Marriage is Murder

"Not a problem," Angus said. He took out several cloves of garlic, the fresh olive oil, the fresh pasta, fresh parsley, and salt and pepper. He put on a large kettle of pasta water with plenty of sea salt in it. He chopped the parsley finely and he decided to mince the garlic. When the water came to a boil, he added the fresh pasta to it. He heated olive oil in a saute pan and when it was hot, he added the garlic and the salt and pepper and sauteed the garlic just until it was hot and had flavored the oil but not so much that it burned. He drained the pasta and added it to his saute pan and tossed it all together so that it all blended.

"Don't try that tossing business when you want to impress Jess until you've practiced it," Michael laughed. "It isn't hard, but you do have to get the wrist motion right or you'll toss the pasta all over the kitchen." He finished his vanilla hazelnut creme and poured it over individual bowls of berries and sprinkled some bits of chopped hazelnuts to garnish.

Angus plated up the fresh pasta dish and sent the plates to the table while Michael sent out the berries and set out a pitcher of fresh iced tea, with milk for Abbey

"Come and eat," Michael called them.

Abbey heard the call for lunch and she scowled at Brian and looked at the last half of her pink marshmallow bunny.

"You'll like it," he smiled, just loving having her around. "They made noodles."

"Noo noo's?" she asked, her eyes growing wide.

"Yeah," he said. "You can have the rest of the bunny later. I promise." Angus came over to them with a bowl that he'd cast a spell on so that it wouldn't stick to the plastic.

"You want to put your bunny in here so you can have it later?" he asked her. She eyed him suspiciously.
"I won't throw it out. I promise." She reluctantly put the bunny in the dish.

Robert went to the bedroom and called Khaat. "Come and eat something, Sweetheart." She didn't protest. She just went. She complied more because she wanted Abbey to eat and not see her mother resisting. Brian carried Abbey to the table and put her in the conjured high chair and Angus wiped her hands and face so she wouldn't be sticky. Khaat simply joined the others at the table, on one side of Abbey and Brian sat on the other side of her. the others filled in wherever they felt like sitting.

Lunch was delicious. Robert saw that, even though Khaat wasnt' eating much, she clearly was trying. He saw she was tiring. She was overdoing. Flat out.

"Honey," he said gently, looking at her. "I know Abbey has missed you. Why don't you let Brian do the running after Abbey, and you spend just some quiet time with her? She needs her nap after lunch, but she's not going to be comfortable here in a strange place. You know, she'd be far more comfortable if you were the one who took her for her nap, maybe just layed down with her and told her a story."

"Okay," Khaat said, not giving any thought to whether or not her father had any ulterior motives to it. Brian knew that for Khaat to miss it, she was just too tired to care. He decided not to bring it up to her. Abbey eagerly finished her pasta and her berries. She ate her berries with her fingers, dripping cream and not caring. Robert just smiled, glad to be around his granddaughter again. He didn't care if she got messy. She was eating and enjoying it. And it was all very washable. When Abbey was done eating, she looked at Brian.

"Down, Daddy," she said.

"All done?" he asked.

"All done," she showed him her clean plate.

"Good girl," he smiled. He enjoyed not having any food throwing. And another part of him missed it.

"I'll get her," Khaat said, getting up.

"No, its no problem," Brian said, not believing she was able to carry Abbey anymore. He got up and lifted her out of the high chair and put her on the floor. "Let's go clean you up and get you out of your swimsuit while Mama finds you a storybook, okay?" Abbey nodded and went with Brian into the bedroom. Khaat followed quietly.

"Robert," Kate said, when they'd gone, "you do need to check Khaat again. Grayback got her more than we thought. Her back is covered with serious bruises and what I think are most likely some awful looking clawmarks."

"How the devil did I miss that? And how did Brian?" Robert frowned deeply.

"I dont' know, but you need to check it as soon as possible."

"Were they bleeding?"

"Not now," she said. "But it has to be painful."

"I'll do that. Thank you, Kate. Let's not worry. Clawings are not as dangerous as bites. If there is some reason to worry, I'll let you know. But that could be part of her fatigue as well. The wounds and the additional pain. I'll see to it as soon as I can. I think right now she really needs to sleep."

About fifteen minutes later, Brian came out alone.

"Well?" Robert asked.

"Abbey and Khaat are sound asleep. Abbey is curled up tight to Khaat, in her arms. I just put a blanket over them and let them sleep. Khaat didn't even finish the story enough for Abbey to go to sleep. I had to pick up where she left off until Abbey went to sleep."

"Good," Robert said. "Its the best thing for them right now."

"No thank you," Brian said. "I'm full from lunch."

"I did know," Robert admitted. "She was really at the end of her energies. I had to give her more just for her to go with her mother this morning. She was running out quickly. She's done well, despite all that's happened to her. I am surprised she did this well. I didn't figure she'd be out of bed. If we'd been home, there is an excellent chance I might have had to keep her at St. Mungos, perhaps even in intensive care beause of how weak she is. At least for the first 24 hours or so."

"Did she lose much blood?" Kate asked.

"No. Not that I saw, "Robert said. "But her overall health has been declining for awhile to begin with. This just didn't help her. The best thing for her now is rest, a steady diet of sound nutrition, and a great deal of stress relief. It would be nice if she could actually have some fun."

"I really would like to do some of that," Brian said, wanting the lead in taking care of his wife.

"As well you should," Robert agreed. "Let us jump the biggest of the medical issues first and then I will have no problem letting you do that."

"Well, if we do it any time soon, it needs to be very mindful of the fact that Khaat is exceptionally physically limited right now," Robert said. "And that makes her not feel very social. Its not against any of us. Its totally about her and the fact that she has a great deal on her mind that she hasn't put to rest."

"Might I suggest that you let our family host yours on the new luxury yacht that our family has for hire? We aren't booked every day, and it is so far and beyond what we used to own that perhaps a day trip on the mediterranean might just be the ticket? It truly is 5 star luxury now. And if you all want to extend it and stay overnight, there would be enough sleeping accomodations to do that," Angus said.

"She would truly like that," Brian smiled.

"It ought to be interesting with a two year old," Robert laughed.

"We could, but the ship is considerably larger, and it can't go into water that is as shallow as we could go with the other ship," Angus said. "You could take the dinghy to more shallow water to swim, and we do that for clients when they want to swim, but most of them prefer to do deep sea diving or just swimming off the side of the ship. And yes, fishing is allowed, but certain spots are better than others."

"I have heard it is a beautiful ship,' Robert smiled.

"It is," Edward said. "We made a huge investment when we bought that, but, I am a bit of a gambling man. And if one is not prepared to take some risks, then the returns, often times, are not so great. So far, we're doing very well with it. It might take us awhile to get running in the black with it, but if we keep it steadily booked then we should do well within a couple of years, I would think."

"Brian?" Robert asked. "What do you think?" Brian and Robert were a bit concerned with the same thing. Khaat had an unusual need to be alone right now. They hadnt seen the ship and they didn't want her feeling any more closed in than necesssary.

"The ship is actually bigger than these two hotel suites," Angus said, sensing their tensions. "And the open sky and open water does give more of a feeling of solitude. It might be a welcome change. You can always call it off and come back to the hotel if she doesnt' handle it well but i think she'l be alright. Perhaps you just try it for one day and not neceesarily make it a guarantee that you'll stay overnight."

"That makes more sense," Kate said. "If everyone decides to stay overnight, fine. If Khaat and Brian decide to come back and enjoy this beautiful suite alone, then they're welcome to do it, That would be just as good for them."

"I would suggest we make sure she can at least regain some of her strength before we do this," Robert said.