Summer Picnic

Brian freshened up and tucked yesterday's clothes in the suitcase, and brought the suitcase out and put it in the living room. He heard Jack and Jess in the kitchen and they sounded like they were getting along well. He was glad for that. Jack had nowhere to go, and Jess spent too much time alone, or that was Brian's humble opinion anyway. She seemed happy enough, but she also just spent a lot of time by herself. He was glad to see she had another potential friend. Jack wasn't a bad sort, Brian didn't think, and maybe they might get along if Jess gave him half a chance.

He flicked his wand at the box to cast a warming spell to keep the rolls hot until they were ready to eat and took his cup back into the kitchen to refill it. He was surprised to see Jack cooking instead of Jess.

"Earning your keep, are you?" Brian asked. He peeked at the eggs in the skillet. "They look good. Well, who knew? A werewolf who cooks. Good for you," he teased. "By the way, I didn't see you disturbed during the night. How did you sleep? Any difficulties? And how's the dressing? Does it need changed yet? Let's not let it seep through the dressings if we can help it. Jess is as skilled as I am at changing a dressing, so maybe one of us should see to it after breakfast. Jess? What do you think?"

Jack looked over his shoulder at Brain as he spoke and laughed at his comment. " hey even a werewolves got to eat, I slept okay no nightmares that I couldn't work through, if that's what you mean" He heard him mention Jess and nodded " yeah , might need a change later though, my body is a bit stiff so could use that work out at the gym, and you said something about teaching me Tai chi to control my anger better." he said as he dished up the eggs onto three plates placing each in front of the others before sitting down himself and eating.

"Jack, wash up and change and I'll change that dressing before we head to the gym, besides I could use a swim in the pool" Jess said and rolled her head " necks feeling a bit stiff." finishing her food she placed it into the sink " leave then and I'll do them when we get back." she said and headed to her room to change.

Brian tucked into the eggs and opened the box to the cinnamon rolls. He could eat a whole one if he was truly hungry, but at this point, he only wanted half. He got a knife from the kitchen and cut one of the rolls in half, and put one half on his plate.

"Help yourself, Jack," he said. "These never last very long at our house. Especially with hot coffee or hot tea." He got out his photo of himself with Khaat and Abbey. "This is my family. You met Khaat. That's my daughter, Abbey. Well, technically my stepdaughter, but her dad's not been around, ever, so as far as I'm concerned, she's always going to be mine. Believe it or not, the little buggar seems to be an Animagus already. Got that from her bio dad, and I'll wager that's the only thing from him she's ever going to get. She's smart as a whip, and addicted to berries of any kind. And, she's got Robert entirely suckered. She almost tethers herself to her 'Papa' when he comes to the house. And, of course he spoils her entirely rotten."

"Speaking of the women in our lives, what do you think of Jess?"

Jack took a cinnamon roll and began to eat seeing how big they were he knew it would sedate his hunger for a while along with the eggs Jess had cooked he smiled hearing Brian talk of his family " you have a beautiful daughter and your a lucky man to have such a intelligent and beautiful wife." he said taking another mouth full of roll. " as for Jess , shes..like a breath of fresh air, takes no messing, even knowing what I have become she still treats me like im just human and I like that" He poked his food for a moment then smiled.

"can I tell you something? " he said and looked up at Brian " There's something about her that...that calms me, she touches my arm I feel every muscle relax, oh of course what you did with my hand last night helped, but I know its too soon we just met yesterday and well I didn't make a good first impression at that." he had a nother fork of egg and chuckled "also she can make a mean scrambled eggs"

"I am lucky," Brian smiled. "I think you and I both know what it's like to not have an easy childhood. But, I also know that when Khaat came back into my life, I wasn't going to let her go ever again. My parents were killed when I was eight, and it was right around the same time I met Khaat. My older brother and sister were off at school themselves and weren't in position to take care of their baby brother. So, Kate and Robert took me in and helped me weather out a couple of very angry years. I was raised in their house, and Khaat and I were best friends. I rather lost track of her after we graduated because I worked...elsewhere. Robert summoned me home the night Abbey was born. I was with her in the delivery room. Her husband saw Abbey for just maybe sixty seconds, walked out, and never came back. Khaat almost died that night, and when Abbey was discharged, I took her home to my house. Then when Khaat was finally able to be released, I brought her home with me. And, well, things changed. I can't imagine not having her.

"Jack, if you find someone in your life that truly makes you happy, do yourself a favor and put in the work and make the relationship happen. I knew Khaat's Uncle Remus, and I saw how bloody miserable he was almost his whole life trying to stay away from people because he believed that his curse would make him unacceptable and dangerous both to other people. He only realized it long enough to marry Tonks and have Teddy before he died. Don't make Remus's mistake and think that you aren't good enough for a relationship. I think Remus's married life was one of the few times he was really happy so if you think that you're interested in Jess, then maybe you need to find out if it can go anywhere. That's just my though, for what little that might be worth."

