A Birth day

"Thanks, Jack," Angus said. He opened the letter and read it. "Ah. Ruby says Jeffrey thinks she's good to come home tomorrow. I'm sure she'll be glad to get home.

"Well, good," Simone said. "I'll go up after we're finished with washing up the supper dishes, and I'll take out the clothes from Caprice's dresser and her closet that don't fit her anymore. Do you realize that she weighs 14 1/2 pounds? That puts her almost at a 75th percentile."

"Probably because we're feeding her all the time," Angus teased.

"Well, there is that," Edward laughed, 'but she is very advanced for her age. At four months, she's doing six month developmental tasks."

"I'm glad, but that could even out in time, you know," he said.

"All the same," Simone said. "There's no point in leaving things she can't wear in there. She can't wear the newborn things, and she can't wear some of the 50's and 60's. She needs large 60's or small 70's. No woman needs her closet cluttered with sizes she can't wear."

"Why not? I happen to know good and well that you have some things in the size you hope to get down to again," Edward told Simone."

"That's entirely different," Simone said.

"Oh, of course it is," Edward said sarcastically. "By the way, where's Marcus today?"

"I don't entirely know. He took leave of me when we got back from Tuscany, and I haven't seen him since. I'm sure he'll turn up. Shall I serve the dessert now? Jack, you probably will like tonight's dessert. If you haven't eaten, fix a plate and grab one of those flat iron steaks and some grilled veg. Dessert is grilled pound cake with grilled peaches and plums, with vanilla bean ice cream and some fresh organic honey."

"I'll go put the coffee on," Simone said. "Coffee will be perfect with dessert." She headed to the kitchen. "Speak of the devil," Simone called out to them. "Marcus is walking this way right now, and he does not look like a happy man."

"Ok. Thanks," Angus said, setting out some cake plates and some dessert forks for the grilled pound cake dessert."

Marcus walked in and greeted Simone in the kitchen and then went out on the deck with everyone else. He greeted everyone and then he looked at Angus.

"Angus, I need a favor, Mate. Do you have any influence with the Italian muggle constabulary in Paris?" he asked.

"As a matter of fact i do," Angus said. "Robert has some too. Michael could help you with the magic aurors but not the muggle cops. I'm afraid he's done a little time in their nick. What's up?"

"Robert thought you had more pull than he has. Evelyn's gotten herself nicked for 'borrowing' a designer evening gown at one of the summer fashion shows."

"Uh oh," Angus frowned. "That's not peanuts we're talking. Those can go upwards of half a million pounds some of them."

"Well, precisely," Marcus said. "I can't leave her there. in her condition, she's liable to make a real pig's breakfast of it."

"You need me to go with you?" Angus asked.

"If you don't mind."

"You might very well need bail in muggle money," Edward said. "More than likely, you're going to need an after hours lawyer too."

"Not easy to come by anywhere," Angus said.

"I think I might be able to help you there. I know a wizard who actually practices both muggle law and wizarding law. He doesn't come cheap, but if you contact him, tell him who you are, he might do me a favor. I can get you his card," Edward said.

"If you're in the mood to do a little hussy wrangling, you're welcome to tag along," Marcus told Jack.

"Hussy wrangling?" Simone echoed.

"Oh, she's a piece of work, she is," Marcus sighed. "There's a story behind that, but I need to get her contained before she rips the entire veil between the wizarding and muggle worlds completely asunder."

"Well, we've been technically separated for probably a bit over a decade now," Marcus said, "but she's got issues. Every so often she has one of these spells, and if I don't come and take of her and get her stable again, then everything goes all to hell in some fashion or another. I could just leave her to her own devices, certainly, but if I did, she's end up in some wizarding asylum someplace. When she's good, she manages alright, but when these things happen, somebody has to step in and rescue her from herself, and if I'm still legally her husband, I can get her the help she needs. It would be a great deal harder to do if we were divorced, unfortunately. And that is the only reason I didn't divorce her."

