Rain

"That's fine," Robert said. "Take him home." Robert didn't say a word and didn't display one ounce of emotion, but he really hadn't used that much of a sleep spell. He didn't understand why Steven was so groggy. It didn't make much medical sense to him. "We'll send an owl when we get back, Steven," Robert said. "But you have time off coming. If you need more, just say so."

At that point, Abbey let out an impatient, loud, little noise. It got Brian and Khaat's attention at once. Abbey was one solid mess of cake and frosting, and was trying to lick it all off her hands. She was such a mess that it made Khaat break out into uncontrollable laughter. And she was far more amused that Abbey was not satisfied yet. She wanted more cake.

"What do you think?" she asked Brian.

"Oh let her have a little more," Brian said, trying to talk through his laughter. "How many first birthdays do we have? And she's wearing far more than she could possibly have eaten. I'll help her this time so she actually gets some in her mouth. Jess, can we have another piece over here please? I'll take it or we'll have to take her outside and run the garden hose over her."

Jack chuckled and watched as jess cut another peice " I can say this cakes a hit " she said and jack nodded " ow yeah it hit her face, her hands, her chest ow and the floor " he said and laughed " but she is cute " he said softly.

Jess chuckled and nodded " yes but look shes happy with the cake and thats what matters dear " jes slid anseconf peice of cake to abby and smiled " first birthdays never come again and shes enjoying her self " she chuckle at the grden hose idea " humm i think i did that with some one last year for his birthday " she said and pointed to jack.

" hey not my fault I got two bottles of fire whisky for my birthday " he said she stripped me down and hosed me off right in the frount yard infront of the nabores " he said and blushed .

"You probably deserved it," Khaat teased. She watched Brian take the piece of cake from Jess and feed her little bits of cake with his fingers. Khaat watched how she opened her mouth for him greedily like a little baby bird to get the cake. "You're spoiling her," Khaat told him.

"I"m her dad. I can do that," he laughed. "Besides, she ate a good lunch. And once we get her cleaned up, she is going to sleep for hours. She is too stuffed not to."

"I'd suggest you put her to sleep in Tuscany, then," Robert said. "She's liable to sleep for hours. Khaat did on her first birthday."

"You remember my birthday?"

"Of course I do," Robert frowned. "How could I forget? You ate just like she did, and you slept like a rock for hours."

"And your father fed you as much cake as you wanted, too," Kate said. "You had him and Remus wrapped around your little finger from the moment you were conceived. Alright, Jack. Take Steven home. By the looks of these little girls, they aren't going to stay awake very long after lunch either. Robert's right. Porkeying them to Tuscany isn't easy to do while they're asleep. I suggest we do that before we put them down for their naps. Robert, are you going to give them a bit of motion sickness potion so they don'[t get sick on their full tummies?" Kate was busy feeding Dakota little bites of cake just like Brian was feeding Abbey. And Dakota was being just as good as gold for Kate.

"Yes," Robert said. "I have a motion sickness potion for infants just for that purpose. It will go very easily into their bottles or their sippy cups."

Jess chuckled and nodded as jack pouted like Dakota had earlier and she laughed.

Jesk nodded at Roberts words and stood up helping steven stand knowing he'd eaten moving from the table he looked at jess " back in a minte" he siad and aperated away . Several minets passed and he returned laughing " sorry I got him home but I dont know what you did but he fell asleep once we got there Dlilah sends her birthday wishes to Abby , she said she'll keep an eye on him and she says thank you for giving him the few days off " he moved to sit down next to where jess now sat he glanced over and saw the bags buy the front door " ok so were going now then?" he said looking at them all.

"In a few moments," Robert said. "I think the girls need to wash up first. I really don't want to scatter cake and frosting from here to Tuscany."

"We'll have it taken care of in no time," Kate said.She took Abbey, and Brian picked up Dakota. They whisked the girls upstairs for a quick bath and a change of clothes. They dressed them a little warmer and put blankets around them because portkeying could be breezy and chilly business.

"Here they are," Brian announced. "Clean and free of all that gooey mess."

"Excellent," Robert said. "I've decided to do away with the bottles. One moment." He used an eyedropper and dropped a couple of drops of a ruby red potion into each baby's mouth. Khaat watched and decided the girls liked the taste because they seemed to be looking for more.

