Morningstar Manor

They had loved the quilt Sarah had left and had spent a good deal of time last night in bed, the quilt over them, pointing out bits and pieces they thought they recognized and thinking back on old times.

This morning they were doing it again as they lounged in bed before Nia woke up.

"Isn't that a bit of that netted top you stole from her that one time?" Deacon said, pointing to a square.

The box was full of a quilt Sarah had made -- yes, made! From scraps and bits of colorful fabric all sewn together in a crazy patchwork. There was a bit of one of Deacon's old t-shirts, and a piece that might've been part of an old maintenance jumpsuit, if you looked just right. Sometimes being a packrat had its advantages. Don't ask where she came up with these things -- she just had. She'd worked on it for a long time before leaving, and finished when she came back, and had put it away for a bit before deciding a gift was meant to be given.

The note said, "Yes, it's clean, and yes, it's washable. xoxo, Sarah"

This place was a lot nicer than the gym where Guy usually went. He had been greeted by a stunning Asian girl who had spoken to him in City accents as clear as his own and had grinned when he said who he had come to see.

"Sure, he's through the double doors," she said and went back to her paperwork.

And there Deacon had been and Guy had changed and done his warm up routine, and was wondering how he would acquit himself.

"Okay," he said, bouncing a little on his toes. "I'm done."

Charlie got out of the lift on the first floor in a bit of a rush, having volunteered to taken Nia down to day care and Penny had kept him chatting for longer than expected. Some bizarre and unpleasant stains were seeping through the new paintwork on the nursery ceiling and wall and she was considering having it all repainted. Charlie had suggested some pictures instead, and she had jumped at the idea and had co-opted him into volunteering to frame them once she had chosen them.

He was quite happy to talk about that - but later - and apologised and dashed off again.

The lift door closed behind him just as a voice called "Hold the - oh damn," and he grinned at Kris then looked beyond him to Demitri in his doorway looking deliciously tousled.

"Morning guys," Charlie said and smiled broadly enough that the top of his head might hinge off. "Have you seen Deacon?"

Deacon had dropped by the gym to watch Sean fight in one of the cut-throat inter-gym bouts that weeded the wheat from the chaff of the City's amateur boxers. Charlie had intended to pop Nia in her snow suit and bring her with him to pick Deacon up. But Andy had seemed unusually keen on baby sitting and sent him off with the promise that Nia would be bathed and read to and put to bed.

She had also suggested that he might like to take D to O'Malley's to see Gus and Debbie afterwards so Charlie was in his scruffy old jacket and jeans and boots and had a beanie pulled down over his ears.

He looked around the gym to see if he could spot Deacon and there he was, looking good, yelling advice to Sean, who was looking battered but not quite as bad as the other kid in the ring.

The start of a new week and the Mocha was hopping.

Deacon had dropped Nia off at the daycare already as he and Charlie both had things that needed to get done. Charlie of course had the gallery. Deacon needed to take the cars to get their new inspection stickers and do some general shopping. But first - coffee. Charlie was still getting ready and had had to take a phone call and Deacon would likely be gone before he got down there so Deacon just got himself a coffee and found a place to sit and enjoy it before going on the first of his errands.

****

Eris was in the Mocha as well, once again at a table and looking through brochures on warm sunny beaches.

****

Seth entered the Mocha just after Deacon had left, passing in the doorway and exchanging a few words. Now, coffee in hand, he sat at a table and sipped his drink as he happily sketched the passers by.

****

Gabe was in the Mocha as well, sprawled on a couch and sipping his coffee and idly flipping through a fashion magazine.

****

There was one customer not quite at the Mocha yet but oh he was ready for it. Rhys had just gotten off a forty eight hour shift and was slouched in the back of a cab headed for the Manor. He was exhausted and looking forward to his bed but his stomach was rumbling and he didn't have the energy to make something so he'd stop in the Mocha first, get something to eat and some decaf coffee and then sleep for a day. Maybe two.

He coughed, and that cough turned into a bit of a coughing fit and when he could breath again he murmured an apology to the cab driver. Looks like his boss had been right. Rhys was sick. And a sick doctor was not what you wanted in the ER of a hospital. Maybe that forced time off wouldn't be so bad after all.

Sometimes it was hard to know what to do when harbouring the type of news that might make another variety of woman squeal a lot. So far Andy had told the people that absolutely needed to know - parents, siblings, Uncle Ernil in the barber shop - but hadn't yet decided how to break the news to her friends, or her employer.

In the end she decided to let chance play it's part and if she saw someone she knew and liked she might just drop it casually into conversation. Yes, that would work.

So she snugged down in the Mocha with her laptop and if she occasionally spared a glance for her ring who could blame her? It really was very lovely.

The pool house had been specially warmed for the occasion and extra loungers brought up. Screens had been erected for the models to change behind and everything was ready for the beautiful people to arrive.

They had their schedules - the ones who would be wearing the collection items and those who would be providing a back drop - and it was anticipated that the shoot would last most of the day and maybe into the evening. There was no knowing.

[ooc: Party post so tag in and let the pups chat amongst themselves, or if they want input from one of the staff, please give us a poke.]

Into the Mocha they went and Kris looked around, seeing a few of the gorgeous faces and bodies he had hoped to see, and he cleared his throat and tapped on a table to attract their attention.

"Um - ladies, gentlemen," he said, "we are in - frankly - awful trouble and are hoping some of you might be kind enough to help us out. The fact is - we have a designer and a complete collection of clothing but the photographer and all the models are stuck in Switzerland. So - would you be prepared to wear Lewis's clothes and have photos taken? What do you say?"

