Marriage is Murder

"I didn't think you would sleep," Robert said. "I know you all too well. Actually, I didn't oust him. The final confrontation took place between Grindelwald and Ne'Os Emof."

"Isn't he the leader of the Death Eaters?" Kate asked.

"Yes. He is. But the Order and the Death Eaters both wanted him out of power. Remember, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. That aligned us, at least for that cause. And, there are other reasons..." he looked at Khaat.

"Daddy," she sighed.

"No, explain it so they all get it, please."

"Ne'Os was the first case I ever tried as Chief Warlock. I believed in him. He was an Order member at the time. We...were friends then. I stood up for him when nobody else did," Khaat said. "Shortly after that, his thinking changed and he started to become more dark. But...there have been times when Ne'Os has saved my life. And there were times I have saved his. We have an..understanding. It seems to go beyond good and evil. "

"Yes, and he's also tried to kill you," Brian said.

"Well, not exactly. He was bewitched. At any rate, Ne'Os did an incredibly brave thing last night. He has some injuries and he's in the hospital, but he's going to be alright."

"She's right," Robert said. "He went through hell so that the hell for the rest of us would stop. I am grateful. But...I did bring us some champagne for this morning. I asked Angus to make mimosas for us."

"And I have," Angus said, bringing in a large tray. It had champagne glasses with the delicious champagne and orange juice drink, and a large pitcher of it in the center of the tray. There were sippy cups of just orange juice for all the kids. "Robert would like is to begin this new day with a toast to celebrate the peace we won last night."

Jack , Jess , Steven and cassidy along with Jim all picked up the glasses and raised them but it was Jim who spoke " to Robert, Brian and Khaat all of whom fought for freedom , I just wish they had taken us along with them to help, well done" he said and toasted them all raised their glasses and took drinks each one smiling and glad to have it all back to some sort of normality, finally they might be able to go about some sort of normality , visit diagon alley and the hospital. Jess thought about working at the hospital again as Jack wondered what he would do , he could stay with Robert along with Steven and he hoped Jim too though that was there choice.

" so...now what for us ?" he asked dose the organization still stand ?\" he asked looking at Robert.

Brian frowned at Jack's question. He caught a slight frown on Khaat's face too. It had struck them both odd that after all this time, they would be unclear about the organization or about their careers. It had struck them odd that they apparenty resented staying behind rather than protecting her children. Brian merely gave her a slight glance to tell her he would address it. Khaat said nothing, keeping her thoughts and her feelings to herself. She merely turned a smile to her father and toasted the success that Grindelwald was gone and they were no longer facing sentences in Azkaban. It was a huge relief.

After they had taken a sip of the mimosas, Brian addressed the question. "What? That is still a concern?" he asked. Khaat noticed Brian had not been able to wipe the confusion off his face. "Why is that even coming up in your mind, Jack? The organization was in place long before Robert took office the first time. It was there before Khaat and I graduated from school. It was in place when Robert was in office the last time. Whether it runs or not is a completely separate issue from the Ministry. I thought you knew that. And since we now have both James and Gelding, not just Gelding, trying to make a go of that business, why would we abandon the organization when we have double the trouble? We haven't stopped child trafficking. Just because Robert has his old job back doesn't mean we should leave wizarding children without hope."

Khaat set her glass down, put Abbey in her high chair, and went upstairs. She made two trips and brought Dakota and Julia downstairs to the breakfast table and then returned for her boys and brought them downstairs to the table. Angus returned to the kitchen and sent out the children's breakfast bowls and then the adults' plates.

"Come eat," Angus told them. Khaat and Kate sat down between the five kids and started the morning task of making sure they were fed.

Jim walked past Jack and smacked him on the back of his head big though he was. " Jackie boy give it a rest , Ozzie's right as long as the organization is here and Robert is here too, nothing changes, now pack up the school boy attitude and eat. " he said and moved to the table shaking his head " Rookies " he said softly and saw Jess smile and chuckled as she sat down with Jack who rubbed his head.

" yeah, sorry Robert, Jim's right " he said and at quietly down next to Jess , Steven and cassidy chuckled as they too sat Cassidy holding Fallon who held a piece of fruit looking at it as she every so often sucked out some juice and pulled a face but yet did it again.

Robert had let Brian deal with the resistance from everyone, and Robert had not responded up to this point. He waited until they were at breakfast, enjoying the morning meal before Robert finally spoke.

