A Birth day

Ruby watched as Marcus arrived and smiled "Yeah it's delicious" she said smiling "Thank you" she added and made the room so he could sit down. She caught Edward moving to Caprice again and heard what she was doing " gosh I hope so" she said "because though I caught bugs and Jessie ate his share I'm sure we never went for grasshoppers" she said screwing up her nose as Edward took the now squished grasshopper from Caprice and threw it away.

"thank goodness you got that from her, yuck" she said picking up her corn and spreading butter over it and then bitting down to have the juice roll down her chin " yumm" she said smiling a she picked up a napkin and wiped her chin " juicy too" she said with a chuckle as she took anothr bite.

"That is half the fun," Marcus laughed, watching Ruby eating her corn. "There really is something to be said for throwing away all the rules and just being allowed to play with your food--so long as it is food you have and not insects."

When they were finished, Simone and Edward cleared off table and threw the trash away. Simone brought out some coffee so that if anyone wanted coffee with their dessert, they could have it.

"Now tell me. These American heathens probably eat ice cream with their hands too, don't they?" Edward asked, teasing.

"Well, ice cream sandwiches, yes. They're sometimes sold as a street food there," Angus said. If you want a plate and a fork, I'll get you one."

"No, just hand one over," Edward motioned. Angus gave everyone an ice cream sandwich and they tucked into it.

"God, makes me feel like I'm about eight years old again," Simone laughed. "I think the Yanks might be right. This might be the right way to eat these things. And they are lovely. Can we order these by the case?"

"Probably," Angus laughed. As they were finishing, Robert came over, bringing Iya and Beau with him.

"Are we interrupting supper?" Robert asked.

"No, we're just finishing. We've got coffee if you want some," Simone said.

"None for me, thanks," Robert said. "I've spent some time with Lee and with Iya here. I really thin she has some good ideas on how we can stop her temporarily from disturbing your sleep. There is a bit of a downside, though. If we stop her, she's going to up the ante somehow, and I don't know how yet. We can't let her attack you in your sleep forever, though."

"Piti," Iya said to Angus, "she isn't toying with you. This isn't a game. She's trying to kill you in your sleep. So far, you've managed to fight her off, but I think we definitely have to stop her. For now, I think we have to just wait and see what she does after that."

"I know it isn't a game," Angus said.

"Robert says these dreams have left marks," Iya said.

"Yes," Angus said.

"She wants you to know she's serious," Iya said, 'but so am I. So, I have talked to Robert about something we can try. It is a potion that I can add an enchantment to, and it should keep her from being able to actually harm you. She might threaten and make a lot of noise, but I don't think she should be able to harm you. However, I would like to remain somehow in the same house so that if she does overpower you, I want to be able to come and pull you out of your sleep state if necessary. I will not need to disturb you unless she overpowers you."

"Of course," Angus said. "We can fix up a room for you..."

"It is not necessary. I will not sleep. I will remain your living room or sitting room through the night. I will require nothing, if that is agreeable."

"Absolutely," Angus said.

"I will stay with her," Beau said, "if you don't care."

"No, we don't mind," Angus said. "Do you think it'll work?"

"For tonight? Yes. Long term? No. We will have to stop her, period, for this to completely end."

"That's fine," Angus said. "I already planned on stopping her."

"We will work on that together," she said to him in a rather gentle, maternal tone.

Ruby chuckled as she let Simone clear away the plates. Taking some coffee she took an ice cream sandwiche and looked to Edward and bit into it smiling at him " yep " she said and chuckled as she ate and finished her dester . "That was wonderful Marcus" she said smiling " good idea Angus to order from sparks" she had just finished talking when she saw Beau and Iya walk over with Robert , she wipe her face clean of Ince cream and listend to them as she heard her speak of stoping Marie invading Angus dreams and hurting him she took hold of Angus's hand in her own and held it as she continued.

"no we don't have any probes with you staying" she added as Angus told her they would make a room ready. Ruby then heard her mention about staying in the living room and remaining awake " all right" she said then listened as she spoke of stopping Marie woman perminatly and chuckled " yeah we've been talking about that" she said she heard about Beau staying with Iya. " I'll get some blankets incase " she said and stood up but pused as she embered they were not going to sleep in the living room.

"if your not sleeping what will you be doing?" she asked " just out of curiosity?" she asked and glanced at Marcus knowing and hoping he would make sure they were all safe and the house would be locked up for the night.

"Watching," Iya replied to Ruby. "I want to see this woman. I want to watch and see what she does when all of her chicanery does not have the same effect as it did before."

"You have a means to follow him into his sleep?" Marcus asked.

"I will have," she nodded once. "I will be able to see her but, done correctly, she will not be able to see me. It is not yet time for her to know she has garnered my attention." As they were talking, Caprice started to screech, and Robert reached over and picked her up.

"Bored, are we?" Robert asked.

"May I?" Iya asked. Robert handed her to Iya, and she held her on her hip and spoke to her quietly in Creole dialect. Caprice just looked at her, fascinated with Iya and her many strands of colorful beads. Iva spoke to Beau in Creole, and he reached in her pocket and got out a tiny bottle and opened it. She poured just a drop of a dark brown liquid onto her finger and put it inside Caprice's mouth. A moment later, Caprice seemed to relax and she cuddled against Iya comfortably.

