Liam gave her a wide smile, the kind of smile that all the girls at school seemed to like. “All right,” he said. “But you have to promise to be quiet.”

She set her cup down and Liam grabbed her hand, pulling her along to the bedroom. He pushed open the door and allowed her to step inside. The lump on the bed breathed roughly, a perfect mimic by the twins. Liam quickly pulled the social worker back out of the room and shut the door.

“Fine,” she murmured.

By the time Liam showed her out, he could barely contain his relief. He watched her descend the front steps and walk down the block to her car, and as it drove by, he let out a loud whoop. A few seconds later Sean and Brian emerged from the bedroom. “She’s gone!”

Sean grabbed Liam around the waist and gave him a fierce hug. “I knew you could do it. What did she say?”

Liam handed him the card. “She said Da is supposed to call her. Today.” He turned to Brian. “Go get your cards. I want my ten.”

The twins looked at each other, Brian balking at the request. “We made a deal,” Sean admitted.

Liam settled onto the sofa and after Brian and Sean presented him with their treasured collections, he silently flipped through them, weighing the value of the cards he wanted. “Go get me some chocolate milk,” he ordered Sean. “And you have to tell me a story,” he said to Brian.

“No way,” Brian cried.

“You promised. If you don’t tell me a Mighty Quinn story, then I get twenty cards instead of ten.”

“Tell him a story,” Sean ordered.

“You tell him,” Brian countered.

“I’m getting him chocolate milk. And you’re better at stories.”

“Tell me the one about the boy with the silver tongue,” Liam said. “I like that one.”

“This is the story of Riagan Quinn,” Brian began. “Riagan was a foundling-”

“His father was killed in battle,” Liam interjected.

“And his dying mother left him in the forest,” Brian continued grudgingly. “And no one knew his real name, or where he came from. The fairies gave him the name Riagan ’cause it meant ‘little king.’ The forest was wild with wolves, but the fairies watched over him, feeding him drops of dew from their wands.”