8:12 A.M.

It was Saturday morning, and his body was telling him it was time to get up. Something was definitely wrong. He yawned and stretched, squinting his tired eyes to look for the long-sleeved shirt he had thrown on last night when he drove to see Lauren. He found it at the end of the bed and raised it up to his face.

It still smelled like her.

Just the thought of Lauren made all those images he’d seen last night rush through his mind. Why had he seen all those things? And why had he dreamed of that cave? How had he known which of those young children were his parents?

How did this all tie in to he and Lauren?

He pulled the shirt over his head and sighed, resigning to find out about his heritage today. It was his right to know and he was going to make them tell him… everything. He walked quietly down the hallway, being careful not to wake Jordana. He knew his parents would already be up- Matty and Dylan would have made sure of that.

As he walked down the stairs and into the kitchen, he found his mother pulling out items from the refrigerator to make breakfast. She turned around as she heard his footsteps. Her face was red and her eyes were puffy from crying.

“Mom.” He said quietly, walking over to her and wrapping his arms around her. “It’s going to be okay”

“I wish I could say that, Adam-Michael. I really do.” She said quietly, trying to change the subject. “You want breakfast?”

“Sure, that would be great. Where’s Dad?” Adam-Michael pulled out a carton of milk from the refrigerator and grabbed a glass from the cabinet.

“Oh, he’s in the nursery with boys. He’ll be down in a minute.” Liz said softly, pulling another plate from the cupboard and looking away from Adam so he wouldn’t see that her eyes were welling up again.

“Okay.” They were quiet as Liz cracked two eggs on the side of the pan before emptying their contents onto it.

“Are you not eating, Mom?” Adam-Michael asked as he noticed the two plates sitting on the counter.

“No.” Liz said firmly. “I’m not really hungry.”

“Shouldn’t you eat something, Mom? … I mean, you’re still nursing…” Adam said with a worried look on his face.

“I’m not hungry.” Liz repeated, sighing. “Now, are you going to tell me where in the hell you went at three in the morning?”

Adam’s face went sheet white. “You… were up?”

“I had a nightmare.”

“Me too.”

“I called out your name quietly so your father wouldn’t wake up… but you just kept walking. You had a pretty dazed look on your face. Were you sleepwalking?”

“No.” Adam-Michael said, shuddering as he remembered how scared he was after waking up from his nightmare. “I had a nightmare, too.”

“Oh, Adam.” She said, frowning and taking his hand. “Where did you go?”

“Don’t be mad.”

“I’m not mad. I was just worried.” Liz said.

Adam-Michael took a deep breath. “I went to Lauren’s”

“What?” Liz cried frantically. “Why? What were you doing?” My little boy better not be having sex, Liz thought with fear.

“Mom, calm down. The nightmare I had last night… Lauren was in it. Something… happened to her.” Adam-Michael said firmly, his tone unwavering. “I had to see her. It all felt so real. I thought…”

“You thought Tess had done something to her, didn’t you?” Liz asked sadly, touching the side of Adam’s face with her hand.

Adam-Michael nodded. “I know… I know it’s stupid. But it felt so real.”

“It’s not stupid.” Liz said quietly. “Remember when I was pregnant with your sister? I had dreams like that. They scared me to death.”

“Did you have a nightmare about Tess last night?” Adam asked hesitantly.

Liz nodded. “I woke up in a cold sweat. I don’t know how she still has that effect on me. I guess it was just a combination of everything that happened in the house last night… because she was… here.”

“You could sense her presence more strongly?” Adam-Michael asked.

“Yeah.” Liz said quietly. “Funny, huh? I’m not even one of you.”

Adam-Michael flashed a small smile. “Mom, we’re going to fight her.”

“That’s what your father keeps saying. I don’t… I can’t bring myself to believe him.” Liz said as she flipped the eggs.

Max padded down the stairs quietly, hearing the last part of the conversation as he cradled Matthew and Dylan in his arms. “What do I keep saying?” He asked as his eyes narrowed at his wife. She walked over and picked up Dylan.

“Nothing, Dad. Mom and I both had nightmares last night, and we were talking about them… that’s all.” Adam-Michael said as he walked over towards Max. “Can I hold Matty?”

“Of course.” Max said, handing the baby to him and smiling. “Good morning, Adam.” He mimicked in a baby voice. Adam grinned.

“There’s something I need to talk to you about…” Adam-Michael said, his face turning serious once more.

“What’s wrong?” Max asked as he walked up behind Liz and kissed her neck. “Mmm. It smells great.” He whispered in her ear.

“Well, it’s kind of…’Czechoslovakian’ stuff.” Adam said uncomfortably. Liz and Max laughed.

“Where did you hear that?” Liz asked. “I haven’t heard that in ages.”

“Uncle Alex told me that’s what you guys used to say in public instead of…you know, ‘the A-word’.” Adam-Michael said. “Anyway, it’s just stuff… I want to know about.”

“Like what?” Max asked.

