Marriage is Murder

Steven nodded but it didn't help inside much " I know, I've been training with Robert too " said Cassidy and smiled " I don't know if its fortunately or unfortunately I had the pleasure twice " she smiled " nope fortunately as it taught me to be stronger than I use to be in so many ways " she looked at Robert and smiled " thank you " she said smiling still but she heard Fallon become fidgety and looked to her seeing a member of staff giving her a bottle and motioning she was fine and Cassidy let out a breath he had held. Steven stood quiet holding his glass not quite sure what to do next.

Andrew had wanted to make another remark but he was distracted by a girlish giggle. There were a pair of girls that were close to his age, and they were standing across the room, looking at him and giggling shyly.

"They've got their eyes on you, Boy," Michael said. "Don't be shy. Go ask one of them to dance when that starts. Introduce yourself. It will be good practice for those dancing lessons Kate and I have been making you do with her." Andrew looked up at him with a look at basically said "Do I have to?" Michael had read the look in Andrew's eyes and simply said. "Yes. You do." Andrew excused himself and hesitantly made his way across the room. "They're the children of one of the staff members. His wife works in the kitchen in the barracks. They have a house in the village. Robert told them they could bring their daughters since they're on break as well. He's a good boy, Steven. He's just trying to be almost 14 and act and think like a man. Its a hard balance. I'm sure for him it feels a lot more like tightrope walking. When you get a chance, when the blizzard stops, just go take a walk with him. Talk to him. You're as nervous around him as he is around you. Clear it up so you both can go forward."

Steven looked at Michael " I know what hes going to say that's whats bothering me he will want to stay with Robert and Kate permanently and that makes me feel like I failed him. " he said watching him John stood as if glued to the spot he watched Andrew but didn't want to move. Steven sighed " even my own son feels isolated " he said " I can see this being along day " he said as Cassidy shook her head and left Steven.

" why won't you go and talk to them?" she asked John who looked at her.

" I'm no good around girls " he said looking up at her some what nervously.

" well your talking with me alright and I well was a girl " she said smiling " just be yourself john " she looked over at Andrew and the girls and john walked over to them.

" Hi" he said some what shyly to one girl his cheeks turning a light pink as he spoke.

"And when precisely did you become psychic, Tex?" Michael scowled. "You have no idea what he's going to say. You just think you do. For your information, he wasn't angry. That isn't why he ran. He was uncomfortable. He was nervous and frightened that you wouldn't be able to deal with the fact that he has been with Robert. And he was uncomfortable that you were getting married again to someone he hadn't met. No offense, Cassidy. He isn't sure what that says about his worth to you that you didn't even write him last time and that he didn't even get an owl from you this time. He heard from Robert. He believes you gave up on him sometime about the time you started dating Ronata. And he didn't want to be where he wasn't welcome, even if Robert and I were here. He said to us that he felt he'd rather be alone than to ever again be anywhere he wasn't wanted. He lost the anger about a year ago. But the nerves? Well, that hasn't quite gone yet. We're talking to him but that might take awhile longer."

Andrew had chosen the girl who looked like the oldest daughter. She had chestnut colored hair and sparkling green eyes and a laugh that sounded like music to Andrew's ears. "Um...hi," he managed nervously. "I don't suppose...well,..." he began. At that moment, Frog jumped out of his tuxedo pocket causing Andrew to panic. Frog never jumped out of his pocket. Besides that, he knew girls hated frogs, and he figured she'd freak.

"I'll get him!" she said, ducking like lightning to scoop her hands into a potted indoor tree to fetch the tiny frog out of the dirt. Andrew stood amazed and thunderstruck. What girl liked frogs? That was just against...well, all the rules or something.

Steven frowned " no owls, I sent one to both john and Andrew before the holidays, he didn't he get it ?" he asked and looked back at Andrew " no wonder he thinks that about me, your right once the snow stops I need to talk to him " he said " Ronata was a big mistake she couldn't cope with this life Cassidy can you know that your self I would not be here today , and I didn't rush into it this time took me several years to realize she was the one it was unfortunate her ex did what he did " his hands balled at the thought of Clay. Cassidy walked back to Steven.

" Steven, unclench those hands, this is not about the past but our future together" she said and Steven relaxed knowing she was right " john will come out of himself once he relaxes." she smiled seeing John talking to a red haired girl both seem to be getting on well and he smiled at her.

"The last thing he heard from you, pretty much, was putting him on the train the during the summer after his first year, Mate," Michael said gently. "He hasn't received a single thing from you after that. No allowance, no school supplies, no Christmas or birthday notes or gifts...not a bloody thing. He thought your words were genuine at the time when you found him but that you were more interested in, as he put it to me, 'chasing women' than in him. His words, not mine. Robert and I have worked a long time to read him in on Khaat's situation and that you honestly were working, and he does understand that now, and he accepts it. What he doesn't understand is why he never heard a syllable from you after you took him in, gave him a room of his own, made him part of your family...and then, in his mind, just utterly vanished.

