A Birth day

Jack listened then chuckled repeating " fell down and went boom" he like that image and could not help but chuckle at Angus's sarcasm at suzane's perdicament. He sighed and shook his head " be a shame if they did, but yeah such a shame" he also said sarcastically "wish it was a black hole or bottomless pit" he added softly.

Ruby looked at Jeffery and nodded " like protect myself from her negativity?" she asked then listened more to his explanation and nodded . " you mean like when I tense, or start over analysing, change direction or do something to change my thinking, that kind of thing?" she said now actually thinking about the day in Hogwarts and how she felt her whole body shake and become sweaty but mostly how she could not stop the sound of her mother's voice but now since it was no longer there she was calmer accepting of the fact Angus was her protector and that he'd hired someone to be there when he could not. "yeah it does, it makes total sense." she said now smiling at him.

"Well," Michael said, "we'll eventually get all the Geldings, and that includes Suzanne. She probably had no clue when she married Tom that she signed up to be hunted like the rest of them. I'm guessing she was looking for someone to take care of her, someone with money. I have no idea why he decided to take her on. I don't see that she can offer him much outside of the bedroom, but I don't know the woman either."

"To hear the boys tell it, Suzanne's one strong suit was 'entertaining,'" Angus said.

"Well, if Ruby were giving it much thought, she would realize that Suzanne had to lower herself considerably to be worth it to anyone, while Ruby managed to find a decent, upstanding guy who happens to have a number of very sizable bank accounts and who loves her for who she is and never asked her to lower herself in any way. Seems to me that she doesn't have to compare herself to Suzanne for any reason."

"Well, you're right, Michael," Angus said. "She doesn't really know there's that much money. She knows I have enough, but I've not ever really told her, and she's never asked. She does know that someday, I will inherit all of Edward's things too, and since she's seen the main house and a little of the land, I think she knows its considerable. She doesn't know how considerable it is."

"So she honestly doesn't know that you're very well off and on track to be exceptionally wealthy?"

"No, and I think that would just add more pressure to her at least right now. I'm hoping that as she works with Jeffrey, she can find her way to not being so fragile, but that's her choice."

"Well, you know we're here for whatever you need," Michael said.

"I do know. Thanks."

Jeffrey listened to Ruby as she tried to figure out how to be less anxious. "Well, yes, that is what I'm saying. Look, we all talk to ourselves in our heads all the time. If you can train yourself to be more aware of just how often you are saying negative things or fear based things to yourself, you can train yourself to be less anxious. You can also train yourself to be aware much earlier of when you are anxious and then you can decide if you have a reasonable need to be anxious or not. For example, if you become aware that you are becoming anxious while you are talking with Angus, you can decide that there is no one there that is presenting a threat and, if you make that decision early enough, you may be able to take just a deep breath and calm yourself straight away before the anxiety gets escalated our out of control."

Jack listened to Michael and nodded then listened to Angus talk about his wealth and the fact Ruby didn't know about it " well if she's with you thinking you have very little or is just comfortable doesn't that show shes not a gold digger like her mother, and doesn't want you for your money." he said, "she loves you for you, and she's working on her issue, for you and the boys."

Ruby listened to Jeffery and nodded "that's what I want to do" she said "I'm getting tired of being always on edge, it's not good for me or Angus or the boys." she spoke with more confidence as she sat with Jeffery. " can we do that when I visit you?" she asked "I've spoken to the boys and they understand." she told him

"I never ever thought of Ruby as a golddigger, but, I admit, I absolutely do think her mother is one. I hope her work with Jeffrey is because she wants it for herself. As much as I would certainly be happier if she were more secure and happy, that really doesn't matter as much as it matters that she's happy with herself.

"Not to change subjects entirely," Angus told them but since, theoretically, it could impact our protections spells, you both need to know something. I haven't told Ruby or the boys yet because I'm afraid it really would unwind Ruby. But, Suzanne's been coming into my sleep the last couple nights. Last night, she told me I could not keep her or the witch away from me or my family because, she said that bloody witch is related. That was not at all what I wanted to hear. I did ask Robert for a pass to Azkaban to go see her, but Robert apparently wants to research it from a different direction. Now, so far as I know the witch is still in Azkaban, but I do know that sometimes protections spells are set to allow family members access. And if any of ours allow family access, then, theoretically, both of those hags could get in."

"Understood," Michael nodded. "I'll get on those today and try to make sure that they're all reset so that any family access is taken off, but I'm glad you told us because now Jack and I know what to look for and what we need to do to try to keep the estate safe. Your information is safe with us, of course."

