Clueless

"Well, I hadn't really given it much thought, but I presume that whoever brought them evidently thought enough that Michael might want to know which baby was which. I do know that Robert and Khaat have often put tiny magical tattoos on identical twins, especially in new parents, to help them tell their children apart. Apparently some choose to leave the marks permanently, like a birthmark. I think that might be a really good thing with these boys. I can hardly tell them apart."

He took Scott and chose a clean section of the kitchen counter and made quick work of changing him. He saw that the baby was trying to snatch an edge of his sleeve to chew on.

"I know," he said to the baby, but fully intending to tease Bella at the same time. "She's slower than you'd like with the food, isn't she? What happened to all that noise you were making? I think you should tell her all about how you feel about it." The baby crinkled his nose at Angus and began to whimper. "Atta Boy," he said calmly. "Tell her off."

He finished changing Scott and picked him up and looked back at Bella. "Just trying to help," he grinned.

"Yeah, I wouldn't have either especially with twins like these two. Well we'll have to figure out what we're going to do to tell these two apart. They look so much alike that it will be difficult otherwise, I'm hoping that we can figure out something for these boys. I have a feeling they are gonna be a handful and we're gonna end up mixing up their names at one point or another."

She looked at Angus when he started teasing her about her being trouble. She grabbed the bowls and two small spoons putting the bowls on the table with the spoons in them. She pointed at Angus and said to Craig, "See him. He's loads of trouble and when your bigger I think you and your brother would give him a run for his money. What do you say? You up for ganging up on his when your older? Though he may be an old man by then," She got a grin from Craig and shot a mischievous grin at Angus before sitting down in the chair. She began feeding him making sure everything got into his mouth. The baby ate making happy noises of contentment.

"Your a bag of trouble Angus Donohue. Since you have Scott why don't you get him fed while I feed Craig. Then we'll get them and Michael out of here." She said with a smile at him. She couldn't help but imagine him holding a baby that looked just like him. She shook that thought quickly from her head as she fed Craig the last of the food. He gave three big burps before he snuggled into the crook of her arm starting to fall asleep.

"Don't you worry," Angus said to Scott, taking the food bowl. "We'll figure out how to switch those tattoos and fool her. We'll figure it out, you and me. We guys need to stick together." Now, feeding little ones? Yeah. He'd had practice with all seven of Khaat's kids. He handled the feeding, with a minimum of mess--since Scott tended to enjoy blowing bubbles and then letting the food smear all over his face.

"Great. You're stinky and you're messy. Fabulous," He laughed. "And I bet you eat cat kibbles too, don't you? Gonna have to keep my eye on you." He glanced at Bella. "When they're this age, Khaat's cat, Max, tries to parent them. The kids crawled after him, and we caught them, more than once, to the kibble bowl. This on here? He's gonna be another kibble eater. I just have a sneaky feeling about him."

Scott seemed to get sleepy long before he finished. Angus didn't push him. He simply burped him and, using one hand, he laid the baby on his shoulder, the baby's head nuzzled into his neck. The baby only gave a moment or so of tired crying and slipped into sleep.

Bella smiled as when Angus said that he'd figure out a way to switch the tattoos. "I have a feeling the three of you together are gonna be trouble. I'm gonna have to keep an eye on the three of you together." She said laughing softly. She started laughing more seeing Scott blowing bubbles and get food all over his face. She looked down at the sleeping Craig and laughed when he farted in his sleep.

She laughed softly at Angus' words about Scott being stinky and messy. "You know your Aunt's told me how messy you were when you were a baby." She teased him remembering all the things they told her about Angus when he was little. "They even showed me a few pictures of you," She grinned at him. "Well I guess we're gonna have to keep a close eye on these two else they start eating the cat's kibble."

Bella watched Scott fall asleep in Angus' neck and grinned before wondering what Michael was doing. "I think we should start getting ready to head out with these two and Michael. So we can get them settled into the estate before night falls. I'm sure these two will be able to take a nap much better in a bed than on us." She said looking at him. "Then we can see what we can do about clothes and things for the boys. I know I have an old diaper bag that Michael can use for the boys. It's not pink it has a elephant on it so it would be perfect for them and it's big enough for two boys as well."

