Author's note/Disclaimer/All that jazz: Yeah, we all know who Roswell really belongs to, and it's not me (Hi, WB, Jason Katims, Melinda Metz, etc!), so don't bother suing me. It's not worth it.

I will warn you though. This is an alterna-fic. I'm not saying it'll happen, but it could, in some dark other Roswell universe. So don't flame me!! Takes place seven years after "Resting Here with Me," but discounts "Home Is..."

She stood in the doorway, watching him play with their twins. He sat, surrounded by multicolored Legos, their dark-haired children carefully listening to him as he explained the high-points of building a castle. Claudia, her dark eyes not leaving her father's, carefully mimicked his every movement, nodding her head in comprehension. Jamie sat at his sister's side, small hands quickly constructing an inter-linking wall of rainbow bricks, her own serious look of concentration on his face.

Claudia Diane and James Michael, almost six years old. Already reading. Claudia was the laughing child, a lot like her Auntie Maria, always hugging and kissing everyone, giving them that bright smile of hers. Jamie was quieter, more serious. He watched and rarely spoke, but sometimes, he would look up at her with his heart-achingly sweet half-smile, and tears would come to her eyes. It didn't matter what their last name was. She knew who had fathered these two miracles. It was in the way Claudia's ears stuck out slightly, in the way that Jamie gave her looks of such intensity, even for a small child.

But that was another life. She was still Liz Parker, but the spouse in all but name of one of the most prominent advertising executives in town. She had a good life as a biology teacher at the community college, working on her PhD. She and Kyle lived in a nice house on the outskirts of town, had two decent cars, and took pride in the children they raised together.

But some nights, especially after the sex that had become almost a habit, she would stand at the window and look up for the stars for a while. Wonder where he was, and if he knew how beautiful his children were growing up, on the other side of the galaxy. She could find his constellation now, and had even pointed it out to Claudia and Jamie. Claudia laughed and called it the Radish Constellation, but Jamie had given her a look she had seen any number of times on his father's face. Oh, Max, if only you could see what your children were becoming...

Maria still lived in town. She did the accounting for Liz's father now, running the Crashdown as manager. Jeff Parker was glad that one of his daughters was willing to take over the Cafe. Kyle had no interest, and Liz was so busy with school. She and Maria still spent most of their spare time there, trying not to remember everything that had happened. Sometimes Maria would watch the twins with an odd look in her eyes--half smile, half tears. As if she wondered what would have happened if Michael had left her a similar gift. But Maria stayed single, kept twisting the silver ring around her finger. In some ways, Maria was stronger than she was. She could live alone.

But that night after her aliens left, Liz had had nowhere to go. She'd wandered the dark streets of Roswell for a while in the rain, finally finding herself at a familiar door. Familiar arms had taken her in, even after everything she had put him through. And familiar arms had brought her back to semblance of life again.

Sometimes she could pretend that she loved her mediocre life. She could imagine it being enough that her husband was relatively loving, cared for her children, and made them a decent home. But sometimes she remembered the way Max Evans' soul had almost sung hers into life, and awakened her with a miraculous touch to her chest. She missed him with every waking moment, and cried for him in her sleep. But if Kyle could pretend that their life was a fairy tale, so could she. No need in trying to knock down the walls of their fragile little kingdom.

So it was a surprise, that day in the Crashdown, when her little kingdom shattered. They all sat in the back room. Maria was perched on a chair, doing inventory. Liz was going over the next week's specials with her father. And Kyle sat on the floor with the twins, playing an intense game of Legos.

She felt his presence. She didn't need to look up. Every cell in her body knew it was him. It was like Maria had said, years and years ago--like every cell in her body felt every cell in his, and began heating up. He was still the drug that her addicted body had been without for seven long and lonely years. And she could almost hear, when the talk stopped, the walls of her little kingdom tumble down.

Kyle's voice, ironically enough, broke the spell. "Evans."

And Maria's half-gasp, half-sob. The sound of flesh meeting flesh, and soft, comforting voices.

But this was all a dream. He wouldn't be there. This scene had replayed a million times in her head when she slept next to Kyle. When she looked up, he would disappear.

