7 Lupin Kids + 1 Nanny=Good Luck With That

Breakfast time was one of the noisiest times at the enormous Lupin estate. Robert and Kate had been living at the estate since he had been attacked by Thaor some time ago. During that time, everyone discovered that having grandparents in the house was an immense help for seven very active toddlers. 

The morning routine was an early one.  Angus was up by 5 so he could work out in the downstairs gym before starting breakfast at 6, so that it was on the table by 7.  House elves were always serving as sous chefs and servers. A coffee tray went to Khaat and Brian's room at 6:30, and at the same time a tea tray went to Robert and Kate's room.

This morning, he'd been awakened at 5 by a horde of little ones piling onto the bed, excitedly shaking him and Kate awake for no particular reason except that they could manage to do it.  For some reason, it delighted him, and beside him, Kate was already laughing and tickling them.  From him, the boys expected a bit of toddler scaled roughhousing. The girls expected lots of hugs and kisses. This was what warmed his heart. Mornings like this. He didn't want them to ever change.

The tea tray arrived, and the teapot--part of a set Khaat and Brian had gotten from Michael--was highly annoyed at the impropriety of a pile of squealing kids at tea time. The pot began to whistle sharply, and the kids immediately froze and stared at the tea pot.

"Now, none of that," Kate spoke sharply to the teapot. "Behave yourself and pour out, please."  The teapot stopped whistling abruptly. 

"What are you lot doing in here?" Brian appeared at the doorway. "Give Papa and Gram a moment to wake up. Let's go get you dressed. The new nanny comes today."

"What's a nanny?" Abbey asked brightly.

"She's very nice, and you'll like her," Kate said, as the kids got off the bed and headed for the door.  "Shall I help you dress?"

"No," Abbey looked back at Kate with a scowl. "Me do it. I'm grown now."

"Oh, I see. Quite right," she said, trying to stifle a laugh. Abbey was dressing herself. Sort of. She was bright enough to do buttons and zippers but not quite so style savvy as to color coordinate her clothes. Dakota just didn't care about what she put on, so that was always a surprise, and, a year younger, the triplets still got things inside out and backwards.  The twin boys weren't quite there yet at dressing themselves. How they showed all showed up at the breakfast table was always a surprise, all in all.  

Khaat didn't fuss about how disarrayed they were until after breakfast.  She didn't want the kids to feel they'd buggered it up by their dressing missteps. Robert was rather pleased that Khaat didn't sweat such little stuff. 

When, at seven, they all arrived at the table, it was the usual mishmash of stripes, dots, animal appliques, zigzags, and, of course, excessive sparkles, ribbons, and noise. Yelling, laughing, grabbing for cinnamon rolls and for berries.  And, oh yes. The food fighting. Dakota had been throwing food when she didn't get her way since she could figure out how to do it. Even now at just a few days short of her fourth birthday, they hadn't managed to stop that yet. And the littlest boys--Daniel and Benjamin--were starting to copy her.

Oh, Lord, Robert looked at the normal morning din and sighed. As much as he had learned how to just plunge headlong into the breakfast table combat and find some joy in it, he hoped this new nanny was made of steel. He watched a glob of eggs zoom from Dakota and land perfectly on Robbie's forehead. The child had good aim, he'd give her that. He very much feared Wendy had no idea what she was getting herself into.

"I'll go get her, shall I?" Angus said, when the clock hit 7:30.  

"Yes," Robert said. "That should be fine.  I think they'll have most of the food sufficiently applied to the walls by then."

Angus playfully picked up an umbrella. "A shield for her, then?" he laughed. He took out the port key from his pocket and left to go get Wendy.

Wendy very carefully tied her tie, fixed her collar, and brushed her skirt clear of any lint of animal hair, before carefully inspecting herself in her mirror. Her short, blonde hair was tidy and tucked behind her ears. She had applied a light layer of very natural looking makeup. And no one could deny that she had dressed the part of the nanny.

She couldn’t be more ready.

She smiled widely at her reflection and slipped out of her room, hurrying downstairs, her shoes clacking together as she carried them in her left hand, her bag hanging from her right hand. Her grey-socked feet were quiet on the landing, before they pounded down the carpeted stairs. She slid into the kitchen, where Lucy was preparing a plate for her. Wendy plopped a kiss on Lucy’s cheek, eliciting an eye roll out of Lucy – a kiss only came when Wendy was overly excited for something, or about to cause trouble. Today, lucky for Lucy, it was the former. Wendy juggled her shoes into her other hand and then took her plate.

