Wrapped In Your Arms I'm Home

[Kiera Kaster]

Kiera Kaster stood in the center of the room with her wand out, putting the finishing touches on the space that they rented out. She had spent a better part of afternoon decorating and transforming it into a gorgeous ballroom fit for the wedding reception they were having for all of their friends and family. They had eloped so suddenly, and it had been a perfect, intimate ceremony that the brunette had wished it would be. Still, she didn't want to cut her children out of the huge life decision to join their lives with Carter's. Besides that, she was slightly worried about offending Carter's family. He had never been married before, and she didn't want to take that away from him, or rather from his mother. Kiera thought they should at least have a big party for those closest to them. She had already been planning the wedding for months, so she had just continued on. She flicked her wand at the instruments laying near the dance floor. They sprung to life and began to play music. Another flick of her wand dimmed the lighting and lit the candles on the table.

Everything was absolutely perfect, or at least it would be when Carter arrived. She had threatened to murder her brother if he didn't make sure Carter left work early today. Katheryn and Jacqueline were bringing the children, along with Sean. She had made her mother swear to behave herself with Sean, and she had promised to be on her best behavior but that was usual true whenever Raziel was around. The brunette was thankful for that at least. She ran her hands down her tulle dress, smoothing out the layers. The dress was more cream than the traditional white bridal dress, and it was the dress she had been intending to wear to the wedding before they eloped. Kiera had not been a traditional bride nor had they had the traditional wedding, but the dress should not go to waste. She was blissfully happy with Carter and couldn't wait for all of their friends and family to celebrate their happiness with them. She glanced at the clock on the wall and silently cursed Carter. Of all the days for him to get lost in his work.
​

 

[Katheryn Kingsley]

Katheryn held tight to the hands of Lyra and Jemma as she apparated them away from Kiera's house to the location of the party. She was supposed to be halfway across the world filming a movie, but she had requested a twenty four hour break to celebrate with her sister and the rest of the family. Sebastian had not come with her, but she was still holding out hope that he would find the time to come even with his busy tour schedule. The redhead knew that the party was set to begin in fifteen minutes, but Kiera had requested that she get the children there before majority of the guests arrived. Still, she was a little shocked to find Kiera alone in the grand hall. "No Carter?" she asked, amusement clear in her voice. She could see the irritation on her sister's face and knew the answer to the question before she asked it. "Got a runaway groom on your hands?" she teased, knowing that wasn't really the case since the pair was already married.

 

[Jacqueline Styx]

Jacqueline sighed as she apparated to the site of the party with the rest of the group that had been at Kiera's house. She could think of at least five things she would rather be doing right now, but it was important that she show up to support her daughter and new son-in-law. At least this one was an improvement over the last one. Jacqueline smiled at her daughter before turning to Link. "Do not destroy anything." She said firmly as she was well aware of his destructive tendencies.

 

[Cameron Kingsley]

Cameron Kingsley was leaving work before suppertime for the first time since he took office, but there was something that he had to do before he apparated home to help Cyndi get the boys ready for the party. He ducked his head into Carter Kaster's office, not surprised to see the man still sitting at his desk. " Carter? Merlin's Beard! Do you know what time it is?" the man asked his now brother-in-law. "You better get going, and that's an order. The party starts in less than an hour. Unless you're trying to get me murdered by my tiny sister." he said with a good-natured chuckle. Cameron shook his head at the man, hoping he listened. Kiera had sent him an owl yesterday, threatening to hold him responsible if Carter worked too late. He hoped for both of their sakes that he wouldn't be late.

The man apparated to home to his wife and children. He missed sending as much time with them, but he did love being Minister. He helped Cyndi wrangle the boys into little suits, similar to the one he was wearing. Cam's dad had come over yesterday to spend the day with the boys and now was preparing to go to the party with them all. Cameron took Jake and Noah by the hand and nodded to Cyndi with a grin. His dad held Noah's other hand. He didn't want her to worry about side by side apparation in her condition. With a pop, they arrived at the location. Cameron grinned as he saw the various members of his family. However, Carter was no where to be seen. The Minister sighed. "I swear I ordered him out of the office before I left." he said, knowing what Kiera's question would be.

