Sand and Snow

"I"m going back to Brian's," Angus said. "Its where I live now. And I'm presuming Brian's gone to Michael's to get Khaat and bring her home. I want to be there to help. Brian needs to devote his time to Khaat and the girls. I can help with the girls and with the chores. Khaat has enough on her plate as it is. I can't tell you what to do. If you want to take the day off, Brian has offered it to you. He'd be fine if you took it.

"As for me, my place is with Khaat and Brian, so that's where I"m going. You're welcome to come there if you want. You're always welcome. But if you need some downtime to absorb the few hours, Brian understands that too. If I dont' see you today, I'll see you tomorrow. Just be sure the house is locked and that the protection spells are up before you leave. I'll see you later." He picked up his bag and apparated back to the house.

Steven looked at Cassidy and nodded she returned it both having the same idea "well see you at the house Angus, one day off is enough" he said and watched him leave standing he moved to hold Cassidy around her waist as he smiled looking down at her.

Cassidy looked up at Steven and smiled at him before she kissed him "Steven, how would you feel if we had a daughter?" she asked looking up at him her heart beat fast as she waited . she felt that with everything that had happened she could not hold back any longer.

Steven looked down at her in surprise at the sudden mention of kids "I'd like a daughter but I thought you wanting to wait to move to the next level Cassie " not that he would complain but he had to wonder why now.

"seeing Jess and Khaat acting the way they are now made me wonder if i need some security in my life something to hang on to when times got too bad , ow but I know not right now there' still too much happening to even think about that but when its all calm again I would love to" she said and smiled just as Steven ported them back to the ranch house.

Appearing he smiled at her " so would I Cassie" he said and saw the smile appear on her face.

Khaat found it odd to be back at home again. The house was empty. It was just Brian and her. It had never been this empty. Well, rarely, anyway. She ached for her children, but she didn't believe she was worthy of caring for them. She said nothing.

Brian didn't say much either. He was largely silent. He made a fire in the fireplace and flicked his wand to set the kettle to make a pot of tea. Khaat knew his eyes were on her. She went upstairs and simply changed into some sweats and slippers. It was far from her typical need to be well dressed and sharp looking all the time. It was a matter of simply not being naked. The clothes were a covering today. That was all. She came back downstairs and curled up on the floor in front of the fireplace with a blanket.

Brian made a check of the house, brought in two mugs of tea and gave her one. He sat down with her on the floor, put his teamug on the hearth and wrapped arms around her, letting her lean back into his chest.

"We rarely have any time alone anymore," he said softly.

"Why are you still here?" she asked very softly.

"What?" he asked. "Why would I not?"

"I destroy everyone around me," she said. "Brian, it doesn't matter how much I love you. You have to let me go."

"Khaat," he kissed her cheek and pressed his cheek close to hers. "It hasn't come to that. There isn't anything that could ever make me walk away from you."

"Nobody is that strong, Brian," she said softly. "Nobody. Maybe if you'd just let me rent the guest house..."

"Stop it. Your home is here--with me. With your babies." She felt a couple of tiny tears slip down her cheeks.

"I might send Abbey to Rob."

"Over my dead body. She's my daughter. Khaat', its just a rough spell. We're not giving up. Hang in with me. We can do it together. You don't have to do anything but just trust me. And I know you already do trust me." She nodded. She did trust him.

"Then let me take care of things for now. Okay? We're going to bring our girls home and its going to be alright."

"You're sure about bringing them home?

"Positive," he said softly.

Steven appeared with Cassidy in his arms and smiled to Brian and Khaat , then noticed how they were "ow sorry for ruining your moment " he said "Its good to see your ok Khaat " he said feeling Cassidy turn to face them and sigh. " we'll go and make some coffee or .. something" he said moving Cassidy with him .

Cassidy looked at Khaat and wanted to give her a hug , she broke from Steven and quickly moved to hug Khaat " Its good to see your safe Khaat " she said and smiled moving back to Steven " tell me off later, right now I needed to do that" she said to him and kissed his cheek gently.

"You didn't ruin anything," Brian said. "There's a pot of tea already brewed in the kitchen if you'd like some. Khaat and I are just enjoying the quiet. I don't think either of us aren't feeling romantic in the least right now."

"No," Khaat said very softly. When Cassidy hugged her, Khaat had not expected it. "Thanks," she said quietly.

"Khaat's having a hard time with all this," Brian said. "She blames herself for what happened to Jess. I think she doesn't believe there is anyone who is strong enough to stand by her. Actually, I was just talking to her, telling her that her thoughts of giving the babies to Rob Dent so she could run off by herself was not a wise idea. Her home is here--with me. She feels like she's too dangerous for anyone to be around her. I was just telling her that I grew up with her. I know the odds, and I'm staying. I'm not afraid. I'm staying right here, and she's not taking my daughters anywhere."

Steven breathed out that she had not been offended at Cassidy's actions of hugging Khaat , he listened to Brian " no don't do that Khaat there happier with you and Brian , if you give them up now you'll regret it "he said and sighed "I did when i lost John for those few months " he added his head resting on Cassidy's shoulder his mid thinking back to that day he'd woke and found out his son was in the hands of child brokers.

