Diane and Phillip were sitting there in silence, Philip in a chair pouring through a law book, while Diane sat on the couch, her head in her hands as she slowly massaged her temples.

For the first time the realization hit Max just how much their secret was tearing up their family…particularly in the last year since things had gotten so complicated. Max couldn’t remember ever seeing his parents so quiet and stressed when he was younger…they always seemed to be cheerful, and very open about their thoughts and feelings. It seemed as though his secretive behavior was beginning to rub off. It had been months since Max had really talked to his parents. He had no idea how their lives were going…and he knew they had no idea how he was actually doing. He knew they had noticed the depression he had been fighting the past few months…it was one of the reasons they had forced him into therapy…but other than that…they were just clueless.

As Max pondered all of this, for the first time he truly accepted what he and Isabel were about to do. They needed to get their parents involved in their lives again…for both themselves, and for the two adults. Opening up to them was long overdue.

Focusing first on his mother, Max approached her hesitantly.

“You okay ma?” Max asked her gently.

“Yeah…I’ll be fine. I just have a migraine.” Diane admitted softly.

Max slipped around the back of the couch to stand behind his mother, and slipped his hands over hers, sliding them away.

“Let me help.” He offered, taking up where she had left off, by slowly rubbing little circles on her temple. Making a sudden decision, Max focused his energy and threw in a little bit of alien healing, easing her headache away with his powers.

Max looked up from his mother’s head to see his father staring at him, eyes wide with wonder.

Meeting his son’s eyes, Phillip gasped out. “Max…your hands were glowing!”

It was Diane’s turn to whip around and stare at Max in shock.

“You healed my headache? Like you healed that little bird?” Diane marveled.

“Yeah.” Max nodded.

“Why?” Diane asked in awe.

“Because…Isabel and I are finally ready to be honest with you.” Max explained, making his way back to stand beside his sister and support her.

“You’re ready to tell us your secret, Max?” Diane asked in amazement.

“We’re ready to tell you OUR secret.” Max emphasized. “It’s both of us…not just me. Isabel’s just better at hiding it than I am.”

Isabel smiled softly at her brother’s words, remembering all of the times in her life that she had chastised him for not being careful enough…but her smile faded away as she suddenly realized that Max had paid for all of his mistakes…in the White Room. Suddenly, Isabel tensed up, realizing just how much about their lives their parents didn’t know…and how startling it would be for them to realize the amount of danger their children lives with day by day.

“You both know that we’re different.” Isabel started out awkwardly. “You’ve always known it…from the day you found us…we were like babies in the form of six year olds…but you just accepted it and let it pass. You’re so wonderful for that…for just ignoring and understanding that we weren’t ready. You saw Max do things that can be only described as unexplainable…but you never once pushed it further than we’d let you.” Isabel stopped, floundering in the middle of what she was saying, turning to Max. “God, how do you do this? How did you tell Liz?”

“That was easier than this…because Liz pretty much already knew. All I had to do was confirm it for her…help her put the pieces together. Do you want me to…” Max trailed off.

“No…I want to do this.” Isabel decided. Summoning up all of the courage within her, Isabel turned to face her parents. “Mom, Dad…you’re right. We are different. Different in the sense that we’re not exactly human. We’re…aliens.”

There was a moment of silence so deafening that you could have heard a pin drop, as Diane and Phillip absorbed the information they had just become privy to. They stared at their kids for a few moments, and then at each other, their minds reeling a mile a minute, as they realized that for once their children were being totally honest with them.

“You’re sure?” Phillip finally asked.

“We’re sure.” Max confirmed. “We were in the 1947 crash…and we’ve recently had contact with others like us.”

“The 1947 crash?” Diane asked. “How? We picked you up on that highway in the desert when you were six!”

“We were in stasis…in incubation pods. That day that you found us was the same day we broke out of our pods.” Max explained. “That’s why we were so…underdeveloped, I guess…when you found us.”

Isabel spoke up softly. “I’ve told you before mom, that the day that you and daddy found us was the day our lives began…and I meant it whole heartedly…Max and I may have existed all this time, but all we know is this life, with you and mom. I love you both so much, and I’m so sorry we’ve been lying to you all these years…” Isabel finished, tears openly streaming down her face as she poured her soul out to her parents.

“Isabel, honey!” Diane cried as she saw her daughter’s reaction. She leapt from her seat and crossed the room to pull her daughter into a tight embrace. “It doesn’t matter to me, honey. None of this matters to me. All that matters is that you’re my daughter and I love you. You’re both my children…regardless of what’s in your blood. I’d never be that upset with you over anything.”

“I love you too, Mom.” Isabel sobbed. “I love you so much!”

After a few more rounds of tears and hugs, the whole Evans family settled down again to talk seriously some more.

“So…I guess the next question, kids, is are your constant disappearances caused by the fact that you’re different?” Phillip asked them seriously.

“It has everything to do with them.” Max admitted. “Well, except for this Vegas trip…I’m sorry about that. We just took this trip to relieve some stress…life has been absolutely crazy with us lately…but every other strange disappearance has something do to with what we are. God…we still have so much to tell you…I don’t even know if we could get through it all in one night!”

“We have all the time in the world, now.” Diane reminded them. “Start wherever you want, and we’ll stop whenever we have to. I have a feeling you kids will constantly be surprising us.”

“Well…all of this really started back a year and a half ago, when Liz got shot in the Crashdown…” Max started the story, going on to tell his parents of the shooting, and the following events, all of their trouble with the sheriff, and the FBI’s sudden interest in the two of them. Isabel popped in on occasion, adding her own perspective to the tale Max was telling, but for the most part she just left it to him, knowing that most of the events were centered around him and his relationship with Liz.

As Isabel listened to Max, her mind wandered again, and she began to think about Max’s sudden disappearance with the girl of his dreams the night before…and his aversion to her questions a little while earlier. Once again, she found herself wondering if something had happened between the two of them.

About the time Max reached the story of Alex revealing Topolsky’s true identity, there was a knocking on the door, interrupting Max’s explanation, as Diane went to go answer the door.