When they arrived at Dr. Kastner's, Kaho turned to Mimi, "Please ask Jason and the twins to come as soon as they can get free from their current client. I'll be needing Ailin too please. There's no way I can handle this on my own."

Mimi nodded, and slipped onto the driver's seat as Sven picked Mama up and followed Kaho inside. Dr. Kastner was chatting with someone in the front room. Sven kept walking toward the treatment rooms in the back. Kaho, who was still scowling, spoke in a low voice, "Very difficult case. Others will come to help." Then she followed Sven into the rear of the building.

Sven had already laid Mama on a table in one of the small treatment rooms that, besides the table, held only a pool that was designed to hold two people. Kaho bowed and murmured, "Once again I thank you for your help and willingness to take time from your studies."

Sven shrugged his shoulders. Then he hit her with a "sometimes you can be incredibly silly" expression, and patted her gently on the head, after which he nodded and exited the room. While she waited for the others, Kaho helped Mama out of her clothes and did a more thorough examination. When she finished she sighed. It was going to be difficult, but not nearly as much as healing Mario had been. At least this one didn't have an infection on top of everything else.

What her underlying problem was still wasn't clear, but what she could already see needed doing was more than enough for the first session anyway.

(While we're waiting for Ailin, Jason, Hibiki, and Yoko, I supposed I should answer the question you haven't asked yet. Which is: "How is it that you know what happened prior to your birth?"

The answer is: She was going to be our mother. We had a vested interest in her not only surviving, but being healthy enough to handle us while we were children. Not to mention that we loved her and hated to see her in pain.

So, yes, we were watching everything and had been ever since we were certain that we weren't going to be miscarried.)

Time passed, everyone arrived, with Jason entering last, making sure that the door was firmly latched. They didn't want anyone seeing what was about to happen. They all took the same positions as they had when Kaho had healed Mario, only this time she had her hands positioned differently. Mama's legs weren't the main problem at the moment. Kaho put her right hand over Mama's pubic bone, and the left she cupped over Mama's throat.

They did cover Mama's face with a damp towel though, telling her to keep her eyes closed and that breathing the moisture from the spring would help heal her lungs.

This made the sixth time they'd done a joint healing, so Kaho said nothing before she began, knowing that the others would feed her however much energy she needed. This time Mimi and Ailin even managed to keep their human forms throughout the process.

When they were finished, Jason, Mimi, and Ailin slipped out of the room before Kaho took the towel off Mama's face. "Ah, look, it's embarrassing, but I don't know your name."

Mama smiled and whispered back, "It's Mei. I know. It sounds odd me being Mei Witherspoon, but mother said that she loved the name, so here I am."

Kaho replied, "One of the meanings of Mei is 'bright'. It certainly matches that lovely honey-blonde hair you have."

Then more briskly, "I know that you're feeling better, but you have a long way to go, both for yourself and for your baby. It felt like twins at first, but it's definitely a singleton. Anyway, let's get you into the pool to soak. Yoko and Hibiki will be joining you. They need regular soaks to make sure that their babies are healthy too, so they can help themselves while they help you keep your head above water."

Mama looked confused. "Soaking helps a baby?"

Kaho nearly blew up again. Hadn't Mei's parents told her anything at all about what the waters of the spring could do?

"Ah. Yes. Soaking in the water from the spring in the center of town can significantly increase the chance of a healthy pregnancy and also helps with curing wounds and sickness. It won't do the whole job, but it helps...a lot. Which is why I was so upset with your parents. If they'd had you soaking twice a day starting when you were a baby, you'd be a lot healthier."

Kaho shook her hands as if there were water droplets on them. "But that's a discussion for later. Right now I want the three of you in the pool there. I know it's made for two, but that assumed two burly men. With all three of you on the small side, you should fit just fine, even with both of them being pregnant too.

She looked directly at Mama. "You're still not strong enough to sit up by yourself without falling over once your muscles relax, so we'll have one of them on each side of you. I'll be back in half an hour. We don't want to overdo it the first time."

With that she whisked herself out of the room, leaving the twins to get themselves undressed and then to help Mama into the pool.

(Just for completeness' sake, I guess I should mention that this Yoko person was six months along and Hibiki was at three months. Once we were born and had gotten to know the family, we heard Yoko say once, when she didn't know we were listening, that "Biki may have won on our wedding night, but I won the rock-paper-scissors when we matched to see which of us would be the first to get pregnant.")

After Yoko and Hibiki helped Mama into the pool, they settled down on either side of her and Yoko took her hands.

"As usual Kaho left just a little bit out, seeing as how she didn't introduce us. I'm Yoko Fukui, and that's my sister Hibiki on your other side. Our husband Jason is probably sitting out front with Dr. Kastner and Kaho, ah...right...Dr. Kaho Fukui. She's Jason's older sister."

