This took a bit longer to write than I had expected. Sorry about that. This is nearly the end of my story... I hope you enjoy.

The Reeds' goodbye went well. It was obvious they were going to miss them, but everyone seemed genuinely happy about me being able to take Isaac and Ivy back with me. Even Evan congratulated me with 100% sincerity. I felt bad telling him about me and Dorian; he had been so sweet and helpful, and I had needed it, but it wasn't enough. It wasn't Dorian.

I promised to send just as many pictures as Candace had and that I'd bring them to town once in a while for visits. I was glad I had brought my parents along, because Candace forced a ton of baby supplies on us and I needed help transporting it all. Refusing was a wasted effort. They didn't really have a use for it now anyway.

The trip back home seemed short compared to the one I'd taken to get there. Of course, it was, because it was a straight shot as opposed to a convoluted trek across the country to confuse would-be gentry assassins.

Ivy and Isaac had gotten a little bit more comfortable with me. I managed to get them to stop crying a couple of times, without my mother's help. She kept telling me not to worry about it and that I was just overreacting, but I couldn't help but feel like there was something wrong with me. Like they knew I had abandoned them and they were taking it out on me by crying every time I picked them up. Ok, so it wasn't every time, but it felt like it. At least Isaac was warming up to me. Although that was probably just because he liked it when I used my magic to make the bath water swoosh about or to blow the wind around to dry his fiery locks.

Ivy liked it too, but not the same way Isaac did.

Mom transformed my old bedroom into a nursery with the items Candace had given us. We were staying there for a few days while my servants got the nursery set up back in the Thorn Land. I was curious and a bit worried about what they would come up with in a world without plastic. Babies were pretty rare there, but surely Shaya would be able to find someone who knew what they were doing.

I planned for us to cross over into Dorian's castle, using an anchor; he wanted to see them as soon as possible and it would be the safest route. Roland was going to help me with the process. It should be easy enough to carry them over, being that they were mostly fey, but I wanted to be sure. Roland's magic would make it easier.

I got together a bag full of things they need, like their favorite toys and foods, and some bubble bath. Just in case gentry soaps didn't fizz up the way Mr. Bubble did. I was nervous about taking them, not because I was afraid Maiwenn might do something, but because of how Dorian and I had left things. I knew he would be great to the kids, but I had no idea how long his anger at me would last. It'd taken me months to get over him lying to me, and this was a much bigger deal than that. I'd lied to him about the most important thing in his life. I wouldn't forgive me anytime soon, but I wished every moment of every day that he would. Now I only had a few more minutes before I found out if he had.

It was hot and muggy when we got to the crossroad. Isaac and Ivy were fussy and I could feel Isaac trying to pull some wind around us. I was pretty positive it was unintentional; just his subconscious desire to cool off himself and his surroundings. His magic was very weak, but he managed a light gust once or twice while we were trying to cross. It took more energy than I was used to needing, but with Roland's help it wasn't that difficult. We were over in no time.

Dorian had placed the anchor in the chamber adjacent to his bedroom. The last time I'd seen it, it had been an elaborately decorated sitting room, with ornate furnishings and dark colors, but now it had been completely transformed. I barely recognized where we were. The color in the room had been changed to a calming yellowish-gold that still matched with the rest of the castle's usual wine colored décor, and there were elegantly painted vines of ivy wrapping around the borders. There were two cribs sitting next to each other in the middle of the room. They were both beautifully crafted just like the ones Dorian had given me, except one had ivy leaves carved into the head and foot boards while the other had little lightning bolts and storm clouds. Above each crib was a mobile, each with a set of intricately designed animals made of thin copper and gemstones, dangling close enough to see, but high enough to be safe for the twins. The cribs were blanketed with golden silk sheets and identical, and hand sown from the looks of it, stuffed bears. There were bookcases on one wall, filled with what I assumed were gentry children's books, although considering human children's books were full of fairytales, I wondered what these stories could possibly be about. The opposite wall had a large changing table area and two pint-sized wardrobes, again hand carved, one with ivies and one with lightning bolts. In the corners by either side of the large fireplace there were two beautiful, oversized rocking chairs.