 

[Cyndi Kingsley]

Cyndi was grateful that her father-in-law was there to help her with the boys for the day. They loved their grandfather and had kept the poor man busy for the majority of the day, playing catch in the backyard. Finally, Cyndi had managed to wrangle them into the house to begin getting ready for Kiera's party. It wasn't until Cameron came home that the boys finally got into their suits, suddenly eager to look just like daddy even though she'd been trying to convince them of that for an hour. Leaving them to it, the woman went to get herself ready, squeezing herself into a dress that would have fit her easily a few weeks ago. She arrived back in the living room feeling slightly grumpy, though that feeling went away as she took in her beautiful family. With a wave, the woman grabbed her purse and apparated herself to the party. Moving to greet her family, Cyndi looked around for her sons. They were already running around with their cousins. She feared their suits wouldn't look impeccable for much longer. "Maybe you should send him a howler" Cyndi smirked as she gave her best friend a hug.

 

[Silus Hollister]

While Silus never got nervous, well, he was now. He'd be meeting Lyra's family in a only a few moments now, and he sincerely hoped he wouldn't screw anything up. He knew first impressions lasted, and he didn't want to leave anything that would cause them to furrow their brows whenever his name came up.

The boy stood alongside the Transfiguration professor, Jacqueline Black and a few others who would be attending the event as well. Among the others Silus was aware that Lyra's twin brother was present as well, but his thoughts were elsewhere. He ran his hand through his hair and would smooth the fabric of his shirt every few seconds, hoping to appear acceptable. The time had come for Silus to side-apparate for the very first time and his hold was tight upon the professor.

It was to say the very least, a most unpleasant experience. Silus tried not to panick as everything went dark, and he felt as though he was being forceably shoved down a pipe. He felt his stomach stir, and he willed himself not to hurl. That would've been quite the first impression. Once the ordeal was over, Silus
noted quite humorously that the professor uttered a warning to a seemingly energetic boy -- who somehow reminded him of Lyra. Yes. That is her twin, Link. He hadn't really noticed him before as he'd been too concerned over his appearance. He gave a quick scan of his surroundings and hoped to see Lyra soon.

 

[Lyra Potter]

Lyra looked around for Silus, wondering how he was faring with her grandmother and twin. Link could be rather annoying, and Silus was not known for playing nice with others. She grinned as she found him standing next to her grandmother who was looking at Link's disappearing figure. Lyra would follow him once she had introduced him to her mother. The twins and Silus had only arrived home that morning, and Kiera and Carter had already left for the day. Lyra grabbed Silus by the hand. "Come on. It's time to meet my mum." she said, dragging him behind her.

 

[Ursula Kaster]

Being denied attendance to her son's wedding was a little hurtful. Ursula had been bitter for a little while afterwards and had maintained that she would never speak to her son again. That thought had lasted a mere ten minutes before she was flooing her son and congratulating him in his marriage and offering for him to bring his new wife and the children to their German residence in celebration. Unfortunately Carter had maintained that he wanted them all to settle in before he would uproot them for some time in Germany. Besides, they didn't know the customs nor the language and Ursula admitted that it might be difficult for them to adjust to a society such as hers. Ingrid's marriage was a little over a year ago now and though she and her husband had seemed to hate each other at first appearance, they'd inevitably gotten over that because now when Ursula saw them, which wasn't often given that they lived in England, they looked like they were very much in love. She'd at least been invited to their wedding and was now happily awaiting the arrival of Grandbabies. She loved grand babies and though she knew she would likely not get any from Kiera and Carter, as Carter had explained to her the issues they'd discussed on the day they got married, she was a Kaster and Kaster's took all as family. That meant that, basically, Lyra, Link and Jemma, would inherit anything that any biological children would receive from the heir. That is just how things worked with them. Blood wasn't as major a concept for them.