Mama just sat there for a minute then, "Oh, I see. I didn't know that you could marry two people. Do most people do that?"

Hibiki muffled a snicker. They hadn't been told anything at all about Mama. They'd just rushed over when Kaho's message had reached them.

"Be quiet Biki. Let's start this gentle-like. I don't think she knows anything much about anything."

"Right with you Yoko. I was not going to say anything rude or condescending, and I shall not."

"Uh, Mei. Kaho didn't tell us much about you. Am I right if I guess that you've not been well enough to go outside, maybe for a long time?"

Mama sighed. "No. Not for a very long time. I don't think I've been able to walk outside the house since I was around four, so ever since then I've pretty much stayed in my room. If it weren't for the books Mother brought me, I think I'd have gone crazy by now."

Yoko's eyes lit up when Mama mentioned reading. "Tell me Mei, what kinds a books do ya like ta read."

"Hmm. Well, to tell the truth I mostly like two kinds. First there's romance novels. Since I'll never have a romance being like this," she gestured at herself, "I could at least imagine what it might be like to have a lover.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

"Besides that, what I like to read most.... Please don't laugh. Papa says it's not a thing that women should involve themselves with...but I like, no I LOVE reading about history."

After saying that she hung her head in expectation of being soundly criticized by the two young women with her who obviously were very traditional, what with both of them being married and pregnant and all. What she wasn't prepared for was Hibiki leaping to her feet and pointing at her sister, then doubling over laughing.

Mama looked completely bewildered. Obviously she had no idea what she'd said to prompt such a response. Fortunately, Yoko answered her question and put her at ease at the same time.

"How should I put it without offending? Let's just say that your father's attitude is somewhat old-fashioned. The reason my chortling sib is laughing so hard is that I'm training ta be a teacher...of history."

"No! Really?"

"Yes. Really. In fact our husband's mother is a full professor of history at Ingvold Academy. It's the most prestigious school in The City. Not only that, Duchess Henrietta is funding a number of historical research studies at Ingvold because she loves history too."

Yoko leaned forward and looked directly into Mama's eyes. "So, no, I see absolutely nothing at all wrong with you enjoying history."

Mama had leaned forward when Yoko did and their faces were only about 10 cm apart. She fell back against the side of the pool and whispered, "Oh my."

She sat there for several minutes, and the twins assumed that she'd finished talking. Suddenly she sat bolt upright, and her face was contorted with anger. "If that's true, what else have they told me that's a lie, or wrong, and, for that matter, what didn't they tell me AT ALL?"

After that she whispered softly, "There are about to be some changes, and I don't think that my family will like them very much."

She turned to Hibiki and then Yoko. "I'm sorry. I don't wish for my family problems to intrude upon you. You've been so kind as to come here to help me. Let's talk about something more pleasant, shall we?"

I expect that if Mama had been sitting in someone's parlor she would have used her hands to smooth down the front of her dress when she said that, but she wasn't so she didn't. Instead she asked, "You both look very young, you're even smaller than I am, and I know that I"m very short. Should you even BE pregnant at your ages? I know I don't know all that much about it, but I read that having a baby before you're at least 18 isn't all that good an idea."

Yoko grinned back at her. "Truly, we're below average in size, but not unusually so. From where we sit, you're pretty much average height for someone living here. Now Kaho out there," she pointed with her chin in the approximate direction, "is the tallest women I've ever seen.

"Speaking of which, how old are you Mei?"

"Me? Oh, I'm 19."

Hibiki clapped her hands together, "How about that. So are we! What's your birthday?"

"It's June 19th."

The next thing Mama knew, Yoko and HIbiki had slid under water and streams of bubbles were rising from below. Once again she had no idea what was going on, but she'd seen both of them slap their hands over their mouths right before, so she assumed that nothing bad had happened to them.

Before Mama could figure out what she should do, if anything, the twins burst ouf of the water and wrapped their arms around her.

"If we believed in coincidences...."

"And we don't..."

"We'd say it was pure chance that you were born on the same day that we were."

"But knowing what we do, we'd have to say..."

"That a certain someone has been meddling again."

Mama had looked back and forth at the twins as they completed each other's sentences, enough so that her neck was getting sore. She wasn't accustomed to sitting up and supporting her own head for very long.

"Do you think it's about time ta ask her?"

"Yeah, the mood is good, and now might be best. If she never left her room, how did she get pregnant, right?"

"Indeed. I think I'd be the best one ta ask, since we have a shared interest, don't ya think?"

"Agreed. Go for it Yoko. I shall have your back. I always do."

