Rating: Suitable for children

Pairing: M/L

Spoiler/Notes: Pre-pilot

Author's Note: I used a line from "A Roswell Christmas Carol" written by Jason Katims.

*******

"Since when is your sister so crazy about Christmas?"

Max looked over to where Isabel was trying to get a stuffed Santa Claus doll to stand up next to the chimney she had spent the last week building out of popsicle sticks and shrugged. He spun the wheel in the middle of the gameboard and moved the little plastic car three squares.

"It seems to get worse every year. She's been on dad's case for the past two weeks because one of the lights she put in the tree outside her bedroom window burned and he hasn't had time to fix it. Your turn."

Michael spun the wheel and moved his car. "Payday," he said, extending his hand toward Max.

Max turned to where the bank was set up. "Nine thousand, right?"

"Yeah," Michael said. "I never get the good job."

Max grinned and handed Michael his money. Max's own payday was fifteen thousand. He loved this game.

"Max! Have you seen the new stockings?" Isabel called from the other side of the living room.

Max didn't bother looking up from the game. "I think you left them on the kitchen table."

"Right! Thanks!" Isabel ran out of the living room towards the kitchen.

"Wow, she's like some kind of Christmas Energizer Bunny or something," Michael commented.

"Tell me about it. She's exhausting." Max moved his car and stopped it in front of the church. "You are getting married," he read. He looked at Michael. "You're supposed to give me gifts."

Michael groaned and spun the wheel to figure out how generous he would have to be.

"Oh, stop complaining. I'll have to pay you, too. It's a compulsory stop."

Michael picked two bills of five hundred from his meager savings and offered them to Max. Before his friend could take them from him though he pulled his hand back.

"Who are you marrying?" So what if Max usually won this game? This part always made up for it. Michael liked to watch Max squirm.

Max flushed, hoping that Michael wouldn't notice. He asked the question every time so Max thought he should expect it by now. Yet, he could never help the blush that spread all the way to the tip of his ears.

"Princess Jasmine," he said. No way would he ever admit who he really wanted to marry.

"You can't marry Princess Jasmine," Michael said. "She's a cartoon!"

"So? That one time you picked Jessica Rabbit!"

"Yeah, but she's more than just a cartoon," he argued. "Princess Jasmine is just an ordinary girl. Brown hair, brown eyes... boring."

"There's nothing boring about long brown hair," Max muttered, putting the little pink stick next to the blue one in his car.

Michael smirked but said nothing.

Isabel came running back into the living room. "I will need help with the village this afternoon," she declared.

Max and Michael looked at each other in surprise. "Village?"

Isabel put her hands on her hips and cocked her head to the side. "The Christmas village? Under the tree?"

The boys exchanged perplexed glances.

"Oh, I can't believe you two! I told you weeks ago that we were having a village this year and that you two would help me with it!"

"I don't think we ever agreed," Max said, putting the money Michael finally gave him with the rest of his cash.

"Yeah, it sounds like a really girly thing to do," Michael added, spinning the wheel. He stopped his own car in front of the church. He frowned; time for him to choose a bride. As a rule girls were icky, but there had to be one or two that would do. After thinking for a moment, and before Max got the chance to ask him, Michael said, "I'll marry Xena, the Warrior Princess. Now give me back my money."

Max spun the wheel and grinned when it turned out he only had to give Michael five hundred dollars.

"I'm waiting for you!"

"Isabel, we're in the middle of a game," Max said reasonably. "We'll help you with the village later."

"Put the game on hold," she said, pulling the little houses out of their boxes and lining them in front of the couch. She liked to see what she had to work with before getting started.

"It's the Game of Life," Michael said. "You can't put life on hold for a stupid Christmas village."

"You can put any game on hold for Christmas," she argued.

"Isabel, we're playing. Christmas is still a week away. Can't this wait until later?"

Isabel got up and grabbed a sheet of paper from the end table. "No, it cannot wait until later. Today is the only time I have for it in my schedule. See?" She put down her sheet of paper on the board between the boys and Max saw brightly colored boxes filled with numbers and words.

"It's color-coded," he said in disbelief, looking at Michael.