Jack sat eating and listening to Brian talk and nodded " we sure didn't" he said softly but let Brian continue now talking abut Remus. He'd heard the man's name before but paid no head to all the wild tales now here was Brian telling him the same ones but with heart to them. Jack glanced at Jess's door and nodded "I'm very interested in her but..." he now found himself blushing " please don't tell any one else I said this, I haven't had much luck with women, some just see a large man and rum others just seem me as muscle once the jobs done they don't want me around." he finished his roll and eggs then pushed it back away from him now holding the semi cold can of soda in both hands.

Jess in the mean time had heard Jack talking and smiled moving to the living room she placed her finger to her lips as he had continued to talk. " well maybe if you actually asked me out on a date I would accept, and your not some peice of meat your a human. " she paused and smiled seeing the red tinge to his cheeks " okay be at the leaky for five pm, I'm sure Brian can help with your lack of wardrobe." she saw the smile that seem to be etched on his face as he turned in his seat to look at her.

"oh..yeah five PM, sharp" he said and she chuckled.

"Now can we go the gym." she asked in a slight whine to Brian. .

"Certainly," Brian said. "I can get you in today, Jack, and then I'll get Khaat to get your membership straightened out. Robert does Tai Chi, and I learned it from him but we won't be seeing him today. He'll be long gone from there by now. He goes into the gym early and gets to work early. I think we can enjoy it without him, though."

Brian took them and ported them with him to St. Mungo's and took them down to the basement, to the gym, and he managed to get Jack in. He went into the locker room and changed to workout clothes and returned to one of the empty workout studios and cast a spell to play some appropriate soft relaxing music to do Tai Chi to and started doing some gentle stretches just to loosen up with. He had found that, although it looked simple, it was not simple at all, but it was just as likely to cause sore muscles at first as any other exercise. What Brian liked so much about it was that he found it excellent to help him reduce stress and anger. And, with a baby in the house and a new wife, his life was changing quickly. Stress management was a huge issue for him. He wanted so much to be a perfect father. It mattered very much because he had admired his father immensely, and he feared that he would never begin to measure up. That, and what did he know about making all the right decisions? What if he answered a question wrongly and scarred this tiny girl for life? And what did he know about raising an Animagus, anyway? A baby that gets put into the bathtub and instead of giggling at the bubbles, she changed into an excited, splashing Labrador pup? What was he to think of that or do with it?

He sighed and tried to push his anxieties about being a father out of his mind, and decided to start a few poses with some well paced breathing, to settle himself, while he waited on Jack and Jess.

Jack followed Brian to the changing rooms , it was Jess who gave him some sweats to change into. The were a little tight but fit for his needs.
He ehard the music start and moved out into the room where he watched Brian start to move " how do you do that?" he asked he knew the scars showed on his skin but he wanted to work out. As he watched he tried to move with him but once in a while he'd wince as his side pained him.

He paused as he saw Jess walk out in her workout gear a tank top and Lycra leggins that both showed her curves and he could not help feel his palms become sweaty. "I..I Wow!" he said softly as he watched her move to start her work out. " is this how you felt when you saw Khaat for the first time?" he asked Brian restarting his work out again but his eyes never left Jess.

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"Take your time and work for flexibility. Use your core. The more accurate your poses are, the more you'll benefit from the workout," Brian said. "Each pose has a name, not that you'll know them at first, but each one uses muscles differently. Speed isn't important. This is about precision." He saw Jack watching Jess. "I suppose there are some other benefits to work outs." Jack asked him if he had looked at Khaat the same way the first time he saw her. Brian laughed.

"The first time I saw Khaat through different eyes was a little less than a year ago. Khaat was finally back on her feet, so I took her to a ball to get her out of the house one night. But when she came down the stairs of the house and I saw her in that evening gown, it changed everything. She was...something else. That images is burned in my mind forever. I wish I'd gotten a photograph of her in that moment, but I wasn't the least bit prepared for what she would look like as...as, well, a grown up." He laughed. "I had no idea the little girl I met with the long pigtails would look like that."

"Alright," he said, feeling a need to shift the subject. "Let's try something. He flicked his fingers at the wall to transfigure the wallpaper to mirrors so they could see their own positions and compare them to his own. "See if that helps you to perhaps start to work for a little precision in the poses. It doesn't have to be perfect. Just see how you do."

Jack heard Brian and chuckled " yeah" he said and continued to move his body slower and more precise this time. He listened to Brian as he spoke of Khaat and he saw a look in the mans eyes that told him he was really in love with her, he could not help but smile at him. He stopped and watched as Brian changed the wall paper to mirrors and he nodded. " okay" he said and tried again this time he found it easier. He saw Jess move to stand beside him.

"let do this together" she said and moved with him " no..like this." she moved to stand in front of him placing his hands on her arms to show him how to move.

"oh I get it..like this?" he asked and she smiled nodding.

"yes, that's it, keep going." she said and returned to his side moving with both Brian and Jack. Soon he felt his muscles complain and he stopped moving to a bench to sit down while he watched the others continue their work out.