“Like, why didn’t you tell me about the Pod Chamber? Or that you and Tess were created to mate and carry on the species? Or that Michael and Aunt Isabel were supposed to be together? Or that you were reincarnated from an alien species on another planet… or…”

Max and Liz looked at him with alarm. “Who told you all this?” Max cried, walking over to his son.

“It was all in my dreams. Tess was there. She was telling me all this. Is it true? And why have you been keeping it all from me?” He asked calmly, but his tone growing angrier with each word.

Max looked at him with a pained expression. He turned his gaze back to his wife and she nodded in approval

“We’ll go down to the rock quarry today. Me, you, Michael, and Aunt Isabel. We’ll tell you everything you want to know.”

“Thank you, Dad.” Adam-Michael said. “I just think that if we have to fight my mother, I’m going to need to know everything so I can be stronger against her.”

“NO!” Liz cried. “Adam-Michael, no. We won’t involve you in this… We won’t put you against your mother.”

“She’s not my mother. You are.” Adam-Michael said firmly. Liz carried Dylan over to the other side of the kitchen where Adam, Max, and Matthew were.

“I love you so much, Adam.” Liz kissed him on the cheek.

“I love you too, Mom.” He said, smiling. Max wrapped one arm around Liz and the other around Adam. “One more thing, Dad?”

“What?” He asked, playing with Dylan’s tiny fingers.

“How could I see inside Lauren’s mind when I kissed her?”

Max smiled, looking down at his wife and remembering their first kiss. Liz’s mouth gaped open. “You kissed her?” Liz cried.

“Yeah.” Adam-Michael said, smiling.

“When you form a connection with someone that you care about, you can sometimes see things… from inside their head.”

“Yeah, there was this one time when we were in high school, when your Dad and I would… never mind.” Liz said, looking up at him and giggling.

“You would what?” Adam-Michael asked, intrigued.

“We’ll tell you when you’re older... don't want to give you any *ideas*.” Max said, winking at him.

“Eew!” Adam-Michael said, playfully cringing. “Never mind. I DON’T want to know.”

Max and Liz laughed.

* * * *

Lauren woke up a little before lunchtime that afternoon, her heart still singing from the kiss she had shared with Adam-Michael only a few hours before. Had he felt that same spark that she had? Just a week ago, they had been lab partners... and now what?

She closed her eyes as she rolled over and stepped into her slippers on the side of her bed. She got another flash of she and Adam-Michael in a cave. What were those egg-looking things he was pointing to? They reminded her of huge jars of Vasoline! What did they mean? And why had she seen them again when she kissed Adam-Michael?

*We definitely have a lot to talk about,* She thought as she walked quietly down the hall, her body propelling her forward by the smell of her father making chocolate-chip pancakes.

* * * *

"OK, you lost me at the message from your mother... If she's an alien, how was she able to communicate with you and tell you all these things?" Adam-Michael looked at his father, aunt, and Michael for answers as he squinted from the brightness of the harsh desert sunlight. He kicked a rock and shoved his hands in his pockets, looking around the expanse of the rock quarry.

This whole story was creeping him out.

"It was like a hologram, Adam-Michael. She communicated to us in human form, so we'd be able to understand her. She told us that we had lived past lives and we had died in battle on our planet." Isabel explained quietly.

"If you lived past lives, how did you get to earth?" Adam-Michael asked.

"We were, in essence, cloned..." Michael began, only to be cut off by Max.

"...More like 'reincarnated'. The people on our planet mixed our DNA with human DNA to create us." Max said, walking closer to his son, trying to gauge his reaction to all this.

"So that means I have human organs?" Adam-Michael asked.

"Yes. Everything on the inside is the same as humans, except we have different blood cells." Michael finished.

"But what about Jordana, Matty, and Dylan? Are they different from me? Because they have a human mother?" Adam-Michael asked, leaning on the hood of his car and looking at his father.

"As far as we know, you are all the same as us. All of you guys. My kids, Michael and Maria's kids..." Isabel's voice trailed off.

"And you were sent to earth to defeat an evil race of aliens?" Adam-Michael asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Yes, we were. Your father was our leader, and me, your mother, and Michael all worked with him to destroy our enemy race." Isabel replied.

"So you've all...killed...?" Adam-Michael asked quietly. Max, Michael, and Isabel nodded.

"We did it to stay alive, Adam." Max said firmly. Adam-Michael looked over at Michael, a look of sadness casting over his eyes.

"That's why you killed my mother, then? To stay alive?" Adam replied quickly.

Michael paused, his face fallen. Isabel closed the distance between them and wrapped her arm around his shoulders. He was speechless.

"Adam-Michael, do you remember what happened that day?" Max asked him, leaning up against the car next to his son.

"Not really, I tried to block it all out... I know, I know...my mother was going to kill Mom, I mean Liz, and Jordana, and Maria..." Adam-Michael said. Max, Michael, and Isabel nodded as he continued. "...what I don't understand is *why* she would do such a terrible thing..."

"Your mother was possessed... she had this obsession with our past lives." Isabel said. "She was convinced that we had to live the way we had a lifetime ago... that it was our destiny, the way it was supposed to be."

