Marriage is Murder

"Yes," Robert said, "She should rest for awhile now, but I need to be here to see how well its going to hold and how long."

"Papa, you come too?" Abbey asked.

"No, Sweetheart. Not tonight," he said. "I need to stay with Mama and Gam tonight."

"You no eat?" she asked.

"You save me some," he kissed her cheek. "Okay?" She nodded.

"And a cookie!" she nodded.

"Well, of course I want a cookie," he laughed. "That would be nice. Go with Jess and eat now."

Across the hall, Kate's nose caught the smell of food, and although it smelled lovely, she sighed, frustrated.

"I'm going to hoist him up on a yardarm for this," she said.

"For what?" Brian asked.

"Don't you smell it?" she asked.

"Um..food. Yeah. Why?"

"That rascal has brought in a great schooner load of fish and chips fresh from the Leaky," Kate said. "Just what Robert does not need!" Brian could not contain his laughter.

"Kate," he laughed, "Just this once--maybe it would be alright. Do you want some?"

"Of course I do," she said. "I'm starving."

"Then I'll get you some," he said, leaving to go downstairs.

Jess chuckled and whispered " we can bring him some back if the others don't eat it all " she said and took her over to Khaats bed " one gentle kiss , okay Abby" she said and lent her over so she could, once done she took her down stairs placing her in her high chair and giving her some fish and chips along with the others . Jess sat down as did Steven and Jim both ate and drank some sodas Steven had placed out.

" how they doing?" Steven asked Jess who looked up at him and smiled.

" both are doing well , Khaats resting and so is Kate " she noticed Brian walking down " I'm guessing she's hungry ?" she asked handing him two plates on a tray one for Kate and one for him " I know you'll want to eat with her upstairs" she said smiling as she added two cans of cold soda for them both.

"I'll take these to Kate and Robert," Brian said. "I'm sure it would be good for both of them if they could share a meal tonight. I don't think Robert saw that would even be possible for them tonight. I'd like to just stay with Khaat a few minutes."

"Hold on, Mate," Angus said. He fixed a tray for Brian and flicked his wand at all three trays. "You think you can levitate them upstairs now?"

"Unless I've lost my touch, then, yes," Brian said. "Thank you, everyone."

Edward came in from outside and smiled. "Oh. Pub grub. Lovely," he said. "But am I to presume there are no pints?"

"If you want a pint, then by all means, have a pint," Brian said. "There are bottles of ale, stout and lager downstairs in the fridge in the wine cellar. Help yourself."

"Are the lagers any good?" Edward asked.

"Go try the honey lager," Michael suggested. "Its very nice with fish and chips."

"Would anyone else like one, as long as I'm going?" Edward asked.

"I'll go bring up several," Angus said. "You sit and eat."

"I can still manage beer," Edward waved away his grandson's assistance, heading to the wine cellar. Brian smiled. It was nice to see some sense of calm coming over the house again. He delivered two trays to Kate's room and took the third to his own room.

"Your tray is across the hall. Your wife would like you to help her with dinner. And she'd like you to step it up. She's hungry," Brian said.

"I need to be here," Robert sighed.

"No, you don't," Brian said gently. "I do. You're only a few steps away. And I do know what you're looking for."

"Thank you," Robert said. He went across the hall and laughed out loud, delighted to see the fish and chips. When Edward brought the bottles of lager upstairs, Michael sent three bottles upstairs--two to Robert's room and one to Brian's room.

"Bastard," Khaat muttered sleepily to Brian.

"What'd I do?" he asked softly, going to her.

"I bet there's no fish for me, is there?" she asked.

"Yep," he said, relieved she felt like eating. He took his own plate and picked up a piece of fish and broke off a piece and fed it to her in small pieces.

"Its from the Leaky," she said.

"Yep," he said. "How can you tell?"

"The crunch on the batter," she said. "Brian, am I going to die?"

"Not now. Why do you ask?"

"I saw so much darkness," she said, dreading reliving what she had seen when she had been semi conscious.

"You were bewitched, Dear," he said. "Its gone now."

"But if I live through this, that shoulder may never be right again. It may always be trouble."

"Your father isn't done with it," he told her. "Whatever happens, we'll deal with it."

"You have to let me work. I can't lay here with nothing but that pain...."

"Give it a bit of time," he said softly, brushing her hair off her face. He kissed her slowly and she realized she couldn't feel his touch on the left side of her face. She lifted her hand and felt the heavy bandages on her face.

"My face?" she asked, upset. "It got my face?"

"Its not as bad as you think," he lied to her deliberately. But she felt how heavily it was bandaged.

"No...it is bad..." She stammered, upset. "No...you're not going to want me...no one will want me...I'll be hideous...I'll be..."

"You'll still be mine because I don't plan on going through this world without you," he said softly and steadily. He knew too well how a serious injury could throw even the toughest fighters, and part of it was just the body's reaction to the injury. She would think clearer in a few days. She had a right to be upset right now. "Now, enough," he said quietly. He saw the tears that were spilling down her cheeks. "Calm," he said, touching her forehead and casting a calming spell. "Its alright. Its not as bad as you think." She slipped back into a light sleep.

She wasn't asleep more than perhaps a minute when the silence of the night air was filled with werewolves in the distance. She was jolted hard out of her sleep, panicking. He caught her quickly before she could hurt herself.

Downstairs, the werewolves frightened Abbey badly. She often overlooked it, but tonight was different. It scared her. She scrambled under the table and began to cry.

