Mother's Insight, a Building Faith Side Job
By Ellf
Chapter Four

Disclaimer: Dresden Files is a series by Jim Butcher. I own neither it nor any of the other series mentioned in this fanfiction.

"He shouldn't be here, Michael. What are we going to tell the children?" My husband's big heart will get him killed one day, but to think that he'd bring someone here, a White Council Wizard here, scared me. My talent had long wasted away, but seeing just who Michael had planned on working with for the next while gave me significant pause.

"Charity, he and I have looked upon each other, and he is a trustworthy man," Michael said, wrapping his strong arms around me in a hug. Oh good, the wizard was trustworthy. That meant that he would at least attempt to do what was right, but he still was a wizard, reminding me of worse times, of times before I had this. "He has stood against much evil, and I think that he was sent for me to help in his hour of need. The twins are old enough to know some of how the world really works."

"Michael, they're eight." I didn't want to tell him that I suspected our little girls already had ideas about what might be happening. Faith had nightmares that still woke her up at night, and she never wanted to talk about them. What little I'd managed to coax out of her were related to something chasing her, always following behind, like a shadow, but monstrous. She spoke with Molly about it sometimes, when she thought I couldn't hear her, and she had mentioned her father fighting it with a sword. "If they find out, Daniel and Matthew will quickly find out; Alicia won't, but that's because she's too young to remember right now."

"Charity, I need to help him." Michael looked me in the eye, offering a smile, and, as usual, my heart warmed in my chest. I never really could deny my husband anything if he wanted it. Well, some things I could, but never anything when it was the right thing to do. Michael genuinely believed that helping this wizard would be beneficial, and given who he was, I had to defer to his judgement. "I have been set upon this path for a reason."

"And you need to follow that path," I said, nodding. "Michael, I just don't want you to get hurt. Our children need their father. All of them."

Michael placed a hand on my distended stomach, and he smiled. "Yes, I know. We'll be back in time for the new birthday. I have faith in that."

"You had better be, Michael Carpenter. She's not going to come into this world without her Daddy here to greet her," I said, placing my hand over Michael's. I still had a few weeks before I was due, and I knew that Michael would make his best effort to return before then. In the meantime, before Michael left, I needed to play the good hostess. Even if I didn't personally like the idea of my husband going out to fight evil with that man, I could be polite and courteous to him. I gave out a small sigh and a wry smile to my husband. "All right. Let's go meet your wizard."

"I'll go get him." Michael extricated his hand from my own and walked out of the house. I made my way to the kitchen and poured myself a glass of water. I turned on the stove so that I could boil some water for tea, and then I sat at the table, waiting.

I didn't have to wait long. Michael came into the kitchen not long after I sat down, followed by a man that I could only assume was the wizard in question, Harry Dresden.

My first impression of the wizard had much to do with his height. Now, I am by no means a small woman. I'm nearly six feet tall, and while my husband is taller than I am, if only just, I tend to tower over a number of men. Harry Dresden made me feel like a dwarf with the height differential. The man clearly should have made a career out of basketball rather than doing his magic, but that was neither here nor there. His hair was an unkempt, shaggy mess that was a color that could almost resemble black if I were to try and focus on accuracy. He was young too, compared to the Wardens that I met during my own foray into magic. I'd put his age at somewhere in his early twenties, definitely not much older than that. Which would easily explain his choices in fashion. The man wore a pair of jeans, a tee shirt with the Star Wars logo on it, and overtop of that he had a dark canvas duster that went down to his legs. I noted a silver ring on his hand along with a charm bracelet on his left wrist, likely some sort of implements that he used to focus his spells around. He didn't have a staff in hand, nor did I expect him to, given that he was a guest in our home.

"Harry, this is my wife, Charity," Michael said, gesturing to me once they both were fully in the kitchen. "Charity, this is Harry Dresden."

"Ah yes, the wizard." I tried to keep my disdain for his occupation out of my voice, but I didn't think I succeeded all that well. I couldn't really fault the man himself for doing what he felt was right, but did he really need to do it with my husband? Never mind. I was okay. I could be a mature person and handle this like the adult I was. He was my husband's ally, and I could be respectful to him. "It is good to meet someone that my husband holds in high esteem."

There. I could be respectful. I would be respectful. I even stood to greet him properly. It was only polite, after all.

"Hell—oh, holy crap, you're pregnant!" And, just like that, the wizard ruined my attempt. Did he really need to state the obvious? I mean, given that I'd been like this for nine months, I was either definitely pregnant and near my delivery date, or I'd just become severely bloated

Of course, I said none of that. I needed to stay respectful, even if this Mr. Dresden would not be. After all, it would reflect badly on both myself and my husband if I acted otherwise. "Yes, Mr. Dresden, I am, and I have been for about nine months at this point."

"So that means you must be about to pop, then, huh?" asked the wizard, in what I assumed could only be a rhetorical manner, or at least I treated it like one.

"Harry," Michael said. "I will need to go pack the rest of my things before we can go."

