Tea Time

"I don't really have a clue. The archetecture of the villa is rather rustic Italian style. Its on the beach, if that helps you. The walls throughout the house are either stucco or stone, but you can do with them whatever you want. I don't care if you do fairy tale princesses and such, or enchanted animals,...I trust you judgement. I just want whatever you and Chris come up with to be amazing."

"Oh, and Chris?" Brian said. "She does mean whatever you two think. Money is no object. I'm giving you a relatively open budget. I think Abbey and Dakota deserve to benefit from some of Gelding's money, so I intend to spend a healthy chunk of it on them. I would like it to be a room that basically grows with them as they get a little older. I'd lik it to be a room that every little girl dreams of. A place they can play with their dolls, hold tea parties, play dress up, all of those things that little girls do. A real paradise for little girls. And you'll have to start from scratch. That room is a guest room right now, with tan walls, heavy rustic wooden Italian furniture, the works." He tossed Eli and Chris each a gold colored American Sacagawea dollar coin. "Portkeys to the villa," he said. "Feel free to work there whenever you like except weekends. My...friends...will drop in regularly to take care of the normal maintenance on the house and to keep it supplied with food for you. If there is something in particular you would like, just ask Angus. He's the caretaker, but he has a couple of men working for him. He has a fishing boat, by the way, and catches the best seafood anywhere in that area. If you want some really incredible meals, ask Angus to bring you some of his daily catch.

"It truly is the best I have ever eaten, and he can generally get you whatever you want that is native to those waters," Khaat smiled.

"Oh, and one more thing, Chris, the girls will need to have their closets and drawers filled with some amazing baby clothes. Do you mind making them the most stylish babies in Italy? Clothes, onesies, pajamas, blankets, everything first class."

Khaat was not surprised that he was going to any length to provide for the girls. He did truly love them, and that warmed her heart. With Rob's love and all of his friends and family, plus Khaat, Brian,and all of her friends and family, Abbey and Dakota were going to be very happy, secure little girls indeed. That made Khaat at ease.

"Rob, how often do you want to see Abbey?" she asked. "I know it is going to perhaps be a bit difficult for you during the school year, but I know you're going to want to have time with her too."

The prospect of Christophe having free reign over absolutely everything terrified Rob and David. The two sat transfixed, staring open-mouthed at Brian who was, frankly, making the biggest mistake anyone who knew Christophe could make. Brian was inadvertently begging for his whole house to be turned into a haven for Christophe, complete with a choir of drag queens.

Rob could see it now before his eyes. Everything would be swathed in hot pink. Lace would hang from everything and it would be draped over every available surface. Everything would clash and a Christmas tree would be up year round with those stupid ball-balls that were charmed to belt out ABBA songs. They were also motion sensitive which was why no one moved if they were confined to the living room during one of Christophe’s Christmas feasts. The girls would probably have their rooms decorated with those same god awful bears that Christophe had insisted decorating his and David’s child’s nursery with.

Glancing at Elijah Rob smirked and mouthed a few words to the Slytherin. The Bulgarian smirked back at Rob and the two men shared a smile before looking down at their respective child. Rob decided not to mention the fact that Christophe would rival many of the world’s dictators during the decoration process. He was the King of all things pretty and no one would dare rival him if they liked their various appendages. Rob and Eli would just have to go along with everything. Only David would tell Chris no and even then he’d probably just let the blonde get on with whatever he was doing.

Elijah looked at Rob. The stubborn Animagus was remaining oddly silent throughout Brian’s instructions and Elijah didn’t think he would seriously lie down and take it. Would he? Rob met Elijah’s gaze and Eli quirked an eyebrow at him. Rob shook his head and Jan leaned forward, plucking a plum out of the fruit bowl. She gave it to Fauve, who smiled brightly, and leaned close to Elijah’s ear. “He’ll be fine. He’ll just trash the cars or something. Christophe will make him go.” She whispered before leaning back in her chair.

Rob looked up when Khaat spoke to him and he shrugged. “Whatever’s convenient.” He shrugged again and tapped his nails against the mug. He looked over at the baby that Chris was cooing at and rolled his eyes. “Please refrain from turning my daughter’s mind to mush, Christophe. Feel free to do it to your own child but for goodness sake.” Christophe looked at Rob and scowled. “Don’t look at me like that, Chris.” Rob snarled. He got up abruptly and Jen followed him with her eyes as he shrugged his blazer back on, not exactly remembering him taking it off. “I’m going down the road. Eli do you want something? Jen? Dave?”

Jen ran a hand through Thierry’s hair and looked thoughtfully for a second. “Cigarettes,” She said after a moment. “You’re running out aren’t you, love?” She asked Eli. He nodded absently, concentrating on braiding Fauve’s hair, and Jen looked at David. “Whisky?” She questioned. David nodded. “Whisky then and I fancy a Chocolate Frog. Fauvie, Thierry...frogs?” The two coursed yeses and Rob nodded, leaving the restaurant. “Mid-life crisis.” Jen joked.

