“Hi Isabel!” she said brightly as the other young woman reached the back counter.

“Hey.” She set her bags on the counter. “Is Michael here?”

Liz smiled and shook her head. “No, not yet. So what did you bring?” She peaked into the nearest bag.

“Decorations for Michael’s party tonight.” She looked up at Liz. “Things are cool with your parents aren’t they?”

Liz nodded. “They said that after we close at eight, the place is ours, as long as we clean up after.”

“Great! So I can leave these with you for now?” She indicated the bags.

Liz smiled again. “Sure I’ll put them in back for now. When do you want to start decorating?”

“Alex said he’d meet me here at seven to help decorate.”

Liz wasn’t sure but there seemed to be something starting between Isabel and Alex. She knew how Alex felt. He was head over heals over Isabel. Was it possible that Isabel had similar feelings? Maybe. It was still too early to tell. “Well, great. I’ll see you back here later then.”

“Thanks Liz,” Isabel turned and hurried out the door of the diner. Liz picked up the bag and started towards the back room when a young couple entered the Crashdown.

“I’ll be right with you.” She called pleasantly to them. “Take a seat anywhere.” She quickly carried the bags into the backroom before returning to her customers.

Andrew was worried about his wife. He’d never seen her like this before. She had always been healthy. All of them were. Stone had seen to that. But this was different somehow. He knew that the exhibit at the UFO center had upset her. But why this one? They had seen far more graphic and realistic displays before and they hadn’t effected her in the least. None of it made any sense.

Andrew helped Robin over to a booth as one of the waitresses told them “to take a seat anywhere.”

He wanted to wrap Robin in his arms and tell her that no matter what they would be okay. The problem was, he didn’t know what the problem was. Unsure of how to comfort his wife, Andrew slid his arm around her and squeezed her gently as he ran is other hand through his curly blonde hair.

Should he try to create a connection with her, linking directly with her mind? He turned that idea down as quickly as it surfaced. They were in a public place. It wasn’t a very good solution but he was running out of ideas. Then he spotted Stone and Emerald. They were walking toward the Nostromo B & B.

Andrew leaned close to Robin. “I see Stone and Em across the street. I’m going to go get them.” As he moved away from her he noticed that his wife offered no reaction to his statement. She just continued to stare straight ahead.

Liz was hurrying with water for her new customers when the man got up and left the diner. She watched him run across the street toward another couple. Maybe he was going to bring them back with him. Whatever he decided to do she still had a customer here. She set the glasses down and slid one in front of the woman who remained. She was dressed casually, but very nice. Her long red hair was pulled back from her face, a face that was creased with lines of anxiety.

“Hi,” Liz said brightly trying to ease the woman’s mood. “I’m Liz, your server. Will there be others joining you?”

She waited for a reply, but the woman did nothing except stare straight ahead like she was in shock.

“Are you alright?” she asked.

“Yes.” Her voice was as weak as her answer. “That exhibit is horrible. How could they treat us…them like that. It’s inhuman.” Robin covered her face with her hands struggling to fight back the tears and terrified at the slip she had just made. In fifteen years she’d never done that. What was wrong with her? It was a stupid amateurish mistake that could get them all in a lot of trouble if she said it in front of the wrong person.

Liz was startled by the woman’s statement, but she tried to seem nonchalant. “Can I get you something?”

Robin took a shuttering breath trying desperately to compose herself. “No, I’m waiting for others.” She managed to whisper as she felt another wave of tears erupt.

“Okay,” she said cautiously. “My name is Liz. Let me know if you need any thing.” She backed away slowly not knowing how to take what had just happened. Was this woman one of “them” or just one of the freaks that seemed to be drawn to this town? Liz didn’t know. She wasn’t sure she wanted too.

“Thank you.” Robin never looked at her. She continued to stare out the window. Liz could see the tears as they slid down her cheeks. She was guinuinely upset. To the logical side of Liz’s brain this didn’t make sense. It was only a display, but in her heart, Liz knew there was something more. She just didn’t know what.