"Well, there are two things Donohues know how to do well. We eat, and we make messes," he laughed. "So I'm not surprised at all that there might be some good blackmail-worthy pictures lying about. I'll go pry Michael out of his firewhiskey, and we'll go.

"Michael has a room at the estate anyway, so he won't need to take any of his things with him. We're actually good on cribs too. At one point, we had five in the nursery all at once. We've got three in storage now, so I can get some of the workers to assemble a couple again and we'll put them back in the nursery. I'm sure that diaper bag will be much appreciated, if even just for going back and forth from here to the estate. We'll be fine for the moment. Certainly better than Michael is prepared for. Oh, I'd better take the dogs with us. I can put them in my pocket."

He went back into the living room. Michael was sitting, smoking a cigarette and staring off into space.

"Michael..." Angus began.

"What'd you do to them?" Michael asked.

"Fed them and changed them," Angus said gently. "You'll get the hang of it. Lets take them back to the estate for awhile so that you can have a little time to wrap your head around it."

"Maddie was supposed to be here," Michael said quietly.

"Yeah, Mate," Angus said, feeling for him. This seemed rather vicious for a man of 62. "I know. Maybe we'll find her."

"No," Michael said, a tint of bitterness to his tone. "I don't want her here anymore. She lost her claim to them when she abandoned them. They're not her sons anymore. They're mine."

"Fair enough, but nobody is an instant father by nature. Let us give you a hand. We'll take the dogs with us." Michael sat a moment, thinking, and then finally nodded. Angus flicked his wand at the dogs to make them pocket sized and dropped the enchanted footstools in his pocket.

Michael snuffed out his cigarette and put the cork back in the whiskey bottle. "You lot pick things up while I'm gone, won't you?" He called to all the enchanted furniture in the house. "Snidely, you're in charge." The hat rack saluted Michael.

"I think we're ready, then," Angus said, reaching out his hand to Bella. "Shall we go?"

Bella laughed softly at his words, "Well the pictures did show it well. I don't even think Rose ever got that messy." She teased him laughing some more. "I'll clean up everything in here, then get the kids ready to head out."

"Well that's good he has one there. That's good there's some cribs there, I trying to think of a place to get some." She blushed slightly thinking about what else they would need for the babies. "I can get them some clothes to wear. Well the diaper will help if there's quite a few things that are needed when they go out. Yeah, poor man. I don't understand how a woman who carried her children for nine months could abandon them." She nodded at him saying they'd take the dogs with them.

When he walked back towards the living room she began cleaning up everything in the kitchen. The dishes were done, floors swept but not mopped. She made sure the stove, table, and the counters were cleaned off. Looking around making sure that everything was clean and tidy nothing out of place before picking up the boys.  

She then frowned because she didn't know how she was going to pick up the chairs now. So she put the boys down on the floor and used her wand to pick them up. Then turned to grab the boys before they made a bee line for the hall. She caught one of them and had to chase the other one who was laughing about it. Having them both back in her arms she laughed softly.

"Yes, the both of you are nothing but trouble. I know we're going to have our hands full with you too." She said with a smile as both of them babbled to her.

She looked down the hall wondering if they were ok but not wanting to interrupt them in case. She saw Angus again and smiled softly at him. Seeing his outstretched hand she laughed softly, "Wanna take one of them? So I can take your hand?" She suggested with a small smile.

"Sure," Angus said, picking up one of the boys. He wasn't entirely sure now which one he had, but at the moment, it scarcely mattered. He looked at Michael. "You want to take one?"

"What if I..." Michael began.

"Oh, come on. He's not going to break, unless you splinch him along the way," Angus said.

"I have never splinched," Michael scowled. Angus cast him an amued smile. He'd deliberately baited Michael to nudge him out of his stupor. Michael narrowed his eyes at Angus. "You're an evil man," he said, miffed.

"Just remember who I work for," Angus teased.

"And you've taken one too many lessons from Robert, haven't you?" He took the baby Angus had in his hands and balanced the boy on his muscular left arm so he could use his wand in his right.

Satisfied, Angus looked back at Bella, taking her hand. "Now I think we're ready."

