WHO: Sebastian and Mackenzie Goldstein, with a surprise appearance!
WHAT: Sebastian desperately wants this new guest to stay at their house
WHERE: Goldstein Castle
WHEN: NOW!



Sebastian felt like stomping his foot, pouting greatly at Elijah who was sitting in his arms looking completely confused as to what was going on.

"But Mackenzie, look at him, he's like---begging you to be his mummy," he said, waving dramatically toward the large cat that had been lingering around their front yard for a few days. Sebastian grinned widely, pathetically, not above pleading on his knees to get his wife to reconsider. Yes, he'd heard the arguments that adding a pet to their household would be a bit much and that they didn't know if Elijah or Anthony, for that matter, had any fur allergies, but this went beyond the well being of their children.

Well---no, nothing did, but----this was more important than some sneezing babies.

"He can be a guard cat," Sebastian said, moving to the door to maybe stop his wife from leaving without a response, "He's huge, people will think he's---a lynx or something, a jaguar."

Oh, this wasn't going well at all.

"Sebastian," Mackenzie sighed, her head tilting to the side as she spoke. Why he was so enamored with bringing this wild beast into their house was beyond her. They already had a great stock of animal pets that got along perfectly well! The ducks were doing fine as always, and Babar had finally calmed down enough to leave them alone; why add another animal to the mix that would ruin this whole flow? Especially when it appeared bigger than the dog itself. There was the potential of some animal friends going permanently missing.

She glanced out toward the window again, getting a good look at the feline in question. Sebastian wasn't lying, the cat was indeed large. Good-looking, she supposed, with the coloring of its fur, but--- that didn't change anything! The fact that is was be compared to a large cat created more than enough concern! It could actually be part lynx, a fact that did not help his case one bit.

"I have to go to work," she shook her head, closing her eyes for a moment. "We cannot let that thing live in this house. It will eat Babar. The children could get sick! We could get sick. It just doesn't make sense right now. Stop using the children to guilt me." Mackenzie looked pointedly at Sebastian then, reaching for Elijah to put him back in his chair.

Sebastian looked horribly offended as Mackenzie rattled off the reasons why they shouldn't keep the cat. Couldn't she see how important it was to him? That should be enough! He would not question her at all if she wanted to bring some strange, foreign animal into the household! She should definitely trust his opinion on these sorts of matters.

"It's endangered, Mack!" he let out, glad that Anthony was still down for his nap so he wouldn't have to look like such a pathetic fool in front of both his sons. Sebastian turned to Elijah, for some reason hoping that the boy would be able to help his case. He just blinked and smacked the table in front of him, and Sebastian pulled a face. "If we let it continue to run wild it could--get hit by a car, or something! Would you like that on your conscience? Because it would be. Twenty-four seven."

He sighed as they kissed goodbye, mentally hoping that his pleas would wear her down during her shift. Sebastian knew that his case was weak, as he had been more than startled when his wife had said no, when he had been sure as hell that she would be fine with taking in another pet. They were just too nice to say no to a lonely creature like that! But, of course, life was made difficult as always, and now Sebastian was left wondering what the hell he was going to do if they didn't allow the damn cat into the house.

"Don't look at me like that!"

That face he was making! Looking at her like she was this horrible dictator while personally degrading him at the same time! She wasn't be unreasonable, this was a wild animal they were talking about! Not some cat that he had picked up from the menagerie on his way home from work. It was a dangerous thing that could seriously hurt their children! You don't bring wild animals into your house! Just like how the ducks would never be brought into the house either. Wild. Animals.

"Sebastian," Mackenzie sighed, shaking her head again. Maybe by the time she returned from her shift this out of no where obsession of his will be gone. Along with that cat. At this point, she really wouldn't have a problem with it moving on to lurk in other areas.

Mackenzie was finally close to leaving, hoping to be rid of this ridiculous situation when----- an endangered species? For the love of Merlin! "And how do you know that?" She whirled back to face him again, her hand letting go of the door knob to throw her hands up.

