Disclaimer: As much as I would LOVE to own anything related to Roswell, other than my keychain, hat and t-shirt, sadly I do not. It is all owned by Jason Katims and all of the wonderful people at the WB who are gracious enough to share them with us week after wonderful week. For that I will be forever grateful. But please don’t sue me because all you would get is my car and some debts and I really need the car to get to work everyday to pay off those debts.

Category: Everyone, this is a tag to ‘What Might Have Been’, ‘If Only’, ’No Matter What’, ‘For Always and Forever’, ‘Dreams Realized’ and ‘Chosen Destiny’.

Summary: A future fanfic. It’s 15 years after ‘Destiny’ and Isabel has an encounter with an old friend.

Feedback: PLEASE!!! I love feedback!! Good, bad, whatever, all is welcome!

Notes: I want to thank Annabelle and TrinaLynn who encouraged me to submit this fanfic, thank you.

***

When is this day going to end, Isabel thinks to herself, and where did these kids get all their energy? I love my kids but enough is enough. If I have to listen to one more argument I’m gonna pull my hair out. Granted it’s not their fault, she reminds herself, they have been cooped up all weekend because of the rain. Today is the only nice day and now she’s stuck working on the books for their computer business.

“Mommy, Ethan won’t let me have his dump truck,” Connor yells down to his mother. Isabel has had it, she packs up the books, promising herself she’ll finish them later but right now she needs a break.

“Okay everyone tidy up their rooms within five minutes and we’ll head to the park.” The words are barely out of her mouth and everyone scrambles off to their respective bedrooms. Isabel changes into some jeans and a sweatshirt, pulls her hair back in a ponytail and heads downstairs, barely glancing at the bedrooms that she knows are still untidy, clothes and toys stuffed under the bed and in corners but in her children’s eyes they’re clean.

While the boys are putting on their shoes Isabel picks up the phone to call Alex, plants Taylor on the counter and attempts to put her wiggling feet into her shoes. Alex rarely works on Sundays but had to go in because of some computer emergency that apparently no one else could handle.

“Good Afternoon, Whitman Computers, Alex speaking,” he says in that voice that still makes Isabel smile.

“Hi, honey, how’s it going?” Isabel asks.

“Not bad,” but she can tell by his voice that he’s a little frustrated.

“Do you think you can get away because your children, who are driving me crazy by the way, and I are heading to the park,” Isabel winks at Ethan and Connor.

“Aww, I wish I could but I’m gonna be at least another two hours,” Alex tells her.

Isabel sighs, “Okay, I’ll try to struggle through without you.” She picks Taylor up off the counter and sets her on the floor where she proceeds to untie her shoes. “Can you meet us at the Crashdown for dinner? Say around 5:30.”

“Yeah I think I can get away by then and if I’m done earlier I’ll catch up with you at the park.”

“Okay, see ya then, love you.”

