Marriage is Murder

Jack chuckled and just sat back he listened to Khaat and Kate as she whistled for archangel to find the pests. " Jack looked at Robert as he asked Angus about any plans and his response in he had made a very tasty meal for them all " can't wait to eat it " Jack said and Jess chuckled " hey I'm a man who loves his food " he said and smiled as he saw Cassidy look at Steven who just sat smiling at them both.

" you have plenty of time Khaat to see all the estate "I'm sure we'd all love to show you around in small shifts" Jess said and looked at Kate with a smile as she looked at arch who had returned with a large rat in his mouth " eww where did he ever find that?" Jess said .

Archangel dropped the dead rat on Kate's empty plate. Khaat looked at bit disgusted, but Kate, understanding the eagle's thinking, stroked his head and thanked him for the gift and a job well done, telling him he was free to rid the house of any more he found. She offered the rat to him as a snack, just asking him to take it elsewhere to eat. He gladly picked it up and flew off with it again.

"Kate, do train him not to bring them to the table," Robert said. "I realise its a gift, but..."

"I'll work on it," she laughed.

"I promised to show Khaat where she is," Brian said. "If you'll all give us a few minutes for me to show her the basics. I know moms and dads all have a lot to do today anyway." Brian helped Khaat up and took her on a short tour of the very basics. How to get from the dining room to the great hall, to the kitchen, to their quarters, and the little sitting room on the second floor, next to their quarters, that almost no one used but Khaat simply because the room was so small. She had always liked the room, almost as her one favorite place in the entire house. And it was immediately across the hall from the room her father used as an office and a potions lab.

Steven smiled as Arch dropped the gift for Kate then happily took it back and hopped away to eat it . Jack looked at Kate and smiled every one knew that Khaat wanted to look around " go its ok with us we got to get the you know what under the tree " Jess said and stood up taking Jacks hand in her own almost dragging him out of his seat as did Cassidy and Steven who just accioed the gifts stacking them under the tree.

" some of us like to do it the old fashioned way , its more fun that way " Jack said and walked to his and Jess's room gathering all the gifts in sacks they carried them back to the tree and sat placing them as they spoke about the snow and if it had stopped letting the kids out to play once it was morning " hey how about some sledges " Jack asked looking at Steven and Cassidy " of course we'd go with them on it. " Jess was well ahead of Jack and placed several sledges under the tree.

Kieran saw them putting their gifts under the tree. He caught up with Khaat and whispered in her ear. She looked at him, wide eyed. He nodded.

"Can I?" she signed. He nodded.

"Take Brian with you," he said.

"Take me where?" Brian frowned.

"To see her Christmas gifts from Fi and me," Kieran smiled.

"Um...its not Christmas yet," Brian said.

"They wont mind"

"Who won't mind?"

"The gifts," Kieran laughed. He accio'd their coats. "You're going to the barn."

"We are? Um...Okay," Brian said. He helped her with her coat and apparated her to the barn with him. They walked through the enormous barn and then they saaw it. Two stalls side by side--one with a pair of hippogryffs, and the other with a pair of beautiful white pegasuses. Brian was stunned. "Your parents are going to be out here all day tomorrow now," he laughed. "They'll be riding."

"Riding?"

"Sure. Wanna go?" he asked. She nodded. He saddled the two peguses and helped her up onto the mare while he mounted the stallion. "Follow close! Don't get far away. And hang on tight." He led the winged horses out of the barn and gave her the simple instructions to get the horses to fly. They leaped up into the sky, and Khaat was amazed. It was wonderful--with an incredible view.

Jack heard Angus and smiled as did Jess knowing what they would see would be good Steven looked up and at Kate and Robert and nodded " Every things taken care of " he said smiling his gift to Brian and Khaat two leather hand made saddles embossed with their names Khaat had an eagle like archangel on and Brian's the organization symbol. Both Cassidy and Steven hoped they would like it Jess and Jack had got the bridal to match the saddles as their gifts along with embroidered blankets.

" I hope they like ours "Cassidy said to Jess who just smiled and nodded.

" if I know Brian and Khaat they will especially more so now" Jess said and looked to Jack who nodded and ported out to the barn. He walked inside and smiled.

" won't stop long thought if you were going riding you might need these " he said and uncovered there gifts" we thought you needed new saddles and kit" he said smiling as the others walked in. " Merry Christmas Brian and Khaat" they all said and smiled as Jess saddled the unicorns knowing how they were around men.