Sebastian sputtered. How did he know that? "I've got a friend! Who's got a sister---or something! NO! Sister-in-law, that's it! She goes on about endangered creatures all the time, and that," he said wildly, almost as crazily as his gesticulations were, "Mackenzie, is a Scottish Wildcat! Less than four hundred remain!"

He was nearly panting as the random (very random) information resurfaced in his mind. Oh, he would have to kiss Greta Catchlove for dragging him to one of her sister-in-law's really long and boring rallys for the rights of whatever animal of the week it was. Sebastian raised his eyebrows, "It'd really be an honor to save one of these majestic creatures."

Oh, he could not believe the words coming out of his mouth. He would have to scourgify it for sure. Sebastian sighed, turning to look at the clock. She was going to be late. "What if I promise to take it to the animal healers, to check for diseases or something?"

Mackenzie couldn't help it, she actually sputtered at Sebastian. Sputtered. As in made a serious of incoherent noises at her husband because she simply could not create words to express to him. Scottish Wildcat? Less than--- at that very moment, Mackenzie actually toyed with the idea that her husband was on the path to insanity. Where was this coming from? How had this--- he had just referred to it as a majestic creature.

Her mouth dropped open, and she stared openly at him for a few moments. She did not have the time for this. Blinking quickly, Mackenzie snapped her mouth back up and put her hand to her headd. "I don't--- I can't--- fine," she shook her head as she spoke, already noticing a headache was forming. "Just--- fine. Fine. Bring the rabid animal into our family. Just roll it on in here."

Head continuing to shake (what in the world was she going to come home to?), Mackenzie turned back to finally grab the door and left with a loud snap.

Sebastian pursed his lips tightly at the door, and waited a few seconds to make sure his wife was gone to rush forward and open the door. He stretched his neck out in search of the sole reason behind all his current problems, and his eyes narrowed when he finally spotted the cat, lounging in the sun by the pond.

"Get in here right now you dumb cat!" he shouted, pointing sternly at the floor of the foyer, feeling like a complete psycho. He was glad that their closest neighbors were a literal mile away, and Sebastian sighed, drooping against the frame of the door. The bloody creature wasn't even in the house, and he was already tired of it.

The cat, by no means, was dumb. In fact, he was rather intelligent, being able to stay alive when so many of his other companions had not. Very much aware of this fact, he took his time to respond to the yells directed at him, stretching his long limbs before standing properly. The desire to finally reach indoors became very strong, much more so than the few minutes earlier.

Sebastian's frustration was certainly unwarranted; a better lie could have completely avoided this entire situation. Or the truth, for that matter, would have done just as well. But that was not his concern, and not the reason why he had traveled so far.

Speeding toward the man, the cat took a few quick looks around the area before continuing every few paces. Nothing ever happened during the day, but it was especially important that no one else saw anything that would happen in the next five minutes. Stepping onto the stairs, the cat skillfully took them a stride at a time. Pouncing onto the top step, a man replaced the exact area where the cat should have been.

Clearing his throat, the man directed the of his head low, keeping his face as most out of direct sight as possible. "You have to invite me in," he spoke in low tone, his eyes shifting with every word.

"Caradoc Dearborn, you are invited into my home!" Sebastian hushed quickly, grabbing the man's arm and tugging him inside. The last thing he needed was for some death eater spy that was sitting up in a tree somewhere spotting this bloke. This bloke that had supposedly been dead for nearly two years now and had just randomly appeared in his yard the other night, prompting a consecutive few evenings of no sleep for Sebastian. His normally bouncy personality was greatly heightened as he had been spending every night since Caradoc's seemingly miraculous concern wondering what the hell was going on.

He had a guy, who was supposed to be dead, standing in his living room. Sebastian couldn't begin to understand the repercussions of this. Now--the outside world thought Caradoc was a death eater who had fled the country and was killed in Spain, or something. So that meant that he, Sebastian, was now harboring a fugitive. Even though in reality, Caradoc had been a spy for the Order of the Phoenix and gotten caught up in the lies, but that meant that the death eaters would love to get their hands on him.

