you saved her life and mine. You went against your father, or whatever the hell he is, for us. I’ll always be grateful for that.” He swallowed hard. “You’ll always have friends here, Tess.” He pulled her into an awkward hug and then pulled away quickly. “I should hate you but I don’t. You’re part of our family now. I don’t think you should go.”

Her heart leapt but she tried to calm down a little. “So what are you saying?” She avoided looking into his eyes. “Do you love me, Michael?”

He thought of Maria. “No, Tess. Not the way you want me to.”

“Then I can’t stay,” She said simply. A tear slid down her cheek. “I can’t love you as a brother. You can’t love me…” Her voice trailed off. She looked up at him. “Can we try to be friends? Maybe you can try to trust me again. And I’ll try… I’ll try too.”

He nodded.

“Okay then. Goodbye, Michael.” She backed away from him quickly.

“Tess?”

“Yeah, Michael?”

“Thank you.”

She ducked her head as another tear escaped her eye. “ Anytime.”

***

Maria saw her running down from the caves. Maria called out as she came closer.

“Tess?” She yelled.

The other girl stopped. She dug the last few tears out of her eyes before she turned around. “Yes, Maria?”

Maria approached her slowly. “You look like you’re in a hurry. You all right?”

“Um… actually, I was on my way out. I’m leaving Roswell today.”

Maria’s face was unreadable. “Oh… I’m sorry to hear that. I know a lot has happened… but why would you leave now?”

Tess glanced away. “I just need to go. I have a lot of things to think about. And I guess I have a chance to start over now. I gotta take that chance.”

Maria’s face dropped a little. “Wait… I’ve said some nasty things about you. I’m sorry about that. I’m not excusing the way you acted and there’s still something about you that something in me just doesn’t like… but… Tess, you saved my life. And Michael’s. And now all I have to say to you is… thank you.”

“Seriously, Maria, you don’t have to thank me. I should be thanking you.”

Maria looked at her strangely. “For what?”

“For making him happy.” Tess nearly whispered.

Maria wrinkled her brows. “There’s some kind of weirdness going on between all you… Czechoslovakians… that I’ll just never understand, isn’t there?”

Tess smiled a little. “Take care of him. Make him happy again.” She looked back towards Michael’s direction.

“I intend to.”

Tess nodded. “Bye, Maria.”

“Bye, Tess.”

***

Michael stood at the mouth of the cave and waited for Maria. She walked up to him and smiled sadly when she noticed the little yellow rose by his feet.

“How was your walk?” He asked.

“It was nice. It’s too hot out there, though. I thought I was about to fall out. But it was nice. I got a lot of thinking done. We should come out here again sometime. Maybe tomorrow.”

Michael looked back at the flower. “Why tomorrow?”

“Because I promised her.”

Michael kneeled down and brushed a few flecks of dirt from the blossom. “We should come back tomorrow then.”

Maria stood beside him. “We didn’t pick a name for her. We probably should…”

“We didn’t really have that long to think of one…” Michael said sadly. “And we never could agree on just one.”

“I thought of one that fits.” They said at the same time.

Maria smiled. “I thought that you were a die-hard Maddie fan.”

Michael echoed her smile. “We can always save that for our second daughter.”

“Second daughter?” Maria asked, blushing. “Shouldn’t I have some say in that?”

“No. I’ve nearly lost you more times than I can count, Maria. I’m not going to risk losing you again.”

She couldn’t hide her smile. “Well… don’t you want to hear my idea?”

“Why? The only one that fits is Angel.”

Maria blinked rapidly, then spoke. “Michael, that’s the name I was thinking of.”

He looked back up at her. “What else could she be? Her mother’s already an angel.”