“What about Raul, don’t you need to find him?” Fang sniffled.

“Yeh, I do…but I need to do what’s right first. Raul’s the Primogen, he’s been making decisions for Clan Gangrel, and that’s fine. But I will no longer allow those decisions to carry over into Clan MacLeod. He’s got to learn that there is a difference and that we don’t operate by the same rules. And then, he’s got to answer for last night.” Seeing the questioning look on Fang’s face, Cash waved his question aside. “Later, after we’ve found the girls, I don’t want to have to explain it more than once. Suffice it to say, I am not pleased.”……..

Cat couldn’t help grinning from ear to ear as she recalled the smile on Sirius’s face when she had suggested a ‘family’ discussion between they and Harry. Harry had been only too happy to spend some quality time with Siri and Edana, he really did seem to like the idea of being a big brother. In fact, it was Harry who had been holding Edana when Cat had finally convinced herself that putting off reading Sev’s letters wasn’t doing anyone any good.

Setting down her tea on the table, Cat stared blankly at the letters for several minutes, thinking over all the possible things they could contain and how it would effect not only her life, but Harry’s, Sirius’s and quite possibly Edana’s and Callista’s as well. And then there was Rick’s news to add into the brew, about the way Sev had been injured by the Tremere, and Roel’s condition, and the fact that no one was telling her the whole truth.

Realizing that the letter’s weren’t about to read themselves, Cat sighed deeply as she picked up the stack and untied the deep burgundy ribbon that held them together. She smiled tenderly as she recognized the ribbon as one she had worn earlier in the year, it had kept sliding out of her hair and she had tossed it aside in annoyance. She had no idea that Sev had picked it up and kept it, leave it to him to be so sentimental. She picked up the first letter, studying the hastily scrawled name on the envelope, this one must have been when he had first heard of her leaving with the others. Sure enough, as she broke open the seal and read, she could tell both by the wording and the penmanship that he had been terribly upset when he had written it.

She could feel his pain and anger as she read on, but most of all, she could feel his confusion and loneliness. He couldn’t understand how she could go from his arms to Sirius’s within a matter of hours, his words were sharp and to the point, he felt hurt, and rightfully so. Cat carefully folded the letter and returned it to its envelope as she digested his words. She could picture the look in his eyes as he wrote the letter, he had probably been close to tears, and considering everything they had shared over the previous twenty-four hours, he must have been feeling betrayed as well.

With a heavy heart, Cat picked up the next letter, dated two days after the first, if anything, it was even more difficult for her to read. It had been addressed the same way as the first, ‘My Dearest Catri”, it had started out evenly enough, but quickly broke her heart as he poured out his feelings onto the parchment. He had apologized over and over for the tone of his previous letter, explaining that he had been upset and worried about her and Harry when he had written it. He was all but begging her to return to the school and to him, insisting that he had something of monumental importance to discuss with her.

Cat winced as she read the last line over once more,…..she had the distinct feeling she knew what was so important, she had seen the way he had been looking at her. She had feared that he had wanted to propose to her, but it was something that her clan would never approve of, and she knew it. “Oh, Severus, what have I done? I’ve treated you horribly, and I didn’t even realize it until just a few days ago. I had thought you would grow tired of me, or at the very least decide you couldn’t sully your pure blood with mine.” she sighed. But she knew the moment he had kissed her in Hogsmeade that he wasn’t nearly as concerned with the state of his blood as he was the state of his heart.

Closing her eyes, she leaned back in her chair, smiling softly as she remembered their date at “Arbour of the Moon’s Enchantment” he had tried so hard to make everything so perfect, despite the flood and gigantic insects. But the part she had appreciated the most, was the way he had dealt with Esmeralda. No trying to be polite, no pretending he didn’t see what she was doing, he simply took matters into his own hands and defended her honour, even if he nearly broke Esmeralda’s wrists in doing so.

