A Birth day

"Let's go for a walk. I'll take you on the route that the family will be taking today. We'll go to the chapel first. So you know, this is a double funeral. Edward's oldest brother, Basil, and Basil's wife, Gloria. Long story short, I'm guessing you knew about Basil's death when he came to try to get rid of Edward and Angus and the rest of the people at the duplex. Angus killed him in self defense. Well, the next night, his wife Gloria attempted to take out Angus for killing Basil, and Angus ended up having no choice but to kill her too in self defense. There is some thought that perhaps they were into dark arts, but I don't know if anyone's been able to confirm that yet. However, Angus is definitely not going to be welcomed with open arms today. They weren't going to welcome him anyway, but certainly not now. So you would be wise to be on your toes because its very possible they will try to take him out or Edward or the girls or all of them.

"So the family's chapel is over here on the right," Marcus told him. "The calling hours will be here for one hour before the service. Then, the service will happen here and the caskets will take taken to the family plot, and that's just off to the side of the chapel. Over here."

He walked Jessie to the family plot and he saw that they were preparing two graves. He knew Angus's and Edward's strong feelings that neither Basil or Gloria be buried next to Caprice, and he made a check, just out of principle. They had picked other spaces for them.

"The reception will be in the winery. That is a bit of a longer walk, and it's further down the path on the left," he said, walking Jessie down the path to the winery and going in to show him where they were setting up one long table, with chairs, linen tablecloths, etc. The caterers were already there starting to prepare the food. "I am concerned about Ginger and Angus and how much energy this will require of them. I expect they may need to apparate back to the house if they get overly tired."

Edward had told the barber to set up in the main house's home gym because there was more room there. Edward saw the barber first to get his beard mustache and hair trimmed while the manicurist was doing Angus's nails and while Angus was drinking his coffee. Then while the manicurist was doing Edward's nails, the barber cut Angus' hair and gave him a good, professional shave.

Jessie looked at Marcus as he spoke and stood up walking at his side as he spoke about what had and will happen, he stayed silent and listened to his words knowing this was a funeral with hints of possible trouble mixed in. " all right, I'll be on alert" he said now serious at what Marcus had told him had happened.

"Jack filled me on some of it but didn't stress how Angus's family seriously hated him, even though it wasn't his fault, by the sounds of it she went full Karen mode on him, to use a muggle term," he said his arms behind his back as they walked to wards the chapel and family plots. Pausing he looked at the two open graves and they are around them "Hum, I see only one problem spot" he motioned to a wooded area not far from them "Possible sniper spot, if they serious" he said

They moved away from the graves towards the winery and Jessie looked around the area again "Okay, got the area memorised, we could stay close to Angus, one on each side to block any attacks " he sugested.

"Yeah, that's pretty much what happened. Angus gave them both way too many chances, but I can certainly understand is reluctance to kill a family member. He does have a couple friendly faces here now, though. His younger brother, Evan, has always been friendly towards Angus, and in fact, Evan and his wife Tara have introduced the girls to their daughters, Evie and Faith, and the four girls are getting on like they've been friends their whole lives. So if any attack comes, Evan would stand with Angus and Edward. Strangly enough, Basil's oldest son, Patrick appears to have fallen out of grace with his father before Basil died, so he's offered out a bit of an olive branch to Angus. I would hope he would stand with Edward and Angus if there was an attack, but its too soon to put it to a test."

Marcus listened to Jessie and his assessment of the trees.

"Agreed. I thought of that spot, but Robert's been quite firm. My job is to be right with Angus. If you see something, I'll leave it to you to take the lead on it, and I'll do my best to back you up. Edward will certainly be right with you, and, unless I miss my guess, Anise isn't going to let anyone hurt Angus if she can help it. I think you're right, though, if you and I do our best to hang right with Angus, hopefully that will serve as enough of a deterrent. Ruby has wisely chosen to leave the baby with Rosaria and Carlo. A funeral is really no place for a baby anyway.

"When we get to the reception, I'll have to watch who serves Angus's food to him and how his plate is prepared. And since they're serving in the wine barrel room, the lighting will be candlelight only, so we'll have to be on our toes. Just so you know, someone broke into the house here a couple days ago and poisoned Angus' potions. Robert's replaced them, but I'm not about to let just anyone serve him today. I want to pick the plate, the silver, the bowl, the cup, all of it. I want to watch who puts the food on the plate and where it comes from, and I will check every single thing he's served before it gets to him."

Jessie nodded as Marcus continued "So protection detail" he said as they walked. Walking into the long barrel room and looked around as he checked it out for potential hiding places and hidden areas. "A lot of places to hide " he said then heard him mention the food that Angus would be served "Hum I wonder if there's a charm that we could cast that would show if the foods tainted ?" he suggested as he moved around the barrels in the room taking deep breaths to make sure nothing was out of place.

He heard Marcus mention the potions " I wondered what that was all about" he said " good thing Robert was prepared" he said walking back to Marcus " okay so , watch the servents and be observent in regards his relatives for sneak attacks, both physical and verbal."

"Yes," Marcus said. "A Revelio spell will work. It isn't a typical application for it, but it does reveal tainted substances because the person who taints the food intends that the substance would be hidden. I honestly think it is the intent to hide it that causes the revelio to work in such cases."

"Well, I think there could be a couple of things at work. I think there was something that perhaps Benjamin must have said or done either when Angus was small or even before he was born because Angus has clear memories of being hated by his extended family even when he was small. So whatever it was, something was started before Angus was entirely too young to have been guilty of anything," Marcus said. "I don't know if we'll ever know what that was.