"Of course we can work on that," Jeffrey said. "I think, as you start to think of the things that make you anxious in your life now, you may start to see that they remind you of things that you felt you were vulnerable to when you were younger that you're not vulnerable to now. So, as you start to get more confidence in yourself and your abilities to protect yourself and the fact that the people here genuinely care about you just as you are, you may find you don't need to be so alert and on guard all the time. So, for now, I'd like you to just be very mindful of what your own self talk is and if you start saying a load of rot to yourself, just stop and reframe that thought to a much healthier version. So, instead of thinking maybe 'I'm no good,' maybe change that thought to 'my mother said i was no good, but i have my own life now and i don't need her opinions. i make my own choices.' Does that seem to fit better than the self criticism?"

Jack listened to Angus talk og Suzzane entering his dreams and sighed " best not tell Ruby, that was a wise choice and yeah we'll get on it asap" he said and looked to Michael "I'll let the guys know to not add that on, besides we all port in with our keys anyway." he added then listened to Angus talk about Ruby " na I don't think she's doing it for any other reason that to get her head right for you to mate" he said chukaling, "you're both good for each other"

Ruby nodded at Jeffery's words and breathed out as if letting go of the tension she'd been holding on to "yes it does and that's what I'll do." she said now smiling. Seeing the time she stood up " Im sorry, I have to start dinner for the boys and Angus" she said "could we continue this evening?" she asked looking over at Jess who was still making Caprice laugh as she read a book to her making the silly sounds each animal made to her.

"Thanks," Angus said.

"Best leave it in Robert's hands, Lad. Besides, what did you think you'd accomplish at Azkaban anyway? You think the nice dark arts witch was going to tell you what you wanted to hear? I think not," Michael said. "My bet is that if Suzanne could have used a family member to milk old Reginald dry, she'd have done it years ago. Nah. I don't think that's something for you to have to worry about. More than likely, it's some Gelding rotter than Tom dug up somewhere and, if she's related, its by marriage only."

"I hope you're right," Angus said. "Alright, well, I better press on. I have a few errands in London I want to do for the boys before they go back."

"Be careful," Michael said. "You don't know if Suzanne has a target on your back or not."

"Good advice. See you later." Angus drew out his wand and apparated to Diagon Alley.

"Keep your eyes out for him, Mate," Michael told Jack. Something doesn't feel right about this. You might want to update Jessie and Yulong, and I'll update Marcus and make sure that Angus really has told Edward everything."

"Of course we can take it up again this evening. The more frequently we meet, the more progress you'll make," Jeffrey told her.

Angus went into Diagon Alley and went through the Leaky Cauldron to get to the muggle sections of London, and he went to a motorcycle shop. He bought Sam and Victor each their own first sets of mission wear. He bought black jeans for each of them, black tees, and black leather biker jackets. He bought Sam a black leather biker hat without the chain because the chain would catch the light, and that was risky. He bought Victor a black leather snapback cap. Then h e bought them each black leather zip up biker boots and a black leather wand holster. He wanted them to know that he and Ruby supported them and he wanted them to know that they could absolutely have the mission wear when they graduated. As he was getting ready to leave the shop, he happened to see a little black leather biker jacket--baby sized. On a whim, just for fun, he bought the jacket, and some tiny black stretch jeans, a black tee with Princess written on the tee in pink glitter, a tiny pair of black booties and an itty bitty black biker hat. He had it all put in a black gift bag. He knew that Ruby and the boys and Edward and Simone all would get a giggle out of it.

Then he made sure he went to Gringotts and made deposits in each of their bank accounts and opened one for Caprice and put in the same initial deposit into her account as he had for the boys. The deposits at Gringotts were the most important thing that he needed to do. He knew the shopping could wait, but he decided to do it while he was out.

Then he headed back home, with several packages shrunken and tucked into a larger gift bag. He landed in the yard and then headed into the house.

Jack nodded as Angus aperated leaving himself and Michael. He listened to Michael and nodded again " I agree, I'll notify the others to be on their guard" he said and turned to head to Jessie and Yu Longs' cabin "see you at dinner" he told Michael and headed down. Knocking he heard Jessie's voice from inside but it was Yu who opened the door.

"Hey, Jack comes in," Jessie said from inside Yu chuckled and nodded as he entered " what brings you here?" Jessie asked. Jack looked at both as he spoke.
"its just to let you know Suzzanes been trying to get into the compound and interfering with Angus's dreams," he told them Jessie frowned and looked puzzled.

