Merry Christmas, Mom

Category: Diane Evans
Rating: Suitable for children

Summary: A mother always knows
Spoilers: "A Roswell Christmas Carol: The Miracle"

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Midnight service was beautiful, as it was every year. Diane Evans felt blessed, sitting between her husband and her daughter, listening to the choir. Her thoughts kept returning to the Christmas miracle at the Children's Hospital in Phoenix, to all the small children who were given a second chance in life. Some days, life was really great.

Her happiness was almost complete. If she had one Christmas wish this year, it would be for her son Max to finally find some peace of mind. She was worried about Max. He kept telling her that everything was fine, but she knew better. He had always been quiet, secretive, but it seemed worse this year. Philip and her had been happy when, around this time last year, Max had started dating that nice Parker girl. He had seemed to open up to the world then, to finally let someone in, other than his sister Isabel. Diane had no doubt Liz was the cause of this welcome change in her son. She also suspected that she had something to do with him going back into his shell this year. It was a shame, really. They had seemed so in love. She wondered what could have possibly gone wrong between them. She had tried asking Max a few times, but Max being Max, she didn't even get him to admit that he had ever cared for her at all. Not that he could have kept that hidden from her: he was obviously head over heels for that girl.

So she had respected his silence and stopped asking him about it. But there were other things troubling Max as well, she could tell. She wished she could be the one he trusted enough to talk to about it, but also knew this was unlikely. So she hoped that he wouldn't turn away from her completely. That was her deepest fear. She had thought it was coming true when Max left without explanation or goodbyes at Thanksgiving. That time, he hadn't even told Isabel where he was going. Diane had been inconsolable.

She returned her attention to the choir who was now singing "Come Ole Ye Faithful". She caught movement out the corner of her eyes, and turned to see what it was that had distracted her. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw him. Christmas was truly a time of miracles.

Her little boy was walking towards them, hands in his pockets, hesitating ever so slightly when he saw she had noticed him. Her little boy, all grown up now, but with the same look in his eyes as when she had first seen him. Those big golden brown eyes were her first memory of that child they had found wandering on the side of the road, holding on to his sister. When he had turned around and she had seen him in the glare of the headlights, her first thought had been "who could leave such precious children out in the middle of the desert?". Isabel's smile when she saw them had melted her soul; Max's eyes had broken her heart.

Max gave her a smile. Diane's heart warmed up. It felt like the first real smile her little boy had given her in months. She took a good look at him as he made his way toward them and it struck her: no, not her little boy anymore. The person who was now leaning in closer to her was a man. A kind, wonderful, beautiful man. “When did this happen?”, she couldn't help but think to herself. Time was flying by way too fast.

He kissed her on the cheek. "Merry Christmas, Mom", he said, and moved passed them to go sit next to Liz Parker. She was happy to see that they were back to being at least friends. Maybe her Christmas wish would come true after all. Max took Liz's hand and whispered something to her. For a reason she couldn't explain, the combination of Max's hand on Liz made her think once more of the children in Phoenix and of how they had found that silver handprint on them once they were healed. A series of images flashed in her mind: a little bird with a broken wing flying away; a police report of how witnesses had seen her son kneel over fallen waitress Liz Parker at the Crashdown and heal her gunshot wound; Max's own voice telling her : "It's nothing bad... it's nothing dangerous..." Her breath caught in her throat when she realized what it all meant. She looked at Max again. He was looking up at the snow that was now trickling down from the sky.

She looked at him with a mix of pride and awe but there was concern as well. She couldn’t fathom what it must be like to live your everyday life with a gift like that, with a secret like that. Max turned to Liz again and smiled, oblivious of his mother’s eyes on him. Diane felt some of her concern fade away. Max hadn’t appeared so well in months. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad after all. She had said earlier that a miracle such as this one made her believe in God. Now, it also made her believe in Max.

The end

Part 6 - Christmas 2000 - The Christmas Nazi's White Christmas

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December 2000