Tuscany Trip

Brian finished fixing his dessert and put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold. He went outside, turned the vegetables and put the salmon on the grill. He returned to the kitchen and drew out plates, silverware, glasses, and he set the table.

He had not made a salad, but he felt that since he had made several large skewers of roasted vegetables, it would make up for the loss of a salad.

He put a pitcher of iced tea on the table and filled the glasses with ice. When everything was ready, he took two large platters. he put the skewers of vegetables on one, and put the firegrilled salmon on the other.

"Dinner!" he called. Khaat closed her book and rose and went out to the kitchen as Brian put a dill vinaigrette on the table for them to either drizzle over the salmon or the vegetables or both. Whatever they chose.

"You are amazing," Khaat told him softly, kissing his cheek. "You know I love salmon. Thank you. And this was fresh this morning, wasn't it?'

"It certainly was. I made it just for you. I know how you like it." He pulled out her chair for her. "Your seat, Milady?"

"Thank you," she said, sitting. He sat down at her right at the head of the table. "Help yourself. Dig in."

Khaat took a skewer with baby redskin potatoes, asparagus, carrots, tiny roasted shallots, and some chunks of roasted red bell pepper. It smelled divine. Brian chose a salmon fillet for her and put it on her plate. "Dill sauce?" he asked.

"Please?" she said. He handed it to her and she drizzled some over her fish as he poured her some iced tea. Then he fixed his own plate.

"Don't think you're getting offf with one skewer. You need more veggies than that," Brian told her.

"Okay," she laughed.

"We could do that, I suppose," Brian said. He had been hoping he could get Khaat back into her routine of running outside. "Khaat, you wanna run with me later? Maybe after dark? It might be cooler then. "

"I miss running," she said. "And it probably is a bit more fair to run the women against the men, since you and I are probably the most experienced runners. We don't want to pair it up unequally."

"Fine by me, but I'll still win," he grinned.

"Oh, you think, do you?" she frowned. She took her plate and Brian's into the kitchen and cast a cleanup spell for the kitchen to clean itself up. "So, bring it on, Big Man. You and all your fancy talk. Run now, dessert later. I'll meet you all downstairs in 2 minutes. I need to change."

She went upstairs to change into her jogging clothes. She chose a pair of jogging capris and a t shirt and her running shoes. She went down stairs and started stretching slowly. She was still in far more pain from her beating than she was letting on, but she was not going to give into it. She was going to run, and she was going to beat Brian. She and Brian usually ran neck and neck, and that frustrated him. He didn't want to think anyone could beat him. But Khaat was the closest one he'd ever met that came within a photofinish length of beating him.

Khaat and Brian were already downstairs when Steven and Ronata arrived and started running on the treadmills. Since there were only two treadmills, Khaat and Brian allowed them to run and decided to keep track of their time and their speed on the treadmill computers. In the meantime, Khaat and Brian worked on stretching, and strengthbuilding exercises.

They chose stationery bikes in order to get a bit of a workout before they ran. Khaat and Brian loved to ride bikes. And it was a good warmup before running. "Go easy, Khaat," Brian said. "You're entirely too injured to push yourself to work at full speed. If it pulls too hard, don't do it. A bit of a stretch is good. A strain is too much."

"Okay," she said. Brian normally pushed for between 30 and 40 minutes on a stationery bike. He normally pushed for a run that long too.

Khaat made it for about 20 minutes on the bike and got a painful stitch in her ribs, right where the broken rib was. Brian got off his bike when he noticed her pain. "Stop," he told her gently. "You're cramping. Stop." She obeyed. He laid his hand on her ribcage. "Its just a muscle spasm. Let me," he said soothingly. He pressed his hand slightly against her side and made the pain stop and the muscles relax. It was instantaneous relief to her . She was able to breathe deeply, but she now sighed in frustration.

"Khaat," Brian said, brushing a lock of damp hair off her face, "you're riding better even as battered as you are than most of the men I work with when they're 100%. Take it easy, would you? I do understand your disappointment, but pushing too hard will only cause some damage. Rest a second." He went over to small refrigerator that only came up to about his waist. He opened it and accio'd out four waterbottles. He sent two over to Ronata and Steven and then took two himself--one for Khaat and one for himself. He handed one to Khaat. "Drink," he said, "Cool off. You can go back and try a bit longer after you rest a bit."