"The other part of it is that Edward is ridiculously stinking wealthy. That was what Basil was on about when he tried to kill Angus and everyone else. Basil was out of his mind jealous of Edward's wealth. And what Edward had not told the family until just a day or so ago was that when Edward passes, 110% of everything that you see here, everything Edward own, all the businesses, all of it--it all goes to Angus. No one else gets a farthing of it. I do believe that Edward has already set up an exceptionally generous account and a trust for Simone. That allows him to do that and not to have to change his will, but all the rest of it? It goes lock, stock, and barrel to Angus. And quite honestly, I'm guessing they're all pissed off about it. I think that is very likely part of what they struck out at him about. That's an insane amount of money, and that's a lot of motive."

Jessie walking next to Marcus listened to Angus's family "So essentially he disinherited them" he said and hummed as he carried on walking towards the main house, " so before we enter, I'll silently cast a Revelio spell and do you want one of us seated close to him or even standing behind him as a bodyguard?" he asked " I feel its not going to be over-kill given what you just told me." he added " oh I also have a pocket inside my jacket for my wand , Yu stitched it in" he said and smiled a little at remembering that Yu had done it the night they had first stayed in the cabin.

"But I'll go with whatever ever plan you have," he said pulling himself back to reality.

Ruby sat in the car as Carlos drove them into town she watched the contry fly past them thinking about how she wanted to have her hair done.

"Nah, it's more basic than that. He never inherited them in the first place. However, to his credit, he's gotten tired of just doling out money to them all endlessly. He has told them that he's not going to keep paying their expenses so they can live a life of leisure while they treat Angus like dirt under their feet. He's told them that he isn't going to discuss money with any of them anymore. If they need money, they need to ask Angus, and if Angus thinks it's worth Edward's time and effort, Angus will present it to Edward," Marcus told him.

"I'll stay right with him. I think you should be free to go wherever you feel you need to go. What do you think about if you checked the meals as they arrived in the dining room, and then I'll check Angus's again before he eats anything," Marcus said. "I think if we use a nonverbal revelio then it won't be quite so disruptive. I think that inside pocket is a good idea. "

The girls hadn't ridden in a car that often so they enjoyed the car ride, and when Carlo let them out, they followed Simone into the shop. They'd never been in a salon either, so that made them just a wee bit nervous. Simone greeted the stylists who were there to tend them, and she helped the girls explain to their stylists what hairstyles they wanted and got suggestions about manicure styles and colors since the girls didn't speak Italian.

Jessie listened again and nodded "Agreed, but I will stay close, like you Im here to protect the family and to learn some tricks from you , if I can." he said with a chuckle and walked abck to the main house again.

Ruby smileed to Simone as they stepped out of the car and walked to the salon. She realy hadn't thought about what style she wanted so left it to the stylest to find something pratical but siphistcated her nails though she wanted a dark color but one that when the light hit showed some spark to it, she chose a deep burgandy with light glitter mixed in as for her makeup she chose a smoky look. Now she sat in the chair and smiled at the girls " just enjoy" she said softly a she smiled at them " I know I am its been a long time since I ."

"Oh, and one last thing, just in case it comes up," Marcus said, "you probably ought to know that I think some folks here are slightly misreading Angus. I think they believe he is afraid and anxious, but that's not really it at all. I'm with him around the clock. He talks to me these days more than he talks to anyone. He's not afraid. He's trying entirely too hard to be at the ready at all times, 24 hours a day, to try to keep his family safe. If it weren't for the fact that he does need pain potion still because of how bloody buggared up his shoulder is, he would be trying to go without food or sleep because he would see it as a distraction from protecting the people he lives with every day--Ruby, the girls, the baby, Edward and Simone. Fortunately, Robert has anticipated him and he's put a dreamless sleeping potion in his nighttime pain medication. He knows there's a sleeping potion in it, but so far he hasn't given me grief about taking it. So if something comes at any of them today, he's going to be on it before either you or I can react. I've seen him do it. The night Gloria was killed, I was standing right beside him when Gloria apparated in, and before I could react, he had bounced up out of the chaise he was lying on and was going toe to toe with her before I could get my wand drawn. when Robert has said that Angus' greatest advantage is his speed, he wasn't kidding. That can help us, or if he puts himself in harm's way to protect someone, we might have to be ready to stop him. Just so you know."

The girls had their chosen styles, and they both chose pale pink nails. Ginger chose little flowers to be painted on her nails, and Anise chose little white hearts on her pink nails and a few little tiny rhinestones just for a little flash. Their tastes were both very conservative, at least for their first manicures. They chose just plain pale pink polish for their pedicures too. Their stylists brought them cups of tea to sip while they did their hair and nails for them. Their stylists even volunteered to do makeup for them. Anise wasn't sure about makeup.

"Makeup?" Anise asked Ruby and Simone. "Do we want to do that? Would we look too painted up?"

"Oh, go for it," Simone smiled. "Just try it."

Jessie listened and nodded " okay , if it comes to it i'll be prepared to step in" he said to Marcus " lats hope it goes quietly" he said knowing inside from what Marcus had said some one will do something if not at the funeral , most defilatly at the Dinner after.

ruby smiled " if its done tastefully you can wear make up, no bright colors." she said and showed them her make up "Its simple but not over the top, it also shows your not to be messed with too." she added taking a sip of her tea she'd been handed. " I've also been told if you girls want anything else I an get it for you" she said knowing she had Anguss card in her purse as he had requested.