A Birth day

Ruby heard Angus talk about the grave and smiled " I knew it would , you did chose the perfect spot after all" she said then she ehard him say Anise wasn't feeling well " I'll look in on her before bed" she said some what concerned until Angus said it had been quit a day for them " it has at that" she said and listened to Edward and Angus talking she stayd quiet then looked at Angus as he looked at her and she nodded she understood he wanted to talk else where." its okay" she said "I'm going to take a showr, I'll see you when you come up" she told him kissing his cheek as she ehaded up the stairs to their room.

Passing the girls room she knocked gently on the door. " Hi, I heard your not feeling well, you okay?" she said to Anise " it has been quite the day today but tomorow will be better." she moved to hug both girls.

"Yeah, we're fine," Anise told Ruby. "I think Angus is right. I think it's just been a long day. Neither one of us slept very well last night, so maybe we're just overly tired. Marcus brought us both some tea, so I think we're just going to drink our tea and turn in for the night. Sam and Victor were going to go look at all of Angus' and Edward's weapons downstairs, but we already scoped all that out a long time ago, on one of our other trips, so that doesn't interest us so much anymore." Ginger crawled into bed, yawning already, but determined on finishing her tea.

Angus was going to make some tea for him and Ruby, and Rosaria chased him out of the kitchen. He went upstairs where Marcus was getting things ready for Angus's shower.

"How'd you know I was coming upstairs?" Angus asked.

"I know you," Marcus laughed. He helped Angus shower and change for bed. and as Marcus was helping him into his pajama bottoms, Rosaria arrived with a couple of beautifully made hot toddys, one for Angus and one for Ruby. Angus thanked Rosaria, and she smiled and excused herself.

"Now, what was that all about down in the kitchen?" Marcus asked, as he helped Angus settle into bed with his toddy.

"Edward was warning me that my children, in particular, will not be accepted just because they're mine. It isn't Ruby that they mind so much. It's me."

"Well, we should have expected that."

"Yes, but the fact that I dared to have daughters who are werewolves? They will be hated. Not only are they supposedly cursed, but they're females, and some of my more ignorant family members will believe they've damaged the family bloodline by introducing the curse into it."

"Oh, that's utter balderdash," Marcus frowned.

"Yes, but some of my family aren't all that bright. He's warning me that I need to come with them, prepared to protect them from the same ones who hate me. The bottom line is they will hate the girls because they hate me and they hate any sort of 'contamination' in the bloodline."

"Jackasses," Marcus scowled. "Well, fine, then. They'll have to get past us first, then, Mate. It's just that simple." Angus nodded.

"I don't want the girls to feel for one fraction of a moment that they aren't wanted here. I know how its' made me feel my whole life, and I do not want that for them."

"You can only protect them so far, but you can prepare them. They surely have dealt with ignorance and stupidity before. Preparing them is one way you can protect them."

"Oh, I suppose you're right, but I really am going to give them a few days. They need to get home and they need some time to heal before we bring them back again."

"I think that would be wise," Marcus agreed.

Ruby smiled at both girls and sat with Anise " " just know Angus and I are here if you need to anything in the night , okay" she said softly then hugged both girls " you both sleep well okay." she said as she stood up and headed for the door. Leaving their room she headed to her room and found Marcus with Angusand a cup of tea " awe thanks for the tea Angus" she said and quickly changed her clothes in the bathroom to her PJs and moved to the bed.

She saw the look on both mens faces and chuckled " there fine , tired but okay" she said thinking the were worried about the girls. " Ginger was almost asleep when I left and Anise I think wasn't too far behind." she added as she too yawned softly as she lay down.

"I'll let you explain it to Ruby when she's awake enough to hear it," Marcus smiled. "Goodnight." He checked the doors and then left Angus and Ruby to head to his own room.

