'And where,' Mart stressed the word, 'are you intending to go. It's a little after midnight.'

He'd kept his tone deathly low, eyes narrowed on his sister and expression as calm as possible. Noting the nurse in the background, she gave him the once over and the benefit of doubt. Deciding to let the siblings play this one out until the doctor arrived, Martin Belden couldn't be sure how much time he had. Not allowing his apprehension to show, Mart drew his posture up to his full height of five feet nine. Trixie and Jim, forced to stop in order to hear Mart, wore astounded expressions.

'At this time,' he reiterated before Trixie or Jim could get a word in edgewise, 'you have very few options as I'm sure you're aware. I've done everything I can to make the media interest disappear as fast as possible. It's still going to take weeks before both of you can show your faces in public and not get mobbed. After spending years living alone, I don't think that's something either of you want.'

'Let's say, by some miracle the doctors allowed you to discharge, where exactly are you planning to go?' Mart demanded. An expression of astonishment passed between the young couple. 'You don't have a cent between you, not readily available anyway. A lot has changed since you were abducted. Did you know your parents don't live in Sleepyside anymore, Jim?'

'No,' the red haired young man swallowed hard. 'We thought, well living at Manor House might be a possibility, until we can build on Ten Acres.'

'Senator Matthew Wheeler spends most of his time between Washington and New York,' obviously playing to their dazed expression, Mart continued. 'Manor house has been closed up for close to three years. Honey and Di transferred to a private girl's high school in New York so they could be protected more easily. The fear your abduction created caused our parents to severely limit the freedom for the rest of the Bob Whites. We all suffered because of Jonesy's need for revenge. It changed the direction of lives in ways none of us would have thought possible. Did you know Brian's dropped out of medicine?' Watching the stunned expression on Trixie and Jim's face as he continued to force the realisations that others' lives had also changed, Mart lowered his tone further. 'We all go to school in New York and live in the same apartment building, well except Di whose at Vassar.'

Swallowing hard, Trixie finally managed to get Jamie's response to a low moaning sob. A pleading expression coloured her eyes, turning her usual azure blue a stormy grey. 'It not about us,' she tried to communicate, 'our children don't need this. Jamie needs to be surrounded by quiet and as few people as possible. Mart, this place, the sounds, the sensations, the people, they terrify him.'

'Let's start,' Mart offered, 'by getting you all into that single room Mr Wheeler arranged. You realise it probably cost him the funding for a new wing.'

Nodding, Jim wore a look of defeat. He'd forgotten how this world worked. In the Hell Hole they didn't have need for money or politics. 'But not,' he stated, the look of sheer determination in his green gaze clashing with Mart, 'without Katie. I don't care what rules there are, we're not leaving here without our daughter. Trust is something Trix and I ran out of a long time ago.'

'You're not the only ones,' Mart managed, barely able to hide his smile. 'I promise you, there will be hell to pay for what happened to you. When you're ready, I've made a video file I think will interest you.'

'We don't want revenge,' Trixie managed, staring into eyes matching hers. 'We want the chance to live anonymously with our children.'

'You will have that, eventually. Right now this isn't all about you, Trix,' before she could protest, Mart held out his hand asking to be heard. Jim's finger to his lips requested Trixie stop and listen. 'It's so much bigger than you could ever have imagined. We've all suffered and lost parts of ourselves finding out why you disappeared. This footage will fill in a lot of blanks. You have three and a half years to catch up on. All I'm asking is for you and Jim to watch it at some time over the next few days.'

Taking their silence as agreement, Mart took in a deep, fortifying breath. 'There is something else I need to tell you before you hear it from the media. Honey and I are engaged.'

'But,' Trixie's blue eyes speared her husbands. They mirrored his astounded expression. 'Brian,' she finally managed to get out.

'I told you we'd all changed, Trix,' Mart looked a little embarrassed. 'Honey's been my rock. I know this is a big surprise, but I can't live without her and I know Honey feels the same way. You'll see what I mean when you watch the video.'

Not sure what to say, a stilted silence encompassed the group. In the background, crying babies began to resettle as the nursing staff went about their jobs. Mart cringed, wondering if any of them would report this. He needed to control the media interest surrounding Jim and Trixie's discovery. It meant readjusting his timetable. With four hours left until he and Honey needed to be on set for the breakfast show, he wouldn't get much sleep tonight.

'Excuse me,' the nurse broke the taught atmosphere, indicating the approaching doctor.

'I'm Dr Nigel Blackwater, your daughters attending,' he offered a hand to the young parents clutching their daughter while speaking in a soft voice.

Reeling from the events which took on a life of their own, Trix turned her gaze to Jim. It silently asked what they should do. Shrugging, she understood his message. So far they didn't have enough information to make an informed decision. At least they trusted Mart who seemed to have a better handle on the situation and their best interests at heart.

'I understand you're unhappy about leaving your daughter in the nursery overnight,' he continued in the same disarming tone.

Rolling his eyes, Mart offered in a tone laced liberally with sarcasm, 'I guess you could say that.'

Attempting to make the young couple open up, he sent Martin Belden a quelling look. 'Mrs Frayne, I'd like to talk to you about your little girl's birth if you feel up to it? Then we'll be able to make a plan.'

Caught unprepared by the soft, consoling tone, Trixie found herself nodding in agreement. Starting slowly, the doctor proved he had years of experience as he approached the bed and began asking beguine questions. Before they realised, Trixie and Jim told him everything about Katie's conception and birth. Mart stood in the background, listening intently and watched the child in his sister's arms slowly decrease the tone and volume of his whimpers. Eventually he fell into an exhausted slumber.

