RALEIGH, N.C. — The birth mother accused of kidnapping her twins from their adoptive family in Apex and fleeing to Canada is expected to return to the United States Monday.

Meanwhile, the mother, Allison Quets, has opened up about her relationship with the children – 17-month-old Holly and Tyler -- in an interview with The Ottawa Citizen.

“We have a real connection, a real bond. They recognize me. They know me – even the apartment in North Carolina,” Quets said. “… They are the joy of my life. They are everything to me.”

“I think of their faces. I think of their eyes. I think of how much they want to be with me, how much I know they want me to hold them,” she said. “And I can’t, because I’m not there.”

Florida courts have cut off visitation rights for Quets. A motion filed by U.S. attorneys to keep Quets, in a Canadian jail until her trial on international kidnapping charges said that she will not be allowed to see the twins when she returns to the U.S.

A disagreement over money nearly derailed the adoption before Quets allegedly kidnapped them from their adoptive parents and fled to Canada, an FBI agent said in an affidavit unsealed Thursday.

Quets initially sought to put only the male child up for adoption and talked to Denise and Kevin Needham about adopting him, FBI Agent Michael Sutton wrote.

But she opted to let the Needhams adopt both children after deciding she was incapable of raising any child. She told the Needhams they would have to pay her expenses, and the Needhams decided not to continue with the adoption, Sutton wrote.

Quets then located another couple, but decided not to go through with that adoption because she wouldn't be allowed to visit the children, according to Sutton. Ultimately, Quets returned to the Needhams because they would allow her to see Holly and Tyler, he said.

Quets has said she was in the midst of a postpartum illness when she gave the twins up for adoption. Her sister has said she almost immediately changed her mind about giving the children up and attempted to get them back.

Quets, who lives in Orlando, Fla., kept an apartment in nearby Durham so she could see the twins while she appealed the adoption. A custody agreement allowed Quets to take the children for a brief visit Dec. 22-24, but authorities said she never returned them.

An FBI warrant was issued for Quets' arrest after she failed to return the twins to the Needhams on Christmas Eve.

The FBI said an investigation indicated Quets crossed the Canadian border with the twins Dec. 23. She apparently spent five days tucked away with the twins at a bed and breakfast in Kingston, Ontario, before they were found on December 29 in Ottawa, Ontario.

Quets was released to the custody of two Canadian couples Thursday after almost $15,000 in bonds and cash were posted by Quets and the couples.

She will be staying with Mark Thompson, a retired police officer, and his wife Mary until Monday when she must report to Ottawa police and then return to the United States.

In arguing that Quets be released on bail, her lawyer, Jeff Schroeder, told Judge Charles Hackland that his client presents a low-flight risk. Schroeder said it has always been his client's intent to return to the United States to face charges there and to further pursue custody of her children.

"She's going to continue that fight," Shroeder said. "There is still an appeal in effect and that is what she intends to do Monday morning - voluntarily waive extradition and go back there and get her children back."