A Birth day

Ruby smiled and looked at Simone " I would love one thank you" she said smiling she heard them talk about the kids and nodded as she watched Caprice now play with her toy bricks trying to balance them but they kept falling over. Ruby smiled at her knowing eventually she would do it for herself.

Thanking Simone she took her cup and blew over it and smiled " this day has been a good day" she said " I mean as in having the whole family together and not worrying about anything now Robert has helped save the studio." she said and sipped he tea " oh this is lovley, is it one of Roberts?" she asked simone.

Simone made a mug of tea for Ruby and took it to her and sat listening to her talk about what a good day it had been.

"It has been a good day," Simone agreed. "This is Robert's almond tea. Since I moved here, I think its probably become one of my all time favorites."

"Oh, by the way," Edward said. "Robert is intending on starting the Colorado training in about five or six days. He says the kids all intend to go, and he's also received a note from Evan that he wants to go. He mentioned he is considering asking you to join them for about 48 hours to put them through a survival weekend of sorts. They need to know how to survive on roots and berries and things and how not to kill themselves by eating toadstools. He is aware that the girls will have an advantage on that. but he's got some other recruits too besides our lot. He has maybe a dozen or so that have confirmed and a couple others that weren't sure they were going to be able to get free from their jobs to come."

"I'll talk to him,' Angus said, sipping his whiskey. "Not sure I'm really interested in going this year, but if he asks me, I suppose I'll go. Were you thinking of doing Colorado this summer, Ru?" Angus asked her.

Ruby listened to the guys talking about Colorado and heard Edward talk to Angus she then heard him ask her if she was planning on doing colorado and she paused thinking about it " I don't think so, what with Caprice still being young and I've had so much time away from her and you so far, but its good that the kids want to get the extra training though." she said sipping her tea again " when she is older sure but not while she's still young."

Ruby sat and sipped her tea and smiled at Simone "This is truly a nice cup of tea thank you." she told her

"Do you usually go on the survival weekends?" Edward asked Angus.

"I've always gone--except the one right after Abbey was born. Khaat was too ill to take care of Abbey, so I was here taking care of both of them while Brian worked and Robert hosted the survival weekend. I think that's the only one I missed."

"You missed last year's, as I recall," Edward said.

"Oh. Yeah. I forgot he had one last year," Angus said, remembering he was wheelchair bound last year at this time."

"Yes, well, there were some parts of last year that I would just as soon forget too," Edward said. "not everything, but that part of it, yes. I'd rather forget that piece."

"Me too, unless it would erase all the good parts. As long as we're being selective, I'll keep the good parts and chuck all the bullcrap."

"Amen," Edward laughed.

"You're coming up on your first anniversary, aren't you? So what are you going to do for it?" Angus asked.

"Well, since the traditional gift for the first year is paper, I thought I'd just hand her my newspaper when I'm done with it," Edward teased. Angus laughed out loud.

Ruby smiled as she listened to them talking about how often Angus went on the training, she thought about it and spoke again "There's nothing stopping you this year, why not go and enjoy some time away" she said " I can take care of caprice while you're gone" she said softly as she continued to sip her tea.

She heard Edrwad talking about his and Simones's first anniversary and how traditionally it was paper. She also heard the joke about him handing Simone his paper "What about getting something made of origami, like some cranes, they are meant to symbolise good fortune." she said looking at them both hoping her suggestion may be a good one.

"Well, I guess I'll leave it up to Robert. If he asks me to go on the survival weekend this year, I suppose I'll go just because he asks. If not, I will be just as happy to stay home. I know I can lead a survival team without any issues, but I honestly just don't get a whole lot of enjoyment anymore out of foraging for roots and berries and fishing with a paperclip and a shoelace. It isn't that I can't. Truthfully, I really need him to release me to go back to work. It isn't as if I'm in the kitchen much these days to overwork my shoulder. My job has become mostly office work with some time outside to check the estate and the supplies, so I really think its time I went back to work."

"Origami is a great suggestion," Simone said. "We've got some time, so we can give it thought." As she was speaking, Angus heard a tapping on the kitchen window. He got up and went over and opened the window to see an owl there. He took a note from the owl, gave it a little treat, and the owl flew off. Angus opened the envelope.

"Ah, its from Marcus. He says he's run into an old friend in London, and he's planning on not coming back til morning sometime. If we need him before that, he suggests we page him with his doubloon necklace. I think we'll be just fine. He deserves a night out once in awhile."

"He does indeed," Edward said. "So you said you were thinking of sponsoring a student in the dance studio."

"Probably, yes," Angus said, "but, I actually was having a deeper thought. I just didn't want to bring it up in front of Lena and Enrico until I had talked to Robert. It isn't unusual for us to get some older kids, and some of them can't return home because they wouldn't be safe to do it. Sometimes kids can be at the Paris building for nigh onto a year or so. I think, since we're close to the school, some of them might like to have an outlet of some sort. Maybe dance would be the ticket for some of them. Or volunteering in the shop, or something. Maybe even helping with some fundraising. I was actually considering underwriting a whole class for a year for the kids that are at the Paris office."