"Of course it is. How else would I know what to do? So, green is for decorating and as you can see, today and Wednesday after school are the only two days I have left for that. Wednesday, I'm putting fake snow on the windows so the only time I have for the village is today."

Max sighed, stumped by his sister's logic. "Fine. After the game."

"We can't wait until after the game because later we have to go to the Holiday Pageant rehearsals." She indicated a silver box right under the green one and Max could read "Hol Pgt Reh, 3:30".

Max hung his head, in part to hide the smile that was tugging at his lips. Truth be told, he was looking forward to the pageant rehearsal, though Isabel didn't need to know that. But that didn't mean that Max wanted to spend his time until then helping his sister with silly Christmas stuff. He would much rather be playing with Michael. He raised his head and looked at his friend apologetically.

"Monday after school?" he asked.

Michael shrugged, taking a pen and a piece of paper to write down who had how much money and where the cars where. "Fine. But I'm going home. I'm not helping with that girly village."

Isabel went off in a huff to unpack the rest of her village.

Max walked Michael to the door. "I'm sorry. I kinda promised my mom I would help Isabel," he explained.

Michael waved him off. "No problem. I'm just glad I don't have to live with her this time of year. She's like the General of Christmas or something."

Max laughed. "See you later!" he called before closing the door behind Michael.

A few minutes later, Max was standing in the middle of the living room, wrestling with a blanket of cotton wool.

"Okay, now, put it over the boxes," Isabel said, indicating the cardboard boxes under the tree.

Max got down on his knees and did his best to cover the boxes with the blanket. It was too short though, and no matter how hard he tried, one of the boxes was always showing.

"No, Max! If you pull it that way, you can see this box!" Isabel pointed to an empty cereal box.

"Well, if you cover that, then you'll see the shoe boxes," Max argued. "Do they have to be piled so high? Because if you took one away--"

"--then the mountain would just be a hill, wouldn't it? Where would the kids go with their sled?"

Max looked at her incredulously. "The kids?"

Isabel turned around and grabbed a box of small wooden figurines. "The kids!" she said, enthusiasm shining from her eyes. She took a couple of them out of the box. "See? This one is sitting on a sled. He needs a mountain!"

Max closed his eyes. His sister was officially out of control. "He's two inches tall. Isn't a hill enough?"

Isabel bit her lip and looked critically at the display under the tree. A smile suddenly lit up her face and after making sure that she was alone with Max in the living room, she put her hand on the cotton wool blanket. It glowed brightly for a moment and when she took it away, there was an extra feet of the white material.

"Why settle for a hill when you can have the mountain?" she smiled at him before covering the boxes.

Her glee was infectious and Max had to admit that the village was coming along nicely. He couldn't help but grin back at her.

*******

"Okay, kids, we'll wait a few more minutes until everyone is here and then we'll start."

Conversations resumed immediately after Miss Perkins' announcement. There was a real sense of excitement in the air. Today was the last rehearsal before the actual pageant, the one with the real stage and the costumes and everything. It was why they were at the park and not in the school gymnasium. Looking around, Max still found it hard to believe that he had agreed to take part in this.

Most of his 6th grade class was working on the production in some capacity. Max normally would not have minded being left out. That's what had happened the past couple of years and it hadn't bothered him one bit. All he had had to do was show up for the actual show to support his sister. No rehearsals to bother with, no costume to try and fit over his winter coat, no dreaded public speaking. But this year was different. This year, he had been looking forward to hanging around the other kids during rehearsals. The fact that, as 6th graders, they were finally allowed to work behind the scenes had only made his decision easier. That way he could be here but be somewhat invisible; it was the best of both worlds. His parents had been surprised when he had told them that he was thinking of signing up for this but Max didn't think that they realized the real reason why he was here. He would surely die of embarrassment if they did.

He stood apart from the main crowd, somewhere between the actors and the crew, leaning against a wooden donkey that would be used in the Nativity play part of the pageant. He straightened a little when he saw the last group of children climbing the steps to the stage.

He tried to see who all was arriving but it was hard to catch a clear glimpse of anyone. Oh! There was Maria DeLuca. That probably meant.... Yes! There she was, the reason Max Evans had suddenly got a case of the Christmas Spirit and developed an interest in the theater. Liz Parker.

