Family Dinners

[Thatcher Scotts]

Thatcher had sent for his children on a Friday night, last night, planning on having them home for the weekend and sending them back to the school Sunday night. Technically, they were supposed to stay at school except on Holidays, but who was Dumbledore to tell him no?

Their aunt, his sister, Tanya, would be visiting, and it would be good for his children to see her again. He was losing hope in his two eldest, though there was still time to convert them, but Thane was still young and impressionable, and Xavier was shaping up quite well so far.

He pass by the bottom of the stairs, calling up to tell his children to hurry down. "Your Aunt will be here soon," he added, finally on his way to see his wife.

[Alicia Scotts]

Alicia was happy that her children were home for the weekend. It was nice to see them every once in awhile since they were at school and she rarely got to see them except on Holidays and different weekends that Thatcher sent for them. The house elf was in the kitchen cooking away while Alicia helped out a bit. Once things were less hectic in the kitchen, she walked out to the dining room to make sure the plates and such were set perfectly.

Catching her reflection in the mirror, she smoothed out a few stray hairs and went back to setting up the table. As she sat the last plate in place, she noticed her husband walking into the dining room. A smile spread across her face. "Hey," she said walking to him.

[Thatcher Scotts]

"Hey," he said, and his whole countinace softened at the sight of his wife. She was beautiful, yes, but he loved her deeply, and she always had a calming effect on him.

He brought her into his arms, kissing her briefly. "How is everything coming along?" He didn't really need to ask; he trusted both his wife and the house elves, but it was his way of segueying into a compliment for her.

[Alicia Scotts]

She hugged Thatcher happily. "Everything is perfect as usual. Tibby is doing great. I had to help a little bit, but that was no problem. We're just waiting for things to come out of the oven." Alicia never minded helping in the kitchen. After all cooking was one of her favorite things to do, and it usually gave her something to do whenever Thatcher was gone out.

"I imagine everything with the children is coming along on time?"

[Thatcher Scotts]

Thatcher sighed. "I suppose... as much as usual. Gwen's taking her time. The boys are nearly all washed and dressed, though."

For what they had, the immense diversity in personalities in the house, they were a fairly happy family, and he loved the moments when he realized this. As hard as he could be on his children, he was a sentimental man after all. He blamed that on Alicia. She was the one who put the human in him.

[Alicia Scotts]

Alicia laughed. "Of course Gwen is taking her time! She's a girl! We have to take our time in order to look as good as we do." She gave Thatcher a wink before a kiss on the cheek. "At least we know that she is going to look presentable, that is what matters. The boys don't have to take forever to get ready, you know that. All you have to do is wash your face and brush through your hair. That takes just about maybe ten minutes tops. We have a lot more hair to take care of, we have to keep our hair nice and everything else."

[Thane Scotts]

Thane came down the stairs first, of course he'd forgotten his shoes but he didn't even notice. At least his hair was brushed this time and he was grinning thinking about Regina and her brush, it was the reason he'd remembered it because he was thinking about her. Thane was carrying his cat Gus with him and went in to see what his parents were doing.

[Thatcher Scotts]

Thatcher smiled. "I don't buy any of that," he told her. "Both of my girls are beautiful without doing anything." But, he knew, it was worth it to wait on a woman. They always did make sure they were perfect before they allowed anyone to see them.

He let go of his wife when Thane appeared and gave his son a once over. You would think a child that smart would realize he was barefoot.

"Thane, where are..." he trailed off and shook his head. He knew if he was patient, Gwen would come down with his shoes for him. It was useless asking now because the boy probably didn't even remember where he took them off.

[Alicia Scotts]

Alicia gave one more smile to Thatcher before turning to Thane. She too noticed that he was barefoot. Poor Thane was extremely smart, but forgetful. Of course she loved him all the same. Each one of them had their on quirks, but it made them a better family.

"Good evening Thane," she said with a smile and hugging him. "Come on and bring Gus. There's some food for him already set out." Gwen would make sure that Thane would get his shoes.

[Thane Scotts]

Thane scratched Gus's head one last time before setting him down on the ground where the food had been set for him. The cat immediately headed to the food and Thane rolled his eyes. He would swear the cat only liked him because he got to eat like a king when they were home, otherwise he would probably have hidden in Regina's room when it came time to head home for the weekend. He shook his head and looked up grinning at his parents.

Thane was the smartest child, smart enough not to blindly follow everything he'd been told and he was sure it drove his parents crazy but they couldn't fault him for being a walking encyclopedia. Except for the fact that he was barefoot of course, he still hadn't noticed that fact and went over to his mom to give her a hug. "Dinner smells great mom." His mother was the best cook in his opinion.

[Guinevere Scotts]

Gwen heard Thane leave his room, and that was her cue to go make sure he had gotten everything. Had Aunt Tanya not been coming over, she would have waited, but she figured her father would appreciate it if she took care of Thane first.

Sure enough, there were his shoes, right by the door.

She shook her head and grabbed them, padding down the stairs in her own bare feet. She was still dressed in a muggle pair of pajames, and her hair was wet from her shower.

"Thane," she said, leaning in from the doorway, catching her parents' eyes as well. "Come here."

[Xavier Scotts]

Xavier stood preening at the mirror for a few minutes. He was ready, of course, but he couldn't be the goody-goody who showed up first. Besides, he wanted to make sure he looked good. Aunt Tanya was coming over, and he wanted to impress her as the "good" nephew, who understood what was really important.

He straightened his robe once more, and plucked an imaginary piece of lint from the fabric. Then he headed down with a cynical smirk on his face. Spotting Gwen fussing over a barefoot Thane, he rolled his eyes in disgust. Those two were so close, it made him a little sick. No one fussed over him like that. Not that he wanted them to, of course.