"You do know that Robert has entirely supported him since you put him on the train at the beginning of his second year, right? Not out of Andrew's accounts, but out of Robert's accounts. Robert had himself appointed so that he could legally sign for any medical treatment, pay his expenses, sign any grade cards from the school, and do those tasks that needed done. It was not intended to separate you two. It was only ever intended to make sure the lad was taken care of. If you've been sending things, then I have no clue where its all gone. But he hasn't ever gotten a thing except from Robert since the start of his second year.

"Look, I am not saying these things to unsettle your wedding day, but these questions surely had to be brewing in your mind since you started to talk about this day. You had to know he'd be here if you did a wedding over the holidays so John could be here. Don't you think its time we answered them rather than having them hang over your head? If you can clear the air, then fine. It would be a wonderful wedding gift. But it doesn't have to happen today. Right now, Andrew knows you were working. He doesn't need all his questions answered today. And if you like, I can say a word to him so that he knows there's been a huge misunderstanding. It might make talking to him a bit easier.

Steven listened and could not believe it " if I sent to my son why would I not send to him, of course I did , as for his report cards he never sent me any to sign because Robert did it , as for Robert taking care of his needs I have no problem with it, hes a good person and father since Brian and Khaat are testimony to that " he said and gave a sigh " yes I think it is time we put this to rest between us" he said and looked at Andrew with the girl. Cassidy looked at Michael and shook her head.

" Please Michael go ahead, I'll make sure he talks to him, it needs to be over with between them both" she said and looked at Steven with her arms folded across her chest " and Michael he did send things I was there for a few of them " she said confused her self at why Andrew didn't get them.

"I believe you," Michael said. "I'm not your enemy. I'm your friend. But--what you may not know is that even the owls that the school sent to you came back unable to deliver them. And for an owl not to find someone almost never happens. The situation reached Robert just as a matter of ministry business. He knew you were working. He never questioned that. He had no idea that you were indeed sending things. He had no way of knowing. So he simply looked out for Andrew so that his education could be free from interruptions. I would recommend that you start working the case and start trying to find out why he didn't get what you sent and vice versa. As I said, that isn't necessary to do today, but its highly unlikely that every item either of you attempted to send to not reach their receiver simply by sheer coincidence.

"The only other thing that I know of that might remotely be a clue is that just after Andrew boarded the train for Hogwarts at the start of his second year, Gringotts' records for Andrew's accounts show a sharp drain on his funds and then, apparently, someone in Gringotts decided it was an error and the bank replaced the funds. When Robert took over Andrew's affairs, he moved Andrew's accounts into a different vault and under his own name rather than Andrew's. From what I know, Robert's kept those account books completely separate, so Andrew's funds are still his own, but Robert did not know who did or did not have access to Andrew's account, so he moved it to protect the Diamond fortune so Andrew would still have it when he grew up. And--as Robert told me, he didn't even know about the little snafu with the account until this summer. Just about the time you all went into the safehouse. He didn't have time to tell you because he's been busy trying to shield you and most of the wizarding world from Gellert Grindlewald."

Steven frowned and looked at Michael " I know and I will get on to that when I can, but it sounds like some one was intercepting all I sent and might have tapped into his money, but who it could be I have no idea but I know I do have to set things right between Andrew and I first before I can do anything else " he said then looked at Michael " thank you for letting me know all this now I know why he thinks I abandoned him. " Steven though back to when he sent the things and how. " its got me totally stumped, and I did get him a Christmas gift , it's a new cage for frog " he said " I'm just glad i am giving it to him and not sending it" he looked at Cassidy " I'm sorry I have not made this as happy a day for you " he said and saw her smile.

" Steven your son and Andrew need you not me and I see that now no more apologizing and just sort it with Andrew " she said and kissed his cheek " Michael could I ask you a favor if you can could you loom into this from the other end please " she asked.

"It might well be easier for me to do that than for you to do it from your end," Michael said. "But I'm curious as to why a moment of conversation, in your mind, sticks out for you as ruining your entire day? If Robert and I had known you would feel that way, we'd have kept Andrew away. It seems to me that the fact that he's here at all would have inevitably brought this up anyway. If you both were going to feel that Andrew ruined your day, we surely would not have brought him. Believe me, we do have other places we could have sent him. I fail to see how one young lad can ruin an entire day for two adults unless you let it. Pardon me. It seems as though he's lost Frog. I think I'll help him find him. You two go back to enjoying your day."

He walked away from them, heading for Andrew and the young girl who now was behind the indoor tree, looking for Frog, while Andrew was crawling, in his tux, on his hands and knees under an unused table, trying to talk Frog into coming out.