Ursula smiled at Wilfred and kissed him affectionately on the cheek as he kept into his work. Unfortunately Carter's father would not be able to attend the party tonight, but that was fine, most of the rest of the family would be in attendance and Ursula would serve as the link between Kiera and the Head of their family. Her black and grey robes held the family crest, horses of course and she quickly apparated to the ballroom. Urusla was quite the social butterfly and she greatly admired the work that had been put into this place. She knew nothing was input from her son as he often stayed away from these things. She sought out her daughter-in-law and immediately spotted her, though she didn't miss the look on her face. Ursula frowned and looked around for Carter, not seeing him. She looked at Kiera who appeared to be in conversation with others that Ursula did not recognise. She put a quick hand up in gesture that she was about to ask a question. A thick German accent laced her words. "Sorry to interrupt. Where is my son?" If he was still at work, which she was certain of, she was going to kill him. He should be here with his lovely wife, not at work.
​

 

[Hazel Kaster]

Hazel looked at the time, she was nearly late, but if she got a move on she'd be able to make it. She quickly threw the book she was reading onto the coffee table and slipped into her black dress. She'd picked it out the night before when she'd remembered that she actually had an engagement today. She was so busy with work and with Samual these days that she didn't have much time for anything else, though today of course she was sure that she had the time off of work. Most schools didn't finish until the week before Christmas so she was lucky to be allowed some time off. Her husband was at work, which was just as well, she didn't want to be dealing with him today. She ran her fingers through her hair and locked up the house, stepping out into the air and breathing a sigh. She wasn't sure if it was a happy one or not, but she quickly walked back inside when she remembered where she was going. She worked in a muggle school, so she was used to driving there. She shook her head and looked around for the port key. Hazel was not especially good at apparating and so she'd had a port key made for the occasion. She eventually found it beside the fridge and touched it.

Portkey travel often made Hazel woosey, so she was glad she'd not ingested anything prior to the trip. She looked around and noticed a couple of her old professors as well as the Minister of Magic and Carter's mother. She didn't know many of the other people chalking them down to Kiera's family and friends. She plastered a smile on her face and walked into the crowd, noting, with some surprise, that the man of the hour was not in attendance. Perhaps they didn't have as happy a marriage as everyone thought. It wouldn't surprise her. Kaster's were not easy to live with. Hazel moved through the crowd until she could see an space that was not filled with people and headed for it. The longer she could stay out of sight of her extended family, the longer she could deny answering any questions.
​

 

[Jack Kaster]

Jack made sure he had all of his work finished as quickly as possible, knowing that it wouldn't do to be late to the function. He managed to find a sitter for his younger children, but decided that, seeing as Parker was taking along his son Raffaele, there wouldn't be much harm in dragging Benjamin out of his comfort-zone once more and get him interacting with others. They were family - whether the boy liked it or not he was going to have to talk to them. He made a dash to Carter's office, however, reminding him of the time in an attempt to hurry him along - a grunt and some short words were all he caught from his cousin - and Jack was off. He didn't bother changing out of his work robes, and simply dropped back home to organise his children with their sitter, and instruct Parker, Raffaele and Benjamin to hurry up and get moving.

The small group arrived together and Jack immediately zeroed in on people he recognised. He put Benjamin on the ground, and ruffled his hair, before dragging Raffaele back when the other seven year old tried to start running away. "Behave yourselves," he instructed, before giving both a pat of the back and looking at Parker as they ran off. "I bet five galleons their suits have five minutes before they're ruined." He then inclined his head toward where Hazel stood, encouraging Parker to follow him. Speaking quietly, he continued. "I also bet that Carter has about five minutes before a line starts forming on who's going to kick his backside first. Ten galleons." Carter was going to be in so much sh!t if he rocked up late for this, Jack could feel it in his bones. He waved and greeted a few familiar faces, before enclosing on Hazel. She looked grumpy. "Extra fifteen galleons if you can get Giggles over there smiling." He elbowed Parker's ribs playfully, before finally reaching Hazel and offering her a hug. "Hey Squirt, what's wrong with you? Looks like ya sucked on a lemon."
​