I tried to swallow back the lump in my throat before I started crying in front of Roland.

"Huh, he doesn't waste any time does he?" Roland commented, looking around.

"I didn't have much time to waste." Dorian answered, walking over to us. "How was the trip?" His question was more directed at Isaac and Ivy than it was at me, but I answered anyway.

"Hot, but it went well. Isaac tried to drum up a tornado to cool us off."

"Really?" He beamed at Isaac. "And how successful was that endeavor, Thundro?" He took Isaac out of my arms and carried him over to his new crib, still not really acknowledging me.

"He managed a few small gusts."

"Don't worry; you'll be conjuring storms in no time, my son."

Roland looked like he had a lot to say about that comment, but he kept his mouth shut about it for the moment. Instead, he said goodbye and good luck and took his leave.

And then it was just me and Dorian. And our children.

"I love what you've done with the place." I said, trying to lighten the mood once Roland left. Ivy was watching Isaac play with his new teddy bear. I could feel a jealous tantrum coming on so I moved her over to her own crib. Once there, she completely ignored her own bear and instead beacame mesmerized by the mobile. She started giggling and reaching for it and it swayed ever so gently. Dorian looked pleased.

"Now, now, if you pull it down you won't be able to enjoy watching it twirl anymore." He tsked at Ivy. She didn't pay any attention and started reaching more intently, a crease forming on her porcelain forehead. The copper mobile quivered, looking for a moment as if it were about to fall, before coming to a dead halt. Dorian tsked again and picked Ivy up. He spun the mobile himself, watching her watch the little animals spin around. She rested her head on his shoulder and sighed, instantly calmed and apparently resigned from her attempts to hold the twirling copper object.

He was a natural at being a father.

"How long are you going to keep pretending I'm not here?" I asked in earnest.

"Until you leave, then I won't have to pretend anymore."

I sighed. He was still angry.

"What can I do to make you forgive me? I forgave you." I reminded him.

"Well, if we're basing my actions off of yours, then you can spend more than a year doing everything in your power to prove to me that you're sorry and that I can trust you, then I'll eventually, reluctantly, come around, but still keep secrets from you about your own children." His voice was even, not wanting to upset Isaac and Ivy, but his face conveyed just how pissed he was.

"Please, it wasn't like that, I wanted to tell you, I just…" I couldn't think of the right way to put it.

"You just weren't sure if I could be trusted; because if I 'knew' I had an actual claim to them I would fight harder to bring them here, putting them in danger just so that I could be near them. Because that's the kind of selfish person I am, and only you are capable of being a selfless martyr, abandoning your children in an unguarded, unknown place to keep them safe. Is that about right?" He laid Ivy down in her crib and spun the mobile again. She looked like she was ready for a nap. He went to the door and called for a servant to bring two bottles while I stood there, speechless.

I knew I deserved some anger, but that was harsh. A lot more harsh than I would've thought Dorian capable of right now. I didn't know what to say. How could I argue when he was the one in the right? I had kept it from him because I thought he would bring them here against my will, even if it meant they were in more danger than they were with the Reeds. I had been self-righteous in thinking that I was the only one of us selfless enough to do what was absolutely best for the twins. And had I really? They looked so happy when they were around him, and my world was just that: my world. It wasn't theirs. It would always be a part of them, but it was only a tiny part. By cutting Dorian and his opinions out of my decision making, I had cut out a part of their voices too. I hadn't considered their fey heritage when I decided to leave them with the Reeds; I had only considered what I would have wanted for a human child. I was by no means qualified to make a decision based on what a three-fourths gentry kid would want.

I had made a stupid choice and now it was costing me the third most important person in my life.