A Birth day

"I love that dog, but I'm glad he's not in the house right now," Angus laughed, watching Jack and Jessie try to deal with Finn. They were interrupted with the baby becoming fussy again. Marcus went straight away, and he picked her up.

"Angus, not to alarm you, Mate, but she's a little warm. Let's keep an eye on it but she could be running just the slightest touch of a fever," Marcus said. "I'm sure its probably nothing but we might not want to take a chance as little as she is." Angus went over and touched her.

"Yeah, I agree, especially if we plan to travel with her. Well, I need to alert Robert straight off, and hopefully he can get on top of it before I have to alert Ruby. That will unwind her good and proper if we're not on top of it," Angus said.

"I'll go interrupt him if you can handle perhaps just holding her for a bit."

"Certainly," Angus said. Marcus handed her to him, and he took her and sat down in his chair with her, laying her on his chest. Marcus apparated over to the main building to go fetch Robert.

Once Finn was done Jessie walked him back to the deck where Fin settled Jessie saw Angus with Caprice and walked over " everything okay?" he asked seeing how fussy Caprice was and worry sat on Angus face. Jack walked over to them and placed his finger at the back of her neck.

"hum warm" he said knowing Marcus had gone to the main house for Robert. He walked over to where the botles were and made one with just boiled cold water, walking back he offeed it to Angus " try her with this until Roberts looked at her, she will need fluids." he said handing him the bottle " one of ours alays came down with something." he said smiling.

"Thanks, Jack. If I remember correctly, Abbey got the flu when she was just 4 1/2 months. I remember going for about five days on just catnaps while she was going through the worst of it. I slept when she slept. Edward tells tales of having six little kids all at the same time and how when one would catch something, they'd all get it. That just does not sound fun to me. I'm hoping that these teens we have here have better immune systems than that. And I'm hoping Ruby doesn't go bananas when she finds out. Surely she has to know that kids catch every freaking thing, right?"

It wasn't more than two minutes when Marcus and Robert came, and the girls were with them. Robert came over, and he picked up Caprice from Angus without saying anything. He just started to check her.

"Good catch. It's only a trace so far," Robert told them. He continued to check. "Ah, and there it is. She's got an ear infection in her right ear. That's why she's been fussy for you this morning. I'll set a healing spell in place but I don't want to mask the fever because that will tell me some important things about this infection. I'll bring over a potion for her that will decrease some of the pain. It's a little bottle of drops that you can use, one or two drops in that ear every six hours or so as needed, and I'll shift my plans to go to Tuscany sooner than I anticipated. I'll try to come this afternoon. Hopefully between my spells and with the drops, she'll be comfortable enough until I get there. And I'll leave you some instructions. That bottle of water is a good idea. It's not a serious thing, so you know, especially since you caught it so early, so try not to let it get to you. It's a minor thing that every kid goes through. She's gonna be just fine, Dad. She's just gonna be cranky and fussy for a couple days."

"We'll deal with it," Angus said, as Robert set a healing spell in place and then put the baby back on his chest.

"I'll be straight back," Robert said, apparating back to the main house.

"How about one of us takes her for you so you can tuck into a bite of breakfast, Mate? You need to eat something," Marcus said. "I'll dish you up a plate, and then I'll take her for a little so you can eat, and then we'll take her. She can scream in our ears for a little while you eat." He went to the counter and dished up a plate for Angus and set it on his overbed table.

"You want to walk the floor with Little Miss Cranky, or shall I?" Marcus asked Jack, knowing Jack was very well experienced with cranky babies as well.

Jack atched as Robert apeared and took Caprice then said she ahd an ear infection , he smiled and nodded " Im sure Ruby is aware they do" he said then he heard Robert mention drops and smiled " she won't like them but we'll get them in" he added watching as Robert placed Caprice back with Angus. Once Robert had left he heard Marcus and chuckled " I'll take her for the first shift" he said moving to lift Caprice off Angus and onto his own shoulder laying her bad ear down to help warm it and sooth away any pain she still had. " there we go" he said lightly patting her back as he walked back and forth soothing her.

Jessie walked in leaving Finn on the deck as Robert had left " something wrong with Caprice?" he asked as Jack noded to him.

