Marriage is Murder

Jess smiled as Abby ran out she watched as the banter between Abby and Brian about kittens " ow they had them " Jess said " she was over due " Steven smiled and nodded he too smiled as Abby kissed Khaat not one person said or did anything different he handed Abby a sippy cup of juice and Khaat a cup of tea smiling as he did. He moved to Jess and Jack and gave every one in the room a cup before placing it back down on the table.

"Here's to us all being back together, all of us " he said looking at Khaat and smiled warmly at her and Brian.

"I think it is very interesting that our new werewolf friend has been surprisingly inactive for the last two weeks," Robert said

"Well, that does suggest he lost his ability to find her," Brian said. "That sounds encouraging. Perhaps we either wounded him enough that he had to take a bit of a time out, or he can't follow her as pervasively as his father did. Either way is fine with me."

"If we could identify his flaws, that gives us more defense" Kate said.

"Definitely," Brian said.

"I am not returning to start a war with a werewolf," Khaat said.

"Doggie not here, Mama," Abbey said.

"How do you know?" Khaat asked. Abbey held her nose shut. Khaat got the message. the werewolf stunk, and Abbey wasn't smelling him at the moment. Brian laughed.

"He does stink," Brian agreed. "You're right about that."

Jack chuckled at Abby " ow I hope I don't stink ?" he said " I just took a shower before we came " he looked at Jess who chuckled and shook her head.

"Nope I can't smell anything " she said and Jack held her close to him Jim chuckled as he sat down with Cassidy who has sat down to drink her tea. Steven walked back into the room and smiled after checking the grounds for his own piece of mind.

"Yeah. good thing he hasn't tried anything." Steven said softly as he picked up a cup and taking a sip as he looked at Brian and Robert.

"It'll be temporary, though," Khaat said. "Somehow I know he's not done yet."

"No, probably not," her father agreed, but we dont' have to invite trouble either, my dear."

"I'm not inviting anything," she said. "I just know these things don't stop until somebody's dead."

"Nice talk in front of the kids," Brian scowled.

"Its a tough world," Khaat said. "They might as well know right from the outset that magic isn't everything."

"No, but I certainly prefer to be magical than not," her father said.

"Do you even know what it is to not have your abilities?" Kate looked at him.

"Very few of us were born showing our abilities from birth, Kate. I did have a childhood, you know," Robert said. "And my memory is very good, thank you very much"

"I know we just got back, but," Brian said, "Khaat and I have made a small decision. I know this is coming up soon, so I might as well mention it now. I will go on the fall training exercise, but Khaat has chosen to stay behind."

"That is a good choice," Robert said. "Gives her time to concentrate on her healing. I will have to stay behind this time in order to work, but that certainly gives the rest of you no excuses."

"When are you doing this?" Brian asked.

"I don't have a firm date yet. Sometime before snow falls in Colorado. Thats about all I know right now," Robert said.

"

" well were in Brian " Jack said and Jess nodded " some of us are looking forward to it" he said as Cassidy and Steven both nodded they agreed . Jim chuckled as he looked over the paper he was reading he sighed at Khaat's words but listening more he knew Jacks nephew would try again but for now they would continue as normal with the kids and family " hey were not going to ask her to come if she's not up to it Brian we all understand why" he told them all then went back to his paper.

"Well, I haven't discussed this with her, but I fully plan on doing the restorative surgeries that she needs while you're all gone in Colorado," Robert said to them all. "She'd like to have her face back and not feel like she has to wear a veil all the time. She's not going to feel like herself unless she feels like she looks like it."

"Wait," Brian frowned "You're going to operate on my wife's face without me?"

"No," Robert said, "I'm moving ahead with my daughter's surgery as soon as possible to help her get past the pain of what's happened to her. As much as your support matters, It is not a surgery you need to see. Its very delicate and time consuming and lengthy I don't recommend you being a witness to it because of your obvious attachment to her."

