"Well, hello there," Malachai said as he opened the door in surprise to see Matthew holding Sarah in his arms. "You're the one who brought her for her week? Not that I have a problem with that but honestly, I was expecting Christine."

"And you would have gotten your way if she hadn't decided just as we reached here that she wanted to stay in the car and watch me bring you in as proof that we bear you no ill will about Sarah."

"I understand if you still have anger," Malachai told him. "You have every right. I messed up. But I really will be careful with Sarah. She means a lot to me."

"With the lengths you've gone to in order to be near her, I wouldn't expect anything else," Matthew said. He handed Malachai Sarah and a small sandwich bag full of wheat crackers. "Christine also told me to make sure you give these to Helene. She says they're good for morning sickness."

Malachai smiled as he took the bag. "Thank you," he said. "I'm sure she'll be glad to have them."

"You're welcome," Matthew told him. They stared at one another in awkward silence for a few minutes before Matthew gave Sarah one last kiss, mumbled a 'Goodbye', and ran back toward his car where Christine was waiting for him.

Malachai watched them go and then shut the door and took Sarah to the bedroom where Helene was convalescing. Although they were back together now, Malachai could tell that she was still a little wary of him. While she wasn't necessarily withholding all affection, she wasn't as forthcoming with it as she'd been before he'd told her about all his children.

"Sarah's here," he said quietly from the doorway. "And Matthew gave me some crackers to give you to help with your stomach."

Helene didn't even look up at the sound of his voice. She stayed absorbed in her book until Malachai decided to just leave her crackers on the dresser and let her be in peace until she was willing to talk to him. But as he was about to go, she put her book down and looked at him.

"Sorry about that," she apologized. "I was at a good spot in my book and I wanted to get through it before I talked to anyone."

"Oh," Malachai nodded. "Okay." He watched her put her book down and handed her the crackers. "Do you just want to stay in here, or would you like to come out and play with Sarah and me?"

"Sure I'll come and play with you both," Helene said. "Just let me take a shower and I'll be out after."

"All right," Malachai smiled. "We'll be waiting. And be careful. You don't want to fall and hurt yourself."

"I'll be careful," Helene promised. "Don't worry."

Malachai trusted her, but let out a relieved breath when she came into the living room in a bathrobe and wet hair.

"You were still worried about me, weren't you?" Helene asked, sitting down.

"Well, yes," Malachai nodded.

"Thanks," Helene smiled and came over to give him a kiss on the cheek. "That's really sweet of you." Then she grabbed Sarah and gave her a hug. "How are you?" She asked, kissing the little girl's hair. "I really missed you. You're gonna have a little friend to play with soon."

"Would you mind watching Sarah tomorrow?" Malachai asked. "Would it be too much for you?"

"Why?" Helene asked. "I mean, not that I wouldn't love to, but are you going somewhere?"

"Yes," Malachai nodded. "Tomorrow is the day we pick up three of my kids from the asylum where their mothers dumped them because they didn't know how to handle their powers."

"That's a really nice thing for you to do," Helene told him. "But don't expect them to just jump into your arms, give you hugs, and be grateful. After all they've been through; trust is probably gonna be an issue for them."

"Oh, of course I don't expect them to love me right away," Malachai told her. "I just want them to have a safe place to be so they can feel accepted for the first time in their lives. That's the main goal of this plan. Not because I want anything in return."

"All right," Helene smiled. "Good. That's what I want to hear."

That night, Helene was much more willing to be close to Malachai than she had been before. She actually undressed in front of him instead of locking herself in the bathroom and emerging in her pajamas, and then crawled in bed next to him as Malachai pulled the blankets over both of them.

"Well, this is a nice surprise," he told her with a smile as he took her face in his hands and gave her a gentle but deep kiss. When they pulled apart, he said, "Would you like to…go further? We're both not wearing anything and-"

"Sure," Helene nodded. "If I didn't, I would have come to bed in my pajamas."

Malachai chuckled. "Tell me," he said. "What changed your mind?"

"For the record, I still am a bit wary of this whole 'use a coven of children to do in your sister' thing and I probably won't feel completely at ease until it's all over with," Helene warned. "But I just…I really like what you're doing for the kids who have probably never had a normal life before, and just how you've embraced Percy and Sarah. That's really good of you."

"Since I started this whole mess, the least I can do is make sure everyone is healthy and safe," Malachai told her. "That's what I think."

"Good," Helene smiled as he ran his hands over her body, took her in his arms, and entered her gently. "That's what I think too."

"Are you really going with your uncle to the asylum to get the kids who are coming to live with us?" Victoria asked Kai as they got up the next morning. "When is that, anyway?"

"Tomorrow," Kai told her. "And thanks for being such a good sport about having a few extra house guests. I really wanted to help Malachai out with this."

