Shea and Faith walked up the steps towards Francesca's front door. As Shea's foot fell on the top step, the door swung open to reveal Francesca who was smiling broadly. She embraced the two women, touching Faith's cheek gently.

'You get prettier every time I see you' she said to the teenager. 'Look at you, barely seventeen and already beautiful enough to turn heads'

'It's good to see you, Aunt Francesca' she replied, hugging the older woman tightly. Faith leaned round her slightly to see into the room. She spotted Skyler and smiled brightly, sending a friendly little wave towards her. Skyler returned the gesture, smiling slightly. Faith was the only person she'd met in her new life that was around her own age, and it was a relief to both the girl's adopted parents that the girls had bonded so well. Francesca and Shea turned and walked into the house, Faith trailing behind.

'Skyler, why don't you show Faith the quilts you have been working on? I'm sure she'd love to see your work'

'Sure thing, Francesca' she beckoned to Faith. She followed her friend to the workroom, careful not to touch her. Faith had not needed to be told that Skyler was an empath, and had always been careful never to touch her, even by accident. Her past was not as tragic or horrific as Skyler's, but she had seen terrible things, and she didn't want her only true friend to suffer her memories when she already had so much to bear.

'So how is everything, Francesca?' asked Shea when the teenagers had left the room.

'Everything is fine. Tamara is thriving on the formula, and she grows stronger every day. Skyler's suffering has been lessened by the fact that Dimitri has chosen a residence nearby. He did not want her to suffer un-necessarily because he was not close. He is very careful of her, and punishes himself daily for not being able to shield her from the atrocities she has been subjected to' Gabriel walked into the room then, holding the baby gently in his arms. Francesca took her gently, and turned to face Shea once more. Gabriel circled her waist with a strong arm, fixing her under his shoulder.

'Shea, it is good to see you. How is Jacques this rising?'

'Thank you, Gabriel. He is well. Faith and I have left him to his business. Francesca, I need your opinion on a matter concerning Faith and her position in our world. As you know she has been having problems at school. Jacques and I were speaking with her about the course of action, and she told us that she wishes to undergo the conversion. We are in agreement that if she wants it, it should be done. We have seen into her mind, and have found no doubts or reservations, only a wish to be a complete part of our world. Do you think it is sensible to continue?'

'I see no reason against it. My only concern would be her age. She is so very young. No-one under the age of 20 has ever been converted. Her mind is strong, stronger than those of some of the women successfully converted. I believe that she will come through it with no lingering problems. Whose blood is she to have?'

'Both mine and Jacques'. I will also speak with Gregori about it, but it has eased my mind that you are confident about this' she shared the information with Jacques, and felt his relief at the news. 'There is also another question I have'

'I will answer it if I can' replied Francesca.

'Have any of our people possessed the power to heal with music? Not with voices, with music?'

'I do not know. I will ask Gabriel' she voiced the question to her lifemate, who had gone to see Skyler and Faith.

I do not recall any one with such a gift. Why do you ask?

Shea asked me if I knew of any such person. I shall ask her why.

'He says that he knows of no-one with such a talent. Why do you ask?'

'It is just a thought I had. Faith has recently acquired a harp, and can play it beautifully. One day, in the kitchen, I was making Faith her dinner and I cut myself, she was playing at the time. I paid no attention to the cut; I was so caught up in the tune. The next thing I realised was that the cut had been healed and that neither Jacques nor I had healed it' Shea frowned slightly as she thought about it.

'This would be a unique gift indeed, as unique as Syndil's power to heal the earth. If it is so it will only grow with time and when she is converted. I think you should speak with Gregori about this too. It could be very important'

'There is another thing about this gift which I am very grateful for. Since she has been playing Jacques has been so much quieter. He seems more relaxed, more confident about our safety. It has made all of our lives more enjoyable, and has stopped him from being afraid of hurting us'

'But he is so gentle with you both. He is wonderful with Faith. When you first took her in all of us were afraid of how he would react to her, to sharing you, but he loves her as his own daughter. Now none of us could conceive of his hurting either of you' Francesca look vexed.

'Neither could we, but we saw in his mind that he was worried about it. Since there has been music in the house he does not worry so much' Shea looked towards the door, noticing that the girls were there with Gabriel.

