Rob's mouth felt dry, like a thousand cotton swabs had been stuffed inside it.

The lady…The woman….this person named Tess was his mother. His MOTHER.

Not Amy, who tucked him into bed at night and read "Goodnight Moon" when he was little. Not Amy, who had sung him to sleep with songs by the Mamas and the Papas. Not Amy, who had built an entire treehouse by herself for a Cub Scout meeting. Not Amy, who taught him to dance, even though he had two left feet. Not Amy, who had let him cry all night long in her arms after he shot and killed his first criminal while on duty.

Amy was not his mother. Amy had not carried him inside her, like she did Chad and Anna. Amy was not the one who named him and went through pain giving birth to him.

Tess was.

He didn't know what to say.

Only Casey, with her gentle but steady hand, kept him sane. He focused on her hand, how smooth the skin was, how shapely her fingers were. How beautiful.

Finally he spoke. "If you are my mother, then how come I wasn't raised with you? How come you weren't there?" He squeezed Casey's hand, and she squeezed back.

Tess looked flustered. "I couldn't…sending you away was the only way to keep you safe. I love you. You are my son."

Rob stood up, jerking Casey up with him. "I'm nobody's son. I had a mother and a father,or at least I thought I did. But now I'm truly an orphan. I don't have anyone."

He stormed out the door, pulling Casey along with him.

Tess sat on the floor, stunned. It wasn't supposed to be like this. It was supposed to be a happy reunion, with hugs and tears of joy flowing down her face.

Instead her son, who was now fully a man, ran out the door and left her behind.

She hadn't cried during all those years on Antar, when she was prisoner and everyone that she loved hated her. She didn't break down. She was stronger than that.

But her son, her child, her dream, just walked out the door. The only good thing that had come out of years of pain was her son. And her son didn't want her.

Tess began to sob, loudly and fully.

Two arms enfolded her, and held her tightly. "It's okay to cry, Tess. It's okay to cry." Jim soothed.

***

Rob pulled Casey through the streets of Roswell, running at a breakneck speed.

Finally they reached the park, and Rob stopped, and stared, as if he had never seen this place before in his life.

"Where are we?" He muttered, gazing at Casey.

"I don't know….I'm just visting…you've lived here for longer than I have."

"I'm scared." He said, sitting down on the bench. "I don't know what's going on Casey. I don't know."

She took his large hands in her small ones, and pulled him down to sit on the bench beside her. "I know you must be scared now, Rob, and you probably feel like everything is ending. I wish I could pull all the answers down out of the sky and give them to you. I can't. But I will be here, if you need me."

He sighed, and drew Casey closer. "Is it weird being an alien?"

Casey smiled. "I've never known anything else. It's weird having powers sometimes, and it was hard as I was growing up, trying to hide them. At times, I thought that nobody would understand how it feels, being of two worlds and places…but luckily my family is great. My father has this very gruff exterior, but underneath it all, he's like this great big teddy bear. My mom is sometimes off on her own little planet, which is pretty strange, considering that she's human…and I had Aunt Isabel, and Uncle Kyle…Noah, Chelsey, Bianca, and Todd…my siblings, and Jill…she's my best friend, and somehow, always, she manages to understand me, even when I don't understand myself."

"It sounds like a great family. I wish I had one."

"You do."

"I did."

"You still do, Rob. You are still part of the Valenti family, whether by blood or not. Jim and Amy have raised you, and cared for you. They are your parents. And the rest of our family isn't very bad. I only remember a little bit about Uncle Max—your father, he was nice, but sad. And Isabel…your Aunt, Jill's mom…she's wonderful…

"You're still my cousin?" Rob said, staring down at her with a strange look on her face. "Now I'm an alien with the hots for my cousin."

"You have the hots for me?" Casey said, with her eyes sparkling.

Rob blushed. "I can't believe I said that."

"We aren't really cousins…there's no blood relationship or anything…but since our family is so close and everything, we just say that we're all related…but really no, we aren't related annnnn…."

Casey's words were cut short when Rob pulled her even closer, and covered her lips with his own.

"I've been wanting to do that since you ran your cart into my butt at the supermarket."

Casey blushed, and ran her fingers through Rob's dark hair. "I've only just met you, but I feel like I've known you forever."

"I know. I feel like I've found the most amazing treasure in the universe."

"My mother always told me that everybody has a soulmate…and eventually everyone will find theirs, and usually in the most weird ways. She found my Dad in elementary school, and then again on a road trip and a nookie motel…it's a long story, but it would make sense if you knew my parents…and Aunt Liz found hers when she was shot…Jill found hers in a haunted house, and I found mine in the snack food aisle."

Rob pulled her close once more, and quite some time passed until anything more was said.

"Ashlyn is really in love with Nick? Doesn't she know that Tracy and Nick are meant to be together? Tracy would totally go ballistic if she lost Nick." Alex exclaimed. "What sort of crack were the writers on?"

"At least they haven't messed with Allie and Jason." Amy said, sitting down next to Jill.

"Yeah, but they wait until they have enough people pulled in and then they ruin the whole thing…"

"Like what?"

