Feminine Fire

Brian was glad to see Fiona on her feet. She came around to Brian's place at the table and kissed his cheek softly.

"Thank you. For saving my life," she said softly. "Mom and Dad would have been so proud of the man you've become. So proud."

"You think?" he asked, looking up at her.

"I know so. And they would love their daughter in law. I...have some pictures you haven't seen of them. Did you bring pictures of your girls?"

"We always bring pictures of the girls," Brian grinned. "This afternoon?"

"I'd like that," she said, sitting down and putting toppings on her burger and vinegar on her fries. Brian saw how quickly Steven and Jack were eating. Angus summoned a platter of burgers and another of fries and set them on the table.

"Help yourselves," he said.

"Dont tell them that," Brian laughed. "You know how those two eat. Khaat--I expect you to eat three burgers. You are eating for three now."

"I will not eat three burgers. You're the father. You eat three. I'll eat one," Khaat said.

"I'll try," he laughed. He saw she was a lot more interested in the fruit, which was just so purely typical Khaat. "Not just fruit, Khaat. Eat the burger too."

"Who are you, my mother?" she frowned.

"No. I'm worse than that. I'm the father of those twins. Eat."

"You can only do that until delivery. Then I get control of my own plate back," she said.

"Maybe, maybe not," he shrugged, taking another bite of his burger. He heard the sound of apparating in the kitchen and leaped to his feet, his wand drawn. He took off on the run to the kitchen.

"Don't you draw on me, you little twerp!" the sound of Kate's voice came loud and clear and foreboding from the kitchen. "I'll fry you to a crisp!"

"Kate!" Brian exclaimed. "God! You scared the life right out of me."

"The girls wanted to see their daddy. Can you manage that? Robert is bringing Max and Mo when he comes tonight."

"I can always manage my girls," Brian said. He came back in carrying Abbey and an oversized shoulder bag that clearly was stuffed full. Kate came through, carrying Dakota. "Fi, Dean, these are my daughters, Abbey and Dakota, and my mother in law, Kate. Robert's wife. Come fix yoruself a plate, Kate."

"Thanks, I think I will. The high chairs are in my bag, Son," Kate said. Brian busied himself summoning the high chairs while Angus bounced up and got lunches for the babies.

"Brian! They're gorgeous!" Fi gasped. "They're beautiful. Can I..hold them sometime?"

"Of course," Brian said. "Right after we eat." He looked at Khaat who was silent but clearly deeply moved at seeing her girls there. She wanted to just hold them tight. But she simply smiled and went back to her fruit salad.

Jack and steven chuckled at Anguises remark but just kept eating the sound of aperateing causing tehm to stand up and closer to Khaat but seing Kate and Brian return they sat back down resheething their wands and continuing to eat their burgers. smiling at seeing the girls again. Jack moved up a little to allow for the high chairs to be brought up to it " hey dakota you stopped hitting people , especialy your sister yet?" he asked smiling at her. Steven chuckled and shook his head as he finished his burger and fries and heded for the fruit salad.

"Ah, well, she popped her grandfather one night when he didn't give her her way," Kate said. "She doesn't hit anymore. Well, hardly ever," Kate laughed.

"I'd like to know how he did that," Fiona said, "My kids all did that at that age."

"No, you don't want to know," Kate shook her head, laughing. "I laughed until my sides ached.

"What did he do?" Khaat asked.

"He fed them both pureed spinach for dinner."

"But they hate that."

"Exactly. Dakota kept swiping Abbey's food, thinking she was going to get something different or better. When Abbey got fed up enough with it, she popped Dakota a good one. Dakota hasn't made that mistake since," Kate laughed.

"Now why didn't I think of that?" Brian laughed. "Brilliant!"

"Oh, and they're learning more words too. Abbey can say 'Gam' which is her new word for grandma. She still calls Robert Papa. 'Foo' is fruit. Any sort of fruit."

"She gets that from her mother," Brian said, laughing.