 

[Alfie Kaster]

Alfred Kaster had only been in New Zealand for a few months, having taken a break from work in order to come over and spend time with some of his family members. Imagine his surprise when he discovered that his Uncle Carter had gone and eloped. Of all of his family, that was completely unexpected, and it made the young man rather giddy. It was brilliant to see his normally strict uncle to be bending and flexing the rules like that, the young man was proud of him. The next thing on his list was to get his relatives to forgo marriage all together. It was just an oppressive construct forcing two families together, and forcing a couple to have to prove their love in front of the masses. It was outdated, and completely irrelevant in these modern times. Things like contracts and other binding documents just tarnished the love that drove two to stay together, and then there was the change of names - it was completely unacceptable to him. The fair-haired man shook his head clear - he couldn't have himself getting worked up about these issues. This was Carter's party, and it was important to show his supposed for his dear uncle, especially in the face of their often overly-strict family. He wouldn't normally be caught dead of these kinds of functions, but Carter would probably need him.

He arrived, and immediately found several family members - but no Carter. He was rather disappointed - he wanted to make sure that Carter knew that Alfie supported him 100%. He did, however, find his grandmother near Carter's bride. It'd be best to say hello to the hostess and his grandmother, and so the young German man approached quietly, and greeted his grandmother. "Oma, hello." He then looked at Kiera, and smiled. "My name is Alfred - please call me Alfie. I'm the nephew of Carter. I just wanted to congratulate you both!"​

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[Parker Smith]

Parker was wearing a nice suit, well, it should be decent seeing as it was the one he'd worn to Tess' funeral. He didn't really own any other nice suits. He didn't even play Quidditch anymore, giving it up as Tess had always wanted. He'd never done so when he was alive, assuming he'd have many more years, but on the night of her death he'd made the decision to do all the things he'd never done when she was alive. He made sure that the boys were ready for when Jack arrived to apparate them all and then made Raf swear not to get himself into any trouble. "There's going to be a bunch of kids there, Kiera's daughter is of a similar age to you, don't f*ck this up." he also made sure that the younger four would be on their best behaviour. Aleksandra was sad that she couldn't be attending, but she understood why. If she went along as well, the other three would never settle down and it was hard enough with just Flynn and Kit. Elsa could be a handful too on her own and so the three of them together would be an absolute nightmare. Too much like their mother and their father all three of them.

They were apparated to the party and Parker rolled his eyes at his son. It appeared that it didn't matter what he threatened him with. "That child." he shook his head and playfully grabbed on to Jack's arm. "Bet you ten it'll be in under three." Whilst Ben was not a problem on his own, Raffaelle had the incredible ability to drag Ben into all sorts of things. Kind of like when they were all kids. Clearly his son took after him in personality. Parker laughed rather loudly at the bet about Carter and nodded. "I'm going to bet that his mother is first in line, five galleons says I'm right." Parker looked in the direction that his best mate pointed and frowned at the look on Hazel's face. He'd seen that look before on his parents, on Isla, on many, many others. It wasn't good. "I wouldn't be so sure its gonna be easy, but I'll try." He let go of Jack as they approached the younger girl and smiled. Jack hugged her and Parker leaned against the wall beside her, playing with her hair. "What's up? I've seen happier faces on a cockroach about to get squished."
​

 

[Silus Hollister]

Silus was still searching for her.
He felt a bit out-of-place at the moment seeing all these people. Are all of these family? he thought. It was such an unfamiliar experience, but so far not an unpleasant one. If you screw this up, it'll be in front of all of these people. Silus frowned at the thought.

He felt very much relieved when he saw her familiar figure coming towards him. As she neared him he smiled at the cheerful looking grin on her face. Lyra was seemingly a generally happy person, but now she looked even more-so. Silus guessed it was being surrounded by family -- like he would know. His eyes widened slightly as she grabbed his hand and began dragging him off to see her mother. He shouldn't have been surprised, he knew this was coming sooner and later, and he desperately hoped it would go smoothly. Don't screw this up, don't screw this up... the mantra repeated in his head as he followed closely behind her.

