A Birth day

"You do what you like," Robert told her, "but I actually did give them homework to practice the spells I taught them. They know they are not to do any others without my permission. I told them if they even attempted anything else, I would snap those wands in two. Lock them up if you feel you should but do please make sure they have time with them to practice their spellcasting." He listened to Ruby talk about taking them for new wands.

'Well, these wands will be good back up wands, but they definitely need new wands as their primary wands," Robert told her. "Angus isn't even supposed to be out of bed, let alone shopping, just like he wasn't supposed to be dealing with demons in Tuscany today or any of the other nonsense he was doing. I'd prefer he not continue to do whatever he bloody well wants to do.. If you want to take them, by all means, take them. If you're concerned about security, you might ask Jessie or Yulong or Jack to go with you. They might enjoy the outing. I can't go because I'm scheduled to work tomorrow.

"I might be able to stop the 'round the clock nursing if Marcus continues to stay with him, but I honestly don't trust that he wouldn't try to do whatever he thinks he wants to do. Marcus is good about making sure Angus only misbehaves just so far. And, frankly, I don't know how much longer Suzanne can or will behave. She's about due for some other horsecrap, so I don't want Angus by himself."

Ruby listened to Robert and nodded " all right, then they can keep them " she said " becuse your right they do need to practice with them" she said then heard him talk about taking Jack or Jessie to going along to help them. " okay, I'll take jack as hes's had to do this himself, and yeah we might make it a girls day out too." she said then chuckled as Robert spoke of Marcus and Angus " yeah, I can understand " she said looking over at the bed " but he is good for Angus and as you know Angus won't do anything he feels he can't do, unless its an emergancy or nessicery."

When he spoke about Suzzane she sighed and nodded " I agree its worrying when she's quiet, at least when shes doing something, you know what shes up to so yeah, I agree on that point. " Ruby saw Caprice had fallen asleep in her bouncer chair and smiled " seems some one else it tired too." she said

"What has Jack had to do? Buy wands?" Robert asked, not following her.

The girls came downstairs from their showers, and Anise headed for the cookie jar.

"I've got your quizzes graded," he told them. They turned around, and he handed them each their papers. They looked at their scores, and Anise looked wide eyed at Robert.

"Is this for real? Is this a real score?" she asked.

"Do I look like the sort of person that would like on a test?" he asked her. "And no, I didn't put the scores on a curve either. That's really what you earned."

"Is it bad? Ginger asked her.

"Look!" she showed Ginger her paper. It was a perfect score. Not one missed question. It was the very first perfect score Anise had ever earned in her life.

"You did it!" Ginger was thrilled for her. "I told you you could do it!"

"That's my first one ever," she told Robert.

"Well done, then," Robert smiled. "Maybe all you've needed all along is more time doing things and less time just reading about them. Congratulations. I'm proud of you. Go get your cookie. You've earned it."

Ruby chuckled "When he was younger he would have had to get his own wand" she explained then saw the girls return after their showers she smiled as Robert handed them their papers and smiled at their enthusiasm for their well-earned scores. " how about tomorrow we go to Diagon alley as a reward?" she asked holding the cookie jar for them so they could take one each. " and as Robert said , well done , both of you," she said smiling to them both. " I'll take you to Sparks for lunch they do wonderful lunch foods," she said to the girls. " oh do you want me to put them on the fridge to show Angus when hes awake?" she asked.

"We could go shopping?" Anise asked, as she and Ginger each took a cookie.

"We don't have any money," Ginger told her sister quietly.

"We can look. It'll be fun to be able to go as humans and not have people staring at us," Anise said.

"Don't overtire Ginger, though," Robert said. "She can go short distances before she needs to sit, but don't overdo it. Some walking is good for her, but not a lot of it. And plan your errands so that she gets to sit every few minutes."

"I'll keep an eye on her" Anise said.

"Good," Robert said. "There's a walking cane in storage over at Khaat's, in her attic. It actually has a seat built into is so that if whoever is using it needs to sit suddenly, the cane will fold out into stool. It's not fancy, but it does the job. I'll send it over before you leave tomorrow, just in case it comes in handy. You've gone exceptionally well in your recovery, but let's not buggar it it up."

"Robert," Anise asked. "Question. Ginger says she can hear Pip's owlsong and Archangel's eagle song. I don't hear anything but screeching. Is there something wrong with me?"

"No. Not at all. But some people know extra languages. Kate can speak to eagles and owls and birds of prey. Simone can talk to bowtruckles. I don't do any of that. Maybe Ginger has the same ability that Kate has. Maybe Ginger needs to go with Kate to the barn someday, and then they can see if she does understand birds of prey like Kate does." The clock struck ten, and Ginger noticed the time.

"I think I'm going to go down and read for a bit before bed. It's been a busy day. Thanks, Robert. Goodnight, Everyone," Ginger said.

"I guess I'll go with her. Thanks, Robert. Goodnight, Ruby and Robert. Goodnight, Marcus."

"Goodnight," Robert and Marcus said, and the girls took their cookies and went downstairs.

"I could give them a little spending money if they need it," Robert said.

