Disclaimer: You know the drill…the characters aren't mine Roswell and all characters belong to Jason Katims, 20th Century Fox etc. I'm just borrowing them.

Rating: PG-13 – possibly to R

Author's Note This part is Fluff, fluff and even more fluff. I figured since I was re-writing Season Two, I'd better put the parents in the mix.

Chapter Thirty-Three Busted

The morning sunlight streamed through the lace panels that covered Liz's windows. The bedroom door opened slightly, and Nancy Parker peered in check on her daughter before joining her husband to open the café. She smiled slightly to herself when she saw the eight kids asleep, with books and papers spread out around them. She closed the door quietly and went downstairs to join her husband.

"Geoff, you're not going to believe what I just saw upstairs," she called as she made her way down the stairs leading to the café. She walked in and came face to face with Philip and Diane Evans, Jim Valenti and Amy Deluca, and Charles and Margaret Whitman, sitting at a table with her husband. "Oh," she says faintly, "maybe you will."

"Good morning, Nancy," said Jim, raising a finger to the brim of his hat. "I'm sure you're wondering why we're all here."
"I'm going to go out on a limb, and say it has something to do with the eight kids who are asleep upstairs," said Nancy. "Let me guess, none of you knew they were here?"

"Don't get upset, Nancy," said Diane. "We didn't know where they were at first. Isabelle had said something about studying with Alex and Liz and Kyle, and Max had mentioned about hanging out with Michael."
"And Maria is always with Michael," added Amy. "We didn't start getting worried until after midnight."
"Amy called me," said Jim, taking over the story. "And I decided to swing by and see if any of the kid were here. I knocked on the door, but there was no answer."

"No, we were out of town last night. We drove in early this morning to open the restaurant," said Nancy.
"Yes, Geoff explained all that to us already," said Jim. "Anyhow, I checked the perimeter of the building, and I saw the lights on upstairs. I climbed the fire escape and looked in the window and saw the kids, fast asleep, with schoolbooks and papers all over the place. I climbed back down, and contacted everybody and let them know the kids were safe and asleep. We all agreed to just leave them where they were for the night. We decided it would be better to meet here in morning and talk to the kids."
"Exactly," said Philip Evans. "The kids need to know that while we do trust them, we still keep track of their whereabouts.

"I don't think we should be too hard on them," said Margaret Whitman, nervously. "I mean they fell asleep studying. It's not like they were out all night drinking or doing God knows what."
"Margaret, no one is saying we torture them, but they do have to realize that what they did is wrong," said Charles Whitman.
"Your wife is right, Charles. We don't want to jump down their throats, but we do need to let them know that we do keep track of them, and that they do have a responsibility to let us know where they are," said Jim.

Liz crept quietly up the stairs and slipped back into her room. She had been on her way downstairs to get some juice when she overheard the parents talking. She quickly woke her friends and explained the situation.
"And there is no point in going out the window, they all know we're here," she concluded.
"We need a plan, and we need it fast," said Max. "Okay, we've been studying all night. What were we studying? What classes do we have in common?"
"World History," said Maria. "We're all taking it, we just have different sections, that's all."

Liz stood quietly for a minute as though concentrating intently. She crossed the room and rummaged through her desk and pulled out another stack of notebooks.
"More notebooks, Liz?" asked Kyle. "God, you are such a geek."
Liz ignored him and went to her backpack and pulled out her World History book and notebook. She held both books in her hands, and closed her eyes tightly, a look of fierce concentration on her face. She laid both books down on her bed, and picked up one of the blank notebooks and laid it down next to them. She placed on hand on her notebook and one on the blank notebook. After a minute she stopped and passed it to Max. She continued the process until she had done all seven notebooks. When she finished, she smiled triumphantly and grabbed all but one from Max, and passed them out to her friends.

"Take them, do what you have to, to make them look like they're yours," she said. As one, they opened the books and stared in shock at page after page of notes.
"Liz, how did you do that?" asked Isabelle. "How did you KNOW how to do that?"
"We don't have time to go into it," said Liz. "Now come on everybody, lets get downstairs, and make it good!"

"My mother is going to be so pissed," Maria said loudly, as they walked down the stairs.
"No, Maria, it's my fault. You were out with me. I'm the one your mother should blame," said Michael. Everyone stared at him.
"What?" he whispered. "Liz said to make it good."
"Good yes, not unbelievable," Alex whispered back.'