"How the hell can you sound so damned calloused?" Brian was irked

"Brian," Khaat said quietly. "He's right. I want you to go on the training. This is not something you can or should be a part of. I'll be safe with Daddy for the weekend you'll be gone."

"You'll have plenty of time to take care of her when you get back," Robert said. "Its going to take a few days for the surgery to heal, and you can pamper the daylights out of her when you get back from the team training. Settled? Now, are you ready to at least unpack?"

"Unpack?" Brian's face was blank.

"I'll get it," Angus said, suppressing a laugh at how protective Brian could sometimes be over Khaat and the kids. The confirmed bachelor was now a staunch family man. Angus remembered many conversations with brian insisting that he was never going to fall in love or get married. It hadn't been that long ago, but things had certainly changed.

Steven stepped forward seeing Brian irked about Khaat's surgery " besides you can rag our asses and take out your anger on that. " he said " not that we'll mind though" he said and Jack and the others chuckled and shook there heads. they listened more and watched Brian not move as he was told to unpack. Jess smiled as did Jack recognizing the features of a loving caring family man who wanted the best for his children. Jess saw Angus move and walked over to him.

" can I help at all?" she asked softly glancing back at Brian " I'm glad to see Brian being so stubborn over his family" she looked at Angus " wasn't he the one who insisted he would remain single?" she said with a chuckle.

"For his entire life, as I recall," Angus said. "I don't know if there's much to help with unless you want to throw in a load of laundry. For some odd reason, this house never ever gets done doing laundry or dishes. There's always plenty of both to do. Lunch is a very simple Asian salad today, and dinner tonight is a homemade extra large, extra deep dish lasagna. The lasagna is already made. It just needs to bake. I'm putting caesar salad with it, garlic bread and some dessert crepes. I think the kitchen stuff is fairly easy today. I was hoping to get outside and help rake leaves. Since we've bought so much more land, we've got acres and acres of trees now, and our yard seems like the size of a small village. It's gonna take a lot of raking this year.

"Spells work great for that," Robert said.

"Gardening and cooking are best done by hand," Kate said.

"Raking leaves is not gardening," Robert said. "Its pure drudgery. I see nothing wrong with a bit of a charm to get the rakes to do it for us."

Jack walked forward " I'll do it " he said and smile at the sound of the meal " sounds a good hearty meal Angus can't wait" he said as he picked up the rake and moved out side to begin gathering the leaves. Jess moved to the washer and loaded it up with washing turning it on she smiled as Kate spoke.

" I have to agree I do mine my hand too relaxes me after a hard day with the kids ow and Jack " she said seeing him look back at her smiling from the garden. Jim looked at them as he placed down his paper.

" I'll make the salad if you want Angus , Margaret had me making that same one when she was carrying our second child " he said smiling as he gathered all the ingredients.

"If you like," Angus said, "but we won't need it until dinner tiime tonight. The Asian sala ingredients are ready. They just need to be assembed at lunch time." Khaat was a bit more comfortable off by herself. She handed Abbey to Brian, and Abbey was delighted to have her daddy's attentions. Khaat slipped off by herself, not even noticed by the kids.

Robert noticed but he said nothing. He didn't want to alert the kids to what they hadn't seen. She had learned to be comfortable with Brian, but being back in a house full of people was going to take her a bit again. He wanted her to have the reconstructive surgery as soon as possible. He was reconsidering postponing it. He was considering that perhaps he needed to do it as soon as he could make the arrangements. But he had been serious. The surgery might well look a bit gruesome to the onlooker. He did not want anyone that Khaat normally had as part of her life being part of it. She already understood that, and was good with it. And she knew it was a large part of why he was timing it with the weekend in Colorado.

"How soon are you doing this training weekend?" Kate asked, understanding Robert's thoughts.

"Depends on how soon this lot thinks they can brace themselves to adapt to another training weekend," Robert said.

"Actually, I thought last year was rather fun," Angus said.

"Good, then this one ought to be a barrel of laughs," Robert said.

"Don't antagonize him," Brian said. "He'll make it utterly hell."