Careful not to wake Liz, Max got up, stretched, and headed down the stairs. He had already decided that he had to tell Maria. Anyway, she'll notice soon enough, he thought. He just felt bad for being the first to know. That was Maria's place, and none of his business.

He walked over to the counter and sat on a stool next to Isabel, who was talking and laughing with Maria. Max smiled weakly. You would never be able in a dark alley. The only sign of her brush with death was the fact that she was still pale, and she remained seated, still too weak to stand. But as soon as Max was seated, she managed to get up and walk over to give him a huge hug, which he gave back.

"Thank you, Maxie," she whispered. "Thanks so much..."

He realized he was holding her up, and stood to take her back to her seat. "Are you kidding? What's the point of being able to heal if I just sit there when you're hurt?" he asked, smiling down at her. Then he became serious again, and added, "You're sure you're all right?"

"I'm fine," she laughed. He looked at her skeptically, so she added, "Really! I had my blood taken once, and it felt pretty much like this. I just need to eat something, and I'll be okay."

Michael had come out of the kitchen at that moment, sweating from the oven's heat, and placed a large glass of orange juice down in front of her. "And drink lots of fluids," he added, wagging a finger at her.

She laughed. "All right, Daddy. And speaking of food... have you started my omelet yet?"

"I'm just getting ready to put it on," he said, placing Isabel's fruit salad down in front of her.

"Oh, good," Maria said. "Could you maybe add some jalepeños? They sound really good just now. And bring me some big strawberries like the one's in Izzy's salad? The really red ones, they're the sweetest..."

Michael raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Sure, Maria. But I thought you hated jalepeños."

Maria thought about that for a second, frowning. "I do, actually. But I'd really like some right now, though."

Michael shrugged. "All right. I just hope you eat it."

Max was stoic again. Jalepeños and strawberries? And Maria didn't even like jalepeños? His hopes that he had imagined the tiny heartbeat in Maria's womb were fading fast. That sounded like a pregnancy craving. A pregnancy craving of the mother of one of their alien children, especially. For a brief moment, he had hoped that the baby wasn't alien, but as he watched Michael and Maria looking at one another, he knew that there was no question about who the father of the baby was.

An hour later, the six of them were together again, finishing up their breakfast and acting as if Maria had never been attacked. Liz had closed the café for the day, hanging a chalkboard out front with "Sorry, Closed. Owners Out of Town" printed in large letters, so that they could spend it together. The sign, however, didn't seem to deter one person from entering.

Liz heard the bell tinkling, and without looking to see who was there, began to call out, "Sorry, we're closed" when she was cut off by an angry cry from Max. She looked to the door just as Isabel cried "You!", and heard a sound that sounded remarkably like a growl came from Kyle. Her eyes turned to the person that had just entered the restaurant, and she gasped in surprise.

Max was already at the door by that time, grabbing the front of the petite girl's shirt and slamming her into a wall. "You came back?!?" he yelled. "You actually had the nerve to come back?"

The girl's bright blue eyes searched the diner frantically for help, only to meet six faces contorted in anger. She began to jabber in fright, only to have three people tell her to shut up at the same time. She began to shake as she saw the look of pure loathing on Max's face. He seemed to be figuring out the best way to hurt her without killing her.

For a brief moment, Liz would have been more than happy to see Max beat Tess within an inch of her life, but in that moment, she realized something her nose was pierced. She wore torn fishnets under a black miniskirt, and her blonde curls had been cut off close to her head and dyed pink and black. Other then that, it was unmistakably Tess, only not.

Liz suddenly realized why she seemed so different, and gasped once again in shock. "Max!" she yelled. "Wait, stop! Don't hurt her!"

It was all Max could do to stop himself, but he listened, turning toward Liz without taking his eyes off of Tess. "Why, Liz?" he asked icily. "Why shouldn't I?"

Liz came around to where she could look at the outsider more closely. She hadn't been totally sure before, but now she was. She gave a small smile.