"You won't have to," Marcus said. "Angus has opened bank accounts for them. They have some money, but I doubt they know yet. Ruby, did you ever get them to Venice to Clive and Diana's to be outfitted and supplied?"

Ruby listened as Anise asked if they could go shopping and smiled "Of course and don't worry about that." she said then heard Robert and nodded "it's why I suggested we have lunch there, my treat, it'll break up the day and we'll go at her pace." she heard Anise say she'll take care of Ginger and she smiled then when Robert mentioned the can with a seat she nodded to him. " it would be greatly apriciated " she said then heard the clock chime and heard Ginger say they should head to bed " good night girls and sleep well" she said smiling a she watche them head down to their bedrooms.

She looked to Marcus and nodded to him " I rember him saying he was gong to do that." she said smiling then gasped " oh I forgot, I'll take them tomorrow after Olivanders and Sparks." she said now making a mental note to definatly take them. Moving to pick up Caprice she smiled at them both " I'll put this one down then make supper if any one wants any?" she asked resting Caprice in her arms a she headed to the stairs.

"I thought I heard some of the others talking about playing some late night poker in the main house tonight. Hopefully, some of them won't lose all their cash to that tonight," Robert said, "But Nicky was going to make a nacho bar--well, we call them tortilla chips--for everyone, so I could always have him send some over, if that interests you. Or one of you could go over couldHe usually does ground beef, chili, sauteed onions, tomatoes, bell peppers, corn, plenty of cheese, sour cream, salsa, refried beans, jalapeno peppers, cheddar cheese sauce, chicken, steak, mexican queso--which is like a warm white cheese sauce, scallions, olives, lettuce, and anything else he can find in the kitchen. The idea is that you take a plate, put your nachos on it, and then load them up with as much as you can fit on top of those nachos. Americans have nachos with, usually, mexican beer, or with a margarita. but you can have whatever you like."

"I'm a complete fan of nachos," Marcus said. "David and I had the opportunity to go to Texas once while on assignment in Bulgaria. The nachos I had there made me a fan of them. Have you ever had them, Ruby?"

Ruby chuckled as Robert spoke of the poker and nachos she also heard Marcus and smiled "Yes I have there like corn chips right, you can get them with cheese dip." she chuckled " well don't lose too much tonight guys see you in the morning." she said and chuckled again as she headed up the stairs to Caprices nursery where she changed her and fed her then lay her down to sleep before moving to her room and changing into her PJs before slipping into bed and falling asleep.

The next morning she was up early with Caprice in the now clean sling around her while she fixed breakfast for everyone,along with a large pot of coffee and tea and a jug of fresh orange juice this time for those who wanted something more refreshing with their breakfast. She made ricotta hotcakes along with coconut pancakes with banana and creme fraîche for those who wanted some.

Neither Marcus nor Robert had left their posts to go play poker. They'd stayed with Angus. Robert had gone and made them a plate of nachos to share and had brought it back, and he'd brought them each a properly chilled mexican beer with lime wedges. They'd had the nachos while just chatting and then Marcus had gone upstairs and showered, changed and gone to bed for a change, feeling pretty tired. Robert had stretched out on the sofa and had slept off and on, never going to sleep deeply enough to miss hearing Angus. He had heard Angus's slightest movement. By the time Ruby had gotten up, Robert had changed the dressing on Angus' shoulder, and he'd made a couple of cups of tea, one for Angus that had held Angus's daytime dose of pain potion, and a cup of tea for himself. Angus was trying to get his eyes open, and as Angus was waking, an owl brought a message for him.

Angus opened the message and read it. The news wasn't good. Wasn't good at all. He crumpled the note in anger, and, as Marcus was coming down the stairs, Angus forced himself up out of bed. That rousted Robert's and Marcus's attentions.

"Where are you going?" Robert asked him.

"Out," Angus said. "I need some clothes."

"Where?" Robert asked. He took the note and read it. "You have no business going. I'll allow you to dress, in case the aurors come here, but you cannot go there today. Marcus, you stay right with him. I'll wake up Nigel and send him over. He can intercede if the aurors get pushy." Robert looked at Ruby. "This would be an excellent morning to take the girls to see Clive and Diana. There's been trouble while the workers were continuing to uncover the tunnels to dismantle them. Two of the workers were found dead down in the tunnels in the middle of the night. Straight after breakfast, you should get the girls out of here for a bit. You could escape to the farm if you need a place for Ginger to rest without coming back here. If the aurors come, they will come this morning."

Ruby looked up hearing Robert walk over and make two cups of tea one for himself and one for Angus. She had been busy finishing breakfast when she saw the outburst from Angus and glanced at Robert as he spoke to her " Of course" she said to his suggestion. " once their dressed and fed we'll go" She moved back to the kitchen and made up several bottles to put in Caprices diaper bag to take with them to see them threw the day in case they could not return.

Hearing movement from below she smiled seeing Anise and Ginger walk up from below she smiled and picked up the crumpled piece of paper " best not to let them see this" she said to Robert placing the letter in his hand . " all right once we have eaten then we can go shopping" she said with a smile as she sent two plates over to the table along with a glass each of the orange juice. " then we have to go to Venice to see Clive and Diana to get you outfitted with things you will need." she said as she sat with them to eat.