Gods! Esmeralda Filch, even the thought of the name turned her stomach, pure blooded or not, that woman was best given a wide berth by anyone with any dignity. Cat cringed as the sight of Esmeralda and Sirius flashed across her mind, when would she ever be able to put that night behind her? When would seeing the man she loved in the arms of another woman stop tearing her heart out? The familiar feelings of uncertainty and self doubt reared as she looked at the remaining letters. She knew exactly what Sev would say, ‘he used you once, what makes you think he isn’t using you now’. But had he been using her then? His loved seemed real enough, and he certainly seemed to adore her clan every bit as much as they adored him.

Before she could quite her doubts, she had heard herself think it….. ‘But Sirius is desperate now, he’s a wanted man, he needs someone to love him, to take care of him, if not you, then someone else. If he had never been sent to Azkaban, would his feelings for you be so intense? Wouldn’t he have forgotten you and married someone else by now?’ Cat shook her head, trying to clear such hurtful thoughts from her mind. It would be so easy to believe that Sirius was just pretending to love her in order to protect himself from the Ministry, but to believe that, she would have to disregard everything she knew to be true about him. His love and devotion to Harry, his friendship with Cash and Remus, …..the tenderness in his eyes when he looked at her, the way he was still keeping his promises to her, even all these years later.

“What am I going to do? I still have so many doubts about Siri, and Severus has never been anything but sweet and kind to me. But he and Harry despise each other almost as much as he and Siri do. And my clan would never accept Sev, would they? He’s so closed minded to non-humans, or at least he seems to be, yet he told me how much he loves me, he knows I’m not human.” Cat sighed deeply as she wiped away a stray tear. “I can’t possibly love them both, it isn‘t right……”

Arthur leaned back in his chair as he swatted away the memos that were hovering around his head. At this particular moment, ‘nothing’ could possibly be more important to him than Charlie’s letter. Arthur felt a large grin growing on his face as he read about the new breed of dragon his son was working with, but more to the point, he saw that Charlie had sent Molly a reply regarding Meg.

Arthur laughed out loud as he read Charlie’s notation -or perhaps ‘translation’ would be more correct - between the ‘Mum’ letter and the ‘Dad’ letter. He had to hand it to Charlie, the boy knew what he was doing were Molly was concerned. Mentioning only that it would be wonderful to meet a ‘nice’ girl, a ‘respectable’ girl. However to his father, the words chosen were far less polite, but infinitely more honest.

Charlie was lonely, horribly so, both physically and emotionally. He wanted to find someone to be with on a steady basis, a woman he could love, maybe even marry. He confided that he was worried he would never find anyone and have the sort of relationship his parents did. And even if he did, would she be wiling to marry him and have a large family?

Arthur couldn’t help but smile as he realized how much Charlie and he were alike. Both hard working men with simple needs, the need to love and be loved. No grandiose schemes of power or riches, no search for pure blooded wives or positions of great political importance, just a wife that they loved and a family to share that love with. Reflecting back on his life, Arthur realized yet again how truly blessed he had been. He and Molly had found each other in school, granted it hadn’t been love at first sight, more of a blossoming friendship than anything else. But when Molly’s family had talked of moving away and he had realized he may never see her again, he quickly appreciated how empty his life would be without her. It was right about that time that he also understood how much he loved her.

He had proposed to her that night, much to her parent’s chagrin, they had wanted her to marry better, or at least richer. But she loved him and she accepted before her parents even had the chance to say a word. He smiled tenderly as he remembered the way she had flung her arms around his neck, crying with happiness as she kissed him over and over…..within the year, their first son, Bill, had been born. They had become concerned when it had taken her so long to conceive Charlie, but after a few trips to the healers it was discovered that her mother had hexed her, hoping that she would finally “smarten up” and leave Arthur for a better arrangement. Luckily, Arthur’s grandfather, a very capable wizard, intervened and took care of that little problem. Although he did tease from time to time that maybe he had done his job a bit too well, especially when Ginny and Ron followed so quickly after the twins and Percy……..

