"Absolutely. You know me--I'm always up for some action," Brian said to Jack. "Let's go get some muggle artillery to take with us, just in case. There is more than enough in the small armory downstairs that we shouldn't need to go to the big armory at the estate. Wanna come, or shall I just get a nice assortment?" He flashed Jack an amused smile.
"Now, wait a minute, Ruby," Kate said gently, "I was in the kitchen too, and I heard that same discussion. And I didn't come out of it with the interpretation of it that you just described. Here's what I believe I heard. You take it for whatever you think it might be worth.
"Nigel came up and he told Edward exactly what the damage was and what the repairs had done. He told him it was going to take time, and Nigel has made his own opinions that Angus reminds him of men that have no life of their own and do nothing but work. And, much as we hate to admit it, that really is how his life has been before you were in his life, and we've just let him do it. I understand that Nigel asked for opinions about pain potions, and he gave all of you an opportunity to weigh in. He did not challenge your choices. If he had had an issue, he'd surely have said so. After all, he does appear to be someone that generally speaks his mind, or at least that's how I think he seems.
"However, when he spoke with Edward, Edward offered an opinion of his own. Edward knew nothing about Nigel's asking you for an opinion. And i think you need to remember exactly what Edward said. What he said was that so long as Angus is able to settle and not do anything that would risk further harm, then Angus should be allowed to remain alert. And that's exactly what you said too. The only thing Edward did was to say that if, however, Angus got it stuck in his head that he needed to be doing something stupid, then Edward believed that Nigel should slow Angus down half a notch. So, in essence, he didn't disagree with you. He only went one step farther. Remember that Edward is sharply aware that Angus's parents don't approve of how Angus has dealt with Edward's recent situation, and that includes how Edward was rescued and how he was brought here and cared for. Edward is very much aware of what they said to Angus, and Edward believes it drives Angus to feel even more pressured to try to say and do all the right things because Angus absolutely does not want his father's words to come true, that Angus might end up as a no count, good-for-nothing. Nor does he ever want to have any resemblance to his father at all. Personally, I see no chance whatsoever that either of those things will happen because Angus is so dramatically different from his parents. I think we all know that he will never resemble either of his mom or his dad--which is a very good thing indeed, but sometimes, it seems to me, Angus just tries too hard to do all the right things when all he needs to do is be himself. I think that's part of why he's happy here, because those of us here couldn't possibly be more different from his biological family, and we love him just the way he is. And that won't ever change.
"Edward wasn't trying to countermand your opinion because, truthfully, he didn't know you had one. He wasn't even remotely suggesting that you made a bad choice, so you really do need to let go of that thought right now. If you two had been in the same room when Nigel had asked for opinions, I have no doubt you'd have been of the same mind somehow because you both just want the best for Angus. Where it really matters, you both agree wholeheartedly. And, further, it isn't worth a huge amount of stewing because when he wakes in an hour or two, all of this is going to be a mute point anyway because he is going to be awake and back to making his own choices.
"What I believe Edward meant was that if Angus became so driven to work that he was not going to listen to some sort of reason or compromise that, if worse came to worse, Edward wanted to be able to stop Angus from rushing back to work and getting himself in trouble. It sounded to me like all Edward was doing was offering some support for Nigel if Nigel felt he needed to slow Angus down a little if any sort of worst case scenario happened. Frankly, I think Angus is very good at listening to reason if he's given half a chance. I think for the most part, all Robert and I have ever needed to do to help him get back on the right track is to have a bit of a word with him to put to rest whatever wild hair he has in his thoughts at the moment. And, as I told you earlier, we do need to reassess his duties anyway. This just puts more of a spotlight on it so that we can do that without offending him.
"Robert and I have been married now for close to 43 years, and having a husband who is pretty driven too, I can offer you one bit of advice. A healthy relationship is built on really stellar communication and endless compromise. Robert and I generally have no secrets between us, and we both are committed to making it work. But communication, equal partnership, and compromise are the top things on our list. Respect and love for each other are earned and not given, and they grow out of those first three things. Do the first three, and the last two will come."
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