Roswell Series: Before I Knew You: Fic 4: Time After Time (1/1)
Author: X_tremeroswellian
Email: faithboscorelli1@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: Not mine. Mr. Raddish belongs to Kara and Emily. Song is by Cyndi Lauper, "Time After Time."
Rating: PG-13
Author's Note: This story is directly after, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough." You'll probably want to read that one first. Possible spoilers for other "Before I Knew You" fics that came before this one.
Dedication: This one is for Peachez. :)
Time After Time
"...If you're lost you can look
And you will find me
Time after time..."
Alex stared at Maria. "What the--? How did--?" He stopped. "I must be dreaming."
Maria grinned and then launched herself into this arms, throwing her own arms around his waist.
He hugged her back. "Okay, if I'm dreaming, then Parker will be right--"
Maria let go of him and reached outside, pulling a very pale Liz in behind her. "Here," she finished.
"Hey, Alex," Liz said weakly.
His face broke into a huge grin and he grabbed her and hugged her tightly. "Oh my God! I don't believe this!" He pulled away from her, looking back and forth between the two of them. "How did you guys manage to arrange this?"
"Lizzie's dad was tired of seeing us mope," Maria explained. "So he called my mom and she gave me permission to fly out here with Liz and your mom wanted us to keep it a secret so you'd be surprised. So did it work? Are you surprised?"
Alex laughed. "That doesn't quite cover it, Maria." He hugged her again. Then he noticed how pale his other best friend was. "What's wrong with Liz?"
Maria looked over at her. "Oh. She kind of found out that flying doesn't agree with her."
He frowned, his blue eyes filled with concern. He moved to Liz's side, sliding an arm around her waist. "You okay, Parker?"
She nodded slightly. "Maybe I should sit down for a minute."
Alex helped her over to the couch and the two of them sat down. Elaine Whitman stepped through the doorway, carrying a duffle bag in each hand.
"Oh, let me get those," Maria said quickly, grabbing the bags from her. "Where should I put them?"
"In Alex's room. I'm afraid you'll all have to squeeze in there this week."
"No problem. It seems like forever since our last slumber party! Which room is it?"
"Third door on the left," Elaine told her, pointing down the hallway.
Maria disappeared down the hall.
"Liz, do you want some 7up or something?" Elaine asked, worriedly.
"No. Thanks. I'll be okay in a minute." Liz leaned forward a bit, resting her head on her hands.
Alex and his mother exchanged a worried look and he rubbed her back gently.
"Alex, I'm going to go and see if Vonnie needs any help."
"Okay." He brushed a hair out of Liz's face. "Is there anything that I can do? Are you all right?"
She smiled slightly. "I'm okay. Sorry."
"For what?" he asked in confusion.
"This isn't exactly the way I pictured the Three Musketeers' reunion. I wanted it to be perfect."
"It is. You're here, Maria's here, I'm here. We're all together. That's what matters." He hugged her tightly. A moment later, another pair of arms wrapped around them and he smiled.
This week was going to rock.
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"Have Alex's friends gotten here yet?"
Elaine smiled at her brother-in-law's question and exchanged a look with her sister, who grinned. "Yeah, I picked them up from the airport awhile ago. It was very nice of you and Vonnie to let them stay here with us for the week."
Mark smiled. "I remember what it was like to be his age. To want to hang out with your pals and talk about girls."
Elaine supressed a laught and noticed Vonnie doing the same.
"Hey, Aunt Vonnie?" Alex stepped into the kitchen. "Maria wanted to know if she coud use the phone real quick to call home and let her mom know that she and Liz made it here safely."
Vonnie smiled. "Sure, tell her to go ahead."
"Thanks." He disappeared into the living room again.
Mark stared after him. "Maria? Liz?" he repeated in shock.
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"Alex, maybe you should introduce Liz and Maria to Vonnie and Mark," Elaine suggested quietly.
He grinned. "Oops." Alex stood up and helped Liz and Maria to their feet, draping one arm around each of their shoulders and walking into the kitchen.
The adults' conversation halted immediately.
"Aunt Vonnie, Uncle Mark, these are my two best friends, Maria DeLuca and Liz Parker."
Vonnie smiled and shook hands with the girls, murmuring her welcome to them.
Mark just shook his head, a look of complete amazement on his face as he glanced at the girls and then back at Alex.
