Snapshot · (Roswell Fanfiction) · √

67. Colorblind

On the street outside of Max and Liz's house
(2018) Max is 33, Liz is 32

She had arrived a bit too early. One hour to be exact. So she had parked further down the street to avoid detection. Shooting the hundred-fifteenth look at her watch, she noticed that time was steadily ticking closer to the actual arrival time. She was nervous, but not really sure why.

It was not like she was meeting strangers. Two of the people in the small house she were to visit were her own flesh and blood. She had carried them for nine months each – one for a little bit more than that even. They had been protected then. She had been their protector. That wasn't the case anymore.

Taking a deep breath, she pulled down the sunshield and checked her make-up. As per usual, it was flawless. Not a single hair was out of place. That was the way she liked it. It provided her with a sense of security, of order. As long as she had control, nothing would surprise or scare her. She would always be prepared.

Except when it concerned her children. And lately, her marriage.

She shook the drowning feelings of failure off her the second they decided to assault her. She wasn't a martyr and she would rather die than turn into one.

She glanced at her watch. Nine minutes to spare. The next breath fluttered in her chest with nervousness.

Mentally preparing herself, she grabbed her purse from the leathered passenger seat and stepped out of the expensive car. The car had been a gift. But she couldn't see it as anything else than a bribe. A bribe for her silence, for her compliance. A bribe to make her blind to her husband's extracurricular activities.

The car was locked with the typical 'beep beep' of a central lock system and she headed for the small beige house up the street.

The rays from the bright midday sun were beating down on her as she ran her hands over her dress one last time before ringing the door bell.

She could hear commotion on the other side of the door. Maybe she wasn't too early. It sounded like the party was already in full swing. Or maybe she was late. Maybe she had misread the invitation. Maybe they had given her another time. Maybe they-

Her anxious train of thought was abruptly interrupted as the door opened and her eyes blinked down to the curly dark head of her past. It was as if her own daughter was standing in front of her, having regressed to a five-year-old girl.

"Grandma!!" the little girl erupted and Nancy was stiff with something akin to shock as the little girl threw her arms around her grandmother's waist.

She had never met her granddaughter before. She had wanted to, but time had passed by too fast. Much too fast. Now the baby she had wanted to help support financially five years ago was very much a small person on her own, beautiful in a yellow sundress with pink flowers.

Nancy managed to get the child's name across her lips before the door was opened even further in front of her, revealing the blank face of her son-in-law. His expressionless face made the nervousness escalate and in automatic response her spine straightened and she donned her own facial mask of blankness.

"Zoe," Max said, the warmness in his voice when he addressed his daughter in sharp contrast with the coldness in his eyes as he looked at his mother-in-law. "Go and help your mom. She's taking the cookies out of the oven."

Zoe's face brightened even further as Nancy looked down into the face of Elizabeth's replica. A coldness washed over Nancy as Zoe's warm arms let go of her grandmother. Zoe turned and basically skipped towards the kitchen. Before she turned the corner she turned around and locked eyes with Nancy. "I'm so happy you're here, Grandma."