She was already in costume and she took Max's breath away.

Miss Perkins clapped her hands. "Okay, kids, let's get started! If you're not in the first part of the play, go sit over there at the side of the stage please."

Max ambled to the side, waiting for everyone to settle before he moved to the right of the group, just behind Maria. That way, he could watch Liz without being seen. He had become somewhat of an expert at this.

Rehearsal started but Max hardly noticed. He was mesmerized by how the waning afternoon light caught long brown hair that rippled softly in the December breeze.

"Act 2 players, take your mark!" Miss Perkins announced.

"Oh, it's me!!!" Maria jumped up and down and hugged a few of her friends before moving center stage with the other children. Max took a step forward and stood in the spot she had just vacated.

"Isn't this exciting?" someone asked from his side. Max felt his heart skip a beat. He would recognize that voice anywhere. He wondered who she was talking to. He turned his head to look at her. She was smiling at him. Max swallowed hard. He had been caught staring! He looked down quickly, his cheeks flaming.

"Max?"

He risked a glance at Liz and it finally sank in that she was expecting an answer from him. She was talking to him! After a moment of panic, he nodded and returned her smile shyly.

Wow! That had never happened before!

"Only one week to go before Christmas, can you believe it?"

"Yeah," Max said. He couldn't think of anything else to say and wanted to kick himself for it. Liz would surely think he was stupid if he couldn't even make conversation!! He took a quick look around him. Some of the other kids were watching the rehearsal but quite a few were talking. He noticed a few boys talking to other girls. They didn't seem to have any problem stringing words and sentences together. Why did things like this only happen to him?

But Liz didn't seem to notice his discomfort. "We finished trimming the tree yesterday. Oh, you should see it! I made little bows especially for it, it's so pretty!"

Why was she telling him all this? They had hardly ever spoken before, save for a time or two in class when they had talked about school things. They had never shared personal things like this. Not that Max was complaining but he couldn't help and find it a little odd that she was having a conversation with him.

Or maybe it was just that sometimes, you're so excited that you have to share things with someone, anyone, and he just happened to be the only option Liz Parker had at the moment. Whatever the reason, he would try and make the most of it. Things like this didn't happen every day. If only he hadn't swallowed his tongue!

"I got to put the star on top, too!"

"That's always fun," Max found himself saying. He would have been proud of the fact that he was actually starting to get into the conversation if he hadn't been so mesmerized by the stars shining from her eyes to notice anything else.

Max took a deep breath to calm his racing heart and caught a whiff of ginger and vanilla. Was that from Liz? He took a little step closer and breathed deeply again.

"I know! And today, we baked the Christmas cookies."

"It smells good."

She turned curious eyes to him. "What?"

Max's eyes widened as he realized he had spoken out loud. "I mean, it must have smelled good. In your kitchen. With all the cookies."

Liz smiled at him and Max's stomach did a little flip. "Oh, it did! But I got cookie dough all over my apron and some in my hair." She turned to him, suddenly self-conscious. "I don't have anymore in my hair, do I? I think I got all of it but I had to leave in a hurry because we were running late." Her hand went to her hair. "Oh, I bet there's still some. I should have had Maria check it for me!"

"I can check," Max offered. "If you want," he added quickly. "But I'm sure you got everything."

"Oh, would you? I would be so embarrassed if someone saw me with cookie dough in my hair!" She didn't seem embarrassed that he might, and Max had no idea what that meant.

She turned slowly in front of him. Her hair was so shiny. Max resisted the urge to reach out and touch it. He wanted to, so much, but he knew he couldn't. What would Liz think if he just went and touched her hair? She would think he was weird, that's what. And since by 6th grade standards he was already a little weird, he didn't want her to have any reason to think that he was extra weird. It looked so soft, though. She was so beautiful! Much prettier than Princess Jasmine.

And, as it turned out, cookie dough-free.

"You got everything," he confirmed when she faced him again.

"Thank you," she said, her eyes shining. She turned her attention back to the rehearsal.

Max was just about to ask her something, anything to keep talking to her when Miss Perkins called the actors for the third act.