When they got to the main house on the estate, it seemed like it only took a moment for the babies to get attentions of those who were there. Kate, Khaat's mother, was the first to notice, always unable to resist a baby.

"And who are these lads?" she asked, coming up and simply taking the baby Michael was carrying.

"That's Scott...Or maybe its Craig...," Angus said. "I dunno." Getting the dogs out of his pocket, he paused a moment before he finished the introduction. He put the dogs on the floor and restore them to their normal size. Kate reached down and petted Otto and Faline, but she looked at Angus, waiting for him to drop the other proverbial shoe. "Scott and Craig Tremaine."

"Tre..." She stopped short. "Michael? Yours? Twins?"

"I'm sorry, Kate," Michael said. "They were just dropped on me this morning."

"Michael, no," she was as pleased for him as he had been shellshocked. She stroked the cheek of her old friend, beaming from ear to ear. "Your sons, Michael. Thank God. You can stop looking for them now. And not one. Two. Michael, they're beautiful." She gave Michael a reassuring hug. "You know they're welcome here. What's the matter with you?"

She looked at Angus and Bella, "You two will add a couple cribs to the nursery, won't you? And the baby clothes are upstairs in the store room. We'll need to get some..."

"I think Bella and I can manage," Angus laughed, knowing Kate's never ending grandmotherly nature. Kate balanced the baby she had on one side and reached to take the other baby from Bella with her other hand. After coping with Khaat's multiple babies, juggling two babies was old hat for her by now. Angus looked at Bella. "We might be better off upstairs," he teased.

Bella smiled at the interaction between the two of them and couldn't help but laugh at them. "Sorry." She said trying to hide another laugh. Taking Angus' hand balancing the baby on her hip and smiling at him. She was glad that he was out of the stupor that he had been in.

Holding onto the baby and onto Angus' hand tightly she smiled at him.

"That one is Craig and this one is Scott." Bella said remembering which one was which when she had them at Michael's house. "I made sure to remember which one was which so I could tell the difference." She pointed to a blue mark on Scott's onsie.

"Don't worry Kate we'll manage everything." Bella said with a smile and gave Kate Scott who was currently trying to yank Bella's hair out of it's bun. She laughed as she maneuvered her hair out of his hand.

She laughed, "I do believe we might be better up there." She teased back then turned her attention to Kate for a moment. "I was thinking we could do magical tattoos on them so we can tell them apart. Maybe something on their ankle?" She suggested to Kate wondering what the older woman could come up with.

"That's a good idea," he said, motioning her to follow him upstairs, and continuing to talk as they walked. "I've heard Robert talk about tattoos like that but only briefly. The only thing I've ever heard him mention is that he suggests that they be rather small and in a non-embarrassing sort of a place, like the inside of a wrist or ankle or something. He's mentioned cases of parents deciding to put them in more discreet places, but that usually ended up being embarrassing for the child somehow or another. That, and he always suggested removing them when they got to be third or fourth years in Hogwarts because they were usually becoming more active in the adult wizarding world by then and could potentially be used against them."

He stopped one of the other guards and said, "Hey, we have a couple more guests--small ones. Please set up a couple of cribs in the nursery?" The guard nodded and went to get a partner to help him set up the cribs.

"You do realize, don't you, that with Khaat's kids, and Michael's, and Rose, that gives us...um...ten preschoolers here at once." He grinned. "That's going to make for a very lively place. Especially at Christmas."

Bella followed him upstairs and nodded at his words. "Well with twins it would be easy to have them considering they look so much a like you can't tell them apart. We can put them on their inside ankle, something small like their first letter of their name. We can remove them when the times comes and we can make sure that no one knows about them. That way they can't be used against them," She said softly as she looked around upstairs at the rooms.

"Well I hope you can keep up with all of them." She teased him with a smile. She walked towards the nursery and looked in trying to see where it would be best to place them. "So where would they be best set?" She said with a smile. She thought about everything that would be needed for the boys. She started biting her lower lip as she looked around the nursery some more. She was trying to figure out what would best for them to be put.

"Christmas will be rather busy, but what about Halloween?" She asked looking at him wondering what they did on that day. "What do you do on Halloween?" She smiled at him curiously.