"just a small ear infection, its normal " he said as he felt her pull at her ear. " little one need this sort of thing to bolster their immun systems" he smiled to Jessie who ha had seen start to worry about Caprice. " better she get it now than later when she older, its worse trust me, I had it when I was twenty six and its no fun" Jack continued to bounce a fussy caprice as they wated for Robert to return.

"Did you ever think its strange that someone needs to get sick so they don't get sick? That just seems like strange logic," Angus said as Robert apparated back in.

"It is strange," Robert said. "Being human is often a good deal stranger than any magic you'll find anywhere." Robert never attempted to take Caprice from Jack. He made very quick work of putting two tiny drops in her ear, with no apparent trouble at all doing it.

"And why do I think he just made that look immensely easier than it really is for the rest of us humans?" Angus said.

"We might not have trouble once we get to Tuscany," Marcus said.

"And if we do, there's always Rosaria," Angus laughed, teasing.

"Robert, you do know Finn..." Angus began.

"Oh, yes. Finn. I have to either take care of him too or start looking to replace Shannon because she isn't going to want a poopy dog in the house. Thank you for reminding me," Robert said. "Have any of you seen Abbey?"

"She and Sam are down at the pond frog hunting," Angus said.

"Frog hunting? Why is my three year old granddaughter hunting frogs?"

"Because apparently Shannon said Molly could have a frog as a pet, so Abbey wants to catch her one," Angus replied.

"Oh yes. Shannon did ask me about a frog in a tank for Molly. I forgot. That's been a few weeks back. I bet she didn't bring it back up to Molly and waited to see if Molly would mention it again."

"Didn't you ever want a pet when you were a kid?" Angus asked.

"Yes, but I didn't get it," Robert replied.

"Well, that seems a shame," Angus said.

"Not really. My mother read us Dr. Doolittle, and I had it in my head that I wanted a two headed llama. So, no, I didn't get the pet I wanted," Robert said. That made Angus and Marcus laugh.

"Seemed like a great pet in Dr Doolittle," Robert shrugged.

"Except it wasn't a llama. It was a Pushmi-Pullyu," Angus said.

"That's right," Robert frowned. "How did you know that?"

"Edward read me the same book when I was a kid."

"As I said. Two headed llama," Robert teased, watching Caprice settle a little finally on Jack's shoulder.

Jack saw Robert return and let him put two drops in her ear and saw the relief on Caprice's little face when he put the ear drops in "Yeah it's a strange concept but true though." he said and chuckled settling her for a nap on his shoulder. He returned to soothing her again and she promptly fell silent and asleep " that must be good stuff" Jack said letting Angus see a now content and sleeping Caprice on his shoulder.

Jessie looked at the drops that Robert had just given Caprice " so how often do we need to do these?" he asked holding the bottle with the small dropper top on it. Jack looked at Jessie and then to Angus before placing Caprice in her chair to continue to nap.

"okay shes sleeping now." he said placing a small blanket over her legs.He ehard Robet talk about finn and chuckled " yeah you should have heard Jessie earlier." he said and Jessie shivered.

"that dog put so much out Im suprised if we don't get a berry bush back there." he said and chuckled " I'll take him again later might empty him a bit more, hes not as round as he was to start." Jessie said and Jack chuckled.

"thats becuse he left half of it behind the bush" Jack said trying not to laugh. He listened to Angus and Robert talking and chuckled " mine was the monkey, loved those animals " Jack said as he looked down to see Caprice pouting in her sleep.

"One or two drops every six hours. If she's still uncomfortable with that, you'll need to send for me," Robert told them. "It's a good potion for ear infections. I use the same potion for everyone unless they have an allergy to some of the ingredients in the potion. I just calculate the dose according to size and age. It has a bit of a pain potion, a little fever reducer, but the biggest reason is that it fights the infection." He handed the bottle to Angus, who put it in his pocket, as Robert turned to leave.

"Thank you," Angus told him.