Wendy slid into the dining room. Her parents, on either side of the table, were already fully dressed and looking through their folders, newspapers, and mail, muttering to themselves. Pippa was up, only for the sake of habit, not because she wanted to. Still, it was nice to see her sister who, lately, had acted like she wanted nothing to do with her family, participating in the usual tradition of waking early for breakfast. Pippa’s appearance, lately, had been mature and stylish, so Wendy couldn’t help but smile when she saw her sister in pajamas and messy braids. Noah was there, too, of course, but he was always happy to be with the family, tired or not. Simon’s chair was empty – as it typically was.

“Good morning, family!” Wendy chirped, plopping into her chair. She set her plate down and immediately bent down to pull her shoes on, lacing them carefully as her siblings offered her tired good mornings. Her father was far too entranced in muttering some figures under his breath to bother her, but her mother took notice.

“Good morning, Wendy dear. Why are you dressed like that?”

Wendy didn’t let it get to her as she shoved her bag under her chair and scooted in, beginning work on her breakfast. “Because, Mother, I begin work today.” She stuffed a pancake in her mouth and smiled with stuffed cheeks, eyes crinkling.

“Right. Hmm. I just don’t know about that Wendy. I appreciate that you want to work, but I’d so much rather you work in the Ministry. You could be my secretary. Or intern for Meg, she’s been offering for months.”

Wendy shook her head, washing the food down with some orange juice. “I appreciate the concern, mum, but it’s done.” She smiled cheekily.

“Leave it, Maura,” her father droned, eyes still flicking across his papers. “It’ll be good for her. And it’s for the Lupins. She’ll have a job in the Ministry as long as she keeps those kids alive.” He paused, glancing up at her to give her a quick smile. “And she will, won’t she?”

“He knows she will,” Wendy said, pleasant despite the fact that her father was already tuning back into his work.

The Knight Bus was taking her to the Lupin residence, or as close as she could get with all of the wards surrounding the famous family’s home. She had been told someone would collect her from there and she would finally be introduced to the little kids that would be filling her summer. Within an hour, she was stepping off the bus, smiling brightly as she handed over the coins that paid her way.

She couldn’t be more excited.

The Lupin estate was unplottable, and the knight bus had a stop that was as close as Brian would let it get. It was still several miles from the estate.  The bus stopped at a the triangular sign that symbolized a warning for farm traffic. 


It was going to look a bit odd for this young woman to get off the bus in the middle of flipping nowhere, so Angus purposely got there ahead of schedule.  He sorta looked like he might fit in here. He'd chosen just jeans and a blue denim shirt and a pair of running shoes. It didn't get much more informal than that. He had perched himself on a tree stump on the edge of a cluster of trees, and then had happened to notice some rather nice and potentially tasty mushrooms in the shadow of the trees when he heard the bus screech to a halt.


He saw the perky little blonde get off the bus with a suitcase. He'd gotten a brief description from Brian, but somehow Angus hadn't imagined her as being quite so pixie-like.  She was infectious right from the first moment, though. She was as bright and fresh and cheerful as the morning sun that flooded the countryside all around him. It was impossible to look into the sparkling smile and not smile back.


"Wendy, I presume?" he asked.  "I'm Angus. I'm the guy who looks out for the general operations of the estate. In other words, I do whatever nobody else has the time to do. Sorry the bus only goes so far, but I'll get you there from here."


He was going to reach to take her suitcase but found the umbrella in his hand.


"Here," he said, offering her the umbrella, "I'll trade you. I'll take your suitcase. You might need this."  Ok, that wasn't going to make sense with a pristine, robin's egg blue sky. "Shield," he grinned. "Its breakfast time for an army of toddlers."

She was greeted by an older man right as she stepped off of the bus. She had been prepared for this, told that it was very likely that a man named Angus Donohue would intercept her and ensure her safety into the Lupin home. If Wendy had led a more tragic life, like some of her peers, she might have been a lot more suspicious of the strange man asking her to follow him. But the world had not been made scary for her as of yet - and she hoped it never would.

"Hi!" Wendy said, pushing her bag strap over her shoulder so she could step forward and offer a hand. "It's so nice to meet you!"

