a long overdue talk

who: oz and sophie
where: down by the lake
when: late afternoon

Oz had taken the time to make the run back, which had actually been probably good for him. It exhausted him, of course, he was tired as hell by the time he got back to the house, but that was actually feeling good. It matched his mental exhaustion and hey. At least that killed off a lot of his nervous sort of energy. That could be really good for what had to happen here.

He got inside, padded up the steps and shifted in the bathroom, taking a very quick shower, then he changed, and went in search of Sophie. Who of course was not difficult to find. Then he took her hand, nodded his head out towards the door, to indicate he wanted to go for a walk. The kids were home, and he definitely didn't want to have this discussion where they could hear it. This was private, between he and his mate. So, he took her down the path, towards the lake, and didn't say anything until they were by the water. "...okay I have a lot that needs saying, I'm assuming you do too. I don't quite know where to start. I could go over what I found out downtown today, if you wanted?"

Sophie had gone with him, of course, but she had a growing sense of foreboding when he'd led her out of the house. She understood perfectly that certain things couldn't be said in front of the kids - and it was that that had her worried. Because that meant bad news. That meant that Oz wasn't happy. That meant he had things to say to her that couldn't be said in front of the kids. Though, when he told her that he expected that she had things to say as well, that calmed her nerves slightly. "Please - what you found out," she agreed, moving to sit on a rocky outcropping, giving him her attention.

Not sitting with her, but not straying far or anything either, Oz drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Basically, I found out that there isn't a whole lot that can be done, period. I found out that the easiest way to remedy the situation would be what we both know about, and I looked into marriage licenses, and was told it would take a month. I saw a lawyer, and it was suggested we head to Las Vegas, and be prepared for getting looked at like ours was a marriage of convenience." he said. "...so...that's what I found out."

Sophie nodded, she'd thought as much herself. She'd looked into it a little a while ago, when she'd first realised that this might be on the horizon, but she'd dropped the ball when it first became clear that there was very little that could be done, especially since she'd dropped out of college last year with a failing grade. It hadn't exactly been her fault, of course - getting stuck in some kind of alternate dimension for three months generally resulting in failing. And actually failing rather than officially dropping out had a negative impact on things. When she'd found that out, well - she'd gone into ostrich mode rather. Until today.

Oz waited until it was clear she wasn't going to say anything, and then sighed and looked away for a long moment, before he looked back at her. "Please don't sit there and say nothing." he said, sounding as tired as he felt. But hey, at least he wasn't feeling angry. Yet. He might later but at current he was not sparking that up.

Sophie didn't really know what to say, what he wanted her to say. Things had been difficult lately and when she'd tried to make things better, it only seemed to make things worse. And now there was this, and he was saying what he'd found, but - there was no suggestion there that he was happy to act on any of that. Just bare facts, nothing more. But, he'd asked her to say something, so she should. "What do you want to do?" she asked him.

"I don't know, what do you want to do?" he asked. "This isn't just my decision." he pointed out, and then he did walk closer, sat down next to her. He stared out at the water, and tried to figure out how to say what he wanted to say, but in the end couldn't manage. So he left it there for the moment.

"I don't want to go," she told him, figuring that was the safest way of putting things. She didn't want things to happen like this, either, but as he'd said: they didn't really have much choice, did they?

He was quiet for what seemed like forever. He was looking down at his wedding ring, too, and trying to weigh how he felt, and how to talk to her. In the end, it wound up being a simple question. His voice was quiet, tone light. "...how did we get here?"

Sophie looked at him, even if he wasn't looking at her. "I was hoping this wouldn't happen," she said, dropping her eyes to his ring. It sounded foolish, hearing that outloud. Naive and stupid. Impossibly dense - this had been inevitable, the way things were going.

"You had to know it was going to." Oz said. "You had to know that they'd...eventually pull you up on things. I don't understand why we're sitting here right now. Why you didn't say anything, or do anything, or...I don't know." He actually managed not to sound accusing in his statement, and turned his head to look at her. "So what happened?"

She wondered if he really wanted to hear her excuses, and whether they'd sound just as stupid outloud as her last statement had. In the end, she went with the explanation he'd asked for. "Last year, I couldn't keep up, after we were gone for all that time," she told him. "I'd missed too much and I got failing grades in all but one of my classes. And I'd meant to re-enroll this year, but with everything that was going on in the town - and there were problems because I'd failed. Apparently, if I'd dropped out, there would have been less of an issue. But, it's hard to drop out if you're locked away in another dimension," she said, trying for humour and missing it by a long way. "And - I looked into it. This. A while ago. Apparently, my failing grades - they're going to affect my visa as well and... I'm sorry," she said, breaking off.

