A Birth day

"Of course," Ginger said. She took Evie and Faith upstairs, and Simone took Evan and Tara over to her side of the duplex and up to their room. The girls only took a moment to freshen up, and the three of them came downstairs together.

Evan and Tara came back about the same time, and Simone came back took having changed into something more comfortable.

"Go eat, Everyone," Angus told them. "We make good fish and chips here, so tuck into them while they're still hot."

"We haven't had good fish and chips in ages," Evie said. "Perfect!" They sat down and tucked into their suppers.

"God, these are good," Evan said. "I don't know if I ever had fish and chips this good.

"Well, it isn't gourmet Italian," Angus said.

"No, its better," Faith told him. "And I'm glad it didn't come with chocolate sauce after all."

Marcus brought up the bedside table that Angus had used when he had had the hospital bed in the living room, and he set the bedside table up in front of the recliner with Angus's supper plate and a glass of iced tea.

"Thanks," Angus said.

"My pleasure," Marcus said. Marcus and Nigel went and tucked into some supper too with the rest of them. Angus made it through about half of supper before he fell asleep, too tired to stay awake another moment.

"Nigel," Simone began, seeing that Angus had fallen asleep before he'd finished eating.

"Well, its about time," Nigel said. "For heaven's sake, don't wake him up. I didn't think he'd ever give up and rest a bit."

"It's alright, then?" she asked.

"More than alright," Nigel said. "He'll survive on half a supper. He needed the sleep far more."

"Ruby, can I show them the hippogriff and the unicorns after supper?" Ginger asked her.

"Unicorns? You have unicorns here?" Evan asked, wide eyed. Ginger nodded.

"And a hippogriff, and pygmy puffs, and a bowtruckle and a bunch of other things, and there's a bald eagle that works as an owl," Ginger said.

"I do hope we can see them," Evan said, "if not tonight then perhaps tomorrow."

Ruby smiled and moved to dish up the fish and chips and then she sat down to eat hearing Ginger ask if she could show Evie and Faith the hypogriffs and unicorn she smiled "Of course but don't stay too long, remember the unicorns got a foal" she said " but eat supper first" she chuckled seeing Angus now sleeping " I wondered how long it would take." she said quietly standing and gently pulling the blanket over him then gently kissing his cheek before sitting back down.

Hearing Evan ask about the animals she smiled "Of course I'll walk you over tomorrow." she said "For now rest and relax, there are no evil relatives here" she said smiling at both of them. It was now she heard Caprice awake from her nap wanting food. Getting up she headed up to her nursery and brought her down to eat her supper.

The girls finished supper, and then Ginger took Evie and Faith to the barn.

"There is quite a lot for them to see and do here," Simone told Evan and Tara.

"But is it really safe?" Tara asked.

"Do you know whose house this really is?" Simone asked.

"Some friend of Angus's named Quinn," Evan said.

"Well, that's true, as far as it goes," Simone said. "Brian Quinn is a fighter. He trains the aurors for the ministry here, and he takes security here very seriously. And he happens to be married to Khaat Lupin, the daughter of former minister Robert Lupin. Robert and his wife live here part time, and he makes sure that this place is as safe for his family as he knows how to make it. The rest of the Donohues can't follow us here because it's unplottable. You're safe here."

Evan sighed, relieved, and Tara was relieved too.

"Angus made a smart choice then," Evan said. "If we went to any of our usual places, the family would find us."

"Would they really try?"

"Cora might," Evan said. "She's beyond furious. She made threat. She told Edward she was promising she would get rid of Angus once and for all. That was when Edward removed her from the estate permanently and told her she could never, ever return. I honestly don't know what she would do. I would hope she'd just get ahold of herself, but I don't know. She seems to believe this is all part and parcel of this curse thing, I guess. Or that's what she was saying as the crew was kicking her out."

"God, the insanity in the Donohues never ends, does it?" Nigel sighed.

Ruby looked at Evan and then to Simone as she told him about who owned the hoses and whose land they were on. She shook her head as Evan told them about what Cora had said and how she had acted " I agree with Nigel, in some deliuded way she belives he was cursed , but I don't think so." she said " I think its all in her mind, and Ebvan they could try but there no way they would get in theres security all around the grounds and as Simone said its unplottable, so nobody whose not welcome or has ill intent can get in." She looked over at the sleeping Angus and smiled " Angus knows how to keep his family safe, and we keep him safe." she said with a smile.