Somehow, he felt less tense holding onto her hand.

 

[Kiera Kaster]

Kiera sighed as her family began to arrive. The brunette rolled her eyes at her younger sister's jokes. Kat might think they were funny, but Kiera was not amused by the situation. Kiera smiled slightly at Cyndi's suggestion. "That doesn't sound like a bad idea. If he isn't here in the next ten minutes, he is going to wish I just sent a Howler." she grumbled. Kiera had put a lot of thought and planning into this party, and Carter wasn't even here yet. More and more people were arriving, most of them Kasters that Kiera had not met. She was about to say something else to her siblings when a voice interrupted her. She knew the voice as her mother-in-law. Kiera didn't know the woman too well as she lived in Germany. She had hopes that they would have a good relationship, just like the one she had with her first mother-in-law. The Potters had always been kind to Kiera, so much so that she had invited them tonight. They had politely declined for reasons Kiera understood. The brunette pursed her lips, trying not to show her annoyance. She wasn't annoyed with her mother-in-law. It was Carter she was irritated with. "I'm guessing he's still at the Ministry. He was supposed to be here a half hour ago. Someone didn't make sure he left." she said, glaring at her brother.

Another Kaster made his way over to their small group. He introduced himself as Alfie. Kiera smiled politely. "Pleasure, Alfie. I'm Kiera, but you probably guessed that. Thank you for coming, and for the congratulations. You can congratulate Carter whenever he decides to show up." she said.​

 

[Ingrid Ramsey]

Ingrid Ramsey really didn't want to go to this event. Her life in England since marriage had been relatively peaceful aside from the few visits from her mother than often caused a tick in her head. Otherwise, everything was going fine for her. Her job transfer went well, her husband had yet to be killed (which she was extremely grateful for) and she still did not need any househelp to take care of their home. She still managed to cook and do the chores. Needless to say, married life had gone well for her without the presence and constant nagging of her parent. Now though, she had been trying to convince herself that she was attending this party for her brother and his wife. She had to keep repeating that to herself until she and Jonathon had arrived via portkey to the venue.

As soon as they had reached the party, Ingrid took her husband's hand in hers not wanting to be separated from him in such an event. She much preferred his company after all. She had told him that she wanted to look for Carter and his wife before she began to pull him along with her, greeting some family members here and there. She found no sign of her brother, although her mother had been relatively easy to find who seemed to have been with Alfie and a woman that she could only guess was Carter's wife. But still no sign of the man. She had yet to meet the woman, and she doubted that she would be able to later on. She walked towards the group slowly and with a small smile. "Mother, I do hope you are not causing trouble," Ingrid said, her German accent had slowly thinned over time. "Hello Alfie, how have you been?" she smiled at her nephew before turning her attention to the woman. "I believe we haven't met before? I'm Ingrid," she said extending a hand towards the woman as she beamed a smile before craning her neck a little towards Jonathon, "and this is my husband. I'm Carter's sister. I've been wanting to meet you," the blonde admitted and though she had been hesitant to attend the function, it was really due to the presence of her mother than anything else. Seeing Carter and meeting his wife was a whole different matter that she had honestly been looking forward to.
​

 

[Lyra Potter]

Lyra stopped dead in her tracks as she looked at her mother's face. She could see the anger behind her mother's friendly smile. She scanned the room to find that Carter had not shown up yet despite the number of people around the room. "Uh, on second thought, that can wait until Carter shows up. She will be in a better mood then." she said confidently. She looked around. The band was playing, and she spotted her twin and Gabriel over at another table. No doubt Gabriel was listening to Link's latest scheme. Noah and Jake were making their way across the room to Link and Gabriel's table. "What do you want to do? Dance? Eat? Go see what trouble Link wants to cause?" she asked Silus.

