Khaat was pleased to see Abbey willingly going with Jack and seeming to enjoy it. She wanted Abbey to always feel loved. And with so many people around, Abbey had never had had to look at a time when she wasnt surrounded by a lot of family. It was so different from how Khaat had grown up. Khaat had been an only child--until Brian had moved in, and most of the time, when her father was working and her mother was working at a local gift shop, Khaat had been alone with Remus. It had been a delightful time but he was her parent and her playmate and her best friend all rolled into one. She hadn't had much of a circle of friends until Brian came, and until she had gone to Hogwarts.
But Abbey--Abbey was surrounded by children, animals, lots of family who loved her, all sorts of magic, and she was already learning early that there were bad things in the world. It waas just part of how the world worked. So far as Khaat could tell, Abbey was learning well.
"Brian?" Khaat asked.
"Hm?" he asked, looking up from a log where he was working on the budget for his department.
"Do you think she's happy?"
"Abbey?" he frowned.
"Yeah."
"Well, the cast doesn't make her delighted."
"Thats not what I"m talking about. Is she a happy kid? Does she have a good childhood?"
"I think" he said with a smile, "I think that she has a great life and just about the sort of childhood that most wizard kids dream of. Yeah. I think she's very happy. Do you think she's missing something?"
"I dont know. I was asking you. I mean, should i quit my job and be a stay at home mom?"
"No. Then you wouldn't be happy," Brian laughed. "They're surrounded by people. Theyre not suffering. Believe me. Its alright. The kids are fine. I think you're missing them. How about we try to go home this evening. We don't need to stay every night. Perhaps we need to have dinner with out kids and spend the evening at home with them."
"I can't leave Daddy here by himself," she sighed.
"I will make sure he isn't alone," Brian promised. "I swear."