She traded him her bag for the umbrella with a curious expression, but was soon satisfied with an explanation. "Oooh," she hummed, tightening her grip on the umbrella handle. She perked at his mention of the kids, eager to get to know them. "I've very excited to meet them. They sound absolutely adorable."

((It's not a suitcase, but a little bag. I didn't really want her to be a live in, because she's sort of her siblings' sitter at night))

ooc: ok.  that works. i presume i can godmod her to the estate? if not, i'll rewrite.


"Its good to meet you too," he smiled. "I presume Brian might have told you, but you'll have charge of seven toddlers. And right now, there's nobody more awake at this hour of the morning than that bunch. And there's a four year old who's bent on teaching her little brothers to food fight. Shall we? The place is unplottable, so we'll port the rest of the way. I hope you've ported, anyway."

He purposely ported them to the front yard, a few steps from the front porch, to let her get a feel for where the heck she was at, and to get some perspective on the size of the log mansion, and a view of what looked like an endless, wooded estate.

"Looks a tad out of place in England, doesn't it?" he said, looking up at it. "Brian is ridiculously fond of the American west. It's all American Southwest, inside and out.  From here, all you the land you see is Brian's.  It's...not a place you want to get lost. We'll help you avoid that. If you don't mind horses, I can take you on a bit of an estate tour while the kids nap this afternoon, if you like.  You're welcome to make yourself at home. Don't let the size fool you. There's nothing formal about it."


He opened the front door and immediately the sound of seven noisy preschoolers met his ears. Typical morning noise. The sort of noise that Brian loved--the same noise that everyone else took in stride--the same sort of noise that sounded now like home in his ears. This was usually about as wound up as they got.


"Come on in," he laughed. "It does get quieter--usually."  It wasn't like it was going to be hard for her to find her way to the dining room through the din, but he led the way anyway.


The breakfast scene was the usual.  Khaat, Brian, Marcus, Kate, and Robert were helping seven little ones with breakfast. Sometimes some of the food actually made it into the kids' mouths.  The kids were blissfully happy, and they all seemed to take it all in stride.  


Brian was glad to see Wendy had arrived safely. He smiled warmly.  "Good morning. I'm glad to see you made it. Come join us," he called.  "Food and tea are on the sideboard," he pointed. "Help yourself to breakfast or tea, and I'll introduce you."

She wobbled her head as he spoke, looking about, memorizing her surroundings. She had that natural babysitter instinct to be constantly observing, in case she was ever lost, in danger, or whatever reason that might call for her to need to know exactly where she was. Then there was the other part of her, full of whimsical observations, that just wanted to soak in any sight that met her bright eyes. She loved life and wanted to soak it all in, and the eyes were windows to the soul. If good sights met those windows, it made the soul better.

He explained that the home was unplottable, and she nodded. "Well, that's understandable. I've read about some of the things that have happened to the Lupins and I think it's more than wise to protect the estate. I think it's horrible how unsafe the world had become and..." You're rambling. "Well, yes. I have used a portkey before." She smiled, her cheeks turning pink ever so slightly.

They appeared before the home that she would be spending hours upon hours of her summer in, and she did not hide as her head tilted upwards and her mouth tipped open. The place was huge, but somehow rustic. Most of the large English manors she had seen seemed so formal and impressive. This home was somehow quaint for all of its size. And she would bet her bottom dollar there was a bear rug in there. She really wanted to see a bear rug.

Angus described the sight for her and she nodded, still taking the whole thing in. The word horses got her attention, and she looked up at him in awe. “Horses? You mean… I get to play with horses?”

Why was she the one getting paid again?

The door opened and she remembered why. As a responsible babysitter, she was justifiably concerned for the sheer magnitude of the job ahead. As a sister who missed her siblings’ as sweet children, she couldn’t be more excited. She followed him in, looking about her as she went. She was suddenly in the room with all of them, all of the Lupins, Minister of Magic included. She slowly slipped a hand up into the air. “Hello.”

Oh, my.

She nodded a bit dumbly, following to make a plate of breakfast, even though she had already eaten. There was always room for seconds.

"Yeah you get to play with the horses, and any of the rest of Kate's menagerie," he laughed. "And if the unicorns like you, you might get to ride one of them. There's a mating pair here. They're really timid, but they've never been in the wild. That's a long story.


