Small Packages

"Yes it was my father owned one." She said smiling. "My father has a deep love of muscle cars and that kind of rubbed off on me. Really?" She said looking at Angus then back at Edward.

She laughed just imagining Angus trying to convince Edward they needed a good car.
She giggled when Edward said Angus did try to convince him about needing a good car to go to the market.

She laughed, "Really? To keep up with traffic, right." She said laughing more.

"Yes I'm sure I want to go to Italy," She said giggling.

"We will probably end up winging it the rest of the way through a plan." She said with a smile.

"Yeah. I think I'll go do that now." She said as she got up from the table and walked up to the room and grabbed a piece of paper. She wrote down that her and Angus were eloping then going to Italy for a few days. She wrote that she loved them and that she'll see them soon hopefully.

Kate was noticing the kids were getting very restless and were long done eating. Bored, Dakota started flinging raspberries. Seeing her beloved raspberries being hurled all over the dining room, Abbey immediately got angry and walloped Dakota, and then it was game on. Little Michael and Robbie flung fistfuls of scrambled eggs just anywhere they would go, and Julia began to wail. Daniel and Benamin decided to tip over the jam pots and the lemon curd.

"Always with the raspberries," Angus sighed, ducking out of the way of a glob of marmalade flying his direction.

"Enough!" Robert commanded loudly, casting a spell into the air. The food froze for an instant and then simply fell straight down like rain. Khaat's kids all looked at their papa wide eyed. He didn't lose his temper very often, but they thought for sure they'd seen it now.

"Oh, nicely played, Papa," Edward said, knowing better. Robert's commanding tone could intimidate even adults. Robert hadn't been angry, but he had meant business.

"Thank you. Can I get some volunteers to hose off the children and then perhaps hose down the dining room?" he sighed, looking at the mess everywhere.

"It won't take all of that," Kate laughed. "You'll see. Half a tick, and we'll have it all taken care of. The elves can see to the dining room, and it won't take a moment to wipe faces and hands. A quick clean spell will fix the clothes. It'll be fine."

"She shmooshed my berries again, Papa," Abbey sniffled.

"Yep. She sure did," Robert said, soothing her. "And we'll buy more."

"Looks like this gives us a few minutes to get ourselves together," Angus said softly to Bella. He motioned to her and slipped away from the table, deciding to leave this all to the others.

Bella noticed Dakota fling a raspberry and knew what was coming next, she ducked when some jam came flying her way. She saw Rose grab a bowl of berries and disappear underneath the table with them, she looked under the table at Rose. Rose was quietly eating berries until avoiding getting hit with any food, she seemed content to just sit down there while food was flying above.

She came back after checking that Rose was fine and smiled softly towards Angus. She was trying to avoid another glob of jam but got her by marmalade. "Well that certainly didn't work out as I thought it would." She said with a smile.

She heard Robert's voice then saw all the food fall down. She saw the kids look at Robert wide eyed, then felt Rose come out from under the table between her and Angus. She looked up at Angus with a smile before putting the empty bowl that held the berries on the table. She leaned up against Angus as she looked at Robert.

She tried not to laugh when he said that they'd need to hose down the kids and the dining room.

She looked at her shirt that had marmalade covered the top and lower half of her shirt.

"Yeah I'll need to clean up my shirt. Are you sure that they'll be ok with cleaning the mess up?" She said looking at him curiously as she followed him.

"Shhh. Let's not give them another option," he said softly, stifling a laugh. He motioned her again to follow and left the table. He saw her stained shirt. "Take your time," he said. "We need a pair of witnesses. I'm going to go line up my best man. I can only think of one man I want to do that.

"Do get your coat," he said. "Not only is it cold porting there this time of year, but Italy can be chilly this time of year. My leather coat that I wear in our world will be a bit out of place there, so I'm going to grab a warm jacket. We'll buy the rest when we get there. We'll stop off at Tobias's in Venice before we do much else."

He kissed her and then he said, "I should at least have let you get a dress for this if you wanted one. I'll get you twelve in Italy. Maybe more."

"She doesn't need twelve," Khaat said, coming into the room. "I saw they got you with the jam, Bella. And, you, Angus, you really aren't going to wear your jeans and that flannel shirt, are you?"

He looked at the red and black buffalo plaid flannel shirt with its sleeves rolled up. It was new--well, new-ish. Still, she was probably right.

