Marriage is Murder

"Alright," Robert said, "You have your assignments. I am going to go get a bit of sleep and then go back to work. If you'll excuse me." He got up and went upstairs.

"I'll clean the kitchen," Angus said. "I hae no doubt that Michael will be here at some time today and the first thing he's going to do is take over my kitchen. I'd better double check the supplies and then order more groceries. Michael is very finicky." He flicked his wand to have the table clean itself up.

"Gam! Down! Down!" Abbey bounced in her high chair. She dropped her leftover bacon pieces on the floor, and Max and Mo snatched them up immediately. Kate laughed and wiped off Abbeys and Dakota's hands and put them on the floor. They scampered after the cats who seemed to know the usual morning games had begun. Kate wiped the hands and faces of the triplets and put them on the floor to start crawling. She noticed that they were all starting to work on pulling themselves to their feet, clinging onto table legs and to peoples pantlegs.

"They're going to all walk early," Kate smiled.

"Well, they crawled early," Angus said. "And they all started getting teeth early. So it makes sense that they would walk early. But by the looks of it, they're not far from taking their first steps now."

"I think that may only be a few days away, honestly," Kate said. "I hope they wait til I get back from Colorado. I really don't want to miss it."

"I'll try to stop them," Angus laughed.

"I hope Brian isn't pushing Khaat too hard on her first run in months," Kate said.

"He won't," Angus said. "Don't worry. He won't let her push. I think he just wanted some time alone with her. Think of it as Brian's weird idea of a date."

"Well, its just as likely to be her weird idea of a date as much as his," Kate said.

Brian and Khaat stopped, at Brian's coaching, in order to sit down on a large rock that was already just beginning to warm a little in the morning sunshine. He had seen her eyes during the discussion before breakfast. He had understood and he was glad she had held herself together and that she had pushed her feelings out of the way so that even the talented seers in the house would not be able to detect that she had been upset.

She had honestly thought that when they returned, after being gone just a few short hours, that her staff--her friends--would be as excited as they all were. Almost a year of exile, of being wanted for crimes she and her father had not committed, of having to hide to protect the children. Of not being able to show their faces in their beloved home country. It was over. And her father was restored to the highest office in their world. She had been restored as the highest authority in their courts.

But no. It hadn't happened that way. The response they had received was lukewarm at best. The strong emotion had come from them because they resented it. They resented being asked to stay behind. Being asked to keep her preciouus children safe. It had struck the people she trusted the most as being beneath them. Boring. There had been bitterness to their tone.

And that had hurt. Nothing mattered to her more than the lives of those she loved. As it had turned out, none of them had been in the room for the final showdown with Grindelwald. It had been a result of the work of Ne'Os Emof. The only thing she and Robert and Brian had done was to heal Ne'Os of his wounds afterwards and to try to reduce the panic that had erupted in the Ministry, although even that had been brief. Her friends would have found this to not meet the desire for great epic battles and drama. But it really had wounded her spirit that they had put their own self centered desires for excitement above the importance of the lives of the children. And she was angry.

She had hid all those feelings, and she had burned them off during her run. Even so, she fully wanted to fire the first person who felt they had the right to intrude upon her private thoughts and feelings to even dare to bring it up. Brian drew his arm around her shoulder and had simply soothed her. He had talked her into keeping a bit of space for herself today. She had agreed it was best. He gave her a couple of suggestions and she had agreed to take them.

And so, 30 minutes later, he returned to the house alone, contented, smiling and whistling. He went to the kitchen and got himself a refill of coffee.

"How was your run?" Angus asked him.

"Good. We ran at least a mile and a half before she needed a rest. She's not as out of form as I thought she was. Now--here's our plans for the day. She's gone on with what she needs to do today. We shall not need lunch. I am going to go shower and change and go into London to assist Robert awhile. I will take a break at lunch time and deliver food to her."

"And you will all be home for dinner?" Angus asked.

"Well, I will have her home by 4 or so, I hope. As for Robert, I would expect that he would be home by then--or no later than 6. "

"Its a huge adjustment, Mate. And they both have to face the wizarding world and pursuade the whole bloody world now that they are not the worst criminals in our world and that it was all a grand lie. How are they dealing with all of that--really? Shall I be concerned?"

