The night wore on. Fiesta Night looked like it was going to be a huge success. TC was belting out the ol' Desi Arnaz classic, "Babalu" (which was why he needed the congo drum). Jerry was on after him, and he was nervous.

"We keep tellin' ya, Jerry, you'll be great!" Fancy shouted. "Matter of fact, I like your crooning better than Sinatra's."

"Duh, all his girlfriends swoon at Sinatra whenever his records are playing when he's with them," Brain said. "But they don't swoon when you sing."

"Thanks a mill, Brain," Jerry said, sarcastically. "I am so not ready for this!"

"Like, keep cool, Jerry-cat," Spook said. "You'll, like, knock 'em dead. You'll kill 'em. You'll bring the house down!"

"Singing sounds dangerous," Courtney commented.

"Those are just figures of speech, Court," Calvin said.

After some loud applause, TC came backstage.

"Okay, Ol' Brown Eyes," he said. "You're up."

"I can't do this," Jerry said.

"Sure you can," Benny said. "Just think of it as another rehearsal."

"Come on, Jer, it's now or never," TC said.

Jerry sighed, and gave in. He figured he might as well get it over with.

"Duh, I know how he feels," Brain commented. "I had a nightmare once where I was on a stage in front of a big audience, and then I realized I wasn't wearing any pants."

"Brain," TC said. "You never wear pants."

"Duh, oh yeah. I forgot."

TC groaned, rolled his eyes, and shook his head. Sometimes, he wondered about Brain. Anyway, Jerry was doing pretty well. He was a little shaky through his first number, but he quickly eased into the swing of things, and added some other songs not done by Sinatra into the mix. As he was in the middle of a song, everything suddenly went black.

"Hey!" TC shouted. "What happened to the lights?"

"Like, who turned on the dark?" Spook asked.

"Gee, maybe it's a blackout across the entire city!" Benny shouted.

"Couldn't be," Choo-Choo said, looking out the back door. "Every other place on the block still has it's lights on."

"Mommy, I'm scared!" Courtney shouted, grabbing her big sister's hand.

"Calm down, Courtney," Martha said, turning on a flashlight. "A fuse just probably blew, that's all."

"Hey, what's going on back here?" Officer Dibble asked, walking over. "I was coming by to check out this Fiesta Night of yours, and there weren't any lights on. I figure I'd come in and check."

"Oh, the power went out," TC said. "Fancy, you go tell the crowd we're having some technical difficulties."

"Gotcha, TC," Fancy said.

"And I'll go check the fuse in the basement," Martha said.

"No, Mommy!" Courtney yelled, letting go of Reine's hand, and attaching herself to Martha's leg. "The monsters will get you!"

"Oh brother," Calvin groaned. "There are no such things as monsters, Courtney!"

"It'll only be five minutes, Courtney," Martha said.

"Better be a fast five minutes!" Fancy shouted, coming back into the kitchen. "The natives are getting restless!"

"Right," Martha said, and she took her flashlight, and went toward the basement.

"How much are you guys willing to bet that joker Starbuck is behind our little power outage?" TC asked.

"If I had it, a million bucks," Choo-Choo replied.

"Can't you arrest him now, Dib?" TC asked. "You know, breaking and entering, sabotage, that sort of thing?"

"Sorry, TC," Officer Dibble said. "I can't arrest him without any proof."

TC began muttering under his breath. A few minutes later, the lights came back on, and Martha came back upstairs.

"Well, I don't know who the wise guy was," she said, "but some joker pulled the switch down there that shut off the power."

"That figures," TC sighed. "Well, let's get back to Fiesta Night."

And that was all there was to that. The rest of the night went off without a hitch. It wasn't until about one in the morning when things folded. Everyone was wiped out, but they were in good spirits.

"What a night!" Jerry yawned. "I feel like I could sleep for a week!"

"See, this is why I planned this for a Saturday," TC said. "I knew we'd end up closing late, and the kiddies won't be sleeping in school."

"We made some pretty good money," Reine said.

"I'll say," Choo-Choo said. "I don't think I've ever seen that much cash at one time before!"

"How much did we make tonight, Mom?" Calvin asked.

"A little over two hundred fifty dollars," Martha said. "Not counting the tips."

"Hey, not bad!" TC shouted. "We'll have you all rolling in dough in no time at all!"

"Well, I say we call it a night," Martha said, yawning. "It's been a long night."

"Yeah, Choo-Choo said. "I'm bushed. Hey, take a look at Courtney. She couldn't wait 'til she got home!"

That happened to be true. Courtney was sitting on one of the counter stools, sound asleep, leaning against the counter.

"Aww, poor baby," Martha said, picking up her youngest daughter. "No wonder she's already asleep. It's waaaayyy past her bedtime."