 

[Cyndi Kingsley]

"Hon, you did tell Carter to get a move on, right?" Cyndi asked as she placed her arm around her husband's waist. If he hadn't, the woman wasn't sure she'd be able to protect him from his sister's wrath. Kiera was tiny, but she was fierce and Cyndi hoped that Cameron hadn't forgotten to remind Carter to leave. He might be the Minister, but she was a Gryffindor and wanting her party to go perfectly.

The woman gave a quick glance around the space, spotting Jake and Noah already with their uncles, Gabriel and Link. She wasn't too worried about Gabriel's influence on them. But, she knew that the boys idolized Link and if he was in a mood to start trouble today, he would have two eager participants.

 

[Lisa Kaster]

Lisa rarely ever attended parties, because crowds were not things she liked. However, this was a family affair, and she was invited. She couldn't just say no, and so she got herself ready. Hamish would be coming with her, even though he really didn't want to. The twelve year old even tried to convince her that it would be a good idea to have him stay behind - like that was ever going to happen. Being a squib, herself, she travelled with Hayden, and made sure to drag Hamish along as well. Once she arrived, she quickly navigated her away through the strangers, giving a quick greeting to Kiera, of course, and Ursula, but otherwise she made a bee-line towards Hazel, Jack and Parker. She felt it odd that Hazel was not with Samual, however. But her younger brother was probably working on something.

She gave Hazel a quick kiss in greeting, before giving the same to Jack and then Parker. "Don't crowd her, you pair. Hazel, where's Samual?" She hooked her arm with Hayden's, before looking down at Hamish. "You, by the way, can go and hang out with the other kids. Try blending in, making friends, whatnot. You're not staying with us." It was time he made an effort, really.​

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[Natalie Reyes]

Natalie Reyes dressed quickly as she realized she was running late. Time seemed to slip by so quickly these days without the strict schedule she had kept during her time as a Professor at Hogwarts. She had made the decision to leave when she had realized she was pregnant with her youngest child. Natalie and Damien had made the decision that she would leave her job in order to be home with the baby. Damien had volunteered to stay at home with Sofia and Lucino had decided to stay home with them. He wasn't much for parties or weddings. "Come on, Layla! We are going to be late!" Natalie yelled through the house as she rushed to the living room. The brunette kissed her husband, son, and daughter good-bye as Layla entered the room. Natalie smiled and took her hand as she apparated the two of them to the location on the invitation.

As Natalie entered the room, she noticed that there were already people mulling about the room. It looked lovely, and she was sure Kiera had been behind this. She spotted her sister-in-law standing near a group of people that included her sister and brother. Natalie made her way over to them, hearing the last bit of conversation as she stood next to Cyndi. "Carter's not here?" she asked quietly.

 

[Jonathon Ramsey]

Jonathon Ramsey had taken the time off of work for this event. He didn't know the family very well, he tried to stay away from them more than anything and aside from the visits from Ingrid's mother, he seemed to have been doing fairly well. He wasn't surprised to hear that Ingrid's brother and his wife had eloped, Jonathon wouldn't have minded doing that himself after the disaster that was his marriage, but it didn't work out that way and either way, he'd forgiven Ingrid for all the mess eventually. Their honeymoon had done a lot to help them work out their problems. Jonathon wasn't exactly dressed up for this, but he was wearing a nice shirt and some jeans. The only reason that Jonathon was making an appearance was because it was expected. He had work things to do, but he didn't want to be impolite. He was a part of this family now, as Ingrid was a part of his and as such he would be expected to be at family functions that were started. It didn't take Ingrid long to get ready, thankfully and soon they were being port keyed to the party. Jonathon wasn't a fan of port keys, but he preferred them over any muggle transport.