“Love you too, gotta go.” Isabel glances down at her daughter, who has now removed one shoe, and just shakes her head. She puts her shoe back on, gathers up the boys and heads to the car, thinking to herself that hopefully a little fresh air will wear them out.

~~~~~

The man sits alone on the park bench sipping his coffee and watching the families around him. His attention drawn to one family in particular. He wasn’t expecting to see them today so this is a pleasant surprise. The tall beautiful blond, the two boys, one dark, one fair, and the girl, an exact replica of her mother. There’s something familiar about the children, they remind him of something from his past. He’s seen them before, many times, but he’s careful not to let them see him. He just wants to watch and know that they’re okay.

They’ve been running around for an hour now playing tag and ‘Simon Says’ and Isabel needs a rest. Her children run over to the slides and Ethan, always the protective older brother takes Taylor’s hand, helps her to the top and slides down with her, his arms wrapped protectively around her.

Isabel takes a seat on the bench closest to her children and smiles over at them, knowing that Ethan will keep an eye on his brother and sister. She glances around the park at the groups of other families and laughs to herself wondering if any of them had the same idea she did about wearing them out. She notices a man sitting by himself on a bench across from her about 30 feet away. He seems to be watching something very intently and when she follows his gaze she notices he’s staring at her children on the slides. Slightly panicked she turns back to get a closer look at him and her heart skips a beat. It can’t be…can it? After all this time. Isabel gets up from her place on the bench and casually, so as not to draw any attention to herself, moves towards where the man is sitting. She is now within ten feet of him and can clearly see his face. He looks older and thinner but it’s definitely him and tears spring to her eyes. Michael.

Isabel wants to run to him and ask him why he left without saying good bye. Why he never kept in touch with at least Max or herself. She wants to tell him how much they’ve worried about him, how scared they were not knowing if he was dead or alive. She wants to hate him, but there’s something about the look on his face, he’s smiling as he watches her children playing. She can’t hate him. Suddenly he turns her way and catches her staring at him. For a brief minute she sees the look of panic in his eyes and thinks he’s going to run. But slowly a smile creeps across his face and Isabel can’t help herself anymore and she runs to his open arms as he sweeps her up in an embrace. Tears well up in her eyes as he places her back on the ground and she glances back towards her children, who have moved on to the swings and obviously haven’t noticed their mother with the strange man.

“Michael,” he reaches out and brushes away the tears that have streaked her cheeks. “When did you…” he places a finger over her mouth to stop her questions and just smiles down at her.

“Just let me look at you for a minute,” he says, tears forming in his eyes, “ I’ve missed you, Is… you’re still beautiful and your kids,” he glances over at Ethan and Connor who are taking turns pushing Taylor on the swing. “They’re adorable. I see you had the little girl you wanted so badly.”

“Michael, where’ve you been all this time? Everyone has been so worried about you, including Maria.” Isabel notices him wince at the mention of her name and instantly regrets mentioning it. He already looks like he’s been through hell and she doesn’t want to be the one to cause him anymore pain.

“Honestly…I never really left. My heart was always in Roswell.” He smiles at her, takes her hand and walks back towards the bench closer to her children. He pulls her down on the bench beside him promising to tell her everything.

“There’s not much to tell. I was in California for about two years, doing odd jobs in restaurants, some construction, whatever was available and helped pay the bills. I thought about calling you and Max a hundred times but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I couldn’t listen to how great your lives were when mine was so crappy,” Michael glances over to the children on the swings, turns back to Isabel and continues, “and I knew you’d try to convince to come back to Roswell. I was already ignoring that little something inside me that was telling me to come back and to beg Maria’s forgiveness for being such a jerk. But I ignored it for too long. When I finally decided to give in and come back it was too late. She was engaged. I read the announcement in the paper but I knew I still needed to see her one last time.” Isabel notices the pain in his eyes and reaches out for his hand but he pulls it back asking her to let him finish. “So I went to her wedding. I was up in the empty balcony. I watched her walk down the aisle and marry Sean and then I left the church promising myself I was going to leave Roswell… but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. So I’ve been here ever since. I’ve seen Max and Liz and their kids, perfect, just like I knew they would be and I’ve even seen Maria and her kids but no one has seen me yet, not until now. I didn’t mean for you to see me but I just got so caught up in watching you with your kids, I was careless. I knew it would happen eventually…but I’m glad it was you.” Michael smiles at Isabel and takes her hand in his, giving it a small squeeze.

“Michael, I wish you would have called,” Isabel says as she wipes away the stray tears on her cheeks, still in shock that Michael has been here all these years, alive and well, okay maybe not well because he looked terrible. He had lost a lot of weight and there were dark circles under his eyes that were even more prominent against the paleness of his skin. He looked like he hadn’t slept in days.

“And said what, I’m back? Everything’s different now, I don’t belong in your little group anymore.” She could see the pain in his eyes but knew that he felt he was right.

“Michael, don’t say that, you’ll always belong. Remember what Max said, ‘we stick together, no matter what.’” She looks into his eyes and he just shakes his head.

“That didn’t apply to Tess did it, and now it doesn’t apply to me. You have your own lives, I’m not a part of that.”

“Tess left with Nasedo willingly, we all knew that, you left because you were afraid of committing to something, but you will always be a part of all of our lives. Please, Michael, you have to believe me,” she pleaded with him.

He glances back at her children and notices Connor coming their way. Michael turns to Isabel and pleads with her not to tell him who he is.

“Mommy, can we go get an ice cream cone?” Connor asks, glancing at the strange man.

“Honey, we’re going to meet daddy for supper soon, you can have an ice cream after you eat all of your dinner.” She says while her son continues staring at Michael. She knew she had to say something. “Connor, this is an old friend of mommy’s from school, Michael, can you say hi?”

“Hi Michael, it’s nice to meet you,” he says very politely.

“Hi, it’s nice to meet you too,” Michael shakes Connor’s tiny hand and looks over at Isabel, thanking her with eyes for keeping his secret.

“Okay go play now, we have to leave soon to meet daddy.” Isabel smiles as her son runs to join his brother and sister. “Will you come with us to dinner?’” She asks Michael, already knowing what his answer would be.

He just shakes his head and says he can’t. “That would mean having to see Alex. I can’t let anybody else know I’m here.”

Isabel knew in her heart that if she could get him to see at least one more member of their original group of six that he couldn’t leave again. She needed someone’s help to convince him to stay, maybe she should call Max. But she knew she couldn’t trap Michael like that. Just try to get him to come tonight, she tells herself.

“Pleas,e Michael, it’s just dinner and I’d love to be able to spend some more time with you.” She pleads with him. She can tell she’s wearing him down.

“Fine but just for dinner,” he relents. Happy with the thought that he can spend some more time with Isabel and her family.

“Okay let me call Alex and forewarn him and then we’ll head over to the Crashdown.” Michael throws her a worried glance.

“Don’t worry, Michael, the Parkers still own it but they’re never there anymore, in fact I think they’re in Florida right now. No one will see you,” she reassures him. “Now will you kindly go gather up my children please,” she asks him as she pulls the phone out of her bag and dials the number all the while thinking how am I going to tell Alex.

“Good Afternoon, Whitman Computer, Dave speaking.”

“Hi Dave, it’s Isabel. Is Alex still there?” she asks.

“Actually he left not even five minutes ago. Said he was going to meet you and the kids for dinner.”

Great, now she couldn’t warn him. “Okay, thanks Dave, bye.”

“Talk to you later.” And they hung up.

Michael is heading back now with her children in tow. He asks if she’d reached Alex and she just shakes her head but smiles reassuringly not to worry that everything will be okay.

They all climb into the car, her children chattering about what they were going to have to eat and Michael in silence, praying they don’t run into anyone else.