Cat rubbed her tear filled eyes as she finished the last letter and hung her head. Not only did Severus still love and want her, he was hurt by her lack of response, save for the two rather ‘cold’ replies that had appeared in his chamber. She shook her head, she knew exactly what she had said in those letters, and one was a personal invitation to join her at Fernglennis, complete with detailed instructions on how to get to her. Who was doing this to him, and to her? It was bad enough to know that her actions had caused him so much pain, but then to find out someone at the school was adding to his burden angered her beyond belief. Not to mention the danger of those directions falling into the wrong hands, if someone like Malfoy ever got their hands on them….. Well, it was best she knew of it know, she and Orpha would simply have to change the spells around again, it was near time to do that anyway.

Cat smirked as she remembered the way Aunt Orpha, Siobhan, her mother, Diedre, and herself would go to the edge of their world on every equinox and solstice to change the spells that protected Fernglennis from the outside worlds. By the time anyone had figured out one set, another would be in place, and using multiple witches, who used a mixture of many different types of magic, only made the task of unravelling them more difficult.

Cat startled as she heard a large rumbling coming from her own stomach, looking at the clock, she was surprised to see that only a little over an hour had passed. Well, if nothing else, it seemed her queasy stomach had left her, it must have been all the stress of waiting to find out what Severus’s feelings were that had been making her feel so ill. But now that she had what she sincerely hoped was all the information in front of her, she felt positively ravenous.

Deciding she needed a break to think everything over and stretch her legs, Cat went down to the kitchen to get another cup of tea and to find something to snack on. Although she couldn’t resist poking her head in on Sirius, Harry and Edana on her way. She found herself smiling happily as she saw that Callista had joined them as well, playing a game of snakes and ladders with Harry while Sirius cradled Edana in one arm and held one of Harry’s Quidditch book in the other.

“Don’t you think she’s a ‘bit’ young to be teaching her Quidditch strategies already? At least wait until she can walk on her own.” Cat teased, startling Sirius who rolled his eyes and smiled indulgently at her.

“Never to young to start. Besides, if we want to win the Quidditch cup with the MacLeod-Black team, we need to start training them in the womb. I mean, Harry’s good, but I’m not sure he’ll be able to catch a Snitch at Forty….and at the rate we’re going, it may take that long to get the team together.” he teased, hoping that Cat would be in a playful mood. Although her red eyes and tear-stained face didn’t make him feel very confident.

“Ha, ha, ha…very funny Mr. Black. Harry, do something about him, would you?”

“She’s right, you know,” Harry grinned, “it’s not as bad as you think. We’ve got me, and Calli would make a great chaser, have you seen her and Sara go at it? Edana can be the keeper when she learns to fly…….. Mum, I think I’ll need brothers to be the beaters though…twins would be nice. Fred and George are amazing together, think you can manage a pair of them?” Harry joked, smiling widely as both Sirius and Cat stared at him with unabashed looks of shock on their faces as Calli laughed herself silly.

“He’s your son, Siri, not a doubt in my mind. Not anymore…” Cat murmured as she turned to walk down the hall.

“Hey, wait, gra, Cat.” Sirius yelled after her as he got up and followed her, Edana still in his arms. “Wait……are you alright, gra? You look a little weepy. Are you ……” he sighed as he looked into her eyes. “Are we still good? Have you changed your mind on me?” he asked softly.

“You have the nerve to ask me that while you’re holding my goddaughter and acting all daddy-like?” she smirked, giving him a sad smile as she brushed a lock of hair off of his face and tucked it behind his ear. “How is Calli holding up today? She seemed a bit down the last few days.”

“She’s fine, gra. She and Harry have been by my side since you left this morning. I finally had to take Edana back from them so she could get some peace.” he looked down at the baby as he smiled brightly. “Harry makes a wonderful big brother, just in case you hadn’t already figured that out, both to our little Edana and to Callista. Although I think she still has a bit of a crush on him.”