But she did look up. And time stopped. Maria and Michael stood, locked in a furious embrace of kisses and tears. Isabel stood slightly back from her brother, clutching his hand. And Max...her Max, seven years older, but still the same. His dark hazel eyes gave her that look that she saw often enough in her son's. And he smiled that heartbreaking little smile of his that would stop galaxies, if its power was ever unleashed.

And she couldn't move. She was caught frozen, teetering on the brink of seven years of almost-marriage, and seven years of longing. She was back at the night when they had gone away, unable to cry the tears that drowned her heart.

It was Claudia who broke the spell. She felt the tug on her shirt, the insistent tug that meant that Claudia had something very very important to tell her, and if she didn't listen, there would be hell to pay. "Mama." Again, the tug. "Mama!"

And the look on Max's face at that one word, one of wonder and fear, seven years of wondering, seven years of dreams. Until Claudia's face turned toward the man who fathered her.

"Liz?" Emotions crowded into that one little syllable until it had more meanings then stars in the sky. His voice hadn't changed. Oh, God, his voice hadn't changed. He stood within her reach, but she couldn't cross the brink, and his voice was calling her...

So she looked at him, let herself drink in those hazel eyes and rememorize every plane of his face. Let her heart have everything it had longed for. She still didn't touch him, kept herself strong for the children and for Kyle, but she looked and wanted. And cried.

"Yes." Yes, Max. She's yours. Does the tilt of her head and quirk of her smile fill your heart the way it does mine? They sustained me, knowing that they were a piece of you, and a piece of me. She's yours, just as I am, and always will be.

Isabel fell to her knees, her beautiful face crumpling. Michael and Maria, still twisted together like a human pretzel, watched. And Max only stood, straight and tall, her dark knight, watching.

Liz picked Claudia up, resting her head against her daughter's dark curls. "Claudia, this is Max."

He smiled, a soft hesitant smile that she'd never seen before. "Claudia." There were tears in his eyes.

And their daughter, wonder of wonders, reached out of her mother's arms towards him, almost toppling over until he automatically took her. And their precious daughter reached up with one small hand and wiped his cheek. "Mama said that it's good to cry sometimes, Max. Cause otherwise all the emotions get stuck inside you and your tummy hurts." She gave the man who fathered her a serious look. "You haven't cried in a long time, have you?"

And Max began to quietly fall apart.

Jamie came out from behind Kyle, and cautiously walked up to Max. Her son, always full of surprises. Normally, strangers frightened him. But from the look on his serious face, she knew he felt the connection too.

"Daddy?" His voice was soft, but Max still heard it.

There was a pause. Kyle looked at Max, and she could almost feel the testosterone building.

"Yeah, bear?" Kyle's voice shook slightly. He knew. They all knew. There was so much that went unsaid...she wondered if it would ever be. Fairytales were never this complicated. Fairytales never asked you to choose.

"Is this the man you told us about? The one who gave us to Mama?" He told them? Oh, God, Kyle told them...

And she was enveloped by two pairs of arms before she could collapse. One had the sweet rose scent of Maria, and the other, the spicy Tabasco that clung to Michael. And their voices whispered words of love to her, instead of each other. But they held her up, as her children and their fathers made her choice for her.

Kyle's calm voice rattled. "Yeah, bear. That's Max. The one who gave you to Mama."

Max dropped to his knees, still holding Claudia close. He opened his mouth, but looked like he couldn't find the words to speak.

So Jamie followed his sister's lead, and reached out to the man who'd sired him. Touched the cheek with a small hand. And from the identical look on the faces of father and son, made a connection as only a Czechoslovakian could.

And Liz looked to Kyle, and he nodded. "I had to tell them, hon. Just in case..."

Just in case.

And her son's small voice piped up again, filling the vacuum of silence in the room. "So you went far away. Why didn't you take Mama?"

And Isabel's, answering. "They said we couldn't take them. We asked."

And Claudia's face turned towards her Aunt. "You're Uncle Alex's Izzy, aren't you? Auntie Diane's daughter."

One quiet nod. "What's your full name, honey?" Her voice was gentler than Liz had ever heard it.

And that smile that proved whose daughter Claudia was. "Claudia Diane Parker. And Jamie is James Michael Parker. We have lots of names, but not the same name as Daddy cause he and Mama aren't married."

