Hunting the Hunter

"You lot are nitwits," Michael said, coming in from the kitchen drying his hands on a tea towel. "If you want to alter a document, ask a bloody thief, for pity's sake. What have you got there?"

"Eyes only international trade agreements! I can't let you see.."

"Oh, pish," Michael said, snatching them. He tossed the damp tea towel on Jack's shoulder. "Hold that," he told Jack. Then he looked at the documents again. "Do you know how many of these I've seen?...Oh, they're just with Lee. And I thought it was serious..."

"No, its not 'just with Lee' Its between England and the States!.." Robert tried again to snatch them back from Michael.

"Calm yourself before you have a stroke or something," Michael brushed Robert's hands away and drew his wand.

"A stroke! I have never..."

Michael flicked his wand and removed the crayon marks. "Never ask a bodyguard to do a thief's job," Michael said. He showed the documents briefly to Jack and Brian to show that the documents were clean again. Then he handed them to Robert. Robert looked at the documents and then he looked back at Michael.

"You're scary sometimes, you know that?" Robert said, disconcerted at how easily Michael could alter a document.

"Be glad I'm on your side," Michael said. "You're a fine towel rack, Jack. Is there anyone able to set the table?"

"Looks like you did alright at Hogsmeade, Jess," Brian said. "How was the shop? Was it worth anything?"

Jack looked back to see Michael walk out and chuckled at the banter between the two men. He felt the tea towel being draped over him and left it where Michael had placed it as he watched as Michael cleaned the parchments, he was some what taken aback "Oh you got to teach me that." He said "That would make cleaning up so easy." He said with a chuckle as he saw the look on Jess's face.

Jess looked to Brian and nodded as she opened each bag " yes its very good, all organized and set out correctly I had a hard time pulling myself away from this beautiful crustal ball it was inscribed with a dragon." she caught her self and just smiled " lets say it had everything she needed and lots more." Jess moved past Brian and headed up to Khaats room . She Opened the door slowly as she didn't know if Khaat would be sleeping. Jess placed each item on the night stand so she could see them properly.

"You should learn to climb, Jack," Michael said. "James, for some reason, is quite good at it. Its one of the things he uses for his own advantage. With the upper body strength you have, you might do well." He gestured at Robert. "This one here is a fine anchor but not much else."

"I haven't been climbing in ages," Brian said, missing it. "Not since...kids." He hadn't remembered why he'd stopped, but diapers and bottles and midnight feedings had gotten in the way. "Marcus and I had talked about going, but it's always gotten waylaid."

"Marcus climbs?" Michael frowned.

"You'd be surprised what international agents can do, Michael," Robert said.

"I thought he was a bodyguard."

"Not originally," Robert said. "He was an international agent for us that was placed on loan from the Ministry years ago to the Minister of Magic in Bulgaria. I brought him back when I hired him here. Yes, he climbs. Used to teach it, according to his dossier. I'm sure both Michael and Marcus could teach you many helpful things, Jack, if you're interested in learning more."

"I'm glad the shop is good," Robert said to Jess. "Kate likes it. She said she thought all you seers might be good friends for the Cane woman. Kate said Ms. Cane doesn't have many friends. She told Kate she gets treated rather badly at times because she's half veela and the other half of her is from what used to be called a 'gypsy' family. Even our own wizarding folks treat her like an oddity. Kate doesn't like anyone being lonely because they're being made fun of. She plans on going again just to drink tea and spend some time with Ms. Cane."

Marcus saw Jess come in. Khaat had tried to stay awake but she had slipped into a light doze. He got up and went over to Jess. "She'll like your selections. Not that I know how to use them. I just know her tastes. She was talking, while you were gone, about having a room or so added onto the house for a place for meditation and seer's work. Might not be a bad idea, if we can make it toddler proof."

Jack listened to Michael and Robert continue and he nodded " yeahthat might not be a bad thing to know, but wouldn't my bulk make it difficult to grab all those small rocks and tie all those different knots?" He asked he liked the idea of the climbing , pushing his body to its limit. "Maybe we could go one day , know arrange a camping thing just the men, we could climb to a flat area and camp for the night, not done that in a long time ether." he said with a smile."  

