A Birth day

Ginger had already showered and changed for bed, and she decided she actually would read a book tonight.

Anise wasn't sure why they were running so late at night or what they were doing tomorrow since the funeral was the day after tomorrow, but she changed into her new running clothes that they'd gotten at Clive's anyway and went downstairs.

"I'm ready whenever you are, Jack," she told him.

Once Angus was showered and changed, he took his cigarettes and went out onto the balcony to sit outside for a little and enjoy some night air. His mind was on Edward and Anise and Jack going to hunt a particularly dangerous werewolf, and it bothered him that he couldn't go along. He wanted to help, and he wanted to see Sergio and Ana and their kids. He wanted to take Ruby and introduce her to Romania and to how really wonderful a rural village in Carpathia could be. He wanted all his kids to get to know Sergio and Ana and their kids, but that was not to be. He wanted to see Sergio's and Ana's faces when they saw Caprice and when they met Anise and Ginger. They already knew Sam and Victor, but Angus wanted them to know the girls too. He sighed heavily.

That was on his mind and so was the fact that the people his family were burying were his relatives, and if that weren't bad enough, he had killed them both. Patrick didn't blame him, and he was glad for that. He did, though, anticipate that things would get extremely ugly when he showed up at the funeral. Still, he had taken a rather passive role with them all his life, and he had decided that had to stop. Someday, Edward's fortune and all four of the Donohue businesses would fall to him, and the family was going to have to deal with him. They might as well start now.

He heard Marcus tending to the room, putting Angus's clothes in the hamper and setting out clothes for tomorrow. This was not the job of a bodyguard, but Marcus had become damned near indispensable to Angus. He knew that, very likely, when they got back, Marcus would return to guarding Khaat, and he was going to miss having Marcus around. He understood now why Khaat thought he was so indispensable.

He heard Simone coming upstairs, and he heard Caprice babbling at her. He was glad that Simone was enjoying every little moment she could get with her, and it sounded very much like Simone was going to put her to bed.

He lit a cigarette and exhaled slowly, looking up at the stars. They were particularly bright tonight. Maybe that was a sign that things would get better.

Jack looked at Anise and saw her Pj's and chuckled " I'll run tonight you can join me tomorrow's run" he said and smiled at ehr " good night girls and sleep well" he told them moving to his room as he passed imone and Caprice , he chuckled agai hearing her chatter to Simone " shes talkative tonight" he said to Simone noticing Ruby walking up behind them both " I'l say good night to you all and see you tomorow since Im going for my run then sleep" he said smiling as he turned to head down teh stairs and out side to run.

Ruby chuckled as she heard Jack walking up the stairs her self and hearing Caprice with Simone " I'm thinking of taking Caprice to see Sergio and Ana with Angus, He might not be able to monster hunt but visiting his long time freinds might be good for him, but it won't be until after the funeral of course, becuse I think he misses seeing them" she said to her smiling.

"That's a good idea," Simone said, "but you might want to wait til Edward and Anise and Jack get back from hunting werewolves there because Edward said that normally Sergio and Ana go along on those hunts to act as guides. When they get back, though, that would be a great idea.

"Or, maybe," she said, still thinking, "when all the kids come, you could ask Sergio and Ana to come and bring their family. The more the merrier, right? Actually, we could bring all these friends and family together and have a celebration of sorts--like a family reunion only better. We could call it a Homecoming, maybe, and we could hold it over several days, maybe a week. I don't know. I know Robert and Kate would be all for it. Maybe we could all set up wizarding tents either at Khaat's or at Robert's farm and just enjoy the week camping together and hosting some games and some sports and things. What do you think?"

Marcus brought Angus a glass of brandy.

"Thought you could use a nightcap to watch those stars with," Marcus smiled.

"Thank you," Angus said. "What will I do without you when you go back to Khaat?"

"I'm only next door, Mate. if you need someone to have your back, I'll be there," Marcus smiled.

"Of that I have no doubt. Goodnight, Marcus."

"Goodnight, Angus," Marcus said, leaving and going to his own room.

Ruby looked at Simone as she spoke and thought about it " hum , sounds like a good idea" she said looking down at a giggling Caprice " well I'll talk to Angus see how he feels, I would love to go to Romania." she said then kissed Caprice on her cheek and smiled " and I'll see you in the morning , you alright puttling her down to sleep?" she asked Simone with a smile as she saw Marcus leave their room. With a quick kiss she headed to their room finding Angus out on the balcony looking up at the stars.

"They look brighter here." she said and sat down next to him on a sun lounger next to him " you look deep in thought?" she queried.

"Absolutely," Simone smiled. "She and I have this crib thing down to a fine art. Goodnight, Ruby."

"They are particularly bright tonight," he smiled. "Generally, that means good weather the next morning. I was just thinking about Sergio and Ana. I want them to get to know our kids, Ru. They know that if anything happened to them or their kids, we would be there, and I know the reverse is true too. Our kids need to know that love doesn't have boundaries or borders. All four of your kids spent their childhoods largely limited, without much connection except to a handful of people. I want them to know that there's more. The wizarding world is a dangerous place, so I want them to know that one can never have too many friends or allies. And--I shouldn't be nervous about Anise going without me, but I am--just a little. She's safe with them, I know, but she's still a kid, and I won't be there. What father sends their underage daughter to go kill werewolves while he lags at home? That does bother me a bit."

