Vacation to Tuscany

Bella smiled and said, "Okay I'll probably be down here at 5:30." She laughed when he said that his family was suffocatingly nurturing with children. "Well I'm sure Rose would end up calling them auntie or grandma if she's around them a lot. I would love to walk around Tuscany later tomorrow, I'm afraid if I run I will miss seeing something. Maybe you can show Rose and I around, if that's okay with you."

She followed him down the hall towards a door at the end. She smiled when he opened it to reveal where her daughter was sleeping. She looked at the bed that Rose occupied and smiled seeing her daughter sleeping peacefully. "Yes she's in a deep sleep so hopefully she'll sleep the entire night." She said smiling.

Bella walked into the bedroom and looked around with a smile on her face. "Thank you Angus, for everything. I know I keep thanking you but before we met any of you it was just Rose and me. I'm glad that we met all of you, I'm truly grateful for everything that you've done for us." She smiled softly and looked around the room then turned back to him. "No I think I'm set for tonight, thank you Angus." She said giving him a hug then stepped back. "Goodnight Angus, I'll see you in the morning."

"You're welcome," he smiled. She hugged him, and he returned it. "Sleep well, Bella. My door is there, if you need anything during the night." He pointed to two doors down past the girls' nursery. It was the room on the other side of the boys' nursery.

He went back downstairs, made the yeast dough for the cinnamon rolls to allow it sufficient time to rise, and then caught some sleep.

He rose at 4, went downstairs and joined those who were there for morning training. Marcus, Robert, Brian, and a few others. It was a time Angus enjoyed. He liked working out, stretching his muscles, feeling the burn, and feeling success when he felt progress. He also enjoyed the competition between them. Aurors could be a competitive lot, and there was usually something to prove oneself over.

But, true to what he'd told Bella, at 5 am, he went upstairs, showered, changed to jeans and a plain denim shirt, sleeves rolled up. He went downstairs, dropping a leather duffel bag in the living room. Going to the kitchen, he put on a pot of Earl Grey and a pot of French Roast. The tea and coffee were essentials. The house elves arrived and assembled a coffee tray for Khaat and Brian's room, a tea tray for Robert and Kate's room, and a tea tray for Bella's room, and sent them upstairs. Khaat was a bit of an addict to French Roast, and her father was a traditionalist, preferring Earl Grey to start the day.

Today's breakfast menu had scrambled eggs, bacon, cheesy potatoes, fruit salad, cinnamon rolls, juice, and coffee or tea. It was usually set up on a sideboard so people could pick what they wanted. He got out the yeast dough and began to make the icing and filling for the cinnamon rolls, pausing every so often to sip on a bit of coffee himself.

Bella looked where he pointed and nodded, "You sleep well also Angus." She said smiling softly at him. "I'll see you in the morning. After he walked away Bella shut the door and looked around the room. She smiled looking at everything but she knew that she needed to get some sleep. So she opened her suitcase and slipped on her night gown then slipped into bed. She was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, it was a deep restful sleep. Rose remained sleeping through out the night as well not once did she stir or wake up.

She woke up at 4:30 in the morning not able to bring her body to sleep any more than that. She got up changing into a pair of yoga pants and a tank top. She started going through her morning stretches to make sure that her muscles were ready for the day ahead. A half hour later she stopped went into the bathroom and took a quick shower. She changed a tie died purple sleeveless dress pairing it with a pair of low heeled sandals and amethyst beads. She smiled at her appearance having bought the outfit a few weeks before they were leaving for Tuscany. Seeing the tray of tea and realizing she really needed some she poured herself a cup inhaling the scent. Smiling she took the cup with her out of the room and headed downstairs, her movements were slow because she was taking in all of the house as she went.

Bella finally was in the kitchen at 5:35 and saw Angus busily working way at his task. "Good Morning," She said smiling as she held her empty cup her in hand. "The tea is delicious it's my one of my favorite teas." She looked at what he was doing and realized he was making his cinnamon rolls, she grinned as she spotted some coffee in the corner. She rinsed her cup then poured some coffee in the cup adding a little cream and sugar to it. "Do you think that you teach me how to make homemade cinnamon rolls?" She asked as she looked at what he was doing trying to make sure she didn't miss anything.

"Good morning," he smiled. "I'm glad you like the tea. Robert is pretty traditional about his breakfast tea. He prefers Earl Grey in the morning. Khaat is a shameless French roast addict, and her coffee habits rubbed off on Brian. Now, he enjoys it in the morning like she does. So, we brew a lot of both in the mornings."

She asked about the cinnamon rolls. "Its a very simple recipe," he said. Its a basic yeast dough. I put it together before I go to bed so it has time to rise during the night. The filling is a blend of cinnamon and brown sugar. I brush the dough with butter, just because I can, before I add the filling. Then I roll it up and slice and bake.