Jess nodded  as Robert spoke to her abut the shop " yes , she was very helpful and kind, I find Romaine make the best friends, and if she does I'll go with her, I got a lovely Peach Passion Green tea its invigorating with lemon myrtle, sensual vanilla, peaches and lime and its Naturally sweetened with stevia." she said smiling " I tried a cup and it was perfect I think Khaat will like it too." she told him.

Now in the room Jess looked at Marcus and nodded " that sounds a perfect idea, a mediation room, sound proofed so there will be no disturbances, it would be perfect for her to heal in, I'll mention it to the others, oh we could incorporate a steam room with Turkish style baths." she paused and looked at him " sorry I think the tea I had gave me a bit too much energy Peach Passion Green tea, I only had one cup." she took out the tin and let him look at it.

"No," Michael said. "That's not a problem. If you and I were going together, I'd go up first and have you behind me so that I could put in the pins and the line. I can find the holds on the way up. I'm not the smallest guy either. You'll learn agility and balance, in addition to what you already know. Maybe we could take a weekend to Colorado. We could let Fiona and Kieran take care of the kids, and the rest of us could do that camping trip, with some climbing and fishing."

He listened to Jess talking about the Oracle shop owner. "She's a nice woman," Michael said. "I've gotten tea there several times. She has some sort of a spiced tea beverage, sort of like a chai but not exactly, that she says her Romani grandmother used to make. Its quite lovely. I'm not sure what the heck else she does but she has a large number of animals in the back of that shop. I've seen a large screened in area for them to be able to get outside. Robert, she said her father works at the Romanian embassy in London."

"I don't remember a Cane at the embassy," Robert frowned.

"He's not a Cane," Michael said. "That's her mother's maiden name. His last name is Costin."

"Stefan," Robert said. "He's a translator. I didn't realize they were connected. He's a good man. Hopefully Khaat will be up to using a cane in another day or so and you could all go. Sounds like it could be a lot of fun."

Marcus's face brightened when Jess talked about her ideas because it gave him more ideas.

"Well, why don't you talk to Kate, then," Marcus suggested. "Khaat's birthday comes up in early April. If you and Kate design it, I'm sure Brian would be happy to have it built. And we could certainly keep her busy enough not to know exactly what you're building. It might be a nice surprise." Marcus looked at the tea tin. "Beautiful tin. Those aren't easy to come by in Eastern Europe. Those are handmade by a select group of artisans. They go up in value over time. You should hang onto it after the tea is gone. It probably will be worth something in the years to come." He opened the tea tin and smelled the tea. "Definitely a Romani blend," he said. "Well made too." He smelled the tea again. "Doesn't it have some of the same herbs that your seers' tea has? Maybe that's why its helping you so much. Maybe it's a flavored seers' tea."

Jack chuckled and nodded " perfect idea Michael , its been along time since we did it and I guess I do need to be more mountain goat and less Bigfoot." He said seeing Li smirk at the reference Jack just chuckled again too.

Jess smiled and nodded. " yeah I remember that one she let me smell it , it was nice but not my thing, made me sneeze so she got me to try this one." she listened to him talk about the tin it was in and she smiled " really, wow , I just liked it because it reminded me of our first cottage, the flowers around the door, honeysuckle I think it was. " she held the tin against her and smiled as he spoke of the meditation room for Khaats birthday . "Oh perfect idea." she said" I'll talk to Kate later, I think she's resting right now."

Now even Jess's mind was going over time with thoughts of calm colors , creams and whites with flowing water and flowers that gave off a gentle scent to surround Khaat. " hum where to put it though Ideally it should be in a light area, and I do agree with the child proofed."

"If I were building it, I'd have Brian go up another floor. The place is strong enough to hold a third floor. You could add a seer's room, maybe a sitting room for the ladies--something with a lot of light. The place can always use more bedrooms. The third floor could be expanded to include whatever the needs become. Either that or I'd put an addition on the far end of this hallway. I'd do a sitting room downstairs and the seer's room right above it. Kate has mentioned that sometimes starlight helps her for some reason. Perhaps making sure there are lots of windows for natural light would help."

Downstairs, Michael found the house elves and asked them to help him set the table for dinner and help get the kids washed up before they ate.

