A Father's Worries (James, Open)

[Edward Montgomery]

Edward sat down with a decanter of brandy and poured his brother a glass of the stuff as well. There was a third man with them today, a representative from the school who was there to talk to both Edward and James concerning an incident a few days ago.

"Do you care for a glass Mr. Green?"

"Oh..no thank you. Um. Mr. Montgomery...z. I'm here to talk with you about an incident at the school." he began, telling such ill tidings to these two particular men was not on his list of things he wanted to do since they both intimidated him.

"Right go on." Edward said bringing the glass over to his brother before he sat down behind his desk.

[James Montgomery]

James took the drink, eyeing the man, though he had been quiet thus far. He was certain this was about Christine, though with Edward involved... well, the two of them together could certainly cause a lot of trouble.

As long as neither of them had been kicked ut of the school, he figured they could handle the news.

He listened quietly for the man to explain what had happened.

[Edward Montgomery]

It actually wasn't about either one of their daughters, but Katie's death had just occurred and they were letting all the parents know of the situation as best they could. He had been sent to speak with the two of them personally and he would be going to speak to others throughout the day personally as well...it really wasn't the greatest job.

Edward listened and his hand tightened on the glass. Sam was in danger? Christine was in danger? He had no doubt that Caleb would protect the girls both with everything he had but a father still worried.

[James Montgomery]

James sighed, letting the breath out slowly, and he didn't say anything. So were those his choices? Lose his daughter to drowning in the sea, or being murdered at school? Merlin, things were getting desperate.

And knowing Christine, she was probably already, unwittingly, best friends with the murderer.

[Edward Montgomery]

The man bid both parents adieu and proceeded to do the rounds for the other families, he rather hated his job but all together the Montgomeries hadn't been a bad patch to get.

Edward's focus was on the vase in the room. A priceless antique and he wanted to smash it. He sent her to hogwarts to keep her out of danger, not put her in danger. He only hoped that Caleb would be able to protect them. Although knowing Christine he rather thought the girl could probably tackle Napolean himself and come out the victor, but his own daughter he wasn't so sure of...he knew so little really about her.

[James Montgomery]

James groaned when the man was gone.

"Why do I have the feeling that the second Christine hears about this, if she hasn't already, she's going to get involved? And not in the consoling way." No, but the, there's danger on the horizon, I'll hunt it down way.

[Edward Montgomery]

Edward laughed a bit, "Surely you jest James, Christine has a good head on her shoulders, she may love adventure yes, but she wouldn't deliberately court this sort of a danger." he sighed then, " But I do worry about the girls. Do you suppose it's insensible to call them home and keep them from the school all together?"

[Lillian Montgomery]

Lillian came in to hear Edward's words and she paused in the doorway. She had let the men handle the visitor who had come thinking it was business as usual, she didn't think it had anything to do with the school or her daughter otherwise she would have been in the room to be sure.

"Call them home? What for? Did Christine do something?"

[James Montgomery]

James sighed as Lilian came in. "See? Lils knows."

He looked towards his wife and gave a soft smile. "No, Christine hasn't done anything." Yet, he added mentally. "But you'd like to see them, wouldn't you?"

He gave Edward a look, hoping he'd keep quiet. He didn't want Lilian to worry.

[Lillian Montgomery]

Lillian worried anyway, she didn't almost lose her life to have her children for nothing, she loved them both too much, and she sensed her own recklessness in Christine which worried her. Moving closer to James her eyes searched his for truth but her nerves were too upset to tell. She didn't think anything was seriously wrong, certainly not murder, just perhaps that Christine had done something that might warrant her getting kicked out.

" Yes." she said with a nod, she had hardly seen her daughter since she came home and after learning that Christine had fallen off of a ship with her uncle Lillian had put her foot down and demanded that Christine attend school. She just wanted her daughter home, and safe she was growing up too fast as it was.

[Edward Montgomery]

Edward had no intention of worrying Lillian or Sheryl and yet he knew that those two would figure out what had happened all on their own. It was both a blessing and a curse to have intelligent wives, but far more a blessing he thought and smiled when looking at Lillian and James.