"Now that we have that settled," he said. "I might as well thoroughly add to your discomfort this morning. We have entered a new day in this family. We need to get back to being less concentrated, spread thinner, like we used to be. And that means I want your skills sharpened. therefore, I am sending every one of you--with the exception of Khaat and Brian and myself to Colorado for a two week bootcamp. And I do mean bootcamp. Lee will be directing it. Brian will be coming in periodically to evaluate your performances. There will be staff to take care of the children. I am sending my own grandchildren in order to free up Khaat and Brian to help me rebuild st. Mungos and the Ministry while you're gone. I expect every single one of you to comply and to go and to hone your skills. Do not expect this to be easy. You need to be braced that this is one of the toughest camps we've ever run. I want you at your level best. So if you're not prepared to give that to me, then speak up now. I'm sure I can find you a desk job. Anyone not up to the task? Lets hear it now."

"I'd like to go," Kate volunteered.

"Good. I hoped you would," Robert said. "What about the rest of you?"

Jim chuckled |" count me in a little refresher won't hurt " he said smiling and looked at the others who talked amongst them selves. Jess spoke first some what hoping she would not have to go through boot camp.

"Does that include me since I'm a healer I can work out at the hospital" she asked " so not to interfere with my shifts there" she asked feeding Andrew as she had spoken. Steven and Cassidy both looked at Robert and both smiled.

" sure we're in" they said and sat to eat " a bit of a work out won't be so bad" Steven said handing Cassidy some food then eating his own.

"It includes you if you intend to do any bodyguard duty," Robert said in a matter of fact tone. "It isn't like you haven't had time away before. this isn't a neverending bootcamp. If you choose to stay and work as a healer, then that's your choice. But I can't let you do bodyguard work if you aren't able to attend the bodyguard training. Either way is alright. It is your choice. But it does shift your job duties a bit if you don't go. You just need to go into your choice with your eyes wide open."

Khaat finished her breakfast, and her mother looked at her. "Go on," Kate smiled. "I know you're itching for a run."

"I am. I really am," she confessed.

"I'll go with you," Brian said. "We could use a few minutes to ourselves. Excuse us, everyone. For just a wee bit. We just need some newlywed time."

"Newlywed time," Kate laughed. "Some romance. Only you would think going for a run is romantic, Brian."

"Just depends on the perspective, Kate. And who you're running with," Brian smiled. He and Khaat transformed the clothes to running clothes and went outside. Kate laughed.

Jim smiled at Brian, Khaat and Kate's words he also saw Jess thinking on Roberts words. Jess listened to him and knew he was right . Jess moved to Robert " I'll go even if its just to keep an eye on jack" she said and chuckled seeing the look on his face. Steven finished eating and decided to work out in the gym below with Jack while the women tended to the kids. Jess put Andrew in the nursery along with the twins as cassidy placed Fallon down for a nap along with James and jaylen. Both returned to the living room.

" it won't be that bad a bit of intense training would do us both good " cassidy said and smiled at Jess who nodded but felt nervous not quiet sure what it would entail then doing.

"Good," Robert said. "You need to be in Colorado in time for the morning run tomorrow. That means if you leave here by tomorrow around 10 or 11 am, you'll get there just in time to get settled into your rooms, settle the kids with the nannies and then join them for the beginning of bootcamp at 5 am Colorado time. Of course it means your day is a bit longer tomorrow, so I would suggest you perhaps stay up a bit later tonight and sleep in tomorrow in order to be well rested. You will need a full 8 hours sleep before you leave."

"Robert," Kate said. "I do not mean to be presumptuous, but how do the three of you intend to protect yourselves while the rest of us are gone?"

"Its a fair question, Kate. First, with Brian as the new Chief of Security for the hospital, I want him to get settled into that space in that new role and start setting up his program so that its ready when Jack and Steven get back. Khaat and I have a mountain of work to do. Michael and three of his espionage partners will be here keeping us safe so we can at least sleep. They'll break up into pairs and cover the place in two different shifts. We'll be covered, but I'll leave Michael in charge of that."

"Do you trust men you haven't met?" she frowned.

"No. Certainly not. But I trust Michael. And if he says they're solid, then II'm willing to stake my life on that. Its good enough for me. He would never put any of us in danger. Besides, if all goes well, it should not last more than a week to ten days at most. Oh, by the way, there is a raise in it for the one who improves their personal bests the most during the bootcamp. And, if there is a winning couple, they will win an all expense paid 5 star, 3 day weekend to the destination of their choice."

"And you of course are not going, so that leaves us out of the weekend," Kate scowled.

"I know," he laughed.

"And you don't pay me, so that lets me out of the raise, unless you intend to start paying me," she sighed.

"Not so you'd notice," he said. "But if you win, I think I still remember enough ways to surprise you."

"You're on, then," she said.

Jess looked at them she herd Robert but knew she was doing it for herself not the perks Robert was saying they would get. She knew it had been awhile and now felt she needed to stretch her magical legs though she was a little scared of how far it would take before she was up to Roberts standard. Jack looked forward to running off his excess energy that he so wanted to do. Steven looked at Cassidy and smiled both wanting to do the best but they were doing it for Robert, his family and the children whose lives would change because of what they did and nothing more.