This was far too much for him to handle. He was already stressed, he hadn't been sleeping, and there was an actual traitor in the Order to avoid. Even if he could, Sebastian couldn't tell the Order about Caradoc's reappearance because the spy, or whatever it was, could just go back to You-Know-Who and relay the news. He was not good at handling his anxieties, especially when they were as serious as this.

Sebastian tugged out his wand and swished it around, making sure all the curtains were closed, that the windows and doors were locked, and he felt a bit better now. But not really. He slumped into a the chair nearest Elijah, and looked at his son before he looked at Caradoc, "Are you hungry?"

Caradoc watched Sebastian passively, choosing to stay quiet as the other man's head attempted to disconnect and take off from his shoulders. Obviously Sebastian hadn't changed that much in the past year and a half. Mackenzie too, from the looks of the heated debate she and Sebastian had gotten into earlier. That fact was... unsettling or reassuring, he hadn't decided yet.

But Sebastian especially interested Caradoc, now. This interest had been one of the many reasons he had chosen to show himself to him more than any other Order member. Caradoc had been very surprised indeed once he had understood the Gryffindor had joined the Order; an accomplishment Caradoc had never thought of Sebastian desiring to be apart of, but the fact that membership never left its members the same like before they joined must have not been realized yet. Just look at him.

It was a strange feeling, to finally be back on familiar territory. Scotland wasn't exactly England, and England would certainly never be Wales, but it was a start. His animagus form at least provided some cover here more than in the other countries; a Scottish Wildcat was certainly native to Scotland. Inhaling, Caradoc backed away from Sebastian to create more room between them.

"You're on edge," he observed, glancing at the only out of place presence in the room, Mackenzie and Sebastian's son. "You should put him down and deal with that."

Sebastian shook his head. He wasn't about to allow the everyday activities of his home get interrupted because Caradoc had just decided to come back from the dead, "He just woke up, he won't go down and will freak out if I leave him upstairs by himself, so."

But, he could at least put him in his playpen. Sebastian pushed himself up and over to Elijah, lifting the boy out of his chair. It amused him, how seriously the baby seemed to be staring at Caradoc, almost as if he knew that this man really should not be here. Or alive, for that matter. "This is Elijah, by the way. Anthony's upstairs..."

That must be a little confusing, but Sebastian didn't know if Caradoc actually cared or not. But, it would be better to have some sort of idea as to what was going on than to be completely in the dark. "We just adopted Elijah a few weeks ago, but we're trying to keep it quiet---the death eaters have been attacking Order children."

His eyebrows rose as if to say, 'yup, isn't that lovely?' and placed the boy into his playpen. Sebastian turned back to Caradoc and smirked, going into the kitchen to pull out something. "We've got a basement I'm supposed to be renovating," he said, "It could be a decent hideout while I figure out things with Mackenzie."

Lingering, he didn't trail Sebastian into the kitchen. And he didn't respond either to the other man's words either. Instead Caradoc focused on the room around him, surveying everything down to the wood floor. Clean. Much cleaner than he had been use to.

His ears perked at Sebastian's mention of a hideout, and though he couldn't see it, Caradoc made a reacted negatively to that thought. His body bristled as his inner mind flicked alive to respond with a scathing response. What did Sebastian think he was, their new pet rat? There had been no mention of him ever expressing staying here (though that was exactly what he intended to do). All Caradoc needed was a welcome into their home.

Shoulders pulled back tight, he dropped the piece of parchment in his hands down onto the desk. The thought of Sebastian serving him food alone made his appetite vanish. There were more things to attend to by the end of the day, anyway.

"I'll be back," Caradoc spoke almost randomly, completely interrupting whatever Sebastian had been saying. Without waiting for a response, he quietly walked out toward the back door and exited.