'So,' Dr Blackwater reiterated fifteen minutes later, 'you realised you were pregnant about Christmas time. Initially your signs and symptoms were the same as the first pregnancy and didn't give you any trouble Mrs Frayne. Only once you started to experience difficulties with your food supply did you noticed subtle differences but nothing to alarm you. It sound's fair, that you put these things down to your situation and not a multiple birth.'

'They said Katie came early,' Trixie looked worriedly down at her daughter, still in Jim's arms. While she looked tiny against the other babies in the nursery, Trix didn't perceive any difference from Jamie at the same age.

'I don't think she's as premature as we first thought,' Nigel smile. 'You think Jamie might have been the same size at birth?'

'No,' Jim stated, 'he was bigger but not much. I remember measuring him against my arm.' Pointing from the tip to a position half way up his forearm, he added, 'I don't think he could have weighted more than four and a half pounds, five at the most.'

'Do either of you know your birth weight?' asked the doctor.

'Mom's will know,' Trixie volunteered, while Jim shrugged.

'I'll get her from the waiting room,' Mart took off.

'Let me go and check her notes,' Nigel motioned to the nurses' station, 'then I'll do a quick examination. Do you think Katie could return to her humidicrib? That slight blue colour around her lips could mean she's getting cold. I'm sure you don't want anything to happen to her. Besides, you'll both be able to see her from here.'

A conspiring look passed between Jim and Trixie. Biting her lip in apprehension, Trixie nodded her head in agreement. Her eyes to follow every move the nurse made as she replaced the tiny bundle in the cot.

'I'm not leaving her here,' Trixie whispered to Jim, snuggling into his side.

'I don't want to either,' her husband, laid a hand on Jamie's back. The small child let out at grateful sigh. His green eyes opened, darted everywhere, unsure of everything until he saw his parents. Snuggling further into Trixie's leg, he fell back into a restless sleep. 'I don't see we have a choice. Katie's survived a traumatic birth. She's safe here. It's Jamie we need to nurture.'

'I know, it just,' pools of blue clouded with tears, 'I'm finding it so hard to trust anyone, even our families and I know they only want the best for us.'

Giving her one of his famous grins, Jim whispered in her ear, 'me too. I don't have the physical strength to do anything if the doctor forces us to leave her here. Trix, Mart's right. We don't have many choices. I guess we have to place our trust in our families to keep everyone safe.'

Waiting until the young parents calmed down, Nigel finally approached the forlorn family group. 'This is what I propose,' he started in a stern voice. He'd talked to Matthew Wheeler earlier in the afternoon, running the plan past the astute man. 'You, James Frayne, should be in a high dependency unit for at least another twenty four hours. Trixie, returning to the ICU is really in your best interests,' to keep their attention, Dr Blackwater intensified his gaze, 'and your daughter needs the specialised equipment to keep her body temperature up so she doesn't lose any weight.'

'In my experience, a child weighing less than five pounds at birth,' the doctor hesitate just long enough to get his message across, 'and delivered under the same circumstances as your daughter shouldn't have survived without medical aid.'

'Whenever he got cold,' Trixie's hand found the red hair of her sleeping son, stroking it softly, love infused the words, 'we all climbed into the bathing pool.'

'What temperature?' asked the astounded doctor.

'We always made sure it felt the same as our bodies,' Jim commented. 'We were imprisoned, not senseless to our son's needs. We learnt quickly.'

'I see,' Nigel scrutinized at the young pair. On closer inspection he noted the experience in their gaze, the familiarity in their movements. This young couple had been through horrors they'd never tell another living soul. He saw the incredibly tight bond as it almost shimmered in the air between them. 'I'm willing to let you all stay in the double room on the high dependency ward. Senator Wheeler has agreed to hire a neonatal nurse around the clock who'll work with the registered nurse assigned to your care. If any of you,' Nigel shook his finger at the pair, 'deteriorates, especially this innocent little girl, its back to ICU.' Waiting for the couple to give their consent, he finished by demanding, 'and you're all to consult with a psychiatrist tomorrow. While the level of distrust you're displaying is understandable, your situation has changed. I think you'll all benefit from the professional help.'

Jim's hand on Trixie's arm accompanied by a soft gaze spoke volumes. It made the woman reassess her options, taking into account her husband's wishes. 'I think we need it, Trix,' James Frayne spoke softly. 'We've got a lot of readjusting to do, individually and as a family. Maybe it'll help us cope.'

'It's very late in the morning. Give me half an hour to make the arrangements,' Nigel took a step away. 'In the meantime, we'll get you and your son back to your husband's room, Mrs Frayne. An orderly will be along shortly to take you in the bed. Jim can stay here with your daughter until the nurse prepares her crib for transport.'

At a few minutes to one in the morning, Trixie found herself settled into a pleasant room. It still had the feel of a hospital but at least the dimensions were closer to the sleeping cave. It would help with Jamie's culture shock when he woke in the morning and found both his parents surrounding him. With the lights turned down and only the illumination around the sides of the blinds, even she could pretend. Trixie Frayne wouldn't complain about the soft bed, warm blanket or indoor plumbing. There were some things she'd missed more than she realised.

The one regret she held while waiting for Jim, her family hadn't been allowed to accompany her to the room. Stopping for a few seconds on the way, the mother in Trixie finally saw the relief and devastation emanating off her family. Mart had been right, they'd all changed, been forced to adjust because of someone else's actions. Helen Belden, seeing her grandson for the first time mourned the ability to hold him. Trixie understood in a way she never would have before this started. Promising he'd be introduced to his grandparents as soon as possible, the young woman started to make plans for the future.

And that ladies and gentlemen is the long awaited end to the forth book. I'm working on Resolutions as you read.