"Oh, no, you don't." Maria cornered him before he could get past the counter. "Sit down." She motioned him towards one of the stools.

Liz finished using the soda machine and picked up a tray full of drinks for one of her tables. "Hey Alex. My Dad is probably working in his office if you want to go upstairs." Liz gave him a happy smile. She seemed to be perpetually walking on a cloud these days, Alex thought. A little like he'd been doing since yesterday morning. He knew just how she felt. He turned back towards Maria and sat down.

"So, what's happenin'?"

"Nice evening yesterday?"

"Yeah." He replied nonchalantly "It was good." Under Maria's intense scrutiny, he could feel a blush creeping up.

"When do you get off work today? You and Liz game for a video night?" Change the subject, think about something else, he told himself. Maria was not fooled.

"He's a goner." She diagnosed to herself out loud. "Yeah, sure. Will Isabel join us too?" She could not help teasing him a little bit more. She turned around and started checking on her orders.

"I'll ask her." It looked like he was excused, so Alex scrambled off his stool and disappeared up the stairs.

After getting him started, Mr. Parker had left him to go run an errand. It had been two hours. Alex sighed. He had not realized when he agreed to help Liz's Dad, that setting up a computerized accounting system would be so dull, not to mention hard. He was in over his head and would probably have to get Liz to explain how the accounting stuff was supposed to work before he could get much further.

He looked up from the screen to see Maria enter the office. She was crying silently. "Maria! What happened?" He rushed to her.

"I don't know why I'm crying. I don't want to be crying, I want to be angry." She told him, tears streaming down her face.

"Tell me what happened from the beginning." He tried to soothe her and guided her to the sofa, sitting next to her. Maria calmed down a little, taking in great gulps of air.

"I heard Isabel and Michael talking." She blurted out finally. "Isabel is pregnant with Michael's baby."

"Whaaat?" Alex shook his head. He thought of how close he and Isabel had gotten yesterday. She could not have been sleeping with Michael and acted that way with him, could she? "Are you sure?"

"They were having this intense conversation in the kitchen. Isabel seemed really scared. Something is definitely happening."

It was like he'd entered the Twilight Zone. Everything in him shouted that this was not possible. He knew Isabel had meant it when she said she wanted to be with him. He felt how she reacted when they'd kissed. She'd been sincere. Just like she'd been sincere last night when they sat together in the woods and talked.

He could hear the emotion in her voice again when she talked about losing Michael all those years ago in the desert. He knew she loved Michael, but the way she'd talked about him, it was hard to imagine their relationship being anything other than sibling-like. She'd even told him not that long ago one night at the Crashdown, that Max and Michael were her brothers.

"There has to be some kind of mistake. Michael is like...her brother. And I can't believe she's with Michael, after what happened between us last night. You and Michael are close. You know there's no way he could be with her, don't you?"

Maria remained silent for a few seconds. She looked beaten, exhausted. Alex put an arm around her shoulders and cuddled her against him.

"I would have said you're right, but I heard this. I did not imagine it. Now I don't know what to think." She saw the pain in his eyes and thought of that day when she'd warned him to stay away from Isabel. It was too late now. He was caught, just like she was.

"They were both upset, especially Isabel. I don't know, maybe this is some weird alien thing."

"I have to go talk to her, and you need to talk to Michael. We have to find out what is going on." Alex decided. Maria agreed. She had to confront Michael with this news.

Later, Maria stopped Alex, as he was going downstairs to see Isabel. Maria was still angry with Michael for dismissing their relationship so easily, but she wanted to be fair. "Wait, Alex. I talked to Michael. He told me they're not sleeping together and I believe him. There's something else, some alien thing going on, they don't know."

Alex nodded. He was relieved, but it did not change anything. Isabel was pregnant with Michael's baby. Once again, Alex was out of the loop. Isabel was probably going to withdraw from him again, unless he did something about it. There was no way he could go up against her history with Michael, or the connection between them she'd reminded him of yesterday. And now their baby. But for some reason, she had turned to him. She'd shared something of herself with him yesterday, that he was willing to bet she had not shared with anyone else. He was not going to give up on her that easily.

Alex slipped onto the stool next to Isabel. She looked like she was majorly brooding. "So, I heard you have a situation." He started cautiously. Isabel looked at him in horror.

"Who told you?"

"Maria."

"Maria knows?" Isabel could not believe her ears. How had it happened that suddenly the most private details of her life had become a general subject of conversation, when she had not even had time to adjust to what was going on? This was her worst nightmare come true, and not what she needed right now.

"Look, I just want you to know that if you're having trouble dealing with it, I'm here." Alex's offer left Isabel speechless. She'd been unable to handle even thinking about what it would do to Alex to find out she was pregnant. But here he was, just willing to accept it, to accept her, and be there for her, no questions asked. She felt a pang. This was the first major test of their relationship. In a moment of insight, she realized that this loyalty and support was how he would handle what came along, if life allowed them to be together. It was so Alex. She'd seen it when he gave his blood to help save Max and when he'd stepped up to the circle to bring Michael back from wherever he was. She was grateful and relieved that he was not demanding she give any explanations right now. But she could not let him just take something like this on when he did not know what he would be getting himself into. Isabel had no idea where to start or what she could tell him.

"Alex, you have no idea what's going on." Alex could sense she was starting to push him away again. He was not going to let her. He could live with Michael having a place in her life too if he wanted one.

"Does Michael love you?" Isabel shook her head, puzzled.

"It's not that simple."

"It should be." It struck her then that in a way his acceptance of the situation was an implicit assumption of guilt on her and Michael's part. She found herself a bit annoyed and hurt by his lack of faith. Isabel had gone out on a limb and made herself vulnerable to Alex. It did not seem like he understood how much it meant to her. She replied less than kindly, retreating into the familiar ice princess persona.

"Alex, would you stop! We're not dealing with some troubled teen pregnancy, ok? We're talking about alien babies."

Alex could tell that he was not saying this right. She had misunderstood his acceptance of her relationship with Michael. He had to make her understand that he meant so much more. Isabel was special. Normal rules did not apply. He was willing to deal with that to be a part of her life. He understood she needed Michael, now more than ever, and he was not going to be in the way, but he also knew she needed him. That's what he had to focus on. He had to make her realize he wanted be there for her when she was ready, no matter what. He had to get that through to her.

He took up her challenge: "Don't you think I know that? Don't you think I've known that from the start? That if I decided to go forward with this, that things might get weird." He could see his words were having an effect on her, and that she was not as ticked off anymore. "Look, you said that you were ready for a relationship. Whatever's going on now, I know that you meant it. I know that it was real." Here it was, his ace in the hole. Something had happened between them They'd shared something special. He knew she'd felt it too. He'd hit his mark. Isabel softened.

"It was. It was real." Whatever was going to happen, Isabel had to let him know she never meant to hurt him. None of this had anything to do with him. The time she'd spent with Alex had been the only moments of sanity she'd had in the last few days, and she'd meant everything she'd said and done.