Small Packages

"I like when she reads the story about the frog and a princess." She said with a big grin. "Yeah she's really good at hide and seek." She said covering her mouth when she giggled.

Rose listened to him talk with a smile on her face the entire time. "She does? Do you think Gam can teach me to read? I can read a few words but I'm not really good yet. Yup I'm very hungry I could eat a whole dinosaur." She said exaggerating how much she could eat.

Bella watched her with Robert with a smile, Rose thought of him and Kate as her grandparents as well. She also thought that Brian and Khaat were her Aunt and Uncle. She didn't think to correct Rose because they felt like family to her and to Rose as well. They didn't seem to mind being called those things by Rose and that was what made Bella love all of them that much more.

"That's good." She said softly. "I'm glad, I made more of that ointment for you to put on that bruise. I'm sure you'll find something to do. It can't be anything that will put too much strain on you." She said with a look that said she meant it. "Yeah I'm glad that she won't remember it at all. I'm okay still a little nervous but I'll be fine. Oh there's something that I want to ask you after breakfast or I could tell you now which ever you prefer. It's nothing bad so don't even assume it."

"Oh, I'm sure she can," Robert said. "Abbey's got lots of picture books. They're in the playroom. It would be a good place to start. A whole dinosaur, huh? Lets go see if your mom made Dinosaur for breakfast. I've never had a dinosaur. I bet its good." He took her into the dining room to the table.

Angus was about to speak when he heard Brian and Khaat and Kate herding the rest of the kids downstairs to the table.

"And here they come," Angus laughed, recognizing the familiar sound of what could sound like a thundering herd heading for the table. "Hold that thought, Bella." He paused a moment, as Khaat's excited children dashed down the stairs, followed by Khaat and Kate, each carrying one of Michael's baby boys, who had just had their first birthdays on Christmas. Michael's twins were often at the house, mainly because Michael, at age 62, had never counted on having to care for infant boys alone. Brian and Khaat had been quick to jump in and help. The hungry bunch passed straight through the living room and into the dining room.

"They never waste time when there's food, do they?" he laughed. "I can't wait to see what the grocery bill is going to be when all the kids grow up and we have a dozen hungry teenagers in the house." He looked at her, now that the interference was gone.

"You wanted to talk? Go ahead. I'm all ears, and I assume nothing," he said.

"Okay!" Rose said excitedly. "I look at them sometimes but most of the words I can't say. Yup a whole dinosaur, I'm very hungry. You think she might of? Me either." She said with a giggle as they went into the dining room.

She laughed hearing the sounds of the other kids coming down the stairs with the other adults. "Sounds like a stampede." She said laughing then nodded when he said to hold that thought. She watched as the kids running down the stairs and into the dining room. Then Kate and Khaat with the twins, she remembered going shopping for their birthday presents and went just a tad overboard. She couldn't help herself of course because she had saw so many cute things for them and things that would help them learn. She smiled as they walked into the dining room and disappeared from view.

"No they don't. I added blueberry muffins to this mornings breakfast." She said with a smile. "Oh even I wonder what the bill is going to be with nothing but teenagers in the house. We'd probably have to go to the store more often to feed the lot of them." She laughed softly just thinking about it.

"Yeah. I wanted to ask what you thought about eloping. I don't want to wait any longer and with everything that goes on. I don't want to wait, I wanted to know what you thought about getting married sooner rather than waiting." She said softly looking at him.

He frowned slightly at her words. Eloping? he'd actually had that thought himself more than once yesterday and then again today when he'd gotten up. He didn't really expect it from her, though. As far as family went, it surely would affect her parents far more than it would affect him. It wasn't the first time a Donohue would have done it. His own family would be good with it.

"I've had a lot of time to think in the last 24 hours," he said. "You have no idea how many times that thought went through my head too. I didn't want to bring it up because I'd think about it and then have second thoughts that perhaps wanting to run off would be a little too impetuous. Like I hadn't thought it through. I'm fine with it. But, I have to ask. Are you sure, really sure, that this is what you want?"

It wasn't like he hadn't given the wedding thought. What his thoughts always came down to was as long as it happened, he didn't really care how. As long as it was whatever she wanted it to be, he was good with it. He wasn't all about the pagentry of it. What he was into was her. She was all he wanted.

"I..um..suppose I should have brought it up with Rose, but I didn't honestly think it would deter me completely if she had said she didn't understand it," he shrugged. "It is a bit complicated for a three year old to have to comprehend.

"You're sure, right?" He knew it sounded so schoolboyish, but he honestly wanted to know.

"I thought about it a lot yesterday and this morning." She said softly. "I'm sure that it's what I want. I thought about it a lot yesterday while you were gone. I thought about how we go about doing it and who would do it. Then after you got home and you were asleep I thought about it even more. I had talked to Robert when he came to see how you were and I told him that I thought about asking you about it. He said that he would perform the marriage if we wanted him to." She said with a smile.

"I don't think that Rose wouldn't have understood what you were talking about. It is rather complicated to understand for a three old." She said softly looking at him. "I think we can try to find a way to explain to her, one that she'll be able to understand."

"Of course I'm sure Angus. I want to elope with you and soon." She said smiling and thinking how boyish he sounded when he asked her. She didn't care though she thought he was an amazing man and she loved him deeply, she kissed his lips softly.