"Sunshine, I know why you dropped out of school. None of that was your fault." he said, voice a little gentler than he had fully intended, but he didn't quite notice. "Why didn't you say anything? You said you even when to look into things...and you knew that it might not go through, why didn't you...we should have talked about this before right now."

"I know," she told him, her voice quiet, though it hardly mattered when your partner was a werewolf. "But..." she broke off, shaking her head a little.

"But what?" he asked, not really liking having to pull teeth here, but obviously he had to. He needed to know. She didn't get to hide behind her silence. Maybe that was their problem lately entirely. They'd stopped fighting...and with that they'd stopped talking. Not that they'd ever been that good with communication, but they'd been making progress. But sitting where he was now, it felt like they'd gone backwards.

Sophie was quiet for a little while, before she looked back at him. "But I didn't want you thinking that the only reason I was marrying you was for a visa," she told him, finally, wondering if he'd think that now. If he was thinking that already. Was he now looking back at their last conversation and viewing it in a whole new light? Would he be thinking that she'd been trying to trick him? Get round this without him ever having to know about it? She wasn't, but would he think of her like that now? Would he doubt her like that?

Doubt when it came to her was something Oz was far too good at. He tried to keep it somewhat in check though, and nodded, glancing away, then down. "...when did you look into things?" he asked, very quietly. Wondering. Was it before the last time they'd talked? After? She sounded sincere in things, that she hadn't wanted him thinking that, but...did that mean that that wasn't what had happened, or she just hadn't wanted him to view it like that?

"A while ago," he told him. "A few weeks," she added, reluctantly, not wanting to highlight that it had, in fact, been before their last talk. Maybe she should specifically broach that now. But, what if he hadn't thought about it like that. Would she just be making things worse? She was good at that when it came to him, after all.

A few weeks. Which could mean anything, really. It could have been before, it could not have. Before he said anything further, he had to sit and ask himself seriously if he would want to know. And after that, if he didn't know, if he left it, if it was going to prey on his mind. In the end he didn't necessarily ask directly. He took a different track. "Explain this all to me?" he asked. "Please."

"I wish I could," she said, looking away. "I - I know it sounds ridiculous, but - I got scared. I saw this on the horizon and I tried to deal with it. But, I just - there was nothing I could do. Not really. And so I just, didn't. I ignored it. I pretended it didn't exist, or that it wouldn't happen to me. Like they'd just forget about me, or something. I'm only one person - they can overlook things, right? Or, something like that. There seemed to be nothing I could do, so I didn't do anything." It wasn't much of an excuse, but it was all she had.

"Why didn't you talk to me about it?" he asked. "Today, honestly...with the way things look from here, Sophie, it looks like you just let it come. And I have to ask myself why. Why I'm finding out about this now, when I should have a long time ago, when maybe we could have had a few more options. Can you explain that part to me?" he asked. And again, he was actually pretty proud of himself for not coming out and sounding like he was snapping at her. He was trying his damndest to keep everything calm, and not start getting that accusatory tone going.

He might not have actually been snapping, but she took it like that anyway. Because he was right, this shouldn't have just come up now. "I - no, I can't explain it. I've told you why - I looked into it a little, and all I saw was this big fucking scary wall of nothing. And I just couldn't do it. I couldn't face it. And yes, I should have talked to you about it, but it was just so much easier to put it off. With everything else that was going on. I kept promising myself that I'd talk to you. Then that letter came this morning and..." And everything was screwed.

He listened, not that her explanation made him feel any better. Though really, he couldn't quite come up with a scenario that would have. So that wasn't surprising. "You said you don't want to leave." he said. And he didn't even know what to say after that.

"I'm not leaving, J - this is where I belong," she said, quietly.

"What happens if you don't? If we just...I don't know. Ignore it?" he asked. He had kind of asked around about that and hadn't gotten good answers. There were legal issues involved. Especially with Dean, who would be remarkably easy to find and all. What with school. And he was sure his parents would be showing up, looking for him, wondering where the hell their son was...all that...but he had to ask.

