Part 16A ***************** Max and Michael struggled to carry the new door inside the house. “Easy, easy......a little to the left....No Michael, your other left!” Michael shot a glare in Alex’s direction. “If you’re not gonna do any of the lifting, then keep your trap shut Whitman.” Alex just shrugged his shoulders casually. “Hey, someone’s gotta be the guide.” Max’s face was red as he tried to balance the side that he was carrying. “Hey, you guys think we can keep the bickering to a minimum? This door ain’t getting any lighter.” ***************** Noah walked around his parents room, pretending to inspect everything, a toy tool belt hanging off of his waist. Jade followed him around, pretending to be his assistant. “So how come your daddy broke the door?” “I dunno know, he said that he was trying to help my momma cos she was stuck inside.” Jade’s eyes lit up, her little hands grabbing Noah. “Is your daddy a superhero?” Noah scratched the side of his head, reminiscent of an unconscious trait that Max possessed. “I dunno know.” Jade clapped her hands together as she got excited at the prospect that Max might be a superhero, that possessed super powers. “That’d be cool. You know, my mommie has powers.” “Really?” Noah asked with awe, his eyes widening as he listened to Jade talk. Kyle looked up from where he was watching the twins. “Amy doesn’t have any powers. Why would you say something like that?” Jade’s head bobbed up and down furiously. “Yea she does. Daddy always said that mommie put a spell on him, and he’s been captured ever since.” Instead of giving his little sister a lecture about fibbing, Kyle couldn’t help but laugh. It wasn’t her fault that she had taken her father’s words literally. “Munchkin, I don’t think that’s what dad meant.” Jade threw her arms up in the air, shaking her head. “Gwown ups.” Kyle just laughed harder. Noah put his hand on her shoulder, smiling at her. “Well, your mom is still cool even if she doedn’t have super powers.” Alex came into the bedroom, moving everyone aside as Max and Michael carried the door inside. Max and Michael lay the door on it’s side, while they both took a breather. Max sat on the floor, wiping the sweat off of his face with his t-shirt. Jade took a seat next to him, with Noah sitting in front of both of them. “Can I ask you a question?” Max smiled at Jade, turning so that he was facing her. “Sure.” Jade leaned her elbows on her knees so that her chin was resting on her hands. “Are you a super hero?” Max chuckled, shaking his head lightly. “Unfortunately, I’m not.” Jade looked to where the door used to be, only to find a splintered door frame. She turned back to Max, her head tilted at an angle as she studied him closely. “Are you sure?” Max pulled his knees up, laughter lilting his voice. “What’s with the superhero question?” Noah piped up, a hopeful look in his eyes. “Well you did break the door down. Superheros do stuff like that all the time.” Max ruffled Noah’s hair, a somewhat sad smile on his lips for having to disappoint him and Jade. “Well, I hate to break it to you guys, but I’m no superhero. I just broke the door down.” Jade patted his knee as if to comfort him. “Is okay. We can’t all be superheros. Maybe you’re just real strong. You know my daddy is really strong. He’s the sheriff, and Kyle’s a deputie.” She finished proudly. A wistful smile passed Max’s lips, as he wished for a little girl of his own. Alex whistled as he looked at the door frame. “Jeez, Max. You sure did a number on your door.” Kyle held Dexter in his arms, as Damian clung onto his leg. “You never did tell us why you broke the door.” Max blushed several dark shades of scarlet, causing all of the guys to laugh. Michael waved his hands in the air. “Don’t even say it, Max. If this has anything to do with how you and Liz were acting when you guys left the Crashdown, let me assure you that no details are necessary.” “What happened yesterday?” A mischievous grin passed Michael’s lips. “Let’s just say that Max seems to be enjoying the benefits of a very pregnant Liz.” Max stood up then, clapping his hands as he ushered the kids into Noah’s room. “Hey kids, why don’t you guys play in Noah’s room.” When the kids were gone, another round of laughs were heard from the guys. Part 16B ******************** Isabel helped Maria get cookies out of the oven, her eyes flying into the living room where Liz and Courtney were sitting, playing with Nanook. “So what’s with all of the secrecy? And why can’t we tell Liz and Courtney?” Maria rolled her eyes, her voice turning down a notch. “Because, silly, this little plan of mine includes the aforementioned people. Liz is here because she thinks we are planning a surprise wedding for Courtney and Kyle. And Courtney is here because she thinks we are planning Liz’s baby shower again.” Isabel nodded her head in understanding, her eyes lighting up with excitement at the thought of getting to help plan a wedding