~~~~~

Alex is already their sitting in their usual booth when they get to the Crashdown. Ethan and Connor run to hug their dad and he pulls them up into his arms, hugging them close. Isabel walks up carrying Taylor. She bends down, kisses him and hands him Taylor. It’s then that he notices the man standing behind Isabel. Alex can’t believe his eyes. He recognizes him instantly but is so surprised for a minute he doesn’t know what to do. Finally he stands up and reaches out his hand, “It’s nice to see you again, Michael, it’s been awhile, pull up a chair and join us.”

Michael accepts Alex’s handshake and pulls up a chair, thinking to himself, so far so good.

“So what have you been up to?” Alex asks.

Isabel settles her children in their seats as Michael gives Alex a brief run down of the story she heard earlier.

“So what are you doing now?” Alex questions Michael.

“Not much really. I’ve been doing odd jobs around Roswell. Staying at the ‘Y’ or hotels when I can afford it. Nothing exciting.”

“Well, why don’t you come and stay with us for a couple of days? We have room.” Alex asks. “We can all catch up.”

Michael starts to protest but Alex won’t hear of it, he isn’t taking no for an answer so Michael agrees to stay with them, but not for long he insists.

Dinner was pretty uneventful, except for Taylor spilling her milk in Michael’s lap, but he just laughs it off. He is enjoying himself too much to let it bother him. They talk about the old days in high school, Alex and Isabel’s computer business, Max and Liz and their family among other things, but no one mentions Maria even though they all knew it was on everyone’s mind.

When they head back home Michael rides with Alex. They’re silent most of the way but when Alex turns onto his street he can’t stop himself, he has to know. “Why did you come back, Michael?”

Michael doesn’t know what to say, slightly surprised by Alex’s question. “Because I needed to know.” He finally says. “Even if I only had a family from a distance I still had a family and I needed that. But don’t worry, Alex, I’m not here to stir anything up, I know she’s happy now and I’ve accepted that. I just needed to be close to everyone so I didn’t feel so alone.”