"So that's why she wanted to kill Maria, too? Because Michael was supposed to be with Aunt Isabel?" Adam-Michael asked, looking to his father. Isabel and Michael nodded as she took his hand.

"She always hated your Mom, Maria, and Alex... because of what they meant to us and what they represented to her. She thought they were trying to take her life away from her. Especially Liz... I mean, your Mom." Isabel said, still holding Michael's shaking hand.

"...Because she came between you guys. And that's why she wanted to kill Jordana." Adam-Michael said quietly, shaking his head in disgust. "That's so horrible."

"I hate your mother for what she did to us all, but to this day, I feel sorry for her. She was deluded... she had been raised to believe that I was going to be her mate, her husband, the father of her children. When that didn't happen, when she saw how deeply in love I was with your Mom, she couldn't take it." Max said.

"But you are the father of her child. Me. She got what she wanted... I was just another pawn in her game, wasn't I?" Adam's eyes clouded with tears and his voice rose in anger.

"Oh, Adam, that's not true, sweetheart." Isabel reached over and grabbed her nephew's hand.

"You were created out of love, Adam-Michael. I thought I was in love with your mother. She made me feel so strange... like I was in a fog for two years or something... she made me feel like she was the only person who existed." Max said, ashamed. He wrapped his arm around Adam-Michael's shoulders.

"But she had me to get you back, am I right? To break up you and Mom for good?" Adam-Michael asked.

"That's not true. She had you because she loved you, Adam-Michael. You were her entire world." Isabel said.

"And I wanted to be with Dad and Liz. And that killed her." Adam said sadly.

"No. *I* killed her." Michael said, kicking a rock by his foot and walking away from the others towards his car.

"Michael!" Isabel cried, running after him. Max enveloped his son in a hug and kissed the top of his head.

"Will he be okay?" Adam-Michael asked with worry.

Max nodded. "He'll be fine. He just gets upset sometimes when we talk about Tess. Adam, listen... your mother's death was tragic. But it wasn't your fault." He said.

"Dad, I know before I said I would fight my mother, if she came back and hurt you again...."

"Adam-Michael..." He began.

"I know she gave me life and everything, but I think.." Adam fought back tears. "I think my family is more important. You and Mom and everyone."

"You're *not* getting involved in this. This is between your mother, Michael, Isabel, and I. I've already made my decision... as your father." Max replied.

"But, but what if she goes after Mom... and the babies... and Jordana... and Lauren..." He began as tears of frustration fell down his cheeks. "I'm just supposed to sit back and do *nothing*?"

"You watch over your sister and brothers...and Lauren. Be there for them. Love them. Be yourself. That's your job." He couldn't help but smile with pride. His son was becoming such a wonderful young man.

"What about Mom?" Adam-Michael asked with fear.

"I will *never* let anything happen to Mom. Don't let that thought cross your mind. Ever." Max said, his voice unwavering. Adam-Michael hugged him again.

"Thank you." Adam said firmly.

"For what?"

"I don't know. Where do I begin? Thank you for telling me the truth today. Thank you for being my Dad." Adam-Michael said, looking off into the depths of the rock quarry.

Max swallowed hard so his son wouldn't see him cry. He smiled at him and motioned to the car they were sitting on. "Come on son, we should get home."

Adam-Michael said nothing as his father opened the driver's side door and filed into the Cherokee. He silently agreed to Max's request to stay out of the war with his mother.

That's when the pain started in the back of his eye sockets and washed over his brain.

*Adam-Michael, you belong to me.* His entire body shuddered as he had flashes of his mother giving birth to him and cradling him in his arms as he was a newborn. How could he be possibly remember those things? He was too young!

That's when he knew she was alive and well because she was transmitting these images to him. Trying to show him how much she loved him. He rested his elbows on his knees and cradled his head in his hands. What was he going to do?

How was he going to handle all this when all he wanted to do was hold and kiss Lauren again?

* * * *

"Nasedo, you did excellent work." Tess said, standing in front of a mirror and admiring the way her tight blonde curls fell softly onto her face and how her piercing blue eyes were like two precious sapphires... She had missed her body so much. "How can Max resist me ever again?"

Nasedo arched his eyebrow as he looked Tess up and down. "You don't really believe you can just waltz up in Max's home and woo him away from Liz and his children now, do you?"

"I'll make him want me, Nasedo. Don't you worry..." Tess began, smirking.

"It sure as hell didn't work last time!" Nasedo cried. "We need a plan."

Tess turned around, glaring at Nasedo, who was still in the form of a goregous young blonde woman. "I forgot, you know everything and I know nothing..."

"Tessa, you have SO much left to learn... your cluelessness amazes me sometimes..."

"Fine..." She said, rolling her bright blue eyes. "What did you have in mind? You know I'll do anything to get them back."

Nasedo paused, pondering the situation. "I know you just got back into your old body, but how would you feel about shapeshifting..."

"Into who?" Tess asked with apprehension. Nasedo smirked, raising his hand up in the air and changing forms once more. Tess gasped at the person now standing in front of her.

"How about... Dr. Elizabeth Parker Evans?" Nasedo said in Liz's voice.