Marriage is Murder

Jack looked at khaat " and mine too sir " he said " I want my crack at him too" he said softly and looked at Robert as well he knew he could tell he was wanting a go at James." your going back to the wizagamot ?" he asked curious to know just what she could do there other than get her message across about Grindelwald. Jack looked at Jess who shook her head " sorry guess my thoughts are shouting again" he said to her.

"There practically screaming " she said and moved to hold him close " just relax " she saw him take a deep breath

"Khaat and I will both be doing our best to go back to our former posts," Robert assured Jack. "Grindlewald has turned England upside down. We need to try to at least unwind the damage if we can. I know you hae personal feelings about James that you're certainly entitled to, but I was talking about it being Khaat's issue from a legal standpoint. YOur interest is purely personal. Her interest will be, by then, purely legal. Let us not forget that we have Gelding to deal with. My thought is that we need to do our best to process him legally so that if he ever gets out of Azkaban that he has enough of a record that he cna't so much as sell a newspaper without an auror on his arse. Thats my plan anyway. We can, for certain, have him convicted here in Italy for ordering the murder of two aurors. And we can convict the women for carrying it out. We're eyewitnesses to that. If you want him held in England and not here, then we need to tie him to crimes in England. If you really want to help, you'll uncover evidence of their crimes there.

Jack sat and listened and nodded he knew they were right " sorry sir, your right " he said pushing his personal opinions to one side to finish later. Jack listened even more and formulated a plan he could get some o his old buddies to look into any crimes that had gone unsolved that could be attributed to James, his mother and his sisters. Steven came back and smiled at them both.

" ok all clear got two of them myself " he said and showed the broken remains of the ears in his hand as he walked over to Robert.

"Good," Robert said. "Well done. Now that the emergency is over, we may have a shift of plans. Things in England are getting so heated because the public has finally gotten smart about what an evil bastard Gellert Grindelwald is. Khaat and I will have no choice. We will have to go back and make a stand, no matter how it turns out--whether we live or die. We are the face of freedom for wizarding England. We have to go back and fight for England to get Grindelwald out of office. I know this is terrible timing, with us struggling with Gelding and James both, but...we dont' get to pick when we take up a fight.

"So," Brian picked up the story from there, "We will very soon be all going back to England. I don't know how this will all work out. But, if we've ever depended on you, we will be depending on you now. There are almost too many enemies to fight this time. But, Khaat and I hae been preparing for this for months. We fully expect to survive this to raise our kids. However..." he looked at Khaat, and she nodded. "We needed to put into place enough plans that the kids were taken care of. So--just so you know. If something happens to Khaat and me, the kids will go to Robert and Kate. In the very unlikely event that something happens to all four of us, custody of Dakota will first be an option for Mis. If she chooses not to do that, then, our preference is that our kids get to keep the family they have in all of you. I know this might be not the solution you woul have envisioned, but...we wanted them to have all the people around them who love them now. So, we have extended another level of custody--in case of the worst possible outcome. If none of the four of us Lupins not surviving, Angus will take Abbey, Jack and Jess, we'd like you to take the boys.. Steven and Cassidy, we'd like you to take Dakota and Julia."

"We arent' planning on you needing to do this," Robert said, "But, we needed to plan for them because war is definitely coming. We can't avoid it. And--nothing is more important than for these kids to go on. We hae enough properties in safe places and enough financial resources that if none of you did anything else, you could concentrate on being together and raising the kids and getting them started in some corner of the globe that wizards arent' fighting over. And while we're fighting this war, whenver it comes, we would be so honored if you would take on the responsibility of taking care of our kids and keeping them safe and treating them as you would your own. I don't know if we'll have to be gone from them. But if we do, we need to know they are with people that we would trust our own lives with.

He hesitated and then spoke again. "It may well be that we need to return to England from here. Or if we go back to Colorado, it won't be for very long, most likely. What I"m telling you is that we could be only ddays or moments away from a Third Wizarding War."