"That's me!" Liz said and she stepped forward onto the stage. Max's gaze followed her movements for a moment before he realized that it was his cue as well. He moved to center-stage, standing a little to the side while he waited for directions.

"Okay," the teacher was saying. "Luke, Martin and Justin, you are the shepherds in the field. You will stand over here. Liz, you will need to stand near the back because of the wire. Max, is everything ready?"

He nodded quickly to the teacher and moved behind the curtain that was draped over the back of the stage. He opened it a little so he could still follow what was going on.

Liz put on her head-dress, stood on top of a little platform and raising her arms, started to recite her lines. She was a Christmas angel and in Max's opinion, there had never been a better bit of casting in all of the history of Holiday pageants anywhere in the world. He could only see the back of her head right now, but he had watched her rehearse this so many times that he had memorized not only her words but her expression as she said them. She was the definition of angelic.

"Who are you?" Luke asked.

That was Max's cue. He fumbled a little with the wire and for one agonizing moment, he couldn't find the switch. He couldn't let Liz down! Finally he found it and flipped it. The lights on her halo flickered and Liz resumed her speaking. She hadn't said three words that the lights blinked once, twice, and went dark.

She let her arms fall to the side and turned to him, a frown on her face. Max flicked the switch back and forth, turning it on and off but it didn't do anything. For a second he was tempted to send a burst of power through the electrical cord and light up her halo that way but decided against it. It was too risky. What if someone saw it? What if he sent too much power and Liz's hair caught fire? He couldn't risk that!

He came out from behind the curtain and looked at the teacher. She smiled at him encouragingly. He stood behind Liz and looked at the wire on her halo carefully. He raised his hand to touch the wire and met Liz's eyes over her shoulder.

"Can I?" he asked her.

She nodded and Max took the wire between his thumb and forefinger, making sure not to touch her hair by accident. His heart was thumping in his chest to be so close to her and he was sure she could hear it. Finally he found the problem; the connection was broken between the crown atop her head and the extension cord that ran backstage to Max. He plugged it back in and the halo lit up.

"We'll have to make sure this is plugged in properly before you take the stage tomorrow," he told her.

"I'll try to remember," she said.

"Okay, are we ready to go?" Miss Perkins asked.

"Just a second!" Liz pleaded. She turned to Max. "Can you make sure the wire is hidden under my hair? I wouldn't want it sticking out the side of my head making me look like an alien."

Max froze at her words and looked at her with wide eyes. Could she possibly know? She could never find out! It was one of the reasons why he had never really tried to be friends with her, even though he wanted to. When he saw her smile and innocent eyes he relaxed a little. She was only joking. Growing up in Roswell, he was used to all the aliens jokes but he had never heard one coming from Liz before. If she knew what he was, would she still make light of it?

He raised his hand to tuck the wire under her hair and froze again. To make sure the wire wouldn't be visible, he would have to touch her long, beautiful brown hair. Did Liz Parker just give him permission to do that? She was looking at him expectantly so Max took that as a yes. He tried to swallow around his heart which had somehow lodged itself in his throat. He raised trembling fingers to the wire and buried it under her hair. To make sure that it was not showing, he took a strand of her silky tresses between his fingers and placed it on top of the wire. And just because he couldn't help himself, he took another strand of her hair and let it slide smoothly over his hand.

"Perfect," he breathed.

"Thank you," Liz said and she smiled at him. She turned toward the trio of shepherds and raised her hands again. Before she could speak, the teacher cleared her throat and Max realized that he was so enthralled by the beautiful angel in front of him that he was still on stage. He quickly moved and hid behind the curtains.

Liz finished the scene and Max shut off the lights on her halo at the same time as the spotlight that was on her went dark. He let out a sigh of relief. All he had to remember tomorrow was to check and make sure the wire was plugged in properly to avoid any mishap while Liz was on stage. He wouldn't want her to be embarrassed in front of half the town! He had to make sure it wouldn't happen.

Liz removed the crown from her head and the actors went back to the side of the stage to make room for the next wave of players. Max had to stay where he was, as he was in charge of sound effects for the next scene. He made sure the CD was cued and when he heard the line he was waiting for, he pushed play on the little portable CD player. This theater stuff was easy. The scene was completed without a hitch and soon Max found himself at the side of the stage with nothing else to do but stare at Liz as she talked quietly with Maria. This kind of confirmed his earlier theory. Now that she had someone she really wanted to talk to, Liz had gone back to her own world where he didn't exist.

