Finding Femininity

Brian, silent now, sat with Khaat. He felt the strength of Robert's sleep spell on Khaat. He didn't know why Robert had needed to sedate her so heavily.

Robert came back in, clearly having taken over the estate now. The power seemed, to Brian, to roll off Robert in great waves. Robert was angry.

"Why'd you do this?" he asked Robert, not backing down from him.

"To keep my daughter from losing her mind," he said. "She was terrified of losing you. If you had been in control, I wouldnt have had to."

"Take it off."

"You gonna run again?"

"No," Brian said, his anger rising. "Take it off. Now."

"Alright." Robert laid his hand back on Khaat's forehead and removed his sleep spell on her. She woke with a hard, startled jolt, sitting up sharply.

"Whoa," Brian said, catching her, wrapping her close. "I"m here. You're safe. I'm not going anywhere. I swear." He felt her clutch huge fistfuls of his shrt, and he just allowed it, holding her. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I was just angry. I'm sorry--forgive me?" She nodded, burying her face in his shoulder.

jes moved to stand beside Robert she knew not just by his tone but by what she sensed Robert was totaly pissed " nothing to report if he was here hes long gone " she said softly so only he could hear , she toned down her seer power and sighed at the lessening of emotions going on in her mind. Jack walked over but staid slightly back Jes moved to him once again being wrapped in his arms his touch helping her push out unwanted thoughts but keep her self grounded so she could pick up any negative thoughts .

Time seemed to stop for Khaat. She refused to let Brian let go of her. She wasn't secure unless he had her wrapped tight to him. Operatives from Paris began coming in and reporting. No sign of Burke or Gelding. Khaat seemed to know that they weren't there. They were gone. Still, each man was someone her father and Brian trusted with their lives. That meant more safety. She wasn't going to wave them off tonight.

Angus was released to turn his attentions to fixing food for everyone. He was using magic to cook a massive meal for every person who was called away from their homes to help here tonight. Standard operating procedure. Khaat could smell food cooking. Life was going forward.

She caught just out of the corner of her eye Dakota throw a toy and it hit Abbey right in the face with a loud smack. Abbey immediately began to cry in pain. For some reason, Khaat froze. She didn't understand it, but she froze altogether. Her daughter needed her, and she couldn't move.

Jess stood wth jack and watched both of them turning she took Dakota and abbey and walked over to Khaat placing both on her knee " they khaat " she said and stepped back she knew it would ether make her turn away or she would follow her mothers instince and help them.

Cassidy let Jess take abbey and Dakota she moved to the kitchen to help angus with teh meal knowing he'd want help with som many to feed this time .

Steven stood looking out teh window at the grounds he ahd not seen somany ment on the grounds in along time.

Dakota started to slap Brian, overly excited for some reason. Robert moved in and picked up Dakota.

"I am going to have to start teaching you early, aren't I, you little buggar," he laughed. It was the first thing he'd laughed about in days. He wiped the tears from Abbey's cheeks with the other hand and spoke to her. "And as for you, you have to learn to fight. Don't let her push you around. I'll have to teach you both. "

"Pa pa," Abbey called to Robert. He broke into a wide smile.

"That's my girl," he smiled. "She's smart, Khaat. She learns fast." He held Dakota who was just a wiggling bundle of energy. He looked at her directly in the eyes. "Stop," he said slowly. She looked at him and slowly quit fussing.

"How'd you do that?" Brian frowned. He moved Abbey into the middle of his embrace with Khaat, and Abbey curled into Khaat's neck cuddling. Khaat slowly forced herself to respond to Abbey. It had helped that Brian had made no move to move or to leave her. That had somehow warmed her up someplace in her soul that only he could reach. Someplace she hadn't even known was there. A place that she believed had died when Rob had broken her heart.

"Years of working in the Emergency Room, Son. Nothing more," Robert said.

