It took forever for Malachi to get the girls to stop crying.
Even from such a large distance, he could very clearly feel all of the misery they carried that came from his unexpected absence.
He truly felt guilty even though his disappearance wasn't his fault.
He could only imagine how he would have reacted if any one of them had gone missing for a single day, let alone a year.
He was just grateful that the girls had each other to rely on and support each other so that they never had to deal with it alone.
It took an entire thirty minutes before the girls could stop crying and then their questions started flying one after the other.
Nadine: 'Are you okay, darling?'
Bianca: 'Where have you been?'
Luna: 'Do you have any idea how worried we were?'
Malachi tried to sate the girls' curiosities as best he could but he didn't know anything either.