Yoko leaned back so she could see Mama clearly. "Ah. Mei. You said that you haven't been outside of your house since you were four, so, ah, how did you manage to get pregnant?"

When she'd been asked before, by her family, she'd been unable to speak. But she was still light-headed from the healing and the soaking, and, for the first time in her life, she felt that she truly had made real friends. She didn't understand what they meant about "someone meddling," but the thought of them all being born on the same day and being pregnant at the same time somehow relaxed all her inhibitions.

"Oh. That. Actually it was sort of a mistake. Since I 'knew' that I wasn't going to live all that long, I asked Mother to arrange for some nice man to ah 'visit' me and show me what the lovemaking I'd read about in my romances was all about."

Mama giggled. "She looked totally shocked when I asked her, but, after I'd explained my reasoning, she looked more sad than anything else. About a month later she brought home a young man and introduced us. He came to chat several times, then, one day about four months ago, she left the room and he stayed. Then, well, you obviously know what happened.

"I didn't expect to get pregnant though. After all it was only that one time."

She patted her stomach fondly. "But I guess once is all it takes, right? I hope I live long enough to have a healthy baby. I haven't even seen her, but I already love her so much. Surely someone will be willing to love her after I die."

At that point Yoko and Hibiki totally lost it. They wrapped their arms around Mei and bawled like babies.

The sound was loud enough that it penetrated even to the sitting area in the front of the house. Kaho sprang to her feet, expecting the worst, but Jason grabbed her wrist. "Don't worry Sis, it's OK. Yoko and Biki say that they'll explain later. They also said that the only way that Mei is going to return to that "hell hole she calls her home" will be over their dead bodies. They won't tell me exactly what happened, but it seems that it, no, not 'it', a lot of things were pretty awful for her when she was growing up."

Jason pondered a bit then his face lit up. "Ailin, will you please come here when you can spare a moment?"

Three minutes later there was a knock on the door. Dr. Kastner had left to see a patient, so Kaho, being his associate, let Ailin in.

Jason stood. "Thank you for coming. Will you please tell mother the basic outline of what's happened to Mei here? It probably won't hurt to mention that she likes history just as much as Yoko does. Then ask her if she and father will allow Mei to live in that spare bedroom in the back of the house. I expect that Kaho will be much happier knowing that she's living in a safe environment. Besides, this way she'll be able to check on Mei frequently."

He turned to Kaho. "You WILL need to check on her frequently, won't you?"

Kaho nodded and a gigantic grin spread across her face. "Yes, that would be wise. You've gotten pretty glib little brother. Not many could have come up with that good of a sob story on such short notice."

She turned to Ailin. "Ailin, if you don't mind, please tell mother that I wholeheartedly agree with Jason. Oh, and also please ask Sergeant Rivers to stop by here as soon as possible. I think that if mother and father have even a slight disinclination to let Mei stay with us, knowing that her entire family has just been arrested for abuse will persuade them.

"But don't mention that unless you feel that it's necessary. Let's not give her even more work to do than she already has."

"Indeed. Yes Miss Kaho. I shall be on my way."

Ailin spun around smoothly and strode out the door. Twenty minutes later Sergeant RIvers knocked and entered. Over the next hour she proved that she deserved her position as second-in-command of the Duchess' Guard. She didn't say a single word, but it was apparent that she was becoming more and more angry. It took her no time at all to leap to a number of possible conclusions when she heard the part about Mei never leaving home yet still becoming pregnant in spite of not having any male friends.

Before she could explode, Jason interjected, "Please relax Sargeant, at least somewhat. I can say with absolute confidence that neither her older brothers nor her father were responsible. My wives won't tell me the circumstances, but that much is clear. It definitely wasn't forced. It was her personal choice to become involved with a man, though she hadn't considered pregnancy as a consequence.

"Yes I know that she should have, but after working with you on so many cases, I know how often girls forget about such things in the heat of the moment.

"That being said, for possibly the first time in my life, I find myself very, very angry."

Kaho turned to the sergeant. "Do you need any other information Sandy?"

Sergeant Rivers stood and prepared to leave. "No. If my investigation confirms what you've said, I doubt that any of them will even insist on a trial. A jury won't just convict them, they'll probably push the judge to exceed the maximum possible sentence somehow. I just wonder if they'll ever comprehend the immensity of what they've done to her. You have to be incredibly dense, or vicious, to continue abusing someone in that manner for so many years."

"Well, whichever it is, we'll find out...and I'd best get to it. I expect that the hardest part of this will be keeping the Duchess and Miranda from going ballistic."

There was a twinkle in her eye as she added, "Fortunately I can leave that part to my brother since he's the Captain of the Guard. It's high time for him to earn his not so prodigious salary."

She bowed slightly. "If you'll excuse me."

Not waiting for an answer she let herself out.