"What?" Robert frowned, looking at Khaat. "Do you think I want them to be repulsed by every potion they see after this? No. Its cherry flavored. Its sweet." Abbey cuddled into Brian already sleepy, and Dakota cuddled into Kate, dropping off into a sound sleep. "Now I think we're ready, Do we all have our bags?" Angus was about to speak when two men arrived from the Paris office. "You're just in time. We're ready to go," Robert said.

"Have a good trip," Owens smiled. "Don't worry about a thing."

Jack picked up jess and his bags sliding one arm around her waist as he watched " oow cherry nice " he said and smiled watching the girls fall asleep. He pulled jess to him as two men arived and he smiled " good to see you again Owens, your looking well " he said jess nodded and smiled back up at jack.

" ok guys less chit chat and let go please " she said and chuckled , jack aperated her to the villa and smiled kissing her as he held her not leting her go just yet till he saw Brian and Khaat aperate in behind her " I'll get to you later , bags bedroom " she said and smiled she looked around the villa and waved her hand to open the curtains and windows to let the cool night air in " thats better , howws the kitchen look Angus do we need anything?" she asked moving to it and opening the cupboards " wow cleaned out " she said and started to make a list as she looked at him " think we can rustle up something for breakfast tomorrow so we can shop afte that " she asked hoping they would so everyone could settle for the night.

"Chill, Jess," Angus laughed. "I just the instant got here, just like you did. I'll check it out and send for what we need. My family will already know where to find the best produce and proteins. Why are you thinking of breakfast when we haven't even gotten to dinner yet?" He didn't understand Jess's sudden urgency. They'd never gone without food before. He had sent a list of the most likely things that they would need and sent it ahead. But he knew he would want to double check it himself.

"Brian," Robert said, "Why don't you and Khaat go get that bathing suit she needs and we'll watch the girls. They should wake up within the hour, unless they just decide to go ahead and nap."

"I hope they nap, personally," Brian laughed. "You in the mood to go out with me, Khaat?"

"I don't know if I should," she said.

Jess sighed and looked at Angus " sorry guess im juts wanting to keep busy I guess" she said and sighed buit jack walked over to her and pulled her out of the kitchen " go change " he said " this is relax time not work " he said and she sighed moving to the bedroom she smiled at Khaat " you going to join me on the beach?" she asked " the sun would be good for your skin and the babies " she smiled " I have been some what ordered to have some fun " she looked back at Jack who shooed her to the bed room to change she returned moments later in a black suit with a blak serong around her waist and sandels on her feet.
Jess sat waiting to see if Khaat would join her she sw Jack walk out in a lair of light blue swim shorts and smile.

" Brian would it be ok if I took jess down to the beach befor you guys ?" he asked looking at him " shes looking stressed" he said and saw her stunned look.

"Absolutely," Brian said. "Khaat and I have to go into the village and go pick up a swimsuit for her quickly. I don't see her putting a great deal of effort into it, so I don't think we'll be gone long. Come on, Khaat." He grabbed the keys to the red Lamborghini. "You want to drive?" he asked her.

"Sure," she grinned, always enjoying a chance to hot rod a little. They went down to the garage and Brian let her drive into the village. He had to laugh at her. She enjoyed driving way too fast, way too much. They went to her favorite shop in the village, and the shopkeeper remembered her well because of how much she bought there and ordered. Khaat told the shopkeeper what she wanted and the clerk took her to section of maternity clothes that were absolutely gorgeous. Brian had to redirect her several times to get her to actually try a swimsuit. She picked her favorite and found it fit her like a dream. It was a print that included pink, light turquoise blue, and brown on a light background. It had a beautiful little pink sarong and another cover up that was more like a pink gauze dress. Then Brian let her browse. She found a lot of lovely things. She even bought two little baby swimsuits for the girls.

jess followed jack down to the warm sand and sea. she sat down on the sand and watched the water and jack as he jumped in and swum around " come on jess its great " he said and ran out scooping her up he ran back to the water dropping her in it . she smiled and then laughed as she splashed with him son they lay on the beach jack holding her close to him " now this is a day i could get use to " he said and sighed feeling the warm sun on his skin. Jess looked at him nd sighed she liked the day but missed her own twins back with his mother she knew they were safe but she so badly missed them.