"You're not buying a horse, Angus. You're getting married," Khaat said. "You've got better clothes, I know you do." She shook her head. Then she looked at Bella. "Men. Really. Bella, I know my dresses aren't new, but still, we might find something there you like if you want. You're welcome to anything I have. And Marcus is a whiz with tailoring spells." Angus knew Khaat's room sized walk-in closet much too well. She had everything from designer originals to some of Brian's old t shirts and just about everything between.

"Just let me know if I need a tux," Angus teased Bella lightly. And then he remembered he had a small gift for Bella, if it had arrived. He had had it made when he had proposed. It wasn't much, and certainly didn't merit a gift from a groom, but she would certainly understand, he was sure.

She stifled a laughed and follow him as they left the table. Looking down at her shirt she laughed, "I'll change the shirt into a long sleeved one." She said with a smile then went into the closet to find one. She took off the shirt and threw on a long sleeved one. "Okay." She said with a smile as she walked out of the closet, she could only think of one person that she would like to ask. "Who is it if I may ask?" She asked

When he said to get her coat she went and grabbed it putting it over her arm. "Tobias'? What will be getting there?" She asked

She kissed him back. "I might like to have a dress to wear. Twelve?" She said laughing softly. "What would I do with twelve dresses?"

She laughed at Khaat's words when she came in the room. "Yeah I should have ducked instead of dodged." She said then smiled when she commented on Angus' clothes.

She smiled at her words to Angus about him having better clothes. "Maybe just some dress pants and a button down." She said with a smile. She looked Khaat with a smile, "I would like to look at them. Can you help me figure out what looks best?" She asked looking at her.

"You certainly would look good in a tux." She said with a grin just thinking about good he really would look like in a tux.

"Of course you can ask," Angus said. "I honestly have given this bit thought. Brian is my best mate, no doubt about that. And, I guess I had always just assumed that was what I would do. But, when I got serious about it, my grandfather has been there for me when no one else was, and he's taught me more than anyone else I've ever known. No offense to Brian, Khaat, but I really want my grandfather to do this."

"None taken," Khaat said. "None at all. Brian would be the first to agree with you. How about I send Marcus up to help you find something while Bella and I rummage through my closet?"

"Yeah, okay," Angus agreed, knowing there would be no rummaging through her closet. The only one who ever made a mess in her closet was Abbey when she'd try to play dress up in Khaat's evening gowns. That was usually trouble. When Bella asked what she would do with twelve dresses, he just shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe eleven more daughters?"

"Oh, stop," Khaat laughed. "Marcus!" A moment later, Marcus walked into the living room.

"Everything alright?"

"Can you find him something better to wear than jeans and flannel?" she asked.

"More than likely," Marcus laughed. "He's got better clothes. I've seen them." He took Angus upstairs.

"Well, I think he's in good hands for a few minutes," Khaat laughed. "Let's go see if I've got anything you like. If you like it, its yours." She led the way up to the closet and opened the double doors, revealing all the racks, shelves, and drawers. "Help yourself. What sort of styles do you like?"

"Okay, so we have Edward as a witness." She said with a smile. "Maybe Khaat could be another?" She looked towards Khaat to see what she would say. She thought about everything that Khaat and everyone there had done for her. "You've done so much more for me and it would take a long time for me to repay you for everything you've done." She said softly.

She wondered what kind of dress she would look good in and she was glad that Khaat would help her. She looked at him and laughed, "Maybe we should throw a troublesome boy in there just for you." She said with a grin.

She looked over when Marcus entered the room, she was starting to get a little giddy with excitement.

She laughed when Marcus said he had better clothes in his closet.

"Yeah, I think he is too." She said with a grin. She didn't know what to say to Khaat saying that she could keep the dress if she liked it. So she followed her upstairs to her closet and was still impressed by how big it was. "Simple but elegant." She said wondering if that was really a style. "Thank you Khaat."

"I'd be honored," Khaat smiled when Bella asked her to be her witness for her ceremony. This was going to work out fine, she was sure. She felt more sure about it when Marcus took Angus to get any anxieties from the groom under control a bit.