Alex says nothing; he turns to Michael, smiles and just nods, understanding. They pull into the driveway behind Isabel and Alex goes to help her get their children out of the car.

~~~~~

Alex is in the basement with Michael making up the spare room and Isabel is putting the children to bed when the doorbell rings. Michael looks over at Alex a look of panic in his eyes, but Alex just shrugs and tells him they weren’t expecting anyone. They hear Isabel answer the door and a woman’s voice greet her. Michael freezes, recognizing the voice instantly, Maria. She is apparently here to pick up some of Taylor’s clothes that she’d grown out of. They hear them heading for the stairs and Isabel trying to convince Maria that it was okay, she can carry the boxes herself, but Maria insists on helping. Alex jerks his head towards the closet indicating that Michael can hide in there and he does, but keeps the door open a crack in hopes of just getting a glance at Maria.

Alex goes out to sit in the rec. room and when Isabel and Maria enter he sees Isabel glance around the room and back at him. He smiles at her, reassuring her with his eyes that everything’s okay. They head to the spare room where the boxes are stored and Alex follows, hoping that with his help Maria can leave sooner.

“I swear Emily goes through a size a month, she’s growing like a weed, much faster then Michael did.”

Michael smiles at the sound of her voice when she comes into the room and holds his breath when he catches sight of her through the crack in the door. They gather up the boxes and stand around chatting for several minutes. Michael is starting to think they’re never going to leave when finally they pick up the boxes and head for the door. Maria notices something on the chair and stops dead in her tracks. She drops the box and walks over to the chair. Michael cringes, realizing he’d left his jacket on the chair. She picks up the jacket and recognizes it immediately; it’s Michael’s. She had given it to him the Christmas before he left Roswell. She holds it up in her hands and turns back around to her friends, who are standing there speechless. Suddenly she hears the creak of a door and she turns to look in the direction of the closet as Michael emerges. She drops the jacket and faints.

“Maria…Maria are you okay?” Alex is standing over her with a worried look on his face. She looks around the room, sees Michael sitting in the chair in the corner and takes a deep breath. He’s really here. She looks back at Alex and questions him with her eyes.

“Isabel ran into him at the park today and we asked him to come and stay with us for a few days,” Alex explains just as Isabel comes through the door carrying a glass of water, a look of concern on her face.

“Oh good, you’re awake. I’m sorry, Maria, I didn’t know you were coming by tonight or I would have warned you in some way.” Knowing in her head she’s not telling the full truth, she would never have betrayed Michael like that.

Maria looks at Michael, who is staring down at his feet, then she looks back at her friends and asks them if she can have a minute alone with Michael. Isabel and Alex practically bolt for the door, fearing the argument that they assume is coming.

Maria sits up and takes a sip of the water Isabel gave her. She looks over at Michael, who finally looks up and meets her stare. Their eyes lock for several minutes until Maria breaks the silence.

“Look, Michael, I don’t know why you’re here but I’ve gone on with my life, I’m married to a wonderful man and we have two beautiful children and I won’t have you…”

“I know, I’ve seen them.” Michael interrupts her.

“What!! You’ve been spying on my family, I can’t believe you! Only you, Michael, would do something…” she stops noticing him chuckling at her. “What?”

“Still the same old chatterbox Maria,” he jokes. “And no I haven’t been spying on you. Let’s just say that I’ve seen them and leave it at that.”

“Whatever you want to call it, it’s still spying, I can’t believe you. Same old Michael still breaking the law…”

He looks her straight in the eyes and asks, “Why did you name your son Michael?”

She’s taken aback by his question and thinks about it for a minute. She finally decides that she might as well tell him the truth, “Because even though I love Sean a part of my heart will always belong to you and I named my son after you to remind myself of how much I once loved you.”

He tries not to react at the past tense she uses when referring to her feelings about him. No matter how much they used to be in love, she doesn’t seem to feel the same way anymore, but he thinks he notices something in her eyes that tells him differently. He rubs his hands over his face. Stop thinking like that, he tells himself, Maria isn’t his anymore and she never would be again. He knew he had to get on with his life without Maria. He smiles at her, shaking his head. If he was going to stay in Roswell he needed to let go of his feelings for her.

“So does he know about me?”

“He knows what I’ve told him and that’s all I want him to know.”

“Do I get to meet him?”

“Don’t you think you have some other reunions to deal with first before meeting Sean?”

Michael cringes at the thought, knowing that his reunion with Max wasn’t going to be easy. But the hardest part was over, he’d seen Maria and lived to tell about it.

“You’re right, maybe I should call him.” Maria gives him the number and goes upstairs to talk to Alex and Isabel.

Michael takes several deep breaths, picks up the phone and dials the number Maria gave him. The phone rings three times before someone picks it up. “Hello,” it’s Liz; he wasn’t expecting it to be her.

“Hi, is Max there?” he asks, hoping she won’t recognize his voice.

“…Michael?” she asks, he should have known.

“Yeah, Liz, it’s Michael.”

“Where are you?”

“I’m actually over at Isabel and Alex’s house.”

“What are you doing there? When did you get back? Is everything all right?”

“Slow down Liz, one question at a time, yes I’m fine. Now can I please talk to Max?”

“Sure I’ll get him.” He listens to her call for Max and then put her hand over the phone. He knows she’s telling Max who it is and he prepares for the onslaught of questions when Max gets on the phone.

“Michael, is everything okay?” Max asks and Michael is surprised by the concern he can hear in his voice when he expected to hear anger.

“Yeah I’m fine. How are you?” He asks a little surprised with how calm Max is being, things really have changed.

“I’m great, but enough about me. Liz says you’re at Alex and Isabel’s.”

“Yeah, I ran into Isabel at the park today and one thing led to another and now I’m spending the night in their spare room.”

“We’ll get a sitter and Liz and I’ll be right over.”

“Wait, Max can this wait until morning? I’m really tired. I just saw Maria.”

“Oh,” he says, obviously understanding, “Okay we’ll be over in the morning then, tell Is we’ll bring breakfast.”

“Okay, I’ll see ya then.”

Michael replaces the phone and just stares at it. I can’t believe how easy that was, I thought he would hate me. He sighs and heads upstairs. Alex and Isabel are sitting on the couch watching TV. They turn it off when he walks into the room. Michael glances around and notices Maria’s absence, but tries to hide the disappointment he feels. Isabel can tell what he’s thinking and explains that she had to get home but she’d come by some time tomorrow. He tells them about Max and Liz coming with breakfast in the morning thanks them for letting him stay here, says good night and heads downstairs. Isabel follows him.

“Are you okay Michael? This can’t be easy on you.” Isabel asks.

“I think I’m going to be fine. I needed to see Maria and now I know that she doesn’t need me anymore. It still hurts but I’ll survive,” he lies, “And Max, what’s up with that guy, he was so calm. I thought for sure he would tear a strip off me for what I did.”

“He’s changed a lot since you left. He’s a lot calmer now and a little less controlling. I think he understands why you felt you had to leave, he just wished you had kept in touch.” Michael just nods.

Isabel says good night heads back upstairs. Michael crawls into bed, he doesn’t realize how tired he is until then and is asleep within minutes.