"Glad you two could make it," Chuck, Alex's dad said, smiling at them.
"Well, we couldn't miss Alex's 16th birthday," Maria said with a grin.
Alex grinned back at her.
"Speaking of his birthday...should we give him that present now or make him wait until tomorrow?" Liz asked, a smile creeping onto her face as well.
"Tomorrow," Maria answered immediately.
The girls exchanged mischevious smiles and Alex groaned. "You two are very unfair."
"We try," Maria replied.
"Well, I'll figure it out. One way or another." He gave both of them looks of warning.
"My lips are sealed," Maria said, smiling sweetly.
"That's a first," he muttered. She swatted his arm good-naturedly and Liz laughed.
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Liz smiled as she lay back in the lawnchair on Alex's aunt and uncle's backyard. She watched Alex's little cousins run around the yard chasing each other in a wild game of tag as his uncle and dad cooked hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill for their Fourth of July barbeque. She closed her eyes. It was hot, but she was used to it after living her entire life in New Mexico. The only difference was, here in Memphis it was humid and hot, as where in Roswell, the air was rarely humid. When it got humid in Roswell, it rained.
Suddenly a stream of ice cold water hit her in the face and she shrieked. Her eyes flew open and she saw two younger boys, probably about 12 or 13, holding Super Soakers and aiming them right at her. She held her hands up. "Okay, no fair. I don't have one," she protested, wiping wet hair out of her eyes.
One of the boys smirked. "So?"
"Chad! Martin! Leave her alone!" Alex glared at them as he came up to stand behind Liz. He folded his arms across his chest.
"You gonna make me?" Chad demanded.
"If I have to."
Liz started to say something, when Chad and Martin exchanged brief smiles and then drenched Alex and Liz. They laughed and took off running.
"All right, that's it!" Alex shouted, starting to chase after them.
Liz grabbed his arm and shook her head. "I've got a better idea."
Their eyes met and they both grinned as he realized what she had in mind.
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"Do you see them?"
Maria poked her head out of the bushes, surveying the yard. "Yeah, rugrat alert at 11 O'clock."
Alex rolled his eyes at her but couldn't supress a grin. "They obviously don't know that we're the Three Musketeers." He shifted and glanced down at the basket of water balloons they'd filled up.
"Speaking of the Musketeers, where is Lizzie?" Maria whispered, keeping her eyes on the kids.
"I don't know, she said she'd be back."
"Yeah, well, by the time she gets here, we'll be out of water balloons," she replied, glancing down at their supply. She picked one up and peered back out of the foilage. "Where the heck did the other one go?"
Alex peeked out. "I see Martin...what happened to Chad?"
"Beats me, but I say we get him while he's alone."
He grinned and picked up two heavy water balloons, one in each hand. "Agreed."
"On three."
"One."
"Two," Maria said softly.
"Three!" They shouted in unison, leaping out from behind the bushes. Martin gave a yelp and reached for his Super Soaker. Maria and Alex launched all of the balloons at him at the same time, each popping one after the other and drenching him.
Maria laughed. "Woo-hoo!" She held her hand up and Alex have her a high five and they both cracked up at the indignant look on Martin's face.
"I wouldn't be laughing."
They turned around just in time to see Chad before he squirted them with his super soaker. Maria shrieked and ran back to their supply of water balloons, quickly reaching for one.
"Not so fast!" Martin shouted, shooting her with his water gun.
She grabbed one of the balloons and hurled it at Chad, missing him by inches as he dodged it. She grabbed two more, launching both of them at Martin, and both of them missing as he, too, jumped out of the way. Alex couldn't help laughing at her poor aim and her eyes narrowed. She grabbed another one, pretended like she was going to throw it at Chad, and instead hurled it at Alex.
His mouth dropped open in shock as it hit him square in the chest. He picked the remnants of plastic off his shirt and glared at her. "All right. That's it. No more mister nice guy." He headed towards her and Maria shrieked and ran from him, ducking behind Chad, who aimed his Super Soaker at Alex.
Alex grinned and grabbed more water balloons out of the basket, hurling them at Maria and his cousins. One hit Maria's shoulder and exploded as Chad leapt out of the way.
Martin took the opportunity and shot Maria with the gun again as Chad turned his Super Soaker on Alex, who tried to jump out of the way, but didn't quite make it.