"It's not your own option these days, Marcus," Edward said. "The laws have changed since then. If you want rid of all this, I'll help you find a decent guardian for her, and we'll get you free of this. You owe your kids, yes, but you don't owe her, not after what you told me about her. Just give it some thought." Edward got up and went to his place, got into his desk and brought Angus back a business card and three muggle credit cards in his own name. "That's the man you want to call when you get there. And if you need muggle money in Paris, you can do some cash withdrawals from those..."

"Would you..." Angus began.

"We've got this. The kids are still planning on going out, and you know we'll keep the baby. Just go and take care of Evelyn. And be careful, would you? We don't need a violation of magic law because one of you got messy. Keep it clean. If she blows it, then she blows it. Do not be caught in a situation where it looks like you helped her with using magic in front of muggles. And, for God's sake, don't apparate in right in front of the police station. They've got cameras everywhere. Use a little discretion."

"I can get us close without being seen," Marcus said. "You two ready?"

"Of course," Angus said. Marcus ported them all to Paris, and it took Angus a moment get his bearings. He found himself to be in some sort of rather strange looking room. It had red and black wallpaper, red carpeting, and some rather blatantly suggestive furniture. There was loud music coming from another room.

"Where the hell is this?" Angus scowled.

"A less than reputable speakeasy about two blocks from the police station. There's enough traffic in and out of here that we won't be noticed but you do need to change, Mate." He flicked his fingers at Angus and transfigured his clothes to black jeans, a charcoal colored shirt and a long black trench. it. Marcus changed his own clothes into his usual black work suit with its white shirt and black tie. "We need to dress like we are respectable enough to be trusted."

"So, we need to look like we're mates of yours? Is that it?" Angus asked.

"Well, yes. And since you have all the money, you need to look like the grandson of a wealthy man," Marcus said. Angus scowled at him since that was exactly who he was anyway. "And one more thing. The more off her nut she is, the more she goes on the prowl. Just be aware. If she's really on the prowl, she'll have nothing to do with me, and everything to do with one or both of you. Now, I'm not telling you what to do, but she might well come along quietly if one of you would just play along until we get her home."

Angus sighed heavily. He looked at Jack. "You do that, with a wife that's a seer, and she'll divorce you by morning," Angus told him. "That might not be the safest tack for you to take."

"Looks good, Jack. She doesn't discriminate. She's liable to go for both of you, or she'll go for the money. That's my wager," Marcus said. "This way." He led them out of the back room and forward and out of the speakeasy and upstairs from the basement to the street. It only took Angus a moment to get his bearings.

"This way," Angus pointed to their right. They walked the couple of blocks in silence and went into the police station together. From the moment they walked in, they could hear a woman singing a song from Beedle the Bard completely offkey.

"Oh, God," Marcus sighed. "She's worse than the last time."

"Got your phone handy? I think she's definitely going to need a lawyer," Angus said.

"Yeah. I've got it. Let's see how far we get with the desk sargent," Marcus said. He was able to prove rather quickly that he was the lady's husband. They rather quickly tried to imply that Marcus had put Evelyn up to it and that he surely had to be some sort of criminal because he looked 'shifty.' Angus stepped in and identified himself as the grandson of Edward Donohue, founder and CEO of Donohue Industries, and was able to name off Edward's companies, and he said that Marcus and Jack worked for him. He said he knew that Evelyn was entitled to an attorney. The police agreed to that, but they weren't quick to offer him use of their phones. So Angus borrowed Marcus's phone and made the call to the attorney. After a moment on the phone, the man agreed to come to the station. Marcus asked to see Evelyn, and the police saw no harm. They brought her to a visitation room and let Jack and Angus and Marcus in.

Evelyn was dressed to the nines, but then again, since leaving Marcus, she'd found a number of companions that kept her in the latest fashion. That was undoubtedly how she'd come upon this evening gown. When the three of them walked in, Evelyn looked actually bored with seeing Marcus.

"You're not who I wanted," she told him, sounding highly drunk, on top of having her issues.

"That's fine. I didn't want to see you either," he told her coldly.

