“Cooper, please,” Mother Karen said. “I’m against the magebane, too, but we don’t have the resources to care for them all properly. It’s been just a few days and I’ve barely slept, and my other kids are starting to wonder where I’ve gone. No offense, but I’ve been doing most of the heavy lifting for you so far, and I just can’t keep doing it. I know you have the best intentions, but I really don’t think you can do this all by yourself.”
Karen turned to the Warlock. “Not unless you have other ideas?”
The Warlock shook his head, looking uncomfortable. “I want to help my brothers, honest I do, but my house just isn’t a place for human babies. Opal ain’t ready to be a momma.”
Riviera met Cooper’s furious glare with collected calmness. “You have my word that I will personally make sure that your brothers get the best care possible. As Circle head, I must also say that while your desire to protect your family and raise your brothers yourself is honorable, I am convinced the boys will be better off with more experienced parents, at least until they’re a little bit older and you have a stable living situation.”
Cooper sat down, reluctantly conceding her point with a noncommittal nod. “So which foster families did you have in mind?”
“My cousin Sylvia and her husband, Nikolai, have offered to take one of the boys; they have teen daughters at home who can help with child care. Rowland Nachtcroft from the Governing Circle has offered to take another; two of his young sons have hereditary lycanthropy, so his family already has a nanny at the house who’s skilled with special-needs children. Chione Gastaphar and her sisters have offered to take another, and Horatio Fox and his wife, Acacia, have also offered to serve as foster parents.”
“Isn’t Horatio a little old for fostering a baby?” Mother Karen asked. “He turned one hundred and fifty recently, didn’t he?”
“One hundred and seventy,” Riviera replied. “He still spends his weekends camping and running up and down hills at Civil War reenactments, so he seems to have the energy for it. Acacia is considerably younger, and a skilled healer; I’m willing to give them a chance if you are.”
“How will you handle psychological counseling for the children?” Karen asked.
“All the prospective foster parents have agreed to bring the children in for regular therapy sessions; we’re planning to use one therapist for all the boys, but we haven’t decided who’ll be handling that yet.”
“I’d recommend Dr. Aboab Hopkinson,” Karen said. “He’s done well with my kids when they’ve been troubled.”
“Dr. Hopkinson is high on our list, but he isn’t sure yet if he can take on the Marron brothers without diminishing the care he gives to his other patients,” Riviera replied. “The other candidates are equally qualified. No matter which families the boys go to, they’ll get frequent play dates, and if they do well, we may be able to bring them back together in the same household after a while.”
“I want unlimited visitation rights,” Cooper said. “If I get a notion that I want to see my brothers at 3 A.M., I want to be let into the house to see them, no arguments from you or the family they’re with or anyone.”
Riviera pursed her lips. “The foster parents have a right to privacy that I won’t see violated frivolously. I’ll agree to your terms, if you promise not to abuse your visitation privileges.”
Cooper nodded.
Riviera set a quill pen atop a set of papers and pushed them across the table to him. “The details of our foster care proposal—such as have been worked out—are all here, including the full list of potential therapists. If this looks like a workable arrangement to you, please sign, and after the meeting we can introduce the boys to their new homes.”
Cooper frowned as he studied the proposal, then passed the papers over to Mother Karen so she could take a look. They exchanged glances; Karen pushed the papers back to Cooper with a hopeful nod.
“I guess I can live with this,” Cooper finally said.
“I don’t suppose you had people falling all over themselves offering to become foster parents, did you?” Karen asked.
“There wasn’t an overabundance of volunteers, no,” Riviera replied.
“There never is when there’s a real need, is there?” Karen shook her head as Cooper signed his name on the dotted line.
“Well, now.” Riviera looked from me to the Warlock. “Does this meet with