Marriage is Murder

"James seriously needs stopped," Angus sighed. "He is just a pain in the butt. I'm glad she's okay, though. And I'm glad she was well enough to hide them."

Benjamin finished his bottle and gave Angus a couple of smaller but equally effective bubbles, and began to cuddle, content again.

"They look like Brian, both of them," Angus said. "And I can't tell the difference between either of them. You know its going to take Khaat a few days to get back into feeling good again, but I can help there. I've done that a couple times with her already." He yawned. He glanced at Benjamin. "You're far more awake than I am, Ben," he said. "Sorry, Mate, but I'm going to have to take you back to bed because my own bed is calling me pretty loudly. Jim, I presume you're on baby duty for a few more hours until the day shift wakes?"

Jim chuckled and nodded "Your not the only one who thinks that Angus" he said and listened to Angus talking he heard the burps and laughed softly " nice going" he said and saw Angus yawn twice. "yes I am, Cassidy has next shift , I'm used to baby sitting I did it with my own children" he told him " but I am keeping you Angus" he said and stood up himself with Daniel on his shoulder as he too moved to place the now sleeping baby into his bassinet " and I agree they are indeed identical" he added " and they should look like Brian he is their father." He lay the sleeping baby down and pulled the blanket over the boy.

Jim turned and looked at Angus and spoke again " we'll see you in the morning and I'll let every one know your back, Its good to have you back " He said and smiled " Brant's been cooking, was wondering if you had taught him some tricks as it wasn't bad" he added with a smirk.

"My grandmother was the real cook," Angus said, putting Benjamin in his bassinet and covering him with a blanket.

"Not me," he said. "I spent a lot of time with her and with my grandfather. More time with them than my own parents, really. And more time in Tuscany than any place else on the planet. Good food brought our family together--around the table, around sharing the work of our hands. I wouldn't have traded it for the world. But the time has moved on from me being in the kitchen to doing something else.

"The fact is, that as much as we love Robert, we don't have any way of knowing if he will ever be himself again, and if he isn't, then Brian needs to be able to step into some horribly large shoes to do everything that Robert does--and I'm not talking about the Ministry. I'm talking just about the organization and shouldering all of it. Not just what he does already. And he's also got the businesses he runs with Khaat and the auror job he's got and the security of the hospital. And the kids. There's just a lot. If I can run a portion of that for him, then it takes some of that weight off his shoulders a bit. And in the meantime, perhaps it gives Robert time to actually find a cure for this curse. For now, though, I think I and my beer will head off to bed. Goodnight, Jim."

He headed up to bed, carrying his bottle of beer.

Jim listened and nodded he agreed on Angus saying he was heading up to bed he smiled " good night Angus sleep well " he said and sat down with his book, He picked up the fire poker and stirred up the fire to a warm glow. He sat back down and started to read his book watching the two boys as they slept one ether side of him. He sat and listened to the sounds around him hearing nothing but the sound of the house elves as they moved about the house. Jim turned his page as he read.

Soon the sun crept through the curtain and Jim stood up Cassidy came down and smiled to him" all quiet?" she asked and he nodded " I'm on breakfast duty" she said and headed to the kitchen after she had checked the babies in their bassinets"

The bedroom upstairs was quiet now.  Finally--when it was time to get up.  Brian had showered and shaved and was dressing.  He had his jeans on and was reaching for his shirt when Marcus arrived.  

Marcus was surprised to see Brian a bit off his time this morning. Brian was running late, and he never ran late without a reason. Khaat appeared to be in a deep sleep.

"Everything alright?" he asked Brian softly.

"She's not going to wake for awhile," Brian said, putting on his shirt and buttoning it.  "She was having nightmares all night.  She wasn't going to talk about it.  Her seers powers were activated by something, and it came up in her dreams--repeatedly. These really upset her.  I finally had to go across the hall and wake Robert who couldn't get anything out of her either. He finally poured her a dose of a heavy sleeping potion.  It won't wear off until probably mid morning. I can stay if you like and give you part of the morning off."

"No, Sir," Marcus said. "I'd prefer to work."

"Have you dealt with these sorts of dreams of hers before?"

"Yes, Sir. She usually talks to me unless the dreams frighten her. Then she doesn't say a syllable."

"So you do know how this goes for her. If you learn anything, you're to tell me straight away. Understand? No matter how much she wants to swear you to secrecy. You're to tell me."

"Yes, Sir."

