Snow Day Lunch

It was a blustery, cold winter's day. Khaat wasn't sure why she had decided to take the kids out in such horrid weather--high winds, heavy snow, bitter cold. Except that she had seven toddlers that were getting really punchy being in the house. They wanted to go play in the snow, and she wasn't really amused by the thought of just casting them out into the yard and hoping she'd find them again.

So, Angus and Marcus had volunteered to help her dress the kids up in their warmest winter clothes and take them out to lunch. Babbity's had enough for little ones to do, and was safe enough that they could at least run in someplace different.

At age four, Abbey and Dakota were like old pros at being apparated and ported. They knew how to hang on tightly to their mother's hands.

Marcus had taken Julia and Robert and Michael--all age 3--and found them to all be rather wiry, but when it actually got to porting to Babbity's, the sensation of porting made them a quite a bit more passive and easier to manage.

And that left Angus with the twins--the youngest--Daniel and Benjamin--almost age two. Why was it that two twin boys had more baby gear than the other five toddlers put together? Angus had resorted to a leather messenger bag and a shrinking spell for the baby gear.

They arrived in a wind blown pack of adults and little people, and were shown to a larrge table quickly. The staff at the restaurant didn't seem to have trouble rounding up high chairs and booster seats, but at the moment it hardly mattered. The children were casting their coats and gloves and hats to the floor and were already dashing over to the play area.

"And we're off. Just like herding cats," Angus shook his head, laughing.

"I've got it--I think," Marcus said. As her chief bodyguard, Marcus Belby was accustomed to chaos. He went to supervise the kids as Khaat and Angus decided they'd better think about what sort of food and drinks to order for the kids.

Isobella was thinking of the many different things that she could do with her daughter. After getting off work at the Leaky she went home to change as well as shower. Then she packed up her daughter Rose with everything that she needed including her daughter's favorite bear. Rose was in her favorite outfit with a bright pink coat. Bouncing up and down at the thought of going outside had Rose excited.

Isobella walked into Babbity's and was shown to a table near some bigger ones. She set down her things when Rose looked up at her and pointed towards the play area. She had taken off her gloves, hat, and coat setting them neatly on her chair.

"Hang on sweetie, we'll order first then head over to the play area ok? It won't take us long I promise." Isobella said smiling sweetly at her daughter who shook her head yes.

Someone arrived at the table with a booster seat for Rose and took their order. Then taking Rose's hand she walked her over to the play area and let her go explore. Isobella made sure that Rose was always in her line of sight because she was the biggest worrier ever. She worried simply because Rose was her only child and was her baby. Seeing Rose find a friend to play with she grinned as she saw her daughter giggle and laugh with glee.

Khaat looked around at the seven coats, seven hats, fourteen mittens all scattered everywhere on the floor. She sighed. She let Angus finish ordering for them, and she flicked her wand at her children's winter gear and gathered it up and hung it up.

Angus looked over to see that the two four year old girls were climbing on a play tree. The boys had found some magical chalk and were drawing on the walls, and the littlest girl, Julia, had found a friend and they were playing with some stuffed bunnies.

Angus walked over towards the young mother of the little girl.

"Looks like they're going to get along just fine," he smiled. "That's Julia. She's three. She's the quiet kid in our bunch. She gets a bit overshadowed by her outgoing sisters and her very busy brothers. Its nice to see her with a friend. I'm Angus, by the way."

Looking over at the man who spoke up and smiled, "Yes it seems like they are getting along very well. My daughter name is Rose she's two and she doesn't speak much but I'm glad she found someone to play with. I'm Isobella, you can just call me Bella. It's nice to meet you Angus." Looking back at her daughter and the little girl named Julia. Bella smiled as Rose was smiling and giggling as she played with the stuffed bunnies. "Does your daughter play with her other siblings a lot?" She asked as she looked at him wondering how many children he had.

"Rose tends to talk softly though she only knows a few words." Bella explained as she saw her daughter get up and run to her asking for her teddy bear. Handing it to her, Rose smiled and took off back towards the little girl she was playing with. She looked like she was showing it off to her, especially the secret compartment in the teddy's foot.

