Summer Picnic

Brian freshened up and tucked yesterday's clothes in the suitcase, and brought the suitcase out and put it in the living room. He heard Jack and Jess in the kitchen and they sounded like they were getting along well. He was glad for that. Jack had nowhere to go, and Jess spent too much time alone, or that was Brian's humble opinion anyway. She seemed happy enough, but she also just spent a lot of time by herself. He was glad to see she had another potential friend. Jack wasn't a bad sort, Brian didn't think, and maybe they might get along if Jess gave him half a chance.

He flicked his wand at the box to cast a warming spell to keep the rolls hot until they were ready to eat and took his cup back into the kitchen to refill it. He was surprised to see Jack cooking instead of Jess.

"Earning your keep, are you?" Brian asked. He peeked at the eggs in the skillet. "They look good. Well, who knew? A werewolf who cooks. Good for you," he teased. "By the way, I didn't see you disturbed during the night. How did you sleep? Any difficulties? And how's the dressing? Does it need changed yet? Let's not let it seep through the dressings if we can help it. Jess is as skilled as I am at changing a dressing, so maybe one of us should see to it after breakfast. Jess? What do you think?"

Brian tucked into the eggs and opened the box to the cinnamon rolls. He could eat a whole one if he was truly hungry, but at this point, he only wanted half. He got a knife from the kitchen and cut one of the rolls in half, and put one half on his plate.

"Help yourself, Jack," he said. "These never last very long at our house. Especially with hot coffee or hot tea." He got out his photo of himself with Khaat and Abbey. "This is my family. You met Khaat. That's my daughter, Abbey. Well, technically my stepdaughter, but her dad's not been around, ever, so as far as I'm concerned, she's always going to be mine. Believe it or not, the little buggar seems to be an Animagus already. Got that from her bio dad, and I'll wager that's the only thing from him she's ever going to get. She's smart as a whip, and addicted to berries of any kind. And, she's got Robert entirely suckered. She almost tethers herself to her 'Papa' when he comes to the house. And, of course he spoils her entirely rotten."

"Speaking of the women in our lives, what do you think of Jess?"

"I am lucky," Brian smiled. "I think you and I both know what it's like to not have an easy childhood. But, I also know that when Khaat came back into my life, I wasn't going to let her go ever again. My parents were killed when I was eight, and it was right around the same time I met Khaat. My older brother and sister were off at school themselves and weren't in position to take care of their baby brother. So, Kate and Robert took me in and helped me weather out a couple of very angry years. I was raised in their house, and Khaat and I were best friends. I rather lost track of her after we graduated because I worked...elsewhere. Robert summoned me home the night Abbey was born. I was with her in the delivery room. Her husband saw Abbey for just maybe sixty seconds, walked out, and never came back. Khaat almost died that night, and when Abbey was discharged, I took her home to my house. Then when Khaat was finally able to be released, I brought her home with me. And, well, things changed. I can't imagine not having her.

"Jack, if you find someone in your life that truly makes you happy, do yourself a favor and put in the work and make the relationship happen. I knew Khaat's Uncle Remus, and I saw how bloody miserable he was almost his whole life trying to stay away from people because he believed that his curse would make him unacceptable and dangerous both to other people. He only realized it long enough to marry Tonks and have Teddy before he died. Don't make Remus's mistake and think that you aren't good enough for a relationship. I think Remus's married life was one of the few times he was really happy so if you think that you're interested in Jess, then maybe you need to find out if it can go anywhere. That's just my though, for what little that might be worth."

"Certainly," Brian said. "I can get you in today, Jack, and then I'll get Khaat to get your membership straightened out. Robert does Tai Chi, and I learned it from him but we won't be seeing him today. He'll be long gone from there by now. He goes into the gym early and gets to work early. I think we can enjoy it without him, though."

Brian took them and ported them with him to St. Mungo's and took them down to the basement, to the gym, and he managed to get Jack in. He went into the locker room and changed to workout clothes and returned to one of the empty workout studios and cast a spell to play some appropriate soft relaxing music to do Tai Chi to and started doing some gentle stretches just to loosen up with. He had found that, although it looked simple, it was not simple at all, but it was just as likely to cause sore muscles at first as any other exercise. What Brian liked so much about it was that he found it excellent to help him reduce stress and anger. And, with a baby in the house and a new wife, his life was changing quickly. Stress management was a huge issue for him. He wanted so much to be a perfect father. It mattered very much because he had admired his father immensely, and he feared that he would never begin to measure up. That, and what did he know about making all the right decisions? What if he answered a question wrongly and scarred this tiny girl for life? And what did he know about raising an Animagus, anyway? A baby that gets put into the bathtub and instead of giggling at the bubbles, she changed into an excited, splashing Labrador pup? What was he to think of that or do with it?

He sighed and tried to push his anxieties about being a father out of his mind, and decided to start a few poses with some well paced breathing, to settle himself, while he waited on Jack and Jess.

"Take your time and work for flexibility. Use your core. The more accurate your poses are, the more you'll benefit from the workout," Brian said. "Each pose has a name, not that you'll know them at first, but each one uses muscles differently. Speed isn't important. This is about precision." He saw Jack watching Jess. "I suppose there are some other benefits to work outs." Jack asked him if he had looked at Khaat the same way the first time he saw her. Brian laughed.

"The first time I saw Khaat through different eyes was a little less than a year ago. Khaat was finally back on her feet, so I took her to a ball to get her out of the house one night. But when she came down the stairs of the house and I saw her in that evening gown, it changed everything. She was...something else. That images is burned in my mind forever. I wish I'd gotten a photograph of her in that moment, but I wasn't the least bit prepared for what she would look like as...as, well, a grown up." He laughed. "I had no idea the little girl I met with the long pigtails would look like that."

"Alright," he said, feeling a need to shift the subject. "Let's try something. He flicked his fingers at the wall to transfigure the wallpaper to mirrors so they could see their own positions and compare them to his own. "See if that helps you to perhaps start to work for a little precision in the poses. It doesn't have to be perfect. Just see how you do."