Marriage is Murder

"Do I need to worry about taking my 8 babies on a deep sea cruise?" Brian asked, a bit tense now.

"No," Angus said. "Did you worry about them before?"

"No, but all I had to worry about the last we went was Abbey and Dakota," he said. "I have more now than I can keep my eyes on at one time."

"I've got news for you, Son," Edward said. "Two can sometimes be more than you can keep your eyes on. However, if the Lupins decide to sail, I have more than enough Donohues to accommodate it. You can certainly take them. Or, you can leave the kids on dry land and I will have enough family that they'll have to argue for sleeping space on the floor. Or--we can take them to my compound where they will be safely hidden behind compound walls--again, safely on dry land."

"Their mother would feel infinitely better about not taking so many tiny ones on a ship," Brian said.

"So would their father," Robert said. "Be honest with yourself. Don't hang all that anxiety on Khaat. Part of that is yours."

"Well, I don't know of anyone else here who has eight kids," he said.

"Let's not do a head count, shall we?" Edward teased. "We still have more Donohues than you have Lupins--even if I did only have six of my own."

"Only six,' Michael rolled his eyes sarcastically.

Jack chuckled and looked at Brian as he walked over to him and spoke to Khaat too." its okay Khaat you go rest and its not the number of kids, eight or three the anxiety is the same for any number" he said smiling as Cassidy and Steven nodded together. Brant sat quiet feeling a sting inside him but he kept quiet not wanting to spoil there moment.

Cassidy moved to Jack and picked up his glass taking it inside to put it in the kitchen " sleep well Khaat and rest we have it under control" she told her as she watched her head to the bed room " if you need anything Steven and I will be up late tonight , I want to see a full moon in a star lit sky" she said and smiled to Khaat.

"So," Robert said to Brian, not making mention about Khaat going to bed so early, "if you're not taking the kids, what are your thoughts?"

"My only thought is that I want them to be in someplace completely impregnable. I do not want any chance that there is even the slightest reason for Khaat to worry about them, not for a moment."

"Then I shall take them with me," Edward said. "My compound has never, ever been breeched, and the place is hundreds of years old. I have no reason to believe that's going to change in the next couple of days."

"Thank you," Brian said, relieved. "Robert, you and Remus taught her to fight. I don't want to teach her to hide."

Robert smiled slightly. "I'm not afraid of that. There are times when hiding is a much better skill. It is valuable to know how to do both."

Upstairs, Khaat had changed to a white silk gown and a translucent white silk robe. She sat in the quiet, trying to de-stress.

"You aren't ready to sleep. Not yet," Marcus said gently. "Too much on your mind."

"I suppose," she sighed. He tossed a deck of playing cards to her.

"Shall we play?" He asked.

"Only if you deal," she gave in.

Brant stood and listened and smiled " hes right " he said simply and looked at them both " its safer than Askaban trust me, I remember some one trying to sneak out " he pause glancing at Angus " didn't get far."He added and chuckled softly but said no more knowing all the children would be safe at the Donaugh home.

"I'm sure our Nona would love having them around" He told her "They will be spoiled." He looked to Brian and Edward.Cassidy watched them both and shook her head as she stood up.

" I'll make sure there presentable in the morning Khaat don't worry" she said and headed up to the nursery to set out the clothes the children would wear.

"Our place has always been full of children," Edward said. "They'll blend right in. And I wouldn't worry about making them overly presentable. That will last about sixty seconds. Most of the kids, this time of year, are outside playing in one big happy herd and getting very dirty."

"A little dirt can be a healthy thing," Robert smiled. "Let them have a good time. I suppose we should all pack an overnight bag, then."

"With your permission, I'll go ready the ship," Angus said to Robert. "Would you like to do breakfast onboard?"

"Good idea," Robert said. "That will be fine."

"And we'll feed the kids once they get to the Donohue estate," Edward said.

Brant chuckled and nodded " ow to right, a little dirt didn't hurt us." he said smiling Cassidy chuckled at the first step and nodded.

"Okay, casual it is." she said and headed out of the room Jack chuckled and sat down as did Brant with a deep sigh as he looked at them all.

" I'm wondering if I should get an early night too"he said Steven looked at Brant and rolled his eyes.

" Brant, just go to bed, you've been out of sorts since you got that letter."he said " go read it" he said and Brant stood up.

" night guys " he said and walked up the stairs while Jack and Steven both shook their heads and sat down with a cold bottle of beer.

"And with that, I think I'll go upstairs and pack and then do some light reading before I go to sleep," Robert said. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Everyone," Michael said, noticing Angus was apparating out to go get the ship ready, and others were heading upstairs for the night. "Am I needed to help secure the villa or the grounds or the beach for the night?"

"I'm betting that Jack and Steven already have that in hand," Edward said. He suspected that Jack would want to be sure, for himself, that the young werewolf was nowhere close to them tonight.

Jack looked at Edward and nodded " got that right" he said Steven chuckled and nodded as he crossed to where Jack stood.

"You guessed right Edward, we got it covered go sleep." He said and walked out to patrol the grounds for the night knowing having some one out side and awake would help them sleep better.

" I'll take out side you stay in" Jack said "Just in case that Juvenal were gets too close and wants to have a go." he told Steven who nodded.

" after the patrol" he said and walked off around the pool and looked down at the beach below the villa.

"Then I think we will presume you have it in hand," Michael said. "We'll head off to do our own tasks before morning. Goodnight."

He and Edward headed off to their rooms to pack and to do some loose ends before morning.

The night started to be a difficult one for Brian because Khaat was having even more nightmares than usual. He finally resorted to touching her with a calming spell so that they could both get a little sleep. He felt a bit guilty and deceptive doing it but he was getting more than a bit frustrated with the lack of sleep they were both experiencing because of her violent nightmares. He didn't exactly feel apologetic that she was finally able to sleep a few hours and so was he.

When morning came and Marcus came, he saw Brian packing just a light overnight bag. Khaat was still sleeping and the bedroom was silent. The only sound was the sound of the sea through the open French doors to the terrace.

"You did something," Marcus narrowed his eyes at Brian suspiciously. "What did you do?"

"Whatever do you mean?" Brian asked, trying to brush it off.

"She never sleeps that soundly. What did you do?"

"Just relaxed her a wee bit."

"Does she know about your wee bit?"

"Well, now, there's a bit of a thing about that...."

"In other words, no. She didn't see it coming."

"Well, no," he said.

"Do you know how pissed she's going to be?"

"I didn't think about that last night," he shrugged.

"Capital," Marcus said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "That makes it sooo much easier to deal with, doesn't it?"

Jim walked out of the room he was sleeping in and heard Marcus and Brian talking he chuckled and walked to the door knocking gently so not to wake the sleeping Khaat.

"I'm guessing, calming spell?" he said softly "Shes not going to be happy, but how she looked last night she needed it." He said softly glancing over at her. " wheres your bag Brain I'll take it down and put it with the others " he said "Save you doing it" he added spotting the light overnight bag. Picking it up he looked at him " I'll leave you to wake her, I'll be down stairs, Marcus" he said and headed down to the living room.

Brant walked down with a simple back pack on his shoulders and placed it with the others. " hey Angus can I talk to you about something later?" he asked walking over to him and picked up a cup of tea.