Marriage is Murder

"I'd love to sketch," Kate said. "I'll give you a short list. A sketch pad, a set of sketching pencils and pens, perhaps some charcoals, maybe some watercolors and brushes, and watercolor pencils. An art supply dealer should be able to supply you with all sorts of things if you tell him I want to do all sorts of sketching and watercolors. I'd appreciate it. You're right. The setting is lovely. I think I'll use a different medium, though."

Khaat and Brian had been out walking for some time when she started to feel pain and feel uncomfortable. Brian stopped with her.

"You okay?" he asked. She didn't reply for a moment. "Hey,..." he asked.

"I think its time," she said. He frowned. He laid his hand on her stomach.

"Breathe," he said after a moment. He cast a spell and in a moment the pain began to ease. She looked at him, confused. "Just a false labor pain," he said calmly. "Its not time. Not yet...."

"I don't want to do this without you, without Daddy..." she began, rattled. "I don't want to do it with James all around us and...."

"Would you just stop and breathe?" he said. "Get yourself together. I'm right here. Your father is here. James is not. That baby is not coming today. Okay. Enough walking. Let's go back inside."

Robert had been watching her and Brian out on the beach. He saw them stop, and he saw Brian clearly trying to calm her. He wished he had had all of his potions here. But, pretty much, all of his potions had been left behind in England.

He floated out a potions book and began flipping through it, looking for something a bit quicker to formulate. He wanted to brew up a standard prenatal calming potion--one that would calm her and the baby. But that took time to brew. A couple of hours at least. It took patience and some dedicated attention, and he wasn't sure he wanted to be that far from her until he knew she was alright.

Robert was grateful when Brant offered to make the potion. There were a great many that he could put on to simmer and leave for awhile. There were a few that he could not. And this one was one of the ones that always topped his list as being a bit delicate and needing supervision. The fact that Brant understood its vulnerability gave him confidence in Brant's ability to brew it.

"Jess is right," Brian said to Khaat. "It's all fine." He brushed the hair off Khaat's face and then kissed her forehead. "I love you, but you really do say some silly things when you panic. How can so much pointless prattle race so fast through your head in a fraction of a second?"

"I don't know," she said, frustrated. He laughed and wrapped her in a warm hug.

"I dont' know either," he said. Then he decided to try to lighten her mood a wee bit. "Look, if you want me to send invitations when you go into labor and invite everyone we know to the delivery room...."

"No," she scowled sharply at him. He laughed out loud.

"Come on. Enough walking for you. Jess, you might keep an eye out for some fairly elegant labor room invitations, though," he teased.

Now that Robert knew that he and his family were safe again for the moment, he and Kate took Khaat's five kids and took them out to the beach to make sandcastles.

"Shouldn't we go help them?" Khaat asked Brian quietly.

"No," he said. "Not for you. You need to go rest. I'll go back out once I know you're alright."

"No, I don't wanna be..." she began.

"Are you going to try to give me more pointless prattle?" he laughed, wrapping his arm around her. "Lets go back inside. I'm just not listening to whatever that is that you're trying to give me."

He took her inside where Marcus was pouring himself a second cup of tea.

"I've been ordered outside to make sandcastles, Marcus," Brian said. "The baby isn't very happy right now, so..."

"Are they both ticky?"

"No, I think Khaat's fine..."

"No, the other baby."

"What other..."

"Neither one of you have absorbed this. This is twins. She's not carrying large with one. She's carrying very small with two," Marcus said. he poured her a second cup of tea.

"Twins," Brian said slowly, grasping it. "We're gonna have twins."

"Yes," Marcus said.

"As in seven toddlers."

"As in eight kids, counting Mis," Marcus said. Brian stood for a long moment as if he were shellshocked. He looked at Khaat, feeling a little overwhelmed.

"Eight's good," he shrugged. He kissed her forehead. "I'm gonna go make sandcastles." He went back out to the beach to join Robert and Kate and the kids.

Marcus laughed out loud.

"I think you scared the daylights out of him," Khaat said.

"Give him a minute to wrap his brain around it," Marcus laughed. "Come sit down. I've got your tea. You want to sit out by the pool?"

"Okay," she said. He floated the tea mugs outside, and they went outside to the pool area. At the last second, he suddenly grabbed her and pulled her a step or two back from where she had been. She jumped, startled.

"Babies in the way, are they?" he asked her. She tried to look to see what the problem was. She had almost walked right off into the pool because she hadn't seen she was that close to the edge.

"Oh," she said. "Sorry. Didn't see I was that close."

"That's what I thought. I don't think I'm going to leave you alone anymore until we don't have this little issue. You're just a little scary right now. Here. Sit." He found a lounge chair for her, and, once she was settled, he handed her a tea mug.

By the time they returned, Marcus had brought Khaat back indoors to keep her from getting a sunburn. She was looking through a book of baby names.

