Robin looks from the barn owl to the barn owl's mother and shrugs.

"What in God's name is going on?"

"...Evil aliens?" says Robin.

"Evil aliens! Less evil aliens! Owls!" exclaims Renée, throwing her hands into the air. "Faked deaths and faked running-away -"

"He really ran away, it just was for evil-alien reasons," clarifies Andi.

"Yeah."

"Where is Charlie, then?" demands Renée.

<Hey Dad!> says Andi. <C'mere in the living room, Mom is here.>

And here is Charlie. "'Lo, Renée. Girls told you about the aliens and all that?"

"They told me something - look, did you know they called me and told me you were dead - that you can all turn into animals -"

"Didn't have much choice. Aliens in the NSA, aliens in the phone companies, don't want to say too much over the phone. I am sorry," he adds. "Just - didn't have a better idea."

"How long has this been going on?"

"Aliens've been on Earth in numbers for 'bout ten years. I only got sucked in last August myself."

Robin nods corroboratively. (She has her thinking-about-Hork-Bajir face on, but since Ethan is not present, no one is likely to notice.)

"It's a bit much, isn't it," Charlie sighs.

"More than a bit," exclaims Renée. "I want to see the - the friendly garage alien."

"Sure. Be nice to him. He's helping us," says Bella, getting to her feet.

"I've never been impolite to a garage alien in my life."

Bella snorts, and opens the garage door. "Ax," she says, "this is my mother, Renée."

<Hello, Renée,> says Ax the garage alien, holding up a hand in greeting.

"Hello, I - how are you doing that?"

"Same way Andi did when she turned into an owl," says Bella. "Friendly garage aliens can do it, and so can we if we turn into anything but ourselves."

"...Okay. Hi, Ax."

"Do you need to sit back down?"