"They go through lots of them," he said. "They were complaining they couldn't get enough of them. So, one morning I thought I'd prank them and made enormous ones. Each roll was almost the size of a tea saucer. Turned out they liked it. Now, they expect it. So, I make them bigger."

He rolled up the dough, and sliced them into large pinwheels and placed them on a couple of commercial sized baking sheets.

"We've got fruit salad from dinner last night that we'll use again this morning, and Suki peeled and sliced the potatoes for fried potatoes. So, now I just need cook the potatoes and eggs.

"Give it another 20 minutes or so, and you'll start to hear Khaat's eight kids and Rose coming downstairs--as soon as they smell the cinnamon rolls," he laughed.

"Well Earl Grey is my favorite kind of tea, I love drinking it in the afternoons but it was nice to have it this morning." Bella said as she took drank from her cup and sighed. "Mm this coffee is really good. Well Sometimes it's a good thing when two people love the same thing." She grinned as she looked around the kitchen for a moment.

"Well that is very simple, I may have to make some if Rose likes it. I'm sure she will though there's not much she doesn't like. Well except maybe broccoli and green beans, she says it because they look weird." Bella said laughing softly as she watched him make the food.

She laughed when she heard that his prank didn't quite go the way he intended it to. "My goodness, I probably wouldn't be able to finish an entire one myself." She saw him put them on commercial baking sheets making her smile more. "Those fit in the oven?" She asked smiling at him as she finished her coffee off. She walked over to the pot to get more pouring cream and sugar in it again. "If I'm not careful you all will addict me to your coffee and food...Wait nevermind on the food but the coffee yes." She said laughing softly.

"Sounds like a great breakfast to me," Bella said when he mentioned fried potatoes her eyes lit up. "I love fried potatoes, though I must admit somehow mine don't come out as good as they should."

Hearing little footsteps running already but she knew that they belonged to her daughter. Rose came into the kitchen and held out her arms to Bella. Picking her daughter up as the little girl rubbed her eyes then waved to Angus. "Good morning sweetie, did you sleep well?" Bella asked her daughter softly.

"Morning mommy.Yes I sleep good." Rose said with a little yawn. "Morning ggie."

"I'm glad you like it," he said when she tried the coffee. "Coffee, especially espresso, is one of the most common things you'll find in Italy. But, even for coffee drinkers, espresso can be an acquired taste. I like it, though. And I don't think its possible to make a cup of coffee too strong for Khaat to dislike."

He listened to her mention Rose not liking broccoli or green beans. "Well, that's not that uncommon for her age. I think it says something for Khaat that her kids like so many things that kids their age normally wouldn't. And I did learn a couple tricks that might help Rose to like it better. Maybe. But then again, we all have things we don't like. Maybe those will just be hers."

He laughed when she was surprised by the size of the cinnamon rolls. "They do fit in the oven," he laughed. "And I promise you these will all be gone by breakfast time tomorrow. We won't be here to know that, of course, but they never last. "

He heated olive oil in a large cast iron skillet and added onion and then sliced potatoes. "Well, I've buggared several skillets of potatoes in my time. My grandmother taught me that the key is to leave them alone. Sounds like it wouldn't work, doesn't it? She always said to make sure they were good and dry before putting them in the pan and then leaving them alone to get a good crust and then just flip them like a pancake. So, that's what I do. Not exactly culinary school technique, but it seems to work for me."

He heard Rose come downstairs. "Good morning, Rose," he said. "Hungry? Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes. Suki's probably put a pitcher of orange juice on the sideboard in the dining room by now, Bella, if Rose wants a bit of juice. Help yourself."

"I've never really tried espresso, though I'll probably try it some time when we're there." Bella said taking another sip. "There's a limit on how strong my coffee can be, otherwise I'll be so hyped up on caffeine and won't sleep for a day. My mother made that mistake once and she made sure it never happened again. I ended up organizing her whole house alphabetically." She laughed softly at that memory remembering her mother's face the next morning.

"Yeah I'm just glad that she likes some veggies and will eat them. What do you think might help her eat them? Yeah that is true it may be the one thing she doesn't like." She said as she leaned against the counter watching him cook.

"Do they fit coming out?" She said grinning as she shifted her weight to her other leg. "Well maybe sometime you'll have to make me some cinnamon rolls but I don't think that those will fit in my oven."

"I can never get it right though and it frustrates me cause I love fried potatoes in the morning. Leave them alone? I never tried that before but yeah it sounds like it doesn't work. I'll have to try that some time so that I can finally have them." She smiled softly at him as she looked around the kitchen.

Rose smiled at Angus and nodded at his question of being hungry. "Can I have w-water then uice?" Rose asked looking at him with sleepy eyes. Bella tried not to laugh at how her daughter was attached to Angus.

((OOC: Sorry it took me so long packing for the move sucks. I have three days before I'm actually completely moved into my new house. I'll be on and off for a while until i'm in and settled.))