Feminine Fire

Khaat slowly woke. She felt a huge wave of anxiety and fear sweep through her. And then she felt someone quickly take both her hands.

"Khaat," It was her father's voice. "Look at me. Focus." She looked at him and saw he was right in front of her. Relief started to sweep through her at the sight of him, and it was stronger than the panic had been. It was replacing the panic.

"Daddy?" she asked, her own voice sounding tiny and frightened.

"You're alright, and so are the babies. You were only gone a few hours. We got you back without a scratch. You're home. Look around. You're home." She looked. She was indeed home. And there were her girls, Abbey and Dakota, playing happily in the playpen as if nothing had ever happened.

"They're alright?"

"They were never touched. Brian and Steven and Jack got you back. They did an outstanding job," her father said. He took the teamugs from Jess. "Thank you, Jess. And yes, I could use just a decent cup of tea. I appreciate your thinking of me. Here, Khaat. Drink. Its just chamomile tea. It will be good for you and the babies." He handed her the mug. She took it in her hands, and wrapped her hands around the mug. It smelled wonderful. It was just exactly what she wanted.

"Thanks, Jess," she said softly.

"I want you to rest today," her father told her. She nodded.

Jess smiled at Khaat " its good to have you back khaat " she said softly smiling at her as she felt the wave of relief wash threw the room from every one. Jess stood up and looked for Angus smiling as she realized he must be in the kitchen and so moved into it with a smile " hey Angus what shall we cook for dinner I have a feeling there all starving for something to eat " she said and picked up a pot of coffee and poured her self a cup.

Jack smiled and folded his arms as Khaat spoke as he and Steven walked in but looked at each other at the same time and chuckled. Steven walked to a chair and sat down watching both outside and Khaat and Robert " do you think he will keep his word ?" he asked Brian " Gelding?" he waited for Brian to speak " we should start tightening security around here just in case "

Jack shook his head as he too sat next to the play pen playing with a stuffed toy and Dakota. " Steven be glad she's back and everything went smoothly" he said and looked at Jess sending a mental image of him kissing her that would make her blush and he chuckled seeing her face from the kitchen.

"I'm going to do something quick," Angus said. He already had cast a spell for some large sub sandwiches to begin to assemble themselves. "When these are ready, we'll wrap them in foil and bake them in the oven to heat them up and to melt the cheese. We'll add some potato chips and some sodas. It won't take ten minutes. I have at least a dozen loaves of french bread, so we'll have more than enough to eat. And I have all sorts of deli meats and cheeses, veggies, mustards, mayonaises and all the rest. It'll be a nice quick change. Tonight, I'm planning on a large kettle of tomato basil soup, some grilled cheese sandwiches with sourdough bread and asiago cheese to make them a bit more five star, a salad, and for dessert, well, I hadn't gotten that far. But I do have a bushel basket of fresh Italian tomatoes I have to use up. So I'm going to make fresh homemade tomato basil soup. What do you think?"

"Gelding isn't coming back. Not today," Brian said. "He just wanted the girl back, like I wanted Khaat. He's going to be far more busy in 'teaching Ethan Burke a thing or two.' We might have to look out more for Ethan, but my guess is that it will take Burke a few days to recover from Gelding's lessons. We may have to look at soon keeping Khaat more in the house until after her due date."

"That may need to happen soon anyway," Robert said. "I know you're having more and more trouble getting around, Khaat. And its putting strain on you and the babies. You don't have to be on absolute bedrest. Not yet anyway, but I do want you off your feet more, elevating your feet, resting. Start reading those books you've been meaning to get to."

"I have a nursery to decorate," she said.

"Not now you don't. You're too advanced for that. You're going to have to let us all help you there. I think we're all up for that, don't you all?" Robert asked.

Jess listened to Angus and her tummy rumbled " If my tummy's any judge its going to be delicious " she said taking down the mayonnaise and mustard from the cupboard placing them down on the table with the other things while Angus set about putting the sandwiches together Jess finished gathering the rest of the things he needed " I think your right and that soup sounds just as delicious " she said " can I help you with it , I really could use something to do " she said softly she smiled at Jack through the door way and rolled her eyes a little.

Jack looked at Brian as he spoke glad that he felt Gelding would not return " good , maybe we can relax a little , but not too much" he said and went back to playing with Dakota who had been tugging at his arm as he had spoken to Brian and now he turned back to her again mush to her delight and laughter.

"I would love the help, Jess," Angus smiled. "The recipe is in my own cookbook. I finally got it put together. Its the red leather book that is sitting on the counter beside Khaat's. You start by washing the tomatoes and then blanching them so you can take the skins off. Once they're blanched, the skins will just slide off. Then we can cook them and add the cream and a bit of butter, and salt and pepper, and blend it til its smooth. Then we'll strain the seeds out of it. We don't want to serve a soup full of tomato seeds. We want it to be silky smooth. Then we'll add a chiffonade of basil to it. If we add the basil too soon it will turn brown and look unappetizing. That should go in right before we serve it. It does take awhile to make, but its well worth it. It needs to simmer awhile, so we need to start it right after lunch. Also, if you'd take care of some sort of dessert, that would be great."

Khaat sipped on her tea and then said, "Brian, I'd really like to shower. I feel...dirty."

"Completely understandable," Brian nodded. "I'll go up with you and help you. We'll be right back, All. I think Khaat would like to wash the feel of Ethan Burke off her skin." He stood up and when she had trouble getting up from the sofa, he put his arms under her shoulders and lifted.

"I'm not too heavy?" she asked.