He looked round hopefully. "Anyone?"

Nia had been very good on the drive over even if it was longer than she normally wanted to sit still for. But they had sang songs and told stories and now she was getting a bit sleepy as they pulled up to the lake house. While Charlie carried her, Deacon got their bags and went inside, turning on lights and heat and getting the fire going in the fireplace.

She perked up a bit then and played happily in front of the fireplace while they waited for her room to warm up a bit.

"Goggie?" she asked and Deacon shook his head.

"Not tonight. We'll see him tomorrow I bet."

Home from work, Charlie called in at the day care to pick Nia up and was told that Deacon had already done so. So Charlie went family hunting and found them in the shrubbery - mainly due to the sounds of giggling.

"Well - my favourite people," he said.

Pleasantly full of roast chicken with all the trimmings, Charlie leaned against Deacon's shoulder and ate another spoonful of pudding. Warmed brownies with best quality vanilla ice cream - mmmm. And that the brownies had a little pinch of something extra added to them only enhanced the flavour in Charlie's opinion.

Nia had gone to bed without a murmur so they were having another go at watching Sherlock Holmes and were well over half way through. It was brilliant.

Life couldn't get much better than this as far as Charlie was concerned.

There weren't belt rankings in kickboxing so Deacon was one of the few instructors at the dojo that didn't wear a belt. But one lesson with him and any student he had knew he was the real deal.

Today he was between lessons and Charlie had come buy so it was the perfect time to show him around. Dressed in pants from a karate uniform and a singlet he guided Charlie around.

"It's nothing fancy," he said.

Mornings after the nights before could be bad enough. But ones where a bright and vivacious toddler had decided that she really wanted to play 'horsies' were utterly hideous.

Charlie shushed Nia. "Daddy D's asleep," he told her. "So sssshhhhhhh and let's find another game to play."

"No," Nia said, bouncing, "horsies. Daddy be horsie and Nia go giddap." She clucked her tongue and patted his head then began to sing "Horsie, horsie don't you stop" at the top of her voice.

Charlie moaned and went to make breakfast. His only comfort, and that was bad karma, was that there were plenty who would be feeling worse.

Subject line: Movie Quiz - Do NOT cheat by looking at the answers.


This maths test can predict your all-time most-watched film. Try it without looking at the answers. It's easy and really works:


Pick a number from 1 - 9.


Multiply by 3.


Add 3.


Multiply that by 3.


Add those two digits together.


Use that number to find your all time favourite movie in the list ( below. )




Much love

xxx <:3 ~

Nia had been rather demanding that she didn't want to go to daycare but she'd be quite happy if 'Unca Seff' came to watch her. Thankfully Seth was happy to do it, bringing a bunch of art supplies safe for little girls with him. Deacon had left them to a deep discussion on the best way to draw a penguin and headed for the Square.

He'd been meaning to do it for a while now but hadn't gotten around to it. Now though Deacon headed for the Dojo in the Square.

About an hour later the door to the Gallery opened and Deacon stepped through and looked around.

"Hey anybody workin' in this joint?" he called out with a grin.

Ruprecht had heard - somehow - and the moment Jack had returned to work had kept him busy. So busy he'd had little time to breath much less check on Declan. He'd sent a text message but gotten no response so figured Dec probably had his phone turned off. And with the number of messages Jack was getting at the front desk he had a good idea why.

Now he'd managed to sneak off for a break and wanted a coffee.

Joy - wanted an autograph. She put Stunning on the counter and smiled at Jack and Jack sighed inwardly and signed it then got his coffee and went to hide in a corner for a bit.

****

Zack was curled up by the fireplace - looking a bit shadowed around the eyes. He was looking through his files for his next project and sipping Karma tea. He'd been out of the smoking leaves of the tea for about a week and it was showing. In both his appearance and his pain level. So far he'd hidden it pretty well he thought.

****

Deacon was at a table drinking coffee and working on his laptop. Nia was with him, little feet kicking as she sat in her chair and colored in her coloring book. She had a nice chocolate chip muffin that was crumbled over a good portion of her picture and her top but she was singing softly to herself and apparently quite happy.

Deacon smiled and continued typing.

Yes it was cold but there was lots of great piles of snow in the garden and that meant there was really only one thing for them to do.

Go play in it!

Deacon and Charlie bundled Nia up in a snow suit, hat, wellies, scarf, gloves and the poor thing could barely move but that didn't stop her from bouncing around in the snow excitedly. Charlie and Deacon were bundled up too and making sure that Nia didn't get lost in any of the bigger drifts.

"At least she's wearing bright pink," Deacon said. "If she does go down in one of the big ones we'll still see her."

Having returned from work, Charlie had picked Nia up from day care and was watching her draw while they both had drinks and cookies.

Of course he could have taken her home, but Charlie missed seeing people casually in the Mocha and the cookies there were almost as good as the ones at home.

So Nia drew, singing to herself, while he, texted Deacon to try and find out where he was and looked around for people to talk to.

They had about a week before the gig at the Lamb and, as luck would have it, Jack and Nick both had a bit of free time late this afternoon. So Deacon called an impromptu rehearsal - but in the ballroom instead of their usual rehearsal spot in the Square. Jack for one was technically on call so had to be close to hand.

As usual there was a good bit of joking and teasing as they set up their equipment but once they were ready they all got down to business.