Fee Fi Fo Fum

"Hi, Jack," Khaat said, pleased he'd found his way home again safe and sound. "How'd you know to find us here? We were just comparing scorecards for you and Brian against the guys we saw before we knew you. It's a gal thing, you know. Hey, I was just telling Jess that you and Jess and Brian and I need to spend a weekend away someplace, just the four of us. I do have some pull with the Deputy Minister, after all."

There were advantages to being the daughter of the Deputy Minister. Robert could arrange for Brian and Jack to have a couple of days if they all really wanted to have a weekend off. She was only half teasing that she could get her father to grant it. Would he? Yes, but did either man need Khaat to ask Robert in order for them to get it? No, of course not.

"You know, Jack, you're probably missing some great steak and barbecued ribs at our house. Since it's a guys' night there, I don't think there's a ghost of a chance that there's pasta or quiche being served there tonight," she said. "I saw some massive porterhouse steaks in the fridge and two whole racks of ribs. And if I know those ministry assignments, you probably missed a meal or two."

She picked up one of the little gyro balls and dipped it into the tzatziki sauce.

"Those are good too," she said. "The tough part of this is deciding my favorites of these four. I think you'll like these. I could pop them into my mouth, one after the other, like popcorn."

Jess buried her face into Jacks chest as Khaat told him what they had been talking about. She glanced up to look at him and saw the smirk on his face and his raised eye brow. " don't even go there." she said now composing her self and sitting back down at the table.

"Really now, and what score did I get?" he asked chuckling seeing Jess's cheeks flush a soft pink. On hearing Khaat mention steak and barbecued ribs his stomach growled loudly and he held up his hands " okay, I'm headed there" he lent down and kissed Jess deeply. " Catch you there, Oh Khaat if you can get the minister to give me a few days off, I'd love a couple of days away."

Jess chuckled and shook her head as he turned and walked to the counter to pick up a cup of coffee to go that Lizzie had placed there. " now to me, he's so a ten" she said some what grinning dreamily " but if you tell him I will deny it, another finger food I think." she said turning back to the food but also watching Jack as he walked out of sparks. "does he look buffer to you or is that just me?" she asked

"So, if he's a ten, I guess you'll be keeping him for awhile," Khaat teased her gently. "I did mention a scorecard once to Brian, and he honestly didn't care. He didn't even remotely get tempted to take the bait. What he said to me was, 'Well, since you married me, I guess it's game over--they lost, I won, game over.' I don't know whether to be happy he's so secure or to wish I could rattle his cage every now and then."

She looked down at her clipboard and started to look over her notes.

"I think I know my two favorites. What about you? Dont forget we have entrees, desserts, and teas yet to try.

"And speaking of guys, how does Jack feel about kids? I know kids are important to you. I know Brian and I want a lot of kids. I'd like more pretty quickly, but my father has urged Brian and I not to do that quite yet. He thinks since my pregnancy with Abbey was nearly fatal for me, he doesn't want me to risk it yet, and Brian is in full agreement. He's not against kids, and he'd like a big family too, just not now."

Jess chuckled "Na ..it's never game over, your just window shopping now" she said and looked down at her clipboard " humm..yeah" she said marking two on her board.

"Hes okay with them, though we've hardly talked about it, he's not even said he wants to commit yet, but hes a hell of a kisser I'll give him that." She looked at the door where Jack had gone and sighed. " I wish he'd decide, its driving me nuts, but one day we were walking in the park and a kid fell over, he went right over helped him out, no questions." Jess sighed " And I guess coming from a family, even a dysfunctional one , he'd want to have kids of his own one day, the were thing might be a sticking point though." Jess said finishing her water and reaching for the pitcher to refill her glass. " I've never heard of a human and werewolf ever having kids."

With a sigh she listened to Khaat again and groaned " okay, keep it coming, you know, I'm gonna explode all over your bathroom after all this food, and it'll be all your fault " she said jokingly as she patted her stomach.

"Not true, Jess," Khaat said quickly. "Think about Remus and Tonks. He was a werewolf, and she was human. She was a metamorph, but she was still human. Remus was afraid he'd pass on his werewolf gene to a son, but it doesn't work that way. He had Teddy, and he inherited Tonks metamorph stuff. It showed up right away in Teddy like it showed up right away in Abbey. There's no reason you and Jack can't have as many kids as you want.

