Marriage is Murder

Lee had arrived at the estate with Abbey and had taken her upstairs to Robert's room. He knocked once, quietly, on the partly closed door and pushed it open.

Robert frowned deeply, seeing Abbey covered in...what was it? Pie? And she was in a deep sleep laying on Lee's chest. He got up and went over to Lee. He laid his hand on Abbey's forehead and detected the strong sleep spell immediately. He saw the mashed pumpkin pasties that she was covered in, and he saw the tears still on her little face.

He snapped his fingers to clean up the mashed pumpkin pasties off of her and then he took her from Lee,

"Robert," Lee said gently. "Abbey got a mind of her own and ran out of Khaat's room. Marcus and I followed her, but she ran right into James." Robert became wide eyed. James? In the hospital? And with access to Abbey? His grip on Abbey became tighter. "He did try to get ahold of her, but we kept him from that. It did frighten her rather badly. We fought him off. Jack took some flesh wounds--I think they were flesh wounds. But there was a lot of blood, and it added more to her fear."

Robert was furious, but was completely dedicated to Abbey.

"She was pretty traumatized," Lee said. "Can you help her with that?" Robert nodded. He took her over to the rocking chair that Kate usually sat in and sat there with Abbey and wrapped her close and just held her and rocked her.

"One more thing?" Lee said. "Khaat's discharged herself. Belby is on his way home with her." That was the last thing Robert wanted to hear. He pounded his fist on the arm of the chair. He accio'd Michael's pipe from the chess table and showed it to Lee.

"Michael? You want me to find Michael?" Lee asked. Robert nodded. "You want me to update him?" Robert nodded. "I'll make sure he knows and Angus knows," Lee said. "If its alright with you, I'm going to stay awhile. I want to be sure the security is up to par."

Robert knew that had little to do with it. Lee wanted to make sure that Robert's family was alright, and that was fine with Robert.

Marcus ported in with Khaat, who had gotten bitterly cold because of having nothing to wear other than her cloak and a hospital gown. She was shivering hard, her skin was like ice. Marcus hadn't expected to hit such a bitterly cold crossbreeze in the porting, but he knew she needed to be warmed up. He took her upstairs straight away to her room to tuck her into bed to get her warmed up.

"I'll have you warmed up in a moment," Marcus told her. "I'll get you into bed and send for something hot to drink."

"Make sure we're safe," she said into his jacket. "Don't worry about me. Find Abbey."

"Lee had her," Marcus said. "I'm sure she's fine. But I'll see if she's here. My job is you."

"Thank you," Marcus said. When Jess offered food, he looked at Khaat and said, "You should eat something. I know you're upset, but it wont help Abbey if you don't do what you need to do for yourself right now." She sighed, not in the mood. "ask Angus to send something light?" Marcus asked Jess.

Robert sat in his room, rocking the sleeping Abbey. He hadn't bothered to wake her from her sleep spell, deciding that letting her rest would be the best cushion for the trauma she'd experienced. He would merely be there when she woke up.

Jack's concerns and questions were valid, but Robert didn't see Abbey becoming frightened of Jack. Not in his human form. He pointed to Jack and shook his head. He accio'd a book to the table beside him, opened the pages to a sketch of a transformed werewolf and pointed to it and nodded. He didn't think Abbey would be fearful of Jack, but she might well be afraid of werewolves. Robert thought perhaps that fear might be, under the circumstances, a wise one for the child to have--especially if it kept her from running off from her protectors.

Robert wasn't so uncomfortable with Jack. He was furious at James, and he wanted him dead. His fear now was twofold. Where was James now? Who was he going to kill next, and how many innocents would die before he was stopped? His other concern was that Khaat had come how. He would have been fine with it had he been able to help with her medical care, but he was helpless this time to do much to help her. And so much could still go wrong. She was still critical. Whether she lived or died would depend largely this time on Jess and Brian.

Robert understood how Jack was feeling but, unable to speak, he had no words for him. Even if he could speak, there was little he could say. James was acting on his own, and he was responsible for his own choices. Robert intended to make sure to end James' rampage through England, one way or another.

Angus looked up from his work when Jess came in asking for food for Khaat and Marcus.

"I've got it, Jess," Angus said, waving her out of the way of the cabinets. "I'm not using that stuff. I'll do fresh things."

He took some roasted chicken that was leftover, shredded it, and heated it with some sautéed aromatics and then made some crepes and rolled up the chicken mixture into the crepes with some gourmet cheeses. He made a quick but lovely hollandaise and drizzled the crepes with it. He added some buttered toast made from his own freshly baked asiago cheese bread. He plated it and made a tray for them. He also added a coffee pot so they'd have a supply of fresh coffee.

Upstairs, Marcus found an ample supply of pillows in Khaat's large walk in closet. He made her comfortable very similar to how she'd been positioned at St. Mungos. He saw that the hair on her forehead was starting to get just a bit damp.

"I know you're not too warm," he told her. "That ws cold out there. Pain?"

"A bit," she lied. He looked to see if anyone had gathered her things and brought the new pain potion that Robert and Edward had designed. He didn't find it.

"There's some of the old standard pain potion in the bathroom if you want it," he offered.

"No," she said. "Thanks anyway." She knew it wasn't going to begin to deal with the pain she had, so she saw no point. "If they forgot the bottles that Daddy and Edward made, someone can go back and get them."

Khaat was grateful for the relief. "Thank you. Did I hear right that Daddy has Abbey?"

"Yes," Marcus said. "He does."

"Then she'll be okay. She trusts him more than just about anybody. If he stays with her, she'll be fine."

Brian and Lee had dedicated themselves to checking the grounds to be sure the protection grid was still in place. Lee also wanted a bit of time to just walk with Brian and get him to de-stress a bit. When they came back in, Brian was feeling a bit better, after getting a chance to burn off a bit of energy.

Robert listened to Jess's report and nodded. He accio'd Abbey's favorite blanket and motioned to Jess to take Abbey's sneakers off her feet. He saw no need for them. She was home. He draped the warm fuzzy blanket over Abbey who merely curled tight into his neck as she slept.

Angus finished making his tray and called Jess. "Their tray is ready if you want to take it up to them," he told her. "Lunch will be a couple hours yet, but I'm on it."

"Thank you," Marcus said. "It smells wonderful. I didn't think I was hungry until I smelled that." He refilled Khaat's coffee.

He took the covers off the plates and set them aside to reveal this crepes. He adjusted the table so she could reach what she could eat without help. He was perfectly able to help her with what she would need help with simply because she was still so weak. He knew what it was like to not feel like eating, but he also knew that to heal, she needed the nutrition. Never mind the fact that she now needed the extra nutrition for herself and her baby.

He helped her with the first bite of the crepe and then managed one for himself. He wasn't unfamiliar with having to do this for other clients. It was just part of the job. A bite for them, a bite for him, usually while juggling a wand at the ready.

Robert was simply sitting in the quiet of his room, rocking Abbey when she suddenly jolted awake, screaming again. He had been rather expecting that might happen. He hugged her and soothed her. He made her look into his face to see it was him. She stopped screaming, and she clung tightly to him, sobbing, and chattering rapidly to him. He understood the childlike ramblings. She was calling for Papa and begging Papa to hold her and to make the doggie go away.

Downstairs, Brian and Lee had hear the screams, but they also heard them quieting rather quickly.

"It is not okay for James to terrify my children," Brian said angrily to Lee.

"I know," Lee told him gently. "We'll get him, my friend. I promise."