Brian picked up the corpse of the dead wizard and tossed it over his shoulder like a large grain sack and Robert apparated them both to the Italian magic wizardry in Rome. Michael looked at Khaat. "Come on," he said softly. "Let's get out of here. I know just where we should go for dinner. Water taxi or gondola?"
"Gondola? Please?" she asked, knowing it was expensive.
"I was hoping you'd say that," he smiled, taking her hand. He treated her to a lovely gondola ride as the sun set in the Italian sky. He took her to a trattoria off the main canals, off on a side canal. He chose a table for two for them out front in the sidewalk cafe section, to an outdoor candlelit table. He ordered them a nonalcoholic bottle of prosecco and shared it with her over dinner. He ordered for them both plates of grilled shrimp over angel hair pasta, with a garlic butter sauce and chopped herbs. It was delicious. And Michael got her to laugh and spend the evening talking and laughing. The longer she hung out with him, the better she felt. Her stress melted away. He got her to start enjoying the idea of having more children again and the idea of her friends around her. He refocused her attentions so that she lost the idea of feeling guilty for having her friends around her and them risking themselves for her. He put it back into perspective for her. She was beginning to see the beauty in life again.
She enjoyed having an evening of light talk and laughter, rekindling old ties,and bonding with her godfather. She loved watching the people walk by, and if someone noticed them, they noticed first, by Khaat's observations, her godfather's commanding presence. She felt proud just to be with him. She was at peace. She was pleased that Kieran had his powers back, but she knew it would take them all to retrain him how to use them. And she was endlessly grateful for the devotion of her friends--Jess, Jack, Steven, Angus--all of them.
And then he ordered two tiramisus and two Italian coffees. Khaat's face lit up like Christmas. And he promised her another gondola ride--this time under the lights of Venice.
When they left the sidewalk cafe, they had simply taken a short walk a few blocks down the street. They had found a chocolatier open, and Michael looked at her with a wide smile. "I know how you love chocolate," he said, taking her by the hand. "Its not off your father's list for you, is it?"
"When did I listen to that?" Khaat asked. Michael laughed, delighted, and took her inside. They spent all the time they wanted browsing and tasting things offered to them by the chocolatier. He bought her a huge box of handmade truffles, an assortment they selected themselves. They chose a single truffle apiece to eat on the way out. It was like little nibbles of heaven.
Finally he said to her, "Your feet are swelling a bit, my darling."
"Its normal," she told him. "And the shoes might have just the slightest bit to do with it." He hailed a gondola and when it pulled up, he and the gondolier rushed to help her step into the boat without injury. Khaat did not know Italian, but Michael did. She did detect the gondolier asking Michael a question in Italian, and she thought for sure she detected the word Mamma in the question. Michael smiled and answered the question as he helped her to her seat. He spoke what she interpretted to be directions to the gondolier. Then Michael sat down next to her. "Where's your shawl?" he asked her.
"Here," she said, drawing it out of where it was folding as small as it could get inside her handbag."
"Khaat Karina," he frowned. "Silk deserves better treatment than being rolled into a ball in your bag." He took it from her and draped the shawl around her, the back of his fingers brushing against her upper arm in the process. "Your skin is like ice," he said.
"Not for long," she smiled. He draped his arm around her to warm her and flicked his fingers to the gondolier as a signal that they were ready to go. The delicate boat departed remarkably smoothly from its resting place against the curb. Khaat laid her head on Michael's shoulder, savoring the peace and wanting to etch the sights and the sounds of Venice deep into her memory so that the feeling she had now would never leave her. Not ever.
Meantime, Robert and Brian had gone to Rome, and had spent the rest of the afternoon straightening out the unauthorized use of magic in a muggle neighborhood in a foreign country to kill a man. However, Robert's credentials as the Minister for Britain, along with the fact that they had proof of the identity of the criminal by producing the body, seemed to satisfy the Italian wizarding government. They apparated home around 7 pm. Neither of them were surprised to see that Michael had not brought Khaat back yet.
The first thing they saw was Kate and Angus feeding the babies bottles before bed and the babies almost completely asleep in their arms. Robert could see the remainders of the dinner dishes being cleaned up in the kitchen. "Too late, Mate," Robert said. "We missed dinner."
"That's alright," Brian sighed. Right at the moment, what mattered to him was whether anyone had heard from Michael, and then he wanted to know about his brother. "How is Kieran?" he found he was spitting out the second question first.