After getting Ivy dressed for bed following her bath, Amanda led her back down the hall to get her tucked into bed. "Story..." Ivy gestured to the well-worn Oz book.

"How about I tell you a different one?" Amanda suggested. "About a real-life wizard?"

"Really?" the girl's eyes danced excitedly.

"Really. You see, there was this wizard and he was looking for..." Amanda paused as she tried to think of the right words to make it kid-friendly. "Hmm...let's call them wicked witches and this wizard just like the one in the book...he wanted to make Oz a safer place by getting rid of the wicked witches, but he needed some help. And he met this young man who was raised by just his uncle because his parents died when he was only a little boy. He was a little reckless and got himself into trouble pretty regularly."

As she told her story, she smiled as Sunny returned from the bathroom, but hovered hesitantly in the doorway. "Hi, I was just telling Ivy a story. Come on in and join us," Amanda said invitingly as she patted the empty spot on the bed beside Ivy.

The girl still hovered until Ivy piped up excitedly, "It's a story about a real wizard!'

"There's no such thing," Sunny scoffed.

"Oh, but there really is. I know him personally," Amanda informed her. "His real name is Paul."

Sunny shot Amanda a 'gimme a break' look, but when she glanced at her sister's happier face, she relented and climbed into bed with her. "So, the guy got in trouble all the time?"

"Yes, he did. In fact, the young man got into trouble so much that The Wizard told him that he acted like he didn't have a brain, but still The Wizard was smart enough to know that it was all an act because he was just so unhappy and The Wizard knew what a good guy he really was and still wanted the young man to help him on his quest to find the wicked witches. From that day on, he called him Scarecrow."

Sunny nodded as she recalled Lee telling her that his work nickname was Scarecrow. "So, what happened next?"

"Well, when Scarecrow started working with the Wizard, he met this beautiful girl with brown hair..."

"Dorothy!" Ivy cheered.

"That's right," Amanda smiled. "Dorothy. The Wizard had asked for her help too and things were going along just fine and they were 'this' close to finding the evil witches when they found out that the Tin Man had betrayed them and instead of helping their cause, was really working for the wicked witches."

"'Cause he doesn't have a heart," Sunny interjected with a hint of sadness in her voice.

"Yeah. And it wasn't until it was too late that Scarecrow learned about it...many years later, in fact. He just knew they'd been betrayed because poor Dorothy...she...well, she got hurt."

"Like when the wicked witch kidnapped her in the book?"

"Sort of, but it was worse. Unfortunately, Dorothy died and Scarecrow, well, he blamed himself for a long time until he finally learned the truth about how heartless Tin Man actually was."

"That's a stupid story," Sunny complained. "Stories are supposed to have a happy ending."

"But this is a real-life story," Amanda pointed out. "And I'm sure you know that real-life stories don't always have a happy ending."

"Yeah," she nodded in acknowledgement.

"But, this one does," Amanda added. "You see, Scarecrow met someone new...let's call her Glinda." She smiled as she thought of how some of her co-workers had called her just that as she continued, "Well, Glinda, being the good witch that she is, she saw how sad and scared our Scarecrow was and she was determined to find the perfect healing spell for him to mend his hurts and help him to live a normal life after all the tragedy he'd suffered through."

Enraptured by Amanda's tale, Sunny asked, "Did she find one?"

"Oh, yes. It took her a couple of years of searching to find just the right magic to do it, but in the end she realized she was looking in all the wrong places..." She placed her hand over her heart. "Because the right kind of magic was right here all along."

"Like the Grinch," Ivy chimed in.

"Sort of," Amanda replied.

"No, Silly," Sunny corrected her sister. "It's like the story with Glinda telling Dorothy that she always had the power to go home if she wanted to right in her own heart."

"Exactly! Except in this case, it was helping Scarecrow see just how important a home was to him because he never really had one of his own."

"Hmmm...this story's about Lee, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is. How'd you know that?"

"He told me his nickname's Scarecrow and that he was an orphan like us and that he was raised by his uncle. And you...you're Glinda in the story?"

"Yep. You see, when I first met Lee, he was a lot like you. He was hurting a lot and scared too."

"I'm not scared of anything," Sunny protested.

Amanda continued despite the girl's outburst, "But Lee, he pretended he wasn't scared by acting tough and that's what got him into trouble all the time. It wasn't until he had people around him who showed him how much they cared that he started to drop the tough act and just be a person again instead of acting like the brainless Scarecrow, so you see, it doesn't always matter how much someone hurts inside if they can just find that one magic spell to help heal the hurt."

"I couldn't have done it without having my very own Glinda, the Good Witch," Lee commented from the doorway with an affectionate smile directed toward his wife as he entered the room. "And the munchkins," he added with a nod to the girls.

"You mean Phillip and Jamie, right?" Sunny asked.

"Not just them," he replied with a smile at her. "You see, Scarecrow's story didn't end there. He still had to learn every day how to give back some of what Glinda taught him to other people."

"So, how does the story really end?"

"I don't know yet. We're still writing it as we go along." He reached for Amanda's hand and gave it a light squeeze.

Amanda smiled at him and then looked back at the girls. "I think that's enough storytelling for the night. It's getting late so you girls should get some sleep and we'll work on writing more of this story in the morning."

"No!" Ivy protested. "More story!"

"Tomorrow, okay? We'll know where the story leads next tomorrow. Sleep tight and I'll see you in the morning." She rose from the bed and turned off the bedside lamp.

As she and Lee left the room and closed the door behind them, she inquired, "So, how long were you standing there?"

"Long enough," he answered with a shrug. "That was pretty clever of you using my story. I think you might have actually gotten through to her a bit."

