New Day, New Life

"All the time," Khaat said. "Remember who my father is. My uncle was the same way--only worse. But I frustrated them when my seers powers kicked off and told me what they were up to. It didn't happen all the time, but surprising me was sometimes difficult. Surprising my mother is almost impossible. And if you want to learn to do pottery, my mother can teach you. Its fun, and yes, you can do it pregnant. I did, and so did she. Its an art you can do sitting down. A lot of art can be done sitting. You'd be surprised. If Brian forgot a kiln and a wheel, she'd just conjure one for herself. She won't let her studio be without it. And she will want it to have a lot of natural light and air. Brian is a remarkable magical archetect when the situation calls for it. Besides that, he knows every inch of my mother's studio. He won't forget a thing. Thanks for taking care of Abbey's knee. I really am doing my best to be up to handle this myself as quickly as I can push myself to do it. "

Cassidy chuckled and nodded " yes , its something I always wanted to do but never got around nor had time to do " she said " till now " she saw Steven walk in with Jack both sweaty he walked over to her and bent down kissing her gently. " eww sweaty " she said and smiled at him.

" what did you expect after running and in this heat too " he said smiling again " I'll go shower, Hey Abby ow nice plaster " he said and chuckled and headed to the room but as he did he paused " ow Cassidy you might want to change for our trip , something ...light and maybe cream colored would be perfect." he said and winked at her.

Cassidy looked at Khaat " see what I mean " she said and chuckled shaking her head as he disappeared.

"Enjoy it," Khaat laughed. "There is more to see and do here than you could do in a couple of lifetimes. You might as well start doing it now. Just remember--you're a muggle once you leave this property. Steven, do you have any muggle cash with you? Or can you go to an ATM and get some? Or do you need some? Probably shouldn't take our sickles with you. That might not be the best plan. And I believe Angus has the keys to all the vehicles, probably in the kitchen. Take what you like. You do remember how to drive a standard don't you?"

"Hey, you!" Angus's voice came from the kitchen. "Bring that back. That is not a toy." Khaat heard Dakota giggle and saw her try to run off from Angus, and she had in her hand an ovenmitt. She had it on her little hand, wearing it like a glove and was so proud of herself and the new "toy" she had acquired. Angus watched her trying to learn to run, and he just stood in the kitchen and watched her, shaking his head. What the devil am I going to do with her when she does learn to run?" he sighed.

Cassidy looked into the kitchen and laughed " erm... learn to run faster? " she said and chuckled pulling her self to stand as she walked over to Dakota and removed the glove she accioed a second sock puppet slipping it on her hand " there now you can play with that " she said and made a small theater appear on the floor with stuffed people " that should hold her for a little" Cassidy chuckled and looked at Khaat " hope that was all right ?" she asked not wanting to step on her toes.

Steven looked at Khaat and nodded " I have plenty and yes I have an ATM card all I need is a car " he said and looked at the kitchen also laughing at Dakota with the over sized oven mitt on. He smiled watching how Cassidy made a toy appear and a small puppet theater. He looked at Khaat " she is good with kids, even if she can't see it, I do " he smiled " ow that shower be right back , Angus you got anything that's stick, with air con too would be a help?" he asked.

"Thank you," Khaat laughed. "I do not want her to learn to play with things from the kitchen unless she is in the kitchen with Angus. I'm not against her being in the kitchen, but I dont' want her taking an oven mitt now and a chefs knife next time."

"God, don't even think that, Khaat," Angus sighed. "I would never, never let that happen, I swear."

"I would trust you would use an immobilus spell or a petrificus totalus spell if you had to to keep her safe."

"On my life. I swear," he reassured her. He accio'd a set of keys from the kitchen and tossed a set to Steven. "There. It goes to the red car. Be careful though. Robert put the red one in Khaat's name, so try not to demolish it the first time out of the garage, Mate. There is an ATM nearby. Go out of the driveway, go right. Go down three blocks to the strip mall on your left. There is an ATM just inside the door of the supermarket. That's the closest one. Its a Whole Foods market like we visited in Colorado. Sometime you and Cassidy might just enjoy taking a slow walk through there and browsing and buying whatever foods or snacks strike you. Its a good outing. There is a bookstore next to the supermarket, and, um...a gift shop next to that. The gift shop has a wonderful candy shop in it. They have chocolatiers that work there, so there is a whole line of handmade chocolate truffles that are out of this world. Next to that is a shop that will make perfume according to a woman's biochemistry--so that it can never be duplicated. There's a sport store that has alll sorts of gym equipment next to that, a surfshop, an ice cream shoppe, a jewelry store with one of a kind handmade items, a florist, and I think the last store in there is a shop for some really exclusive and expensive gourmet delicacies. It migh take you a couple of days just to go through all those stores. But they're 5 star shops--every one of them."