Liz walked back to the counter, a quizzical look on her face.

“Earth to Liz?” Liz jumped. Maria DeLuca, Liz’s best friend forever was standing there beside her.

“Maria.” Liz took a deep breath and tried to calm her heart a bit. “When did you get here?”

“A few minutes ago. What’s with depression woman?” Maria tied her alien-faced apron on.

“She was over at the exhibit. I guess it really upset her.”

“Come on. It’s such a joke. Who’d be upset…” Maria’s voice trailed off. “You don’t think she’s…Czechoslovakian?” Maria had put all of Liz’s concerns and questions into one sentence so easily. Yet it seemed so crazy.

Liz scoffed and smiled at her friend. “Don’t be silly.”

“Right!” Maria patted her friend on the back.

The harsh chime of the order bell startled the girls. “The food won’t stay warm forever ladies.” Jose chided from the kitchen.

Liz turned to Maria. “Not a word, Maria.”

“No problem,” Maria stated as Liz picked up her order and moved back into the dining room.

Andrew returned a few moments later with Emerald and Stone in tow. “Quaint.” Emerald said under her breath to her husband as she took in the kitchy decor.

“Hush.” Stone’s firm tone kept her from making any further scathing comments. She looked up at her husband and could see the concern in his eyes. He was worried about Robin. She frowned slightly as she followed him over to the booth where Robin was sitting. One look at her friend’s aura should have been enough to tell Emerald that something was amiss. Robin’s aura had fingers of a sickly yellow-green running through her normally bright azure glow. She slid into the booth across from her friend. Andrew had already slid in next to Robin. He gently put his arm around her and pulled her close. “It’s alright. I’m back. I brought Stone with me.”

Robin looked up at her friend. She could see the concern in his eyes. She hated being the cause of that worry. She reached out to him. She knew that with just the touch of his hand she’d feel better. Stone took hold of her hand and stroked the back of it gently. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Robin could feel the energy flowing from him and into her. She took a deep breath and sighed. Then she took another. With each breath she could feel her anxieties fade and her mood lighten until she actually felt calm.

Stone released her hand and leaned back against the booth. He took a deep breath and gently rubbed his eyebrows trying to release some of the tension that had build up. Emerald took his other hand in hers and squeezed it as she smiled at him. Stone leaned over and kissed his lovely wife.

“I love you,” she said.

He smiled and kissed her again. “I love you too.”

Andrew kissed Robin’s forehead. “Do you want to go back to the hotel room?” he asked as he rubbed her back gently.

“No, I’ll be fine, now,” she answered and sighed. Laying her head against his shoulder she closed her eyes for a moment.

“Do you want something to eat?” Emerald asked.

“No.” She could see the concern on both Emerald and Stone’s faces. “But I suppose I should.” Stone nodded. She needed to keep her strength up.

Just then Liz arrived to take their order. “What can I get you?”

Emerald answered first. “I’ll take a Will Smith.”

Then Stone, “The Sigourney Weaver.”

“I’ll take a Will Smith, too.” Andrew handed her the menu then turned towards his wife. “What are you going to have?”

“I’ll have the grilled mooncheese, but skip the orbit rings, please.” She passed her menu to Liz.

“Great. Those should be up in just a few minutes.” Liz turned and walked back to the kitchen.

“So what did you find?” Andrew asked as Emerald began pulling papers out of her briefcase.

“Well, there are no adoptions matching the criteria that we had set, so we decided to search further. The only thing we could find that was close was two separate incidents in 1989. Three children approximately 6 years old were found in the desert about a day apart.”

“Three not four?” Robin asked.

“Only three.” Stone confirmed.

“But in ‘89” Andrew looked at the computer print out.

“I’m confused. This doesn’t make any sense at all. If the crash in ’47 was them…” Robin leaned over the table scanning through the data that they had gathered.

“There must have been a malfunction,” Andrew added.

Stone nodded “That’s what I thought.”

Andrew’s serious expression faded. “Then they may still be alive.”

“Yes,” Emerald whispered triumphantly.

