A Birth day

Jessie had seen Chris sneakily head to the back door but he didn't move to stay with Yu for a moment who nodded once Chris was out of sight. Standing Jessie slowly walked to the door where he could see what was happening but not be seen. He watched as Angus spoke to Chris then as Chris called out and tried to run into the woods he opened the door and walked slowly over to the now undressed Chris picking up his clothing he stood by and smiled seeing him calm down and helping Angus build a fire. "totul este în regulă, uită-te la mine" he said and held out his arms as Angus showed him his own body unchanged. "suntem la fel, nu se va întâmpla nimic." he spoke in a soft tone so not to upset Chris but was surprised at how quick and easy he understood.

" well he's done that before " he said and helped place a piece of wood in the pile only to have Chris move it to another place making Jessie chuckle. Yu watched from the house then walked over to them both with a tray in his hands with the things to make smores on.

"I brought ingridiants." he said smiling as he set the tray down close by on a tree stump.

"Sometimes someone in hysterics can't absorb words," Angus said quietly. "It's why I felt like I had to have him see for himself that he has no fur right now. "He knows you're a werewolf, and he just takes it for granted that your potion works for you, but for some reason, he's had it in his head that it isn't going to work for him. He hears you say you are the same, and he understands the words. He doesn't believe that yet.

"Actually," Angus said, "I don't think he truly wants to believe the potion will work for him because, honestly, if he chooses to believe that keeping the monster out of his life is as simple as a dose of medicine, he has to try to explain it to himself that, for some reason, his own parents chose to try to get the local aurors to come and eliminate him rather than trying to get him the medicine that would help him live a normal life. Frankly, I don't understand their thinking either, so I can't possibly explain it to him. If my kids needed a medicine, you can be sure I'd walk through the fires of hell to get it for them. His parents didn't. His parents sold him out to be killed like diseased cattle instead. I can't explain that to myself let alone a seven year old. I think what he understands now, maybe, is that tonight he isn't going to unleash the beast. I don't think the issue is settled for good in his head, and I do think he's going to struggle every month with it for awhile until the business with his parents makes some sort of sense in his head, even if it's painful for him."

He lit the fire in the fire ring and kept an eye on it to make sure it didn't catch on anything it shouldn't. Then he saw Yulong bring ingredients for s'mores, and he laughed.

"I brought them too," Angus said. "Mine are on the table over there, along with some hot homemade butterbeer. Well, we get to eat lots of s'mores then." He went over to the table and poured himself a hot butterbeer. "I figured we'd each make our own s'mores. And help yourselves to the butterbeer, by all means," he said.

Jessie sat on a log and listened to Angus sighing as he spoke "Guess some perents don't see kids like us as anything but things, tools to be used and thrown away when not needed, either that or they were not told of the potion or chose to ignore it" he said still smiling as he watched Chris. " but your right, as each moon rises and falls that he passes without turning he'll understand he's not a monster, but a boy put in a bad situation with those who care and love him and who will stand by him in all situations." he said then looked over as Yu turned up " hey more for those who want them" he said and chuckled glad of Yu's intervention. Turning back to Angus he nodded and stood up walking over to the table " did you remember the peanut butter?" he asked " I've never tried one with it before ." he said and smiled to Yu.

Yu saw the table and chukled " oops sorry" he said placing his tray next to Angus's " guess that means more smores" he said and moved to sit next to Jessie.

"I did one better," Angus grinned when Jessie asked about the peanut butter. "I brought some of Edward's chocolate peanut butter cups. If you put one of those on your graham cracker, along with your marshmallow and a lid for it, you have both the chocolate and the peanut butter in the same candy bar on there. It's addictive."

He picked up a couple sticks and put marshmallows on each stick--one with vanilla marshmallows and one with chocolate. He took both sticks over to Cris and offered one to him. Cris took the stick with the chocolate marshmallows and sat down near the fire to toast his marshmallows. Angus watched Cris deliberately set his marshmallows on fire, and it made Angus laugh. He had done the same thing because toasting them to a lovely golden brown just took too long when Angus had been a kid. Cris clearly thought the same thing. Cris didn't need to be taught how to make a s'more. He went over to the table and made his own without any trouble.

It was just about then, as Cris was doing his best to stuff his s'more in his mouth all at once, that Abbey came out and ran over to Angus and picked up a stick.

"Wait a minute. Let me help you, Abs," Angus said. "You want strawberry marshmallows on yours? She nodded. He took the toasted vanilla marshmallows off his stick and gave her one. "Here. Eat that so I have a stick to make strawberry ones." He ate one marshmallow and she ate the other. Her eyes grew wide, and she beamed from ear to ear. "Good?" She nodded.

"We no buy more junky ones, Aggie. You make good ones," she said. He laughed and put some strawberry marshmallows on his stick.

"Well, thank you. You and Cris were good helpers. Let's go roast these. I think Cris is busy."

"He no have big enough mouff for all that," she looked at Cris and frowned.

"You're right," Angus laughed. "That's a lot of s'more for a little mouth, isn't it?" She nodded. She went over to Cris and poked him in the cheek as if she could pop it like a bubble, and Cris laughed., surprised that she was comfortable enough with him to make fun of him trying to eat all his s'more at once. "Come on, Abs," Angus called. "Come help me." She followed him over to his place on a log by the fire and they sat down to roast her strawberry marshmallows.

Jessie watched Chris and smiled "Hey he cooks marshmallows like you, Angus," he said and chuckled it was now he heard Abby run out and smiled as she ran over to them he also watched as she took a marshmallow from him and let it. He pushed his on a stick and roasted it over the fire until it had a slightly dark brown crunchy outer layer then he took it off and as Angus had said he placed it with a peanut cup and sandwiched it. Yu did the same as he saw next to Chris and chuckled as Abby poked Chris while he was eating before heading to help Angus.