The kids had been given lunch and been put down for afternoon naps, finding the time change a bit much to cope with. While they slept, Brian and Angus had gone jogging down the beach and back and were showered again. Kate had caught up the laundry so that all the clothes were fresh and clean and so were all the sheets and towels.

Angus had cast a 'spring cleaning' spell so that the house was getting a thorough cleaning and airing out. He was starting to work on some preparation work for the evening meal and had fresh Hawaiian sweet bread in the oven, along with fresh cookies made with some of the beautiful fresh fruit that was growing around the estate, instead of using sugar. It made the house smell incredible.

Michael had sent out for fresh flowers to be put everywhere in the complex of beach houses. There were four similar beach houses, all connected by open air breezeways, to give everyone plenty of space and their own rooms if they wanted it. Michael had flowers delivered for all of the houses and the breezeways. Kate had arranged them and was placing them artistically throughout the rooms and breezeways.

Edward was starting to get a bit curious as to what was taking Brant so long in brewing the potion that Robert had wanted. Edward was starting to wonder if Brant had had to brew it twice.

Marcus was playing a game of chess against Hiss, Michael's climbing rope and was finding the rope not a lot of competition, but still, it was someone to play a game against while he kept one eye open for anything unusual.

Robert was reading the Prophet. He'd had the house elves continue to send it. He grew frustrated by an article he read. He took it over and dropped the newspaper into Marcus's lap. Marcus frowned, and he picked up the paper, looking at the article that Robert had left it open to.

Irritated, Marcus rolled his eyes after he read it. Gossip frustrated him anyway, but this was additional annoyance. The gossip column was enough to make him particularly frustrated. He took the paper and laid it down beside Brian and then went outside, believing Brian would want to have a word. Brian frowned as deeply as Marcus had and read it.

Brian laid the newspaper aside and went outside to find Marcus.

"Pansy Parkinson-Nott always has been a gossip," Brian sighed. "Now she just gets paid to do it."

"Yes, well, it isn't every day that the Prophet accuses Khaat of having an 'affair' with her bodyguard," Marcus sighed. "It doesn't help her that Nott is accusing Khaat of sleeping with me."

"Do I have something to worry about?" Brian asked, knowing full well already he did not.

"No, Sir," Marcus said, needing to clear the air. "I've done my job. However, Sir, with all due respect, your wife has no shortage of potential suitors in the event that something unfortunate would happen to you."

"Oh, how well I know," Brian sighed.

"Most of those men are not savory and should not be around her whatsoever, much less be a potential suitor."

"And I know that too. She would be very vulnerable if that were to happen, and I can't protect her from that."

"But I can," Marcus said. "Look, I've been with her every waking moment for almost the last year. You've all been in the same house, but no one has been as close to her as I have. She trusts me, and with good reason. And I am quite fond of her. I consider her a friend, as I consider all of you. If something were to happen to you, I will continue to protect her."

"Including all that disreputable lot that wants to follow her around?"

"Yes, Sir," Marcus said. "In whatever way is necessary. I will not leave her alone and vulnerable. I give you my word. She is yours, though, completely. I have no desires for her, except to see her happy and well taken care of."

"I know that," Brian said. "I just wanted to give you the chance to say it to get it off your mind. But, for the record, I'm not planning on going anywhere."

"Good," Marcus grinned. "I've got four kids of my own. I do not need eight more, Sir. Permission to set the newspaper on fire, Sir?"

"If someone else doesn't get to it before you do," Brian laughed. "We have a few folks in our bunch who are hot headed."

"Are we talking about Jack and Steven?"

"You are getting to know us, aren't you?" Brian laughed.

Robert picked up the bottle of potion and opened it and inspected it. He nodded, approving. He had found that if skilled hands made it, it was not particularly difficult. It was, however, not for a potions student to do.

He also knew that twins were tricky business, even if there were not a past history of pregnancy difficulties. Both of Khaat's previous pregnancies had had issues caused by stress, and with James always lurking about, he knew she had plenty of reason to be stressed. He did not want her to miscarry now.

Abbey had been delivered safely but she was, technically, the survivor of a miscarriage. She had been born premature. And the triplets, while full term, had endured great difficulties because of the stress that had come with Gellert Grindelwald running them out of England.

And here they were again, in a safehouse, but this time because of James. He knew she was further stressing because she deeply wanted Robert to deliver her twins, just as he had delivered the rest of the children. And he was considering now how on earth he could possible honor that request without touching her. It wasn't impossible, not if he had Jess's help and Brian's, but it was problematic.

He was deep in thought when he heard Abbey's voice raising in a terrified scream from the bedroom where she had been napping with the other children. Abbey as screaming for him.

"Papa!!" he heard her scream as if she was horrified beyond belief. He leaped to his feet. Marcus jumped up, drawing his wand. Robert motioned quickly for Marcus to stay with Khaat.