And Max looked at Liz. "Does Mom...?"

She nodded. Of course Diane knew. Sometimes she wondered if the whole town didn't know and wonder...but the twins were born almost eight months to the day after she and Kyle got married...a little more than nine months after that night she'd found comfort in his arms.

"Diane watches them once a week. Spoils them rotten. Philip too. So do Amy and Jim."

And to her surprise, Max actually chuckled. "Amy and Jim?" He looked at Kyle. "Your dad and..."

Maria's voice answered, her arms still wound tight about Liz. "Nana Amy and Grampa Jim. Who'd've thought?" Her voice was light. "You've been gone a long time, spaceboy."

Max was still looking at Liz when he finally spoke, Claudia still sitting on his knee, Jamie cradled by his other arm. "We tried to leave sooner, but they wouldn't let us..." He trailed off. "I'm sorry..."

But they couldn't turn back the hands of time. She clung to the safety of Michael and Maria's arms, still not willing to face the choices she needed to make.

"Liz?" And all the faces were looking at her. Her parents, who had remained quiet throughout all of this. Max. Kyle. Isabel. Her children.

"I can't. I just..." And she broke free of the arms that gave her safety, and ran upstairs, to her old refuge, to find herself again.

"Kyle..." Max couldn't get the words out. There were too many emotions crowding his heart. Part of him wanted to run up after her and hold her in his arms, kissing all those tears away. She hadn't changed in seven years. Motherhood had softened her curves slightly, and had made her even more beautiful, in his eyes.

He looked down at the two dark heads that clung near him, once again touching each on in wonder and awe. They were his. He helped create these tiny, exquisite miracles. If he hadn't left, if he'd come home sooner...

"Max." Kyle's voice was gentle--gentler than he'd ever heard it before. Fatherhood had changed him too. "Max..."

And their eyes met. Years of longing for the same woman, sharing her bed, dreaming about her. Years of regret and might have beens.

"Thank you for taking care of them."

And Kyle's real smile, not the smirk from high school. "Thank you for letting me keep her for a while."

And their eyes fell on the twins, and there was an unspoken agreement. And Kyle spoke again. "Bear, Princess...Daddy and Max have to talk for a while. Stay here with Auntie Maria and Aunt Izzy, okay?"

"Mama?" His son's voice. It broke his heart how much it sounded like him. And from the way Isabel touched his hand, he knew she heard it too.

"Mama has some things she needs to think about, bear."

"About Max?" He wouldn't cry. He could be strong until they got out of the room. But he hoped he wouldn't lose them again...he didn't want to fight for someone that he had no claim over anymore...

"Yeah, bear, about Max. And me. And you." And Kyle lifted them each up and gave them a light swat on their bottoms. "Go on, brats." And from the look on his face, Max knew that Kyle would probably fight just as hard to keep what he had gained.

And with one last look at Claudia and Jamie crawling all over their newfound aunt and uncle, Max followed Kyle to his fate.

They sat at a booth in the empty Crashdown, ironically enough, his old booth. Michael's initials were still carved into the Formica table with Maria's, in a heart. M&M. Two halves of one whole.

"Can we work out joint custody? You and Liz get them during the week, I see them on a weekend or two...?"

Might as well get down to business. No use in prolonging this. But she looked happy. Not blindingly happy, but she seemed content.

And Kyle chuckled. "Do you really think I'm going to keep her, Max? I was the substitute." His face grew serious. "We both knew it. Even Jeff and Nancy knew it." His tone grew light. "I lost to the better man."

They were silent for a while. "But it's not for us to decide, is it?" His voice was calm, now that he had a chance to think through this all. "It doesn't matter how much I love her...it's up to her to decide."

And Kyle's knowing grin. "C'mon, Evans...like there's any doubt." He shook his head. "She cried at night...a lot. And she always looked at the stars, like she was looking for you out there." And then came the bombshell that Max never thought he'd hear. "She won't know how to deal with their powers, when they kick in. We don't know what they'll be able to do."

But there was no fear or derision in Kyle's dark eyes. Pain, yes. Confusion, yes. But no panic. No fear.

