Mrs Reece, the children's social worker, comes to the house to give Brian and Sophie their routine progress report. It's a nervous time for Mel, Josh and Lucy, as there's always a danger that their foster parents will give themselves away as aliens and they'll all get sent back into care. But instead of the awful disaster the whole family is expecting, Mrs Reece has a surprising suggestion for them all that could turn out much, much worse than anything they ever imagined. She has a new kid for them to foster – Howie. At first Mel, Josh and Lucy don't take too well to Howie – no one wants to share their parents with a stranger. But when they upset Howie so much that he runs away on a dark, stormy night, they all realise that he wasn't quite so bad, and wish more than anything that he's come back. Which is just as well, as he was hiding under Lucy's bed all along!