Now, he stands before her dressed down in dark blue jeans, and a fitting navy blue t-shirt, with tousled hair, and an unruly smile.

"Where’s Michael and Liz?" Maria asks as she throws her arms around her husband’s neck. He replies by dropping two kisses on her lips.

"They’re at their hotel, packing up their stuff." Maria’s gaze narrows over Max.

"What did you do?" Maria sighs.

"Nothing!" Max says innocently. "I was being hospitable. So, I invited them to stay in the guest bedroom..." his voice trails off, just before Maria swings her arms completely around his neck, and drags him down for a searing kiss.

Max groans upon the impact of the unexpectancy, and Maria swings her legs around his hips. He backs down on the porch bench, and faces the driveway as he cradles her hips in his hands. Her legs are swung over his hips, and her arms are wound around his neck. She presses a softer kiss against the slide of his neck, and sighs.

"Thank you, Max," she whispers as she lays her head down on his shoulder. Her fingers play with the hair on the back of his neck as his hands settle further down on her backside. The relish in the soft sounds of their neighborhood. "How was Europe?" she finally breaks the silence. One of his hands settles on her back, and he slowly trails his fingertips across her back in a soothing manner.

"Beautiful. I brought you back a limited edition Bjork CD compilation from Iceland." A small sound of appreciation escapes her lips. "And I brought you some other things back too."

"Hmmm... I can’t wait," Maria replies. She looks up from his shoulder, and finds his gaze on her. "Max?"

"Yes love?" She traces her finger nail down his clavicle, and pokes him lightly in the chest. Maria picks up his hand, and starts tracing the bones of his knuckles, and eventually the lines on his palm.

"Do you feel anything... at all, for Liz?" she asks with a tingle of insecurity in her voice. "In high school... she was your world. We have our wonderful marriage, and our beautiful son... but can you honestly say that you feel nothing for her?" Max closes his fingers around hers, and brings them to rest against his chest.

"What about you?" Max whispers into the air. "Do you feel anything for Michael?"

"I asked you first," Maria points out with a soft smile. Max nuzzles his nose into the crown of her head, and lets out a soft sigh.

"I suppose that there will always be a connection between Liz and I, because that day at the Crashdown where I healed her." Max rubs his thumb over her knuckles. "Then again, I share that same connection with Kyle..." Max chuckles. "And I can personally assure you that your ‘connection’ hasn’t been a serious problem." A warm grin spread across her lips.

"I’ll always care for Michael," Maria admits. "He was the first guy who I ever saw cry. That will always be special to me," Maria ads with a sarcastic smile. Max smooths a hand down her jean-clad legs, and wraps his free hand as much as he could around her thigh.

"Was there ever a time in high school... where you considered me... more than a friend?" Max sks softly, as his palm inadvertently flexes over her thigh. A sly smile lurks on her lips, and she shakes her head.

"Why do you ask?"

"Curious."

"Maybe... once or twice," Maria sighs earnestly. "What about you?"

Max licks his lips, and tilts his head upward. "Honestly," Max starts. "I couldn’t get you out of my head after that incident during the summer." He wiggled his eyebrows at Maria. "It must be you... because I still can’t get you out of my head, woman," Max adds lovingly.

"Which incident during the summer?" Maria inquires.

"Uh... it was the summer when Michael went off to Mexico with Isabel and Tess, and Liz was in Florida." Maria shifts in his lap.

"Oh... the time where we almost prematurely met the beast with two backs," Maria stated with a different kind of grin. A grin that declares that she is being ironic.

"Now that you put it that way..." Max starts to say with disappointment, before Maria silences him with a kiss.

"I started seeing you differently that summer too," Maria admits. She is about to go into intricate detail about the night they almost made love, but a car pulling into their driveway deters her thoughts.

She gracefully climbs off of Max’s lap, and settles down beside him. Max wraps his arm around her shoulder, and watches as Michael and Liz approaches them.

+ + + +

As she tries to appease the girl in her arms, she feels somebody plop down beside her. She looks up only to find her husband staring right back at her.

"Hi," Tess says quickly, before the little girl in her hands lets out a strong wail.

"Give her to me," Kyle urges softly as she continues to cry.

"No," Tess shoots back defensively.

"Hon, you’re making Dana cry," Kyle points out. Tess instantly presses Dana to her shoulder, and throws an icy glare at Kyle. His eyes widen with pretentious fear.

"I’m just... I’m gonna head back to my seat," Kyle states defensively. He drops a kiss into the nest of her golden hair, and starts to walk away.

"Okay, but could you just help me first?" Tess pleads. Kyle inwardly chuckles to himself, and plops back down in Maria’s seat.

"Yeah," Kyle says softly as he reaches out. Tess hesitantly hands over the crying baby to her husband. Dana’s wild cries fall, and she instantly begins cooing, and smiling. A grin spreads across Kyle’s lips. He slowly moves Dana toward his wife, and Dana let out a sharp cry. Kyle brought Dana back into his chest, and her cries stops. He repeats the action once more, and Tess smacks him in the leg.

"Stop it," Tess orders. Kyle shakes his head as he continues to chuckle.