"If it was just me? And we did nothing? With the fact neither of us have to work, if we moved, they'd have a hard time tracking us down. Maybe if they connected me to you, and then found you through your accounts or something. But it's not like there's anything in my name," she pointed out. "It would take them some time. I guess. But - there's Dean. And he can't just disappear. He's in the school system and everything and he needs to stay there. So, now that we're on their list, there's no ignoring it any more," Sophie told him, it clear in her voice that she had thought this through, even if her conclusion had been 'omg!flail' and a choice to bury her head in the sand.

Oz did appreciate that she had apparently thought that at least she could skate by on things. Which just didn't help because there was Dean. "...well Dean doesn't want to go either." he said. "I don't want him to go either, and they wouldn't just take him. You can't go. I was talking to Billy earlier, and just...yeah. I don't know. This can't happen."

"I know Dean doesn't want to go - I tried to talk to him earlier. He - really didn't want to talk. Took off in that car of his. I'd been trying to ring his phone all day, but it was switched off," she told him. "Then he got home a while ago, with Lullaby - and they've been up in his room ever since," she added. She had, in fact, been worried about her cousin. The only thing tempering that had been that she was coming to realise that Dean was actually a boy with his head screwed on straight - even when he was over reacting to things. She didn't think he was the type to go out and really do something stupid.

"...yeah Billy mentioned she was going to be coming back to stay with us again." Oz said, still not surprised by that at all, or that distressed. "So neither of you want to go, I know that if you did, I'd be driving myself slowly crazy going back and forth between here and there, and...who knows what would happen with you getting a new visa. If you could, with what you were saying about grades and all."

Sophie nodded. She hadn't been told this bit of news by Dean, or by Lullaby, but she couldn't say she was entirely surprised. She'd have to figure out somewhere for the girl to sleep though. Or Dean would have to be prepared to sleep on the sofa. It would be irresponsible of her just to turn a blind eye, or worse be expectant that two sixteen year olds would just be automatically sharing a bed together. She realised that she was procrastinating again, though, so she didn't flip the conversation onto that line. "It doesn't leave us with many options," she agreed, knowing that they were now dancing around the point.

"No, it leaves us with just the one." Oz agreed. He was quiet then for a long stretch of moments. "...I really, really didn't want things to happen this way." he said. "I wanted--" he stopped there. he wasn't getting into that. "What do you want to do?"

"I didn't want things to happen this way, either," she agreed. That had always been her thing, consistently over the years when it came to him. She wanted what they did to be for the right reasons. It happening, that wasn't enough for her. She'd wanted to make sure she loved him for him. And that he loved her for her. That it wasn't just the spell. She's wanted them to be together because they loved each other, and not because they had a soul bond that had been imposed upon them. And she'd wanted to get married because it was what they both wanted, and not because they were always going to be together anyway, or because of a visa. She'd wanted a marriage that felt like it was more than a bit of paper. And the irony of it all was that she'd finally reached that point, where she could say 'yes' without it being just about making him happy. Where it would be making her happy as well. And now they were facing a situation where they were going to have to cut through all that, because the piece of paper was more important.

"You didn't answer my question." Oz said simply.

"I want to stay here with you," she told him.

"And we established that, and we're down to one option, which is getting flights booked to Vegas. So, what do you want to do? That? And you're just going to continue to parrot that you don't want to leave, so you don't have to say it?" Oz asked, finally that thread of old pain leaking through. He'd been doing well, too, but that knocked him the wrong way, and he looked away.

"Which is something you haven't actually said you're willing to do, J," Sophie pointed out. "You keep asking me what I want to do, but you haven't told me what you want."

And somewhere in the middle there, he realized he hadn't said it in so many words. Though he resented her putting it on him so blatantly. It's always going to come back to me having to put myself out there, isn't it. never you. You just sit the fuck back and wait for everything to come to you, to land in your lap, so you never have to stick your neck out where it might get chopped. And yet I'm expected to do it all the time, and it hurt every fucking time, Sophie. Every time. Annnd he wasn't saying any of that. Probably ever. "I would be willing." he said in the end, quietly, eyes on the ground in front of them, then up on the water.

She squeezed her eyes closed for a moment there, hating the way he'd put that, though the pain there wasn't directed at him, or caused by him. Sophie knew all this was her fault, she'd caused this. She'd brought them to this. This hadn't been what he wanted - this was probably the last thing that he wanted. "I'm sorry," she said, opening her eyes, but looking away from him, out over the lake. "I'm - we have no other choice. But, I really didn't want this to happen this way," she said.