Khaat sighed. That was just Rob being Rob. It was a quick and hard reminder of who Rob really was, much like a glass of ice water tossed in her face. She had been tempted to get lost in some nostalgic fuzzy and warm feelings aobut her husband, but then he did what he always did. Ran out. He was an expert at that. She had seen his distaste at the idea of Chris being turned loose in Abbey's bedroom. Khaat wasn't worried. Whatever she didn't like, she would just get rid of. But hiring someone to do the baby's room was Brian's way of reducing stress for Khaat. It had been Brian's plan to get her to enjoy her life a bit more. And that gave her a lot more time, therefore, to spend with him and the girls.

She now wished she had been vengeful enough to put Brian's gift of the beautiful emerald ring on her left hand where her wedding rings used to be, rather than on her right where it sat like the innocent little accessory it truly was. Crap. Why didn't she have it in her to try to make Rob wish just one time that he had gotten his head out of his arse and had done the right thing when it came to their relationship?

She looked over at Abbey who was very contented with Chris, and he was truly wonderful with her. "You're going to be a wonderful parent, Chris," she smiled. "Abbey really likes you. When our kids get old enough we'll have to put them together for a playdate."

"Jen," Khaat said, "You will go along to make sure your brother does not leave the cars in a pile of scrap metal, won't you? Does he even have a driver's license?" She could not imagine that Rob had associated enough with muggles to have earned a driver's license. She had visions of him getting tanked on a bottle of firewhiskey and then wrapping one of the beautiful lamborghinis around a tree or off a cliff while he merely apparated out of them at the last minute just for the sheer pleasure of it. "Besides, the beach is breathtaking. Its a perfect place for, well, besides a lot of romantic things, for tanning and all kinds of self indulgence. A bottle of wine on ice, some sun...sounds like a great day to me."

Robbie was once again being the child he was and Jen could do nothing about it until he returned. He’d become far too used to Abbey being around and Jen recognised that saying goodbye had been difficult for him. He was also thick-headed, stubborn and territorial so he definitely didn’t like Brian for stepping on his toes. But it was his own fault at the end of the day, he just wouldn’t accept that. It was a shame really. Jen wanted him to, desperately, because as soon as he did that then he could fix it or at least make everything workable.

Her eyes wandered over to Chris and shook her head. She had a feeling that it wasn’t just one baby kicking around in that bloated stomach of Chris’s. The Frenchman was camp and over emotional enough but it had multiplied a fair few times since the baby(ies) had been conceived. Jen wanted to applaud Rob and she did. He’d definitely put his potions skill to good use. He wasn’t all bad, not really. The potions were good, the majority anyway. There were just a few dark ones that were worth a lot of money to dark wizards. That was probably why Rob had sewn the recipes into his Jen’s bras – or had Christophe to do it.

“Oui!” Christophe grinned widely, his long blonde hair falling back away from his face. David threaded his fingers through it and his lover became immediately captivated by his talented fingers. “Chris,” Jen called. David took his fingers away and Christophe looked at Jen, a dazed look in his eyes. “Welcome back to planet Earth, sweetheart.” She smiled. Chris smiled sleepily and continued to rock Abbey. Jen felt better that now his attention was back on the baby. Even after all of those years, Christophe and David were still as besotted with each other as they were when they first met. Christophe was easily distracted anyway even without David’s fingers.

Jen looked back at Khaat and smirked. “Driving licence? No way. I haven’t got one either but I have one of these.” She took a black wallet out of...well, from somewhere, and slid it across the table. There was nothing it bar a blank piece of paper in the pocket with the plastic in the leather. “These trick the Muggles into seeing what we want them to see. They’re quite good...it’s a shame the Ministry don’t use them really.” Jen shrugged.

Khaat laughed. "Well, at least you wont' get caught for that, then. Just try to leave the cars in one piece, will you? I know it will be a huge temptation for Rob to see if he can't run the snazzy little red one up a tree, but I really like that car. "

Khaat really didn't like seeing Rob acting like a two year old either, but there was precious little she could do about it. "He never did grow up, did he?" Khaat sighed. She would always have a special place in her heart for Rob. She didn't know if she truly loved him anymore. Certainly the mad, out of her mind, infatuation was gone. But he was the father of her child, and there was a part of him she would always love.

For her, the big sticking point that would forever kept them apart was not understanding what in the world she had done that made him simply stop being there for her anymore. One day he was madly in love with her, and then it was over. He simply had walked out. On her, on love, on Abbey, all of it. It had been painful and humiliating for her. She knew he was more jealous than he wanted to show, but it was his own damned fault. And Brian had been there from the instant he turned his back on Khaat and had never left. He was still here. And that meant a lot. He was as stable and secure and rock steady and strong, as Rob was impulsive and childish. She wanted Rob to see Abbey, but she didn't know how they would ever work that out if Rob couldn't stay in the same room with her. She found herself reaching for Brian, for his steadiness, his security. He entwined his larger hand protectively around her smaller one to reassure her.

"So, Chris, who is going to deliver your baby?" Khaat asked. She was hoping that he was going to get someone really good to do the job. Personally, she hoped that he would allow her father to deliver the baby. Chris's situation was far from typical, and he would need good care. Robert Lupin would be the best bet for both Chris and the baby to survive safely.