"I hope so." Her brow furrowed as her thoughts began whirling again regarding the children.

"I know that look. You're still worried." He wondered if he should tell her what he learned from Glenn. He knew she wanted to know more about what was going on with the orphans, but he also didn't want to worry her even more.

"I have reason to be," she explained as they entered the living room. "This situation with the kids is so much worse than we could have imagined." As she sank down on the sofa, she blinked back the tears that had formed in her eyes over the thought that anyone could even think of hurting such a sweet little girl like Ivy.

"Amanda, what is it?"

"It's Ivy." She went on to detail what she'd seen when giving her a bath.

"Yeah, I know," he nodded sadly. "It's even worse than that though." He laid out his entire chat with Glenn.

After comparing notes, Amanda questioned, "But what are we going to do about it? If we report the abuse to the police, what guarantee do we have that they'd do anything about it when the foster parents have filed their own report and Ivy denies it happened? It would be just our word against theirs."

"Plus, chances are good that they'd just ship the kids right back where they came from. So, maybe we don't go to the police. Maybe we go straight to Social Services."

"But wouldn't that amount to the same thing? Social Services would probably want to just send them back too."

"Not necessarily...not if we...if we..." He stammered as he tried to figure out how to get his thoughts out.

"If we what?" She wondered if he was thinking the same thing she was.

"Well, what if we petitioned them for temporary custody of the kids until a real investigation could be done on the foster parents?"

"Lee, I-"

He cut her off before she could protest. "Before you say 'no' just hear me out. We're already taking care of them and we're getting to the point where they're starting to trust us and we already talked about maybe adopting a kid and I know we never talked about adopting three kids, but what the hell are we buying that big damn house for if it's not for something like this? We already know we'll have two extra rooms and-"

"Lee, stop!"

"Amanda, please. Just think about it before you tell me I'm crazy."

"Lee, really, stop! I'm not saying 'no' and I'm not telling you you're crazy. I was thinking the same thing, but my only worry is what the boys will think of the idea. They've been through so much change lately and this would be just one more thing. Even though you and I agree, I think we really need to get their thoughts on it too."

"Right. You're right, of course. We'll talk to them about it first thing in the morning."

"You don't have to wait until morning," Phillip added as he and his brother entered the room. "We kinda' wanted to talk to you about the same thing."

"Yeah," Jamie nodded in agreement.

"So, how do you guys feel about all this?" Lee asked with an apprehensive look.

"We were just talking, Phillip and me, and we agreed that it would be really sad if they spent the whole week with us and then still had no real home when we've got so much. It would just hurt them even more once we leave."

"So, you're saying you want us to make them a part of our family?" Amanda questioned skeptically. "Both of you?" She cast a worried glance to Phillip.

"Well, you kinda' already did that by letting them stay here," Phillip responded matter-of-factly. "We just think you should make it official."

"Yeah, then maybe you guys would stop fighting about having another kid too because then you'd have three new kids," Jamie added.

"I'll tell you what," Amanda began. "Now that we have your input, I think Lee and I need to talk about it just a little more...you know, about what to do next, so why don't you go on to bed and we'll let you know in the morning what we decided, okay?'

Both boys nodded and went their separate ways, pleased that they hadn't had to beg and plead for their parents to consider it.

"How do you like that?" Lee commented with a smile, his heart swelling with pride at the thoughtfulness of his stepsons.

"Yeah."

"Well, it looks like your worries about the boys were unfounded. For all your mothering, maybe you don't know as much about them as you think. Is that uncanny mom radar of yours broken?" he teased her. When she didn't make a sarcastic comment back or even crack a smile, his own smile faded. "And you're still worried."

She nodded. "A little," she admitted. "I mean, it's great that our family agrees and all. I think it's wonderful, but what about their little family? We may have all agreed that we want to keep them in our lives, but what if they don't? What if they see it as just more grown-ups interfering? You told me that Glenn said Sunny runs away all the time and we've already figured out that he'll pretty much follow her, so what if...well, what if you're right? What if my 'mom radar' is broken? What if I'm seeing something in these kids that just isn't there?"

"Hey," he wrapped his arms around her to comfort her. "You know I was only kidding about that."

"But what if it's true? I can't help thinking about all the arguments I made about having a baby that were mostly about my career. What if I really have been selfish in focusing so much on my success on the job that I've failed at my most important job of all?" She mentally kicked herself for the statement she'd made about wanting more from her life than just being a mother and it hit her now just why Lee had called her selfish over it.

Lee pulled back to meet her eyes. "Amanda, stop. Stop second-guessing yourself. You have not failed as a mother. You're the most amazing mom I've ever seen in my life."

"Oh, because you have so much experience in that area," she retorted sarcastically.

"Ouch." A wounded look crossed his face. "Maybe I don't since I did grow up without my mom, but dammit, Amanda, why do you think Phillip and Jamie chose to stay with you for Christmas instead of the more exciting tour of Europe with their dad? And why do you think I wanted us to have a kid of our own, huh? Because you are good at it. Any kid would be lucky to have you as a mother and that's what I wanted for my own kids. If Sunny can't see that, then she doesn't deserve you."

"Do you really think so?"

"No, Amanda, I know so."

"Thank you." She nodded.

"I'm the silver lining guy, remember?" he teased as he recalled the scary night they'd spent trapped in a swamp together.

Finally, Amanda laughed. "Yes, you are." She felt her spirits lift at her husband's faith in her and she began to feel a bit more positive about the situation knowing that her own children were on board. She just hoped that things would continue to work out and that her fears about the orphans not wanting them were just as unfounded as her fears about the boys.