He nodded, because there wasn't much else to say there. What could he say? That he didn't want it to happen this way either? He already had. Acknowledge that she'd said she was sorry? Ask her just how she had wanted it to happen? If she'd wanted it to happen at all? But they'd had that conversation. Sort of. Though depending on when it happened...Don't even torture yourself by going there right now, okay? he told himself, so he could knock it off before he really got rolling there.

Her heart dropped at the silence, not even an acknowledgment of that, and she looked round at him. "Please, say something, J," she asked, hating not knowing what he was thinking right now.

"I really don't know what to say." he said honestly, looking over at her again. "There's a lot going on in my head, but...I don't think it would be doing either one of us any favors to share it. Are we taking the kids with us? Or should I just see about flights and a hotel for the two of us?"

"Do you even want to marry me - or is it that your instincts won't let you leave me?" she asked him, and then immediately wished she hadn't. He was right - some things were just better left unsaid, but she didn't know any more. She had no idea where she stood. She'd used to know him, even though they argued all the damn time and nothing was ever simple, she'd known him. Now, it felt like they'd lost their way somewhere and whilst she loved him as much as ever, she didn't know where he was right now. It left her feeling insecure, as though the cornerstone of her life had shifted.

Oz didn't say anything right away, because as much as he hated it, it was probably a valid question. he knew that. So, he didn't just give her a blow off answer, and he didn't snap, either. He thought about it. Which might have made things worse, he didn't know, but she'd asked. So he was going to answer her. "I love you. I've loved you since...everything. I've always loved you. And I've waited for a really, really long time for you to..." he paused, just to give himself a second, before he continued. "I always wanted you to want me like I wanted you."

"And yet, when I actually brought the subject up - you told me to drop it," Sophie pointed out, getting up and walking to stand by the water line, the waves lapping gently by her feet. That had been on her mind ever since. She still didn't truly understand what had happened there. It had thrown everything she thought she knew out. He'd always wanted her, always wanted that commitment, she'd just been trying to be fair to both of them, waiting until she could give him the kind of whole-hearted commitment he'd wanted. But, when she'd finally got there, he'd not wanted to know.

"When you brought it up?" Oz asked, looking at her back. "...funny, I remember it coming up because I was completely depressed over some things, namely Billy's life just falling into place, with absolutely no issue. It's not like you pulled me aside one day to talk to me. You just dug til you found out what was wrong, then wanted to talk about it." he pointed out. "Not exactly the same thing."

"I wanted to talk with you that day because you were depressed, yes. I just didn't know what about until, yeah - I had to dig it out of you. And I tried to explain where I was coming from and you threw it all back in my face, J. All of it. I don't know where I stand with you anymore." It didn't mean she loved him any less, or that she didn't want to be with him, or that she was going anywhere. She just felt that lost feeling all the time.

While he'd been being okay with not blurting out the first thought that stomped through his brain, he didn't catch it this time. "Why, because I'm no longer constantly chasing you?" he asked. "I chased you before and you hated it, you come back and I stop and I'm still expected to, and you just keep turning me down and I just...I lost hope." he said honestly, standing up and walking a few paces away, more to give himself something to do than any other reason. "I just...it died. After so many times, I just...gave up. But is that why? Why you don't know where you stand anymore, because I'm not constantly begging for your commitment?" he looked away. "God, this is all just so...so fucked." he said, and this last bit was quiet, like it had truly sank in right in that moment, and it left him reeling.

"I don't know where I stand, because I don't think you want me anymore. I think you're stuck with me, because the wolf in you won't give up his mate. Because, it's like you said - you gave up. And no, it's not because you're not constantly begging me or anything like that, but J. It's been years - it's been almost seven years since I was that girl who didn't want to be chased. And the reason I didn't want to be chased is because I just needed some time to clear my head. And I got that - I got that as soon as I went back. I just couldn't tell you that, because I couldn't find you. And then when I came back. J - did you really want my reasons for agreeing to marry you to be because I felt guilty for what I'd done to you? Because I didn't, and I was afraid that those would be my reasons. Or some of my reasons. And I didn't want that. And I didn't think you'd want that either, I just... I don't know. Maybe this was something you wanted no matter what, but I wanted it to mean something. I always to be able to marry you when we were at a stage where it would be a fresh start, where we could leave all the crap and everything I did to you, all the heartache that I caused, all of it behind and we could start again. Properly," she told him, not even sure she was completely making sense anymore. She'd never tried putting it into words like this before.