“Any idea where they may be now?” Robin asked.

Emerald smiled. “Right here in Roswell.”

Suddenly their food was there. The four of them scrambled to put away their precious information.

“If you need anything else just let me know,” Liz said as she started to leave.

Robin looked up at her. “Could I get a bottle of Tabasco?”

Liz frowned. So did the others sitting at the table. Liz recovered quickly and smiled. “Sure. Right away.” Liz was starting to get suspicious. She had seen on the papers from the orphanage on their table. Then there was the one woman’s request for Tabasco and what she had said. Liz was ready to call Max when Alex came in.

“Hey Liz.” He took a seat at the counter.

“Hey Alex. Aren’t you a little early to help Isabel decorate?”

“Funny you should ask about that Liz. It just so happens that my mother has her bridge group over for cards and dinner and I really needed out of the house. So I came down here to read for a while,” he said.

“That’s great Alex.” Liz just kept staring over his shoulder.

“Then later Isabel and I are going to have wild freekin’ jungle sex on the floor of the Crashdown while you and the others watch.”

“That’s nice Alex.”

“Liz, you’re not even listening to me.”

“What?” she asked, pulled abruptly from her own thoughts.

“Liz, what is so interesting over my shoulder?” Alex asked as he turned and scanned the dining room.

“See those two couples over there?” “The two redheads and the two guys?

Liz frowned at him. Typical, he notices the women of course. “Yeah.” She thought about her concerns for a second more. “Oh, never mind, Alex. It’ll sound ridiculous.”

“Okay.” Alex was ready to shrug it off, but Liz was still staring at them. “Liz, what is it? This has got you pretty distracted. Fess up.”

“I know it’s all circumstantial evidence but…”

“But…”

“Well, I saw them looking at records from the children’s home. The woman with her back to us, she was really upset after they had been at the UFO Center. I mean really upset. She said, ‘How could they do that to us.’ She used the word us Alex. And now she asked for this.” Liz set the bottle of Tabasco on the counter.

“No, Liz, it sounds perfectly normal. A sensitive woman goes into an exhibit where they graphically display man’s inhumanity to another species and then she asks for a bottle of Tabasco.” He rolled his eyes. “It makes perfect sense.”

Liz sighed.

“Come on Liz. I think your imagination is working overtime.”

“Yeah.” She picked up the bottle. “I better deliver this.”

Alex watched as she walked over to the table. He looked at the couple he could see. They seemed pleasant enough. In fact the woman seemed downright familiar. “No,” he whispered as he grabbed his backpack and unzipped it. Pulling out a hard cover book he looked at the cover for a moment. “Circle of Friends, book eight, The Gray War.” He opened to the back of the dust cover. It was her. The woman sitting at the table was Emerald Braaten. With book in hand Alex got up and went over to the booth.

“So as the kangaroo hops away the Texan says, ‘what’s that?’ The cabby just smiled. ‘That? Oh, that’s just a grasshopper mate.’” Stone and Andrew laughed at the shared joke. Their laughing died away as they noticed the young man standing next to their booth.

“Can we help you?” Andrew asked mildly annoyed.

Alex never looked at him. “You’re Emerald Braaten aren’t you?”

Emerald and Robin’s conversation came to a screeching halt. Emerald turned towards the teen and smiled her patented winning smile. “Yes, I am.”

Alex shifted his weight back and forth nervously. “I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoy your books. I’m almost halfway through your newest one.” He held up the book.

Em smiled at the others. A “Fan.” It was bound to happen. That was why they came to Roswell in the first place. Emerald’s book signing. It was also the perfect excuse to do a little snooping around. Besides, if anyone had asked, they’d just say it was research for her new book. It wouldn’t be the first time they had used that excuse. “I’m glad you’re enjoying it.”

“Oh,” Robin groaned and visibly paled.

Andrew looked at her quite concerned. “You okay?” He could see that she was turning a shade of green.

She shook her head slowly. Then pushed at him to move. “I need to go. Excuse me.” Andrew jumped up and Robin left the booth running for the restroom.

