Lillya nodded gravely as she flipped the doll over. “They smooch everywhere. All the time.”

“Oh. It sounds painful.”

“I know, but it’s not.” Lillya let out a trying sigh. “Mommies and daddies grunt and moan a lot… they make all kinds of noises, especially at night. And they pray a lot, too. Real loud. But they okay when they do it.”

Gaping, Sumi pulled back from the kiss, horrified by what Lillya was actually talking about.

Hauk snorted as he caught her meaning, too. “Soundproof the bedroom and add extra monitors to Kalea’s room so that we can hear her and not the other way around. Oh, better yet! El?”

She appeared instantly. “Yes, Hauk?”

“I forgot to tell you last night that we have a new member in the household. Meet Kalea. Kalea, meet Eleron.”

El stared at the girl, who stared at her. “What is that?”

Hauk gave his computer an irritated glare. “My daughter.”

“And a lovely daughter she is. Hi, Kalea. I’m the house.”

Kalea looked around, confused. “The house?”

Eleron nodded.

Hauk grinned at Sumi. “I can set El to babysit and watch over her like a mother hen. She’ll even monitor her vitals. If her temp goes up one degree or her heart rate elevates, El will tell us.”

Sumi bit her lip as she remembered Thia’s words about her father’s paranoia. She now understood it completely.

Eleron stiffened. “I will not change nappies.”

Hauk rolled his eyes. “She’s not in nappies.”

“Oh. Good.”

Sumi paused as she considered all that. “By the way, how did Kyr get past her yesterday?”

“He found a back door in. But I closed it last night. I defy him to ever try again. Next time, it’ll light him up like a supernova.”

Desideria returned with an adorable pink swimdress that had butterflies sewn on. Their wings even flapped.

Kalea gasped as soon as she saw it. “It’s so pretty! Can I really wear it?”

Desideria nodded. “Absolutely.”

“I’ll wait outside.” Hauk went to stand in the hallway while they changed clothes on the girls.

“How is she doing?”

He turned to see his grandmother coming toward him. “She’s delighted.”

“And how are you?”

He wasn’t sure how to respond to her question. He was at the pinnacle of heaven and at the same time, the lowest pit of hell. He’d never been happier, and he’d never had so much to lose. The mere thought of it was crippling.

His grandmother patted his arm. “I know that look. It’s the same heart-stopping terror I had when your father told me that you and Keris had fallen down the mountain. And the joy in my heart when I learned you had lived… You’ve no idea how happy I was to know that you made it back to us.”