Alex started to raise his hands in surrender when he heard a whistle from behind him. He turned his head to look and a grin spread onto his face as he saw Liz Parker standing there, dressed in her purple one piece bathing suit and sandles, and a pair of dark sunglasses on her eyes, holding the garden hose.
Martin and Chad both started backing away, knowing that even their Super Soakers couldn't compete with a hose. She smiled at them, and took two steps forward. Then she squeezed the handle. Both boys yelled and took off running as Alex and Maria started laughing.
"Go, Parker!" Alex laughed.
She paused, then pulled off her sunglasses and smiled at him. "Hey, Alex?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you remember last Fourth of July?"
"Of course. We all went to the lake to watch the fireworks and..." his voice trailed off, and his eyes widened as she raised the garden hose again, and aimed it at him. "Now, Liz, I thought we settled this last year," he began, backing away slowly.
She raised an eyebrow. "You threw me in the lake. Now it's payback time." Liz squeezed the handle on the hose and shot him with ice cold water.
He yelped and then grabbed Maria and pushed her in front of him. Maria shrieked as she was blasted with the freezing water.
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Alex settled back onto the blanket that the three of them were lying on, feeling relaxed and more at ease than he had in over a month. He glanced over at Maria, who was finally dried off from their water fight, and then at Liz, who was still grinning as she reveled in her victory for having won the water fight.
He reached over and tickled her ribs. "You can wipe that smirk off your face anytime, Parker."
Liz giggled and swatted his hand away. "Hey, you got a whole year to brag about tossing me in Lake Roswell, thank you very much."
"Yeah, well, just wait until next Fourth of July," Maria warned, propping herself up on her elbows and glancing over Alex to Liz. "I'm getting you both back." She smacked Alex on the stomach.
"Hey! What was that for?" he demanded, looking over at her.
"For making me be your human shield, Whitman!" She stuck her tongue out at him and he tickled her. She sat up, and moved away from him a bit. "You better be glad this is your birthday, cause if it was any other day, I'd kick your butt."
Liz laughed. "Speaking of birthday..." She met Maria's eyes, and grinned.
"Okay, I guess we've tortured him enough. Go get his present."
Alex sat up quickly. "Just what did you guys get me, anyway? You've been talking about it non-stop for 24 hours."
"You'll see," Liz teased, standing up and heading for the house.
He turned to look at Maria. "Come on, give me a hint."
"Alex, you're going to see it in like, three minutes. Just chill." Maria couldn't help but smile.
He sighed and kept his eyes on the door where Liz disappeared. When she emerged from the house again moments later, she was carrying a card, and a rather large, neatly wrapped gift. She smiled at him and handed him the card as she sat down, holding the box on her lap.
Alex opened the envelope and quickly read the card. "To Alex, our Third Musketeer. Happy 16th Birthday. Love, Liz and Maria."
Then Liz glanced at Maria, who nodded her approval. Liz handed the gift to Alex. "Hope you like it," she said softly, smiling.
Alex met her eyes for a moment and then turned to see Maria. They were both smiling at him. He took a deep breath and tore the paper off the box. Inside was a guitar case, with his initials engraved on top. "Wow," he whispered.
"Open the box," Maria said urgently.
Alex slowly clicked open the guitar case and inside it lay a beautiful, brand new black guitar, with his name engraved on it. "Oh, my God," he said aloud, staring down at it. He looked from Liz to Maria in amazement. "How did you--?"
"Lots and lots of overtime at the Crashdown," Maria said with a grin.
"We wanted to get you something really special this year," Liz told him. "It was Maria's idea."
"Actually, the guitar case was my idea. The guitar was Liz's," Maria spoke up, smiling at her best friends.
"You two are amazing," he said sincerely. He gently placed the gift on the blanket and reached over and hugged Maria.
"Yeah, well. We knew there was some reason you hung out with us," she joked, kissing his cheek.
"I hang out with you because you're the best friends a guy could ask for," Alex said honestly. He let go of Maria and turned to Liz. She smiled softly at him. He pulled her into his arms and hugged her tightly. "Thank you."
She smiled and hugged him back. "You're welcome. Happy birthday, Alex."
"Hey, the fireworks are starting!" Maria said, lying back down on the blanket.
Alex smiled at Liz and they, too, laid back down. He kept a hold of her hand, and with his other hand, reached for Maria's. Then, together, they enjoyed the brilliant explosions in the sky.