"Jack would need to make doubly sure that he took his wolfsbane and had a safe place to go if he still felt he might change at the full moon--like Remus had the shrieking shack. But, aside from that, there's no reason to think the two of you can't have a completely full life together if you want it.

She signaled Lizzie who brought out two more flight boards with samples of entrees--an apple cider braised chicken with root vegetables, short ribs braised in a red wine sauce and served with polenta, pork tenderloin with caramelized onions and fall fruit, and cedar plank roasted salmon with a poached pear chutney.

"Now that's what I've been waiting for," Khaat looked at Jess. "Dinner. I can't wait. What do you think appeals to you, Jess?"

Jess listened to Khaat and smiled " I forgot about those two, welp then there's no reason we couldn't in the future, if he'd get off his butt and tell me he wants to commit." she said " um I think the salmon sounds good along with the short ribs braised in a red wine sauce and served with polenta" she said then thought about it longer "Cedar plank roasted salmon with a poached pear chutney, defiantly that, light, sweet but yet with a bite, huh a bit like Jack." she could not help chuckle.


"Okay, Hows Abby doing? " Jess asked taking a small peice of salmon and adding the chutney to it. " hum" she said and noted down on her clip board the chutney was a bit over powering to the salmon "Could use a lighter compliment." she said and took a drink of water.

"You might just need to nudge him a little," Khaat said. "I can't blame him. He's fairly new to being a werewolf, and it's shaken his sense of who he is and probably shaken his idea of what's possible or not in his life. I really don't think he would be as calm and put together as he is without you to be there to accept him and give him a sense of being rooted and grounded in someone that cares about him and gives him a sense of home and of belonging somewhere. That's a lot, really. You might just need to nudge him along just a little bit."

She eyed the dishes, and, since Jess had tasted the salmon first, Khaat followed suit. The salmon was smoky and had a wonderful wood fired taste, and then was complimented by the unusual poached pear chutney. Then she tasted the short ribs, and she loved the tender way the meat had simply fallen apart in the wine sauce and how the creamy polenta seemed to add just a lot of comfort to it.

"I could really like that a lot," she said. "Yeah, I suppose it is a bit like Jack. And you know what, I can see me tucking into a bowl of these ribs and polenta at home on a cold rainy fall night when I'm in my pajamas watching it rain. I think that would be perfect comfort. I like both of these. Maybe we can offer some in the fall and save a couple for winter. You know, for those cold snowy nights? Might be just the thing. And maybe, I need to think about expanding to some delivery service."

Jess chuckled and nodded " yeah, its more like he keeps me grounded more than him, and a nudge, more like a Cybele to the back of his head to be able to get the message threw his thick skull, thought this trip your planing might be a good time, get him alone and I could talk to him." she said tapping her lips with her pen.

After a moment she picked up a rib and tasted it " hum I agree these are so comfort food, Jack would eat the whole rack." she chuckled " oh I so hope hes not eaten all the steaks." she took a bite savoring the flavor then wiping her mouth with her napkin as she listened to Khaat then laughed " as enterprising as that sounds , do you really think couch potato wizards can't port just over here and get them?" she said "

Khaat laughed out loud. "You do have a point," she said. "They can, and they do. And, if I keep getting ideas to expand Sparks, Brian is going to curb me a bit. He isn't interested in Sparks becoming a chain with 2000 locations all over the wizarding world. He is only interested in one location, and says we really don't have time for more. And if I'm honest with myself, he's completely right. And you're right too. I think the sooner we get some time away the better. Any place you'd like to go?"

She tried the chicken next and liked the cider braise. She tried the pork tenderloin, and found the pork was so tender it fell apart like potroast and had a wonderful fall flavor.

"Oh, now I don't know. I like them all. It's going to be impossible to pick just two. I think I'm glad the guys didn't come with us, because i think we'd all vote for a different favorite and then what would we do? What do you think, Jess? What do you like?"

Jess laughed softly and nodded " yeah, and I like Greece or Spain" she said " Greece because of the history but Spain because of the landscapes they have, but anyplace with a hot spar and relaxing views will do." she said tasting the chicken avoiding the pork.

"yeah, chickens good." she said then chuckled shaking her head " I don't think that will be a problem, there all good Lizzie's a talented chef and her creations are all wonderful, maybe find space in a separate specialty menu for some of them, like a day and evening menu that way romantics have a place to come in the evenings?" she said