"Simple but elegant should be easy," Khaat said. "Perhaps something in a day length or a tea length? I tend to buy things that are a bit more form fitting, but that's just what I tend to like. Day length dresses are over here," Khaat took her to a rack. "And tea length dresses are just to the left. Some of those have a bit of a fuller skirt. Don't worry about color. Marcus can change that to whatever you want. Look for the fabric that you like and the style. Do you have any idea what sort of general lines you want? Long sleeves? Sleeveless? Above the knee, below the knee? Full skirt, sheath, a-line? Or would you just like to look and try some things?" She got out some samples of some different dress styles for her to look at, just to have some place to begin.

They were only there a few minutes when Marcus knocked on the door. Khaat answered it. "Before you make a choice, you might want to consider this," Marcus said, handing an unwrapped velvet box to Khaat. "For the bride, from the groom."

"Oh. Okay," Khaat said, "I'll give it to her."

"I'll be back," Marcus said. He left again. Khaat opened the box and looked at it. It was a lovely locket with a heart shaped sapphire stone, small enough that Bella could wear it every day if she chose. The stone was in a beautiful platinum setting. Khaat touched the necklace and instantly felt magical energy from it.

"Its magical," Khaat said, "and I think I know what it does." She laid two fingers on either side of the stone and started to turn them just ever so slightly. The stone moved. Khaat turned it back to its right place quickly. "He's provided you a necklace that works exactly the same as the coin he wears."

She knew that this would have to be in the works for awhile now. It took her father's approval for these necklaces to be even given, and she'd never seen one done to look different from the coins that everyone else wore. Clearly, Angus had given this thought and had wanted it to be special. He also had wanted Bella protected right from the start. She now had the ability to summon him and the rest of the organization of she were in any sort of danger. And, she had all the other privileges that all the rest of the members did.

"He'll need to explain to you what all this does, but, yes, looks pretty much like it does what everyone else's does." She handed Bella the box.

She smiled when Khaat said that she'd be honored. "You think he's nervous?" She asked after Marcus taken Angus to go find something nicer to wear.

"Day length," She said with a smile. "That's ok, the form fitting dresses are pretty." When Khaat showed her the day length dresses she smiled as she moved a few to look. She looked at the dresses as she listened to Khaat, "Well since it's going to cold in Italy, long sleeved. The rest of that you just lost me," She said with a laugh. "Sorry, I don't really know what most of that means. I think just trying on some dresses would be best, I'm not exactly fashion savvy."

She looked over when there was a knock on the door. She heard Marcus voice talking about before choosing to consider something. She waited for Khaat to come back and she was curious about what they were supposed to be considering.

She walked to Khaat after Marcus had left and looked at the box that she held in her hand. Seeing the locket she smiled looking at it, she loved the heart shaped locket already.

"Magical?" She asked looking at her confused. She watched Khaat place her fingers on the necklace have two on each side of the stone. She didn't quite see what she did next but saw heard her next words. She was surprised by what that Angus gave her something that was like the coin he wore.

She knew that he wanted her protected and couldn't help but smile at his ways of protecting her. She knew somewhat of what he coin could do but if hers was like that she could call for help. It would alert him if she was in trouble and summon him, she wasn't exactly sure how her necklace would work. However she knew that Angus would explain it to her.

She took the box and lifted the necklace from it, she smiled as she touched it. She put the box down to put the necklace on and realized she was about to put it on backwards. She fixed it and hooked the necklace having missed a few times before she finally got it right.

She watched Bella put the necklace on and smiled. "Its beautiful. I think it suits you." If this was part of Angus's statement to his bride, then he seemed to be saying all the right things, Khaat thought.

"He's had to been thinking about this for awhile," Khaat told her. "I think you're the first one to get approval to have a piece that looks any different. I like it. I have a coin necklace myself, but I don't wear it much. I normally am up to my eyeballs in bodyguards, and they all have multiple alarms. I can get away without wearing it. Besides, its a bit much to wear two necklaces. And, fortunately or not, my necklace is enchanted to never come off. I've never ever had a day without it because I can't take it off either. No one can anymore." The enchanted green stone necklace had been placed on her at birth, and it had been with her ever since.

"But, this isn't about me," she smiled. "Let's get back to choosing that dress." She looked at the dresses she'd pulled out and put some back. She pulled out a few deep cobalt blue dresses with different necklines and details. "We can do blue, or maybe white if you prefer. Try some of these blue ones first, I think."