Jonathon wasn't much of a talker and he also didn't really know these people. He knew Ingrid's mother and had at least met Carter a couple of times, but most of these other people were foreign to him. So he mostly stayed by his wife's side and let her do all of the talking. She was much more sociable than he was after all and that was saying a lot because Ingrid wasn't the most sociable of people either. Curiously, Carter could not see the tall stature of Ingrid's brother and had to wonder where the man might be. He looked around and from the looks on some of the faces it was quite clear that on half of the happy couple was present. He had a feeling that Carter was not going to have the best day if he was late. The Kaster's were feisty people, that was for sure, Ingrid had taught him that, but from what he'd heard about Carter's wife, well, she was probably even more feisty than even he could imagine. All that feistiness under one roof, that was probably a recipe for disaster if ever he'd heard one. Carter was not going to survive this marriage if he did things like this often, that was for sure.
​

 

[Hazel Kaster]

Hazel looked up as she saw her brother in law and Parker practically appear out of no where. She accepted the hugs and rolled her eyes at them. "I don't even like lemons." She said, quickly looking around for anyone to rescue her from what was about to go down. "I don't look that bad, do I?" She asked, looking between the two of them and sighing. She shook her head, resigning to the fact that they knew her to well to be fooled by anything she might say and shrugged, suddenly wishing she actually drank. "It's nothing, really." She fixed her hair and smiled lightly at them. "Just things." She had hoped that would satisfy them, until Lisa showed up with Hayden and all her plans were kind of shot. "He's at work I guess." The more time he spent at work, the less tired she seemed to be. He was so exhausting, just on the go all the time. She couldn't keep up. She had work too, but he never seemed to understand that she was trying to be mature. To be an adult. Samual did not know the meaning of adult conversation, nor did he know the meaning of maturity. "It's good to see you. I've need to have a proper conversation for a while." A good and mature conversation was what she was trying to say. But they were Samual's family. She couldn't disrespect him like that.
​

 

[Carter Kaster]

Carter was in so much trouble... and he knew it. Losing track of the time was something that happened fairly often for the Ministry official. Whether it was because he was buried in work, or he just couldn't seem to relax, Carter was always looking for more things to do, he didn't like leaving anything unfinished and if that meant he had to stay back a couple of extra hours to ensure that all the work was completed than so be it. Unfortunately, today may not have been the best day for him to keep to his own head. Apart from the fact that he'd promised Kiera that he would be at the party, he'd promised that he would not be late, something she had been concerned about if he'd gone into work today. However, despite continually checking the time and two visits from two different people, his boss and his cousin, Carter was still in the office and he was running very, very late. And yet he still wasn't finished with his work. It really was a character flaw of his. The ministry had been dealing with quite a few trials recently and he had to admit that the work was tough. He was working on the Wizengamot and he was an official of the international magical law office, that made things slightly more complicated when it came to his work, not that he would complain as he really did like a challenge. His challenge right now though, was figuring out how slowly he wanted to die. If he didn't get a move on, he knew that his death would be slow and agonising. If he wasn't in trouble with Kiera, it would definitely be his mother. Carter checked the time again and decided that he actually wanted to keep his life and so instead of finishing what he was doing, Carter quickly closed up all of the files and headed out of the Ministry. Really, how angry could she be?

Carter stood far enough away from the hall so that he couldn't be seen. There were a lot of people inside and Carter was not terribly good with crowds. He never had been and now all of the eyes would be on him. He was still wearing his work robes because he hadn't wanted to risk taking extra time to change and so as he looked at the crowd he licked his lips slightly and tightened his grip on the flowers he had, Kiera's favourite, and stepped into the crowd. He knew that this was in no way going to make up for being late, but he also wasn't going to try and play it cool either. He knew he was in the wrong and he'd broken his promise, something that he took very seriously. He could almost feel the judgement from his mother and sister as he made his way to Kiera, who looked none too pleased. He was trying to ignore everyone else at the moment, but it was becoming increasingly more difficult as he got closer to his wife as the look on her face was speaking volumes. He was not getting off lightly for this. Carter finally made it to where she was standing, surrounded by her family and his as they encased her in a protective, you-are-so-dead-carter, bubble. He held the flowers out to Kiera and sighed, lowering his head in shame. "Kiera, I am so sorry. Honestly I am. I swore that I was going to get out of there early and I honestly thought that I would." He said, feeling very small, despite beating her height by more than a foot. "I lost track of the time... again." He looked up at her now and would have smiled if he didn't think it would cheapen the apology. "Can you be mad at me later so that we can enjoy the now?" he asked lower, trying to ensure that only his wife and those immediate to her would hear. It would be bad enough that his mother heard let alone half the room.
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[Layla Reyes]

