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--donation bonus (day #20, post 5/5)--
At length, Colt had to ask, “So what do you think? Is there something wrong with them?”

“Yes,” the man said plainly. “They clearly demonstrate a lack of development. Something has stifled their mental and emotional growth. At the moment, I’m not sure what. There doesn’t appear to be any physical cause. I can perform more invasive procedures, but I’m not convinced they’re necessary just yet. Can you tell me what their home life is like?”

“Well, at the moment, we don’t really have a home.”

“Ah. Then I suggest you find a place to settle--and soon. For now, the effects are not so bad. It’s nothing you can’t resolve with a few simple parenting techniques, but your children need a stable environment to grow up in or their development could be further stigmatized, which could have more lasting consequences. What about their mother? Is she in the picture at all?”

‘You have to tell him,’ said Bohwanox.

Colt knew there was no avoiding it. “Their mother tried to kill them.”

Dr. Marcus blinked at that. “Oh.”

“Also, they were kidnapped by a mob boss for nearly a month.”

The doctor blinked several more times. “Ohhh... I see. Well, then. I guess I don’t need to run those tests, after all. Um.” He paused to rub his forehead. “Geez. I wish you’d told me that at the beginning.”

“It’s not the kind of information I’d like spread around.”

He exhaled a sigh. “Alright, well. Clearly, they’ve been through a trauma. More than one, from the sound of it. What was the nature of their kidnapping?”

“What do you mean?”

“Details. What was their captivity like? Who was looking after them? How were they being treated?”

Colt fell quiet at that. He eyed Bohwanox. ‘I don’t suppose you know the answer to that, do you?’

‘Sorry.’

“You have no idea,” the doctor surmised.

Colt gave a strained expression. “They had a crib, I think. Some thugs looking after them. They were kidnapped by Joseph Rofal, if that means anything.”