"Isobella. Pretty name. And Rose is beautiful. She seems like just the right match for Julia. Julia plays with them quite a lot," he said, "but she usually ends up with quieter toys like stuffed animals and storybooks. Or she ends up with me when I'm in the kitchen.

"Oh sorry, didn't really explain, did I? The kids really aren't mine, although they feel like it. The kids belong to her..." he gestured back to Khaat. "That's Khaat Lupin. And, aside from running her estate, and being the personal chef for her very large family, I'm more or less the bodyguard and caretaker for the children. The Minister takes the safety of his grandchildren very seriously."

He watched Julia examine the teddy bear and the secret compartment. Julia took off one of the many multicolored string friendship bracelets she had and tucked it into the bear's foot.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Dakota raising her hand to strike Abbey. "Hey," he said. "What did I tell you about hitting, Dakota? You hit, and there will be no dessert." The fiery little redheaded tot glared angrily at him for being thwarted. He cast a stern parental sort of look at her that he meant business, and she plopped down on the floor to sulk.

"She's the one I have to watch. She's got a hot temper. It doesn't last, but she does tend to want her own way. With so many of them, I swear it feels like I'm grown eyes all around my head," he laughed.

"So tell me about you and Rose," he said.

"Thank you, my mother thought I needed a unique name that no one thought of first." Bella said smiling then looked at her daughter. "Thank you she means everything to me. Yeah they do seem like they are matched perfectly. Maybe they can have play dates when I'm not working." She smiled at him and said, "I bet she likes to help you cook."

"Oh I'm sorry I misunderstood. I didn't realize that..." Bella stopped blushing in bright red because of her embarrassment. Looking back at the mention of the mother of the children. She nodded at his words and said, "Well sometimes you can never be too careful especially when i comes to family. I don't blame the minister for wanting to protect those he loves. How is cooking for a large family? I work at the Leaky Cauldron as a chef and it gets dicey here and there."

Watching Julia stick a bracelet in the bear's foot she smiled. Then seeing the little girl named Dakota with her temper she giggled. Seeing his look made her laugh more but she tried keeping a straight face. "Well you look more like a parent with that look on your face. It makes you seem everything like a parent," She said grinning at him then turned her attention back to Rose and her friend.

"Well it's kinda boring really, we haven't done much. We moved back here from France, I didn't want to be away from my parents anymore so I moved back. I found a good job as well as a nice apartment, a neighbor helps me out by watching Rose while I'm working." Bella said not knwowing exactly what he wanted to know. "There's not a lot to tell, I'm kinda just a boring person. What about you?"

"I think playdates sound wonderful," he smiled. "I'd like to see Julia come out of her shell a bit more.  We'll definitely have to do that.

"It's alright," he laughed, when he saw her awkwardness about mistaking the kids for his.  "I normally just say they're mine.  Seems to keep the kids a bit safer, you know?  But sometimes it feels like they're mine anyway. Khaat and Brian work at awkward hours sometimes, and I help take care of them during the day.  I've been working for the Lupins since before any of the kids were around.  I've done more than my share of diapers and the rest of it.

"As far as cooking for them goes, that can be a full time job.  Sort of like a restaurant shift that never ends. I normally am up at 4 am so that I have time to work out and go feed the animals down at the barn, and then I start the coffee and tea and make the breakfast pastries.  By 6 or so, I have breakfast on the table.  Once that's done, I bake all the breads and desserts for the day and make lunch.  When that's done, and while the kids are napping, I start cleaning spells and laundry spells and start to think about dinner.  I don't typically get much of an evening because I need to be in bed by at least by 9 to be up every day at 4.  Its not very exciting.  Not on a typical day anyway. But it is busy.

"At least at a restaurant, you've got a shift and some down time.  The Lupins want everything cooked fresh, no magic used, and I want to give them good quality.  So, when Brian married Khaat, I went to culinary school and got my executive chef certification.

"We've just recently hired some house elves, so hopefully that's going to make my schedule a bit easier.  Should give me a bit of time for fun.  What do you do for fun, when you get the time?"

