Marriage is Murder

Brian ignored Andrew. Andrew hadn't typically been rude about his parents' behaviors but he was being rude lately. Brian just figured he was going through a phase. He worked on teaching Abbey and Dakota swimming. He love children, but he didnt like rudeness. Brian didn't find it funny, especially in light of how they all, as adults, put their lives on the line daily to protect the ones they loved. He knew Andrew didnt understand that, but Jack and Jess had the right to enjoy each other's company. Dakota didn't seem to like the water and didn't stay long. She got out and went in the house. Abbey just had no intention of ever getting out of the water--ever. Brian concentrated on her, and he was able to teach her several different strokes and ways to keep herself safe in the water.

Dakota, in the meantime, went inside and to Angus. She used her little baby words telling him she wanted to play. He got out some pots and pans and a couple of wooden spoons and put them on the floor. She sat down and began just banging on the pots and pans. Khaat looked up at the new din in the house, and she just shook her head.

Robert went over and sat with Khaat. "Do you know how fortunate all these kids are?"

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"Most kids are lucky if they have two parents to get through life with. Your girls didn't start with two reliable parents, but they have scads of parents now. They have grown up in a whole world full of adults and they are comfortable going to any one of us. They dont have any doubt that they are loved. They just know. They've known from the start that they're loved. That makes them in a wonderful minority."

Brian watched Abbey dive deeply to the bottom of the deep end of the pool. He just automatcally followed her. She seemed to be all caught up exploring the bottom, but seemed to not realize she needed to come up for air. She tried to breathe in and started to get herself into trouble. Brian realized she was going to drown without his help. He swept a strong arm around her and pushed back up to the surface. When they broke up above the surface, she started to cought and wail and cry, upset. Brian wrapped her in his arms and held her close, comforting her.

Khaat had seen the scene unfold where Brian had rescued Abbey. Khaat was learning that the labraodr urge in Abbey was going to be hard for Abbey to overcome. She was glad that Brian had been there to take care of her. When they were done swimming, Brian sent Abbey inside and Kate took her to get some dry clothes on. Brian went for a swim by himself until he felt refreshed.

By the time Brian got back in, Khaat had dozed off with a cup of coffee growing cold beside her. He said nothing. He was relieved that she was resting.

He found himself being fascinated again by the large ring and all the different colored stones. He sat and worked with it awhile, still frustrated it wasn't finished and that he didn't know what it was for or what it did. He sat with each stone, one at a time, trying to put it into the right place and only knowing if the stone glowed when it was in the right spot.

Khaat got bored sitting and soon dozed off. She saw herself dressed in some odd black dress, working for James. She had turned all her good magic to dark arts. She had tossed out all of what she believed in. She woke with a jolt.

"Bad dream? her father looked at her. She sat and saw she was still in the safehouse. Nothing had apparently changed or gone wrong.

"I..guess," she said. "Daddy, can we get Lee to check the American government records about James? Can we see if there are any sort of docments that tell us what his skills are? Or any of the rest of his crew?"

"well certainly we could do that," Robert said, "but there is no way of us knowing that we have the complete information. What are we lookin for?"

"Mind control skills," she said. "Potions skills."

"Just what exactly were you dreaming?" Robert frowned.

"I saw myself changing sides to the dark arts," she said. He laughed.

"There is just not a snowball's chance of something like that happening," he laughed. "I wouldn't give that one instant of thought."

When the day started to fade, hours later and it started to get dark, Khaat suddenly felt a lot more uneasy. She changed into black jeans, black boots, tucking a wand in each boot and a plain black cotton shirt. She wasn't sure why she was gearing up, but she just felt like she was compelled to do it.

When Brian saw her changing, he didn't ask. He just followed suit and changed, readying himself. If it turned out to be nothing then he had merely changed his clothes. But he knew that when she looked that sure, something was coming. And in this case, he believed it was James.

Meanwhile, Kate perked up from doing the after dinner dishes and laid her dishtowel aside. "I hope you lot are in the mood to tangle a bit," she said. "Because I can feel an increase in dark energies. I don't know if its james but I do know its dark. Go ready yourselves."