and a baby shower. “Well what about your wedding?” Maria scoffed. “Please, you’re talking to me Isabel. My wedding has been planned out since I was five years old and was running around the house with a pillow case hanging from my head.” She grinned as she continued. “Besides, Michael’s been doing more than his share, so I think all of my party planning efforts should be concentrated on something else.” Isabel raised a slender eyebrow. “You’re kidding me, right? Michael actually helped plan out his wedding?” Maria held up her hands, shrugging her shoulders. “Well after being with me all of these years, I guess it taught the poor guy a few things.” Isabel just laughed, shaking her head at Maria. “You are sooo bad.” Maria’s eyes sparkled. “Well, I try.” Just then, Liz’s voice permeated into the kitchen from the living room. “Are you guys coming with those cookies, or what?” Maria and Isabel giggled as they brought the cookies and milk into the living room. Maria had to shoo Liz away as she devoured the cookies while Maria was still holding the plate in her hands. When Maria tried to get Liz to let her put the plate down, Liz just growled at her, grabbing a handful of cookies as she went back to her seat. “Did you just growl at me?” Maria asked, her eyes brimming with tears as her laughter threatened to consume her. Liz looked up from a mouthful of cookies. “Hey, I’ve been waiting on these cookies forever.” She rubbed her hand across her round belly. “I can’t help it. The baby’s hungry.....again.” Liz looked guiltily at her lap, a sigh escaping her lips as she eyed the crumbs. Courtney wrapped her arm around Liz’s shoulder, urging Liz to lay her head on her shoulder. “It’s only natural, Liz. Don’t look so blue.” Liz bit her lip to keep from crying again. “I know, but this just sucks. I’m on this funky roller coaster ride of hormones, and I hate it because I’m driving everyone crazy.” Isabel sat on the floor by Liz’s feet, her hand gently patting Liz’s knee. “Don’t even worry about it Liz. If Max is any indication of how you’re acting around everyone, then you don’t have anything to worry about. My brother has been deliriously happy about this whole pregnancy.” A small smile began to appear on Liz’s lips. “Really?” Maria munched on a cookie. “Oh please, like you haven’t noticed that he’s been giving you extra goo-goo eyes, and those secret smiles he thinks he’s giving you when he thinks you‘re not looking?” Liz felt a tingle of giddiness pass through her whole body. It wasn’t that she doubted that Max was happy about the pregnancy. She knew that he was ecstatic, but her hormones were so out of whack that she couldn’t help but think that he might be getting sick of the craziness that had become her. She breathed a sigh of relief, glad to hear it from someone other than Max that he was still completely and utterly in love with her, as she was with him. Liz felt her cheeks get warm. Even after all of these years, she still felt awkward having all of the attention focused on her. She turned to look at Courtney. “So how are things going with the boys?” A wistful smile passed Courtney’s lips. “It’s going great, actually. Better than I would’ve thought.” She grinned some more as she remembered how close they had all been getting. “Damian is just a riot. He follows Kyle around like he’s Kyle’s shadow. And little Dexter, he’s been practically glued to my hip....Kyle and I have actually talked about doing the whole flower thing that you guys do, you know to help them remember, because I would never want them to forget.” Liz gave her a warm smile, giving her a hug. “That’s a great idea. They’re lucky to have you and Kyle be there for them.” Isabel squeezed Courtney’s hand. “And you know, if you ever need anything, we’re all here.” Maria jumped up from her seat, wrapping her arms around her friends. “Aww.....Group hug!” All of the women giggled, as they shared a group hug. ************** After putting the door up the guys broke for lunch, each of them taking a child, helping them eat. Jade tugged on Michael’s sleeve as she took a sip from her juice box. “Hey Mikey, you think you can make us some of ya’ famous nabana spits?” Michael grinned as he pushed Jade’s plate in front of her. “I’ll make you a deal. If you eat your lunch, then I promise to make everyone my famous banana splits, ok?” Jade nodded, taking a hearty bite of her sandwich. Alex wiped the side of Dexter’s mouth, his heart fluttering in his chest when Dexter smiled at him. He couldn’t wait until he and Isabel were ready for one of their own. His eyes flew to Kyle, who was covered in food, as Damian threw his bowl over his head, a mischievous grin on his lips. On second thought, maybe it’s a good thing that he and Isabel were starting small, Alex laughed to himself. “Daddy?” Max smiled down into his son’s face. “Yea, little man?” “When’s the baby coming?” He sighed heavily. “I’ve been waiting forever and ever, and