Isabel was on stage rehearsing her part in the pageant but Max wasn't paying any attention. On top of having seen her do it three times a week after school for the past couple of weeks, he had had to sit through her doing it every single day at home after dinner.

Rehearsal wrapped up fairly quickly after that and the kids started leaving as their parents came and picked them up. Pretty soon, only about half a dozen children remained in the park. As was his habit, Max stood by himself to the side while Isabel was deep in conversation with a couple of her girlfriends. Liz talked to Maria up until Maria's mother came to pick her up. Max watched as Liz waved to Maria and he felt his jaw drop open when she turned and walked toward him.

"So, how do you think it went?" she asked, standing next to him. She was still in her angel costume. Max opened his mouth but no sound came out. After all the progress he had made earlier, he was back at square one. She'll think I'm such an idiot!

"I think it went okay," she went on, "and that we're ready for tomorrow, if I only remember to be careful with the halo." She was talking to him as if it was something she did everyday, and not the Christmas miracle this surely was. Maybe he had been wrong before. Maybe he did exist somewhere on the edge of Liz Parker's world.

Max nodded quickly, still not sure where his voice had gone.

Liz stood on her tiptoe in an effort to see around the corner. "Where is my dad!"

Max bit his lip. He was perfectly content that his mother was running late but figured he couldn't blame Liz if she had second thoughts about starting a conversation with him. If it was the case, he wondered why she wasn't talking with the other girls instead of him.

She turned excited eyes to him. "I get to decorate the presents when I get home!"

"Decorate the presents?" Max said. He knew all about wrapping presents of course, but decorating them? That sounded like something Isabel would do.

"Yeah! My parents wrap them and I get to put on the ribbons and bows and stuff. You know, make them pretty."

"Well, if someone knows pretty I'm sure it's you," Max said without thinking. His eyes widened and his stomach dropped when he realized that he had spoken out loud once again. Great. Of all the times for his voice to come back! He needed to learn to control his mouth around Liz Parker!

She tilted her head to the side. "What do you mean?"

Someone kill me now, Max thought, desperately looking for a way to backtrack.

"I mean, um, well, Isabel is the one to do that kind of stuff at our house. You know, make things pretty for Christmas. I can, um, I can imagine you doing the same."

"Well, I'm an only child, so someone's got to do it," she giggled.

Max smiled. She didn't seem to have realized that he had called her pretty. His stomach calmed down and the slightly euphoric feeling he got at not having been found out gave him back his voice and his ability to use it.

"She made a whole Christmas village this year under our tree."

Liz looked interested. "Did she? How?"

"Well, she has these little houses, and fake snow over boxes to make them look like hills and mountains, and all these little people going about their Christmas business."

"Wow! It must be really cool!"

"It is," Max said. He would never admit it to Isabel, but he could tell Liz; it looked awesome. "She's asked my parents to buy a train next year, you know, to go around the village."

"It must be so neat. I would love to see it, even without the train."

Max gulped and before he could stop himself blurted out, "Well, you can come to my house and see it. I'm sure Isabel would love to show it to you."

Liz smiled and for one moment, Max imagined what it would be like if Liz Parker really came to his house. Of course, he was only doing this for Isabel. She had worked so hard on the village, it was only natural that she got to show it off to people. Max told the little voice in his head to shut up when it asked who else but Liz would he ask to come see his sister's village.

This had nothing to do with him or Liz. Isabel would be proud to show off her village and all her other Christmas decorations. Maybe he could talk her into doing a little display in his own room. He seemed to remember Isabel offering to do something like that. And then he would have to show Liz that, too.

"That's very nice Max, and I would love to, but I don't think I'll have time. We're going to see my Grandma Claudia for Christmas and we're leaving in a few days. I will even miss the last few days of school." She pouted and Max wasn't sure if it was because she wouldn't see the village or because she would be missing school.

He wasn't sure either why the Christmas lights in the park suddenly didn't seem so bright anymore.

