"He'll be better if he starts listening once in a blue moon," Nigel said sarcastically.
"I already lived with animals," Ginger said to Ruby with a grin. "How much worse could these guys be?" She started to straighten things up and she found a pair of dirty underwear and a dirty blue sock behind one of the loveseats.
"Oh, for the love of Merlin," she sighed, picking them up and tossing them in the hamper. "If you find a blue sock, I just chucked its mate in the hamper with someone's nasty knickers.
Angus was starting to feel real pain again in his shoulder, and Nigel added some pain medication to his tea.
"Drink this," he told Angus. It wasn't more than about two minutes, and there was a knock on the door. Angus had every intention of getting up, and Nigel blocked his way. "Don't even think about it." Nigel said sternly.
"I think I remember how to open a door," Marcus cast Angus an amused smile. "We've got this. They're not guests, remember. You don't have to be a host. They're family." Marcus opened the door, and Evan and Tara and the girls came in.
"Where's Simone?" Marcus asked, noticing she was missing.
"She's here," Evan said, pointing out Simone. "She's talking with that woman over there."
"Oh. That's Kate. She lives here," Marcus said. "Simone will be along shortly then. Come in, and I'm sure Ruby and Ginger will show you where to find things. Supper will be here from the main house in maybe thirty minutes or so. Let me introduce you. This is Nigel Sigworth. He's one of the surgeons that's helped with Angus' shoulder surgeries. Nigel, this is Evan Donohue, his wife Tara and their girls Evie and Faith."
"Nice to meet you all," Nigel said.
"I'm sorry for us intruding right after your surgery, Angus," Evan said.
"It isn't an intrusion," Angus said. "Make yourselves at home. This is our half, and through that door over there is Edward and Simone's half."
"I like this a lot," Evan said. "This is far more the real you than all that pomp and circumstance in Tuscany. This is the Angus and Ruby that are down to earth and unpretentious. I could get to like this a lot."
"We like it," Angus replied. "Ruby! Ginger! They're here."
"Coming," Ginger called from the boys' room. She looked at Ruby. "Is there a cleaning and freshening up spell to get rid of the boys' room funk smell in here? It needs it, Ruby."