Sirius looked into Cat’s eyes as he cupped her face with his free hand. “Answer my question, gra. Are ‘you’ alright? I thought you’d be upstairs longer than this, its only been a little over an hour.”

“Watching the clock are you?”

“And you are evading my question.” he reminded her firmly. “I can tell you’ve been crying, Cat.” he stated as he tilted her head, kissing her softly on her lips. “If you don’t want to talk about it or him, that’s fine. But let me know about you, I need to know that you’re okay. I know how emotional you can get, and you haven’t been eating right, or sleeping right, and after your escapades yesterday…..to say I’m worried about you is an understatement.”

“I’m not exactly okay, but I will be fine.” Cat replied softly as she leaned against his shoulder placing one hand on his chest and the other on Edana’s head. “I just needed a break, and as for not eating…. I think I can safely say that’s over…I’m positively starved. I was on my way to get some tea and maybe some biscuits or something.”

“Do you want me to keep you company?” Siri asked hopefully.

“No, you go on back to the kids,” she responded as she placed a soft kiss on his neck. “I need some time to think, and not just about Severus….it seems someone has altered the letters I sent to him.” She hushed Sirius as he made a comment about her sending him letters. “Siri, please, listen to me first before you get angry. When I dropped off the presents, I left Sev a letter, apologizing to him for not waiting for him to get back to the school before I left and inviting him here. You have to realize that my clan will want to meet him too.”

“Now why would they want to meet a greasy twit like him?” Sirius asked flatly, “I know I wouldn’t want to.”

“Sirius….” she warned as he rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath. “As I was saying, in this letter, I left instructions on how to find me. They were complicated and needed powerful magic, but I know he has it in him to perform it. The problem is, he didn’t get ‘MY’ letter, he got a letter someone forged to make it look like it was from me. Which means………..”

“Merciful Goddess…..someone has the instructions on how to get here and find Harry.” Sirius finished for her. “Cat…..we need to take care of this right now, if anything…”

“Shhhh, that’s what I’m going to do right now. Chances are no one’s come through or we would have known about it. But I’m going to ask Duncan to let the chats roam free for a few days, just in case, - along with a few other…….four legged precautions. And later today, Orpha, Tris , Siobhan and I will take care of the spells protecting Fernglennis from outsiders. If they aren’t clan, they won’t get through, they’ll be stuck in the veil until we pull them out…..IF we pull them out.”……..

“So, what do you think they’re talking about?” Calli asked as she watched Harry spy on Kitty and Sirius through the half open door.

“I’m not sure, neither of them look very happy though.” Harry whispered, a frown on his face. “If Snape’s done something to ruin this, so help me, I’ll……I’ll…..” Harry sputtered

“You want to turn him into a toad or a troll or something?” Calli suggested

“No, a toad would be improving his looks, at least no one cares if a toad is greasy and slimy” Harry countered, smirking as Calli’s eyes grew wide.

“Wow, you really don’t like him, do you? Okay then, maybe you can let Sara and her Da have a go at him. Have you ever seen Bruid when he’s protecting his own? He’s positively frightening, and let me tell you something, after listening to Sara talk about you, he definitely considers you and Sirius as ‘his own’.” Calli informed him, “I just hope he and Aunt Siobhan get back together, its breaking Sara’s heart not to be able to be with them both.”

Harry knit his brow, intrigued enough to turn away from Sirius and Cat’s conversation to encourage Calli to keep talking. “What do you mean? Why aren’t they together? I thought they were just having an argument or something like that.”

“Oh no, nothing like that. Siobhan is righteously angry with him. According to LJ and Sabrina, Bruid’s been lying to her for years about who he is. She thought he was just some demon halfling or something, but it turns out he’s the king’s younger son. And when his elder brothers died, his ‘people’ came looking for him. It wasn’t a very pleasant scene to say the least…”

“I bet it wasn’t… did he hurt a lot of them?” Harry asked, picturing the massive Bruid with his wings extended and muscles poised to fight.