"Oh. Well, that's okay. I'm sure she'll take photos, maybe she'll show them to you when we go back to school after the new year."

Liz pointed to a car. "That's my dad! Please tell Isabel that I would love to see her photos." Her dad's car stopped in front of them and Liz opened the passenger door. "Hi Dad!"

Max could hear Mr. Parker's voice though he couldn't see him very well. "Hey honey. How did it go?"

"I think we're ready." She flung her bag over the seat so it landed in the back of the car. Max put his hands in his pockets and looked to where Isabel was still talking with her friends. What was taking his mom so long? He turned back to look at Liz and was surprised to see her looking back at him.

"Um, bye Max," she said, one hand on the open car door and the other one nervously playing with her hair. He smiled at her. Even without the halo, she was still the perfect Christmas angel. "I'll see you tomorrow at the pageant," she said.

"I'll be here. Bye, Liz."

*******

The pageant was a success, if you didn't count the part where a star had fallen off the ceiling and when the third wiseman had forgotten his lines. Or the couple of fairy princesses who had bumped into each other. Max had hardly noticed any of that. As far as he was concerned, everything had gone perfectly.

He had spent the first two acts of the play sitting next to Liz backstage, watching quietly as she rehearsed her lines and generally tried to calm the butterflies he knew must have taken flight in her stomach. Just before it was her turn to get on stage, Max had met her behind the curtain where he made sure that the electrical cord of her halo was properly plugged in and hidden under her hair. She had grabbed his arm then and said, in a manner totally reminiscent of her best friend Maria, that the whole thing had been a mistake and she should never have agreed to do this.

"You will do just fine," Max had reassured her, squeezing her hand gently.

"You think so?" Liz had still looked a little uncertain.

"Absolutely," Max had said. "I believe in you."

She had given Max the biggest smile he had ever seen then and had confidently walked on stage.

Max had watched from behind the curtain. She had been magnificent. It was not hard to believe that she had truly been sent from above. Her halo had worked as it was supposed to and Liz was so happy that she had even hugged him after she had walked off stage.

The hug was brief but it made Max feel all warm inside.

Now the pageant was over and most parents were chatting to one side. Max was standing next to Isabel who was graciously accepting congratulations for her part in the pageant.

"You know, my brother was in charge of some of the special effects," she said to people who came and talked to her. Max smiled shyly and did a little wave, wondering when they could finally go home.

Finally, the crowd of Isabel's fan club thinned and the family moved towards the car.

"So, Max, did you enjoy your experience working in the theater?" his father asked as he unlocked the car door for Max.

Max shrugged. "It was fun," he said, his wide smile betraying his nonchalant act.

"Do you think you will participate again next year?" his mother asked.

Max looked over to the side where Liz and her parents were making their way to their own car, which was parked not far from the Evans's.

"It depends," Max said softly. He missed the look his parents exchanged because Liz had just spotted him and all he could see was her. He had also suddenly forgotten how to breathe. Would she hug him again? As much as Max thought he would like that, he wasn't sure he wanted to be hugged by Liz in front of his whole family and hers. He would never live it down.

She stopped a few feet away from him. She was holding her angel wings over her arms but Max knew she didn't need them to look divine.

"Thanks again, Max."

"No problem," he smiled.

"Um, Merry Christmas," she said, nervously playing with her wings.

"Merry Christmas," Max answered. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. At the family gathering, he always had to kiss his cousins and aunts and everyone when they said Merry Christmas, but did that also apply to friends from school? He blushed at the idea of kissing Liz's cheek.

They stood in awkward silence for a moment, until Max said, "I hope Santa brings you what you want this year."

She giggled. "Yeah. You know, as long as he does, I'll keep believing in him!"

"Yeah, me too." Max realized that he didn't really care what would be under the tree come Christmas morning. He felt like there wasn't much that could possibly top today and a hug from Liz Parker.

"I'll see you in the new year," Liz said

"See you, Liz," he said.

He watched as she smiled at him before turning around and climbing in her parents' car. Max was about to do the same when he saw her wave at him from the back seat.

He waved back, knowing he had a goofy smile on his face.

This was definitely shaping up to be the best Christmas ever!

The end

Part 3 - Christmas 1998 - Divine Inspiration

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