She drank some of the icy cool water, took a bit of a rest and then finished another 20 minutes on the bike before the muscle cramp came back to her ribs again. Brian dismounted and relieved the spasm again. "You really do have to rest before you try to run. Take a bit of time, and then in about 10 minutes, we'll take them both. Deal?"

"Deal," she grinned.

"Brian is an expert at staying in shape. Its one of the things he specializes in--that and helping to train others to stay in top shape. He's really good at helping folks rebuild themselves after an injury or an illness. He designed a program for me to help build me up after I had Abbey."

"That wasn't pretty," Brian admitted. "Khaat was severelly underweight and malnourished. And she miscarried Abbey in her 6th month because her health was so poor. Khaat almost died. She was in a coma after the delivery for quite awhile and in intensive care. We almost lost her."

"That was in May," Khaat said. "What I have back is due to Brian's hard work and devotion. He was my labor coach and my father delivered Abbey under emergency circumstances. Then, after that, Brian never left me. He was a true blessing. He made sure he took expert care of me, helped me move out of my cottage in Hogsmeade and took me into his house and has been a wonderful father for Abbey. He's been my fitness coach to help me rebuild my strength. I probably would still be recuperating if it weren't for him."

"You'd have been on your feet," Brian said, "But I doubt you'd have been back at work. Khaat overworks on a regular basis, and she loses weight very easily. I have to stay on her to eat decent meals regularly, stop drinking so damned much coffee, and to exercise whether she wants to or not."

"He insists I spend time outside in the pool in good weather and insists I keep up with my running, along with strength training. And he has taken over the cooking since I went back to work."

"Well," Brian said, "Someone has to make sure you're eating something other than Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans and french roast coffee. Come on, Hotshot. Let's see if you can still keep up the pace."

"I'll outdo you," she frowned, taking Ronata's place on the treadmill. Brian came over and adjusted the settings on the treadmill for where he wanted them to be for her. "Okay. Distance today. Not speed. That's another time. Lets see how far you can go." He started the treadmill and let her get started on a good steady pace for a run. It was just a bit faster than Ronata's, but then again, Khaat and Brian were good distance runners. They were used to it. Brian was just going to supervise Khaat's workout until he could try his hand at the treadmill.

"Let me know if you want me to draw that off for you, Steven," Brian said. He reset the settings on the treadmill and got on. He started off at a slightly faster pace than Khaat's, and it seemed to suit him naturally. He seemed to just, basically, step into a pace with it that was natural and comfortable, like he'd been running all his life.

"Khaat has a lot of ugly memories about that time period," Brian said. "Not only because she almost died but also because it was directly because of Rob's heartless and hurtful behaviors and attitudes towards her that almost cost Khaat and Abbey both their lives. "

"Stop it, Brian," Khaat said quietly.

"Its true. If he had given a damn about either of you, he would have taken better care of you, been a husband to you and not left you way before he did for a bunch of knockturn alley whores. And he would not have jeopardized your pregnancy by sheer cruelty and neglect for months before you had her. He's an ass."

"Brian," she scowled.

"Well, that is exactly why it bothered you when Ronata got pregnant. It brought back all your pain with Rob and how you wanted so much for him to stay with you, but he didn't know how to man up and do that. It also brought up how alone you feel without him, and, much as you love Abbey and would never give her up, it sometimes makes you feel that everything with Rob--including Abbey--was a mistake. I think that if it weren't for me being around, you might have wanted to surrender her to your parents a long time ago and moved out of England for good. "

"Shut up, Brian," she said coldly. "My daughter is not a mistake."

"No. She isn't. I love her. You know I do. I am saying thought that I think there are times you regret moving so quickly into having her before you knew Rob better than you did."

"That's true. But I don't need to worry about that anymore. She has a good father now. She has you. And its a cinch that you and I don't ever have to worry about putting sex ahead of the quality of our relationship."

"No," he laughed. "That's very true. I'm just saying that you're not distant from Steven and Ronata on purpose. Its only because it is so painful for you."

"Shut up and run, Brian," she replied. It was painful. She didn't regret Abbey. Not for one moment. But she did regret that she had rushed into things with Rob. That was an enormous regret, not only for her but for Rob too. She knew he regrettted it just as much. And now she hated to see anyone else copying her mistakes.