"No. Not at all," he smiled. "I'm always glad to help. Come on. Ten minutes in the shower and you'll feel like a new woman." He led her upstairs.

Jess smiled and nodded moving to the book she brushed her hand over its cover " beautiful binding Angus " she said and opened it , gathering the ingredients he had said they needed Jess thought about desert " hum I think a hot desert would be better than a cold one " she said " what about a warm Caramel Apple Betty with fresh made custard" she suggested to Angus as she washing the tomatoes ready to be placed in an already boiling pot of water.

Jack smiled and nodded as he watched Brian take Khaat up stairs " go ahead, these two are well entertained " he said and chuckled as Dakota played with the stuffed duck Abby placed blocks one on top of the other. He was pleased to see they were not fighting any more. Steven nodded he had heard and picked up a news paper and began to read about the normal news that was happening around them. He could hear the sound of cooking coming from the kitchen and hoped it would not be long till they ate.

Khaat was relieved when Brian said he'd find her a comfortable sundress and told her to go ahead and shower. She felt herself relaxing when she stood under the warm water and felt it cascading over her. It was like it was washing a bad day away. And they hadn't even had lunch yet. She knew the girls had to be hungry. She didn't know if she had it in her to do the mealtime battle with two one year olds. Her thoughts went to Brian and how attached she had become to him and how she wanted the children to be his and not Robs, simply because Rob, as usual, had disappeared again. Leave it to him to run away from responsibility. Now she had a real man in her life, and the biological father of her children had run off. She wept, curling into the natural stone wall of the shower. She allowed herself to have a good cry and then she let herself enjoy a few more minutes under the water.

"Khaat?" she heard Brian calling. "You okay, Babe?"

"Fine," she sighed. "I just needed a good cry."

"You're entitled. Come on out. Let me pamper you a little." She turrned off the shower and he wrapped her in an extra large heated white bath sheet. He kissed her lovingly. He combed out her hair for her, and led her into the bedroom. He picked up her favorite body lotion and he gave her a full body massage, spending extra time on her shoulders and her neck and extra time on her aching feet. He had bought for her a gorgeous chocolate brown gauze sundress that had some beautiful beading on it, and some pretty beaded flipflops. It made her feel like a princess.

"Thank you," she smiled. "I feel a lot better. You don't have to pamper me, though."

"I wouldn't dream of not doing it," he smiled, kissing her. "You sure you're okay?" He laid his hand on her stomach, not feeling any kicking. He frowned.

"They're sleeping," she told him. "They're alright. But I am getting a bit hungry I think."

"Angus and Jess have that taken care of. Let's go downstairs." He helped her to her feet and led her back downstairs.

"Oh, Khaat," Kate said, "What a beautiful dress. And I have to have a pair of those flipflops."

"I'll make sure you get a dozen, Kate," Brian laughed.

Jess busied herself making desert and finishing the soup for later. as she worked Jess found her self humming a little as she did. She felt calm as she moved soon the desert was done and in the fridge. " we can warm it when we're ready for it " she said and smiled as she moved back to check the tomatoes , finding them ready she tipped out the hot water and plunged them in to cold where she stripped back the skin placing each in a bowl ready for Angus to finish the soup. She looked at the table and smiled " I think lunch is ready don't you Angus, if we keep the men waiting any longer Jack might start to eat the furniture " she said and chuckled.

Jack heard talking and recognized his wife's voice " hey I don't do that, well not any more" he said and chuckled himself as he watched the girls , he saw out the corner of his eye that Steven had dozed off to sleep obviously tired out. " Hay Steven wake up " he said and nudged him.

Steven woke and looked at Jack sighing s he yawned " did I doze off again, I seem to be doing that a lot" he said and stood up to stretch out his tired body a little. " maybe I need a work out or a hot shower " he turned to Khaat " you had the right idea khaat and Kate's right you look stunning " he smiled at her.

"Thank you," Khaat smiled. "Brian is taking good care of me. I'm going to have a whole closet of designer maternity clothes to give to some lucky woman when this is all done."

"I thought you might save them for the next batch of twins," Brian said.

"Next time, YOU take the fertility potion," she told Brian. "You can do the delivery room bit. Not me."

"No thank you," Brian said. "I know Rob's potion works on men as well as it does on women, but I refuse. I'm not doing it."

"Smart lad," Robert said.

"Yes," Angus said to Jess. He took out two very large sheet pans loaded down with hot submarine sandwiches. The bread was toasty and crunchy, and the chesse was melty. Steam rose in wispy curls from the hot sandwiches. Angus motioned chips to fill a bowl and motioned a bowl of french onion to set itself on the table, along with paper plates, paper napkins, and bottles of icy cold sodas. "I decided we'd do this very simply," he said to Jess. He motioned the subs to stack themselves on two different large serving platters and sent them to the table.

"Oh, Jess! Something for the girls, please?" he said quickly. "They won't eat this stuff. I think there is some leftover macaroni and cheese in the fridge we can reheat for them. They'll like that." He called everyone to the table for lunch.

Jess nodded and took it down placing it in two small bowls and set them to heat up but not too hot . She smiled as Jack walked in and sat down along with Steven and they made up there sandwiches and began to eat once the mac and cheese was warmed enough she placed it down on two high chairs with two spoons " jack before you eat can you fetch Dakota and Abby for me please. " she asked Jack looked up and then placing down his sandwich he quickly returned with each one on each arm both holding tight he placed Dakota first in her chair and strapped her in then he did Abby. Jess gave each girl a spoon and there lunch. Jess moved to sit with Jack and made her own sandwich, making sure not to over fill it even though she was hungry. she watched the girls eating.