Sand and Snow

Cassidy heard the comotion and walked out of the kitchen a tea towel over her sholder but with the tone in Brians voice she stood listening as she wiped her hands clean of soap from hand washing the pans . she looked at Angus and shrugged looking totaly lost in the situation . Seeing him leave she turned back to check the meat again several cookies sat on the counter now some choclate chip others plain .

"Leave him be," Angus said, coming into the kitchen. "Evidently Khaat didn't do so well in the gym. Or at least that's what I gathered. He's really ticked. I'm not sure why. H did know what he was up against. I can't imagine what would make him angry with her when he already knew what he was going to find. Nonetheless, I think we should just give him a little space. And I doubt that he left her in the gym. I'll go check on her and see at least if she's okay. "

He looked at Cassidy's desserts and her cookies. "Looks good. Good job. I think I'll take Khaat a couple of your cookies." He picked them up off the counter. "I'll be right back. By the way, where the heck did Steven go? I havent seen him for hours."

Cassidy nodded and sighed " I hope he won't be made for log the foods almost ready " she said watching him plate up some of her cookies "Thanks, I needed something to do other than the gym so i thought baking" she said with a smile "ow hes around , probably checking the animals or Cara and her pups hes not spent much time with them latly" she said placing a pan on a rack above the cooker , she winced as her calf objected to the over use . "I'll do my patrol whe he comes in" she said watching Angus as he headed up to Khaat, not realy wanting to leave the kitchen anytime soon she finished the cheese cake with fresh strawberrys.


Steven walked in, he'd had indeed been in the barn Cara's pups were growing fast, he noticed Angus "been baking again , smells wonderful" he said heading for the kitchen for a coffee.

Robert and Kate apparated in, and Robert turned, looked out and saw Brian trudging through the snow. Robert sighed heavily. "I should have been here, Kate," He said quietly.

"Robert," Kate said. "We all knew it wouldn't go well. Go talk to him. Get him together. He clearly doesn't get it as well as he thought he did."

"Indeed," Robert said, going outside and walking quickly to catch up to Brian. Kate took off her coat and headed for the kitchen.

"It smells wonderful in here. Someone has been cooking all day," she smiled. "I thought I might grab a couple mugs of tea and go up and see if Khaat's feeling any better. I did 'see' that her session with Brian did not go at all well. Hopefully Robert and I can keep them from divorcing before they even have a chance to get married." She poured two mugs of tea. "I hope we eat soon, I'm starving. I'll be right back, and I'm presuming Robert won't be long. It doesn't normally take him long to get Brian back to feeling like himself again."

Cassidy looked up at Kate as she entered the kitchen and sighed "sure help your self fresh made and yea so do I if I don't dish up it will burn " she said looking at the table that was laid the towel still tucked into her trousers hanging at her side as she moved to offer both trays of cookies " Milk chocolate or dark" she said looking at her"I hope brian and Khaat will solve this, there lucky to have each other " she said placing the plates on the the table infront of her.

Robert and Kate spent perhaps ten nimutes talking, respectively, to Brian and to Khaat. It seemed to solve the problems. Robert then brought Brian back in the house, and Angus helped Khaat walk down to dinner while Kate brought down the babies. They seemed to be delighted to see their grandmother and were busy babbling at her as if they were telling her all the latest news. And she was smiling and laughing and enjoying every moment of it.

Brian looked at Khaat and then his gaze softened. He went over to her and wrapped her in a warm hug. She let herself be wrapped in his arms. He kissed her. "If you ever, ever do something so stupid again...." he began softly.

"I will try to talk to you about it. I will. I promise," she said. "I didn't use to keep things from you."

"Not til Barker. I think I get it now. So long as you try. That's all I ask."

"I will."

Angus had moved back into the kitchen. "Sorry, Cassidy," he said. "Thanks for taking such good care of dinner. Khaat overdid it in the gym and pushed herself way too far. She fainted completely. Brian didn't know if he was more scared or more angry. That's what this was all about. Its a bit complicated, but I think Barker has affected what she does to survive and how she copes with that mentally. I've seen that sort of thing before. Some of our men have survived torture by just shutting down. I think thats what might have happened in the gym. When she got overtired, her brain just shut down. Its going to take some time. Anyway, I think we're all hungry. Help me serve up dinner?"

Cassidy watched Brian and Khaat and smiled "about time " she said and moved back into the kitchen taking out the meat she started to cut it up , she nodded to Angus as she saw him return " I hope its not to dry , I kept it as moist as I could " As she cut it the meat fell off the bone leaving it clean in the tray , she looked up at him then moved to the vegtables "well everything seems ready " she f elt her own tummy rumble as she started to dish up each plate . Pausing she looked at Angus "sorry did you want to dish up?" she asked holding out the carving knife and fork . She had enjoyed her self she'd forgot the Kitchen was his place and she was a guest.

"No, you're doing just fine," Angus said. He busied himself with fixing a bowl of food for each of the babies. He wanted them to get their fill, and they had no patience when they were hungy. "I'll deliver these two. I know all too well what happens when they have to wait. They'll learn, but not just yet," he smiled. He took the dishes out and sat on in front of Abbey and one in front of Dakota. Dakota was already excited about eating. Abbey didn't get excited unti she saw the food.

Brian and Khaat immediately started to feed them, as Robert and Kate took their places at the table. "Your plates are coming," Angus promised.

"Take your time," Kate smiled. Angus returned to the kitchen.

"Now there are two happy babies. All they needed to cheer them up is food. Looks like the short ribs turned out just fine. Its just right. Good job. I couldn't have done it without you," Angus smiled, seeing how nice Cassidy had made the plates look.

Cassidy saw him smile and smiled back, she felt relaxed around him and more like she should be not how she had been, all work, now she could play a little. "yeah Dakotas an impationt one, Abbey all right though " she said making note of how he prepered ther bowls , she continued with the adults plates , Making sure all looked the same with meat to one side then veg and potatoes she wondered if she sould do a sauce or gravy with it and decided she would , it was then Angus came back threw and complimented her plates " I set two more for kate and robert" she pointed to two extra plates " I thought i'd make some beef gravy to go with it " she sturred the pan then poured it into a boat that sat on the table . She could not help let her self watch him and smile.

"Good idea," Angus said. Angus flicked his wand at the prepared plates and sent them into the dining room. He poured a pitcher of iced tea and sent it to the table along with a loaf of fresh bread and the beef gravy Cassidy had made. "I think we're ready. Shall we go eat?" he asked.

He went into the dining room and took his place at the table.

"Short ribs?" Khaat said. "I don't know when I"ve had this last."

"Well, I know when I had them last. It was the last winter I spent in Colorado with my brother," Brian said. "We were at least two feet deep in snow, and completely snowed in. We rooted around in the freezer to see what we had, and came up with these amazing short ribs and braised them all day long. They were awesome. But, I must say, they were not as good as this. The red wine makes a really nice touch. Very nice."

"Cassidy helped," Angus said. "It was a very busy day."

"Thank you, Cassidy," Khaat said. "Its delicious."