Marriage is Murder

"Believe it or not, I offered him that," Brian sighed. "I offered him to get take out and stop cooking altogether. He's lost his passion, for right now, for the kitchen. You're welcome to try it if you like.

"But, I think the office you decorated for him will mean more. Angus wants to feel accepted, I think. Not because of either what he does or doesn't do. I think he wants to find a home someplace where he doesn't have someone who isn't speaking to him, who isn't walking away or turning their back on him. Think about it. How many times did we see his aunt do that to him when we were at Edward's place in Tuscany?

"Angus is here and he passed up the sailing job Edward would simply hand to him because the job doesn't matter. Family does. Feeling like he belongs matters. What he wants is to not have the same feeling here that he has at his family home in Tuscany.

"The kitchen isn't your obstacle. You can try to take over the cooking with the elves if you like. Angus isn't going to object and neither am I. But what means far more to him is just helping him still know that one person's vote, or lack of support, doesn't mean he isn't one of us.

"Does that make sense?"

Jack looked at Steven and Cassidy and nodded " yes it does Brian " He said and looked at Steven and Cassidy again he saw them both nod. Brant walked in and saw what was going on and sighed.

" okay I am not cooking I'll burn it more than cook it " he said then he thought for a moment " ow no there is one.." he trailed off and headed to the kitchen to talk to the house elves.

" what was that about?" Steven asked as Jack shrugged" okay Jack you sort dinner, I'll do supper" he said and Jack nodded heading in to see Brant taking out cook books and asking the elves to help make something.

" I got this Jack, Edward showed me some tricks" he said smiling widely for the first time " besides if I'm to get married I should at least know....no not that soft flower it says, how to cook right , if Angus can do it so can I" he said now humming to himself. He was actually happy to get out of the lab and into the kitchen.

Khaat had certainly picked up on the tension in the house. It didn't take a seer to feel that, but in her case, it only added to it.

It made her tired. It made her isolate herself in her room. She used her nonverbal magic and closed the bedroom door.

"You alright?" Marcus asked her gently.

"Can we move the furniture in here?" she asked him.

"Can we do what?" he looked at her blankly.

"Move the furniture around?"

"Certainly. How do you want it?"

"I want it different. Entirely different. I want sitting room furniture around the fireplace."

"I can do that, but why don't we just make you a sitting room of your own? Brian made an office for Angus. Why don't we do something like that for you?"

"Can we?" she asked.

"Why not? Its your house. There's a huge walk in linen closet next door. And another down the hall. What if we double the size of the linen closet down the hall to handle the linens and then enlarge the linen closet next door to use as your sitting room. Remember that the room on the other side of that is the nursery for the new babies. We could make them adjoining when we get that far. And we could make that adjoin with this room."

"I think I'd like that."

"Khaat, is the stress in this house getting to you? Is that what this is about?"

"Partly. I feel Angus's pain. He just really hurts. He doesn't want anyone to know, but I feel deep grief from him. Like he's lost something he dearly loved." She didn't say anything for a moment and stared down at her lap. He went over to her and brushed away a tear from her cheek. "I've never felt him hurt like this before."

"He's out on business for Brian, my dear," he said gently. "So, lets focus on your sitting room. Its a good idea."

Brant worked in the kitchen making buns and scones and all sort of things even a pasta dish with beans and parmazan cheese sprinkled over the top " that will keep if any one wants it " he said and then moved to make a pasty filling the pastry with half berries and half meat and potato he then folded it in half, he made several and backed them off. " hum I wonder what Khaat would like to eat" he thought to himself . Steven just shook his head glad to see him out of the potions lab.

Jack sat and wondered what the hell was going on in the house it was like they were all being pulled part Khaat locking her self in her room Angus wanting to leave Robert unable to much of anything thanks to his curse. " I'm going for a walk this place it too.... " he said and gave a growl as he walked out the door slamming it as he went.

"Hes right this place is tearing its self apart from the inside" he said softly. He really wished what ever it was would just go away and leave them to get on with there jobs and be happy about it. Standing he walked up the stairs to Khaats room and knocked " can I come in?" he asked from the other side of the door.

Khaat had a pile of decorating magazines laid open on the bed with various decorating ideas. It was hard for her to get up to answer the door, so Marcus cast her an amused smile and went to the door.

"Come in, but the room's in a bit of a mess right now," Marcus said. "We're hunting for ideas. I think we might be shopping via magazines, but I'm not entirely sure."

"What's up?" Khaat asked Steven. She saw a photo of a sofa she liked and laid that picture open on the bed and picked up an article on Southwest style stained glass windows, glancing at the photos.

"How about this sofa?" she asked Marcus, pointing out an overstuffed red suede sofa.

"Red?" he frowned. "I can't see it, but it might work. Depends on what you put with it."