They walked into the café, and managed to look surprised at the sight of the parental contingent waiting to greet them.
"Good morning everyone," said the Sheriff. "Out a little late, aren't you? Kyle, what do you have to say for yourself?" Kyle flashed his father a panicked look and motioned to Ava. "And Tess," continued the Sheriff after a slight double take. "What were the two of you thinking?"
"Dad, really, I'm sorry. We're sorry. We got together to study and totally lost all track of time." Kyle saw his father's eyes flicker towards the notebook he was holding and he nodded slightly.
"Let me see?" he said.
"What?"
"If you were studying all night, you must have taken a lot of notes. Let me see the book, son."

Kyle passed the book to his father, and tried not to smile. Jim flipped through the notebook for several minutes.
"Very impressive," he said, passing the book back to Kyle. "If those notes are any indication, you are going to do very well in that class."

"Now wait just a second, Sheriff," said Charles Whitman. "How do we know that's not just a dummy notebook they made for us to look at in case they got caught?"
"Oh please, Dad," said Alex. "Right, we made one notebook, and gave it to Kyle in the hopes that his father would be the one to want to look at his notes. Have a little faith, why don't you?" He passed his notebook to his father. Charles Whitman took the book and began to leaf through it, studying it carefully.
"Well, son, you spelt Euphrates wrong several times, but other than that, I can see you worked very hard last night. I apologize," he tacked on, grudgingly.

"Here," said Max, passing his and Isabelle's notebooks to their parents.
"I don't need to see those, Max," said Philip. "We believe you. We just want you to be aware of the fact that you acted very irresponsibly by staying out all night. We were worried sick until we heard from the sheriff."
"The sheriff found us?" said Max. "Why didn't you just wake us up and send us home?" he asked, turning to Jim.
"I thought about it," said Jim. "But I knew I wouldn't be comfortable with Kyle driving himself and Tess home if he were that tired, and I figured your parents would all feel the same way. I called them and let them know you were all alive and safe, and we all agreed to leave you where you were for the night."

"So, why the big showdown at the CrashDown corral?" asked Maria.
"Because, Maria, we are your parents, and part of our job is making sure that you know where we stand on certain issues. Staying out all night is one of those issues. And it won't ever happen again, will it?" asked Amy.
"No, but,"
"Maria!"
"No, Mom," said Maria.
"Look, Ms. Deluca, this was all my fault," began Michael.
"Save it!" said Amy, holding up her hand. "I heard your little performance when you were coming down the stairs."
"And?" Michael asked hopefully.
"Not buying it," said Amy. "But you do get an A for effort. Much like the A test paper I trust you will be showing me very soon."
"Oh," said Michael, his voice dejected.

"We're all really sorry," said Liz. "It's not like we planned this or anything.
"Well, that much is obvious," said Nancy Parker. "In my experience, most people don't plan to fall asleep, sitting up, with their history books in their laps. Now why don't you all go home and get some sleep, and then go do something fun. You obviously used "date night" to study, so maybe you've earned a little time off."
"Mom?" said Maria, turning to her mother.
"I suppose so," said Amy. "Just be home at a reasonable time this time."
Both the Whitmans and the Evans gave their consent as well.
"Dad?" Kyle asked questioningly.

"Of course kids," said Jim with a smile. "Now why don't you come with me, and I'll drive you home. I had one of the deputy's take your car home last night Kyle. I didn't want to take the chance of you driving home last night if you did wake up."
"Uh, okay, Dad," said Kyle, not fooled by the smile on his father's face. "We'll just firm up our plans and meet you outside.

After making plans for a late picnic at Millers Park, the Alex and his parents left the café, along with Maria and her mother. Max and Isabelle left next, followed by their parents. Liz decided to work for a few hours, and Michael decided to stay and help with the morning rush, and to keep an eye on Liz in case she started to subject any of the customers to one of her alien induced mood swings. Kyle and Ava walked out the door and met Jim Valenti, waiting for them on the sidewalk.
"Okay," he said, once they were clear of the café. "I think you have some explaining to do, starting with who the hell is this? And don't try and tell me she's Tess, because Tess was home last night, and when I left this morning, she was still sound asleep!"