"You're welcome--always," Robert said. Then he turned back. "Oh, do be mindful of how long you let her sleep in that chair. I don't ever advocate letting little ones sleep in chairs like that because it isn't safe. At her young age, she hasn't developed the muscle control to hold herself upright, and if she slumps, she could very easily and quickly suffocate. If she were older, then I wouldn't be quite as concerned, but I'd rather see her sleep lying on the floor as to do that. Some muggle mums love those chairs, but they've also had some fatalities from those. They're alright to use for short periods when the babies are awake, and when their parents are right there in the same room, but they're actually very dangerous for sleeping. Just be very careful. Right, then. I've got packing to do. See you lot later." He apparated out.

Angus laughed gently after Robert left.

"Gotta love him," Angus said.

"Why?" Marcus looked at Angus, amused.

"The thing you think you should worry about, he says is normal and all good, but the thing you're not worried about he says is dangerous as heck. If I live to be several hundred years old, I will never be as smart as he is," Angus laughed.

"He oughta be, given the size of that darned library he has over at the farm. Suppose he's really read all those?"

"Absolutely not," Angus said. "The man works two jobs. He's got no time for reading." Marcus laughed.

"You do have a point,' Marcus said. "I do see him reading for a bit every night, though."

"Where the heck did we even get that new baby chair? If you remember, we accidently blew up the one I had bought her."

"Oh yeah. You didn't buy that one?"

"No. I'm sure I didn't," Angus replied. "I know I bought one chair, one swing, one exersaucer, and I quit there because I bought so much of everything else."

"I've got no clue, then," Marcus shrugged.

Jessie chuckled as they spoke to ech other " I bought it , after you blew up the last one I thught it would be nice for her." he said lifting her from the chair and laying her in his arms to sleep better just as Robert had instructed " I'll watch her if you both have other things to do" he looked down at her sleeping face and smiled. Finn wined and Jack looked over at him and chuckled.

"I'll take him for another walk" he said and picked up a leash so Finn would follow him as he headed away from the house with Fin running ahead of him sniffing the ground as he went.

Jessie chuckled as Jack left then sat back cradling Caprice.

"Be brave, Jack," Marcus teased. "It can't last forever, right?"

"Ruby would enjoy seeing you taking time for Caprice like that," Angus told Jessie. "You're good with her. I suppose, though, we should think of soon getting ready to head to Tuscany."

"You probably should change out of your pajamas first," Marcus laughed.

"Oh. Well, yes. I probably should," Angus said. "Oh, and Jessie, you and jack need to remember it's going to be summer temperatures, so you're going to want to wear things for warm weather there. It'll be warm during the day but it can be a little cool at night. So you may find you want a sweatshirt or a sweater at night.

"I packed a lot of lightweight cotton trousers, some shorts, lots of short sleeved shirts, that sort of thing, if that helps," Marcus told Jessie. "And I know what Angus's going to want. He's going to want a pair of khakis and a lightweight shirt."

"You're right,' Angus told him.

"Let's get that done so we can get moving," Marcus told him. They went upstairs and it didn't take them more than a couple minutes for him to change. Angus tucked his gifts to the boys into his bag and managed to carry the bag that Marcus had packed him and Ruby, while Marcus carried the one large bag that had all of Caprice's clothes and baby things in one bag, and his own bag. Angus sent the boys and the girls for their bags, and it wasn't more than about ten minutes and they were ready to go.

"Oh," Anise said. "I'm supposed to tell you that Simone and Edward and Evan are already on their way, and Sergio and Ana are coming to Tuscany for the day tomorrow. They headed home to see their kids, but they're coming tomorrow for sure."

"Good. Thank you," Angus said. "Hopefully, Jack will take Finn back to Robert. Now, are we forgetting anyone or anything?"

Jessie chuckled as Angus said he was good with Caprice "Well I am her uncle" he said smiling then heard Marcus talking about what he should take with him in clothing. Jessie listened to him and nodded " I have some dark cotton trousers I'll put in and a sweater too" he added " oh and I have some shorts too, i'll put those in for after the funeral or before." he added.

Jack heard Marcus and pulled a face " yeah but while it does , boy oh boy" he said and laughed as he continued to walk with Finn leaving them to pack.

"Im sure he knows to take finn to Robert after hes finished" Jessie said " if your okay I'll go and finish my packing I need to adjust some clothing choices" he said and chukled thinking of the several jumpers he'd packed that needed to be removed.