"Aw Kimmy, that's wonderful. I'm so happy for you…. Yeah… yeah I know, me too. Aw… well, congrats and enjoy every moment of it. Give my love to your kids and Russ. Talk soon. Bye."

Ellie hung up the phone and turned to look at Pete.

"That was Kimmy," she told him.

"And?" he asked.

"She said Caleb finally called her 'mom'. Oh god, I'm tearing up."

"Aw honey, come here"

Ellie crawled on the bed and into Pete's open arms.

"I remember when Lizzy called me that. I still get goosebumps. I'm so glad Kimmy is able to experience the same thing I did."

"I'm glad too," added Pete. "And just in time for their adoption court date next month."

"Yeah."

"He called Russ 'dad' yet?" asked Pete as he absentmindedly stroked Ellie's arm.

"Kimmy didn't say."

"Oh."

"I guess maybe not, but I suspect it won't be long. Or maybe he has already and Kimmy was so jealous she didn't say," Ellie smirked, laughing at her sister's jealous tendencies.

"Well, if he hasn't, I'll have to say I'm surprised. I always thought he got along better with Russ than Kim."

"Maybe he 'pulled a Lizzy'. You know, since she called me 'mom' first," teased Ellie.

"Hey!" protested Pete. "Not fair. She called me 'dad' just a day after."

"Yeah, but I still win."

Pete swatted her arm. Ellie laughed.

"You think maybe Lizzy said something to him?" asked Pete.

"To Caleb? I wouldn't put it past her. She seems so content here. It would be understandable for her to want her cousin to feel the same. And remember she was equally guarded, maybe more," Ellie sighed. "I'm just glad we're here, finally."

"Me too," added Pete.

The two fell silent while they prepared for the conversation they knew was coming.

"So," started the husband. "Here we are."

"Here we are," repeated Ellie.

Pete took a deep breath.

"With kids who need more help than we had initially thought."

Ellie stayed silent.

"Last night, with Juan, I just…" Pete trailed off.

Ellie squeezed his middle in response.

Pete shook his head. "I don't want to see him like that again."

"Me neither," breathed Ellie.

"I've been so angry all day. I just want to go up to Carla and scream at her face."

"I know honey, but we have to have empathy for her. She didn't know, either."

"Yeah but what kind of horrible mother do you have to be to not know what the hell's going on with your kid? To be so high and not even notice the damage being done to your son. I just… I'm just about ready to press charges."

"No, honey, no. Let's focus on getting our boy some help first."

Pete sighed.

"I think it's more than just Juan at this point. Remember what he told me about Lita's obsession with potato chips? She may be the one with the least memories from before, but her past is still clearly affecting her. And Lizzy's self-harming?"

"I know," said Ellie.

"D'you know if she's done that again?" he asked.

"Not that I know of. I've spoken to her about it a couple times, she swears she hasn't cut since then. Even showed me her arms and legs. But I know what it's like, and how easy it is to fall back into it."

"Yeah well, I'd rather make sure that doesn't happen again."

"I know."

"Maybe it's better this way. All of them getting help, instead of Juan being singled out."

"Yeah well, all of them need it, to various degrees."

There was a silence while they gathered their thoughts.

"So. We thinking therapy?" asked Pete.

"Yeah. I looked up some options earlier today. There's a counselling programme that we can do with Terrance county. It's special for kids up to the ages of 18 who have experienced trauma, and because our kids come from foster care, they qualify for a reduced rate. But there's also private therapy. I think their insurance covers some of it, too."

"I don't care how much it costs," said Pete. "I just want my kids to get the help they need. To be okay."

Ellie leaned into his hug. "I feel like such a horrible mother we didn't do anything about it before."

"Hey, hey," Pete pulled them apart so he could look at his wife. "You're not a horrible mother, not by a long shot. And we have done a lot. We've scrapped off their emotional popcorn ceilings, installed countertops in the form of love and self-esteem, given them a new coat of paint. I mean those kids are completely different to the ones we met a year ago."

Ellie laughed and punched him in the chest. "Stop talking about our kids as if they were houses."

Pete smiled. "But seriously, our kids are doing amazing. Juan stopped crying all the time, Lizzy actually has a smile on her face most days, Lita is not as rowdy as when we first met her. They all listen to us, come to us for problems. They know we love them and will support them no matter what. They're happy. They're thriving. They just need a little bit extra help with the trauma stuff. And I think it's better to do it now that they trust us and they know we're not doing this to get rid of them."

"You think?"

"Yeah. This way, therapy can go into the areas they really need it in. I mean, could we have started sooner? Sure, but did we know what they needed help with? Not until now."

Ellie nodded, agreeing with him.

Both of them fell silent for a while, thinking things over

"I don't know if I want Lizzy to meet with Carla ever again," said Pete, finally breaking the silence.

"I know, honey," started Ellie. "I feel the same way. But we have to let her. She's her birth mom. She's always going to be a part of Lizzy. Our daughter deserves to have access to her past. And we need to have empathy for Carla for that."

"Finding it really hard to do that," snarked Pete.

"We have to try. Remember Carla is a product of the system. She never had anybody to show her how to care for herself, much less three kids."

"You sound just like Sharon."

Ellie gave him a sad smile. "Believe me, the last thing I want is to allow Carla to hurt any of our kids again. But that's not going to happen. Juan and Lita won't see her again. It's just Lizzy. And she doesn't want a close relationship with Carla, either. So we're talking twice, maybe three times a year, tops. We can do that for our kid, can't we?"

Pete pursed his lips and looked away, wrestling with his emotions.

After a while, he added: "Do you think we can find this son of a bitch? Make him pay for what he did to our son?"

"I don't know," admitted Ellie. "I mean he may already be in prison for drug charges."

"Yeah well I want him to be held accountable on all charges. I don't want the scumbag to have a reason to get out."

"I know but babe, we don't know if it's possible to press charges against him, or if it's what the kids need right now. Specially Juan. Suppose we ask Sharon and Karen to find him, they do and it turns out he's not already in prison. It would mean months, if not years, of meetings, psych evals, court dates, lawyer visits. Juan would have to testify. I don't know if I want that for our little boy. I don't know if he wants that, if it's good for him. We do need to tell Sharon and Karen, to have it on record, but I'd rather talk to a therapist first before we do anything. And we tell Lizzy before any of that. She deserves to know."

Pete hugged Ellie closer and kissed the top of her head, knowing she was right.

It was going to be a hard few months for all of them, and a lot of difficult conversations were going to happen. But as husband and wife held each other close, they knew one thing for sure: whatever happened next, they would be there for their children, and would face whatever new challenges came up together, as the team they were.