"She certainly does. Don't play with your burger, Dear," Kate said to Khaat. "The babies need the nutrients from red meat." Everyone burst into laughter at Kate now goading Khaat about eating too. "Be aware that when Khaat was pregnant with Abbey, the more pregnant she got, the less hungry she got. Angus, you might have to dust off your cheesecake recipe."

"No, just fruit, I think," Khaat said. Kate rolled her eyes at her. "Does Dakota say any new words?"

"Oh, yes! She now knows Max by name. She can actually say Max now. She also says Bi Bi Bi Bi...endlessly when she wants a cookie. And she can very clearly say No, and My.

"Figures," Khaat said. "My possessive child."

"Oh,, she'll learn to share. Robert will teach her that before she gets too much older."

"Thats what I"m afraid of," Khaat laughed.

jack chuckled and thought " wonderif we could do that with the twins " he said and shook his head " nope they know the diferance " he said and took some fruit " tasty meal Angus " he said and listened more to Kate and how robert cured Dakota and her words now " nice mine could only point and grunt at their age " he said " guess we were too soft on them, still are " he said. Steven smiled " sound Idea Kate, got to rember to do that if our twins start anything like that , thank you Kate " he said and grinned as he finished his burger taking a drink of his coffee. He saw Khaat move the buger and heard kate say cheesecake " oww some one say sheese cake , my one weakness ok secone " he said and chuckled .

"I can't imagine either you or Jess being too soft," Brian said. "I think Khaat just lucked out and gave me incredible daughters."

"That and we talk to them incessantly," Angus said. "They're never without attention."

"That is a huge part of things. The fact that you have more people to shower them with nonstop attention does help them develop their language skills quicker. I am never going to cook a burger again. Did you use your secret rub on them before you grilled them, Angus?"

"You are the first one who noticed, Kate," Angus beamed.

"I did notice," Brian said. "That's why I just finished my second burger."

"Don't you remember, Steven?" Kate asked. "When she was pregnant with Abbey, Rob was making cheesecake nonstop just to get her to eat something. The only thing anybody could get her to eat was cheesecake and French Roast. That's how they ended up with so many specialties of cheesecake on the menu at Sparks."

"Guilty," Khaat said, sighing. "But I don't know that I've been craving much of anything this time."

"Oh, really," Brian laughed sarcastically. "Who is it that wakes me up in the middle of the night saying, 'Brian, I'm hungry. I really would like some fruit.' Who do you think does that to me? Why do you think we've taken to keeping a bowl of fresh fruit in our bedroom? How much fruit have you had since we came to Ireland?"

"Uh...." Khaat frowned, trying to think.

"8 pears, 3 bunches of grapes, almost a pint of strawberries, And two apples. I know because I keep replenishing it. That and several bowls of fruit salad," Angus laughed. "But she isn't eating much of anything else."

"Don't worry. Robert will fix it," Kate smiled.

"Uh oh," Khaat said. "I wonder what that means."

steven looked at Kate and chuckled " ow I remember I thought it was for the cafe till I saw her having some, Brian and angus right about the fruit even I have noticed it " he said smiling at her " could mean your lacking some vitamins only the fruit can give you but kates right its not good just eating fruit you have to have some meat in there " he said biting an apple " good apples as usull " he said and bit again. Jack listened and nodded when brian said he could not se he or jess being too soft " ah but you haven't seen her at home shes like a pussy cat " he said and chuckled then sighed thinking once again of jess. as he sat a tap came at the window it was a white owl with a letter addressed for him.

Brian cast a spell on the window so the owl could enter. The bird flew over to Jack and dropped the letter beside Jack's plate. Kate spoke to the owl, which flew over and landed on her shoulder. She fed the bird a little bite from her own plate and petted the bird.

"He doesn't want to go back," Kate sighed. "He says they don't feed him and the owlery has collapsed due to lack of attention. His mate and his babies were killed when the owlery collapsed onto their nest. Poor thing. He's thin. I might very well keep him."