"You wanted it to mean something?" Oz asked. "Meaning what. That you think that it didn't mean anything to me? It's always meant something to me. Truthfully, it's always meant the world to me, you just--what, you want it to mean something only on your terms, and never bothered to figure out what it might mean to me? Or you knew it was everything and just didn't give a shit how much it hurt every time you blew me the fuck off?" he stopped and didn't even know where to start, there was so much going through his mind. "And I just...what do you want from me? What do you expect? What am I supposed to be doing to cater the fuck to you, so that whatever the hell is the matter in your head gets better? It's always something with you isn't it? Some excuse to fill in the blank that you by the way never fucking bother to mention to me? Do you even know what the hell is up with you? Back then you yelled at me for chasing you, now I'm not and you're saying you don't think I want you anymore. Or you think you'd feel guilty or you want it to mean something is everything just one thing after another, one excuse in your head lined up so that you just never actually have to be with me? Never that last step?" He stopped and walked over closer to her, knowing that never worked for the two of them, but maybe it was possible he wanted that out. Because he'd take it right now. "Do you honestly think that either one of us is actually capable of doing an honest to god fresh start?" he asked, and that was an honest question. "Seriously, after everything we've been through, you knowing me, and you, and how we both can't let go of shit, and....do you really think that?"

"Maybe I wanted to think it," Sophie told him, just feeling tired of all of this now. She never seemed to be able to express herself properly round him. She always ended up feeling completely selfish - and maybe she was. Maybe everything she'd done was wrong and she should have just given him what he wanted years ago. "And, I'm with you, J. I've been with you since the moment I got back. Not being married doesn't mean that I'm not with you. And, ever since then, I've tried to do everything you wanted. I've tried to - because of what I did. No matter what you wanted, just because you wanted it. But I wanted this to mean something to both for us. And I'm sorry if that took longer for me. I'm sorry I couldn't be more like you."

"You make it sound like I'm demanding, like I'm constantly asking you for things, or of you or..." he started, not even sure what she was getting at at the end there and so he needed to figure it out, seemed important and all. "What have you done that was this...this 'everything I wanted' thing?" he asked. "Because I've been doing the same for you. Anything you've wanted, I've tried to provide for you. With...the house and everything there, and you wanted Dean to come live with us and so he did, and now with the remodeling of the house, I've tried to just...let you have whatever you've wanted. The house? Is your house. About the only thing I needed in there was just...the fucking cage in the basement, and I just..." he shut his eyes for a moment, letting out a sigh. "I haven't wanted to do anything that was going to chase you off again, and I feel like no matter what I do, I'm just never going to be good enough. Nothing's ever going to live up to whatever standards you have in your head, that I only have to guess at, because you don't tell me. You don't talk to me."

Sophie shook her head. "No - you're not demanding, not at all. I've just - tried to give you what I thought you'd want. The house - it's your house. Big enough for pack, much bigger than we needed, but there were rooms for everyone who'd need one. And, don't get me wrong, J - I love our house, but when we bought it, it was your house." She felt the start of a realisation here, and reached out to put a hand on his shoulder. "I've been trying to prove to you since I came back that I'm not going anywhere, I've been trying to make up for everything you went through because of me. I've been trying to be good enough for you."

He didn't move away from her touch, in fact, he stepped closer to her, his hand lighting on her hip. Just a light touch, nothing overt. He looked into her eyes, and tried to figure out how to say what he had to say, still reeling a little from what she'd said. "Whenever we talk about what happened with us...it comes back to you left--but you left because of me. Because I couldn't give up the chase. Which just...then it's not your fault, is it? It's not what you put me through. It's what I went through because your behavior you attribute directly to me. So I've been..." he stopped a moment, really not sure how to word anything, and so he didn't try right this second, and hoped that maybe just once in their lives, she'd get what he was saying.

"But you were only being you, J. It was my problem that I couldn't deal with that. I was the one who ran away. You were always there - you've been nothing but consistent and loyal. You've never wavered." She refused to look down, though her mind went to the day she got back, to seeing the ring on a cord around his wrist, to how much that had hurt her. She ignored it. "None of what happened is your fault, J. You got it better than I did, you always do."