Cassidy was sat on the floor playing with Dakota and the sock puppets she looked at Steven who caught the car keys and nodded to Angus " I got that and smiled when he said a jewelers nodded then looking disgusted when he said about the car " hey I'm a good driver" he said and chuckled " don't worry I won't put a scratch on it " he said tucking the keys into his pocket " five start that's good I want to order a few things , a few special things" he added so Angus wouldn't fell he was keeping him out the loop in any way.

Cassidy pulled her self up siting and moved to the chair she had been in " that should keep her occupied, we'll all just have to make sure the door to the kitchen is closed and all the sharp knifes are out of her reach. " she said smiling at her. Cassidy looked at Steven as he caught the car keys " I'm glad your driving and not aperating don't need me throwing up over you when we get there" she said.

Brian brought out a gift bag and gave it to Khaat and took the now sleeping Julia from her. "For you," he said. "Well, for us, really. Open it."

"What did you do?" she frowned. She opened the bag and found three of the most beautiful baby books she had ever seen. One was a sunny yellow color with illustrations of baby safari animals. The second was green with mythical illustrated gnomes and mushrooms and fairies. The third was a beautiful pink with a baby princess motif. They were some of the most beautiful ones she'd ever seen. And with them was a large box. Inside the box were three quills. A yellow one, a green one, and a pink one--all with stunning plumes.

"For our children. And I have a whole box of wizard photos of our kids already. Maybe you and Jess and Cassidy would like to start filling them out?"

"Sounds like a good idea. I should have brought Abbey's and Dakotas to catch them up."

"I did," he smiled. "And I bought large photo albums to match all 5 baby books. You will have to go to the new craft store a couple miles away and go shopping for scrapbooking supplies and make some memorable scrapbooks for all the kids."

Khaat looked at Jess. "What do you think? Are you interested in helping me with 5 baby books and photo albums? Cassidy? What about you--when you get back, of course."

Cassidy looked at where Steven went and chuckled " I would love to Khaat might pick one up for myself too" she said " didn't think of that sort of thing " she said as Steven now changed walked into the room " cassidy you should change " he said as he helped her up. Cassidy moved to her room.

Steven looked at Angus and smiled " does that jewelers have engagement rings in?" he asked him quickly as he kept an eye on her door " I don't see in any sense in waiting since we both know each other and have for years " he said smiling softly realizing he was becoming mushy he stopped " sorry " he said and looked at khaat.

"They have some of the most unique jewelry in the world--for every occasion," Angus said. "People come from all over the world just to buy the local designs. One thing about it, you wont find anything even remotely close to it anywhere else in the world. If I were buying any jewelry, I'd go there. In fact, if I were still at home, I'd still go there. Its just a portkey away, after all. And if she wants a baby book, have her check the bookstore. Where do you think Brian got those? He said he's never seen a larger selection. The quills? Well, he had to get them from home, from Diagon Alley, but that only took a moment to go and do." He passed Steven a small bottle that had one dose of potion in it.

"Don't use it unless you have to. It stops all negative symptoms of pregnancy. It will help her feel better. The downside to it is that it cannot be used repeatedly. Otherwise, we'd have given it to her already. But--in small doses, and given rarely, it can help stop all negative symptoms sometimes for a couple of days at a time. But given where she is in the pregnancy, I wouldn't give it to her more than a couple of times between now and her delivery date. Use it very wisely. This is only for a serious emergency. Understand that?"

Jess nodded " if you mean the meal it sounds divine if you also mean about Steven and Cassidy I some how don't think she will rush into a wedding this time shes more likely to have a long engagement " she said smelling all the aromas coming from where he was stood " I can't wait to try that salmon looks positively fresh of the boat" she said smiling as she sipped her juice " no I wouldn't say anything ether to them let they be happy " she said then heard a baby grumbling "ow, my job never ends that's got to be ether Michael or Robert " she said and chuckled " would you mind heating up a bottle for me Angus while I check he's not just wet" she said and moved into the living room she saw Jack holding Robert in his arms.

" hes hungry, do you remember when ours were this small ?" he asked and chuckled as he swayed back and forth.

Jess nodded " yes I do the sleepless nights and countless nappy changes and bottle feeds" she said " but I would not change it for anything for any of the children we look after" she said and kissed his cheek gently.

" me nether " he said placing little Robert in Jess's arms.