Caleb paced back and forth at the edge of the blanket where Roger worked. "Are you sure that Flower is going to be okay?" He asked for what had to have been the seventh time.

Ever patient Roger just smiled. "This isn't so simple a matter as fresh water poisoning," he pointed out gently. "Edward was an easy fix, just needed some pressed ocean salt. I keep a bit around considering how close we are to the sea. I do still suspect he's got a couple complaints from whatever left him those fresh scars, but that can wait. You mortals tend to focus much more upon pain and injury. The shorter your life, the more you care about being hurt. In the span of a hundred years, what's a month of limping? But if you only live a month, well, a day is a significant amount of time to be injured."

Caleb had never had magical medical matters put so plainly before. "Is that why babies cry if they prick their fingers, but we don't?"

Roger nodded. "just that! For a baby, the pain of a prick seems to be much longer in the span of things than it seems to you. I am surprised this bird can even fly, what with having a wing in this state. There must be something more important than pain happening. I'll have your Flower mended up as best I can here in a moment, and then as soon as the bird is rested, we shall see if we can't retrace the way back to what caused this mess."

Edward nuzzled Caleb gently. "Flower will be okay. Roger did a great job with me!"

Jake nodded his confirmation. "He's always patched up Lala and me! Sometimes even pap-" he choked on the last word and blinked rapidly to prevent the tears from falling. The young child forced a smile back onto his face and straightened his spine. "Roger says that lavender and chamomile can make people feel calmer. Grandma grows some out front! C'mon! Let's go make little bundles for mama and Lala to put under their pillows tonight!"

Caleb was reluctant to leave Flower, but Jake was insistent. The two boys headed around front together in silence. Jake was still trying to maintain his forced smile and Caleb was too worried about Rainbow and Flower to begin conversation. Both boys were so caught up in their own thoughts that, despite the lack of conversation, neither heard the angry conversation until they were nearly upon it.

"What are you doing here?" Sara's arms were crossed and her tone was harsh. The recent tragedy had dulled her patience for unpleasant matters and had sharpened her irritation.

Her son smiled sincerely back at her, his hand on his daughter's head. "Kay wanted to see her grandpa, and I brought gifts for the children. I had noticed that Jake and Skyla are without proper shoes. I thought to pick some up while I purchased some for my child. A man must take care of his family after all."

"We don't want your soiled gifts." Sara spat.

For a second, fury flashed across the man's face before he smoothed it back out. He bent down and kissed his daughter on the top of her head. "Go around back, Kay, my love. Grandma seems to have had a bad day. I'll speak with her. Go take your cousins their shoes. Skyla will love the pair you picked for her. The silver buttons were a good choice." Carefully he nudged Kayden in the direction that Jake and Caleb hid. He watched his daughter disappear around the corner before turning back to his mother.

"I will not allow you to bring around anything you've bought with criminal coins." Sara snarled.

"You will never speak of my activities in front of my daughter." The cold, firm words were enough to quiet even Sara's grief for a moment. "Kayden shall never know of, nor be involved with, anything that I do. And you shall never bring her attention to those matters. She is a good girl who wants to help her less fortunate cousins. Your pride may stop you from doing what it takes to keep them fed and cared for, but mine does not. My pride leads me to do what it takes to care for my family while father is away. I suppose now that he is home, you feel the children will no longer feel the soft fingers of hunger trailing through their dreams? Or do you truly believe he shall never leave us to hard times ever again?"

He scoffed and shook his head. "I am not so foolish, mother. Kayden does not know hunger, nor shall I allow my siblings children to. But she shall also never know how it is that I keep her life as good as it is. She does not need guilt tarnishing her young life." He tipped his head, a smile crossing his handsome features. "And you, you consider yourself too noble to be the one to destroy her dreams, aren't you? To tell a young girl who's mother abandoned her that the parent that cares for her, the one that loves her, is not as perfect as she thinks."