“Him, no- not many…..but Siobhan, WOW!!! I heard Bruid left with them just to stop Aunt Siobhan from killing anymore. She took out half a dozen of them without even working up a sweat and no ones really sure how many she injured, I‘ve heard as many as a score. According to Sabrina, they thought if the grabbed Sara, Bruid would come along without a fight.”

“They did WHAT to Sara?!” Harry growled, clenching his fist as he felt a surge of protectiveness wash over him.

“Relax, Harry, she’s fine. They knew better than to hurt her, she’s their prince’s daughter after all.” Calli reminded him. “Its just Aunt Siobhan went a little crazy when she saw these strangers with Sara all tied up. I mean, if they would have knocked on our door and discussed this like a normal person, I don’t think anyone would have died. But you’ve seen how protective our mothers are, especially yours.” she added, sticking out her tongue at him as he rolled his eyes.

“Yeh, don’t remind me. But I guess I can see how Siobhan would react if my Mum is any indication. I mean, she torched an entire bog and was cutting off heads left and right.” he shuddered as he recalled the scene.

“Yup, head shots, it’s the first killing blow we’re taught.” Calli nodded. “It will kill most anything, even so called ‘immortal’ creatures, or at the very least slow them down until we can run for help.”

“You mean to tell me, the first thing Uncle Duncan is going to teach me to do with a sword is cut off someone’s head?” Harry asked, looking positively queasy

“You mean your Mum hasn’t taught you yet? Come on, cousin, that’s something most nine years old can do….it they can reach, that is.”………

Rick yawned sleepily as he shuffled his way towards Snape’s room, secretly dreading the fact that the professor had chosen to return to his own rooms instead of back to Angel‘s. Her rooms were so much warmer and inviting, she loved the feel of different textures, the layering of patterns and shapes. Her chambers were full of fragrances that brought to mind warm summer days, filled with flowers and soft rains, and she knew how to make a vampyre comfortable.

On the other hand, Rick severely doubted that even Severus was ‘comfortable’ in his own rooms. While richly appointed, the rooms were dark and gloomy, even the velvet spread, which under any other circumstances would be considered extravagantly decadent, seemed darkly foreboding, even ominous in such a setting. It was obvious that Sev needed a woman’s touch in his life, if not Angel, then someone else. He mentally ran over all the women around Sev’s age that were still available within the clan, it was an overwhelmingly small number. Most of them had been married for years already, there were of course a few widows, and the odd bachelorette here and there, but all in all the choices were rather limited.

Rick paused outside of Sev’s chamber, listening at the door and smiling as he heard the deep, even breathing of the sleeping professor. Well, if nothing else a good sleep would help him heal even more, although Rick could hardly wait to ask Sev what had happened last night. How had Cash known that Hamish had never come to watch him, and perhaps why Cash was angry with Raul. But more than anything else, Rick wanted to tell him about the look on Angel’s face when he told her about the letters ‘she’ had left for him. It was obvious that the letters he had received were not from her, she had wanted him to come and stay with her, she had said so herself, someone else was interfering with her letters.

Opening the door silently, Rick smiled as he watched Sev sleeping, his hair framing his face like some dark halo, making his pale skin seem even more like an artist’s fine marble, or perhaps it simply reminded him of his own skin. Rick paused for a moment as he realized how much Severus resembled a storybook vampire, the fixed expression, the dark clothes, the foreboding expression. Except, of course, when Angel was with him, it was one of the few times Rick had seen the professor smile and laugh while a healthy blush would play across his cheeks. She did something to him, to his heart and soul, it was as if she infused him with some of her own life, allowing him to experience joy and happiness through her.

Leaning over the bed, Rick softly kissed Sev’s forehead as he made sure the potion master was tucked in warmly. He frowned as he felt how cool Sev’s skin was, it must be this place, it just wasn’t healthy for him, not now, not after he had been through so much over the past few weeks.