~~~~~

Something is tickling Michael’s ear and he reaches up to hit it away. It comes back, stupid fly, he thinks and brushes it away again, and then he hears the giggling. He opens his eyes and meets a pair of dark eyes, similar to his own. It’s Ashley, Max and Liz’s daughter. He smiles at her and sits up in bed. He glances around the room and realizes they were not alone. Morgan is standing by the door holding Jared’s hand and Ethan and Connor are standing at the foot of the bed.

“Come on, Uncle Michael, it’s time for breakfast,” Ashley says, the rest of the kids just giggling.

“Oh it is, is it?” he jokes, “and what if I want to go back to sleep?”

“You can’t, it’s time to eat, come on,” Ashley persists, tugging on his hand and trying to pull him out of bed.

“Okay, okay, I’m up,” she laughs at him and asks if he’s going to comb his hair, he bends over and starts to tickle her.

“No I like it this way,” Michael tells Ashley who is laughing so hard she falls to the floor. Michael looks around the room, fingers outstretched and asks, “Anyone else have anything to say about my hair?” They all laugh and run from the room heading upstairs. He scoops Ashley off the floor and throws her over his shoulder, tickling her ribs as he carries her upstairs. He walks into the kitchen and Max is sitting with Alex at the table. He puts Ashley down and smiles over at Max. Max smiles back, gets up from his seat and comes over to Michael, pulling him into a hug.

“I’ve missed you, man, I’m glad you’re home.” Max pulls back and there are tears in his eyes.

“Me too,” is all Michael can say, still not used to the new Max. Alex gets him a cup of coffee and they all sit back down at the table. They’re still sitting there talking when Isabel and Liz come into the room.

“Well I see you haven’t changed a bit,” Liz says, running her hand through his mussed up hair.

