“It’s nice to meet you, Maria, my husband speaks of you often and highly. You’re a very special person to him, Maria.” Maria smiled and said, “It’s nice to meet you, too.” Ander laughed and said, “Come on, there are a few people I’d like you to meet.” Maria followed Ander and Delilah to the rest of the crowd.

When she finished meeting people, she had met both sets of grandparents, friends of her parents, and many other wonderful people. Maria felt loved and accepted. These people, or beings, were nothing like the people in Roswell, or anywhere else she had been. They were kind to everyone, no matter what their background was, Maria could tell. After meeting everyone, she followed Ander and Delilah into their house. Delilah set Ander and Maria down in the living room of the house as she went to go fix something to eat. “So, how do you like home, Maria?”

“It’s nice,” Maria said. Ander sensed the hesitancy in her voice and said, “But it’s not your home.” Maria smiled and said, “Yeah. I love it here, but this isn’t where I belong.”

“Well, let’s hope you come and visit us often.”

“Oh, you bet. I’ll come by whenever I can.” “That’s nice to hear, Maria,” Delilah said.

Maria looked up to see Delilah walking towards them, carrying a tray. On the tray were glasses filled with a light pink juice and next to them was a food that looked like bread of some kind. Maria picked up one of the glasses and looked at it carefully, trying to decide whether or not to drink it. Delilah laughed at her hesitancy and said, “Don’t worry, dear, it’s only pink lemonade.”

“What?” Maria said.

“We have practically the same foods that your planet does. Oh, and don’t worry about the bread. It’s normal.” Maria picked up a piece of bread and took a bite. “You’re right, it is just like on earth.” Maria, Ander, and Delilah talked about many things over the course of the next few hours.

Of course, Ander and Delilah were interested when the subject of conversation turned into Michael. “So, this Michael person, you’re in love with him, aren’t you?” Delilah asked. Maria swallowed a sip of juice and said, “I guess you could say that. I don’t know why, though. I mean we always fight about everything. He’s so annoying. He thinks he can handle everything on his own, but he can’t, I know.”

“Ahh, Maria, you’re acting just like your mother,” Delilah said.

“Excuse me?” Maria asked.

“Before your father and mother got married, they were always fighting with one another before they realized that they were in love with each other. After that, they were inseparable. Don’t worry Maria, he’ll come around,” Delilah said. Maria smiled and said, “I sure hope so.”

A sudden knock on the door interrupted their conversation and Ander stood up to get the door. He opened the door and saw Maria’s grandparents on her mother’s side standing outside. “Hello,” Maria’s grandfather said, “We were just wondering if we could say hello to our granddaughter.”

”Oh, of course,” Ander said, moving aside so they could enter the house. Maria stood up and hugged them both. “Hello grandma, hello grandpa.”

“Hello dear,” her grandmother said, “My, how beautiful you are. I bet you have all the boys lined up to ask you out.” Maria blushed and said, “Grandma…”

“I’m sorry dear, I couldn’t resist. We came over here to deliver gifts. We have things of your mother’s that we thought you might want to have.” Out of thin air, Maria’s grandmother made a large trunk appear. “Oh no, not another one,” Maria said.

“Don’t worry,” Maria’s grandfather said, “You don’t get the whole trunk. Just some of the things inside of it.” Maria’s grandmother smiled and said, “That’s right. Now, let me see here…” Maria’s grandmother opened the trunk and pulled out a box.

Handing it to Maria, her grandfather said, “That’s your mother’s jewelry box. She wanted you to have that when you got older. Go on, open it.” Maria opened the box and found an assortment of gold and silver jewelry. Sifting through the box, she found a silver ring with a strange looking stone inside of it. The stone was black and in the stone were small silver specs. “That’s a star stone. It’s unique to this planet,” Maria’s grandmother said. “It’s beautiful,” Maria said. She tried it on all of her fingers, but it only fit her thumb. “It doesn’t fit,” Maria said sadly.

“We can fix that, dear,” her grandfather said.

“No, I want to keep it this way. I want to give it to somebody.” “Michael?” the other four people in the room asked.

“How did you know?” Maria said.

“You’re practically broadcasting your thoughts, Maria,” her grandmother said.

Maria smiled sheepishly and said, “Sorry.” “It’s alright, Maria. It’s nice to know that you have someone like that in your life,” her grandmother said.

“Thank you, grandma,” Maria said while smiling.

“Don’t thank her yet,” Delilah said, “Knowing her, she’s got more stuff to give to you.” Maria’s grandmother winked and said, “That’s right. Now, what else do I have for you?” Maria’s grandmother began looking through the trunk and pulled out an emerald green dress. “This is the dress your mother wore on her first date with your father. It was for a costume ball and she made this by hand, no magic involved. Here Maria,” her grandmother said.

Maria took the dress, looking it over. It was a dress that practically came from the Victorian age. The top was a bodice that had long sleeves, and at the waist, it became a full skirt with petticoats sewn into the dress. “It’s beautiful and it’s perfect for the costume party that my school is putting on in two weeks. I love it. Thank you, grandma.”

“You’re welcome. But, we have other stuff to give you, so wait until the end to thank us.” After a half an hour of receiving gifts and getting them explained, Maria had the jewelry box, her mother’s dress, a collection of her mother’s favorite books, a photo album of her mother’s younger years, and a small collection of CD’s. “CD’s, grandma?”

“What? You think that because we’re on a different planet that we don’t have compact discs? Well, we do. These are a collection of your mother’s favorite songs sung in our language, so you can use your beautiful voice to sing in your native language as well.” Maria decided not to ask how her grandmother knew about her voice and said, “Thank you, all of you. But, I’m afraid I should probably go home. As much as I love it here, I don’t belong here. But, don’t worry, I’ll come back and visit as soon as I can.”

“We know you will, honey,” her grandfather said.

“We’ll be counting the days until you visit us,” her grandmother said. Hugging their granddaughter, they left Ander’s house. After the door was shut, Ander said, “You probably should go home. But, let’s get you something to carry your stuff in.”

“Ok, that’d be nice.”

“Be right back,” Ander said before disappearing from the room. Maria turned back to Delilah, who was smiling at her widely. “When Michael sees you in that dress, he’s going to go crazy.”

“You think so?”