Sighing deeply, Rick went to the fireplace and stoked the flames, hoping to warm up the room. “If this doesn’t work, Sev, I’m taking you back to her room. I don’t dare take you to Fernglennis, at least not yet. But I’m not going to let you here to get sick again.” he promised as he sat on the edge of the bed. “Its going to be hard enough for me to lose Roel, and I honestly think we are going to lose him, he has no desire to live anymore. I can’t even bear the thought of it you know, every time I think of it, I just freeze up….”

Rick sat in silence for several minutes, feeling the weight of countless decades and endless nights as they replayed in his mind. The night Roel had been embraced, the first night he had taken Roel out to hunt without Cash or the others, their long talks about everything from the meaning of life to which cousin had the nicest hooters. Nothing between them had been off limits, good or bad, there had been nights they drove each other absolutely mad, and others when no one else could ease the loneliness and pain of eternity.

He startled slightly as he felt himself dropping off, he needed sleep too, he was far too tired to do anyone any good and he knew it. Looking longingly at the bed, Rick smirked as he imagined Sev’s response to waking up in bed with him. Would he be more upset at sharing his bed with a man, or a vampyre? Well, it looked as though now was a good time to find out, Rick thought as he crawled over Severus and laid down next to him, on top of the covers, and fell asleep quickly.

Cat yawned as she waited for the tea to steep, it seemed as though the past week was now catching up with her quickly. Or then again, maybe it was just her subconscious trying to delay making a decision on what to do about Severus. She knew what she ‘should’ do, but she also knew that one look into his chocolate eyes and she would melt, just as she had done every other time this year. “To bad I can’t marry them both,” she smirked as she rummaged through the cabinets, looking for something to snack on. “but then again I’d probably waste more time keeping them from killing each other than I would being a wife.” she dead panned. “Now if it were Sirius and Remus…” Cat slapped her hand over her mouth as she realized what she had just said. “Oiy, I’m definitely needing some sleep, I shouldn’t even be thinking such things, as if two of them isn’t enough, now I’m bringing in a third. Especially after seeing that mark Tris left him with.”

“Mother, I wish you were here with me. I could really use your advise right now. I do honestly love them both, but its such a different ‘type’ of love. When Sev’s around I feel as if I’m the only woman in the world, he’s so attentive, so charming. For the love of heaven, he wept the first night we were together, he loves me so much. He’s always been there for me, always, even when we were in school and they used to beat him up for being nice to the ‘outcast’, he never, ever turn from me…..not once. And when Sirius and I broke up, when I found him with her, even James couldn‘t find me. I ran into the forbidden forest until I was lost, I finally couldn‘t run anymore and threw myself on the ground and sobbed. But Sev found me, he held onto me and made me feel as if things might be alright after all.” she sighed, remembering vividly the way Sev had allowed her to cry on his shoulder, holding her until well passed dark. Refusing to leave her alone in the dangerous forest, insisting she needed to get back to her house before Dumbledore sent out a search party for her.

He himself had walked her back to the tower, insisting that one of the Gryffindors get Lily to come to the portrait and get her. He had refused to hand her over to anyone but ‘her sister’, not even James had stood a chance of taking her from Sev at that point. The next day, Lily had told her how sweet Severus had been over the whole thing. She said he had tears in his eyes as he finally let go of her, relinquishing her safety and care to Lily. He had even cornered some of the younger Gryffindors at breakfast the next day, terrorizing them into tell him everything they knew about the situation.

Cat smirked mirthlessly as she thought of that phrase, “everything they knew”….it had been years now, and she was no closer to knowing what had actually happened to cause Sirius’s sudden change of heart that night. Although she did remember him sporting a black eye a day or two later, she had heard varying stories regarding one of the other marauder’s getting angry with him over his behaviour and letting him have it. She also had heard how no one had bothered to stop the fight; not the marauders, not the other Gryffindors, not any of the Hogwarts students had dared to step in.