Once every one was done she set the dishes to the washer and set it going then handed out minuse enough for the girls and Angus desert " okay here's the chocolate " she said smiling as she set bowls to the adults and sat down with Caprice giving her alittle on the tip of her finger that she happily licked and sucked off it then tried to grab for more.

"Edward will get to the bottom of that curse crap," Evan said. "I can't believe it's gone on for over thirty years and no one said a thing to Edward or Angus either one about it. Edward could have spared Angus a whole lot of suffering if they'd mentioned it to him."

The girls came back, and they had a basket of baby rainbow pygmy puffs with them.

"What the hell are those?" Evan scowled.

"Baby pygmy puffs," Evie said. "We're borrowing them for a sleepover tonight..."

"What if they make a mess..."

"They eat dustbunnies, Lad," Nigel laughed. "And bugs. A well fed pygmy puff means a clean house. Relax. It'll be fine..."

"Pygmy puffs are pink, are they not?" Evan frowned.

"Kate ended up with some buggared up rainbow colored ones, and she sells them now because they breed incessantly," Nigel told them as the babies bounced out of the basket and hopped off in all different directions. "And they're off. Well, this'll be a lot like herding cats, I'm afraid. I suggest we let them eat their fill of dustbunnies and bugs and then sweep them up in the morning."

"I'm sorry," Tara told Ruby. "I didn't know they were going to bring anything back."

"Be glad it's only pygmy puffs," Marcus laughed. "They're harmless. Come get some dessert, Girls, and then see how many of those you can herd either up to the bedroom upstairs or to Ginger's room downstairs."

Ruby sighed and nodded when Evan spoke of the silly curse " Agreed" she said simply then chuckled seeing the basket of baby pigmy puffs the girls brought in she smiled at them and chuckled " its find Tara, there completely harmless so I don't mind" she chuckled seeing them all take off in different directions " well the house will be clean by tomorrow." she said spotting one head under the dresser not far from her then roll back out. " yes before it all gets eaten" she added to Marcus words and sent four bowls to the table with desert now the only peice left was for when Angus awoke, Ruby placed it into the walk in fridge to save for him.


Once they ahd eaten she held a now sleeping Caprice and walked to the stairs " okay so whose rounding up the puffs?" she asked smiling as she then headed up to Caprices room to find two under the cot which hs shooed out into the hal way and chuckled as she lay Caprice and covered her over with her blanket " just like your father, fill your tummy and you sleep." she said softly as she then gently kissed Caprice on the for head and backed out of the room. Returning down to the living room she chuckled .

When everyone had eaten dessert, Simone helped her clean up the dishes and clean the teapot and the coffee pot and made them ready to brew in the morning. When Ruby asked who was going to round up the puffs, Simone looked at her.

"I think you should just leave the puffs alone tonight, Ruby. We'll find them in the morning. If we cause too much commotion, that will wake Angus for sure. He can be a light sleeper, you know. Leave the puffs alone, and I'm sure once they've had a good feed on the dust and bugs overnight, they'll be a lot easier to find in the morning," Simone told Ruby.

"Go get your showers, Girls," Tara told Evie and Faith. Evie and Faith headed to the shower, one of them going over to Edward's side, and Ginger went to shower in the other bathroom upstairs so that she didn't lose a minute with Evie and Faith.

Simone heard a quiet knock on the door and answered it. It was Robert, coming to check on Angus.

"He's asleep," Simone told Robert.

"Good. I'll try not to wake him, then," Robert said. He went over to Angus and managed to lift a corner of the dressing and look underneath it to check on the incision and on the seeping and bleeding. Nigel wanted to see too. It was more swollen than they wanted, and that was a trifle concerning to Robert.

"Has he eaten anything?" Robert asked.

"A little," Nigel said. "He was just too weak and tired, so he dozed off before he finished."

"Well, that damned internal bleeding caused him to lose a lot of blood today. That woman did him no favors. She did a lot of damage. The incision is a bit of a mess, isn't it? I'll put a heavier dressing on it to try to hold it overnight."

"Yeah, it's really irked. Let's continue the magic wrap and see if the cold helps," Nigel told Robert very softly watching Robert take the old dressing off, clean the incision, and put a new, heavier dressing on. "In addition to the damage itself from that blasting spell, we've caused it some additional aggravation so we could stop the bleeding, and I think it's all certainly added to the swelling and the bleeding. The magic wrap should reduce some of that overnight. I think the cold and him finally resting it are the best thing for it for now. I can stay if you like and I'll keep working on it over through the night. I'll stay and keep after it with the cold and maybe an anti-inflammatory potion, and we'll see what it looks like in the morning. If he gets uncomfortable or if we have any more issues, I'll send for you."

