A Birth day

Ruby looked at Angus and at Sam and nodded " he's right" she said Jack had heard Sam and seen his disapointment.

"look at it this way do the trainning and you can go on missions its a stp closer, Ruby knows that all to well" he said to Sam " and they can't not let you go once your done" he added seeing Ruby look over at him. " what its true" he sai and chuckled " good things are worth the wait trust me" he added " besides with this woman you can never tell what she will do, she could come here if she was inclind "

"Has Suzanne ever come here without invitation?" Tiggy asked.

"Yes," Angus said.

"Then you have to assume that this other woman can get here too if she has the motivation," Tiggy said. "What if we give Agent Barrnett some polyjuice potion in case we need to have 'Ruby' make an appearance with Angus? I mean, it lets Ruby keep the kids safe and it keeps 'Ruby' visual for Suzanne's benefit. You may never need to use it, but I'd rather have you prepared than to ever need it once and not have it."

"I like it," Robert said. "Angus? Ruby? Any objections?"

"Not if it keeps my family safe," Angus replied.

"Tig," Lee said, "i think we need to put a polyjuice kit in each house."

"Agreed," Tig said.

"A polyjuice kit," Michael said. "for those of you who haven't done deep cover before, is generallyu a box or a briefcase that has a bottle of polyjuice, a bunch of little empty vials, and some vials of hair that are labeled accordingly. The labels correspond to a little notebook in the box that has images of who the hair goes to. So, for example, if you need a little white haired woman, you'll find a vial that is labeled as such. You take a few hairs, put it in one of the little vials, pour in some of the polyjuice from the large bottle, and voila you have polyjuice for a little gray haired lady. I've seen some that have as many as hairs from a hundred different people. Make sense?"

"That's brilliant," Angus said. "Disguise Du Jour."

"Precisely," Michael said.

"We'll make sure each house is equipped accordingly," Lee said.

"So, I need to first be making the potion to keep the creole out of this estate," Tiggy said. She looked at Lee. "I'll either need a portkey or a lab to work here someplace."

"I can help you there," Robert said. "If no one has any more questions for the moment, I think we should draw this to a close so Lee and Tiggy and I can get onto potions and covers and aliases and houses and all that. We'll get this in motion as soon as we can. So, how soon are you four going to be ready to go to Colorado?" Robert asked Sam and the others.

"As soon as you say we can go," Sam said.

"Get your bags ready, then, and we'll send you straight after supper tonight. I'll have Kieran come and pick you up," Robert said.

"Yes!" Sam said. That made Angus laugh.

"Trust me, they'll be ready," Angus told Robert.

Aria heard Robert and looked to Ruby who just shrugged "No objections, just keep your hands to yourself and don't forget I could kick you someplace where the sun doesn't shine if you forget I'm, not your wife." Aria said "But I do like the idea." she added making Ruby chuckle. Hearing about the polyjuice kit Ruby looked to Tig.

" you'll be needing some of my hair then," she said, " I think my brush has more than enough for what you need, I'll fetch it for you when we're done" she said looking at Tig as she spoke. Jess looked at Tig.

"if all the woman had this kit we in a realy emergency could fool her into confushion." she said " as in being a different place."

"No disrespect intended, Barnett, but I'd know the difference," Angus said.

"You have nothing to worry about, Barnett," Robert told her. "Alright. Meeting adjourned. Barnett, if you'd stay over a little, Lee can update you so you're up to speed like the rest of our folks."

Angus looked at Ruby and pointed at Kate who had a sleeping Caprice on her shoulder.

"That would be the touch of experience," Angus told Ruby. "I'll ask her about taking Caprice from her and see if we can't get that accomplished without waking the baby. You know Kate will just suggest we leave her with her for her nap, but I'll try. And--you know you can come along to New Orleans. You could always use the polyjuice youself to be someone else when you have to be out, you know. It's your choice entirely." He did understand, though that she might not want to go since she was just away from Caprice in Switzerland. He understood her need to be home. Angus wasn't looking forward to going either but he knew that, in this case, he didn't have much choice.

"So, I guess we'll be doing laundry and helping our kids pack for two weeks in Colorado. They'll need clothes for hot weather during the day and some sweaters for after dark," Angus told Ruby.

Ruby looked at Aria and chuckled at Angus responce before she looked at him " its okay if Im needed I'll go, I don't mind staying " she told him then glanced at Kate and smiled " I wondered why she was quiet" she said and nodded " yeah maybe you should try " she said and stood up hearing him talk of her using polyjuice potion f they go out she shook her head " im good with not using it" she said " besides just as Sam and victor will be trained in Colorado I was trained by Lee." she told him " so I think we'll be fine"

Jack stood up and moved to Jess " do not do anything to make yourself a taarget" he told her Jess lent and kissed him gently.

"I never do hun" she said with a smile " it might have been a while since I was out in the feild but I am strictly medical." she reasured him

Angus managed to get Caprice from Kate without waking her, and Marcus went over and took the bag so Angus didn't have to carry both.

"Angus," Robert called him back before he could leave. Angus stopped in his tracks as everyone was leaving the dining room. "If she starts tinkering with your sleep again, I want to know about it immediately. Understand? I'll send over more dreamless sleep potion. I do not want you on any mission if you're sleep deprived."

"I appreciate it," Angus said.