Email: faithboscorelli1@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: Not mine. Mr. Raddish belongs to Kara and Emily. Song is by Cyndi Lauper, "Time After Time."
Rating: PG-13
Author's Note: This story is directly after, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough." You'll probably want to read that one first. Possible spoilers for other "Before I Knew You" fics that came before this one.
Dedication: This one is for Peachez. :)
Time After Time
"...If you're lost you can look
And you will find me
Time after time..."
Alex stared at Maria. "What the--? How did--?" He stopped. "I must be dreaming."
Maria grinned and then launched herself into this arms, throwing her own arms around his waist.
He hugged her back. "Okay, if I'm dreaming, then Parker will be right--"
Maria let go of him and reached outside, pulling a very pale Liz in behind her. "Here," she finished.
"Hey, Alex," Liz said weakly.
His face broke into a huge grin and he grabbed her and hugged her tightly. "Oh my God! I don't believe this!" He pulled away from her, looking back and forth between the two of them. "How did you guys manage to arrange this?"
"Lizzie's dad was tired of seeing us mope," Maria explained. "So he called my mom and she gave me permission to fly out here with Liz and your mom wanted us to keep it a secret so you'd be surprised. So did it work? Are you surprised?"
Alex laughed. "That doesn't quite cover it, Maria." He hugged her again. Then he noticed how pale his other best friend was. "What's wrong with Liz?"
Maria looked over at her. "Oh. She kind of found out that flying doesn't agree with her."
He frowned, his blue eyes filled with concern. He moved to Liz's side, sliding an arm around her waist. "You okay, Parker?"
She nodded slightly. "Maybe I should sit down for a minute."
Alex helped her over to the couch and the two of them sat down. Elaine Whitman stepped through the doorway, carrying a duffle bag in each hand.
"Oh, let me get those," Maria said quickly, grabbing the bags from her. "Where should I put them?"
"In Alex's room. I'm afraid you'll all have to squeeze in there this week."
"No problem. It seems like forever since our last slumber party! Which room is it?"
"Third door on the left," Elaine told her, pointing down the hallway.
Maria disappeared down the hall.
"Liz, do you want some 7up or something?" Elaine asked, worriedly.
"No. Thanks. I'll be okay in a minute." Liz leaned forward a bit, resting her head on her hands.
Alex and his mother exchanged a worried look and he rubbed her back gently.
"Alex, I'm going to go and see if Vonnie needs any help."
"Okay." He brushed a hair out of Liz's face. "Is there anything that I can do? Are you all right?"
She smiled slightly. "I'm okay. Sorry."
"For what?" he asked in confusion.
"This isn't exactly the way I pictured the Three Musketeers' reunion. I wanted it to be perfect."
"It is. You're here, Maria's here, I'm here. We're all together. That's what matters." He hugged her tightly. A moment later, another pair of arms wrapped around them and he smiled.
This week was going to rock.
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"Have Alex's friends gotten here yet?"
Elaine smiled at her brother-in-law's question and exchanged a look with her sister, who grinned. "Yeah, I picked them up from the airport awhile ago. It was very nice of you and Vonnie to let them stay here with us for the week."
Mark smiled. "I remember what it was like to be his age. To want to hang out with your pals and talk about girls."
Elaine supressed a laught and noticed Vonnie doing the same.
"Hey, Aunt Vonnie?" Alex stepped into the kitchen. "Maria wanted to know if she coud use the phone real quick to call home and let her mom know that she and Liz made it here safely."
Vonnie smiled. "Sure, tell her to go ahead."
"Thanks." He disappeared into the living room again.
Mark stared after him. "Maria? Liz?" he repeated in shock.
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"Alex, maybe you should introduce Liz and Maria to Vonnie and Mark," Elaine suggested quietly.
He grinned. "Oops." Alex stood up and helped Liz and Maria to their feet, draping one arm around each of their shoulders and walking into the kitchen.
The adults' conversation halted immediately.
"Aunt Vonnie, Uncle Mark, these are my two best friends, Maria DeLuca and Liz Parker."
Vonnie smiled and shook hands with the girls, murmuring her welcome to them.
Mark just shook his head, a look of complete amazement on his face as he glanced at the girls and then back at Alex.
"Glad you two could make it," Chuck, Alex's dad said, smiling at them.