Steven saw Marcus and smiled walking in "wow not wrong there" he said then looked over at Khaat as she asked what was wrong " um...I'm sure you of all people can feel it. " He said softly to her as he ran his hands threw his hair. "Its all this...this tension thats hanging around." He said "Your up here, Robert's with Edward some place, Jack's out running, Angus leaving, Jess....only god knows where Jess is and well I feel its splitting us apart." He said openly" its not right, it feels wrong. like a curse has been placed over our heads that we'd separate and well I don't think...well, the saying divided we fall comes to mind." He said frowning deeply as he looked at them both.

"Ow by the way, the cream one's a good match, it folds out to a double bed, the nursery's done and so is Angus's study." he said casually and looked again to Marcus hoping to show he was not angry just a bit lost in his duties.

"The only thing I feel is how hurt Angus feels.  He's working but he's hurting," Khaat said. "I didn't know Daddy had gone out. The last I heard from Marcus was that Edward was fiddling with something about a porthole.

"I can't speak to Jack's going running, and I'm tired of us all being in an uproar about Jess. She's a big girl. But if she were doing this at St. Mungos--simply disappearing and not bothering to communicate about why she wasn't showing up for work, she'd probably be fired. You know the rules there.  

"As for me, I'm just trying to stay out of the drama. I do not need nor do I want this sort of horsecrap in my life right now. I do not want the stress to start labor any sooner than it needs to, and as you know, twins are touchy business anyway.

"Let's look at the truth of it," Khaat said. "The tension in the house is coming from Jess. Angus hasn't been around to aggravate anybody. He's stepped out of the job that was creating so much stress for everyone and left it to the house elves so that everyone can eat whatever they like.  I honestly don't know of anything else he can do to try to make this stop, short of simply going home to Tuscany.  But I don't want that, and I don't think most of the rest of us want that either.

"If it eases it, though, I'll send Angus back to Paris for a few days to let him heal a bit, and I can send Jack and Jess on a holiday until Jess gets over whatever's going on with her. But you're right. We can't have this in this house."

Steven listened and looked at Khaat " I think she did, Jack mentioned something about an owl or something, maybe she needs to get back to work, not have a holiday but to refocus her mind." He said but shrugged and sighed " Hey not my call " He said and turned a page in a magazine that sat on the bed. He looked at Khaat as she spoke of not needing the tension " I know Khaat , I know only lace that feels remotely calm is here right now, ow Brant's cooking in the kitchen, hes made some pasta dish."

He steppe back and looked at them both, " why don't you make this a small flat with a living room." He said and thought hard. " okay I think I need to talk to the others minus Brant hes happy enough now hes not in his potions lab and Cassidy..." He smiled at her" um yes well shes happy all the time, okay what color did you want in the living room I suggest earthy tones and a few native American art pieces, I know Brian would like them?" He said.

"Well, I'm glad Brant's found something else to experiment on," Khaat said. "Good for him."

"I'm trying to encourage her into a hobby," Marcus said. "She's bored with reading. She's bored with playing cards, playing chess, all of that. She is interested in interior decorating, so I'm hoping Brian isn't going to get all bent out of shape about adding yet another room to the house."

"A flat," Khaat said thoughtfully.

"No," Marcus said firmly. "I will support any mom with eight kids having a sitting room of her own to get away to Not an issue. But what I don't want her to have is for her to have access to be able to hide away here and never be seen again. Hell, I'd be sentenced to that sort of isolation myself, and I don't want that. She needs a hobby."

"I had one," she sighed. "I used to run and swim, and work out, and...and I can't do any of that anymore. I can't do anything I used to do. Its all gone. I can't move my arm anymore. I can't knit. I can't crochet. I can't do anything."

"Look. You're 32 years old. Are you planning on being bored the next 75 or 80 years of your life?" He looked at Steven. "Earth tones work. But there are a lot of bright colors used in Southwestern décor too. Cobalt blues, reds, oranges, greens. Tastefully, of course. But she needs a bit of excitement in her life."

"Excitement. Perhaps I need to go hunt a dragon and hang his head above the mantel in there," she said sarcastically. Marcus scowled at her.

"See what I mean, Steven? I think being overdue to have twins is making her a bit punchy." He looked back at her. "If you wait a few days, you can change diapers and enjoy being puked on and pooped on and having two babies screaming in your ear at all hours. That might solve that whole boredom business"

Steven looked at Marcus and chuckled " ow yes I remember them and hum dragon heads are so over rated now the tail you could make a night light out of" he said and chuckled " why not painting like Kate I'm sure she'll let you have some supplies or even I'll get you some " He said " what about tapestry making, will keep you warm at the same time that and you can hang them on the walls." he added showing her one in a magazine that was of wild horses running. He closed it back up and looked at her " Cassidy and I will bring you everything you need.