"No, I dont think so," Brian smiled. "Robert is back in the saddle. He's been planning this since before he was ousted. He knows what he needs to do. So does she. They've been gearing up for this for a year. She needed her run this morning, but she's fine now. Truly...."

"Daddy!" Abbey's voice interrupted him, and her little hand tugged hard on his pantleg. He picked her up. "No go, Daddy!" she pleaded.

"What?" he asked.

"No go bye bye?" she pleaded. Angus tried unsuccessfully to take her from Brian but she would not be separated.

"Its her age, Mate. She's at that age where she wants Mama and Daddy to never leave her," Angus said.

"I'll take her with me," Brian sighed, kissing Abbey's forehead.

"What?" Angus frowned.

"I'm arranging an office and doing paperwork. There is nothing that she can' t go with me on. Except perhaps in my shower."

"Then I'll get her a diaper bag ready," Angus smiled. He and Brian headed upstairs. Brian left Abbey in his bedroom. He put Abbey on the bed and had Max babysit long enough for him to shower and put on a suit to go into St. Mungos.

"Well, since Khaat and Robert and Brian won't be back for several hours, that won't be difficult," Kate smiled. "I am presuming you would rather have them return at about the same time? If so, I will drop a clue to Brian so he can manage that. But so you know, Brian and Robert understood. I think perhaps Khaat struggled a bit, but that was why Brian took her for a run. And if he says she's better, then she surely is. There is nothing in it for him to lie--not in a house of seers. I think the three of them just perhaps feel a bit overwhelmed by how much needs done so quickly because of the mess Grindelwald left things in. That mess won't last forever but it does mean that the next few business days are going to be difficult and busy."

"The cake is no problem," Angus said. "And since I planned a nice meal tonight already, it will work well."

"Very nice," Kate smiled. "Its beautiful. He'll truly like that. I'll go after lunch on the pretense of relieving Abbey from him at her naptime. The last thing he needs to have with him is a cranky 2 year old in need of a nap. Especially when her daddy is sleep deprived himself. I think a good meal with the gift and the wonderful dessert and the decorations would be wonderful. And then I think I will see if Michael and his friends will take the night shift so that we can all go to bed tonight without anything to worry about. You'll need the rest to go to Colorado well rested, and the rest need to be able to go to bed early because they're going to be tired tonight. Its going to be busy and difficult for them today. Its going to be tiring. They'll be glad to get home."

A few minutes later, Michael apparated in with 3 of his friends. Men his age that Kate clearly knew just at first glance were experienced fighters. Michael put his bag on the floor and went over to kate and embraced her and kissed her cheek.

"How are you, Kate?" he asked.

"I'm good. Thank you for coming."

"No trouble at all. You sure you want to send those grandbabies to Colorado? They're pretty attached to their parents," MIchael said.

"I'll be with them. They'll adjust," Kate said. "Abbey will be the one who has the toughest time. Dakota is more adventurous, and the triplets are all preoccupied about learning to stand and walk. The only one I worry about is Abbey."

"Then consider leaving her here with us. I think we can manage one child."

"I'll talk to Robert and see what he thinks," Kate said.

"In the meantime, I'm going to take over the kitchen. Can someone help us to guest rooms so we get settled? Oh, I need to introduce my friends, don't I? This is Jerry, Jonathan, and Richard. They're experienced aurors and experts at various forms of espionage. They know Robert but its been awhile for all of them."

"Welcome," Kate smiled.

Kate had more than just the party to fill Michael in on. She took him through the house and caught him up on all the things about the house that perhaps that he didn't know. And while they were walking through the house, she told him about the party. She found rooms for the four of them and settled them in. She took care of doing the necessary security briefing that she knew Robert would not have time to do.

Michael put her at ease quickly, reassuring her that he had things well in hand. Kate knew that she would not let anything happen to Robert or Khaat or Brian. It wasn't long before Michael dismissed her so that he could begin his duties. When he did, she went to her room and packed for the trip tomorrow. When she was done with that, she packed for all five of the grandchildren. She knew there were some second thoughts about taking Abbey to Colorado, but she did figure that Robert would insist on Abbey going.

When she finished packing, she came downstairs and found Michael just pouring himself a pot of his favorite Earl Grey tea. There were some things that just were not worth compromising and Earl Grey was not one of them.