Marriage is Murder

Jess chuckled and finished with Brian moving back to Khaat as she listend smiling at what Escobar said to Brian. Steven chuckled and took out teh all pink box " got it right here, I had a feeling it was hers since pink is her favorate color." he said and unshrunk it " so shall I give her it now or hide it untill christmas?" he asked him with a smile. Steven Set it down on the table and nodded " I agree he should neet the other children too after all he is like family" he said smiling still.

Picking the box back up he chuckled and headed to find Lee and Abby." Abby I have something for you direct from Tobias" he said smiling as he palced it next to her and looekd at Lee " has to be good he knows what she likes" he said as he then left to let her open it by herself.

Abbey flung the lid off the box and reached inside and pulled out some new winter clothes. They were beautiful. Lee had figured they would be bright, colorful things, but these were warm and elegant, and soft.

"Oooh," Abbey beamed. "Like in my storybook!"

"The story of the princess we read last night?" Lee asked. Abbey nodded. "It does look like that a little doesn't it?" She nodded.

Angus saw the box from Tobias. "Steven," he said very softly. "In Kate's room--there's a large cardboard box from Madam Malkin's on the top shelf in Kate's closet. Kate changed the lettering from gold to silver to remind her which box had the surprises for the kids. Go up and get a surprise out of the box for each kid so that nobody feels left out, would you? You'll have to resize them, but there should be more than enough."

Stephen smiled and nodded and He left and did as requested "thank you and yes, I'll do that Angus." Each child danced in excitment at getting something new and Steven chuckled before heading back down to Lee. "They loved them, thanks." He said and looked at Abby then back to Lee " Hows she doing, any better?" he asked hearing giggles from the nursary down the hallway. Jess kept a watch on Khaat as she slept there was not much else she could do for her but being close was enough for her right now. Jack busied himself helping Cassidy with cleaning the dinning room and living room then he patroled around the house making sure nothing got past him.

"Gotta keep her busy," Lee said. "I'm learning jut how hard that is for a three year old. She doesn't have the longest attention span. And as long as I keep her busy, then she doesn't think about other things." He was deliberately using positive language within earshot of her. "I don't know if anyone has noticed it, but I'm starting to think that she might have some of her mother's abilities. She's entirely too perceptive to not have something different. She's not a typical three year old." Lee was quiet for a moment and then he smiled slightly. "I don't usually work with kids in my line of work, but I really am enjoying having a chance to have a bit of a family again."

"You're welcome in our family any time, Lee," Kate said, coming in, having showered and changed herself.

"Just what you need, Kate. A misfit in the family," he laughed.

"Lee, we have a very small family that is related by blood, but we have a very large family of the heart. And no one here is a misfit--whether they were before or not." She kissed his forehead. "You might want to give that a thought instead of thinking you need to make your job your only family in your entire life."

"Robert is my friend. I couldnt' do that to him."

"If family members arent' friends, Lee, then what do they have?" Kate asked. "No pressure. Just look around you and make your own choice.

Steven and Jack both chuckled " shes right "Jack said softly and Steven nodded as well. Jess loke down at Khaat glad she would be okay in time she ahd been worried what with all the quiet surrounding her injuries and how bed she actualy was. Cassidy busyied herself with finishing up the cleaning and sat down with a coffee she hoped she had done enough. She looekd out as she saw Escobar return and shook her head.

Finishing her coffee she headed down to the gym to do her morning work out leaving the others alone. Steven looked at lee and nodded " we've all felt that for a year now Lee" he said smiling at her " shes a bright girl for her age."

Lee looked at Abbey who was busy drawing with crayons on plain paper. But she was only using her brown crayon.

"Abbey, I happen to know you like pink better than brown," he said to her.

"Yeah," she said, still coloring.

"What are you drawing?"

"A hole," she said, still coloring.

"Isn't a hole black?"

"Nope. Its brown." He looked at her drawing. It looked like there were blobs of brown in the hole.