It was hard to believe they were all so old now, that their children were approaching the ages when they themselves had made such mucks of things, and that caused a tinge of worry for Edward. What kind of scrapes would Sam get into? Caleb would protect her no doubt, that boy had a good head on his shoulders, he was a man that Edward was proud to call his son no matter who his father was.

"Of course she's not in trouble, you know your daughter's far too wily to actually get caught at doing anything she's not supposed to, and she's one of the smartest young ladies I know, she's far more capable of handling herself than most girls her age."

Edward loved his niece dearly, but it pained him that he felt he knew more about Christine than he did Samantha.

[Sheryl Montgomery]

"All right," Sheryl said, coming into the office right then, looking between the two men and then at Lilian.

"I waited until he left. Now, who was he?"

Lilian was here, and the looks on the men's faces told her it was concerning one of the children. Another glance at James, and then, "Is Christine in trouble?"

[James Montgomery]

"No," James said, defensively. "Honestly, Christine's a good kid."

At her look, and the way she moved to her husband, James softened and leaned his head back. What were they going to do... If it had been Christine, or Sam... he didn't know how they would have handled it, or even if they could have.

[Edward Montgomery]

Edward tensed only for a moment, that sheer thrill he always got when he saw her and then of course the shock of the news he had just heard, it was solemn enough to make him think along the same lines that James was thinking. What if it had been one of their girls? Merlin forbid them from ever having to experience something like that. He took his wife in his arms easily not afraid of the affection he showed her in public. He was a happier man and it showed after he had married Sheryl. All of his brothers knew about the nightmare Marrion had been and how he lived as a hard man until Sheryl entered his life, it was a transformation most welcome.

He did smile faintly at one thing however the smile directed at James, " She's *your* daughter alright." then he laughed, " And definitely Christopher's niece, not to mention mine and Anthony's. A Montgomery through and through, one little visit from the school and everyone is wondering what Christine's done." he laughed a little, "Give the girl a chance...besides Montgomeries don't get caught."

His light answer was a vague attempt at concealing the solemnity of the situation something he and James needed to discuss further though neither were rightly ready to inform their wives of the situation.

Both men hated to worry the women they had married. Edward would most likely speak with Sheryl privately if only because he knew that she would worry anyway, and concealing the information from her would not be wise for any man ardently in love with his wife and happy in the bed that he slept in. He would of course have to ensure every possibility of safety for his daughter and step son before he told her so he could come at her with reassurances and promises rather than problems.

[James Montgomery]

James shook his head and looked at both women. "Both Christine and Sam are absolutely fine, ladies. I promise. Don't you think we would have them here in a second if anything were wrong?"

He was mostly trying to ease his wife's mind, as Edward would know how to make Sheryl stop worrying better than he would. Yes, he knew her, but women were such finely tuned instruments that only one muscian ever really knew the right chords to each woman.

[Lillian Montgomery]

James was right, if Lillian had heard what was going on she'd march to that school herself and stay with her daughter. That didn't mean she didn't like being kept in the dark. She hated not knowing what was going on and if it involved the school had it in anyway affected her daughter? If so she wanted to know about it.

She kept trying to read James' eyes to tell whether or not he was being honest with her and finally gave up before sighing and lowering her eyes.

[Edward Montgomery]

"Quite right." Edward said smiling still with that enigmatic Montgomery charm. " The girls are perfect." he added, he wanted to say they were perfectly safe but couldn't commit himself to the lie, even if he did believe that Christine could handle herself and well Caleb...he'd watch over Sam.

[James Montgomery]

James smiled encouragingly at his wife, not willing to let her in on the worrying yet. He would, in his own way, when they were alone.

He gave Edward a look that said they had things to discuss later, and then looked back at his wife. "Darling, why don't we leave Edward and Sheryl to their own?"

[Lillian Montgomery]

Lillian looked between the brothers and then Sheryl and nodded, perhaps she could get more out of James if they were alone as well.

[James Montgomery]

James got to his feet and put an arm around his wife.

"Edward, Sheryl. We'll see you at dinner." With a gentle smile at both women, he lead his wife out of the room, waiting for the inevitable questions to come.