(yeah, okay, this one's more than a tad short. sorry! i think his brain is blank. rofl)

He shook his head, starting to laugh. "Of course Robert's involved. Why wouldn't he be involved?" It truly amused him. He had to ask, half teasingly, "Apparently once a father, always a father. Its fine. Why not keep it in the family? Though, its not much of an elopement if we move it two feet farther into the living room. Or did you have something else in mind?"

It now was striking him as a bit funny.  He wasn't dismissing her, not at all. He had at least thought they'd leave the house, but perhaps it was possible she had more to it than that.  He was also feeling glad that his grandfather had also seen fit to give him the wedding band that went to his grandmother's wedding ring.

((I know this is really bad but I tried. XD))

She laughed at his words, "It's kinda hard not to confide in him." She said trying to not laugh. "Well he has it down to an art with being a father. Well we can dress up the living room a little if it is going to be an elopement. I think having it is fine, just maybe do it a little later this afternoon." She almost wanted to smack herself now because she didn't have a ring for Angus. She wanted to kick herself for being so stupid, she thought she might have to talk to Khaat.

She made a face as she thought about how she was gonna find a ring to match the one he gave her. "I don't have a wedding band for you. Maybe I can find one similar to this one but I don't know." She said trying to figure out how she was going to come up with something. She looked at him with a tiny bit of panic in her eyes as she realized she hadn't even thought about the wedding band until now when they wanted to elope.

"Well,..." he began, wanting to suggest it be a single ring ceremony, but he looked up and saw Robert in the doorway.

"I was going to come and suggest you both get something to eat," Robert said. "I wasn't evesdropping, but if you don't mind something not-so-new, I might be able to help you."  He went upstairs and came back a moment later and sat down with them.  "Khaat does have most of Remus's things, but not all of them. My brother didn't have much jewelry. When one is a werewolf, one tends to lose material things rather quickly. Clothes, rings, watches, just about bloody everything. He had a couple of rings that he liked, but he honestly was afraid to wear them much, for obvious reasons. He left them with me and might periodically come to get them for a special occasion and give them right back for safekeeping. At any rate, I have one that's a sapphire. It was one that belonged to our grandfather that he liked. Never looked as good on me as it did on him. I've never worn it, but you're welcome to it. Keep it if you want, or just borrow it for today. You can get one more to your own liking later if you want."  

He handed the ring to Angus.  It was a large clear emerald-cut deep cobalt blue sapphire in an antique filigreed white gold setting. It was large and masculine.

"And I thought I'd seen everything you had that was Remus's," Angus said, impressed.

"Nah," Robert said. "You've probably seen what Khaat has. I have some things, and I kept a couple things back for Teddy, but he's never come 'round. Anyway, I know you're in a pinch..."

"Yeah, well, isn't there something about wearing something old and blue?" Angus asked.

"Not for you, Mate," Robert laughed. Angus slid the ring on his hand, and Robert used a bit of a spell to resize it for him. Angus liked it. It wasn't that he hadn't actually looked at rings for himself. He just didn't like the contemporary looks of some of them.

"You don't want this to go to Brian or one of your grandsons?" Angus asked.

Robert shrugged. "Can't keep everything. And they're going to have enough money to buy anything they bloody well want. And you're as much family as they are. It's fine."

Angus looked at Bella. "What do you think?"

She looked over at where Angus was and saw Robert standing in the doorway.

"Really?" She asked when Robert said that he had something not so new for them. When he came back down she listened to what he was saying. "Well giving it to you would ensure that he didn't lose any which is smart considering how much things a werewolf goes through when changes." She heard him say that the one he was getting had belong to his grandfather. She wondered if Robert and Remus were close but she didn't dare ask in case she'd hit a sore spot. She didn't want to be rude by asking about his brother so kept her tongue about it.

She looked at the ring he handed Angus and thought it was beautiful. She smiled because she like the antique filigreed in the setting. 'His grandfather must have had good taste.' She thought to herself.

"Thank you Robert." She said with a smile.

She laughed at Angus' words, "Well there's a whole thing about that. I won't bore you with the whole thing that they say but something old and something blue is in it." She said with a smile.

She saw that it didn't look to big or bulky on his finger but looked good.

She smiled at Robert's words of them buying what ever they would want. She smiled even more when Robert said that Angus was much of his family as Brian and his grandsons.

"It's beautiful," She said when Angus asked her opinion. "I like the filigreed in the setting, it makes it look very elegant even though it's a men's ring. Do you think you could handle wearing it?" She asked with a smile knowing he didn't like wearing rings.

"Yeah. I think it should be fine. Thank you, Robert. I don't know of another thing we need," Angus said.

"I do," Robert laughed. "You'd better have a proper license. I took the bug jar in to London after we got the kids in bed and sent them on their merry way, in human form to Azakan for holding until the matter comes before the court...."

"And you just happened to pick up a license form," Angus laughed.

"I didn't just happen to get it. I got it on purpose. After all, this was only a matter of time. It isn't like I don't carry a bag full of paperwork between work and home anyway. One more is hardly an inconvenience. Now, I presume you'll be wanting a few days away at least. I'll arrange that."

Angus's first thought was he didn't know where they were going, much less any thoughts of packing. He looked at her, with a different thought. "Let's not pack anything. Let's get whatever we need. If this is about spur of the moment things, then lets let it be a true spur of the moment trip."

"Do your spur of the moment wedding and dashing off after you get some food," Robert said, getting back to the original reason he'd come into the room in the first place. "You could do worse to start all of this without empty stomachs, you know."