'Hello girls' said Francesca, smiling at them. 'Would you like some juice, Faith?'

'Yes please, Aunt Francesca'

Gabriel was at the doorway again in a heartbeat, holding two glasses of juice.

'Thank you, Uncle Gabriel' said Faith, taking the juice from him and sipping carefully at it. Her stomach was slightly delicate after exchanging blood with her parents, but she had fared better than most of the others had, giving her the ability to eat practically anything vegetarian.

Gabriel handed the other glass to Skyler, who looked at it distastefully. She glanced at Faith, who had nearly drained her glass. She did not want to be outdone by her friend, no matter how close they were. She sipped the juice slowly, not wanting to rush and upset her stomach. The three adults smiled at each other, aware of the positive influence the girls had on each other. Even Dimitri had to admit that Faith and Skyler were good for each other. He could sense that Skyler was taking nourishment without having to be persuaded, and he knew the cause. He sent her waves of pride, and she felt happy in spite of herself.

'Shea tells me that you have started playing the harp. Perhaps you would play for us one day?' Francesca asked.

'She probably told you that I'm better than I really am. But if you like I'll play for you at some point'

'Faith, I think we should be going now. Your father is becoming agitated, and I promised we would not be gone long. Francesca, Gabriel' she nodded to each of them, smiling. Faith put her glass down on the table as they made their way towards the front door.

'Bye Aunt Francesca, Uncle Gabriel' she hugged both adults. 'Bye Skyler'

'Bye Faith' replied Skyler, waving at her friend.

Shea and Faith made their way back to the car and drove carefully home.

They arrived to find Jacques pacing the hallway restlessly. Shea crossed directly to him, cupping his face in her hands. He wrapped one of his arms tightly around her, holding the other out to Faith. She joined in the hug, knowing that her father needed to feel both of them close to him. Faith guessed that it was because he had been afraid that his family had been a dream, a wild fantasy in the midst of his madness. Her parents had no idea that Faith knew of his seven years, trapped, and wounded, descending slowly into insanity. She would never let them become aware of her knowledge; it wasn't her place to know.

Jacques kissed each of them on the top of the head, still holding them close; amazed that he had a wonderful lifemate, and a beautiful daughter. Slowly, reluctantly, he released them. Faith immediately headed for her harp. She began to play, sending soothing waves towards her father.

'I really don't know what I did to deserve you two, but I thank God every day that I have you both' he kissed Shea gently, leading her into the sitting room where Faith was playing. They settled down on the sofa to listen to the melodies their daughter was playing. She played for about another hour, then stopped, looking at her nails with a frown on her face.

'What's the matter, darling?' asked Shea, seeing the look on her daughter's face.

'My nail varnish is chipped. I'll have to re-do it. You don't mind if I stop playing, do you?'

'Of course not' said Jacques.

'You don't mind if I put Top Gear on, do you?'

'No, baby' said Shea.

Faith smiled at her parents and bounded off to get her nail varnish.

'Shea?' asked Jacques.

'Yes?'

'What's Top Gear?'

'The reason our daughter is so interested in cars' she replied, an impish grin on her face. Jacques was in for the experience of a lifetime.

Faith came back clutching three small bottles in her hands.

'Why do you have three bottles? I thought you just put the varnish on and that was it' her father looked puzzled.

'Well, this green-tinted clear one is base coat, that protects the nail from the actual varnish and stops it staining the nail, this one is the actual varnish, and the clear one is top coat, making it harder for the actual varnish to chip'

'Why go to all that trouble?' he asked, looking even more confused.

'It's important to take pride in ones appearance' she replied.

'Faith, sweetheart, I don't think you can expect your father to understand the ways of modern women. Given half the chance he would lock us both away in a castle somewhere very remote'

'I certainly would' he said, doing his best to look intimidating.

'Poor man' whispered Shea to her daughter. 'He tries so very hard to look intimidating, but we both know him to be a teddy bear' Faith giggled in response.

They spent the rest of the night sat in the sitting room, laughing with each other, sharing the joy of being a family, basking in the love so freely given, all of them thankful for the miracle of having each other.