He walked over and leaned against the wall, his arms folded across his chest. "Forget something again, Thane? You are going to lose your head one of these days, if you're not careful."

[Alicia Scotts]

"Thanks dear," she replied. "Tibby is still working on something. She told me that she wanted to make the dessert so I let her. At first I was going to help her, but she insisted that she do it herself instead." Alicia smiled down at Thane, who happened to be getting taller. Soon, he was going to be as tall as she was, and she wouldn't doubt by beginning of next year Thane would be taller than her.

Just as she was going to say something else to Thane, Gwen came down with his shoes. Alicia smiled at her only daughter, although she looked her over she shook her head. "Run on back upstairs Gwen. Aunt Tanya will be here any minute and you're still not ready!" She looked as Xaiver came down the stairs. "Xaiver, don't tease your brother." Alicia gave him a stern look before walking over and hugging him. She didn't care if he didn't like her hugging him. He was just going to have to deal with it. She straightened his robes back out from her hugging him and then took a step back. Now, Timothy needed to come down and Gwen needed to hurry up and finish getting ready, then they would all be ready.

[Thane Scotts]

Thane looked up when a pajama'd sister and his brother, who was only a year younger than himself, both appeared in the doorway and both saying something about forgetting something. He saw his shoes dangling from his sister's fingertips and he blushed. "Ooops! Heh.. thanks Sis, I dunno what I'd do without you." He love his sister and he playfully shoved his brother for his comment. Even if Xavier was the golden child, he still loved his brother who reminded him of his Aunt Tanya.

He grabbed his shoes and went to put them on. He considered messing up his brother's hair but then they'd end up wrestling on the floor again and he was sure his dad would flay them alive if they started up while his aunt was supposed to visit. "I'd never loose my head, it has too much important stuff in there to forget."

[Guinevere Scotts]

Gwen smacked Xavier on the shoulder lightly as he passed. "Leave him alone," she said. "Even if he does lose his head, I'll find it for him."

She too resisted the urge to reach out and ruffle his hair, but then he'd find some way to get her back for it, and she wasn't in the mood tonight.

She gave her mother a smile and nodded. "I know, I know. I'm hurrying." And she quickly gave her father her biggest puppy eyes to keep him placated. "I'm hurrying," she repeated, turned and rushing back up the stairs.

[timothy]

Timothy rolled over and slowly opened his eyes, realizing what time it was he jumped out of bed and ran to his closet. Rummaging through he pulled out his nicest dress robes black with a yellow trim. Throwing the robe on he grabbed his comb and did a quick fix it job on his hair. Opening the door to his room he peered down the hallway and made a dash for the stairs. Jumping onto the railing he held on tightly as he slid down the banister and landing at the foot of the stairs, walking into the dining room he smiled at his family.

Seeing Xavier over by the wall pouting he rushed over and quickly ruffled his hair. "Hey Xav!" He walked over and hugged his mother tightly. "Something sure smells good mom!" Looking at his dad he beamed. "So dad when is Aunt Uptight..." Pausing for a moment he flashed a wink towards his older sister Gwen and younger brother Than. "Sorry I mean Aunt Tanya, when is she supposed to be here?"

[Xavier Scotts]

Xavier groaned as his mother hugged him. "Aw, come on, mom," he protested. But it was a half-hearted protest, at best. He really did enjoy the attention, especially when they weren't in front of people. He couldn't have people see him being hugged, but right now, he was home, and he did love his mother.

"I can't help teasing Thane... he forgets everything. How can someone be so smart and so dumb at the same time?" he said to no one in particular.

As Timothy came down and ruffled his hair, he let out a loud protest. "Hey! You know I spent an hour on that!" he shouted, giving Timothy a shove.

[Tanya Scotts]

Tanya had left St. Mungo's early today, her patients all in various states of unrest. She was very meticulous on who she tried to save more than who never recovered from the magical intensive care unit. She took her orders of course from the Dark Lord, when someone was useful to him she made extra effort to save them, she was very skilled at healing. However with that skill was also one of unbearable torture. Sometimes the Dark Lord saw fit to let her torture her victims for information, and other times make sure they didn't survive. However she was also very careful to obey the Dark Lord and didn't kill unless instructed to or by necessity. But if some of her patients suffered a little extra before they recovered, no one was the wiser.

She finished getting ready in her apartment and waited for her date to arrive. She always made a habit to try to introduce her brother to other influential members of the Dark Lord's favor as she met them in her line of duty. The Dark Lord made sure she kept alive the ones who served him unless they were no longer of use to him, but she never dared questioned why. She stood before her mirror making sure each lock of hair was perfect while she waited.

[Thatcher Scotts]

His children would be the end of him.

He caught Gwen's arm before she disappeared again. "I want you down here before your Aunt arrives," he said, eyebrows raised in a gentle warning, and then he let her go.

"The rest of you had better behave. Just because we let you get away with things here does mean you're allowed to run rampant."

He gave his wife a look, but said nothing more, hoping that his three eldest would refrain from embarassing him in front of his sister.

[Alicia Scotts]

Alicia grinned at Xavier. It was always fun hugging him, especially in public. That would always be the best time. "Now, now Xavier." Her attention was diverted again as her second oldest child appeared.

"Evening Timothy," she said as she was hugged. Even though Timothy was in Hufflepuff, she didn't love him any different. "And thank you." Alicia gave him a stern look however. "Timothy." Her facial expression said 'watch-it' it a gentle way. "Tanya will be here any minute now, and no fighting boys, I mean it. You have to behave in front of her and no funny business."

Alicia caught the look from her husband. She looked back to the children. "We're not going to embarass your father, understand? If something goes wrong tonight, I'll find some way to punish you, just a fair warning. Agreed?"