"I'm going downstairs then. The kids were still asleep a few minutes ago--before I showered."

"They still are, Sir. I was just there. Enjoy your breakfast."

"Thank you, Marcus," Brian said, heading downstairs, dressed but in his bare feet, his denim shirt not tucked into his jeans. This was typical Brian when he had skipped his workout in favor of a bit of sleep, when he had been up most of the night. He usually got around to looking more proper and finished when he'd had a cup or two of coffee.  He headed for the kitchen, yawning, and picked up a mug and poured French Roast in it for himself. "Morning," he said tiredly.  He headed into the living room to check on his new sons.

Jim looked as Brian walked down into the kitchen he smiled seeing him pore out some coffee and walk back " morning sleep well? " He said as he looked over the newspaper he held Jack and Brant walked down soon after and headed to the kitchen Jack rubbing his eyes while Brant finally did up his button on his shirt then pore out some juice to drink Jack on the other hand took some tea and headed to the living room he checked the children and then sat down.

"Did any one hear that noise last night?" he asked" sounded like scratching from under the floor boards. Brant looked up and bit his lip.

" sorry Jack thats lucky, shes gone AWOL again." He said " I'll fetch her later" he said and Jack sat and chuckled at how Brant was protective of his pet mouse and where she had gone too.

"I don't know that I slept more than a few minutes," Brian sighed. "Khaat's having nightmares again, and she's not talking about it. I thought at first it was about yesterday's events. I'd have certainly thought she had a right to that. But I don't think so. If its a bad memory, she usually talks to me about those things. If it's something to do with her seer's abilities, and if its frightening, she usually won't tell me a word.

"Had to actually go wake up Robert. He came over and tried to get her to tell him, and she won't tell him either. He finally gave her a dose of a powerful sleeping potion. I doubt if she'll be able to wake til mid morning, but she does need the rest.

"In the meantime, I've briefed Marcus. I don't know whether she'll tell him or not but its certainly worth a try. He seems to have a knack of figuring out what's on her mind without needing her to say much of anything...."

As he was speaking he heard angry baby cries from the next room. He sighed heavily, not from annoyance with the babies but rather from his own fatigue.

"I thought I was braced for being sleep deprived again. They could have waited another 60 seconds until I'd had a sip or two of coffee, couldn't they? Damn," he sighed.

Jim looked up as Brian spoke to them he sighed " sounds like residual from the kidnapping" he said and put down the paper "Good that Marcus is on the job though" he said as he stood up " if you need a rest later the spare rooms still made up" he said and chuckled " leave them to us , and your never ready for sleep derivation" he and Jack both moved to the bassinets and picked up the babies and each changed them passing the talc between them with some skill.

" And there all clean and dry now bottles" he said and accioed a warm bottle from the kitchen " does father want to take this feed, or would you rather we do it and you go nap?" he asked understanding just how he felt having been there before.

"If you don't mind," Brian said, "I really just want a cup of coffee." He was about to take his first sip when he heard the rumble that came from a dozen toddlers racing down the steps, all yelling and jabbering loudly and, for Brian's tired brain, much too loudly. "Give me five minutes, you all." He apparated out to go have a few sips of coffee in the quiet before it jarred his brain too badly.

Suki just smiled. "I do feel sorry for him," she said. "He really didn't get any sleep at all. I don't think Robert thought this was ordinary nightmares. He chose a sleeping potion for seers that blocks out all energy work and allows sleep. If it were just residual trauma from yesterday, it would have had no effect on calming her nightmares." She gestured to the bottle of red potion that Robert had left on the kitchen counter. It definitely was not the ordinary potion and was used only for seers whose powers were working overtime and causing sleep disturbances.

"I did feel a strange energy surge in the middle of the night myself," Suki added quietly. "It woke me, but I went back to sleep."

Jim looked at Brian and nodded Jack began to feed Ben both looked at the kitchen counter and sighed " yeah, her seers ability must be well out of whack for Robert to give that one." Jim said Brant glanced over at the bottles and just nodded.

"Thats a strong sleep potion there" he said "Only to be used by a qualified potion master, well that qualifies Robert." He said as he looked at the other bottles noting which ones he had used so to keep a stock of them in case he needed more for Khaat. He moved to the kitchen and began to make pancakes and syrup with berries for the kids especially for Abby knowing how she liked them to go along with the food the house elves had made for them. Cassidy walked down with the kids and helped feed them she was dressed in a light shirt and jeans.