"Oh, no rush, Michael," Mr. Dresden said, but then he looked out the window. The sun still sat at a reasonable height in the sky. The twins and Daniel would be home from school soon. I assumed the reason that the wizard cared about the time was that there was a time based component to the magic he planned on doing, and I also knew that magic would work better after sundown. This meant that whatever was going on, Mr. Dresden likely was the center of it, not Michael. "We've got some time before we should go."

That idea sent a jolt of worry down into my stomach. While I knew my husband could take care of himself, that didn't mean that I didn't worry about him. Seemingly sensing my worry, Michael came over to me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders, giving me a warm hug. He then made his way upstairs to pack his things, leaving me alone in the kitchen with the wizard.

I guess that meant that my husband's trust was real. I made my way over to the counter, and I pulled out a mug and some tea bags. While I would prefer loose leaf tea, that tended to be more expensive than the bagged kind, and we weren't exactly flush with funds. Choosing not to engage the wizard, I took the kettle just as it was about to whistle, and I poured the hot water into my tea mug, preparing my own hot tea. I set the kettle aside. I'd make hot chocolate for the twins when they got home.

"So, uh… Charity," said the wizard, clearly wanting to break the silence that had come over the room while I made my tea. I just wanted to leave him alone and not deal with him, was that too much to ask? I looked toward him, and he continued, "I just wanted to ask. How did you and Michael end up together?"

I shook my head with a smile. That was a good memory to talk about, sure, even if it was surrounded by bad.

"Michael saved me from being an evil wizard's sacrifice to a dragon for power. He could probably tell you more about it than I could. The day was mostly a blur to me." I looked directly at his face, avoiding his eyes. I had no desire to see what his soul was like, and I knew he had no desire to see mine. "Now what about you, Mister Dresden? How did you meet my husband?"

"You mean he didn't tell you?" asked the wizard. "He saved my life. I can't really talk about what he saved me from, but your husband saved not only my life but the life of my client. Neither of us would have survived if Michael hadn't been there."

"Your client?" I asked. What was the wizard talking about? I hadn't heard of any wizards doing anything like that before, taking clients, I mean. However, that didn't mean that there weren't other uses for magic.

"Ah, he must not have told you that either," Mr. Dresden said. "I'm working on my private investigation license, and I'm currently apprenticed to Nick Angel at Ragged Angel Investigations. Michael helped me out of a jam, and I'd do the same for him."

"But this… is your quest. Your case," I said, turning my attention to the reason that the wizard was even here in the first place. "It isn't Michael's. He feels he needs to help you, but I worry about him."

"I'll make sure he gets home safely," Mr. Dresden said, moving to take a seat in one of the chairs, cutting off one of his main advantages in the room, his height. It was easier to look at him while he sat. "He'll be back before you know it."

"He'd better," I said, acknowledging his height change. "He has a new child on the way that he'll be wanting to say hello to."

Dresden nodded, and it looked as if he wanted to say something more, but I turned my attention to my tea at the moment. I didn't know how responsible the man was with his magic, but he still walked a dangerous and potentially dark path. I trusted my husband, and I had faith that he would be able to stand against the darkness. My husband would be able to keep this Harry Dresden on the straight and narrow. That said, I still didn't have to like it.

I sipped my tea some, and then I turned my attention toward the door. I clearly could hear the giggling outside combined with some young masculine laughter. My children had arrived home from school. I pulled out three more mugs. I'd have to get their grandmother to pick Alicia and Matthew up from daycare in a bit, but right now, I had hot cocoa to make for my three eldest.

When the door opened, revealing the twins and Daniel, the three of them were in high spirits. I wasn't sure what they were laughing about, but they definitely were laughing. Faith and Molly had adjusted their hairstyles to be similar once more, and I was starting to think that I should just make them both have the same hairstyle in the morning. They came up to me quickly, and I handed each of them a mug, gesturing for them to sit at the table.

Daniel was the first to notice the stranger at the table with them. "Hello, I'm Danny, and these are my sisters Faith and Molly. They're twins, and it's really hard to tell which is which, but Faith likes to wear blue, and Molly likes green."

I smiled, and I made my way over. I noticed that Faith was really looking the man over with a contemplative look on her face. Daniel didn't seem to notice, but Molly seemed to pay attention to Faith. "Faith, Molly, Daniel, this is your father's friend. His name is—"

Faith's eyes widened a lot as she cut me off, exclaiming, "Holy fuck, it's Harry Dresden! Fuck me sideways."

… What? When had my daughter learned that language? Dresden could wait. I needed to deal with my daughter.

"Faith!" I said sharply.

"… Did I say that out loud?" Faith asked in a very small voice. Good. She was already feeling ashamed for what she said. I didn't even know why she said it, but I had some suspicions.

I'd deal with my daughter's potty mouth, but I needed to keep an eye on her to see if there was any indication as to why she reacted the way she did.

I'd just have to pay attention to her more, and then I'd find out where she got that word from. It probably was just something she heard at school.

Which meant one more thing I dreaded: another parent-teacher conference.