"Just so you know," Angus said. "I do not want the girls coming here for a bit without Edward, me, Marcus, or some male figure big enough to intimidate some of my ruder relatives and put a stop to their sarcastic mouths. Edward believes, i think, that now that we've buried Phoebe here, they surmise that the girls are werewolves. Edward believes the same ones who hate me are going to hate them because they're werewolves and they're associated with me. Its one thing if they want to have a go at me. I'm used to it, but they're not going to have a go at the girls because they live in my house. That's not gonna happen. I don't think they'd mistreat you, but just for a bit, take someone with you or give Evan a heads up or something if you come here to come to the beach or something. Don't avoid coming. Feel free to do that. Just make sure that you give someone a heads up. Fair enough?"

Ruby watched as Marcus left the room and turned to look at Angus . she lay and listened to what he ahd to say and sighed "Fair enough, but you think the others of your family will do something to us?" she said but listened as he continued to talk " I understand I'll make sure some one is with the girls and myself too when we come here, and Im not stopping coming here I love it here, just as you do" she said smiling as she cuddled against him. " I don't care what the other old fuddy duddys think." she said

Jessie walked into his room and found Marcus there he was in his PJ's " hows Angus?" he asked " I oaught a bit of cincern from him today" he said as he sat on his bed next to the balcony window.

"I don't know," he sighed. "I didn't think any of them would, and now Basil and Gloria are both dead. However, I don't ever pish tosh any of Edward's warnings because he so rarely gives them. However, if they ever try, even once, it'll be their last. I promise you that," Angus took the last sip of his hot whiskey drink and turned out the light. "God, I'm tired," he yawned, sleep hammering hard at him. "They come against one of you, and I'll have them..." he slipped off to sleep before he could finish his thought.

"He's dead on his feet tonight, I think," Marcus said, "I was proud of him today, though. He was determined to be on top of whatever it was those girls needed, and he was. So was Ruby. They both did very well at getting those girls through the loss of their mother. I knew Dennis wasn't going to be able to do it because not only did he have his own grief but he wasn't ever very close to either of them. And, frankly, Ginger has gotten closer to Ruby since the girls were placed outside the pack, and Anise has come to depend on Angus. It makes perfect sense. Ginger is a lot like Ruby in a lot of ways, just like Anise is a lot like Angus.

"Angus was so concerned he would miss some little thing the girls needed that he wouldn't have had one damned ounce of pain medication if I hadn't slipped him a little every so often. Between his shoulder and that git Jonathan who bruised a couple of his ribs yesterday, I know he had to have been hurting, but he never complained, not one time. I don't think he knew that I have him any pain medicine today, and I know he either didn't know I gave him his sleeping potion tonight or just didn't care. One or the other.

"The last little bit of concern you caught tonight was probably because Edward warned Angus not to let the girls come here alone for a bit. Edward believes that the same relatives that hate Angus are going to hate Angus's kids too just because they're Angus's, and that will go double for the girls since it's pretty much out of the bag that the girls are werewolves. They have it wrong about which parent was the werewolf, though. They think it was Phoebe, but that's a mute point. Angus is absolutely standing rock solid that nobody's touching his kids just because they're his. He wants to make sure that none of the women, and I'm sure that will include Ruby at least for time time being, to not come here without some big bloke with them that isn't afraid to look out for Ruby and the girls. If they think for one moment that they can make any trouble for Angus's family, they've got another thing coming. Angus already knows he has all of us behind him. He's made it clear to me that one of us needs to make sure we don't let them face off against his family alone. I'll pass the word on to Robert in the morning, but you and I already know Robert will support that."

Jessie sat on his desk as he heard Marcus tslk about the day and Angus's concerneds " I won't let any one harm my neices." he sid then listened more " I just don't get why there like this, Im a wearwolf but there not against me or ruby , well not that I've seen yet" he said as he slipped under his covers to listen more to Marcus and nodded " I agree he should now but yeah he most likely will tell Jack to go with the girls should they wnt to come back here, ether that or I'll come with them, Angus might want to protect them as do I." he looked at Marcus next to him in his own bed and chuckled " you'd think after three people had died they would get the message by now" he said as he slowly closed his eyes to sleep.