"Or we could keep him at our place," Brian said. "He's welcome to stay with the owls here until one of us heads back home."

"Most likely that will be Robert in the morning," Kate said. "He would take him then, if the owl wants to go." She spoke again with the owl and laughed gently. "He wants to know if we have any girls. I can't blame him. He's a good looking little fellow. He's just a wee fellow, even as Tawny Owls go. And he's thin. He needs fed. Steven, would you mind finding him a place with the other owls in one of the outbuildings? Feed him? He's a carnivore. He likes mice, frogs, worms, and he particularly likes fish. And he's tired. He's been flying a long, long way. I trust you can see to him? I'll keep an eye on him and check him later and give him a better going over, but if you would take care of him, I'd appreciate it. His name translates into English as Evan. He would like us to call him by his name--even if it is, as he says, 'just in English.' I like him. He has no desire to return to Tom Gelding. Gelding has been putting rat poison in his outbuildings so he can't catch mice anymore unless he wants poisoned."

"Well, tell him he's welcome to stay with us," Khaat said.

"I will." Kate answered. Angus brought back a piece of raw fish from the fish Brian and Steven and Jack had bought. He had cut it into tiny pieces. Kate stopped eating her own lunch in order to take care of the little bird.

"I can feed him," Khaat offered.

"No, no, Dear," Kate answered. "We have at least 2 who can speak to animals. If Steven finishes before Evan is done eating, they can get acquainted. If you dont' mind, Steven."

"At least eat the meat, " Brian told Khaat. "You don't need to eat the bun, but if you'd just eat the meat, that would be a good thing." Khaat slid the meat out of her burger bun and ate the meat with a fork. Abbey began to chant "Saw! Saw! Saw! Dada, saw!..."

"Another new word, Kate?" Brian frowned.

"I'm afraid so," Kate laughed. "She thinks any sort of red fruit is a strawberry. In this case, she's right. She sees Khaat's strawberries. She wants some of them." Khaat took several strawberries out of her fruit salad and handed them to Brian who cut them into teeny pieces and fed them to Abbey. When Brian picked up the first little bit of berry to give to her and she opened her mouth, Brian grinned proudly.

"She's got another new tooth, Khaat. She's got ten teeth now. Five on the top, and five on the bottom. And it looks like there is a new one coming in on both the top and the bottom. God, Khaat, she's growing so fast. How many teeth does Dakota have, Kate?"

"Seven," Kate said. "Four on the top and three on the bottom, but she's got 3 coming in all at once. That's leaving her cranky at night and wanting to chew on things. We've been giving her teething potion."

"Can I ask something?" Fiona asked. "Who is Max?"

"The babysitter," Brian said. Kieran roared with laughter.

"The babysitter?" Fiona echoed. She frowned. She wasn't sure why they needed a babysitter with so many adults here.

"Wait til you meet him," Kieran laughed. "He's one of a kind. And I"m not teling you anything more. Its a secret."

"Should I be nervous?" Fiona asked.

"No," Khaat smiled. "He's harmless. Oh, I am sooo full. I think I'd like to move, if you all don't care. I would like a more comfortable chair."

"Go right ahead, Dear," Kate said.

"I'll take you," Brian said.

"Never mind," Dean said. "I'm done eating. I'll escort her to the sitting room off the morning room. Its sunny in there. And the sofa is soft for her." He rose and came over to Khaat and offered her his hand. Khaat took it and rose, with some work.

"Thank you, Dean," Khaat said. "Excuse me, All." She let Dean lead her from the dining room to the sitting room that adjoined the morning room. The sofa was overstuffed, and the fabric was a tannish peach, with china blue stripes and some raspberry colored pinstripes. He helped her sit there, putting pillows behind her for her to lean on, and brought more to elevate her feet to keep the swelling out. She sighed with relief. "Thank you so much," she said.

"I..wanted to get a moment just to talk with you," Dean said. "I..know I look like a great horses ass to you lot, but I'm not a bad fellow. Fiona...hasn't had life easy. She doesn't talk about it. She wasn't always so passive. She was a strong woman once. It changed about ten years ago, and she's never been the same."