"Thank you," Brian smiled, pleased.

"They're beautiful," Khaat signed.

"Shall we leave them saddled for you?" Brian asked. "We've never had winged horses before. Maybe you'd like to go flying, two at a time? Khaat and I won't be gone long. Its entirely too cold for her to be up in the winter air too long. And its not safe for her to be flying until she really remembers how to do it. Of course, the hippogryffs could use an outing so two of you could take the peguses and the other two could take the hippogryffs if you want. Its not like there aren't plenty of people to watch the kids for you for awhile. It would be a good time for you to have some romance at Christmas That might be hard to find tomorrow."

Jess looked at Jack as Cassidy did at Steven " ok but we'll use the regular saddles " Steven said and they re saddled them all and they all agreed to it Jack saddled the Pegasus and Steven did the hypogriffs making sure to explain to it what they were going to do both creatures were excited to be flying but a little unsure with the cold until Steven explained they would not keep them out too long. Jess looked at Brian and Khaat and smiled .

" thank you both, we won't keep them out too long and will make sure there warmed when we bring them back , I think Angus has warm spiced wine in the house if you want some" she said smiling as she saw Jack lead out the Pegasus to the paddock along with Steven and the hipogriffs with Cassidy on top of one smiling yet wrapped up warm.

Brian welcomed the thought of the spiced wine to warm up with. They'd enjoyed the flying but he didn't want Khaat to catch cold. Khaat was tiring quickly. The trip from Venice, the tour of the house, the flying--it was a lot for someone who was recovering.

Michael was adding a little kindling to the Yule Log when Brian brought Khaat into the Great Hall for some of the hot spiced wine. Michael poured them both mugs of wine while Brian found her a place on one of the leather sofas in front of the fire. Brian took her coat and gave her the mug of wine. Michael covered her legs with a tan chenille throw.

"You're overdoing just a little, Sweetheart," he said gently. "Take a rest now. The staff just fed the kids their lunch, and they're going to shortcut their naps a bit so that they'll go to sleep on time tonight." She nodded. It was good thinking. She tasted the wine. It was wonderful. It warmed her up from the inside out. It was nice.

Brian put the coats away and then joined her on the sofa.

"Do you need help getting your closet emptied?" Michael offered to Brian.

"I think I'll do that after the kids are in bed tonight," Brian grinned. "It really is a lot of fun to see them surprised with having a lot of new things under the tree in the morning."

"Well, let me know, and I'll help you."

"Thank you, Michael."

several hours passed and Jack Jess and cassidy returned to the main house each red cheeked and nose's " hope you have more of that spiced wine still warm were freezing the animals loved the flight Brian but Steven says they hope you and Khaat will take them up " he said moving to the fire to warm up as Jess hung up the coats with cassidy not far behind. She too moved to the fire.

" don't hug the warmth Jack" she said and he chuckled moving to one side to let her warmup too. " it was wonderful, seeing the white country from so high up but cold.." she shivered " too cold" she said and Jess chuckled .

" yes thank you for that it was wonderful" she spoke softy as she sat on a large couch.

"Yes, there's plenty," Michael said. "Its in the kettle over the fire. The mugs are there. There are plenty of garnishes. You can add what you want." There were glasses of cinnamon sticks, peppermint sticks, rock candy sticks, mini marshmallows, slices of fruit--anything that the kitchen staff had thought people might be interested in. There was also a plate of Angus's sweet bread crackers with cheese and fruit, and a plate of assorted Christmas cookies and candies.

Michael saw Khaat had fallen asleep on Brian's shoulder, and that Brian seemed to be perfectly content just sitting and watching the fire. Michael took Khaat's mug and set it aside.

"Is she alright? Really?" Michael asked him.

"She's wonderful," Brian smiled softly.

"That's not what I meant," Michael laughed gently. "I meant her health."

"She's better every day."

"How is she coping without her memory? Honestly."

"It frustrates her sometimes, but the lack of speech frustrates her more," Brian said.

"Did she get a chance to shop for the holidays?"

"Yes. We did that, and I think she's happy with what she bought."

"She looks tired," Michael said.

"I'm pushing her pretty hard--at her request."

"Well, we'll be eating dinner soon. She ought to go to bed early. The kids are going to be up early."

"Yeah, that's a good idea. What are we doing for dinner?"

"The very traditional Italian Christmas feast of the seven fishes. There will be more food than you can all deal with--even Jack," Michael laughed. "Angus got a mammoth load of fresh seafood from Edward."