“Is she okay?” Alex asked as he stood behind a confused Andrew.

Emerald and Stone looked at each other both realizing that Robin still hadn’t told Andrew her little secret. “Uh…” Emerald hesitated, “she’ll be fine.”

“Yeah,” Stone chimed in. “Probably just a flu bug.”

Emerald frowned and swatted him.

“Ow.” Stone grabbed his arm.

“Yeah.” Andrew turned back to them confusion still evident on his face. “Must be the flu.” He slid back into the booth and started eating again.

* * *

Today was the worst, the very worst. She’d felt icky a few times, but today she was just plain sick. She was beginning to wonder if it was at all worth it. She understood the reproductive process. She had since seventh grade health class. But that was human reproduction and she wasn’t entirely human. The information from their ships tutorial had said that it should progress just like a human pregnancy. She’d talked to her mother about it earlier in the week, but her parents had never had any biological children. Mom had never been pregnant. She could only share what her friends had been through. She had even apologized for not having more motherly advice.

“It must be the stress,” Robin told her reflection as she blotted her face with a damp towel. Throwing the towel away, she looked at herself in the mirror. “You can’t hide this forever Daniels. You have to tell him sooner or later.” She placed her hand over the child growing inside her. “Hang in there little one. Your daddy will know soon enough.”

* * *

Michael Guerin was running late. He was suppose to have relieved Jose a half hour ago. As he arrived at the Crashdown he sighed. Thankfully, it didn’t look to busy. He pulled the door open and hurried into the Café.

“Thank you for signing my book, Ms. Braaten. I’ll stop by the bookstore tomorrow and have you sign a couple more.” Alex backed away from the booth and right into Michael.

“Hey!” Michael said disgusted as he dropped his jacked and gym bag.

“Sorry, Michael. I didn’t see you.”

“It’s okay, Alex. Don’t sweat it.” Michael kneeled to pick up his stuff. As he stood and turned to hurry into the backroom he ran into the woman who was suddenly directly behind him. He bumped into her forcefully. She started to fall but he grabbed her arm and caught her.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized. “Are you okay?” He held onto her as she regained her balance.

Robin looked up at the handsome young man with spiky brown hair and a wicked smile. She smiled, patting his hand as she looked into his deep brown eyes. Time seemed to freeze as a sudden rush of images filled her brain. Robin staggered. Thankfully the teen held onto her. She gasped at the onslaught of memories. Then her knees began to buckle. “No,” she whispered. “It can’t be.” The world began to spin around her. She couldn’t hold herself up any longer.

Michael caught her as she collapsed. From behind him he could hear hurried movements. Then the three adults Alex had been talking to were with him. One of the men took her from Michael and was trying to revive her.

“Robin? Robin honey, can you hear me?”

The second man knelt down beside them. “Andrew, give her to me,” he demanded.

Reluctantly, he handed over the woman. The man, Andrew, stood and blocked Michael’s view.

“I’ll call an ambulance.” Alex said and turned towards the phone.

“No.” The man standing in front of them barked as he ran his fingers through his blonde, curly hair. Then softer, “We’ll take her back to the hotel. She’ll be fine.” It was like he was saying it as much to convince himself as to convince them.

Michael backed away to stand by Liz, Alex and Maria. He felt like he was having the strangest deja vu. It was like the day Liz was shot. Except this time they were the ones being distracted.

Suddenly the red-haired woman, Robin, came to. “Andrew?” Michael could hear the fear in her voice.

“I’m here,” Andrew soothed as he turned back and knelt down beside her. “I’m here. It’s okay.”

“What happened?”

“You fainted,” the other woman told her.

“Fainted?” Her friend nodded. “I suppose it’s expected.”

Andrew took her back into his arms. “You expected to faint?”

She smiled weakly. “It is known to happen… during the first trimester of a pregnancy.”

Andrew stopped. “Pregnant?”

She looked up at him. “Yes.”