"Oh, the whole Guin and Bill thing…like he would ever fall for anyone named Agent Orange!"

"I agree. Sheriff Bill and Guin make much more sense."

"It's a TV SHOW. Get a life!" Chad cried, rubbing his head. "I am trying to catch up on a little bit of the sleep I have missed because of all of my family's melodrama. There are enough real life aliens without obsessing about stupid fake ones."

"You're just mad because Katie is with Brian." Anna taunted.

"Well, I would be better for her." He argued.

"It's a TV show! Get a life!" Anna said, mimicking her brother's tone.

"I swear…" Chad sighed and laid back down on the floor.

Tess had stopped crying, and was sitting in the kitchen, clutching a glass of hot cider, and talking with Jim and Liz.

"I failed. I can't do anything right, even be a good mother."

"Don't say that." Liz said, stroking Tess' back. "Jett was always an indiviual, from the time he was real little. He always wanted to do things his own way. I used to yearn for him to need me, but he didn't until he was older. One day he told me how much he appreciated and loved me. Kids always love and need their parents, they just don't know it."

"You think?"

"Rob has gone through a lot tonight. It's been a big shock for him. Give him time, Tess. Give him time."

"I just wish he'd come back."

"Casey is with him. He'll be ok." Liz said. "She wouldn't let anything happen to her."

"Is she Michael and Maria's daughter?"

"Yes."

"And you want me to relax? If she's anything like Michael…"

Liz rolled her eyes. "Somehow I think a twenty five year old man will be able to take care of himself."

"Was Michael able to take care of himself?"

Liz rolled her eyes.

Jim laughed. "If they're not back in a while, I'll send Chad after them."

"NO YOU WON'T!" Chad yelled indignitally from the back room. "I am not budging from this spot."

"Ooh, Chad, look Katie's wearing the leather top again!" Anna exclaimed.

"What? Where?"

"Very nice." Alex muttered. "OUCH!" He cried out after Jill hit him in the stomach, so hard that he doubled over. "What in the hell was that for?"

"You don't ogle other girls in front of your girlfriend, dummy."

"Oh." Alex missed the days when Kyle and Michael were way more clueless around women than he was. They made him look like some sort of genius in comparison. All those years with no females around must have dulled his female knowledge…or depleted his estrogen..whatever…he was loosing touch.

"Sorry."

He was glad Maria hadn't explained her theory about probation and the doghouse to the next generation.

"One more remark like that, and you'd be in probation."

"Probation?"

"Oh, both Dad and Uncle Michael get the doghouse all the time."

"YES!" Alex screamed. "They're still clueless!"

Jill rolled her eyes. "If you weren't so darn cute.."

"Would you two shut up? I'm trying to watch "Sydney"!" Chad exclaimed.

Every other pair of eyes in the house turned to Chad.

"What?" He said, running his fingers through his messy hair. "You guys won't let me sleep."

***

"It's just so complicated…all of this…"

"Things rarely aren't complicated. It's what makes them fun." Casey said, stroking his back.

"Fun? Finding out I was abandoned?"

"You didn't wait around to hear the rest of the story. How did you wind up on Antar? How did your father get back here? How did Tess get here? Maybe if you just talked to her…you'd find out."

"What if I don't like what I found out?" He asked worried.

"Rob, you can't change the past…that's not yours to worry about. But you can change your future. You are more than just your parents. You are Rob Valenti, Sheriff of Roswell, New Mexico. You are half alien, and half human. And you are the man I love."

"You love me?"

She shrugged. "I have to be true to myself, even if it means I may be hurt down the road."

"I would never want to cause you pain, Casey. I think I love you too."

"You think?" She said, pushing her hair away from her face. "Is this a new development?"

He laughed. "I know. I love you Casey…uh what's your middle name?"

"Alexis."

"I love you, Casey Alexis Guerin."

She smiled. "And I love you…Robert…what's your middle name?"

Rob laughed. "Maxwell."

"I love you Robert Maxwell Valenti."

Rob kissed her, and he could see the stars. It was as if all that existed was her, a sky full of stars, and himself.

After the kiss, Casey rested her head against his chest. He ran his fingers through her silky hair. She was a miracle…his miracle.

His other hand dropped down to his side, and it was resting on the bench.

Images, flashes- flowed through his mind.

* A teenager, with dark hair, brown eyes, and ears..ears just like his…a teenager who looked a lot like him…could it be his father?

His mother, walking up to him, noticing how his face was streaked with tears.

"Can I sit down?" she asked softly.

"Sure." His father said inviting her to sit down.

Tess sat down, and sat there quietly for a few minutes, watching Max gather his composure.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked hopefully.

"No." He said, his voice still gruff with emotion.

She waited a few seconds and then spoke again, this time even more cautiously. "Do you want me to leave?"

He turned towards her, studied her for a second. "No" he said, as if the idea had never crossed his mind. *

Rob stood up with a start. "I've got to know what happened."

Casey sighed. "Can we please just walk this time? Or even take a bus?"

Rob chuckled. "Whatever you say, whatever you say."