"I think he's doing fine," Yu said to Jessie who smiled and nodded his head while he ate " And the s'more are good too" Yu bit into his and pulled back making a mallow string go from his mouth to the smore. " goowie too," he said or half said with a mouth full of smore.

He laughed at Jessie's teasing.

"I can't blame him. It feels like forever for them to get golden brown if you're seven,' Angus said.

"I'm glad you like them," Angus said to Yu. "The kids helped me make the marshmallows this morning. I don't think either of them realized marshmallows really could be made at home. Cris asked for chocolate ones, and Abbey wanted strawberry, so there are three flavors over there. The kids really are good help in the kitchen. Cris is really very good at prepping fruit and vegetables if he has a good paring knife, and I think he likes helping. " He took the strawberry marshmallows off the fire and headed to the table to make the s'mores.

"I do it, Aggie!" Abbey said, wanting to make their s'mores herself.

"Okay. You do it," he said. He watched her take a couple of hobnobs, put some chocolate on them, and he handed her the marshmallows to add. She added them, looking very serious at getting them just right and then she put the tops on.

"Did I do good?" she asked.

"That's fantastic. Good job, Abs," he said. She handed him one.

"You get one, and I get one," she said.

"Well, thank you, Ma'am," he said. "You're a good cook."

"I am, huh?" she nodded.

"The best," he said.

"That hot choc-ate?" she pointed to the carafe.

"No. It's hot butterbeer, but you'd like it. You want some?" he asked. She nodded, and he poured her some into a mug and then took her back to sit with him by the fire. She tucked into her s'more, loving every little crumb of it.

"Roobee missing good stuff," she told Angus.

"Oh, I bet she'll come out before long," Angus said.

"She like s'mores?"

"Yes, I think so," Angus said.

Jessie heard Angus and smiled as he listened to him talk about Chris having a good pairing knife. Reaching into his pocket he looked to Angus and pulled out a small leather pouch " Too soon?" he asked showing him it had Chris's name on it "We both notice he loves to help in the kitchen so we, well Yu went and got him his own pairing knife, we're going to give him it tonight." he said placing it back into his pocket for the moment. " not sure when to give him it though" he added smiling as Abby returned with two s'mores one for her and one for Angus.

" you are a good cook as is Chris," he said smiling as she looked over at Yu and Chris sat next to each other Yu had his arm around Chris as they ate their S'mores together.

"No, I think it would be fine, but I'd make sure you set whatever rules you have about it right from the outset. For example, I teach kids they should always assume that any knife I have in the kitchen is not just sharp, its damned sharp and it will cut like a razor. I tell them to never, never bring any blade near anything they don't intend to cut--ie, it needs to be on the food, period, and never pointed at anyone or anything else. I tell them I want them always working on a cutting board--no exceptions, and they can only cut what I give them permission to cut. When they're not cutting, I want them putting their knives down on the cutting board, blade facing away from the edge of the counter or table. They can only use the knife I give them, and absolutely no horseplay of any kind around any knife. But those are pretty much my basics." He looked at Abbey and then looked back at Jessie. "Watch this," he told Jessie. "Abs, do you use the big metal knives in the kitchen?"

She looked at Angus like he had three heads and shook her head no.

"Noooo. Naughty. I gots my own pink one," she nodded.

"Good girl," Angus smiled. He looked at Jessie. "I gave Abbey some pink nylon cooking knives for kids, and they came with a matching pink cutting board just her size, and I've been teaching her how to properly cut things right from the outset. She knows she never, ever uses anything else, and never without me right beside her."

"Aggie--I wants a choc-ate one--peeeze?" she asked.

"Cris," Angus asked, "când îți faci următorul s'more, ai face unul de ciocolată pentru Abbey, te rog?" Cris nodded and bounded back to the table and loaded up a stick with more chocolate marshmallows to roast."

"Cris is going to make you a chocolate one," Angus told Abbey. Abbey nodded.

Jessie listened to Angus and smiled " thats exactly what I wish to tell him but not being totaly flutent in romanian I was wondering if you could possibly talk to him and explain while we give him the knife ?" he asked watching Chris move to make the S'mores for Abby. Jessie felt proud of Chris as he did exactly as he was told ." we also want him to know were gving him this as a sign we trust him not to do anything bad with it." Yu added with a smile.

Once Chris was done and gave Abby her s'more Jessie motioned for him to go to them and took the knife out of his pocket holding it out to Chris. " Pentru dumneavoastră" he said and looked over to Angus as he let Chris take it from him in its black leather sheeth with Chris's name in gold embossed on it.

"Okay, and I would suggest you tell him he has to leave it in the kitchen wherever you decide it's proper place is. I don't think kids need to keep knives in their rooms, but that's just me. You do as you like about that."

Cris made the s'more and gave it to Abbey who gave Cris a big smile and said "Sanks!" to him. Cris needed no translation for that and simply grinned, happy that she was happy. Angus watched Cris open the knife and he looked at Angus.

"Este un cuțit de toaletă foarte bun. Dacă ai grijă de ea, ar trebui să țină toată viața.," Angus told Cris. He told Cris he would teach him proper care of good culinary knives and then he explained all the safety rules about kitchen knives to Cris. He listened intently and nodded, taking it seriously and understanding.

"Vrei să mă înveți cum un bucătar adevărat tăie lucrurile?" Cris asked Angus.

"Da, desigur," Angus nodded, as Abbey crawled up on Angus' lap, sipping the last of her butterbeer and starting to yawn. She finished her drink, handed the mug to Angus, who set it on the ground beside him, and then she curled tight to his chest, cuddling into him sleepily.