Marriage is Murder

Khaat picked at her breakfast, her mind running a million miles an hour. Brian noticed, but said nothing to her. If she was off on her appetite for a bit, he understood. She barely looked at anyone, and that only made him more angry at Gelding. When he looked and saw how very beautiful she was and what he had done to her psychologically, he wished Jack had let him kill Gelding.

"She doesnt' want to go, Robert," Brian said.

"I know," Robert said. "I didn't ask her that. She's going. She doesn't need to stay all day. Go. Buy at least one pair of shoes and come back. Its not an all day assignment." Her father was not going to take no for an answer. She got up, went to the kitchen, got out a set of keys and came back and slammed them on the table in front of Brian. She wanted to go, get it overwith and get it done with.

"Easy," Brian said gently. "They're not open for a little bit yet. Come sit down with me." Angus poured her a mug of tea instead of her coffee.

"Try sipping on this," he said to Khaat. "Its herbal. It'll soothe those jangled nerves. And its almond. Your favorite." She sat back down beside Brian, and he peeled a fresh orange and ate a slice. It was juicy and candy sweet. "Try this. Better than anything we get at home. Its fresher, and it makes a huge difference. Sweeter. You'll like it." He pried a wedge off the orange and gave it to her. When he found she liked it, he purposely shared that orange with her, along with a second. At least with a piece of fruit in her system and a mug of tea, he wouldn't worry. And she accepted it from him because he had made it fun and hadn't pressured her.

Steven watched and sighed but a kiss on his cheek made him look at Cassidy and smiled " she'll be find Brian's got it in hand " she said knowing her own nerves had been jangled by the experience but she was learning fast she could not hold on to it but had to let it go and quickly if she was to keep her job. She finished her breakfast and placed the plates in the sink before returning to sit with Steven. Jack and Jess ate quietly. Jess poured a cup of tea and sent it to the table taking it she drank.

Cassidy looked at Steven then thought for a moment " what about some cream heels ?" she said looking at Khaat hoping to start some sort of conversation as it was becoming rather awkward at the table.

Khaat nodded. She wasn't interested in shoes, really, but she knew what her father had decided and why. She just wanted the trip overwith. When Cassidy mentioned the heels, she nodded. Any sort of shoes would do. She sat and sipped silently on her tea until Brian looked at his watch and said, "Let's not postpone it anymore. They'll be open when we get there. Let's go. Alright. Angus? Cassidy? steven? Let's go." He stood up and reached for Khaat's hand. "Take my hand," he said softly. She hesitated and then took it slowly. He helped her up.

"Its just shoes," he said. "Tell yourself its just shoes. We wont' leave you for a moment. Lets go." He took her out to the garage. He helped her into the car and when they were all in the car, he took them right back to the shoe store. She froze, staring, unable to move. He wrapped his arm firmly around her waist. "Check the store," he said to Angus and Cassidy and Steven. "Make sure its safe. Take positions. Khaat, come with me. Trust me. Walk. Walk with me." He gave her a very subtle shove forward. It moved her forward whether she wanted it or not. He led her to a display of really dressy evening heels. She picked up the first pair she saw and shoved them into his hands.

"They're not your size," he said, putting them back. "You're safe. We're right here. They're not your style either. Since when were you a goth?" She glared at him angrily. He looked at her calmly. "You might as well do this right. If you don't, he'll just make you come back and do it again. He's teaching you a lesson whether you like it or not. Slow your min down just a moment. You love shoes. Now, get serious about this and pick something. They really do have great shoes."

Cassidy stood up as did Steven and followed slipping into the back of the car and riding all the way to the shop again . on hearing Brain Cassidy walked into the shop she saw the changing room and sighed but made her way to some nice low heeled cram shoes looking at them she saw some satin ones and picked one up her size she walked over to Steven who looked at them and shook his head " no I think those with the purls on would look nicer on you " he said and she smiled walking him over to the.

" they would if they didn't cost so much " she said and showed him the price tag.

" hay, price doesn't matter, if you like them get them " he said " besides its been a while since I spent money on a woman about time I did again " he said and smiled at her kissing her cheek as she held the shoes to her chest.

"They're beautiful " she admitted admiring the stitching on the sides of the shoes, she glanced at Khaat " Khaat look at these" she held them up to show her there's more over there some with lace cut outs" she said smiling.

Brian led her over to where Cassidy had found the shoes. There were a pair of shoes identical to the ones she had purchased for her wedding. She hesitated. Her wedding. Brian still wanted her. She looked at the shoes that symbolized femininity, purity, innocence, grace, and she felt like none of those things.

"So...which ones did you buy?" He asked. She looked at him. She couldn't tell him that. "Alright," he laughed. "I won't press you. Let's find something you like." He just walked with her, browsing slowly, letting her look, deliberately pointing out things to her. And then he saw a pair that caught her eye. They were very conservate for stilettos. Cream colored, with a brass buckle, sewn on with brown leather. They were classy, conservative, and very businesslike. She liked them. He had the clerk get a box in her size and she tried them on. It made him smile.

