Title: Ambiguous Resolutions
Part: 3
Author: Tammy
Email: tammyathome@earthlink.net
Disclaimer: I Own Nothing
Summary: After high school, Michael leaves town-and comes back with a wife.
Category: Mainly focuses on Michael-M/M; I/A; M/L So i will put this under both General conventional and Character: Michael
Rating: PG
Author's Note:These "" are quotation marks, and these '' are character's thoughts. Takes place in the future, but any episode after Tess, Lies, and Videotape never happened-i.e. 'Destiny' has no role in my story! Who will Michael marry? I'll let you the readers decide-I've already made my choice-can you make me change my mind?
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

She had returned a few hours later. Dropped off by Liz in the driveway, she spent a few moments talking to Max. He had made up his mind. He was going to tell her tonight, tell her that he couldn't go through with it. That he couldn't get married to her because he was in love with someone else. But then she smiled at him, and he fell in love with her, all over again.

"Have fun?"

"Actually, yes. And you?" She asked.

"Oh, it was alright. Izzy didn't bite my head off, which is always a good sign. C'mon, let's go to bed." He led her down another hallway, towards the guestroom. Suddenly she appeared, like a goddess. His Maria. He could tell that she felt him stiffen, loosen his grasp on her hand.

"Night." He heard her say from behind him, and then suddenly she was gone, slipped into the doorway beside him. Leaving him in the hallway with Maria.

"Goodnight," Maria replied. She stared down at her slipper-padded feet. "You're very lucky, do you know that?"

"Not that lucky." He smiled, and she returned to her walk down the hall. 'Not very lucky at all. Damn. Is it possible to be in love with two people at the same time?"

~*~

He heard her crying later that night as they lay in bed together. He wanted to ignore her, turn the other cheek. But he couldn't, as much as he loved Maria, he also loved her. He pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her.

She wiped her eyes and leaned in closer to his chest, "Did I wake you?"

"No, I was already up."

"Oh, okay." He wanted to ask her why she was crying. He wanted to tell her that it would be okay. But then he remembered the old proverb she always told him, 'What you want isn't always what you need.' He sighed and tried to go to sleep.

~*~

"Morning," Samara said as she walked into the kitchen. She smiled when she saw Liz, "Liz! What are you doing here?"

"Maria's not much of a morning person, and Isabel isn't really into making breakfast."

"What? I make breakfast." Isabel retorted.

"I doubt coffee covers the five food groups." Liz laughed. She opened a package of bacon.

"Need any help?" Samara asked.

"You cook?" Isabel eyed Samara.

"Yep, most of my life." After she washed her hands, she set about to making pancakes. "My mom never cooked, so I either had to learn or starve."

"How'd you learn to cook then?" Liz asked as she turned the bacon.

"The television. Not only can it educate, but it's a great babysitter."

"Babysitter? You have kids?" Isabel's forehead wrinkled in inquiry.

"No…it's a baby boomer thing. My friends' parents used to use the television to keep them out of their hair."

"Speaking of kids, are you planning on having any?" Liz queried. Isabel shot Liz an icy glare.

"Yes, we are. Michael and I have already filled out the forms."

"Forms?"

"Yeah, we're adopting." Samara flipped another pancake, and added it to the ever-growing pile.

"Oh, that's nice of you to do for Michael. I know if he had gotten adopted like Isabel and Max, he probably wouldn't have been as distant or closed off to us for so long." Liz said.

"I'm not doing it for Michael. I've always wanted to adopt, even before I found out I couldn't have kids of my own." She placed a few pancakes on a separate plate, "Isabel-pancakes?" Isabel just nodded. Samara placed the plate in front of her.

"Morning everyone," Michael said. He walked behind Samara and placed his hands on her hips. "Mmm, pancakes." He kissed her on her cheek and then went to the table, to sit next to Isabel. "Everyone sleep well?"

"Yep. It's good to have you home again, Michael." Isabel replied. Samara placed a stack of pancakes in front of Michael. "Oh my God, Michael. Your pancakes!"

Michael stared down at his pancakes, "What? What's wrong with them?"

"They're…they're…they're red!" Isabel sputtered.

"Oh. Mara's been making them like that for years. She puts the Tabasco sauce inside the batter." He reached for coffeepot to fill his mug, "She's done it so many times that it just seems normal."

