To Hell and Back

Ronata smiled and shook hr hair "no its called being in love Khaat , when you have some one that you feel is your soul mate you want them close, that and what you went threw your seeking safty, he gives you that in abundance." she said smiling as she moved to Khaat "and don't ever think your a wimp, you not your the strongest woman I have had the privalage to know " she said her hands resting on Khaats shoulders as she smiled to her.

"Thank you," she wrote. "Brian told me that Rob was the one who actually carried me out of there. I suppose Rob and I will always be bonded to each other in some form or another. I don't think I will ever really stop loving him. He was, after all, the first man I really loved, and he is Abbey's dad. But Brian, well, there's just somethign special there.

"I want my voice back, Ronata. I just don't know how to get it back. I don't know how my other friends will react when they find out I can't talk and I don't have my magic. They're going to look at me like I'm a squib, and they're not very accepting of squibs. That much hasn't changed. Brian is so patient. He just keeps telling me it will come, and Daddy doesn't act like I"m any different...."

As she was writing, she heard Dakota let loose with a defiant angry cry suddenly. Dakota was starting to show she could have a short temper when she didn't get her own way. The sudden sharp cry made Khaat jump. She dropped the pen in her hand and it rolled someplace out of sight on the floor. That left her not only rattled but frustrated now too. Any other time, she'd have just used her Accio spell and retrieve it. But she couldn't. Her magic, except for her healing spells, were useless.

Ronata loked at Dakota and then at Khaat Accioing the pen from where it had rolled "Khaat it will come back " she said softly "and there coping with it the best way they know how, you of all should know that " she said and handed her the pen again holding her hand for a moment "time is a healer, but time is fickle I can se if I can help if you want?" she asked not realy sure how or if she had that ability , she knew her mother did .

Khaat knew Ronata was right. Her friends would accept her if they were truly her friends. And Khaat also knew that if she had been one of her own patients, she would be far more patient and forgiving than she was being for herself. She was being far harder on herself than she should be. She took the pen back from her, trying not to be rattled by a normal baby noise. She soon heard Dakota's crying ease down. Someone else had taken care of it. All was well apparently.

Brian came in a moment later with the sniffling child. "Our girl needs a cookie," Brian laughed. He went to the cookie jar and lifted the lid and found it empty. He tried very hard to keep cookies for the babies in here. They were specially made at Sparks to be easy for the babies to gum. "Oh, I'm sorry, Dakota," he frowned. "I let us run out. I am so very sorry. Here. Let's cheat just this once." He conjured two cookies and gave one to Dakota who took it and began to try to chew on it. "Lets take the other one to your sister," He kissed Dakota's forehead, picking up the other cookie. "Sorry to disturb you, but cookies take precidence," Brian laughed, leaving.

Khaat opened the cookie jar. Yep, It was empty. She opened her recipe file box and drew out a recipe for arrowroot cookies. It was what she bought at Sparks for the babies. Then she wrote a note to Ronata, "Shall you and Jess and I make cookies for the babies? Maybe Jess would like some for her twins."

Ronata smiled and nodded "I'd love to learn how to do those and I think jess would love that for her twins" she said just as Jess walked in she saw her smiling at them both. Ronata smiled as jess moved to stand with them taking down a apron and tying it around her , Ronata took one down for her self and rolled up her sleeves and smiled.

"ok first wash hands right?" she said looking at Khaat with her eyes sparkeling at her.

Khaat nodded, washing her hands. She wished she could just flick her fingers and have the ingredients gather themselves like she used to do, but that wasn't happening without her voice. She went to her pantry adn drew out sugar, arrowroot flour, vanilla, baking powder, and salt. She drew out eggs and butter out of her refrigerator. From one of the kitchen drawers she drew out some small ring shaped cutters. The cookies just needed to be small and easy to handle.

She laid out the recipe on the counter in order that they could mix the cookies up easily and she drew out a large mixing bowl, a spoon, mixing cups and spoons, and a rolling pin. She went over and preheated the oven. As she was getting things out, her mother came in and said, "Baking? Good. Can we mix up a batch of chocolate chip cookies? Your father starts liking them this time of year, and it would be a nice treat for everyone I think." Khaat nodded. She presumed everyone liked warm chocolatey cookies.

Ronata smiled "ow lets do those, Steven loves them too " she said and as she loked at the ingrediants and tok out a bowl "this is going to be so much fun" she said and grinned at jess who smiled back at her also happy to be doing something now all the woman of the house were together in one room cooking for the men they loved and Ronata loved it feeling she was finally back but better stronger inside for this.

She took her bowl and waited to see just how Khaat wanted to make them.

"I can tell you how Khaat and Robert and Brian like them," Kate said quietly into Ronata's ear. She went to Khaat's pantry and pulled out a large jar of fresh pecans and a jar of toffee pieces. "Put some chopped toasted pecans in and some toffee pieces. And a lot of chocolate chips. Oh, and I know a chocolate orange ganache we can make to drizzle over them when we're done. If we're going to make sweets, lets make them sweet."

The chocolate orange ganache got Khaat's attention. She loved chocolate orange anything. Kate saw it had peaked her interest and she laughed. "You have to wait til they're done," she laughed. "Just think of how good they will be with a fresh cup of french roast, Dear."

Kate drew out the recipe out of the recipe box for the cookies. She knew the ganache recipe by heart. She began to hear the sound of a hard rain outside. She looked out and saw a bad storm starting. "Looks like a great day for fires in the fireplaces," she said. "If our men were thinking at all, they'd be making a large fire in the living room fireplace. But my guess is that they're not thinking. Let's just see who does it first. Whoever thinks of it first gets the first cookie."

Ronata smiled and thopugh back to steven and how and what he would like in them and smiled as she made the mixturre and added the chopped toasted pecans and some toffee pieces, then not alot of chocolate chips she smiled when she saw it weas just right and glanced at jess who was just adding in some chocolate chips and smiled at her.

Back in the living room Steven felt aq sight chill start standing he saw the fire unlit and moved placing some kindelingin he placed alog over and lit it , soon it was a blaze and warming the room, he looked at Robert, Brian and Jack "hope you didn't mind me lighting the fire?" he said moving to sit down again as he felt the heat from the fire warm the room.

Ronata chcukled as she saw steven and the fire now lit.

Khaat noticed Steven lighting the fire, and it made her silently laugh. She wasn't surprised at all that he'd picked up on it first. She was about to start stirring the arrowroot batter, when her seer's senses seemed to fire off. It distracted her. She found herself looking out the kitchen, towards the stairs.

"Khaat," Kate said, knowingly. "I feel it too, Dear. Relax. Its just your father. He's having a dream of some sort. It doesn't happen often, but every so often they get vivid enough to startle me too. He's fine." Khaat shook her head and handed her mother the spoon from the batter and went upstairs.

The closer she got to the room where her father slept, the more she began to smell a man's Turkish cologne. The closer the got, the stronger it got. She found her steps quickening, her wand drawn.

But when she entered the bedroom, she saw..no one. No one at all. Just the drape fluttering in a breeze that should not have been in a room with no open windows. Her father was in a deep sleep in the bed. She jerked open the closet door. Nothing. She looked under the bed. Nothing. Nothing anywhere that she could find, but the smell hung thick in the air around her and seemed to spin around her like a web. It wasn't really frightening. It was more odd than anything else.