"Well, they're older, I assume, so they'll be able to do a reasonable job of being self-sufficient and I won't have to watch them every minute like I do the twins," Victoria told him. "That made it a lot easier to say 'Yes'. And I can't help but feel bad for these children who have been told they were freaks and crazies their whole lives because of their magic. Anything that I can do to help with that, I will."

"We're getting two girls and a boy, I think," Kai told her. "Davina, Samantha, and Ian."

"How exciting," Victoria smiled. "I can't wait to meet them."

"Are you just saying that to make me feel better?" Kai asked. "I volunteered our house as a residence to help Uncle Malachai, but if you're upset about it, say so."

"If I was upset about it, I would have said something by now, so I'm not," Victoria told him. "Although if you keep telling me to be angry, you won't have long to wait before you get your wish!"

Kai sucked in his breath and gave her a wink. "Oh, your anger is making me all tingly! Go ahead and hit me. It'll do me some good!"

"No!" Victoria shook her head. "Not because you want me to."

"Oh, come on, Vicky!" Kai said and took her in his arms to give her a kiss. "Please?"

"All right," Victoria sighed and punched him in the eye. "There, are you happy? Can I go to sleep now?"

"Sure," Kai agreed and reached under the covers to run his hand over her back and bottom while she reached up to turn off the light over the bed. "Will you be up in case I want you during the night?"

"How likely is that to happen?" Victoria asked. "You know I'm never at my best when I'm woken up suddenly."

"I know, but when I have needs, I'll take anything I can get," Kai told her.

"Those poor children," Victoria said, looking at the dark shape of her husband on the mattress beside her. "I really fear for those children having you as a role model."

"Or I could be the best role model ever," Kai said, offering the opposite view. "We'll see, won't we?"

When Kai and Malachai reached the asylum, they told the woman at the desk why they'd come. "You remember," Kai told her as they locked eyes. "We want to take Davina, Samantha, and Ian away from here."

"Are you sure?" The nurse asked. "They're three of the dangerous ones, you know. "Even their mothers hardly visit them." She paused. "Is that what you're here for? As an agent of the mothers? To take the children away and do an even better job than we can to save people from those menaces?"

"Well, that's a judgmental way of putting it, but I suppose the answer is 'Yes'," Kai remarked sourly. "Now just…where are they?"

"Follow me," the nurse replied. "You'll have to let yourselves into the cell. I'm not risking my life anymore." She let them to a closed door behind which crying and screaming emanated. The nurse turned the lock and said 'Good luck' before leaving Kai and Malachai alone to enter the room.

They stood inside the doorway, getting a glimpse of three pale kids with dark hair and sunken dark eyes.

"We were just beaten," one of the girls managed to spit out in a voice hoarse from all the screaming she did, turning her head slowly as tears ran down her cheeks. "Don't come and hurt us anymore. Please."

"No, no!" Malachai said, trying to sound gentle and non-threatening. "The last thing we want to do is hurt you. In fact, we want to take you away from here and give you a better place to live."

"It's a trick," The boy said. His voice was also hoarse. "They probably just want to take us somewhere worse!"

"What could possibly be worse than here?" Asked the second girl. "This is hell on earth. What do we have to lose by going with them?" She did the best she could to sit up and, looking in Malachai's direction, said, "Sir, are you really going to take us away? It's not a cruel joke is it?"

"No," Malachai told her, stepping a little closer. "When we say we're going to give you a better home, we mean it. Now…how about I remove those straitjackets so you can at least move around normally?"

"All right," the girl said as her friends nodded, still looking at Malachai with suspicion. As he undid the straitjackets and the kids sat up, the second girl told him, "My name's Davina, and these two are Ian and Samantha. We can do magic."

"Don't tell him that!" Ian ordered gruffly. "He could want to take us away to a circus or something for all we know! Being open about our powers was what got us put here in the first place!"

"Well, don't worry about that," Malachai said, using his magic to open the door. "I have magic too. I know you're perfectly sane. My name's Malachai, and that's my nephew Kai by the door there. We're taking you to Kai's house so you can live with him and his wife who's also got magic.."

"Why would you want to be so nice to us?" Samantha asked.

Feeling it was too early to confess the real reason for his generosity, he said, "I just…I really feel for you. I heard from your mothers about what was happening and I wanted to give you a better home. Of course you can stay here if you want, but I don't see why that would be."

"We'll come!" Davina said immediately. "Or at least I will. I don't know who you are, but anywhere is better than here."

Samantha and Ian looked at one another, rolled their eyes at how quickly Davina had agreed to the stranger's offer, and then Ian said, "Okay, we'll come too. But you better not be lying to us."

"Well, I'm not, but you won't know that for sure unless you trust me," Malachai told him. They then led the trio out of the cell, through the asylum, and out the front door, and to the trio's surprise, no one stopped them.

"It's very bright out here," Davina remarked as they got in the car. "I'd nearly forgotten what the sun looked like."

"It's about time someone helped you remember, then," Malachai told her. "That's what I'm taking you to your new home for."