Sand and Snow

"I wouldn't have any idea," Khaat said, "I haven't been there. It sounds good--if Brian can get along with his brother Kieran for that long."

"Aside from keeping the place afloat, Kieran is useless," Brian said coldly. Khaat understood his pain. When he needed his brother and sister the most after their parents were killed, his siblings had abandoned him. Brian had been alone and angry and hurting. He hadn't been easy to live with in those first few weeks after his parents were killed. Brian had been 8, and he had felt alone and scared, amongst other things. Kate had brought him a sense of nurturing with that beloved cocoa recipe of hers at bedtime. It was one of the few things that had made it bearable for Brian to think about closing his eyes at night.

Remus had brought him diversion--adventure, joy, laughter, excitement. And Robert, well, Robert had taken ahold of Brian's anger and his bitterness and had wrestled it from the young boy and had taken the brunt of everything Brian had had to dish out back then. It had created, for Brian, a sense of permanency when the Lupins had taken anything and everything he could dish out as a child and had loved him anyway. But since then, Brian had no love loss for his brother Kieran or his sister Fiona. He had had almost no contact with them at all anymore. Ever.

"Kieran?" Brian asked. "Its no secret. I don't mind. He and Fiona piss me off. Neither one of them gave a damn when our folks died. They were off at school and they didn't care that I was alone. They didn't send an owl, didn't speak, nothing. Hell, they didn't even speak to me at the funerals. Robert and Kate took guardianship of us because there was no one else. If it hadn't been for the fact that I had run into Khaat on the beach a week or so before, I'd have been on the streets.

"Our family had gone to the village near the farm for a holiday. Robert was working in the local muggle chemist's there, and I had run into Khaat by accident on the beach one morning. She had managed to get some candy from the chemists, from her father, and we just sat and talk and she shared the candy with me. That's how we met. A few days later, when my parents were killed, Khaat heard about the accident because it was the talk of the town. She made Robert come to the hospital to see if I was okay. Well, I remember I was sitting there by myself when Robert got there. No one seemed to quite know what to do with me since I had no one left. Robert took me home. It was pretty ugly for awhile. Robert was the only one who wasn't afraid of my anger. Kate, well, she made sure I didn't feel lost and alone, and Remus? Remus showed me how to live again. That's about how it all started. I haven't seen my brother or sister more than a couple times since my parents died. Not really," Brian said. "Sorry if you felt my anger."

"Brian," Khaat asked. "Do Kieran and Fiona know about me and the girls?"

"Uh..." he hesitated. Khaat felt like there was something he wasn't saying.

"What are you not telling me, Brian Quinn?" she frowned.

"Well,..." he hedged.

"Spit it out," she said.

"I told Kieran a bit of a ruse," he admitted.

"About me?" she asked, frowning.

"He had it coming!" Brian retorted.

"What happened?"

"He doesnt' think I"ve ever worked a day in my life. I'm not sure where he thinks I got all my money at, but well, I told him I worked for the Minister of Magic....?

"Which is true," Khaat admitted. "So where is the lie?"

"I told him that you and I were married and that the girls are mine. I told him they were twins and that they're mine."

"Is that all?" she laughed, finding it hilarious. "Okay, so before we go to Colorado, you'd better buy me a wedding band to go with the engagement ring, then, hadn't you?"

"You'll go along with it?"

"Kieran never did anything for me," Khaat shrugged. "Why not? But you owe me diamonds in that wedding band, Dude."

"You've got it," he smiled. "You want to pick it out?"

"No. Surprise me."

"Don't women generally want to pick out their wedding bands?" he asked.

"This isn't a real one. Its just going to be a very expensive fake one," she said. "You can pick this one out."

"I'll find you one," Brian told Khaat. "We have some time before we go. Actually, picking it out might be fun." Khaat looked at him. She had a feeling that he wasn't going to buy some cubic zirconia in a gold plated setting. She had the feeling he had something specific in mind.

"What are you planning?" she frowned.

"Oh, nothing, nothing," He waved her thoughts away. "And Jack is right. We are a couple anyway."

"You should be ashamed of yourself for giving him ideas, Jack," Khaat said.

Brian was thinking of ideas on exactly what he wanted her to have. He wanted to take every chance to stake a claim on Khaat, to call her his. And he had some very specific ideas about what he wanted.

"Um, Brian, how are you going to explain that Dakota and Abbey look nothing alike?" Khaat asked.

"They're babies. How hard can it be? I'm going to just tell him its recessed genes. Besides, he's not the brightest man anyway. He wont' figure it out. Relax," Brian smiled. Then she could see a new thought hit him. He looked at her. "By the way, in no way whatsoever are you to encourage him to consider himself Uncle Kieran."

"You know he will if he thinks we're married," Khaat laughed. "Because he would be."

"That really is aa completely sour thought, Khaat," Brian sighed.

"Was she having nightmares before she left Jeffrey?" Khaat asked.

"You," Brian said to Khaat, "are working again."

"Once a healer, always a healer," Khaat said. "Answer the question, Jack. Ignore Brian. And frathernal twins would work. After all, they're only a month apart anyway. I doubt that Kieran will know the difference."

"Kieran will be lucky if he can tell they're girls," Brian grumbled.

"Brian, can I ask? Is Kieran dangerous?"

"Kieran? Dangerous? I doubt he'd know how. He's just stupid," Brian said.

"But didn't you say he and your sister were both Gryffindors?"

"They were. Kieran was just a stupid one. Fiona, well, she wasn't stupid. She was just sex crazy. She was far more interested in hookups than grades. "

"Whatever happened to her? You never talk about her."

"She got married and moved to Ireland someplace. Kieran stays in touch with her, I guess."

"So do I have nieces and nephews?"

"Stop that!" he said. The thought of getting close to either of his siblings made Brian visibly uncomfortable.

"So why are we going to Colorado then?" Khaat laughed.

"I am not avoiding a whole state because Kieran is an idiot," Brian replied.