"What are those?" he asked.

"Doggies," she said.

"They live in the hole?" he asked.

"Yup," she nodded.

"Where's the hole?"

"I no know. But its down. Down, down, down," she said in a sing-song tone.

"Do you know any of the doggies in the hole?"

"Big doggie. Girl doggies. Boy doggies, And they're gonna have baby doggies. Lots of baby doggies."

Lee wasn't sure exactly what to make of it. He didn't know if she was making things up or not. He looked at Steven. He wasn't sure if this was normal for a three year old or not.

Steven looekd at Jack then back " could be a cave" he said might explain why we haven't spotted any settelments " he said wishing now robert could conferm or disprove his theory of it being a cave " but if there breeding it means he's building his pack" he said softly so Abby couldn't hear him. Jack looked at the drawing and sighed kneeling he spoke to Abby.

" Abby mind if I borrow your drawing?" he asked hoping that Robert or Brian could identify anything in it to tell them where they can pin point where they might be living.

"It not done," she told him. "You gots to give it back 'cause it not done."

"What's missing, Abs?" Lee asked. It seemed like the others weren't so quick to blow it off, so he decided he would just try to get some information from her.

"I no gots enough paper. It big. Looks like when I get a knot in my shoe. All twisty and bendy-like."

"You mean its more than one room?"

"I no know. It go all around. Like this." She took her crayon and made a long, yarn-like tangle.

"And the doggies can go through that?" he asked. She nodded.

"Where do they go when they do that?"

"Any place they wants," she shrugged.

"Is that how they get here?" he asked.

"Noooo," she said. "I no know how they get here." Lee gently took the drawing from her and handed it to Jack.

"You have drawn enough about doggies," Lee told her. "How about you draw a picture for your mama? Something pretty."

"Okay," she nodded, dumping the crayon box over to get to the bright colored crayons.

Jack nodded and took the picture he headed up to Robert and showed him it " Abby sugested there was a network of tnnels and caverns they were using, and there breeding there too " he said softly as he palced the picture on the table in front of Robert he was visably worried about this as if it ws true there was more battles to come. " we could set some men to searching or wait to see what Abby draws again?" he asked " but that could be ages if this is true" he said. Steven watched Abby as she drew a lighter picture for Khaat.

"Thats a pretty one Abby." He said smiling to her as he watched Lee and Abby " I always wondered if she was a seer like Khaat , Jess felt she was but only mentioned it once" he said softly.

Robert looked at the drawing. It made sense that they would choose a relatively uninhabited place for a base. It also made sense that they would be trying to increase their pack size. If James' threats were true, that would be the most likely action--make a secure lair, get new recruits and then try to broaden the pack.

But with things as thin as they were here, Robert could not afford to send men after James. Not right now. Jacks' desire to get James before he struck again was a worthwhile thought, but not very practical.

Robert shook his head. He got out a map of the estate and showed Jack, by pointing, that he wanted the efforts to go on the estate. Then he drew out a book. He opened a page illustrating house elves and pointed to the picture. He held up 4 fingers. He wanted Jack to try to recruit 4 house elves for the estate.

Then he opened another section of the book. It had a listing of the businesses in London, in Diagon Alley. He opened the listing for Gringotts and pointed to one of the goblins in charge of vaults. He pointed to the goblin. The goblin was well acquainted with the elves that wanted positions as house elves, and Robert knew this particular goblin was trustworthy, at least to the Lupin family. He got out a Sparks menu and pointed to an Autumn Stew that was a hearty blend of meats, root vegetables, mushrooms, and other tasty comfort foods. He intended that Jack take a large potful of the stew to the goblin as payment for the help in getting the house elves.

He would have to figure out a way to telling Jack that they would need to come up with satisfactory quarters for the elves when they arrived. But--getting reliable help for the estate had to be the first priority. That would leave his fighters to help secure the estate and protect the lives within.