"Well, we couldn't miss Alex's 16th birthday," Maria said with a grin.
Alex grinned back at her.
"Speaking of his birthday...should we give him that present now or make him wait until tomorrow?" Liz asked, a smile creeping onto her face as well.
"Tomorrow," Maria answered immediately.
The girls exchanged mischevious smiles and Alex groaned. "You two are very unfair."
"We try," Maria replied.
"Well, I'll figure it out. One way or another." He gave both of them looks of warning.
"My lips are sealed," Maria said, smiling sweetly.
"That's a first," he muttered. She swatted his arm good-naturedly and Liz laughed.
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Liz smiled as she lay back in the lawnchair on Alex's aunt and uncle's backyard. She watched Alex's little cousins run around the yard chasing each other in a wild game of tag as his uncle and dad cooked hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill for their Fourth of July barbeque. She closed her eyes. It was hot, but she was used to it after living her entire life in New Mexico. The only difference was, here in Memphis it was humid and hot, as where in Roswell, the air was rarely humid. When it got humid in Roswell, it rained.
Suddenly a stream of ice cold water hit her in the face and she shrieked. Her eyes flew open and she saw two younger boys, probably about 12 or 13, holding Super Soakers and aiming them right at her. She held her hands up. "Okay, no fair. I don't have one," she protested, wiping wet hair out of her eyes.
One of the boys smirked. "So?"
"Chad! Martin! Leave her alone!" Alex glared at them as he came up to stand behind Liz. He folded his arms across his chest.
"You gonna make me?" Chad demanded.
"If I have to."
Liz started to say something, when Chad and Martin exchanged brief smiles and then drenched Alex and Liz. They laughed and took off running.
"All right, that's it!" Alex shouted, starting to chase after them.
Liz grabbed his arm and shook her head. "I've got a better idea."
Their eyes met and they both grinned as he realized what she had in mind.
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"Do you see them?"
Maria poked her head out of the bushes, surveying the yard. "Yeah, rugrat alert at 11 O'clock."
Alex rolled his eyes at her but couldn't supress a grin. "They obviously don't know that we're the Three Musketeers." He shifted and glanced down at the basket of water balloons they'd filled up.
"Speaking of the Musketeers, where is Lizzie?" Maria whispered, keeping her eyes on the kids.
"I don't know, she said she'd be back."
"Yeah, well, by the time she gets here, we'll be out of water balloons," she replied, glancing down at their supply. She picked one up and peered back out of the foilage. "Where the heck did the other one go?"
Alex peeked out. "I see Martin...what happened to Chad?"
"Beats me, but I say we get him while he's alone."
He grinned and picked up two heavy water balloons, one in each hand. "Agreed."
"On three."
"One."
"Two," Maria said softly.
"Three!" They shouted in unison, leaping out from behind the bushes. Martin gave a yelp and reached for his Super Soaker. Maria and Alex launched all of the balloons at him at the same time, each popping one after the other and drenching him.
Maria laughed. "Woo-hoo!" She held her hand up and Alex have her a high five and they both cracked up at the indignant look on Martin's face.
"I wouldn't be laughing."
They turned around just in time to see Chad before he squirted them with his super soaker. Maria shrieked and ran back to their supply of water balloons, quickly reaching for one.
"Not so fast!" Martin shouted, shooting her with his water gun.
She grabbed one of the balloons and hurled it at Chad, missing him by inches as he dodged it. She grabbed two more, launching both of them at Martin, and both of them missing as he, too, jumped out of the way. Alex couldn't help laughing at her poor aim and her eyes narrowed. She grabbed another one, pretended like she was going to throw it at Chad, and instead hurled it at Alex.
His mouth dropped open in shock as it hit him square in the chest. He picked the remnants of plastic off his shirt and glared at her. "All right. That's it. No more mister nice guy." He headed towards her and Maria shrieked and ran from him, ducking behind Chad, who aimed his Super Soaker at Alex.
Alex grinned and grabbed more water balloons out of the basket, hurling them at Maria and his cousins. One hit Maria's shoulder and exploded as Chad leapt out of the way.
Martin took the opportunity and shot Maria with the gun again as Chad turned his Super Soaker on Alex, who tried to jump out of the way, but didn't quite make it.