ever,” he exaggerated. Max brushed the crumbs off of Noah’s cheek. “The baby won’t be here for a while yet. But tomorrow, we’ll be able to find out if you’re gonna be having a little baby brother or sister.” Noah smiled. “Cool. Can I help name the baby?” Max chuckled. “Sure, pal.” He ruffled Noah’s hair, unable to keep himself from doing it. He knew that pretty soon, Noah was going to outgrow the little gesture of affection, but Max just wasn’t ready to let his little man grow up so soon. “But you better eat up. You don’t wanna miss out on Michael’s banana splits, do you?” Noah attacked his lunch with a new hunger, his eyes lighting up at the thought of ice cream. ********** Liz pushed her key in the lock, laughing with the girls as they entered the house. All four women were stunned speechless as they caught the four children dripping in chocolate sauce, but that much they had expected. What they hadn’t expected was that the guys were worse off than the kids. They were wearing an assortment of different sweets, guilty expressions on their faces as the women raised their eyebrows at them. Max gave Liz a weak smile. “Welcome home?” Part 16C ***************** “Welcome home?” Liz placed her hands on her hips, doing her best to keep the laughter from her lips. The guilty look on Max’s face was absolutely priceless. She could see the wheels in his head turning, trying to think of a good explanation to what was going on. “Care to explain why my kitchen is in shambles?” Max’s mouth opened and closed as if he were speaking, but nothing was coming out. Alex came forward, holding up his sticky hands. “Ok, I give. It’s all my fault. I was the one that started using the chocolate sauce on the kids.” Kyle stepped up, grinning. “No, it’s my fault. I was the one that threw gummi bears at Alex, and he thought that it was one of the kids, that’s why he started using the chocolate sauce on the kids.” “Nope. It’s my fault. It was my idea to make the banana splits, and you know how kids and sweets go together.” Michael smiled at how quickly he was thinking on his feet. Liz shook her head, obviously not buying it. There had to be more to it if all of the guys were taking the heat for the mess, voluntarily. Nope, there was definitely something fishy going on. Apparently, the other women didn’t buy it either. “Nah uh. No way, buddy. Fess up now. There’s gotta be more to it, than you’re telling us.” Maria, gave each guy a scrutinizing once over, trying to give them a little scare. When each guy just grinned, Liz decided it was time for the big guns. She threw her arms up in the air, calling out to her son. “Noah.” “NO!” Max said a little too quickly. Noah ran to his mother. “Momma!” He wrapped his arm around her neck, giving her cheek a kiss. Liz kneeled down, giving Noah a tight hug. “I missed you, precious.” She pulled away, unable to keep herself from taking a kleenex from her purse and licking it to clean up the mess on his beautiful little face. Noah, whined as he tried to pull away from his mother. “Momma!” Liz chuckled, stopping her impromptu nurturing session. She sat back on her heels, as she looked into Noah’s face. “Baby, you think you can tell me what’s going on?” Noah looked back towards the guys who were all shaking their heads in the negative. Liz cupped Noah’s cheek, turning his face so that he was only looking at her. “For me precious?” Noah was still reluctant to say anything, so Liz played one of her mommy cards. “Noah, I want you to look into my eyes and tell me the truth.” She gave him a look that showed she meant business. “And remember, I can tell when you’re lying.” Noah squirmed under Liz’s intense gaze, finally telling his mother the truth. “We were just gonna have some of Michael’s famous banana splits, when Daddy, Kyle, Alex, and Michael started throwing the food around for fun. We had a food fight” He lay a sticky on Liz’s cheek, his eyes full of worry. “But we didn’t mean to hurt nobody. We were just having fun.” He looked at her from lowered lashes, his voice a mere whisper. “You’re not mad, are you momma?” Liz cuddled Noah to her chest, whispering in his ear so that only he could hear her. “I’m not mad, baby.” She kissed the back of his neck as she rubbed his back. “But you think you can tell me something else?” He nodded. “Sure.” “Do you know why all the boys are taking the blame for your daddy?” He just shrugged his shoulders, holding his hands up. “Something about your home runs being cwazy.” Liz’s eyebrows knotted in confusion. “Home runs?” “That’s what I said. Daddy said it had somethin’ to do with the baby.” Liz nodded her head as comprehension dawned on her. “Oh, you mean my hormones.” “That’s what I said. You’re funny, momma.” He held a hand to his mouth as he giggled. “They said if daddy got into trouble he would be in the doggie house. But that‘s just silly cos daddy‘s too big to be inside a doggie house.” Her lips curled into a smile as she listened