Cassidy felt him tense on her and shook her body under him "hey i'm not a pillow you know " she said chuckling " I need to breath" she loosened his arms slightly and breathed out with a smile as she looked at Khaat "I have never had children , but may be one day , all I can say is that since i didn't have a family growing up , please Khaat, keep the girls with you , we'll help you " she said looking at them both. "I'll do it for free f you want " she looked at Steven and kissed his cheek lightly.

Angus apparated back in at that moment with his arms loaded down with countless plastic grocery sacks. "I stopped off for some grocery shopping." He took the bags to the kitchen and put them on the counter and came back in. He looked at Khaat and Brian.

"Kate still has the girls?" he asked.

"She does," Brian said. "There's nothing wrong with them having some time with their grandma. Kate loves it and is enjoying every minute of it."

"Do you want me to go get them?" Angus asked.

"Oh, lets give Kate some time to enjoy her granddaughters."

Angus put the groceries away, and fixed dinner. He wasn't surprised when Khaat didn't move from in front of the fireplace to go eat. Brian told them all to let it go. He wasn't concerned about her missing one meal. As they were all finishing dinner, Robert apparated in. It only took him a moment to take in what was in front of him.

"Tea, Robert? Dinner?" Brian asked.

"Tea. Thank you," Robert said. He went over to Khaat and sat down with her. Angus brought Robert a cup of tea, and Robert looked at her. "Jess is better. Khaat, part of this didn't have anything to do with you. It had to do with whatever affected her when she was kidnapped before she even knew you. She's herself again. She just needs to rest right now. And she needs to deal with whatever parts of her past that she hasn't done to help herself. Khaat, she didn't even know that she had some issues left. This isnt' necessarily a bad thing. Khaat, I'd rather this come to light now when there isn't any danger than for it to happen if she were in a battle of some sort. And it might have happened at any time. Not just because you were taken. I know where your thoughts are, and its just not true. Its not your fault. I can understand why you would think that, but its not true."

"She wants to walk away from everything, Robert," Brian said.

"Well, that's just today," Robert smiled. "She'll be alright. Kate's bringing the babies home shortly. Come walk with me, Khaat. Lets go talk." He got up and got her to her feet. He refused to let her just sit there any longer. He took her down to the gym and was gone with her for nearly half an hour. When they returned, she seemed to be drastically better.

"She'll be fine for tonight. Do something fun for tonight, would you?" Robert asked. "Dont just sit and do nothing. You all should play a game or get out a deck of cards or do something. Its too somber and sad here. Lighten it up."

"Good idea," Brian smiled. Just then, Kate apparated in with a baby in each hand. Brian's face lit up like sunshine. "There are my girls!" He went to them and kissed both babies as Abbey reached for him calling for him. He laughed and took her from Kate and began to talk to her about how much he'd missed his girl. She babbled right back at a him, and he was utterly delighted.

Cassidy moved to Steven taking his hand as Robert appeared she jumped slightly "I wish he'd sound a bell or something" she said making Steven chuckle as she looked up at him ."ok patrol" she said and moved form his side to head out the house to walk around it making sure things were still secure she saw the sun set and smiled.

Steven looked at Khaat and Brian and the smile on his face when Kate appeared with the two of them , he heard Cassidy say she was going on patrol and nodded "I'll do the next patrol " he said then heard Robert suggest they play cards his eyebrow raised at this suggestion wondering if they could play something seeing they could liven up the day , he sat sipping his coffee.

Dakota saw Max some into the room and she tried to leap out of Kate's arms to go get Max. Max came up to Kate and wound around her legs, and Dakota started to bounce up and down in Kate's arms. Kate put her down on the floor, and Max started walking around the room, as if it was an old familiar game, with Dakota crawling right behind him.

"Do they do that often?" Kate asked.

"Constantly," Brian laughed. "They'll end up behind the sofa in a minute. That's where they go. I dont' know what the fascination is about being behind the sofa, but for some reason, they like it."

"Odd," Kate frowned.

Angus brought out an enormous jigsaw puzzle. It had 5,000 pieces. "Lets try this," he said as the table cleared itself of the dinner mess. Angus put the puzzle box on the table. "Who's brave enough to try it with me?"

"Robert and I will," Kate said.

"And Khaat and Brian will," Robert volunteered them. "And there are plenty of us to watch the babies. Steven? Cassidy? You two brave enough to take on this puzzle?"

Steven chuckled at Dakota ending up behind the couch, then he looked at the jigsaw and nodded " not done one of these since I was in hospital" he said and smiled looking at the box "be good to see if i can still do it , he glanced as Cassidy walked back in looking at the jigsaw on the table .

"ow wow a jigsaw cool I love those " she said and quickly went to the table and sat down next to Steven , her eyes looked over the box she wanted to open i t but held back the picture on the front enticing her to start it but she knew every one needed a chance to start and find a piece she saw Dakota crawling on the floor behind a cat and chuckled " I do think shes part bat or part cat" she said watching her.