He stands up and pulls her into a hug, “More than you can imagine,” he says and steps back so he can look at her. The tears appearing in her eyes to.

“Well, who’s hungry?” Isabel asks, happy that everyone is together again…well almost everyone.

~~~~~

An hour later Alex is packing the kids in his van to take them to school, when Maria pulls into the driveway.

“Is everything okay in there?” she asks Alex, nodding towards Max’s car. Alex laughs and tells her just to go right in, they’re all in the kitchen. Maria lifts Emily out of the car, takes Michael’s hand and walks into the house. She stops in the doorway to the kitchen and just stares at the sight before her. Michael is really here and apparently everyone is glad to see him, that’s good, she thinks to herself. Her son Michael pulls himself free from her and runs to play with Taylor. The crowd at the table turns and smile at her, she walks in and joins them at the table. Smiling at everyone and at the same time desperately trying to avoid Michael’s eyes that have been on her since she came in the room.

Liz holds out her arms for Emily and Maria hands her the baby. She sits down beside her and Isabel gets up to pour her a cup of coffee.

“Well I have to get to the clinic,” Max says standing up, “Are you ready?” he asks turning to Liz, she nods and hands Emily back to Maria. Max turns to Michael and before he gets a chance to ask his question Michael informs him that yes, he’ll be here later.

Isabel walks them to the door leaving Michael and Maria alone in the kitchen. Maria busies herself fussing with Emily’s curls to avoid Michael’s eyes.

“So did you tell him?” Michael asks. Having given up on trying to meet her eyes he turns his attention to Taylor and Michael playing in the next room. As he watches them he notices for the first time how much Michael looks like his mother. Having only seen him from a distance he never noticed the same small features and pouty lips. His dark hair however is his father’s.

“No,” she finally answers, “I didn’t know what to say.” She looks up at Michael and he turns his head to meet her gaze. “How do you tell your husband that the love of your life, I mean the old love of your life, has come back?” Maria blushes at her slip up.

Michael tries not to smile, but can’t help the feeling of hope her little mistake has awakened in his heart. She still loves him, he knew it, but then he glances at Emily, still sitting in her mother’s lap and realizes that no matter how much they may still care about each other, he can’t be the reason to break up a family. He knows the pain first hand of not having a family and wouldn’t want to see it happen to anyone else. Before he has a chance to say anything Isabel comes back into the room.

“Michael, if you want a shower there’s fresh towels in the linen closet, just make yourself at home.” She smiles at him, noticing the slight tension between Michael and Maria. Realizing she must have interrupted something, she quickly heads to the next room to check on the children.

Michael gets up from the table and heads for the stairs, “I guess that was a hint.” He smirks at Isabel and heads to the bathroom.

“I’m sorry,” Isabel tells Maria as she comes into the room and places Emily on the floor with Michael and Taylor.

“For what?” Maria asks, trying not to look guilty. Isabel looks over at her friend and Maria blushes.

“I don’t know what’s going on, Isabel. I mean ever since I saw him last night I can’t get him off my mind.” Maria pauses and glances at her children on the floor. “I love Sean, but Michael…there’s a history there that I can’t forget.” Tears spring to her eyes that she quickly brushes away.

Isabel takes her friend’s hand and says, “I understand, Maria. This can’t be easy for you. I think in a way all of us never wanted him to come back because we knew how hard it would be for you.” The tears appear in Maria’s eyes again but this time she allows them to fall. Isabel reaches a hand out and brushes away her tears, “Maria, I have to tell you that I’m glad he’s back, I missed him and so did Max, we both felt like there was something missing without him here…but I don’t want to see you hurting. If there is anything I can do, even if it’s just to listen or a shoulder to cry on, I want you to know that I’m here for you,” and she reaches out and pulls Maria into a hug.

“Thank you, Isabel,” Maria says and sits back, brushing the tears from her cheeks and smiling at Isabel. “I should be going, I have a ton of errands to run and I really want to be gone before he comes back down.”

Maria gathers up Michael and Emily and Isabel walks them to the door. “Remember what I said.” Isabel reminds Maria and closes the door behind her. She leans back against the door and brushes the stray tear away. Deep down she knows she’s happy that Michael is home again. But the next few weeks aren’t going to be easy, she thinks to herself.

Back to Area 51 (Section III)