If you’ve been following the story of Mike and Heather Martin, AKA DaddyOFive and MommyOFive, you know that the brunt of their abusive behavior has been borne by their two youngest kids, Emma and Cody. (The evidence has been preserved here.) Heather is their stepmother, which raises the question of where their biological mother enters into all this. Does she know what’s been going on? Isn’t there anything she can do?

Good news: The answer is yes.

In summary: Cody and Emma went back to their biological mother Rose Hall last Friday, the same day their abusers were playing victim on Good Morning America. The two kids are in a safe place where nobody is going to torment them and exploit them for YouTube ad revenue.

And if anybody thinks Rose is doing this for publicity… no. As you can see, she’s clearly uncomfortable being filmed. She just wants her children to be safe.

There’s no such thing as happily ever after, but this is a good start and a great relief. None of those kids deserve the way they’ve been treated, but especially Emma and Cody. I’m glad they’re out of that place, and I hope they can go back to just being kids.

P.S.