"Well, it's all your own fau...Oh, my! Who's this?" She caught a look at Jack. She went over and started to feel his arms to feel all the muscles. "I bet you're loads of fun, and who's your..." She looked at Angus and sized him up. Then she looked back and forth at the two of them for a moment. "I bet you're loads of fun in the dark, out in the moonlight..." she told Jack, toying with him. "But your mate here, he's the one with the money, isn't he? And as fun as you are, Tall, Dark and Hairy, I think your little friend has a much bigger piggy bank and he can keep me much better provided for in the lifestyle to which I have become accustomed, can't he? I could keep you on my speed dial, though.' She looked at Angus. "Don't go anywhere, Honey. I have plans for us."

"Well, Love," Angus said quietly to Evelyn, "your husband's present, is he not?"

"That bastard?" Evelyn got icy with Angus quickly. "He left us. Me and the kids. Left us out in the street, in the snow,..."

"And in a blizzard too, I bet," Angus said, knowing she was full of utter manure. "Poor girl. He's a complete tosser, isn't he?"

"Finally!" she said, her eyes lighting up. She glared at Marcus. "Thirteen years I've known you, and you're just now bringing around the only decent friend you have. Probably the only friend you have, isn't he?"

"You know me so well," Marcus said, his tone full of sarcasm.

"I could use someone like you," Evelyn said to Angus, being far too forward for Angus's liking, and she planted a big kiss on him, wrapping her arms around his neck intending to cling to him. He peeled her off and spoke softly to her, wanting to set some boundaries without setting her off.

"Keep your knickers on, my dear," Angus said. "I don't do audiences." She looked at him for a moment, uncertain what to think, and then she smiled. She looked at Marcus.

"Finally. A gentleman, and I bet he's ten times better at snogging than you are."

"Oh, a hundred at least," Marcus said, only half paying attention, sitting down and a lighting a cigarette. At that moment, a dark haired man entered. He was wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase.

"Anthony Blackstone," the man said. "Which one of you is..."

"I am," Angus said. "Thank you for coming."

"And this, I presume is..." Blackstone began.

"Evelyn," she said, pushing Angus into a chair and then settling in on his lap, with one arm draped around his neck. "And this is my fiance." She looked at Angus. "What's your name again?"

"I didn't tell you," he told her with a smile.

"Ooooh. A party game. I love games," she laughed. Angus looked beyond her to Marcus, Jack and Blackstone and rolled his eyes. He was not amused.

Marcus nodded at Jack. He had seen this sort of scene with her far too many times to be moved much now. Marcus did know one thing for certain. If Angus had rejected her, she would have surely become violent. The fact that Angus was deliberately keeping his voice quiet and calm, combined with the fact that he was setting some boundaries with her was keeping her as cooperative as Marcus had ever seen her when she was like this.

Angus and Marcus and Blackstone spoke at length, including about her illness and the medications she likely had stopped taking, and when Blackstone asked her why she had taken the dress, Evelyn said that she needed it because the bright orange color matched her ginger hair. Since the police had the dress and could return it to the designer, there was no real financial loss. Angus wagered that there would be some sort of negotiated settlement he would have to pay to get the charges dropped, but Blackstone believed he could manage it. They then discussed the idea of bail. Blackstone wanted to know what they intended to do with her, since it was obvious that she should not be left on her own under any circumstances.

"I have a friend of mine that has some rooms. I'm sure he'll let her stay the night," Angus said, not wanting to reveal in front of Evelyn that he intended to drop her at St. Mungo's. He didn't want her to get nasty now. "She'll have all the attendants she could want at her beck and call. Gourmet cuisine, and her wardrobe will be furnished for her. She won't want for a thing. I'll send you the particulars later if you like."

"See?" she glared at Marcus, "he's already twice the man you ever were."

"Why don't I go see if I can arrange bail?" Blackstone sighed. "If you can keep her cooperative, that will help us greatly." He got up to go to talk to the desk sergeant about release.

"See what I mean? Give her something she's interested in, and things go much smoother," Marcus said.