Marriage is Murder

When Abbey was done with her fruit, she decided she wanted to go outside. She looked at Robert. "Papa?"

"Yes, Sweetheart?" he asked.

"Out?" she asked.

"If you want," he said. He got up and walked towards outside, inviting Andrew and Dakota to come along. He had walked outside with Abbey and they hadn't gotten very far when Abbey unexpectedly morphed into her yellob labrador animagus and took off on a run for the water.

"Jack!" Robert shouted. "Catch that puppy!" Robert knew Labradors loved water more than just about anything else on the face of the earth. And his Labrador granddaughter was heading right to the ocean. He didn't want her mother to come apart at the seams.

Jack placed James back in the play pen and was about to go back to the kitchen when he heard Robert taking off he ran full speed after the small puppy grabbing her before she could place one paw in the water his feet on the other hand were well wet as he now stood ankle deep in the water and he looked down " ok miss back to papa " he said " you have to learn to swim first both as a puppy and a human child " he said walking or rather squelching back up to the house and Robert " here you go dry as a bone not that I can say the same for me" he said taking off his shoes and socks and ringing out the water from them.

"Oh, well done," Robert laughed. "She might have done alright as a labrador, and as a baby she is learning. But her mother might have had a heart attack if I told her Abbey was a labrador again. That's the first she's done that except when Rob has held her. She has always sensed his animagus powers and more or less tied into it. It does make me wonder if there is another animagus in the area. We might want to be more on watch--just in case. The last thing we need when we are only about half staff today because of how weak our women are is to have someone else take advantage of that and decide to try to invade the safehouse. Perhaps we need to all get back to the house. Can you help me with Andrew and Dakota? I'll take our labrador back to her father. Hopefully I won't have to get her a collar and a leash."

Jack chuckled and nodded " sure " he said placing his socks over the back of a chair out side , moving to Andrew and Dakota he smiled " come on champ, back inside " he said and accioed a small red fire truck Andrew ran to it inside and sat playing with it he picked up Dakota and carried her in placing her on the floor and closing the two doors over so they could not go back out. He moved to Jess and showed his bare feet " I got wet feet " he said softly as he sat with her. Jess chuckled feeling her energy slowly returning to normal again not that she could say that about Cassidy or Khaat she could see the tired look on their faces still.

Robert walked in with the little labrador puppy under his arm. Khaat nearly froze at the mere sight of it. Kate looked at the puppy and at Khaat. Brian gripped Khaat firmly. "Don't panic. It is what it is. Its just an animagus," he told her.

Kate went over to Robert and took the puppy from him. She opened cookie jar and got out a chocolate chip cookie. The puppy snapped at the cookie and Kate drew it back away from the puppy.

"No, no, no," Kate laughed. "I don't give cookies to puppies. I give cookies to little girls. If you want the cookie, you need to want to be a little girl again to get it." It took a bit of coaxing on Kate's part but before long she was holding Abbey as a small child and not as a small puppy. She smiled. "Oh, very good. Good girl. Now you can have the cookie," she told Abbey. She put her down on the floor and handed her two more cookies "Share. Take one to Andrew and one to Dakota," Kate said. Abbey went over and handed one cookie to Andrew and one to Dakota.

Brian looked at Khaat. Clearly raising an animagus child was not going to always be easy business, but Kate made it look so very simple. Khaat was beginning to wonder what Rob would have done.

"Should I get a bag of kibbles?" Khaat asked.

"No," her father frowned. "Most assuredly not."

Jess chuckled seeing the puppy trying to get a cookie she watched as Kate coxed Abby to change back some what glad James and Catlin were not animagus but she could not help wonder just what her kids would become Andrew already showed traits like his father but then he showed some like her too she gave a sigh and put it behind her what ever he was she knew one thing he was her son along with James and Catlin was her daughter no matter what their magic would turn out to be. Jack kissed Jess and smiled " stop thinking about it they will be what they will be, and nothing more" He said smiling.

"You know I have the same thing to consider," Khaat told Jess. "As far as we know, the only thing that has kept me from my uncle's curse and from transforming is my necklace."

"Remus nipped me once shortly after Greyback bit him," Robert said. "I was clever enough to smack him with a stick. Broke his cheekbone, but it kept me from being eaten. He never quite forgave himself for biting me, and I never quite forgave myself for walloping him with that tree limb. It was the whole reason Remus sought out Nicolas Flamel when Kate got pregnant with Khaat. He didnt' want any chance she would have to live drinking wolfsbane for the rest of her life. But we know that all four of her children run an equal chance of being either animagus or werewolf. One or the other--or neither one. We understand your fear as well as anyone."

"But I'd never change having them in my life," Brian said.

"You wouldn't?" Khaat asked Brian softly.

"Not for one minute," he smiled, wrapping his good arm around her. "No matter what."

Jess smiled at Khaat " I know Khaat, but its scary knowing the possibility is there " she said and smiled at him " I just am not sure what I can do if he does become like Jack" she sighed and sat back watching Andrew playing with the truck and James and Catlin sleeping in the playpen. Cassidy looked at her " maybe you could just wait and see he's still young yet " she said and listened for Fallon who was still sleeping she stood up and walked in just in time as she cried out , changing her she carried her back into the living room as she feed her a bottle.

"What you'll do is to teach him that wolfsbane is just something he does. If he learns its just a normal part of his life, then he'll just get used to it," Robert said. "Its not quite the ordeal for kids who grow up that way as it is for adults who have to shift everything they've always believed. And we can teach him how to make the right choices. His father can teach him about that. He doesn't have to try to do some of the oddball things that Fenrir tried to do as a werewolf. Andrew has choices he can make. He doesn't have to live as an outcast like my brother did. And Jack will recognize the biological changes quickly enough that he can get him a dose of wolfbane before he makes a full transformation. Jack knows full well the physical pain of the transformation itself that he can perhaps save any of his children from that if it comes to it. I would guess you're several years off before you have to worry about that, though."

Jess looked at Jack who stood and nodded " don't worry I'll keep a watch on him first sign I'll do as Robert says " he looked at him sheepishly " and yeah I do know how painful it is to transform um I did it in your office once remember " he chuckled " but your right, I won't let Andrew go threw that, but he might not have too depends what happens in a few years when he becomes a teenager " he sat with Jess who rested his head on him.

" Guess I'm worried over nothing " she said and smiled seeing him finish his fruit and drink his juice smiling at Abby as he did " I still think he's going to be a charmer though" she looked at Jack " like his father " she smiled as jack chuckled.

"Hay what an I say I won you over didn't I " he said and she laughed softly.

" That you did and kept me this long too" she said as Jack moved to pull hr closer to him.

" why would I look anywhere else , your just what I wanted and need " he said kissing her cheek feeling inside he still loved her as much as the first day he had met her even with all they had been through .