A Birth day

"Thank you. I love you too, but I'm not concerned about me," he said. "I'm not afraid. It just has always bugged me that they've never told me why. They didn't know before that everything was coming to me, so that can't be the reason why they didn't accept me. Now they know, and they're not going to accept me any more. On top of that, they aren't likely to accept you or the kids because they don't accept me."

"Angus," Anise said, "Ginger and I couldn't care less. We've been living our entire lives not being accepted by anyone but our own pack until our pack was moved onto Brian's estate. We know it bugs you, but, honestly, we don't pay any attention to whether some stranger likes us or not. And if someone tried to make me think they liked me just for money? They aren't worth my time."

"What she's saying in her own clumsy way is that it bothers you far more than it bothers us," Ginger said. "This is a great place to spend a holiday, but our home is back in England with you and Ruby."

"I can't blame him, though, for wanting that one big question answered," Marcus told them.

"And we'll keep hunting til we get an answer," Edward said.

Ruby smiled and listened to Anise and Ginger " Im with the girls , if they can't accept you , then why worry over it, its just their lose and our gain" she said " oh and Girls you both look fantasic" she said smiling at both of them. She heard Edward say that they would get to teh bottom of it eventually " yes and we'll help and be with you for it every step." she told him then looked to jessie who was stood by the window looking out .

"I think their here" he said noticing movement by the chapel then turn to Marcus before looking at Angus and Edward. Ruby smiled at Angus as she still held hi hand .

"you can do this, its a few hours out of years" she told him " you don't have to talk to them if you don't want to and we have your back, remember that." she stood straighter on her heels and looked to Edward.

"As I said, I'm not afraid. Shall we?" he asked looking at the girls. They nodded. Edward offered his arm to Simone who was wearing a beautiful black lace midi length dress and a beautiful heart pendant done in diamonds and black diamonds. Marcus nodded to Jessie to signal him to walk in after Edward and before Angus. That would provide an extra layer of protection for Edward too if he needed it.

"Where do you want us?" Anise asked Marcus, seeing Marcus was arranging how people walked from the main house to the chapel.

"Ginger, you walk on the other side of Ruby, and Anise, you walk on the other side of Ginger. I'll be right with you, right behind all of you. Take your time. There's no hurry," Marcus told them.

As they left the main house, they were joined on their walk to the chapel by Evan, Tara and Evie and Faith. Evan deliberately took a position beside Angus to show that he stood with Angus. Tara walked behind Ruby and Angus, with Evie and Faith right beside her.

Angus only took a cursory glance around at the trees and the buildings, leaving the security to Jessie and Marcus. There were additional cars on the grounds, and Marcus, at this point, had to presume that there might well be muggles that had known Basil and Gloria that had been invited. Well, that could be interesting if anyone tried anything. He was hoping that Jessie had also figured out that using magic today might well be very risky business.

Ruby nodded and moved with Angus as Jessie fell into his position walking in front of Angus but behind Edward to secure their way to the chapel. He glanced to his right seeing mugge cars and decided that he needed to only use his wand in a real emergancy since he also knew muggles knowing of magic was not a good idea.

Ruby walked beside Angus her head held high to show she ment business beside Angus and the girls. "looks like a lot of muggles " she whispered to Angus softly as they walked towards the chapel.

"I did wonder if that would be the case today," he told her.

"Is that a problem?" Ginger asked.

"No," Evan told Anise. "We just can't use our magic or even acknowledge that it exists."

"That's okay," Anise replied. As they filed into the chapel and sat down in the pews, Anise and Ginger ended up sitting in the row behind Angus and Ruby, with Evie and Faith sitting beside them. As Anise sat down, Angus glanced back to see where the girls had ended up, and he saw the tip of Anise's blade sticking out from the hem of the skirt on her dress. She had somehow strapped the blade to her thigh. Ginger looked at her sister wide eyed for a moment, surprised. Marcus had seen it too, and he used some slight of hand to add another inch onto the length of her skirt to cover the edge of the blade. He leaned down and whispered in her ear.

"Keep that covered, or I shall take it from you," he told her very softly. "Do you understand me?" She nodded, pulling her skirt over the tip of the blade. Angus sighed tensely.

"Change of plans. I'm going to keep Anise with me," Angus whispered very quietly to Ruby, not wanting anyone to overhear him. "You keep Ginger with you."

