| Maxine stood in front of Michael's door. She didn't know if she was able to see him. She wanted to but she was scared. She raised her hand and knocked. After a few minutes the door opened and there he stood; quiet and shocked that she was standing in front of him. "Oh…hi," he said, quite unsure of himself. "Hi…can I come in?" Max asked, a little scared. "Yea, sure…do you want anything to drink?" Michael asked as he closed the door behind her. "Yea," Max said and looked around. She froze at the same picture of her mom that she looked at the last time she was here. "Cola ok?" Michael asked as he opened the fridge. "Yea, thanks," Max said and took the can out of his hand. "So…" Michael said and waited for Max to start. "Look. I didn't come here to make you be a dad. We are doing just fine. Alex, Mom and I," Max said to him. She didn't want him to feel obligated to be there for her and her brother. "Oh really? You think breaking and entering, getting shot and need balancing is fine," Michael snapped back at her in a mad tone. This girl was so like him and that frightened him a lot. "I see I made the wrong decision to come here," Max said and headed for the door. "Wait please," Michael said as he rose from his chair. "Why, you obviously don't care," Max said and opened the door. "I didn't say that, I am just…well it's not everyday you find out you have two kids ok…can't we just talk…I don't even know your full name," Michael pleaded. He couldn't screw this up as he had with everything else in his life that had once mattered. Max turned around and looked into her fathers’ eyes and saw that he really cared. She looked out the hallway and then closed the door. "Fine" "Thanks…sit…please," Michael said and motioned her to the chair across from him. She sat down but she didn't know what to say so the room became quiet. "Maxine Isa Deluca," she said, trying to break the painful silence that had been going on for a few minutes. "Really," Michael said. He was surprised that Maria wanted to keep a part of her life that she ran away from. "Well they call me Max," Max continued. "Okay, what about your brother?" Michael asked. "His name is Alexander Michael Deluca. We call him Alex," Max answered. The whole scary thing was beginning to wear off. She was glad that Matt talked her into this and she was going to tell him that tonight if she could sneak him in through her window without her mother knowing. "Oh, that's nice names," Michael said as he fiddled with his ring. He looked across the table and saw that Max was doing the same thing. "Yea, I guess mom wanted to keep a part of this life," Maxine explained. "How old are you?" Michael asked. "We’ll both be 17 on the 15th of April," Max answered and rose from her seat and walked around the apartment, looking at her surroundings. "Do you know anything about my side of the family?" Michael asked and watched as she picked up a picture of Max, Liz, Isabel, Kyle, Matt, Phoebe and him at the twins 15th birthday. "Just the part mom told me on your way here," Max answered. "So she hasn't told you much about…me?" Michael asked as Max returned to her seat opposite him. "No, she's always been secretive about it. Every time Alex or I asked her, she just got a sad look on her face and left. The only thing we know is that we weren't like everybody else and that we couldn't go to the doctors," Max said, a little sad. She hated the whole secret thing going on in her life, having to lie to everyone about who she was. "That must have been hard," Michael replied. "Yea, but mom has always been there for us and Alex and I take care of each other" "Oh," Michael said and sighed. Max noticed that he wanted to ask her something but somehow he didn't know if he should. His eyes were staring at something. Max followed his eyes and came across a picture of her mom. "You can ask about her you know," Max said. "I know, but I don't know if I have the right to," Michael said sadly. He had made so many mistakes in his life. Maria was always the one that was by his side no matter what until he drove her away. "What do you mean?" Max asked. "I know why she left now and it's my fault," Michael said. He hated himself for it. It was his fault he drove her away with his family. "Come on…I know you have some questions," Max said and looked at her father. She could clearly see the features she got from him. "Did she find somebody?" Michael asked and looked at his daughter for some kind of help. It was like a desperate cry for someone to love him. "No, she's always been alone. I don't know why, it was like she was afraid or something…here," Max said and pulled out a book and laid it down before Michael. On the book it stood with golden letters, "Diary of Maria Deluca" "Why?" Michael asked. He wondered why would his daughter have Maria's diary and give it to him of all people. "Something I think you should read. Bye," Max said and rose from her chair and walked towards the door. "Hey, do you…do you want to do something tomorrow, maybe talk some more?" Michael asked her, and he looked up from the book in front of him. "I would love to, but I think you should talk to someone else," Max said and opened the door. "I know…hey Max?" Michael called out and watched as his daughter turned around and looked at him. "Yea?" she asked. He just looked at her and said a simple thing. But it meant so much for the both of them when he said it. “Thanks” TBC |
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