"We've also got a hippogriff but he can be a little touchy until he gets to know you. But, just between you and me, the flying is fabulous. There are probably more weird colored pygmy puffs than we know what to do with, cats, dogs, birds. You name it. And if you like to play fetch, Khaat's eagle is our undefeated champ.


Angus put her bag down in a corner of the room, out of the way for the moment, but as he did, he heard a dish fall to the floor and at the same time he heard a wail from Abbey. He turned to see that Dakota had deliberately spilled the bowl of berries on the floor and had a mischievous, self satisfied grin, looking at Abbey, who was just about beside herself, seeing the berries on the floor.


"Daddy!" the plaintive wail was rather rare for the tiny blond, who was cheerful almost all the time.  Angus saw her little lip quiver, but before he could respond, Robert reached over, caressed her tiny cheek in his hand to get her to look at him. 


"Abbey," Robert said very softly, "We've got more. Would we ever leave you without berries?" He kissed her little forehead.


"But she ruined 'em!" Abbey protested.


"We've got more," he smiled. "Angus? Please?"


"Certainly," Angus said, flicking his wand to cast a clean up spell for the berries on the floor. He went to fetch another bowl of berries. 


"Wendy," Brian said. "Abbey is our berry fanatic. She'd rather eat berries than anything. She's the oldest of our kids."


"I'm not a kid," Abbey said, looking at Wendy, determined to clarify. "I'm four."


"Our berry thrower," Brian said, looking at the little girl with the long red hair, "is Dakota."


"She's a little kid. She's only 3," Abbey was satisfied. 


"Her birthday is next week," Brian explained, "and Abbey is making the most of being older for a few more days. The triplets here are Robbie, Julia and Michael. They just turned three. And the twins, Daniel and Benjamin are almost two.

"As for the grownups, I think you might know their grandfather, Robert. His wife, Kate, and, my wife, Khaat. Everyone, this is Wendy Fudge. She's our new nanny."


"Good morning, Wendy," Robert said cheerfully, rewarming his tea. "Welcome aboard. There's no ceremony about anything. It's a take-your-shoes-off sort of place, so make yourself at home, and if there's something you need and can't find it, just ask."


"Wendy," Khaat said, "There's a small sitting room in between the boys' nursery and the girls' nursery upstairs. It's a good place to relax if the kids are napping, and its their favorite place for curling up with you with a book. Feel free to consider it your space when you're here if you like it. We can decorate it as you like."


"Book! Book!" Benjamin got excited at the mention of the word.


"They love stories," Kate said. "Robert started them on that when they were babies. Now, they can't get enough of storybooks. They've got a whole bookcase of them."


"Can I go color?" Dakota asked, bored. "With the magic crayons?"  


"For now," Robert said, "but we need to talk about those berries." Khaat rolled her eyes as Dakota got down from the table and scampered off.


"There's a story about those crayons," Kate laughed. "There's not one magical thing about them. Brian let them draw all over the walls once with them, and Khaat just about had a fit.  But, here's how it works. The kids color on the walls, and Brian uses his wand to get rid of the crayon marks when they're done. No harm done. Once they figure out its only magic, the thrill will be gone. Its really just a phase they're in."

"There are two adjoining playrooms on this floor," Brian said, "One is done in pirates for the boys, and right next to it is the girls' playroom. They prefer princesses and castles and such. There is a sitting room across the hall downstairs if you find you'd like a space downstairs too. You tell us what you need, and we'll get it. We expect you to have loads of questions, and we expect you to need a bit to adjust. So, don't hesitate to speak up."

Wendy really wished she stopped her mouth, but before she could, the words tumbled out. "I'm gonna puke." She looked at Angus, embarrassment immediately hitting her as she realized a horrible thing - she had just said that out loud. With wide eyes, she shook her head, her mouth gaping like a fish for a moment as she looked about at all the adults she had just made herself look like a fool in front of. "I didn't- that's a good thing. I'm sorry. That's just like... wicked cool."
 
The Lupins were so lucky to have such an educated and literature young woman taking care of their children.
 
Wendy cast an eye around as Angus dropped the bag off, once again taking in her surroundings for the practical and aesthetic reasons. The house was magnificent, and she was getting a feeling as though this was all too good to be true. She wasn't cynical like Simon, though. She wasn't going to look for fault or look for flaws. She believed good things happened to good people. And this job seemed to be one of those good things.
 