Jessie slid in to his seat as did Ruby next to Angus she looekd round th chapel and her eyes fell on his relatives all giving them daggers . Feeling Angus shift she turned to listened to him and nodded " okay." she said glancing over at Ginger and smiled. She had seen the dagger tip with Anise and looked at her but she could not say anything as she had her wand atached to her thigh in a garter hoster. Leaning over as if to console Ginher she whispered softly " when we leav stay by me , okay." she told her gently as she took her hand for amoment to make any one looking on think she was consoling her. Jessie loked back at Marcus then scanned the chapel noting where every one sat .

The service was done largely in English but there was a translator for those who didn't speak English. It was a muggle service out of necessity for the muggle guests present. Angus had been to a good many of these in his time, and frankly, while he was not against religion, muggles had some bloody flat and boring services. The explanation that Basil's family was giving that a sudden illness had taken Basil, and that poor Gloria had died the next day of a broken heart. It seemed to satisfy the muggles at any rate. The family was largely ignoring Angus, Ruby, and the girls because they didn't dare snub them in front of the muggles.

At the end of the service, during the recession, the line proceeded to take everyone, pew by pew, up to the front of the chapel to view both Basil and Gloria before exiting the chapel. The women in Basil's family made a great show of open weeping, and Angus knew it was purely done for his benefit. This wasn't the first time he'd seen such a performance. Donohue women had done it for Benjamin and Eileen too.

As they filed out of the chapel, one of the muggle women who honestly didn't know Angus made a remark to him about how horrid of a loss it surely was for these women who were so terrbly upset.

"Yes, it's a terrible thing for them indeed," Angus said, doing his best to lay it on just a wee bit thick. "I'm sure it has to be a horrible thing for the fragile dears when they're not all that stable to begin with." The moment it left his mouth, someone elbowed him from behind. He glanced to see Edward giving him a very restrained glance to try to reprimand him. However, Angus knew darned well that it was the sort of remark Edward might well have made himself. If they hadn't been in this particular situation, Angus might well have accused Edward of just being jealous that he hadn't thought of the remark first.

Anise found her way to stand beside Angus, on his bad side, and he leaned down and whispered to her.

"How did you fit that holster to your leg?"

"It's not in a holster," she whispered back. "I sewed together a band of elastic."

"Where's you get the elastic?"

"I swiped one of your pair of underwear," she confessed. "I needed the black elastic." He rolled his eyes at her. "But it's good wide elastic," she said.

"We'll discuss it later," he told her softly.

Ruby moved with Angus and Ginger out of the pews and down the isle seeing the over exajerated howling from the women she rolled her eyes but kept pace with Angus as they stepped outside. she moved a little back to be with Ginger as a woman spoke to Angus and she could not help smirk at his responce and seeing Edward elbow him from behind.

Jessie walked in front standing a little between Angus and the woman as she had walked over to talk to him but seeing she only spoke to him he let herglancing around th area then to Marcus for any cues to if he saw any trouble.

Angus stood and watched people walking to the family plot for the graveside service, and Edward came up to him.

"Trouble?" he asked Angus softly.

"Your granddaughter nicked my knickers to make herself a garter belt for her stiletto," Angus said.

"Why is she your daughter until she's naughty, and then she's my granddaughter?" Edward laughed." Pretty creative, if you ask me."

"Edward," Angus scowled.

"Oh. Right. Right." He looked at Anise and tried to look angry, but he wasn't. And she knew it. "Naughty girl," Edward said simply, and Anise found it hard not to laugh. He took Ginger's hand and Anise's hand "Come along, my lovelies, let's let your father stew about his knickers in peace," he said, taking the girls and walking with them and Simone over to the family plot.

"He loves trying to bait me," Angus told Ruby, walking towards the family plot now himself.

Ruby covered her mouth to hide her smile at Edwards words as he took Ginger and Anise to the grave side " oh I know" she said trying not to burst out laughing as Edward talked about Angus's knickers. " but you have to admit it was injinious of her , since I have my wand in the same place but just a little higher.." she whispered softly to him as they walked to the grave side.

Jessie walked infront of Angus still but not too close as he walked towards the graves that he and Marcus had vsited the night before. Drawing close to Angus and Ruby he staid with in arms reatch of the two of them knowing Edward had Ginger and Anise.