A Birth day

Marcus helped Angus with a shower, and for Angus, it felt wonderful. He was glad to have a real shower and clean clothes. As Marcus was apparating Angus back downstairs, Anise arrived with a large basket that had supper in it for everyone.

Michael had made a fabulous chicken cacciatore, some risotto, a spinach salad with a hot bacon dressing, and the for dessert he had deviated from his original plans and had made treacle tart.

"Whatever that is, it smells wonderful," Nigel said when Anise arrived.

"Chicken something," Anise said. "I forget."

"Well, I'm sure it's nice. I don't believe I've ever had a bad meal from Michael," Nigel said.

"I didn't think I was all that hungry--until I smelled that," Marcus said, carefully helping Angus back into bed.

"How'd he do in the shower" Nigel asked, going to check Angus's shoulder and then place a clean brace on his shoulder. The one that the baby had gooped up would need to be washed by hand and air dried to avoid damaging the brace itself.

"Fine," Marcus replied, "but I think he's completely knackered now."

"Well, yes, because he wasn't anywhere near ready for that," Nigel said. He checked Angus to make sure he really was alright from doing entirely too much too soon. "You're fine, but no more nonsense today."

"Tea would be marvelous," Nigel said.

"Ice tea or lemonade would be great," Angus said. "I think Michael was making cacciatore. And if that's what he made, I'm sure it will be amazing. That's one of his specialties." Marcus went over to help Ruby set out the supper. He put the large covered serving dish on the table and lifted the lid.

"Cacciatore. Definitely," Marcus said. He checked out the other dishes. "Risotto. Spinach salad, and hot bacon dressing. Lovely. And, one more--ah. treacle tart."

"Treacle tart? Sorry about your luck, boy and girls, but I'm going to just take the treacle tart and a fork," Nigel teased.

"The whole treacle tart?" Angus asked.

"Yup," Nigel laughed. "Too bad for all of you." That made Angus laugh.

Ginger and Simone came in from outside, and Simone stepped right up to take the plates that Ruby had set out and she set the table.

"Robert's supposed to be coming after supper to collect our homework, and he said something about a popping something or another," Anise said.

"A what?" Angus asked.

"I don't know. He said something about something popping."

"A pop quiz?" Simone asked.

"Yes, that's it," Anise said.

"I'm not saying a word. I'm going to let Robert and the girls deal with that by themselves," Angus said. "You'd both better have done your assignments, that's all I can tell you."

"In America, they call that sort of serving as 'family style' dining,' meaning that everyone just helps themselves at the table and takes what they want," Nigel said. "And there are some restaurants that serve that way. Those tend to be more of the farm market sorts of restaurants, though, where being very casual is more of what people are looking to experience.

Marcus fixed a plate for Angus and made sure he had his overbed table, his plate, his fork and the iced tea that Ruby had sent over for him.

"Need anything else?" Marcus asked him.

"No, I think that's plenty, thanks," Angus said. The girls sat down at the table, and Edward came over to join them for supper.

"This is delicious," Angus said. "You and Michael made a perfect cacciatore, Anise."

"Anise helped with supper?" Edward asked. "Did you have a good time, Anise?

"It wasn't that bad. Certainly better than at home," Anise said. "He's okay--for an old guy."

"Did you tell him that?" Angus laughed.

"Yeah."

'And what did he say?"

"He said I was okay too--for a shrimp," Anise said. Angus and Marcus laughed. That was so typical of Michael. "He said we could go climbing tomorrow, but Robert said its going to storm. He said he didn't think we'd be climbing. Robert does want us each to have proper wands. He said he might take us to get one tomorrow so he can start to teach us a spell or two--if that's alright."

"I think you have wands. I think your mother bought you wands and sent them along to us," Angus said.

"Oooh! We can zap things now!" Anise was excited.

"Can we just hold off on the random zapping, just a little, until you know what you're doing?" Angus asked.

"

"It did help. Thank you," Angus replied to Ruby about the pillows. Then she said the wands were in the safe. "Okay," Angus sighed. "I'll get them." He forced himself up, and Marcus followed, sensing Angus was really tiring now.

"Where are you going?" Marcus asked.

"Bedroom," Angus said.

"Let's take the shortcut," Marcus said, apparating him upstairs. Marcus made sure Angus got to the safe, got the safe open, got the wands and closed the safe again. Marcus apparated Angus back downstairs and helped him back to bed, taking the wands and laying them on the end table by Angus's bed.

"I think you've done enough now. Next time, just give me the combination, Mate," Marcus told him. Angus just nodded. The truth was that it wasn't time for his pain potion yet, but Marcus knew Angus had overdone it by doing a lot of things that weren't on his list of activities today. Marcus took it upon himself to pour half a dose early because he knew Angus was hurting and tired. Angus didn't question it because he was grateful to get some relief., and he was able to lightly doze.

Robert arrived about twenty minutes later to find the girls were finishing their desserts.

"Go ahead and finish your tart, and I'll go check on Angus while you do that," Robert told them. He looked at the others and said, "Don't let me hold any of you up from whatever you're doing. I have the overnight shift tonight with Angus, so I presume you're all going to be alright with me just making myself at home to whatever I need during the night, right?"

He checked in with Nigel and relieved Nigel from his shift, and then checked the chart and made a check of Angus and of his shoulder. Marcus gave Robert the girls' wands so that he had then for their lessons tonight.

Satisfied for the moment, Robert took the girls outside to gazebo in the tea garden and let them deal with the quiz there. When their quizzes were done, he checked their answers, and then he had a class with them outside. He had them pick up their wands but he wasn't actually very happy with how their wands reacted to them. He believed there were, very likely, wands at Ollivanders that were much better matches for them. The wands that Phoebe had bought them were not from Ollivanders. That much Robert knew for certain, and they looked to Robert like they were second hand wands, probably the best Phoebe could afford for them. They were serviceable, but they certainly needed better. For their first lessons, Robert taught them how a basic wingardium leviosa, an accio spell, lumos, and nox. He believed that would give them plenty to practice for day or two. He gave them some additional herbology, History of Magic, and Bestiary readings to do, and he took their papers to give to Michael. He lit the outside lights in the tea garden when it started to get dark and ended their lessons at nine, praising them both for a job well done. Putting out the outside lights, he came back in with them while they headed to take their showers for the night.

Angus had been dozing when Ruby came in, talking about the girls' wands. He yawned, waking, listening to her saying the wands needed replaced.

"Hm? Oh, Okay," he said sleepily. "I'll take care of it. I'll take them tomorrow. It's probably all Phoebe could afford. Leave the wands with me, Maybe Ollivanders can put new cores in them. I have to go to town anyway."

"Go back to sleep, Mate," Marcus said to Angus, trying not to laugh. He felt pretty certain Angus was almost talking in his sleep. "He hears you well enough, Ruby, but I don't know if he'll remember a word of it in the morning."

Robert sat down with the girls' homework to grade it for them and to work out tomorrow's lessons, since Angus did appear to be alright for now. He had heard Angus said he'd take the girls to Diagon Alley, but he didn't take it seriously because of the pain potion Angus had in his system.