Alex started to raise his hands in surrender when he heard a whistle from behind him. He turned his head to look and a grin spread onto his face as he saw Liz Parker standing there, dressed in her purple one piece bathing suit and sandles, and a pair of dark sunglasses on her eyes, holding the garden hose.
Martin and Chad both started backing away, knowing that even their Super Soakers couldn't compete with a hose. She smiled at them, and took two steps forward. Then she squeezed the handle. Both boys yelled and took off running as Alex and Maria started laughing.
"Go, Parker!" Alex laughed.
She paused, then pulled off her sunglasses and smiled at him. "Hey, Alex?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you remember last Fourth of July?"
"Of course. We all went to the lake to watch the fireworks and..." his voice trailed off, and his eyes widened as she raised the garden hose again, and aimed it at him. "Now, Liz, I thought we settled this last year," he began, backing away slowly.
She raised an eyebrow. "You threw me in the lake. Now it's payback time." Liz squeezed the handle on the hose and shot him with ice cold water.
He yelped and then grabbed Maria and pushed her in front of him. Maria shrieked as she was blasted with the freezing water.
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Alex settled back onto the blanket that the three of them were lying on, feeling relaxed and more at ease than he had in over a month. He glanced over at Maria, who was finally dried off from their water fight, and then at Liz, who was still grinning as she reveled in her victory for having won the water fight.
He reached over and tickled her ribs. "You can wipe that smirk off your face anytime, Parker."
Liz giggled and swatted his hand away. "Hey, you got a whole year to brag about tossing me in Lake Roswell, thank you very much."
"Yeah, well, just wait until next Fourth of July," Maria warned, propping herself up on her elbows and glancing over Alex to Liz. "I'm getting you both back." She smacked Alex on the stomach.
"Hey! What was that for?" he demanded, looking over at her.
"For making me be your human shield, Whitman!" She stuck her tongue out at him and he tickled her. She sat up, and moved away from him a bit. "You better be glad this is your birthday, cause if it was any other day, I'd kick your butt."
Liz laughed. "Speaking of birthday..." She met Maria's eyes, and grinned.
"Okay, I guess we've tortured him enough. Go get his present."
Alex sat up quickly. "Just what did you guys get me, anyway? You've been talking about it non-stop for 24 hours."
"You'll see," Liz teased, standing up and heading for the house.
He turned to look at Maria. "Come on, give me a hint."
"Alex, you're going to see it in like, three minutes. Just chill." Maria couldn't help but smile.
He sighed and kept his eyes on the door where Liz disappeared. When she emerged from the house again moments later, she was carrying a card, and a rather large, neatly wrapped gift. She smiled at him and handed him the card as she sat down, holding the box on her lap.
Alex opened the envelope and quickly read the card. "To Alex, our Third Musketeer. Happy 16th Birthday. Love, Liz and Maria."
Then Liz glanced at Maria, who nodded her approval. Liz handed the gift to Alex. "Hope you like it," she said softly, smiling.
Alex met her eyes for a moment and then turned to see Maria. They were both smiling at him. He took a deep breath and tore the paper off the box. Inside was a guitar case, with his initials engraved on top. "Wow," he whispered.
"Open the box," Maria said urgently.
Alex slowly clicked open the guitar case and inside it lay a beautiful, brand new black guitar, with his name engraved on it. "Oh, my God," he said aloud, staring down at it. He looked from Liz to Maria in amazement. "How did you--?"
"Lots and lots of overtime at the Crashdown," Maria said with a grin.
"We wanted to get you something really special this year," Liz told him. "It was Maria's idea."
"Actually, the guitar case was my idea. The guitar was Liz's," Maria spoke up, smiling at her best friends.
"You two are amazing," he said sincerely. He gently placed the gift on the blanket and reached over and hugged Maria.
"Yeah, well. We knew there was some reason you hung out with us," she joked, kissing his cheek.
"I hang out with you because you're the best friends a guy could ask for," Alex said honestly. He let go of Maria and turned to Liz. She smiled softly at him. He pulled her into his arms and hugged her tightly. "Thank you."
She smiled and hugged him back. "You're welcome. Happy birthday, Alex."
"Hey, the fireworks are starting!" Maria said, lying back down on the blanket.
Alex smiled at Liz and they, too, laid back down. He kept a hold of her hand, and with his other hand, reached for Maria's. Then, together, they enjoyed the brilliant explosions in the sky.