"Are you sure?" Robert asked.

"Positive. Get some sleep tonight," Nigel said, "and spell me in the morning."

"Alright," Robert agreed. "Has he been comfortable?"

"Hasn't made a single complaint," Nigel said.

"That doesn't necessarily tell me much because my boys don't complain," Robert said.

"If he's uncomfortable, we'll know it," Nigel said. "I expect he may sleep now that he knows he's home and safe just because the pressure is off. Go get some sleep, Robert. It'll be alright. I'll see you in the morning."

"Alright. Goodnight, then," Robert said. He excused himself and he left to go back to the main house.

"Simone, do you mind me using Edward's lab upstairs?" Nigel asked. "I can create a potion to reduce the inflammation in his incision if I have the equipment to do it."

"Absolutely. Edward would want you to to have full access to anything that you think would help him. Can I get anything to help you?"

"Well, I could give you a list of plants that, if you have them, having them fresh would be a great help. I can use dried ones, but sometimes the fresh is better.  Marigold flowers, cat's claw vine, yellow trumpet vine flowers, cilantro, cone flowers, lemon balm, licorice root, oregano, parsley, rosemary, sage, spearmint, any of those would be helpful. I'm sure he'll already have some of the other things upstairs in his ingredients," Nigel said.

"I'll go right now," she said, wanting to be useful. She didn't care that it was dark outside. If that was what Nigel needed, she'd find it. "I'll go get my trug basket and a pair of garden scissors and see what I can find."

"I could help,' Tara said. "I have a kitchen garden at home, so I know those plants. They're pretty common."

"Marcus, if you're staying with him, I'll go up and see if I can find some of the Chinese herbs I need. If he doesn't have them, I might be popping in to London to try to find a Chinese apothecary that's open all night," Nigel said.

"You could wake up Yulong if what you need isn't upstairs. He sometimes has some odd herbs and such," Simone said. "It might save you a trip to London."

"It's a thought. Thank you. I'll go see what Edward already has first," Nigel said, going over to the other side of the duplex and up to Edward's tower lab.

Ruby helped Simone clear the dishes away and then heard her say about leaving the puffs alone for the night "Yeah, your right" she said and smiled as she looked over at a still-sleeping Angus. Hearing the knock on the door and she saw Robert enter the duplex " Hey Robert." she said as she watched him walk over to Angus as he slept and check his wound.

A nother knock came and Yu walked in smiling as he held a pouch in his hand. " I have a feeling you would need these, my mother sent them over for Angus" he said and walked over to open the pouch to show some herbs inside. Placing them in Roberts hands he stepped back " she can send more if needed." he said

"Thank you," Robert said. "I know Nigel is going to work on a potion for Angus, and I'm sure he's going to need these. I'm sure you now they're not as readily available here, so please extend our thanks to your mother. We were just debating on one of us having to go to an all night Chinese herb shop in London tonight, so not having to do that tonight saves us valuable time. I appreciate it."

"Is there anything I can do to be of help?" Evan asked Robert.

"I don't think so, Evan, thank you," Robert said. "The best thing for him right now is a good night's sleep. Yulong, this is one of Angus's younger brothers, Evan. Evan and his wife and daughters are staying for a bit."

"Nice to meet you, Yulong," Evan said.

"Robert, I think we're going..." Nigel began, coming downstairs.

"Hold on, Nigel. See if this is what you need," Robert said, handing the pouch to Nigel. Nigel took the pouch and opened it.

"Perfect. That's exactly what I need. Thank you, Yulong," Nigel said. "I'm not sure how you knew, but that's exactly it. I appreciate it. As soon as the ladies get back with the rest of the herbs and flowers, I'll get right on it."

Simone and Tara took a garden trug and a couple pairs of garden scissors and went out to gather the list of herbs and flowers that Nigel had given them. The girls all finished their showers, and the three of them went into the boy's room for the night.

Yu nodded when Robert spoke of the herbs being just what he needed for Angus. Turning to see Nigel coming down the stairs he looked at Evan "Nice to meet you Evan." he said to Evan then looked at Nigel as he spoke to him about he knew the herbs were the right ones they needed. " some times I think my Hahaoya, mother, is a seer as she knows just what is needed and when" he said smiling as he looked to Robert.

Ruby walked over and handed Yu a cup of tea as thanks for bringing over the herbs. " tell your Hahaoya thank you from us" she said and again Yu bowed slightly in respect to her and Robert .

"I should return and write her " he said finishing his tea he handed the cup to Ruby who smiled and he left the duplex.