His voice was quiet. "I've known for a long time, Max. I knew you wouldn't leave her here without some big excuse. And when Liz got so panicky over the pregnancy..." He was silent for a while, remembering. "And Claudia...the first time she touched me...she left a little silver handprint." His wide mouth creased into a tender smile. "See, Evans? I never had a chance. Not with the possibility that you might come back. I was always prepared for this day."

And Max could think of nothing to say.

"Max...thank you."

But he knew what he could do. "Kyle...can I give you a gift? Michael does it better than I can, but sometimes...sometimes I can see things too..." The look on Kyle's face was carefully blank. "I'll need to touch you..."

Kyle's eyes were wary. "What are you, Evans?"

And Max smiled. "My family's not from around here, but this is my home."

"It's that Radish constellation, isn't it? The one she's always looking for at night?" And Kyle nodded. "I trust you, Evans. Do want you need to."

And Kyle offered him one of the greatest gifts he'd ever received.

He took Kyle's hands, concentrated on making the connection. It was easy enough. The years spent with other visitors had heightened his powers. Even Michael had more control now.

*flash* A vision of Kyle, hand in hand with the twins, slightly older, at the zoo.
*flash* A tall woman, with light-brown hair and flashing blue eyes, showing Kyle how to feed peanuts to the elephant.
*flash* The same woman in a police officer's uniform, carefully showing an older Claudia her gun.
*flash* Kyle standing in an airy room, rocking a tiny bundle in his arms, tears streaming down his face.

And Max released Kyle's hands gently. There was a look of wonder on his face.

"Can it...can it go both ways? Could I show you something?"

A gift for a gift.

*flash* Opening the door to find a shaken Liz, shivering in the dark night.
*flash* Liz sitting in bed, a tub of ice cream and a bottle of Tabasco sauce resting on top of her pregnant belly.
*flash* Holding both squalling twins in his arm, their faces red, wishing they were his babies, but marveling in the gift that he was given.
*flash* Claudia taking her first step, stumbling after a can of soda
*flash* Two year old Jamie, looking thoughtfully at the stars, clutching Liz's old telescope in one chubby fist

And other memories, seven years that he'd missed. A future exchanged for a past. He opened his eyes, and found his face wet.

"How can I ever repay you?"

And Kyle's friendly smile. "You already have." Had they misread this man in high school? Or was it just that they were putting the attitudes of the father on the son?

"I'm sorry, for taking her away..." It had to be said. It was over and done with, but it still had to be said. This was a woman they both loved, and had loved for a very long time.

But Kyle shook his head. "Like I said, there was never any question, Evans. It was always you. Ever since fifth grade. I never had a chance." He quirked a smile. "You guys were the fairy tale, not me. And even fairytales don't always have a happily ever after."

"Not even this one?" And she stood in the doorway, wearing that same soft smile that had burned its way into his heart. "Kyle..."

He shook his head. "It's done, Liz. I played my part, and now it's time for me to move on. If you'll let me, I'd like the twins once and a while..."

And she hugged him hard, the tears slipping down her cheeks saying more than words ever could.

He smiled again. "In fact, I think I'll take them now, over to Diane's...she'll want to see her grandchildren." And with a quick kiss to Liz's cheek, and a quick squeeze of Max's hand, he was gone.

And they faced each other, as they had ten years before, that night he first connected them. That night they first saw into each others' souls.

He reached out, pushing that stubborn lock of hair behind her ears. It was still as silky, smelled the same as it had. His finger lightly traced the lines of her face, the soft slope of her nose, the kissable dent of her lips. She brought his hand to her mouth, and kissed it lightly.

"I love you." There were tears in her voice. "I'm sorry that I didn't wait..."

And he shook his head. "We're together now. We'll face it together--all of us. Our children, our parents, our friends..."

And he took her in his arms, as gently as if she were glass. And he kissed her forehead. The spark was still there. That molten fire that ignited whenever his lips touched her skin still burned.

"We'll make this fairy tale have a happy ending. If anyone can do it, we can."

And that's all either said for a very long time.

And from the kitchen, Kyle watched as his old world fell to dust. But with the laughter of the twins running down the stairs, aunts and uncle at their heels, he turned to face the future, and the promise of what it would bring.

What if I had asked you?
What if you'd said yes?
There's no way I'll ever know
Still I can't help but guess...
Somewhere down that road not taken...

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