"They don't know you're a werewolf yet. They don't know Jack is a werewolf either. Nobody is trying to keep it a secret, but they haven't had a need to tell anyone here about that. It's also significantly different because you're not having children with Angus. And, I think, they presume that since Caprice is human that it means that Ruby is human too. And, of course, that has nothing to do with it since werewolves aren't born with the illness, but some people tend to believe only what they want to believe," Marcus said. "I think Ruby would be highly unwelcome if she were a werewolf that was married to a Donohue. The girls may have it rough for a bit.

"Angus is very much aware this is just basically an updated chapter to the hatred he got all his life, and if you remember, they told him just very recently that they hated him because Eileen and Benjamin were told some gibberish about Angus being cursed from before birth to bring death and destruction on the whole Donohue family. So it makes perfect sense that his children are going to be seen as part of the whole doom, despair and agony package that they think he's bringing them. I'm sure he and Edward are just taking precautions so that nobody gets hurt," Marcus got into bed and turned out the light. "I'd let Angus deal with it as much as he can unless he tells you that he needs some additional help. Goodnight, Jessie."

The next Angus knew, he smelled coffee. Rosaria had come in, opened all the balcony doors and delivered a coffee tray for him and Ruby.

"Buongiorno," Angus said sleepily to her.

"Buongiorno, Ragazzo mio," she smiled. "Torno a casa oggi?"

"Si," he replied, taking a sip of the coffee. "Mi mancherà il modo in cui ti prendi cura di me."

"Allora invitami alla tua festa estiva e mi prenderò cura di te per tutta la settimana," she laughed.

"Tu e Carlo siete sempre i benvenuti a casa mia. Siamo una famiglia, dopo tutto," he replied. She smiled and left the room.

"I told Rosaria I was going to miss how she takes care of us, and she said I should invite her during our summer party so she can take care of us all week long," Angus told Ruby. "She and Carlo would be welcome anytime. They're part of my family, after all."

Jessie listened to Marcus and sighed "It makes sense and yeah, let's leave it to Angus for now, but if he needs us we'll be at his side" he said softly as he too fell asleep.

Ruby woke with a smile smelling coffee and hearing Angus talk to Rosaria." Buongiorno Rosaria." she said with a smile as Angus spoke to her. Ruby smiled and sat up to look at Angus as she picked up her cup " I agree, thanks to her and Carlo it's been relaxing for us and the girls, and I agree she and Carlo will be welcome anytime." she said blowing and sipping her coffee.

Once she finished her coffee she placed the cup on the nightstand and slipped from the bed to dress. Today was the day she had to return to Jeffery to finish her treatment and she was going to miss Angus and the kids. " you know I'm going to miss you guys while Im away." she said sitting on the bed next to him.

"I know. We'll miss you too," Angus told her, "but it'll work out. It always does..." It was at that moment that the bedroom door opened without invitation, and Anise came in with Caprice who was screaming her little head off.

"Dad! Make her quit! Little ninny is yanking on her own hair. She's doing it to herself," Anise said, rattled.

"Hand her here," Angus said calmly. She handed Caprice to him, and she was right. Caprice had her little fist wrapped around a big wad of her hair and she was yanking on it, and screaming at the top of her lungs. He laid his hand around Caprice's, and he first tried to release her grip, but she wasn't giving. She was holding on tightly, so he resorted to using a wandless relaxation spell to force her to release her grip of her own hair. Then, with the emergency over, he put her up on his shoulder, and the moment he did, she latched onto his hair and yanked on it hard, for all she was worth.

"Oh great! Now she's got him! How do we get her to let go of him, now?" Anise asked Ruby.

"It's not that uncommon," Angus said, not getting rattled, despite the fact that it hurt. "Their grip is still reflex at this point. They don't realize they're doing it." He couldn't free himself because his only free hand was hold Caprice. He didn't have the ability to release her hand too. "When we get her free, we'll have Rosaria feed her. Once she gets her stomach full, she'll probably take a nap."