Ruby sat and listened to him talk about his fear and smiled " she'll be fine , she's a werewolf trained by you and well why not as Sergio and Anna to come here to visit " she sugested " or we all could go to them and stay with them in romania, while the others are out hunting, they see Caprice and well you'll be close should anything happen, though I know with Edward and Jack there nothing will, but the final desishion is up to you, I have to say thought, there will not be any fighting while there for you, but at least they get to meet Sergio and Anna and they get to meet Caprice , Ginger and Anise." she sugested smiling as she looked up at the sky again.

"Oh look, the milky way" she said and chuckled at the sight of it " seems to be our thing everytime were together under the stars it shines bright." she took his hand in her own and smiled.

"We could go and stay at their place while our crew is out taking care of this beast. We would be welcome, of course, but Sergio and Ana will be going with Edward and Anise and Jack. We'd be going to visit them, and they won't be home. We'd be without them here and without them there both. Seems to not make any sense to me for us to go while they're not going to be home."

He looked up when she mentioned the milky way.

"It does seem to be a thing for us, doesn't it?" he smiled. "I hope Edward teaches Anise some of the constellations while they're out. I want all our kids to learn them. Our world is a dangerous place, but some things do stay consistent. If they learn the constellations, they can learn to use them just like a compass. They won't need to ever be lost if they can learn their way by the stars. It's an old skill, but its still a good one."

He finished his brandy and set the glass aside. "I want to go into town in the morning and see if I can find a wand holster. In an ideal world, I'd find one that would hold both her wand and her dagger, but that would have to be custom made. I suppose I could contact Sergio. There's an old man that has a shop down in the village and he makes leather goods, jewelry, potions, weapons, all sorts of little things. I bet if I asked Sergio, he could get that old man to make a custom holder for her. Frankly, I think both girls could use one. Ginger needs a wand holster anyway, and it wouldn't hurt her to carry a blade too. I'll need to get Anise a blade tomorrow because she didn't bring hers here. We weren't counting on staying, so it's at home. I may have one in the weapons case that I can let her have. I'll look in the morning. If not, I'll go into town and find her one," He yawned. "Suppose we should turn in soon?"

Ruby listened to him and sighed "Yeah wouldn't make sense" she said then heard him talk about the stars and nodded "Sometimes the old ways are best" she said softly to him listening as he mentioned finding Anise a wand holder with a place for her wand " oh, try the stall I bought my bag from, he works with leather and he might have something" she suggested with a chuckle as she heard him yawn she could not stop ehr self from yawning too.

"yeah its been a long day and tomorrow will be longer." she said sliding her legs to the end of the sun lounger and sitting up beside him. Watching him enter their room she followed and changed into her pjs before she turned down the bed for him to slip into so she too culd get into bed and cover both of them.

He went inside and left the doors open deliberately since Marcus had already gone to bed. He had always left them open when he was a boy, and he had gone to bed listening to the sea and waking up to the sea. He got into bed and turned out the light on his nightstand and took his potion that Marcus had set out for him.

"Goonight, Ru," Angus said, yawning again.

He heard absolutely nothing until he heard Anise and Ginger talking to Nigel in the hallway. He glanced at the clock and saw it was 5 am already. Anise was apparently dressed to go running, and Ginger was insisting on going with her. Nigel wasn't sure Ginger was up to it yet, but she wanted to try. Nigel was cautioning her to only do half as much as she felt like so that she could turn around and make her way back. Ginger was sounding frustrated but it all soon quieted. Angus drifted back off.

He woke when he smelled the coffee. Today, Rosaria had brought coffee and breakfast both. The breakfast entrees were covered with cloches, and the coffee was in tall mugs. She seemed a little frustrated, and Angus saw she was looking at something on the floor in front of the balcony doors.

"Qual è il problema?" he asked her.

"Qualcuno ha impronte fangose ​​sul mio tappeto pulito," she told him.

"Che cosa?" he frowned. He got up and went over to where she was standing. Sure enough, there were muddy footprints on the rug. Well, bootprints, actually, he believed. Larger than his shoe size. Someone had been in the room while they slept. That was not good. "Grazie. me ne prenderò cura," he told her.

Ruby smiled pulling the covers over Angus " good night love" she said softly as she lay down next to him and fell asleep listening to the soothing sounds of the sea and wind in the trees close by. She woke to find Angus not in bed and the sound of voices in the hallway. Geting up she wrapped her self in her robe and headed out to the hallway.

She looked down at the floor and saw the foot prints on the carpet. " they don't look like Jacks?" she said just as he rounded the courner wearing flip flops on his feet.

"some one say my name?" he said and looked at them then to where Ruby now pointed. He looked down and frowned " wow whose are those?" he asked then looked to Anise and Ginger knowing it wasn't them as there feet were too small.