"I love that idea!" Simone said. "And I bet you Kate and Robert will love it too. Dance is healing, and it's very good for self expression. Kate's been thinking of starting a little garden out in the backyard there for kids to learn how to grown fruit and vegetables and herbs. And she told me the other day that Robert took some pygmy puffs and some little frogs there so that every kid who's old enough now has his or her own pet."

"Now that is a very good idea too," Angus said. "Those kids all feel alone without their families, so having a pet gives them a sense of being connected not just to their pets but to each other too. I'll send them some jars of frog food. What are they keeping them in?

"Temporarily, they're being kept in jars when they're not with the kids, but they're debating on some other solution."

"I think they should put a bookcase that has a lot of shelves and some lights upstairs in their bedrooms, and then they can put some small frog terrariums on the shelves. The kids could decorate their own terrariums and that way the kids will learn to care properly for their pets and the frogs won't be hopping all over the house," Angus said.

"That's a good idea, and it wouldn't be all that expensive either," Edward said.

Ruby listened to Angus and smiled " wel I could let Simone baby sit and come with you to it" she said " I know I've not spent alot of time with Caprice but I think she likes Simone , and so she sould being her gand mother and all" she said with a smile. Listening to them talking about the dance studio she smiled " I saw an empty shop two doors down from the studio if some one were to buy it it could be converted to a shop come cafe for the kids to sell their produce and anything they make too." she added " and we could call it Cafe Des Artistes, after the dancers that would run it" she added with a smile.

Listening more to Angus mention tereriums for the frogs and other cold blooded pets she smiled and nodded "dog and cat beds, bird perches and small animal rund for rats and hamsters." she chuckled as she spoke of it " it all sounds wonderful for the kids."

"Well, you know we'd babysit anytime," Simone said. "If it's a weekend, its only a couple days. It isn't like you'd be gone for days on end. If Evan is going to be in Colorado, we could have Tara bring the girls and spend the weekend with us."

"By all means. No point in the three of them being by themselves and you two being alone with the baby," Angus said.

"I don't know if they're going to do dogs and cats yet, but the idea of rats was being considered," Edward said. "I think they wanted to start with really small animals first and see how that went before they got into dogs and cats, but we certainly would be willing to help with any pet supplies they needed."

"I like the cafe idea too," Simone said. "I'll check that building out the next time I get to Paris." She started to yawn. "I hate to break this up, but its getting late, and I'm getting sleepy. I think I'm going to excuse myself and head to bed. Goodnight, All."

"Just leave your tea mug," Edward told her. "I'll get it. I'm coming in a moment too."

"Thank you, Dear," she smiled, and she left.

"Simone and I were talking about going to Sparks for breakfast after the kids leave for work in the morning," Edward said. "You two are welcome to come along if you like."

"We haven't been out to breakfast in ages," Angus said. "Sounds like fun."

"You two can discuss it and let us know in the morning," Edward said, taking the empty tea mugs to the sink. "We'll see you later. Goodnight." He left too.

"What do you think, Ru?" Angus asked. "I can't remember the last time we went out for breakfast."

Ruby looked at Simone and smiled "Let me know what you think about the property" she said to her then looked at Angus and nodded "That's a great idea." she said then looked back to Simone "All right you sleep well" she said to her and watched her head to their side of the duplex. Hearing Edward she looked to Angus "Yeah it has been a while and if Im is not mistaken Sparks has changed their menus a little bit." she said then looked at Angus and smiled "Yes I agree and I'd love to go, it would make a wonderful change." she said to him.

Seeing Edward clean up the cups she stood up and moved to the kitchen " edward your our guest go sit , I'll finish up here" she said and saw that Caprice had fallen asleep " then I'll put Caprice in her bed since shes fallen asleep" she said with a chuckle " looks like thats something else she gets from her father, the ability to sleep any place" she said with a chuckle.

"I'll go make a check on the doors and the windows, and then I'll be up," Angus told her. He did a walk through, checking on the girls downstairs, making sure Finn got one last trip outside, and making sure all the doors and windows were locked. He checked on the boys when he went upstairs, and finally satisfied, he went to the bedroom, changed and got into bed, yawning.

"I didn't think I was tired until I started locking up the house," he told her as he turned down the lights. "You haven't been on one of the survival weekends, have you? The summer weekends are considerably different from the winter ones. In the winter, we're usually dealing with some severe cold and some deep snow and ice. In the summer, its the complete opposite. It can be hot and pretty unforgiving. And then there's just dealing with being in the mountains. It can be a little cooler in the mountains, but there are some big dangerous animals in Colorado that we don't deal with here--cougars, coyotes, grizzly bears, moose, buffalo, rattlesnakes. all kinds of things. Evan and our kids aren't going to be used to that. Normally, we have Michael and Robert and me, and usually Jack goes on the bigger survival things. We're normally allowed one backpack with a few supplies for the entire party, and everyone is allowed a swiss army knife and a wand. The rest of it is up to us. Foraging for supplies for a lean-to shelter, if they decide to build one, keeping safe from the wildlife, foraging for food, all of it. And then Robert usually has one big curve ball planned--something significant that none of us saw coming that we have to work together to accomplish. I remember one winter he took us out deliberately into the path of a snowstorm to see how we would weather it. Some of the younger ones were really irked with him, but the rest of us saw his point. We can't plan that we wouldn't be out in severe weather."