to Noah spill everything. So the guys thought that they had to walk on egg shells around her, did they? She would definitely enjoy this. Liz kissed the top of Noah’s head as she stood back up. She straightened her shoulders as she put her game face on. “If you guys don’t mind, I need to have a few words alone with my husband.” All four guys gulped, not liking the sound of Liz’s tone. “Li- Liz held her hand up, indicating that she didn’t want to hear the rest of it. “NOW!” She turned to Maria, placing a hand on her wrist. “You think you can watch Noah for a little while?” Maria frowned, but Liz just smiled at her. “Don’t worry. I’m only gonna have a little fun with Max.” Maria shook her head, wagging a finger at Liz. “ Eviiil!” Liz waited until everyone had gone before she walked into the kitchen. She circled Max as if he were her prey, her head shaking as she wagged her finger. “Max, Max, Max.” Max paled a little. “Liz, I can explain. The guys and I, we were- “Just thinking you could pull the wool over my eyes.” Max nodded. “Yeah, that’s.....” He shook his head, when he realized what Liz had said. “No, no. The guys were just messing around. I’m so- Liz wrapped her arms around Max, planting a kiss on his lips to shut him up. Her fingertips danced at his neck, her lips widening over his as she her tongue sought out to make love to his. She stood on her tip toes, before Max responded in any way, his hands coming down to support her waist. When Liz pulled back, Max swayed a little, looking every bit as dazed as he felt. He looked down at Liz in wonder, his lips puffy from her needy kiss. “Huh?” Liz chuckled as she took in his ravished look. He even looked a little disoriented, she thought amusedly. Taking pity on him, she ran her hand down the side of his face as her other hand played in the short ends of his hair that curled around his neck. “Baby, you really need to loosen up. Otherwise you’re gonna lose it before this baby even gets here.” His senses were returning to him slowly. “What do you mean, loosen up?” He tilted his head to the side, cracking his neck. “I’m loose.” She just bit her lip as she looked at him trying to convince her that he wasn’t too uptight. She kissed his chin, licking off a little chocolate sauce. “Max, I know that you worry about me, and even more so now that I’m pregnant.” She sighed. “And I know that I’m a little more irritable right now, but you shouldn’t feel like you have to be so careful around me.” Max nodded. “But it wasn’t even my idea to get the guys to say anything. They have this crazy notion that pregnant women cry about everything and anything. But I told them it wasn’t like that with you.” He kissed her forehead, bringing her body close to his, but her tummy bumped into him. The deep rumble of his laugh, erupted from his lips as he caressed her belly. “Well hello to you to, baby.” He kneeled down so that he was looking right at Liz’s stomach. He smoothed her dress over the expanse of her tummy, as he placed light kisses everywhere. “Get plenty of rest tonight, baby.” He grinned as we spoke. “Because tomorrow, we’re gonna find out if you’re a little boy or a little girl.” Liz ran her hands through Max’s hair, her heart fluttering in her chest. Seeing him as the doting father did things to her. She grabbed his head, pulling his face to hers. “Max, bedroom.....NOW!” Max was a little stunned at Liz’s change in mood, but once his eyes caught her hungry gaze, he felt himself swallow hard. “Right, bedroom, now.” He set out to carry Liz up the stairs, but Liz jumped away from him. “No. I don’t want a repeat of yesterday.” She giggled. “I don’t think the guys will be so willingly to help out again.” She gave Max a teasing grin before she ran up the stairs. He was intent on running after her, when his eyes caught the bottle of Hershey’s chocolate syrup on the kitchen counter. He debated on whether he was kinky enough to use it, when he remembered Liz’s trick with the fruit roll ups. Maybe it was time to return the favor. Shrugging his shoulders, he grabbed the bottle, jogging up the stairs. He tripped over his feet as he kicked off his shoes and socks, his voice muffled as he tore his shirt over his head. “Li- His sentence was cut off short when he saw Liz asleep on the bed. He dropped the bottle on the dresser as he walked into the room. Liz’s hair was fanned out over her shoulder, as she softly snored. Max let out a little laugh. “Guess I wasn’t quick enough, huh?” He kissed Liz’s forehead gently, his hands reaching for her sandals. He took them off, placing them at the foot of the bed. He eased the top sheet over Liz, his hand curling around hers. He took a seat on the floor, enjoying the quiet moment where he could just watch her sleep. It had been forever since he was allowed this luxury, that he was ready to soak it all up. His other hand drifted to where their baby lay, the smile on his lips, widening. “We’re waiting for you....”