Jack, Jess Cassidy and Steven sat listening to them and each looked at their partners and nodded " we all agree " they said on hearing Robert and Brian say about their children " we'd be honored to raise them but with the knowledge they are your children " Jess said as Jack held her close to him as did Steven and cassidy.

" they all will have good homes with us don't worry but your going to raise them I'm sure of it " said Steven looking at both of them as he held Cassidy against him.

"Well, thats what we fully expect too," Brian said. "But if we didn't make plans for them, then we aren't doing the responsible thing as parents. I guess we're just asking you to keep our kids out of war when it comes. Do whatever you have to do to hide them."

"Lee will provide you with safehouses and more than enough money and supplies that you won't need anything. Brian and I have put trusts for the children into place in the States and in other places. I have associates that I have trusted. Each one that I trust now has a copy of my captain's medallion, but theirs is in white gold. there is the difference. That is how you will know if they are from me or not. Hopefully you won't ever need it, but if you do, its there," Robert said.

"I hope you never need to use all those months of Robert's planning," Kate said. "But I have never seen anyone go to such lengths to protect his children."

"Only what was necessary, Kate," Robert replied.

Steven and Jack both spoke at the same time " we will sir and they will be safe" it was jack who spoke again after " we would do the same Kate i it was our children " he said and looked at Jess " Jess your not to fight the kids need at least one parent out of all this " he said and looked at Steven who had told Cassidy the same thing even though she looked as if she objected she under stood why he'd asked her and nodded she would do what he asked and held him close to her.

" well lets hope it doesn't come to this " she said to them " now any happier thoughts or are we all in a morbid mood to day" she asked looking around the room at every one .

"I don't think we're trying to be morbid," Brian said. "But it is something we had to discuss."

"Alright," Kate said. "Let's get something cold to drink for everyone. I'll add some extra ice for Khaat to soothe her cheekbone. " She headed for the kitchen and found Angus had made a pitcher of fresh lemonade. He had left some strawberries in the fridge. She cleaned and cut them and crushed them slightly and added a bit of sugar. Then she added them to the lemonade to make fresh strawberry lemonade and she put them in tall glasses with ice. She added a plate of an assortment of his cookies and set it out for everyone. ""Maybe this will sweeten up the room a bit." She gave cookies to each of the kids and filled their sippy cups with lemonade for them.

"Thank you,' Khaat said, choosing a very soft cookie. "I appreciate it."

"Need more pain relief?" Brian asked.

"Maybe a little bit," she said. He laid his hand on her cheek and drew the pain off for her. He could see her visible relief as he drew it off.

Jess nodded and smiled as Jack saw the cookies and his eyes lit up at the sight of them in front of him she nudged him and smiled at her " go on" she said and he took one biting it a she chuckled and pored out the glasses of lemonade for every one and handed them out " lemonades wonderful Angus out did himself once again" she said and smiled as she sipped her glass " and Kate yes we do its a part of life unfortunately " she said moving to sit in a high backed chair Jack stood beside her with his cookie and glass. Steven handed one to Cassidy who drank it and breathed out.

" boy I needed that" she said smiling at them all as Steven wrapped his arm around her waist.

"So," Kate said. "Now that we have rather rudely rooted you out of your family time, what do we all plan to do with the day?"

"Well, I had had plans for us to go onto Angus' new yacht, but I dont' see that happening today," Brian said. "I really do want to go pay my respects to Angus's family later today. He's part of our family and I want him to know we're here for him."

"Agreed," Robert said. "But..we're up to our necks in morbid stuff. I say we go do that and then if Khaat is up to it lets perhaps go shopping or go out to eat for lunch. One or the other. Or perhaps go sightseeing to one of the local vineyards or olive oil orchards. I think we need some fresh air and sunshine. The warmth is what we're not going to get back in Colorado."