Isabel was awakened by the harsh buzzing of the phone. She cursed inwardly. It was hard to sleep when she was this pregnant, and she had just fallen asleep what seemed like twenty minutes ago. She looked at the clock and groaned. It had been twenty minutes ago.

"Hello?" she heard Alex say. "It's for you," he said to her.

Isabel rolled over awkwardly and picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Isabel?" The panic was evident in Max's voice.

"What's going on?"

"Isabel, I need you and Alex to pack up and come to California."

"What? Why?"

"I-I can't say."

Isabel was annoyed with Max for being cryptic early in the morning. "Max, calm down. I can't exactly hop in the car and make a little trip across the country. I can't hop at all, actually."

"But you aren't due for three more weeks!"

"Max, those dates are rough estimates. Plus, I could just be a little early. You never know."

"Well...I'll pay for a plane ticket. I have to get you guys west of the mountains."

"What? Max, no..."

"For both of you. You guys need to be here by the weekend at the latest."

"Why? Why won't you tell me? I don't understand."

"Don't you feel it in the air, Isabel? Don't you feel that something strange is about to happen?"

Isabel hesitated and shifted uncomfortably. Alex propped a pillow up behind her to support her back. "I'm pregnant. I'm always feeling weird things in the air."

"Well, maybe you should listen to it. It's intuition."

****

January 18, 2010
Albuquerque, NM

Isabel stole into her own apartment in the dark of night. Lana slept soundly on the couch and didn't even awaken when she opened the door. Isabel headed first for her own room. She opened her bureau as quietly as possible and threw a change of clothing inside it. Then she walked into Kirsten's room and did the same.

"What are you doing, Mommy?"

Isabel jumped. "Packing, baby. Kirsten, I need you to get up and get dressed."

"Can I turn on the light?"

"No, sweetie. Lana's asleep."

Kirsten obeyed dutifully, pulling clothes from her closet. Isabel waited for her to finish.

"Okay, we have to be really quiet. We don't want to wake Lana."

"Okay, mommy."

****

January 19, 2003
San Francisco International Airport

Isabel blinked into the blindingly bright California sunlight. She couldn't see Max or Liz anywhere, but Max said he would meet them at the airport. Alex was right behind her with their bags.

"Izzy!" she heard Max's shout. Abruptly she was wrapped in his arms, or as much as she could be. He squeezed her and pulled back. "Wow. Any day now, huh?"

"Yup," she said, turning around in time to see Alex pick Liz up and spin her around. "Where are Michael and Maria?"

"They're at the dorm. We'll explain everything there," he said, shutting down the questions she had been dying to ask.

"When's your due date, Isabel?" Liz asked.

"February 7th," she said. "But I don't even know how I can hold this little guy in there for that much longer."

She saw the glance that Liz and Max exchanged. Alex missed it. He wrapped his arms around her and said, "I still think it's a girl."

"You guys don't know?"

"Well, we've been keeping the doctor's appointments to a minimum. We've only had two, so we haven't had one of the sex-determining ultrasounds. I think it's a boy, personally. It kicks really hard."

"It's a girl," Alex said. "She's just tough, like her mom." The first thing Maria noticed, the second they walked through the door, was the ring on Isabel's finger. "Oh my God!" she shrieked. "Are you guys..."

Alex and Isabel looked at each other and grinned. "In April," Isabel said. Michael and Maria had already left by the time they got home over Christmas, so they hadn't found out about the engagement. Apparently Max and Liz had not told them either.

"You didn't know?" Michael asked Maria, smirking at her.

"No! Did you? Why the hell didn't you tell me!" She started hitting him.

"Ow! Ow! I didn't know! I didn't know! It's just funny that you didn't. You know all that kind of stuff, Maria."

"Funny, Michael."

"You guys never change," Alex said with a laugh.

"No, never," Max agreed. "It's time to get serious now, I think."

"I agree," Liz said. "We need to get out of here, as soon as possible."

Liz grabbed Isabel's hand and led her out the door. Maria followed. "What's going on?" Isabel asked.

"We're just going to tell you separately, that's all. I think it makes it easier."

Isabel allowed herself to be led outside to the courtyard. It was fairly cold outside, being January in San Francisco. She hugged her coat around herself. "So what's going on?" she demanded. "Why wouldn't Max tell me over the phone?"

"The phones aren't safe," Liz said. "Besides, I think it's better to be told in person. Especially for you, considering your condition."

Isabel sighed and sat on a bench. "Do tell."

"Well, Isabel, it looks like your family is coming to town."

"What? My family...my family? Max and Michael and my family?"

"Yes, that family. The one you've never met before. But Isabel, it isn't just them. It's everybody. They're coming here, permanently. They don't intend to leave."

Isabel's mind reeled, trying to absord the shock. "How...how do you know this?"

"A few months ago, Max started acting weird. I didn't know what it was, and at first I didn't ask. Then one night he woke up screaming from a nightmare." Liz's eyes grew unfocused and Isabel could tell she was recalling a vivid memory. I asked him what was wrong, and he told me.

"He said, 'They're coming.'"

"I asked what he meant, and he said, 'Us. My people. The people that I came from. Our planet died, and they're coming. They tell me every night in the dreams.' I didn't know what the hell he meant, you know? I thought they were just dreams. But then Michael called us. He said he'd been having the same dreams, and that he believed they were real. So we began to wonder if you had had the dreams."

"No...no, I haven't," Isabel said weakly. "Why would they have them, if I didn't?"

Liz looked slightly ill, as did Maria. "Max asked in a dream one night. They told him you couldn't have the dreams anymore, because you were contaminated." "Contaminated?"

"Your baby, Isabel. Have you tried to dreamwalk since you got pregnant?"

"Well, no," she admitted. "I hadn't even thought of it."

"According to the dream people, you couldn't even if you tried. And that's not all. According to them, there are two factions coming here. A peaceful faction, which is what they are, and what put Max and Michael and you here in the first place. And another faction, the violent one, that wants earth for its own.

"And they say that the violent faction is winning the war."

Isabel swallowed. "When will they be here?"

"Next week, Isabel. Next week. And no one else on this planet has a clue."

****

2010

Isabel hurried along the darkened streets, pulling her daughter with her. "Where are we going, mommy?"