"She can't handle these all nighters," Calvin said, stifling a yawn.

"And neither can you," Martha said. "Come on, Calvin. It's way past your bedtime, too."

"Aw, Mom!" Calvin groaned.

"See you cats, later," Reine said, as she followed her mother and brother out the back door to head home.

"Get some rest, fellas," Martha said. "You've earned it!"

"Thanks, Mrs. C!" Benny called. Then he yawned. "Well, I'm gonna go hit the hay."

"So am I," Fancy said. "I'm too tired to even think about girls."

"That's tired," Choo-Choo commented. "Nighty-night, everybody."

"Like, come on, Beeb," Spook said, offering Beebee his arm. "I'll like, walk you to your pad."

"Crazy," Beebee said, linking her arm through Spook's, and the two of them left.

"Love is in the air," TC teased. "But they have the right idea."

"What's that, TC?" Brain asked.

"Time for bed,' TC replied, stretching and yawning. "I am beat!"

"Duh, yeah. Me too. See you tomorrow, TC."

TC nodded, and he and Brain separated. TC didn't return to the coffee shop until eleven o' clock that morning. Martha had been there since eight o' clock, and TC was surprised.

"I hope you at least got some sleep, Martha!" he shouted.

"I did," Martha said. "I'm used to running on only four to six hours of sleep. Not only do I have a full time job here, but I'm also a full time mom."

"A full time career woman, and a full time mother. You juggle priorities something fierce, what with keeping the customers happy, dealing with the drama of not having a date to the homecoming dance from your teenage daughter, the raging hormones and changes and development of your preteen son, and comforting your kindergarden daughter by scaring away the big bad Boogie Men hiding under her bed. You're not a mom. You're Super Mom!"

"It sure seems like it sometimes! By the way, where are the others?"

"Knowing them, Chooch, Spook, Brain, and Benny are still sleeping."

"What about Fancy?"

"He's probably with one of his girlfriends or something like that. So where is everybody, anyway?"

"It's just you and me, today. Jerry never works Sundays, and Reine's staying home with Calvin and Courtney today. I didn't have the heart to wake them up and drag them down here."

"Yeah, that makes sense. Well, I'm gonna head toward the kitchen and give you something special, Super Mom. And I'm gonna do it myself. Without the help of my gang."

"I hope it doesn't involve tar, feathers, and Mr. Starbuck."

"No. If it did, I'd get the gang to handle that."

Martha stifled a laugh and she began putting some coffee into the percolators. As she was brewing, Mr. Starbuck happened to walk in.

"How did your little . . . . . promotion go last night?" he asked.

"Very well," Martha said. "We made some money out of the deal. Despite someone trying to sabotage one of our new coffees and then cutting the power, we did all right."

"You sure you wouldn't want to sell to me? I'm willing to pay ten grand for this place."

"The answer is still no, Mr. Starbuck. I'm not selling you my coffee house."

"Think about what you're throwing away, Mrs. Collins. Besides, with your recipes under my belt, you'll be famous."

"Mr. Starbuck, for the final time, the answer is no!"

"You heard the lady!" TC shouted, coming out of the kitchen, having heard the conversation. "She's not interested in selling the place! Now get outta here before I force feed you a cup of Hot Stuff! Not everyone can take it, you know."

"Mark my words, Mrs. Collins," Mr. Starbuck said. "I'll be back, and I will build my new Apollo's store right where your little shop is standing!"

And with that, Mr. Starbuck left. TC groaned, and rolled his eyes.

"That guy's really a piece of work," he said. "Anyway, here's a drink, especially for you. I call it French Vanilla Blend."

"Very tasty," Martha said, after she took a sip of TC's concoction. "This is sure to be a big hit, Top Cat. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"You'd probably end up selling the place to Mr. Congeniality, and there goes the best cup of coffee I ever had!"

"You're wonderful, Top Cat. Just wonderful."

Martha bent down, and gave TC a kiss on his cheek. TC just cleared his throat.

"Errr, thanks," he said. "Thanks a lot. Now then, Super Mom, let's make some coffee!"

TC and Martha got to work immediately grinding beans, serving customers, the whole nine yards. By quitting time, they were both exhausted.

"I think I'm about ready to call it a day already," Martha said.

"I'll lock up," TC said. "Why don't you take the day off tomorrow? The gang and I will run the place, no problem at all. Take a day for yourself while the kids are at school."

"All right, TC. As long as you and your gang don't drink me out of business!"

TC laughed over that one, and wiped down the counters as Martha left. Once everything was cleaned up, he headed for the back door. He locked it, but before he could get anywhere, someone dropped a large, burlap bag over him. The mystery person then tied the bag closed, threw it over his shoulder, and ran off into a back alley, leaving TC's hat lying on the ground by the door.