"I'll very likely leave Marcus with you. I don't want you wandering about any foreign country alone with a target on your back. And if I put Barnett with you--and that's just an if, she can help keep you safe from Suzanne and our mystery woman."

"Are you sure you don't want me throwing fireballs at Gelding's house again?" Angus teased.

"Yeah, let's not. Let's save that one for later. I don't like being too predictable with old Tom."

"So, let's have Tig change the formulas on the bubbles so that we can chuck them at the house or on the property and have them change into snakes or basilisks."

"Oh, now that is truly diabolical," Robert laughed. "I'll keep that idea on file. That's not bad. She gives you nightmares, so you send her a few hundred in return."

"Do not let him get all the sorts of little twisty bits in his brain like Robert has," Kate told Ruby.

"Too late," Marcus laughed.

Aria stood and listened to Robert talk to Angus " hey I can handle the old bat" she said then listened to them talk again " oh he sounds like my kinda guy" she said and grinned. Ruby turned and looked at her with a frown " I mean in his mind set not body , not my type ," she assured Ruby.

"make sure or I'll be the one throwing fireballs at you" she teased and Aria laughed .

"like back at training for the ministry, you've done that" now both laughed as Ruby looked to Angus and Marcus as Kate spoke she could not help laugh at Marcus responce and shrug to her. " I'l keep him some what from going off and burning down a whole manshion but if its a good cause Im joining him" she told her smiling.

"Go rest a little," Robert told Angus. "That was a damned scary thing in Paris this morning. Nigel's right. You've taken some really heavy hits lately, and I know you haven't slept. Let's not let it get cumulative, shall we? I'm going to take Tiggy to the farm because I have the ingredients she needs there. I'll bring you more potion when we get back."

"Tiggy has a lab in New York that's about the size of your master bedroom," Lee told Angus and Ruby. "I've told her Robert's own lab is a little bigger." Angus laughed out loud, knowing that the lab at the farm as mammoth compared to that. Tiggy was in for a surprise.

"It's bigger?" Tiggy asked.

"A wee bit," Angus said, not wanting to spoil the surprise for her. "She's not going to want to go back to New York, Lee."

"It's a risk I'll have to take," Lee said. "Let me refill my coffee, Barnett, and then I'll bring you up to date."

"That's our cue. Let's go do laundry," Angus told Ruby. He took Caprice and headed for home. He had Marcus put a baby blanket down on the floor, and then Angus put the baby down on it so she could nap undisturbed.

"I can help Ruby with the laundry if you want to rest a little," Marcus told Angus. "I refuse to cook supper, though."

"I probably wouldn't want you to cook supper anyway, do I?'

"Nah, I could manage, but it wouldn't be gourmet," Marcus said.

"Well, we've got a few hours before we have to worry about that. We'll need to get some duffle bags from the basement."

"I know where they are. I'll get them," Marcus said.

"Ruby," Angus asked, "would you take a look and make sure we have enough toiletries to send all four kids with soap, shampoo, and all the rest? I can send for more to put in their bags if we need to, but I should send that order in soon if there's something they need," Angus said. "I doubt they'll think about that. And any sort of snack things you think they'll want to take or any surprises you might want to sneak in their bags. I know you--you'll sneak some little surprises in there. Let's get the shopping done for them straight away so they can pack it."

"Cameras," Marcus suggested, "so they can take some pictures."

"Why is it I never think of cameras?" Angus said.

"Because you don't even have one yourself," Marcus laughed. "if it weren't for Ruby, you'd never have any pictures.

Ruby listened to Robert and nodded she agreed. Walking back she thought about what had happened and was glad Marcus and Angus were both safe. Hearing Angus talk of the essentials for the boys she nodded "Of course. If we need any I'll order some to restock" she added "And I can cook supper, Angus you rest as Robert said" she said smiling as she watched him lay a sleeping Caprice down on her blanket.

"We have disposable ones I'll put them in," she said as she placed some washing in the washer to be clean for the boys . " do you think the girl will want to go too?" she asked half wndering if the girls would want to go for training or whould that stay with her in the duplex.

"Anise hasn't thought of anything else," Angus told her, seeing Marcus go downstairs to the cellar to get the duffel bags. "She's itching to go just like Sam is, and I don't know that Ginger isn't itching to go but I don't see her being left behind either. You know. I'm sure Edward and Simone will probably be here most of the time, but if not, you could maybe take the baby and go over and stay with Jessie and Cris. They'll be by themselves. or have Jessie and Cris come over her. Whatever works.

"Say," he said to her, "change of subject, but when did you do any training with Lee? I thought Brian did all our ministry trainings and Owens did the organization trainings. When did you ever do any training in America?"

He sat down in his chair and looked outside. "Looks like the kids may get rained out of outdoor duty. The skies are looking dark, and there are some pretty serious storm clouds gathering in the southwest. I bet they'll be working in the barn before the afternoon is out."

Marcus came back upstairs from getting the duffel bags, and hearing the dog scratching at the front door to get in, he opened the door, and Finn dashed inside--and he was completely green. Marcus sighed.

"Oh no. The dog's been outside and rolling in the grass cuttings again. He's turned his fur all green with wet grass and grass stains again. He's a good dog--til he's not." Angus sighed heavily, seeing the mess Finn was tracking all over the house.

"I'll get it," Angus sighed, knowing the kids were working, and Ruby was packing. There was no one else to give the darned dog a bath.