"Bacon's done, and so is the toast. Mara, can you hand me the jam?" said Liz.

~*~

Maria heard the sound of laughter coming from the kitchen. "What the…?" She looked at her alarm clock. '9 o'clock? Who is up at this ungodly hour on a weekend?' she thought. 'Was that Liz's voice? Why is Liz here?' She swung her legs over the side of her bed, and then yesterday's events came flooding back to her. "Michael." One word. One person. Okay, so maybe this wasn't just some person. It was Michael. Ever since he left that night she had hated him, and loved him. And then, yesterday, when everyone had left, and it had just been the two of them; it had been like old times. But then she came back, and reality had hit them. And she and he both realized that it couldn't be like old times. Because it wasn't, they weren't living in the past. Even though she tried, every night. Each night replaying and replaying those same events that fateful night, over and over in her head, like some horrible record. And every time, they'd always end up together. Either she'd plead with him to stay, or he would take her with him. She sighed and rolled back into bed. 'Why didn't I try harder? Force him to take me with him? That could be me right now, with him. Marrying him.' Her alarm clock went off. "Dammit!" She ripped the clock out of its socket and threw it against the wall.

~*~

"What the hell was that?" Isabel asked in response to the loud noise. "I'm gonna go check it out. Thanks for breakfast Liz." Isabel walked down the hallway, towards where she thought the sound was coming from. She found Maria lying in bed, her alarm clock against the far wall of her bedroom. "Maria?"

"Hey Is." She paused, "Are they still here?"

Isabel smiled in sympathy. "Yes, I'm afraid so. Anything I can do?"

"Depends on whether or not you learned how to poof people into oblivion yet." Maria smiled at the old memory. She could hardly believe she used to be afraid of Isabel.

"Unfortunately, no." Isabel walked over to the side of Maria's bed and pulled her out of it. "Come and eat breakfast. Liz made bacon, and I made the coffee."

"Sounds yummy, but I'm more of a pancake person." Maria looked inside her closet for her bathrobe.

"Well, then you're in luck. We've got plenty of pancakes."

Maria stuck her head out of the closet. "Alex is here?"

"Alex?"

"Yeah. After Liz almost burned down the Crashdown, Alex made her promise never to make pancakes again. And since I don't think that you can cook-" She was cut off by Isabel.

"Excuse me, I cook. Didn't you hear me? I said I made coffee."

"Aha! Found it!" Maria held up her bathrobe and put it on. "Let's go get some of Alex's famous pancakes."

Maria linked arms with Isabel and started pulling her down the hallway. "Wait, Maria. Alex isn't here."

"He's not?" Maria looked confused. "Wait-Michael cooked breakfast?" Isabel shook her head. "Oh. I'm not in the mood for pancakes all of a sudden."

"They aren't all that bad, " Maria raised her eyebrows. "What? Food is food, no matter who makes it. Don't look at me like that. I'm going to go take a shower. You go eat breakfast." Isabel turned around and went back into her bathroom.

Maria walked into kitchen. "Good morning, Liz." Liz nodded in response, engrossed in the newspaper.

"Morning, Maria."

"Morning, Samara." Maria replied coolly. She helped herself to the toast and coffee on the table.

"Hey." Maria looked up and met Michael's eyes.

She smiled. "Hi." She stopped smiling a few moments later. 'Oh God. I can't do this. I can't be in the same room with him. Every time I see him, I just want to… "Excuse me." She grabbed her coffee and toast and quickly egressed into the backyard. Once the door was closed behind her, she breathed a sigh of relief. 'Much better.'

"Excuse me, as well." Michael got up and left the kitchen as quickly as Maria.

Liz looked up at Samara, who seemed oblivious to the scene, which had just taken place. 'I wonder if she sees it. Sees the connection between the two. But then again, Michael seems to be in love with her too. I hope Michael decides soon, before both Maria and Mara get hurt.'

"Don't worry. I noticed it."

Liz was shocked at first, but then realized it must have been a pretty obvious question. Anyone could have seen the tension when Maria first walked into the room. "So you never answered my question. What are you afraid of?"

"Of losing him." She slowly cleared the breakfast table and then left the kitchen.

"Me too." Liz looked up to see Maria standing against the doorway. Liz sighed. 'I really hope Michael decides soon.'

TBC