"What happened?" she asked, as he opened one of the large windows to let in some of the refreshing breeze. He sat down in a china blue club chair not far from Khaat and sighed heavily.

"You understand that Fi and I are almost ten years older than you and Brian. Not quite, but almost. Shortly after we graduated, we were married, and almost nine months to the day after the wedding, we had our first child. A son. Langdon. He would be 22 now. At any rate, on his 12th birthday, he went swimming with some friends. They went down to a stone quarry, and Fi and I had told him a million times not to swim in the quarry because it was so exceptionally dangerous. Long story short, he and another boy with them...well,...they didn't come back. Local divers found his body three days later. Fi...changed. She became delicate, fragile, unwilling to cope with the world. I had to step up. We had two other children then. We had another, and then the healers said having another would kill her. Fi...just never smiled again. Not until yesterday--when she got that dress from you and Brian. It was the first I saw her smile since Langdon died. I guess what I'm saying is that this has been good for her. And I wanted to thank you. Its too bad you don't live closer. If she could be closer to her family, she might be able to be my old Fi again."

"Dean," Khaat said. "Fi is always welcome in our home. Brian and I will make sure she gets a portkey so she can come and stay as long as she likes."

"You..would do that for my Fi?"

"I like her. And besides, you're both family. Of course we would. Would you mind if I invited her to come and stay for awhile? For a visit?"

"MInd? No. I would love it. I'd likeher to get to know her brothers. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"I...I wont' keep you any longer. I'll let you rest. I'll bring you in an ice pack for your cheek."

"That would be nice. Thank you," she smiled. Dean left, but by the time he returned, she's slipped off into a light sleep again from the effects of her father's potion and from having a full stomach. Dean lightly laid the ice pack against her cheek and left again.


OOC: rofl 1346 words. dont ask me why its so long. idk.

Brian read the letter and folded it up and put the flower into his pocket. He handed the letter to Angus, instructing him to pass it to Robert as soon as he arrived. He looked up at the rest of them.

"I'm sorry. Urgent business calls," Brian said. "And this is something I have to do alone."

"Do you know where you're going?" Angus asked seriously.

"Yes. I do," Brian said. "I know exactly where I"m going. The flower in the letter was the dead give away. Jack is going to want to go. This is one time I cannot take anyone with me. The only way anyone will get in or out alive is to do it as a one man operation. Keep him here. Have Khaat bind his magic if you must. There is no other way, believe me. If there were, I would take it. Try not to worry Khaat while I"m gone. Hopefully this wont' take long. They won't expect me coming. Certainly not in broad daylight."

"Godspeed, then, my friend," Angus said. Brian stood up and Angus embraced him.

"I wont' be gone long, I promise," Brian said, drawing his wand and a portkey. He used the portkey and apparated out.

Jessica paced in her small room she was dirty and bloodied from the beating she had been given but it had not broken her into telling them where Khaat was she stopped and sank to the floor more out of exaustion then her wounds she swore she would fight who ever came threw the door of her room she closed her mind to the screams around her now nothing but silance filled ehr mind something Jeffery had started to teach her. She took down yet another flower and placed it with several others she was drying out to press into note paper so she could send another letter to jack. She winced slightly as her sweat reatched her back where her shirt was reddest. Standing on a small box she loked out sqinting at the sun in her face but it broke and she fell backwards to the floor " god damn it " she swore " when I get out I swear I will make them pay" she said and once again for the tenth time she tried to cast a spell only to sigh in frustration at still nothing happening.


The sun was setting and she lay on a cot in a corner, the door opened and a man stepped in " well you going to talk ?" he asked Jess stood up.

" humm, let me think" she said and loked at him " no!! " she said " if I did know you'd be the last man I would ever talk to " she said, a man walked in holding a whip he motioned to two others to hold her as he began. Several hours later and she lay on the cot again hald conshiose and praying some one would come.