(ooc) sorry--wrong hat. my khaat hat and not my angus hat. LOL

"I'm sure Rose would love it, she doesn't have many friends. She is really shy about talking to new children, I think it would be wonderful as well. Maybe the girls can bring themselves out of their shells." Bella said smiling as she looked at the two girls.

"You must be very attached to them and you seem like you love them as if they were your own." She said looking at him listening to everything he said. "That must be rough on the kids when their parents aren't home much. Do they get spend some time with them while they are there? I'm glad that they have you to ease everything. I'm terrified everytime I have to go to work and leave Rose with my neighbor. She's a muggle and I'm afraid that Rose would say something that she shouldn't."

"My goodness you have a lot that you do in a day, is it busy like that all the time?" She asked as she brushed a strand of hair away from her face. "I can't imagine being that busy, I mean what I do is a little different than that. Most of the time I'm cooking things by order and then I'm baking for a few hours. I make home made cinnimon rolls with frosting, then I make pies and things like that."

"Yeah I usually work mornings or afternoons depending on my baby sitter's schedule that week." Bella said looking over at Rose who looked up at that time and waved. Waving back Bella grinned at her daughter, "Well I'm sure I'm not as good as a chef as you but I do know what I'm doing."

"Well that should be good for you to be able to get some time for yourself." Bella said then thought about his question. "Well that's a tough one, I usually work a lot. I guess when I do have the time I go for a walk with Rose and we feed the birds at the park. I really don't remember what there is to do in London. What do you do for fun?"

((occ: That's fine it happens))

"The Lupin estate is a huge place. Its loaded with people, and its ridiculously busy all the time," he laughed. "If it does get quiet, it makes me dash back to the playroom to find out what the heck the kids are doing that they're not supposed to be. But I'm sure you know how that goes. Rose would love the playroom. Its huge. And its loaded with enchanted toys and magical fairytale murals on the walls. There's never a want for something to do for them in there."

"Right now, the Minister and his wife are living with us, and we have two additional couples living there who work for them. They work as security guards, nannies, cooks--jack of all trades. Whatever we need them for. And, we have a couple of houseguests--almost always. So--we plan on around 30 people for every family meal. Trust me, the dining room table is massive.

"The kids don't really have a lot of time to get lonely. The minister tries very hard to be home by the time the kids go to bed, because story time is a very, very big deal. The kids love books, and they love their 'papa.' He reads to them nightly, and he and 'gam' ,which is what they call their grandma, do the tucking in.

"Khaat and Brian are busy, that's very true, but they always make time for the kids. Always. They insist on breakfast and dinner together, and lunch on days when they can manage it. Weekends are devoted entirely for the kids, and they plan frequent holidays to spend a lot of family time. The kids are already good little travelers. They're actually very used to porting and apparating.

"Fun time for me, huh? When I get free time, I like running, swimming, and, especially sailing. My family lives in Tuscany now, and we've got some fishing boats and some luxury yachts that we charter for wealthy wizards and muggles. When I get a chance, I like to go home and captain one of the ships for awhile. That's actually what I was doing when I met Brian and went to work for him--before he married Khaat. Then, after he got married, I just stayed on. There's nothing quite like Italy and the smell of the sea air. Its a completely different pace. Very relaxing."

"My goodness, I would end up knocking someone over. That's a lot of people in one house hold but I can imagine that it is a very warm home though." Bella said grinning just thinking about having that many people in her small two bedroom apartment. "They wouldn't even fit in mine, it's just a small thing and I have two cats as well."

"Well that's great that the kids never get lonely. My daughter loves books as well, she is able to read the small picture books. She's still getting used to some of the words but she's getting better each time." She said remembering when she read her first word how Rose got excited. "Well that's great that they read them at bedtime and tuck them in."

"I know I do the best I can with Rose as well but being a single parent it tends to get hard. They sound like amazing parents and the children must love their parents." Bella said as she listened to him talk and knew that working for the family was his passion.

"Sailing? I've never been sailing on a boat but it always looked like a lot of fun." She said her eyes lit up at the mention of Italy. "I've always wanted to go to Italy. What's it like there? I've seen pictures of it and it looked so beautiful. It sounds like an amazing place, one of these times when I get some time off I might take Rose there."