Alicia Fennel

Having just moved to Neptune, the widowed mother of Wallace and Darrell wanted to make a fresh start: she got a job at Kane Software, and, after initial difficulties, found a new love in Keith Mars.

Over the summer their relationship has deepened further, so that when Keith plans to take Alicia out for a romantic night in Chicago, Veronica teasingly asks him if he wants to propose. Keith is not ready for that yet, but seeing the two together, there is no doubt that everything is just fine.

Or is it?

A weekend in Chicago not only brings down disaster on Alicia's relationship with Keith, it threatens the very foundation of her life, as her former husband Nathan Woods finally catches up with her after 18 years. Back then, life with the undercover detective scared the pregnant Alicia so severely that she ran away, changed her name, and never told Wallace anything about his biological father. She blames Nathan for this development, claiming that he was drawn too deeply into the drug-dealing world, even becoming an addict himself, and posing a threat to her and to his unborn son.

But Nathan seemed to care, writing letters to Wallace he sent through Alicia's mom. Alicia returned them unanswered, not wanting to allow a connection between Nathan and Wallace. When Nathan saw her in Chicago, he saw a new chance to connect to his son, or at least he claims that this is the case.

Now that everything has come out, Alicia is still unwilling to trust Nathan's good intentions. She tries to keep him away from Wallace, only to succeed in pushing her son away from herself. Wallace has joined his father, and they are possibly on their way back to Chicago. Meanwhile, her relationship with Keith has greatly suffered from the severe blow of Alicia lying about the situation, and finally breaks apart due to her criticizing his parenting skills. Will she be able to mend her shattered life?

Well, we are not completely sure, given that she has been MIA for quite a while, but seeing that Wallace is back in Neptune and not living on the streets, all signs point to yes. Given her curt exchange with Veronica on Graduation Day, her relations with the Mars family seem to have lost a bit of warmth, though, which makes further appearances of this fine woman highly unlikely. That's what you get for voicing an opinion.