Andrew gathered her up in his arms and held her. She wrapped her arms around his back in response. They had always hoped that they would get pregnant, but he hadn’t expected this now. It certainly explained a lot of things: her illness, the sudden emotional changes. How could he have missed it? Now that he looked at her he could see the new color on the edges of her aura. They were pregnant. He pulled her close again and kissed her.

“Congratulations!” Liz said from her place at the counter.

The three adults exchanged a worried look. Then the tall guy with the really short blonde hair stood and turned to her. “I’ll need our check.”

Liz waved him off. “Don’t worry about it. It’s on the house.”

Stone nodded “Thank you.” He went to the table and collected their things. Liz saw him drop money on the table for a tip. Then he turned and opened the door for his companions.

Michael stood at the front window and watched them as they walked across the street and into the B&B. It was as if he was compelled to watch them. Something more that a woman fainting had just happened, but he didn’t know what.

By the time they reached the room, Robin was on the verge of passing out again. Andrew let go of his wife and hurried to unlock the door.

“Cold,” Robin said weakly as she began to shake.

“Hold on,” Emerald whispered to her friend. “Hold on.”

Robin pitched forward as she lost consciousness. Stone grabbed hold of her before she could go very far. He picked her up as if she was a rag doll. “I got her,” he said as he moved past Andrew and into the room.

Emerald turned on the lights and closed the door while Andrew turned down the bed. Stone carefully laid his burden in the center of the bed and sat down next to her.

“Why didn’t she tell me she was pregnant?” Andrew asked as he pulled the blankets up to cover her.

“She wanted it to be special when she told you.” Emerald looked pointedly at him. “As I recall you were out of the country until yesterday.”

“What’s that suppose to mean,” he shot back hotly.

Emerald stood toe to toe with him. “I mean she’s been having a hell of a time with this pregnancy. Morning sickness, unable to sleep, just plain exhausted. Andrew, this is the first ‘baby’ any of us have had. She doesn’t know what to expect. None of us do. It’s been horrible for her. She didn’t say a thing to us because she wanted to tell you first. And where have you been?”

Andrew became defensive at Emerald’s attack. “That’s not fair. You know my job takes me out of the country from time to time. It’s part of the business… part of our cover. I can’t just stop doing it.”

Stone finally looked up at the two of them. “Would you knock it off. I need to concentrate and I can’t with the two of you arguing.”

Snapped out of their anger, Andrew moved to sit beside his wife as Emerald moved towards her husband.

Andrew had always been distrustful of doctors. They all had. There was always the chance that they might discover what they truly were. He didn’t even want to think about what could happen to them if that occurred. He’d had his share of nightmares. There was only one person he could trust with his wife’s health and the health of his child and that was Stone.

Stone had been a healer ever since he was a kid. He’d taken care of the animals in the commune, healed their share of scrapped knees, cuts and bruises. It was second nature to him. It had surprised everyone when he announced that he wasn’t pursuing a career in medicine. It had seemed the logical choice to all of them. But Stone had explained.

“I have the power to heal pretty much anything, right?” Andrew had agreed with him. “How can I let someone die when I have the power to heal them. Yet if I heal them I risk exposing us. I can’t do that.”

It was tough watching him give up his dreams of becoming a doctor, but they knew it was the best choice for all of them. Besides, Stone’s father really wanted his son to take over the family business, so instead of Dr. Kennabeck, he was Stone Kennabeck CEO and chief architect of Kennabeck Construction, one of the largest firms of it’s kind in the upper mid-west.

Yet Andrew knew his friend’s first love was caring for others. He’d shown it time and time again. He’d sent construction crews down to Guatemala to help rebuild after the hurricanes. He’d sent supplies and crews to Los Angeles after the earthquake and into Florida after hurricane Andrew. If Stone couldn’t heal the world he could at least make sure they had a roof over their heads. Stone’s breathing slowed as he gently rested his hand over Robin’s chest. A pale glow began to emanate beneath it. He slowly moved his hand the length of her body and back. Gently, he rested his hand against her forehead for a moment before he pulled away.

“Well?” Andrew asked.