Noise interrupted her optimistic thoughts. She watched the conversation like a game of tennis, nodding when she was addressed by one of the children. “Of course. You’re grown,” Wendy affirmed, looking incredibly serious.
 
Wendy was introduced to the children, followed by the adults who had spawned them – and the adults who had spawned them. Wendy had just been introduced to every important person in the wizarding government. Her mother would have been internally screaming at this point. She had met all the Lupins, of course, but never like this. Never at breakfast, casual and smiling, dressed in normal clothes and relaxed attitudes. This was a strange sight. One she would be seeing a lot of.
 
“Thank you,” Wendy managed to get out at the mention of her little room. The tirade continued and Wendy felt her mind reeling. Which questions to start with? She put on her professional nanny hat and said, “I would just like to review things such as their typical schedule, dietary restrictions, allergies – you know. Basic stuff.” She paused. “Perhaps… a list. A written one.”
 
This was going to be quite a job.

"I can help with that," Khaat said.  "And I'll write it down for you. As you see, they're early risers, for some reason. We do breakfast at seven so that we can have breakfast as a family. The morning schedule is pretty loose. But they will want some sort of a snack midmorning.  We try to keep snacks healthy, but we don't always win with that. Lunch is generally at noon-ish. And then, naptime.  We don't generally have trouble at naptime because they all like to cuddle and listen to stories."

"We're not fussy about where you have them nap," Kate said. "With that many little ones, any place is fine. Any of the beds in any of the bedrooms, on the floor with some blankets, wherever you all end up is fine."


"They'll be thirsty when they wake up from their naps, so you can do something to drink for them and maybe a cookie if you want. There's always something fresh baked from the kitchen every day," Khaat added. "But, so you know the rest of the routine, dinner is at six, followed by bathtime, some quiet play, and then we tuck them into bed by about 7 or 7:30 so that their Papa can read to them."

"That would be me," Robert said. "I became Papa when Abbey was too small to call me Grandpa. So, now, Brian is Daddy, but I'm Papa. Or thats how the kids see it. No allergies that Im aware of. Nothing unusual, really..."

"Well, yes, there is," Kate said, thinking. "Abbey has some spontaneous accidental magic stuff happening already.  She seems to be exhibiting some sort of metamorph or something when she's extraordinarily happy. She's been known, a few times, to go all labrador puppy on us but she's got no clue on how to get back. Robert can change her back."


"If it happens, don't sweat it," Robert reassured her. "Just try not to let her eat the cat kibbles. They irk her stomach."


"All the kids love to swim," Brian said, "even the two year olds. And there is a big pool out back. You're welcome to use it if you like, and if you want us to help you with that, just let us know. There's very little out of bounds for them, except safety things.  Robert has a small potions lab on this floor but its double locked at all times, and there's an age line to keep them from being able to go in it."


"And the basement," Robert cautioned. "They can't get down there without an adult. There's an age spell on the door.  There's a lot of work equipment down there."


"He means the gym and the smaller indoor pool," Kate said. "Brian takes the fitness of the protection staff very seriously, so part of the requirements of their job is to stay fit. And there's some storage rooms down there that are locked with enchanted spells just to keep the kids safe. There is, though, a recreation room with some muggle films, and that the kids do enjoy those on stormy afternoons."


"You're also welcome to make use of the play yard in the back," Khaat said. "Brian went a little crazy when he wanted to make a playhouse. It got entirely out of hand, and so, now we have a play castle.  Its sort of a cross between a playhouse/pirateship/swings/sandbox/monkeybars/treehouse/i-wanna-be-an-awesome-dad disease. It would keep thirty kids busy, I think."


"Khaat and I talked about this a long time," Brian said. "So long as you know the general routine, and they're healthy and happy, and you're enjoying what you're doing, we're going to be okay with it, nine chances out of ten. Make it what you want it. You shouldn't have any sort of safety or security risks because there are guards inside and out. Sometimes you'll see them, but most of the time you won't unless you need to see them."


"We did start some notes for you," Kate said, picking up a small cloth covered journal from the table. "Most of what we've said is in here already. But I know we couldn't have thought of everything, and if we had, then it wouldn't be your own, now would it? This should be fun for you and for them. Now--what did we miss?"