Layla Reyes looked around the room, spotting several of her cousins and another boy from school. The ballroom was beautiful, and it seemed her Aunt Kiera had done a lovely job getting everything together. Layla knew Link was probably going to get into trouble, so she made her way to Lyra and the boy whose name she didn't know. "Hi Ly! How are you?!" she asked, giving her cousin a hug. "I'm Layla." she said with a smile to the boy she didn't know. Layla noticed that Lyra was holding the boy's hand which caused her to raise an eyebrow at her cousin. Surely, she was too young to have a boyfriend as Layla considered herself too young and she was older than Lyra.

 

[Kiera Kaster]

Kiera glanced at the door as more Kasters seemed to be arriving. Two of them made their way over to the circle Kiera was standing in. Kiera smiled at Carter's sister as she introduced herself. She had been looking forward to meeting Carter's sister. The brunette had hopes that she and Ingrid could be friends, maybe even close friends one day like she was with her other sisters-in-law. "I've been looking forward to meeting you, too. I have heard such lovely things from Carter." she said with a smile. She turned her head to look at the soft spoken question that wasn't meant for her. She saw her half-sister. "No, Nat. He isn't. Though I am about to apparate to his office if he doesn't show up in the next five minutes." she said, threateningly. It wasn't technically allowed, but she didn't think Cameron would try to stop her. Not in the mood she was in now. She hoped their guests were at least having a good time.

Right before Kiera's self-imposed five minute time limit ended, her honey eyes spotted a familiar figure grace them all with his presence. He was still dressed in his work robes instead of the suit she had painstakingly picked out, but she should have expected that. She noticed that he had a bouquet of magnolias, her favorite, in his hands and looked reasonably ashamed of himself. She eyed him as he apologized sincerely to her in a low voice, knowing he was clearly trying to speak only to her even in this crowded room. The brunette sighed, knowing she had very little choice when he was looking at her like that. "Oh all right, but you and I will be talking about this more at home tonight." she said sternly, accepting the flowers that he was holding out to her. She smiled at them, thinking of how much they reminded her of home. "I have a feeling I'm not the only one who wishes to speak to you about your tardiness." she said, smugly. Kiera was well aware of how Carter spoke of his mother, and she suspected the elder Kaster would have something to say to her son, which would not be pleasant for Carter to say the least.
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[Hayden Bane]

Hayden was a rather lively person. However she also preferred to stick to herself unless she was needed. Sometimes that meant that she had to be quiet or comforting in other ways that did not need her to dispel advice, something she was typically good at. Either way, Carter was a good friend of hers. They'd met in school and she had tutored him. It was hard to believe that he was here now, a Ministry Official and married! She'd always admired his ambition even as a teenager. She was only a few years older than him but she'd always known that he was going places, it was easy to see really. Either way, she was glad that he had found someone to settle down with. Except that he didn't seem to be out of work yet. From memory, Hayden knew that Carter was a bit of a workaholic. Even in school he'd been much the same. It was a surprise that he'd even made graduation owing to his need to complete everything he starts. Hayden had to hope that he wasn't too much longer because, frankly, everyone could see how upset Kiera was becoming and Hayden did not blame her one bit.

She snaked her arm around Lisa and followed her to where the others were. Hazel seemed a little put out and she leaned down to kiss the younger girl lightly on the cheek. She frowned as she heard the tone of her voice. "Tired, are you?" It was clear that tiredness was not the issue. But this was not the place for such a conversation. "Lisa, hon, shall we go and speak with your aunt? She seems about ready to blow a valve. Perhaps seeing you will calm her some?" She asked, smiling brightly at her family before turning her head as she heard a small commotion. Carter had finally appeared, carrying what looked to be magnolia's. Clearly Kiera's favourite flower. He'd be an idiot not to have brought something with him. She looked at Jack and Parker. "Did you bet? Who won?"
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