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 Geoff pulled the blind back making sure that it was the parents. As he turned to look at the eager faces of the kids, he realized that this would be a turning point for everyone. "Ready?" They all nod as he opens the door, slowly.
"Geoff, let us in, we need to know what's going on!" Phillip Evans was not in the mood to wait, he wanted answers...now.
"Okay, come on in." As he opens the door, the looks on their faces matched his own a little while ago. "Sorry if I scared you, but they wanted this to be a surprise..." As he looked around, he realized that no one had heard him, but that was okay they were busy.
Everyone was laughing and talking at the same time, no one stopped until everyone had been hugged at least twice. As they started to drift to the different tables the parents kept looking at their children hoping that this wasn't a dream.
“So, how long will you be staying?” Amy was afraid to ask, she was afraid they would be gone tomorrow.
“We're not leaving, we've come home. We need to be here, it's where we're supposed to be.” Michael reached over and put his arm on the back of Maria's chair, running his hand back and forth over her shoulder Maria puts her hand up to touch his, then she looks at him. Amy could see the love between them…that they had grown into strong adults.
“Won't that be dangerous for you? You could be tracked down here.” Diane Evans kept watching Isabel and Max, needing to be reassured about their safety. “How can you be safe here?”
“Mom, we're in danger wherever we go…only when we're here we have a better idea who to trust. We have place to hide that will be able to protect us.” Isabel could tell by the look on her mother's face that she wasn't convinced.
“We have the pod chamber; it will be our best line of defense. No one can get in but us. We're going to stock it with food and water and maybe some sleeping bags, we'll be safe there.” Max goes over to sit by his mother; he rubs his hand on her back to reassure her. Remembering what he saw early this morning, he thought both of his mothers were beautiful. Looking at Liz, he feels her trust in him, that he would protect them all, no matter what the cost.
Kyle was sitting with Jim at a table near the corner. His father looked contented, like he had finally adjusted to his life as a deputy. “How's grandpa?”
“About the same, I went to see him the other day.” The subject made him nervous; he didn't want to tell Kyle that the “other day” was really two months ago. “So, what was being on the road like?”
“Long.” Kyle looked at his father; he had picked up on the subtle change of subject. “We had some good times, we helped some people along the way…but it's great to be back home.”
“I'm taking orders for breakfast! What can I get everyone?” Geoff started to write down what they wanted. Michael heads for the kitchen, Maria and Liz get up to help.
Phillip walks over to Max, sitting down next to him he studies Max's face. “So, is everything okay? I know that we discussed so much before you had to leave…but I've always felt that I should have done more. I want to apologize for what I did to you.”
“Apologize? Dad, you've done that and all of that is over now. We all want to start over now that everyone finally knows the truth. Life will be a lot easier for us all now. So if we mysteriously go out of town for whatever reason, at least you'll understand that it's not that we're avoiding things but because it's necessary.” As he gives his father a smile, Phillip remembers that lost little boy that they brought home all those years ago.
“Do you think that you can get away for a few minutes? I have something I want to give you.”
“Sure, I think they can save our breakfast until we get back.” Standing up he walks to the kitchen. “Dad wants me to go with him somewhere, I shouldn't be too long.” Liz turns to look at him, some of his old glow had come back. Reaching up, she kisses him deeply, he looks at her smiling. “I'll only be gone a few minutes.”
“I just want to make sure you'll come back.” She grins at him.
“Always.” He returns the kiss, deeper than the one she gave him.
“Excuse me…excuse…” Phillip didn't want to bother them. He was amazed at what Liz did to his son, how alive she made him.
“Give them a minute, they've been apart all of…” After looking at the clock, Michael looks back at Max's father. “Five minutes…for them that's a record.”
Reluctantly Max pulls away from Liz, smiling the whole time. “Okay, let's go Dad.” Looking at Liz he touches her face. “We'll be right back.”
 Phillip pulls up in front of his house. “Have you thought about where you're going to stay? I mean we have plenty of space at the house.” He looks hopefully at Max.
“Well, Liz and I thought that we'd probably stay with her parents, at least for now. As soon as we can afford it we'll be getting a place of our own.” He looked at his father seeing that he was trying to hide his disappointment. “Isabel will be staying with you, if that's okay…I mean Jesse is far away in Boston. It's been really hard on her, this separation. I think it will do her good to be home.”
“Of course it's okay, I guess I can't be selfish and have both of my kids staying with me. The Parkers deserve to have Liz with them…unless you stay here and she can stay with them.” He tried to hide his smile…if ever two people couldn't stand to be separated it would be those two.
“Well, that could be an option; I'll discuss it with Liz.” Max returns the look his father gave him.
Putting his hand on Max's shoulder Phillip starts to laugh. “It's great to have you home son. Come inside, I have something to show you.” He pushes the button to open the garage door.
Max looks around, everything seemed familiar. As he turns around, his eyes adjusting to the darkness of the garage, he sees his father uncovering something.
“I saved this for you, you know in case you ever came back home.”
Max stared in amazement as his father uncovered the blue Chevelle. It looked good as new, like someone had been taking care of it.
“I just had it tuned up and some new tires put on it.” Reaching to a nail on the wall he gets the keys and tosses them to Max. “Welcome home, son.”
“Thanks Dad, it's great to be back.” It was all he could say, this small thing that his father had done meant more to him than he could ever express. But looking at his father now, he knew that he understood.
“Okay, let's get back, I'm starved. Besides, I don't want your wife to think you aren't coming back.”
“Dad, there is one thing in this world or should I say in this universe that I know, it's that Liz will never doubt that I'm coming back to her.” Smiling, he jumps into his car; yes it was great to be back.
While Max and Phillip were gone, they had pushed enough tables together so that everyone could sit together As they sat there eating Jim started to watch Max, he could tell that there was something going on in his mind, something serious. After all of the things they had been through, Jim knew that whatever it was it would weigh heavy on him until he could let it out. But he would wait, let everyone enjoy this time, he had a feeling that things would start catching up with them, soon.
Looking at the clock, Geoff knew that it would soon be time to get things ready for the day's business. “I hate to break up this party, but it's getting to be the time for me to start getting ready for the day. If you want we can move this upstairs…”
Jim realized that this was the time to ask Max about what was on his mind. “If we have time before we go, I think Max has something on his mind, something important. Am I right, Max?”
Liz reached over and touched Max's hand. She knew what he had to say and it would be hard for him, because it might cause trouble between Michael and Isabel and him. But he was right in what he was thinking; he had worried about it for days and they had spent much of their alone time discussing it.
Standing up, he faced the group. Looking at Isabel and Michael he was afraid to say what was on his mind; but in order for them to be safe they would once again have to break their pact. “I think it's time we let some people in…well two really. They could be important in our survival.”
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