"But that's it." he said, voice getting quieter as he moved a touch closer. "It was me. Being me. And that's what drove you away." he said. "So I can't..." be me anymore. So I haven't been. Or I've tried not to be. He didn't know how to say it, so he didn't. He didn't know what else to fill in there either, so he left it there, at that.

"And it's what brought me back again, J," she told him, frowning, wondering if he was really still holding on to that. "I was young, and I was scared. And you were - you are kinda intense. But - I can deal with that now. Actually, I quite like that now." She paused and smiled a little, thinking about that. "Most of the time, anyhow," she amended, lightly.

He watched her eyes, and leaned closer, til his forehead rested in against her temple, face turned a slight bit towards hers. "...it was the spell, wasn't it? What brought you back. It wasn't really...it wasn't me." he said, just barely above a whisper. He was always aware of that. Always aware. It was a fact that lived in the back of his mind and never quite died down. He could ignore it, but times like these...it was just that much more prominent in his mind.

She shook her head slightly. "No, J - the spell was what let me find you. I would have come back sooner, but I didn't know where you were," she told him, quietly.

Oz wanted that to be true more than anything. In that moment, if that could really be the way of it, he'd feel a million times better. He didn't know. But he wanted to believe it. Her. He reached up with his free hand to put his palm to her cheek, and turned it towards his so he could brush a kiss across her lips. Light, almost insubstantial, but there was a lot behind it. He knew he probably owed her a verbal response or something, but...he just went with that instead.

This was always the way, wasn't it? they got so far, and then just lost themselves in the physical. But she couldn't help it, as she returned the kiss. She pulled back after a moment or two though. "I love you, J," she told him simply, honestly. "I want to marry you. I don't really want to marry you in some cheesy wedding chapel in Vegas, but if that's what we have to do - then that's what we have to do."

It got him to crack a half smile. "I love you too. And...we'll find the least-cheesy place possible, and then maybe...I don't know. Maybe we can plan an actual wedding sometime later." he said. Because he didn't want to have it done that way. He wanted her to have whatever kind of wedding she wanted to have, and not settle for just what they had to do when they had to do it because they were pressed for time.

"I'd like that," she admitted. "Maybe we could plan that together - not just try and guess what the other would like the most? I mean, if you can bear to sit through wedding magazines and stuff?" He always seemed bored witless by wallpaper samples, after all.

He pulled a bit of a face, but nodded. "Okay." he said. "I'll suffer through. But...we'll figure it out later. For now...the sooner we get this done the better. Are we taking the kids, or just..." he trailed that off. He kind of thought that they could leave the kids home, and they could go, and maybe spend a night or two there. He'd never been there, they were getting married. Maybe they could use a little time.

Sophie pulled a face. "Dean has school," she pointed out. "And he's missed so much of it already. I don't like the idea of leaving him behind, but I don't want him failing either. Because if he turns round and says he's getting married for a green card? his mum will kill us," she joked. "And for Lullaby - do you know if her ID would hold up to a flight anyway?" she asked him.

Oz chuckled. "Yeah, I'm sure that wouldn't go over well." he said, to her joke. "And I have no idea. Let's not tempt fate. Let's just...you and I go. Billy and Maddie if she can leave, and we'll take a few days." he said. "The kids'll be fine."

"And it'll solve the problem of where she's going to sleep - I'll change the sheets in our room before we go. And I'll see if I can get us on morning flights, and book a hotel, and an office or whatever they have. Can I leave you with Billy and Maddie?" she asked, clicking back into organisational mode, thinking of all the things that would have to be covered before they were able to leave.

Oz nodded. "Yeah, I'll talk to them. They'll have to see if Maddie can leave the confines of Marquette, I know Billy wouldn't leave without her." Not when she was pregnant, at the very least. He couldn't blame his friend on that one. "I'll call him and talk to him though, see what can be done to test the theory and everything. You....do all that stuff." Since she sounded like she had it covered.

"Well, if they can't come, they can keep an eye on the kids. Maybe we could suggest they move down there for a few days," she considered. Better than two sixteen year olds in a house alone together. She didn't even know if they were capable of feeding themselves - and she had a feeling that her cousin, at least, would let himself starve. He seemed to eat like a sparrow. Then again, she didn't really know whether Lullaby even had to eat anymore.

"Yeah, I'll mention that too." he said, pulling her in to give her a squeeze, and another kiss. "It'll all get taken care of." he said. And Marquette could manage to hold it's shit together for a few days without them. Really it could.