Robert and Kate looked up towards the window. "Are they on the grounds?" Kate asked as Robertr helped her with a sip of tea.

"No," Robert said, listening carefully. "I dont' think so. They're too far off. I think we're safe tonight. And its a good thing. I think everyone needs to recharge a bit."

Steven was finishing his food when he heard the calls out side and stood up turning to face the window , Jess crawled to Abby and held her close to her " its okay they can't get in here" she said and picked her up " I'll be right back " she said and carried her up to Robert and Kate. " shes scared thought it best to bring her here " she said handing her over to Robert as she looked to the window " did you hear them " she asked moving to check on Kate and smiling as she found her resting and healing. Steven paced back and forth by the window watching but knowing they could not get in or he hoped they could not.

Robert wasn't entirely surprised that Abbey had been rattled by the sound of the werewolves. He took Abbey from Jess.

"This is just a tough day, isn't it?" Robert said softly to Abbey, holding her, "You're safe here. I promise. Thank you, Jess. I'll keep her here wtih me. Yeah, I heard them. There not on the grounds. Not so far as I can tell. That sound is too far away. My guess is that they're frustrated by the loss they took today. And that's fine by me, really. The house will hold. All we need to do for tonight is simply keep the house locked and stay in. It'll be alright. And besides, we don't have enough people that have their energies recharged to risk going out tonight. Tell them I'm putting us on a full lockdown tonight. No one in or out."

Jess nodded and smiled at Abby before she headed back down to the living room " Robert says were on lock down , nobody in and nobody out" she said and nodded to Michael " he also said there not on the grounds but a far bit away" she sat back down and drank some tea also finishing her food and feeding the girls. Steven moved back to the table and fed the boys soon they were all rubbing their eyes and yawning both Steven and Jess carried them up to their rooms and bed. Cassidy sat and looked out the window Jim placed his hand on her shoulder.

" their not here so stop worrying about them and relax" he said siting close by " i'm not " he said and chuckled.

When the sunrise came, Robert opened his eyes and realized he'd fallen asleep in his wing chair in front of the fire in his bedroom, holding Abbey on his lap. He looked at his lap, looking for Abbey and didn't find her there. She was gone. Before he could react, Kate whispered softly to him. He looked to see Abbey curled up in the bed, sucking her thumb in her sleep, under the covers, laying tight to Kate.

"She got cold when the fire went out," Kate whispered.

"Are you both alright?" he asked.

"Fine," she said. "She's not had a nightmare all night."

"Any word from Brian?"

"No. Not a word."

"i need to go check," Robert said.

"If he's asleep, let him rest," Kate said. The door opened silently, magically, and their morning tea tray floated in and set itself on the dresser.

"Ah good. Tea. Angus is up," Robert said. "I am going to presume we survived the night. I didn't hear any screaming."

"Probably a good guess," Kate said as Robert poured two mugs of tea and put one beside Kate.

Jess woke and walked down to the kitchen passing a floating tray and she chuckled and continued down the hall to the stairs she saw Cassidy and Steven walking out of their room and she smiled " morning sleep well" she asked and they both nodded and chuckled.

" yes I wonder how Khaat and Kate are" Cassidy said and Jess smiled.

" well I saw a breakfast tray heading to Kate and Roberts room and that's a good sign" she said and continued down the stairs to the kitchen " morning Angus " she said poring some tea for herself " good tea as always" she said taking her cup through to the living room.

Robert drank his tea, glad to get it, and then, after making sure that Kate was alright, he took the time to shower and shave and get fresh clothes. He found Abbey was awake and helped her to a bubble bath in the tub in their room. Once she was dressed, he sent her downstairs. She was nervous at first but then she did go downstairs, tentatively, shy, a bit nervous because of the doggies she'd heard the night before. She stood at the bottom of the stairs, just peeking around the corner into the room, a bit afraid.

Robert went across the hall and saw the door ajar slightly because of the coffee tray's delivery. Brian was sleep deprived, unshowered, unshaven, deeply fatigued, and already on his fourth cup of french roast. He'd emptied the small pot himself before Khaat had even awakened.

"You look like hell," Robert frowned. "Didn't you sleep?"

"No," Brian said. "She ran a high fever all night. She got delirious, and she kept trying to fire wandless magic at whatever the hell she thought she was seeing. I bound her magic after a point because I got tired of her breaking things."

"Why didn't you wake me? It had to be the last traces of that damned dark magic."

"Yeah, I knew that. The fever broke about 4 am. Its almost gone now," Brian yawned. "She's exhausted. Is there more coffee downstairs?"

"You dont' need any more damned coffee. Go get a shower and a shave while I check her," Robert said. "Go. Consider it an order if you need it to be." Brian simply yawned again and headed to the shower. Robert flicked his wand to put to rights what little in the room that was still out of place,and then he went over to check Khaat.

Jess smiled seeing a small head pock around the door " its okay doggies all gone" she said softly to her and offered her some toast " Angus has some wonderful bread rolls , their nice and warm and strawberry's nice and pink" she showed her the bowl and held one out to her hoping to tempt her further into the room on her own. Steven looked at her then at the small head of Abby and smiled knowing what she was trying to do " yummy strawberry's" he said and chuckled as Jim shook his head at him as he too ate his breakfast. Cassidy brushed her hair from hr eyes and took some toast and a up of coffee..