Tuscany Trip

"I'm fine, Jess," Khaat said. She accio'd for her wand and got it. She looked around the room and chose to transfigure the very large sectional sofa into space for both of them. She stood up, clutching the dressing on her chest with her left hand, and with her right, she made the sofa into a pair of twin sized beds, feathery soft, and covered with crisp white linens and a lot of pillows. She used her wand to move the furniture and pushed other pieces aside to move the beds against the far wall of the room, out of the way. She changed a sideboard into a regular sized sofa that was in the same color scheme as the old, large sectional had been.

"That should get us both out of the way but keep us in sight," Khaat said. She moved an end table between the beds as a night stand and put a lamp there. "What do you think? Will that do it? If I know Brian, we won't need this more than a day or two, from what Daddy said. Jess, I hate to ask but is there anything cold to drink out in the fridge? I don't want to be a bother, but I'm really parched. Anything will do."

"Not bad," Khaat smiled, feeling the blissfully soft mattress beneath her. Maybe transfigured beds were better than the usual ones. It felt wonderfully soft to her aching body. She took a sip of the cola. She was so thirst that it tasted divine to her.

She looked back at Jess. "Your mind is running a mile a minute. I know you. You're as confused and frustrated about this as I am, aren't you?" she asked. "I wish I knew what Daddy wasn't saying. He's been very deliberately cryptic at every turn. There's a lot he knows that he's not saying. He's never done that before. Not with me, and not with Brian. I don't understand. He has to have a very good reason, but none of it makes sense to me. None of it."

"Ah, well, that's not exactly true. Brian decided to bring me to Tuscany because it was someplace I've always wanted to go. He and I came here, with things between us being as platonic as they'd been since we were 8. Well, or at least we thought so. Things didn't change for us until just a few days ago in Venice. We were so sure we had that all under control, wrapped up tight so that we wouldn't go that far. And Venice, well, it was so wonderful, so beautiful, so perfect in every single respect, I guess that all just came unwrapped. And once we let it loose, we felt so free and so comfortable, we didn't want to go back. It..it wasn't a rushed decision. None of it. We talked...I mean, we really talked. Like we were finally looking the demons in the eyes. We didn't make the first move until we were sure, really sure, that it was what we both wanted. Jess, I'm a woman over 30 with a child and a grandchild. My husband left me because, in one way or another, I wasn't good enough. Not every wizard would openlychoose to live with a Lupin. I could do so much worse than Brian. And we're both okay if the other still wants to date someone else. We're both still not sure we want to be solidly committed, but we've decided to enjoy what we've got while we have it. Does that make us odd, honestly?"

"I think so," Khaat smiled, her heart warmed with the thought of how happy she and Brian were, still, despite it all.

Meanwhile, upstairs, Brian woke, aching everywhere. He looked around and frowned. He didn't remember how he got home. He saw Jack sitting there in the room. "Jack," he said, confused by how weak his voice was. "What...happened...How..how did I get home? The last I remember...I was trapped in that alley...Khaat! Is Khaat alright? I shouldnt' have left her..." His mind began to try to race to catch up, and it felt more like swiss cheese, full of holes. He wanted to get up, but when he tried to sit up, everything hurt. His head spun viciously, and he fell weakly back to the pillows. Getting up was clearly not going to happen at the moment. The fear for Khaat rose up in him so fast he couldn't contain it all. This was the part of what he had stepped into with her that he had never wanted. Fear. Not for either of them. But here it was. They had to learn to deal with it. Right here, right now.

"Thank you," Brian said. He took the pain potion, grateful for its relief. Once that was done, he got a moment to look around. He looked at Khaat, "You redecorated, I see."

"It's temporary," she reached out to him, and he took her hand. "Are you okay?"

"I will be. My mind is sort of swiss cheesed. I don't remember much."

"Well, your training came in handy. You knew enough, apparently, as stunned as you were, to get home."

"How did I drive...wait...I apparated? My Lamborghini is still down at the village," he groaned.

"And do you think you could have driven it, my dear?" she asked, laughing. "Jack or Jess, do either of you have muggle driving licenses?..Oh, wait. Daddy's sending some operatives. We'll have them bring the car back. We shouldn't have Jack or Jess go out right now either. Not for awhile. It divides us too much."

"You're right," Brian sighed. "I'm sorry, Everyone. I wasn't watching enough. I should have anticipated an ambush. I just didn't expect it to be both of them. They're good. And he's really, really good. Robert was right. I've got to be up as soon as I can. I have to train."

"Not today. Just be with me today," Khaat soothed his jangled nerves. He sighed, relaxing as the pain potion set in. He eyed her cola. She reached over, picked up the glass and handed it to him.
"Be my guest." He took a couple of sips. It was heavenly.

"Thanks," he sighed. "I needed that. I was bone dry, I think." He handed the glass back to her. "Hey, these mattresses are nice. Your doing?"

"Uh huh."

"I think I'll have you change them all to mattresses like these. I like them better than what we have," he said. That made her laugh