"Wonder who taught her that trick," he said then looked at both men " oh it's something Reg once said , he had a freind who could do that, Im guessing his freind was Gelding." Jack nodded his head as he stood with his arms folded across his chest.

"yeah and we're thinking of changing the protection spell to not include family members to be allowed threw it," he said Yu nodded.

"good thought, I'll pass it to the patrols." he said as Jessie stood up and moved to grab his jacket "Patrol?" Yu asked and Jessie nodded.

"Okay just wanted to get you guys up to date Im out and ready for Jess's dinner," he said smiling as he headed out the door and over to the main house. Inside Ruby walked over to Jess and picked up Caprice.

"Thank you for looking after her," she said but Jess just waved her off.

"It's fine, she was a dream," Jess said and moved to the kitchen " take the book with you she loves it, besides you can sit and read to her before you put her down for her sleep," she suggested Ruby picked up the book and smiled.

"of course thank you," she said before heading out to head back to the duplex to make dinner for the others. She saw Angus return and smiled. " Im just about to make dinner, you have any sugestions?" she asked as she walked over to him.

"There are a lot of different sorts of lettuces and greens and fresh produce that need to be used while they're still at their best," Angus told her. "You might think about some sort of an Asian chicken salad for lunch. I know there are some boneless skinless chicken breasts in there too, and some fresh fruit. That would be quick and easy," he said as the boys returned from their horseback riding with Kate. "I think there is actually a tin of Chinese fortune cookies in the pantry too that I got as a promotional gift from one of our suppliers. I'll take the baby if you want. It should be about time for her lunch anyway. Hey, Guys, how was the riding?"

"It was great," Sam said. "Kate's a good riding teacher. She showed us how to saddle our own horses and how to put on a bridle and how to take it all off again and how to take care of the horse after a ride. She said if we go with her once more and if we do alright, she'll let us ride the horses whenever we want. Not the unicorns though. She said they're tricky business."

"They are," Angus said. "They have to be handled very differently. They prefer women to men because men have had a long history of aggression towards them, and they have to be treated with a great deal of respect. They can be ridden, but only after they've learned to trust you."

"And hippogriffs are the same way, then, aren't they?" Victor asked.

"Yes," Angus replied. "Hippogriffs and griffins both. We'll get you acquainted with them when you're here long enough to do it properly."

"Oh, and by the way," Sam told Angus, "Abbey is a bit upset. She can't find Fudge today."

"Again?" Angus frowned. "Alright. I'll go look for him after lunch. Care to come along?"

"I guess," Sam shrugged. "I've got nothing better to do."

"I'll come too, I guess," Victor said.

"I know it isn't fun, but I'm betting wherever Fudge is, he's not having much fun either," Angus said.

Ruby listened to Angus and nodded " salad with chicken and fortune cookies , sounds perfect I'll get on that and would you?" she said with a smile as she took Caprice out of the sling " Jess was reading to her while I was talking to Jeffery, it went well" she said as she made sure Capice was warm , gently kising Caprices cheek she smiled at Angus " Dinner won't be long" she said then chuckled seeing and hearing the boys as they returned from riding.

"I think I have only ever riden a hypogriff twice in my life time and one of those was with your dad" she said smiling at Angus "it was magial" she said before movng inside to start dinner. she fixed the chicken and then made the salad placing it in a bowl with a light salad dresing to one side. Looking in the cupboard she found the bag of cookies he mentioned and pored them into a bowl sending them to the middle of the table.

"I really, really want to try it," Sam said. "The hippogriff just looks like such a cool animal."

"He's a hothead," Angus laughed, taking the baby from Ruby and fixing a baby bottle. "He's a touchy, temperamental fart. I can introduce you, but if you want to ride him, you'll have to go with me the first couple times. Otherwise, he's liable to dump you off right into the pond. He's done that before. He thinks its great fun to make someone think that they've made friends, and then right over the pond, he buck them off."

"Oh, not cool at all," Sam frowned.

"No, but if you want to hear a hippogriff laugh, just wait. Sooner or later, he'll get irked with someone and throw them off."

"Wait, a hippogriff can laugh?"

"Certainly," Angus said.

"Can I feed her?" Victor asked.

"Of course," Angus said. He handed the baby to Victor who stepped in to feed her. He seemed to have the right touch to do it because she instantly settled in with him. Angus took that opportunity to take the packages out of the larger bag and resize them. He sorted out who's package belonged to whom and set them into separate little spots. "I did some shopping while I was out for you guys," he told the boys.

"For us?" Sam asked. "What'd you get us?"

"Well, now that would spoil the surprise, wouldn't it? Ruby, lunch first or the boys' gifts first?"