"I'll get Abbey myself for dinner," Robert said. "Unless, Jack, you'd prefer to do it so she doesn't get so set on my needing to be here. She's been sleeping, and hopefully not having any bad dreams."

"I can do it..." Brian began.

"You usually get hammered by the boys when you go get them," Robert laughed. He couldn't think of a meal in the last few weeks that the boys weren't all over Brian, all clamoring for his attention. "They certainly are going to be very typical boys and going to be very, very active. You get the boys and leave the girls to someone else, at least for tonight."

Jess listened to Marcus and nodded "We could put that on the top floor, so its an uninterrupted view of the stars as part of the meditation room" she smiled and looked at the sleeping Khaat. " I think it will be just what she needs."

Jack looked at Robert then to Brian as he spoke but before he could answer Li spoke up "If you would allow me to fetch her for you." He said and smiled as he moved to the nursery. He saw the boys all sat on the floor playing and he smiled. Moving to Abby's bed he gently woke her. " its dinner time Miss Abby" He said softly and smiled as he  saw her wake the boys sat looking at him. "Now boys lets play soldier, and line up quietly." he said " where I'm from its good to be stealthy and quiet, it makes the prey work harder if they don't know your there." He picked up Abby and saw the boys all line up along with the older girls. "Now hold hands, and follow me down, the one who is the stealthiest gets a prize." slowly they walked down the hall and down to the living room Li bowing gently as he passed Robert and the others still holding Abby in his arms.

Abbey wasn't usually the quickest to wake up. It took her a moment or two. She didn't startle when she woke, but when Li picked her up, she just naturally cuddled her head into his neck sleepily. She was used to cuddling into whichever grown up woke her.

Robert was pleased when he saw that the kids were taking well to Li and that Li had managed to wake Abbey without any trouble. He was also pleased the boys weren't ripping up the house and screaming with excessive energy on the way to the table.

"You found the family cuddlebug," Robert said to Li. "If you let her, she'd probably just stay right there like that all night. I don't know what we're going to do in another year or so when she gets too big to cuddle."

"I don't plan on changing a thing," Brian said. "If my kids want to cuddle when they're 65, I'll still be up for it. I might not be carrying them anymore, but I'll still be cuddling them."

"I'm hoping by the time that time comes," Robert said, "I'll have great grandchildren to carry and cuddle."

"I was hoping," Kate said, coming down the stairs, "that if we live that long, you'd be cuddling me."

"How are you even up?" Robert frowned. He noticed she was tired looking and a bit pale. "How are you? You feeling alright?"

"I'll be fine," she said. "I'm starving. I'm looking forward to those fruit crepes."

"You'll have to settle for cobbler," Michael told her. "Check with us in the morning about crepes."

"Fair enough," Kate said. "The stew smells wonderful. Do I need to help with a tray to go upstairs?"

"We'll get it," Michael said. "Sit down and eat."

Jack smiled seeing Li with Abby on his shoulder and the boys all lined up walking quietly. "Ah, it is no problem." Li said and smiled " I knew of a boy growing up, he when very young had a blue blanket and he would take it every where with him, but as he grew bigger, it got smaller, but he never got rid of it. " He smiled " we are all still just little children inside, and the cuddles will just get bigger and last longer." She moved each to the dinning room and sat each down with Jacks help. When it came to Abby he looked at Robert "Do you wish to take Miss Abby?" He asked walking over to him. " I have to help with dinner." he said as he gently moved her over to Robert before he headed into the kitchen to help Michael dish up.

Jess looked at Marcus but she smelled the food from down stairs. " smells like foods done, I'll make sure a tray is sent up." she said and placed the now empty bag down on a chair by the door. " I'll let you know about the mediation room." she said as she headed out the door and down stairs she was surprised to see the children sat waiting. "Wow, whose kids are these?" she said smiling " these can't be ours there too well behaved" she chuckled as little Michael pulled a tongue at her " oh there we are, there ours." she saw Jack stood with Brian and Robert. "shes sleeping now." she told Robert glancing over at Kate. " Marcus came up with a wonderful idea for Khaats birthday, a meditation room, a place she could go to recharge, child proofed and sound proofed, what do you think?" she said