It struck Cat as being nothing short of amazing how one moment, one choice in a person’s life could affect so many others for so long. Sirius, for whatever reason, had chosen to take Esmeralda to the dance, he had chosen to ‘be’ with her that night, spurning Cat, betraying everything she thought they had meant to each other. And they were all still feeling the repercussions of that one choice, even to this very moment.

If only Sirius could tell her why he did it, maybe then she could somehow put it behind her. Maybe she could even justify it in her own mind; had he been drunk, had he thought that she no longer cared for him, was it just some sort of test to see what she would do without him? Once again she felt the pangs of regret, if only they had been able to talk it out then and there, but he had been so angry, so hateful towards her after wards.

So what was she doing here with him now? How could she still feel so in love with him when she knew what he was capable of, and would she ever really be able to forget what he had done, would she be able to truly trust him with her heart as she had back then? But she did still love him, she felt it every time she thought about him, every glance into his eyes, every gentle touch or passionate kiss brought all the old feelings to the surface once again. And he had been so contrite about his behaviour, he had apologized for what he had done, over and over again. He had told her time and time again that he had never loved anyone the way he loved her, but he still couldn’t offer her any explanation for his actions, it was as if he had no idea why he had done it either.

And then there was her clan, they adored Sirius - well, everyone but Maharet - and Harry, Harry loved Sirius. He had told her on a number of occasions he wanted Siri to ‘be’ his father, hell, he had even requested that for his Christmas present. She twirled her hair around her finger mindlessly as she tried to weigh her options as logically as possible. The smart choice would be Severus, she knew that, he was well off, respected, strong, powerful and obviously in love with her, but her son despised him and she doubted the depths of her own feelings for him. “Maybe I should just toss a coin.” she sighed.

“Toss a coin for what?” Lia asked, startling Cat, as she and Amber came into the kitchen, carrying a large box in her arms. “And before you go into some detailed explanation, do me the favour of taking this back first.” she grinned.

“Take it back? I don’t remember giving anything that large to you, at least not recently.” Cat retorted as she brought the pot of tea and several cups to the table.

“You didn’t, I sent it to you, or at least I tried to, about fifteen years ago I think.” Lia smirked. “Seems it never got to you, Orpha just came across it as she was digging through one of her closets.”

“One of Orpha’s closets?? Wow, we’re lucky it was found in the same century, I can still remember getting lost in one of her closets…..last time I ever played dress up with her stuff.” Cat grinned, instantly recalling how she had wandered into one of those closets, intent on finding Aunt Orpha’s indigo scarf so she could tie it around her face like the harem girls did. She ended up somewhere in the twelfth century, near Turkey, but at least she had found the scarf. “So where did this come from?”

“It was things your friends had sent to you while you were abroad. I think this one went to Japan and back, you must have crossed locations somehow.” Lia guessed as she untied the string and opened the box, immediately wrinkling her nose as she opened the flaps.

“Please tell me there was nothing perishable in there.” Cat shuddered as she saw the looks on Lia and Amber’s faces.

Amber shook her head “I’m not promising anything” she quipped, ‘’cept that it smells funny, and not funny in a good way.”

“Fine, fine” Cat sighed melodramatically, causing the ladies to giggle. “You pour the tea, I’ll brave the mystery box. Think you can handle that cousin?”

“Suits me just fine.” Amber grinned “Just make sure nothing bites you when you stick your hands in there.” They all laughed again as Lia tossed a tea towel over Amber’s head and told her to hush.

“Alright, let’s see what we have here.” Cat stated as she peered inside the box. “Oh, look!! Pictures of Lily, James and Harry…..wasn’t he just the cutest baby?” she cooed as she started lovingly at the picture. Tears welled up in her eyes as she saw Lily smiling and waving back at her as James held Harry so she could see him better. She placed the pictures on the table one by one, allowing Lia and Amber to see them as well, fussing over baby Harry as he smiled in this one, or hiccupped in another.