Marriage is Murder

Jess nodded and sighed " I agree and yes we can we have done so far " she said smiling as she watching him take out the food and sprinkle it with chopped parsley. She moved to gather the tea and the coffee things sending them to the table just as Angus had asked her to " I think they do need some adult time badly Angus there both geared for the kids they need to see its not just kids being married they can have time for themselves" she set out the cups and plates for the food and the sippy cups filled with juice for the kids. " I think it would be perfect for them , Tuscany I mean , its a very romantic place."

"Well, then perhaps we need to let Kate and Robert deal with it." Kieran and Fi went to get the kids to make sure they got to the table.

Robert went upstairs and woke Khaat gently and he provided her a bit of energy potion from his bag. It did help. She got up and simply brushed out her hair and tied it back. He found her robe and gave it to her. She merely tied it around her nightgown and he said it would be alright until she could eat. Then she could shower and dress after breakfast.

Kate went outside and talked to Brian and got him to come in. It was none of Angus's business what Kate had said to him, but he seemed to be feeling better when he and Kate finally came in. Kieran and FI brought the last of Khaat's kids to the table, and Angus served them.

"Help yourselves, Everyone," Angus said. Robert fixed Khaat a plate with what he felt she should be able to eat and poured her a large mug of french roast. Then he fixed his own plate as Kate and Brian joined everyone else at the table.

Jess smiled at Keiran and Fiona as they brought the kids to the table she gave each a sippy cup to keep them quiet for now and watched as Steven and cassidy joined them along with Jim who carried a rather annoyed looking James. " he wanted to play with Mo but he wasn't having any of it today." he said and Jess smiled.

" well they have their off days as we all do" she said taking James from him and handing him a sippy cup witch once he'd drunk picked him up as it was his favorite juice that sat wit in it.

"So," Robert said, as they began breakfast, "Did you two decide about Tuscany? You know, with Fi and Kieran here and your mother and I here, you could simply leave the kids here with us. Its up to you. They'd be fine here with us for a couple of days."

Khaat looked at Brian. "Do you really think we should do this? With everything going on right now?" she asked him.

"Its just for a couple days. And we're no farther from home than a portkey," Brian said gently. "I think it would be alright. If I hadn't thought it through, I wouldn't be suggesting we try it at all. Khaat, you need a couple of days, whether you're here or there. You need a couple days off. If we're needed, we'll come right back. The minute anyone sends for us, we'll come right home. I promise."

She thought for a moment and then she sighed heavily. "Just a couple days?"

"No longer. Its just a weekend."

"Oh, alright," she said, giving in.

"Then its settled," he said. He looked at the others. "I presume Khaat wold prefer not to go in her nightgown, so I presume we'll need enough time after breakfast for her to dress."

"And here I thought she'd go in her nightgown," her father laughed.

Jess smiled as Khaat gave in and went with the suggestion of going to Tuscany, " I'll get on that as soon as we have finished Brian" she said smiling as she handed Jaylen some bread which she chewed happily. Andrew walked in and sat next to Jess and Jack.

"We going on a trip?" he asked and Jess smiled to him.

" Maybe to our new home in Tuscany that's in a different country" Jess said Andrew chuckled and smiled at her.

Khaat wasn't very hungry, and she left most of her breakfast. She excused herself and went upstairs to shower and dress. Brian didn't say a word. He left it alone. He was starting to see he was going to have to approach this whole business differently. Nagging never helped anybody.

Showering wasn't a problem for Khaat. Her wandless magic backfired when she went to use it to do her hair and makeup. She did manage to correct it by using her wand. She had a much bigger problem finding clothes that fit. Hers were almost all too big.

Brian finished breakfast and decided that he wanted to be sure Khaat was doing alright in getting ready. He went upstairs to find she had several changes of clothes out on the bed, all of which had not fit.

"Why dont' you just pick something and let me resize it for you?" he asked gently.

"I guess I'll have to. My magic won't let me resize my own clothes," she said. She finally settled on black skinny jeans, a white camisole and her oversized pink crochetted sweater. The sweater was comfort. She chose a pair of kitten heel mules with a pink rose painted on the toes. She chose pink sapphire earrings, and tied her hair back with a pink ribbon. He helped her with a touch of a glamour spell for her makeup and then told her she looked beautiful. The pink added color to her and took away the emphasis from all his other concerns. He shouldered the bag he'd packed for them and reached for her hand and led her back downstairs.

"Sorry for the delay," he apologized. "I think we're ready now."

Jess smiled seeing how lovely Khaat looked in her chosen outfit and glanced at Brian knowing he had something to do with the shrinking of her clothes she hadn't realized just how much weight she had lost till now and looked at Robert then back at Brian " that's ok Brian the kids are nearly done with their food " she said smiling as Andrew held up his third piece of toast to show him and smiled triumphantly. Jack chuckled as he saw this and picked up his own forth helping of breakfast.

"Can't help it when the foods this good " he said and chuckled as he looked at Angus as he started to eat.

"Take your time," Brian said. "No hurry. That gives us time for another cup of coffee." He had Khaat rejoin them all at the table and he refilled her cup for her and then refilled his own cup.

'Do not just hang around the house all weekend," Robert told them. "Go do something fun."

"That was the plan," Brian said. "We certainly haven't seen everything in Italy or done it all."

"Not even close," Angus laughed. "Shall I give you some ideas?"

"Yes, but can we avoid hoardes of people, please?" Brian asked.

"One romantic weekend coming up," Angus said. "I think I can come up with some ideas."

"This from the commitment phobic bachelor," Robert laughed.

"Just because Im not married doesn't mean I cant be romantic," Angus said. "I do live in Italy, after all."

"No, you live here," Robert said.

"Picky, picky," Angus laughed out loud. "Still, I think I could come up with a more romantic weekend than the rest of you."

"Oh here we go," Kate rolled her eyes, knowing that none of the men could resist a challenge.

Jess looked at Jack and shook her head " don't even go there Jack" she said and chuckled as he nodded his head lightly.

" yes dear " he said and Steven chuckled also at Jacks look. Cassidy just rolled her eyes and moved to Steven who patted her arms softly.

" ow don't worry dear we all know living in Italy gives Angus a certain quality with the women " he said and cassidy sighed.

" ah what woman can't resist the charm of an Italian stud , hay Angus " she said and chuckled as she saw Jess hide a smirk of her own.

"Well," Robert said, "My guess is that Angus has a problem either way. When he's here, they see him as Italian. If he's in Italy, they see him as British."

"It just means I have to work harder," Angus laughed.

"How about you arrange us an afternoon out?" Brian asked him.

"You've got it," Angus smiled.

Khaat and Brian finished their coffee. "I'd like to go," Brian said. He knew that Khaat would resist the longer they took to get going. "Are the rest of you going with us when we go, or are you going separately?"

"You wont' mind if I drop in long enough to bring you some fresh groceries, will you?" Angus asked. "Do you need a cook?"

"Groceries are fine. We can cook for ourselves, though. Thank you for offering, though," Brian said.