Exton

The holidays have come and gone. Traeger could not make it home, but sent the children gifts, along with the box of clay from Paris. His assistant had the boxes stored in a secure room beneath his shop. Ob leans back in his chair, watching Lunar Eclipse set up for the night. Stoney hooks a chair with his foot and spins it around. The Gargoyle straddles it, sitting down with a sigh.

"*Hermano... speak to me."

Ob leans closer, knowing his brother didn't want their words overheard, or mentally caught. His sheilds are strong tonight. The Frenchman turns his head, watching his beautiful fairhaired wife where she sat, laughing with her equally beautiful sister-iin-law. Their children were just finishing up a very messy dessert.

"Chaton... she has refused to look in the box Rowan sent over. Everytime she looks at it, there is a shudder that... ~secoue son âme. She will not talk to even me." His dark brows draw together, his long straight hair sliding forward to hide his frown.

"Have you tried talking to her?"

"Oh oui... Little good it does. She is..." He purses his lips, choosing his words. "^têtu... inflexible. I have told her I would go through them with her. She just brushes it off."

Ob nods his head. "She is as strong willed as mi Bruha. They have to be, to be married to us. I know it is bugging you, but let her have time. She will either do it on her own, or come to you for your support. You cannot do this for her, Rem. She..." The Romani Gargoyle watches the women and children with a smile. "She is remarkable. Our **mujeres have gone through so much, and look at them... Smiling, devoted mothers and wives, even great friends."

"Such beauties hae' ta be, ta be married to lunkheads the likes of ye." Keon sets Mera on her feet and, after a quick hug to her da, runs to play with the others. The Dark Lord settles his long lean frame on a chair, crossing his legs at the ankles. "Repairs on the roof of the school are nearly done. 'Twould hae' been sooner, but the weather put a kink in things. I dinna want ta mess with Mortuis' wards by using a weather spell. Fae and magic such as his do nae always mesh well."

Keon laughs, giving the two Gargoyles a second's notice before two sticky figures drop out of the air and into their laps. The men fight to breathe as cookies are pushed against their mouths.

"Cookies!" and "We made them for you!" ring from two small voices as Alise and Pandora holler "Heads up!"

Wiping bits of smashed cookies and icing from their faces, the men reach to save their glasses before two small pairs of wings knock them off the table. Laughter erupts as the family tries to help clean up both the children and their fathers. Ob touches Stoney's mind. Give it time Bro... give it time. And, There is a slight grin in his mental voice, if need be, we can get the women to give her ... what's the phrase? Sisterly help?


*Brother

~shudders her soul

^stubborn

**woman