Jess smiled as abby called Robert papa she coul feel a change inside Khaat and she felt a warmth inside herself holding jack tight , jack lent down and kissed her " she'll be fine " she whispered to him his cheek against hers she loved this as it made her feel connected to him even more. she smiled at steven " when are the twins due steven?" she asked


Cassidy busied in the kitchen she needed somethwith Angus "ok whats next ?" she asked meaning she needed something to do and was going to get it .


steven kept watch at the window his duty was to watch out for anything suspishiose and he was going to do it. he looked at jes and jack , jess smiled at him and asked when the twins were due. " october we hope could come early since this is her first set of twins" he said relaxing a little

"Well, first, " Angus said. "There is a gold colored coffee pot in that cabinet right next to a flowered teapot. Both of them are magic. Make a pot of French Roast in the coffee pot and a large pot of Earl Grey in the teapot. The pots won't run out easily. They'll probably hold us through the night. The pots just keep conjuring tea or coffee once there is an initial supply there.

"Then, you could make a big tray of sandwiches. There's plenty of bread, cold cuts, lettuce, tomoto, condiments...Let's keep them fed. I'm working on a big kettle of soup. Italian wedding soup. Its hot and filling, and they like it.

"Oh, and in the freezer, you'll find at least 4 dozen of cookies from Sparks. I keep them. Get them out and use your wand to unthaw them. That should keep them fed through the night. We'll need to get some sleep and let them guard the place for us so we can relieve them in the morning. That's what Robert is going to order. He'll want his first stringers on duty during daylight hours. That means he's going to send all of us to bed once he gets this all set up. He'll want us well rested. And until Khaat's feeling better, Brian isn't going to sleep much. I promise you that."

Cassidy nodded ad did as he asked taking out the gold colored coffee pot and the flowered tea pot she made the coffe and tea placing them on the end of the work surface, quickly she found the cookies and witha flick of her wand they could have been fresh from the baker as she placed them onto a large tray that to sat beside the cofee and tea. Finally for the sandwichs she used her wand she started a parodution line with her at the finish , soon everything was done and ready and she could not hold back a yawn but she left the sandwichs on the table " three trays be enouph?" she asked " I know you said one but big men mean big apities" she said covering her mouth with her hand " yeah " she said .

"Good idea," Angus said. "And yes, they do know how to eat. You'll find that if Robert or his family is threatened, it brings people out of the woodwork. You'll see people from the organization coming and going all night long. If they don't have a medallion around their necks and can't produce one for you, kill them. They dont' belong. Those are the rules and they all know it. Take no chances. But as I said, I've worked too long with Robert not to know that he'll send us to bed and the house and the grounds will be as busy as a beehive tonight. The bad part about it is that it depletes our men in Paris and its a prime time for Gelding to operate if he's going to do it. I hope Burke has not teamed up with Gelding to use this as merely a distraction.

"Cassidy, don't let this fool you for one second. Khaat is probably the strongest woman I have ever met in my life. But Burke and Barker and Gelding have been beating her down emotionally, nonstop for a year--without rest. She's lucky she still...." His words trailed off. Realization came across his face. "Its all a trick. Its' all a huge trick, Cassidy. They've been doing this on purpose. They have no desire to kill her. They need her alive. They need all this to just keep coming. Every time something like this happens, it hurts her, and that gets to Brian and Robert. They're working at beating them down by slowly destroying her piece by tiny piece. That's exactly what they're up to!"

Cassidy listened and moved to face him she saw in his eyes what he ment and placed her hands on his shoulders looking into his eyes as she spoke. " Then we'll have to be it , we have to be their strength , their courage, we'll have to make sure that for every down he does, we pull them back up ten times and make her so strong that he can never hurt her or Robert or this family ever again , strengthen the defences , focus on that rather than going after burk or gelding" she said " right now khaat needs brian here and now not off loking for those two worthless peices of meat, thugh it might be a good idea if some men could listen to the underground and se what they could come up with , I found it useful when i needed fo find some one who didn't want to be found" she moved back from him " one thing gelding nor burk counted on , the Lupins extended family. " she picked up a jar of mayonases and placed it back in the fridge.