"Face it honey, little kids just don’t like you. It took a while for Derek to stop crying around you... and Piper was weirded out by you...." Kyle begins to say, just before he catches Tess’ expression. He instantly closes his mouth, and stops talking.

Maria approaches her seat, only to find Kyle occupying it. Kyle quickly gazes up, and finds Maria smiling down at her daughter.

"Here," Kyle urges as he hands Dana to Maria. She opens her arms out to her daughter, before Kyle returns to his seat. He was greeted by Max, with Ian hanging off one of his legs, and Piper on the other. As Kyle approaches, he hears what Max is professing.

"...After the King fought the alien rebels, then his mother wanted to take them home. But he didn’t want to go, and neither did the rest of the three."

"Well, why didn’t the King wanna go to the alien planet, daddy?" Max looks up in time to find Kyle staring down at him with a bemused expression.

"Yeah Uncle Max. Why didn’t he?" Piper inquires as she twists her head back reach for her father. Kyle bends down to scoop his daughter up in his arms.

"Because the King fell in love," Max replies.

"Don’t listen to Uncle Max, or Daddy." they hear from behind. "He tells me that story all the time, but everyone knows that aliens aren’t real," Derek replies in a matter-of-faculty manner. "They just watched too much X-Files when they were kids," Derek admits.

"X-Files!" Ian exclaims as he claps his hands together.

"C’mon," Piper tells Ian. "Lets go draw."

"Yeah," Ian says as he crawls off of Max’s lap, and follows Piper back to their seat with Derek.

"They wanted to hear a story. It was all I could think about," Max replies sheepishly as he shrugs his shoulders. Kyle gives him a quick overlook, and nods his head.

"Tess thinks important for Derek and Piper to know about their heritage," Kyle states softly. "I’m not sure that I want my kids to know that their mother’s from a different planet at 7 and 4 years old. But I think that they should know later... after they’ve gone through the tribulations of pubescence," Kyle adds firmly.

"What about if they get their powers?" Max inquires. Kyle sighs as he tilts his head back to lean against the seat.

"I honestly don’t know. I’ve been thinking about that for a while now."

"I only hope that it happens after they’re old enough to understand and appreciate it. Growing up for Isabel, Michael and I... it was so difficult. We were always so paranoid we would slip up... We were so alienated, frustrated and confused. It was terrible," Max states. He picks his in-flight Tomato Juice up and gulps the remaining liquid down.

Kyle cranes his neck over to Max. "Y’know... I know I gave you a hard time in High School about it. I was just so confused myself. Being shot, and being healed by something you don’t even understand... it’s tough," Kyle tells him. "I didn’t mean bad by any of the shit I gave you guys. It was just... my pent-up frustrations, the questioning of my spirituality." Max produces a smile, and reaches over to slap Kyle on the shoulder.

"Thanks. I know that you mean it, but hearing you say it is great," Max says cheerfully. Kyle nodded. They start talking and reminiscing back in their Roswell days, but are thrown off track by the walking stewardess with her portable cart. She bends down with a dopey smile, and snatches Max’s empty cup away.

"More Tomato Juice, sir?" the Stewardess with the name tag that reads ‘Candy’ asks as she throws her hair to the side, and giggles profusely. Max throws a worried glance in Kyle’s direction before nodding his head.

"Uh.. yeah. Sure," Max responds; completely detached. She leans over Max, bringing her breasts to his face.

"Would you like ice with that?" Candy asks in a sultry voice.

"No. What about you Kyle? Want anything?" Max asks as he shoves Kyle’s glass at her in hopes to make him back off.

"Yeah. Some OJ would be nice," Kyle replies with a grin. As Candy isn’t looking, he leans forward and whispers into Max’s ear, "I think she’s got the hots for you, man." Max throws Kyle a dry glare, only in time for Candy to thrust her chest back in his face.

"Can I get you anything else? Peanuts? My phone number?" Candy’s voice drops a few notches, and Max backs up out of his seat.

"No. Just my Tomato Juice, and my friend’s OJ." She throws him a pouty look, but Max ignores her when the vision of his wife appears suddenly in front of him. She abruptly pushes Candy out of the way, and plops down on his lap. He graciously wraps his arms around her waist, and presses a kiss to her jaw.

"Oh, I’ll take a raspberry iced tea, please," Maria declares before she bends her neck backward and whispers ‘sweet nothings’ into Max’s ear. His lips twitch upward into a grand smile as her fingers dance along his collar.

Maria sneaks a peak at Candy, who hastily hands Kyle his drink, and deposits Max’s drink down in his cup holder.

"Uh- what about my raspberry iced tea?" Maria inquires as Candy starts to walk away.

"You’ll have to wait your turn, since your original seat is three isles up." She quickly scurries away and Maria throws her a nasty look.

"Ugh, that was rude." Max flattens his hand down her back, and loops his finger into the back of her bra strap. Max snaps it, and she gasps sharply with utter startle.

"Damn it, Evans. You’re gonna get it," Maria threatens.

"You promise?" Max retorts just before leaning forward to kiss Maria square on the lips. She lets out a chuckle against his round lips.