"That's the pair," he smiled. "It makes those long tan legs look like they go on forever. If you don't buy that pair, I will. Do you like them?" it took her a moment, and she nodded. "Good job," he said. "Looks like you found a pair too, didn't you, Cassidy?"

Cassidy looked sheepish at Brian and nodded " yeah, guess I did " she said and smiled still holding the bag with the cream shoes inside Steven had bought her minuets before her right hand holding his in hers as she felt Steven gently give it a squeeze she had watched Khaat walk around the shop looking at the shoes but mostly she had kept an eye out the window for anything suspicious but she saw nothing she frowned once or twice but said nothing. Steven let go of her hand and moved to look at a shinny black pair of shoes for himself he picked them up and looked closer at them.

"Hay, shouldn't you get a pair too for your wedding?" he asked Brain placing the first pair back on the display he saw a second not so shinny but nice quality and he picked them up moving to pay for them happy with what he had found.

Kate was enjoying taking care of her grandchildren. It gave her great joy. She had seen that Robert had taken to isolating himself back downstairs. The weight of Grindlewald's reign was weighing heavily on Robert. Kate felt sorry for him. She took him tea regularly and then used the girls toy dishes to set up a tea party for the kids on a pretty floral tablecloth on the sand right outsie the living room.

"Come on, Andrew," Kate called, "Come join the fun." She set out some tiny cookies and some fruit juice for them to enjoy instead of tea. Abbey brought a doll with her, and Dakota brought a stuffed hippogryff with her. The girls set their toys on the sand and sat down with Kate.

Meanwhile, Brian agreed he did have to look for shoes. "Come look with me, Khaat," he said. "I presume I should wear black shoes? Can i at least see what shoes you bought?" She shook her head. He laughed and walked her over to the mens' dress shoes. She looked them over. He was looking for something just very ordinary. She found some very unusual dress ankle boots. They were made for formal occasions. She knew he would tuck the boots under his trousers and feel a lot more at home in them. They were made of fine Italian leather and very expensive. She pointed to them.

"With a tux?" he frowned. She pointed to an advertisement photo of a male model wearing the same boots with an Armani tux. It did look very sophisticated and sexy. "I won't argue. You do have an eye for fashion." He tried the boots on an ended up buying them. "Angus, you dont' own a pair of dress shoes."

"I do too," Angus replied, "I just dont' like them."

"Try these on. They are amazingly comfortable." Angus gave in, tried them on and bought an identical pair. "Well, now that we all have shoes, shall we go?"

Jess watched and smiled as Andrew looked at her then moved to Katherine he didn't have a toy to play with but Jess smiled accioing a rather large teddy bear with a pirate bandanna around its neck and he clapped his hands " Mei moo " he said and hugged it tight.

" hes had that bear since he was born , I bought it for him " jack said walking in carrying a tray of tea cups and a pot of tea , sugar and fresh blue berry muffins he smiled at Jess and Katherine " yeah I know, its unusual for me to cook but I felt we all could use something to relax with" he placed it down and saw the look on Jess's face and chuckled " how do you think me and Andrew survived while you were missing?" he said

" um... takeaways?" she said and chuckled herself as she poured the tea for every one watching out the corner of her eye Andrew with the two girls.

Steven looked at the boots and then at the shoes he'd bought " ow well can't have too many shoes " he said and saw Cassidy chuckle as he picked up a pair of light tan ankle boots the same as Angus and Brian's, paying he followed them grabbing hold of Cassidys hand as he walked with her out of the shop.

Brian reached for Khaat's hand and led he out of the shop. She had done wha Robert had asked her to do. No one had attacked them, but he saw she noticed every single person who was in the shop or in the parking lot, or on the sidewalk. That wasn't a bad trait necessarily. He had to be aware of them too. "Can I talk you into getting a shave ice with me?" he asked her, pointing to a little shave ice store towards the other end of the shopping center. She didnt want to walk down there. That was too open.

"If we take the car," she said.

"We can take the car," he replied, reassuring her. "What about the rest of you? Interested in a local treat called shave ice?"

Steven looked at Cassidy who looked puppy dog eyed at him and he chuckled " we're in" he said pulling Cassidy closer to him " besides its good to try something local for once, we'll walk there " he said smiling as he kissed Cassidy and then lead her down to pavement towards the shop at the end of the mall . He wanted to talk to Cassidy alone about her moving in with him.

" wow, wait on cowboy " she said looking at him " what about John and the twins , how does john feel about you having a new yet old girl yet again" she said " talk to him then I will decide if I want to move in with you it means a third young baby in the house " she said as they walked.

" ok Cassie I will talk to him when hes off on holiday as for three young babies in the house we have five right now and we're coping I think we can with three " he said stopping as they waited for Khaat, Brian and Angus.