"It is an old recipe with folk women," Beau told Angus, "for teething pain. It's been used by our people for hundreds of years. Iya adds just a touch of molasses in it to give it a sweet flavor, like your treacle flavor here. See? The child is better for the moment."

"I am a little surprised she's so comfortable with a stranger," Marcus said.

"She knows an old granny when she sees one," Beau laughed. "Iya's taken care of countless babies. Our people come from Haiti, and in Haiti, it is the women that rule the communities, and Iya is quite respected in our little village."

"My apologies. I thought you were Jamaican," Marcus said. Beau smiled.

"No apology needed. We are neighbors to Jamaica, and our cultures are similar in some ways. There is some natural overlap," Beau said. "Iya lives part of the time in Haiti and part of the time with me in Louisiana. I was born in Haiti, but my mother moved to Louisiana when I was thirteen. My father died some years ago, but my mother still lives here. She has inherited some of Iya's gifts. She works as a medium there."

"There are many, many people who call themselves mediums there, but most of them are charlatans--muggles with magicians' illusions. Trickery and chicanery, nothing more," Iya said. "Your mother does not have the same huge following, but neither does she seek it.

"She owns a little cafe where she sells beignets, teas, chicory coffee, homemade pies, that sort of thing," Beau said. "And, when asked, she uses her seer's abilities to try to help people in need."

"I don't believe it," Marcus said. "Look. Caprice is out like a light already."

"Shall I put her in her crib for the night for you?" Iya asked.

"If you like," Angus said. He got up and led Iya and Beau inside. He showed them the house and where to find things as he took them inside and showed them the nursery. Iya put the baby in the crib for the night, and then Angus showed them around the kitchen and where to find tea, coffee, snacks, and invited them to make themselves at home.

"This house suits you and Ruby," Iya told him. "There are years of memories waiting to be built here."

"If Suzanne gives me a chance to do that," Angus sighed as he rather mindlessly put on a pot of almond tea to brew.

"Do not give her any more thought or energy than she deserves," Iya told him. "Someday, her own need for pain and revenge will become too toxic even for her. It will destroy her someday. In the meantime, we will focus on the woman she has hired. Do not be afraid of her either. She is not immortal or invulnerable. We can defeat her."

Ruby watched as Caprice began to fuss again and was about to move to her when Iya picked her up Caprice still fussed until she gave her something and Caprice stopped fussing. " when she explained what it was Ruby noticed how Caprice settled against Iya and she smiled having a feeling of comfort with her around as she did with Simone.

Ruby watched Angus show her around the duplex while she made a fresh pot of coffee for them all " please help your self when you want" she said then smiled at her compliment " thank you , we designed it together." she said " that and certain alterations fo the boys and girls, who are away right now" she said smiling as she pored a cup for herself then pulled out some cinimon rolls from the warmer draw and placed them on a plater .

"Thank you," Iya told her. "Yes, Angus showed me their rooms when he showed me the house and told me they're at a training course. Good for them. You are fortunate to have four strong young people who want to follow in your footsteps. Not many parents have young people who actually want to do what they see their parents doing. And since you've actually not been their parents for that long, it says a good deal about both of you. Now, I think you all should continue to do what you normally would do for the rest of the night, and I will settle in and prepare for my night's work as well."

She chose a chair in the living room, and Beau brought her bag over to her. She took out a pocket sized table and enlarged it to be a comfortable size for her, put it in front of her and then got out a deck of mystical cards, some stones, and some runestones.

"They will help her focus and align her energies with his so that she can follow him into his sleep when he goes to bed," Beau said. "She basically will conceal herself behind his energies so she can watch and not be seen by this imposter."

Ruby watched as Iya took out the table and realised it she placed down a cup of coffee for her and a plate with a cinnamon roll for her to eat. Listening to her talk she smiled "The boys were mine and Jessie's brothers until Angus adopted them, the girls, we took them in because they asked us to" she said smiling not giving the full story behind the girls she didn't know how she would react with knowing the girls were a part werewolf."

Listening to her explain she nodded as she looked at the cards and runes laid out on the table. " that's good, wish I could watch his back like that" she said softly but looked at her with a smile. " I'll just guard him physically," she said as she moved to sit with Angus and Marcus.

"You do realize all this attention, with everyone staying awake and watching every breath I take won't make it any easier to go to sleep, don't you?" Angus asked, feeling anxious and very self conscious now. He didn't want to sleep anyway, much less while there were people that were so focused on him.

"I don't think any of you should do anything different. This woman isn't going to come at you physically if she hasn't done so already. My guess is that since this land is unplottable, she can't find you anyway to make a direct attack. I think you should all go to bed as usual. This attack is going to come as it has been, in your dream cycle," Iya said. "Besides, Beau will be right here. He'll be assisting me through the night. So, thank you for all your hospitality, but I think you should all relax and get ready for bed as you always do."

Angus headed upstairs to the shower, and Marcus headed to let Finn outside for the last trip of the night and then to check the doors and windows before heading up for his own shower. Iya began mixing a couple of potions from her bag to create the potion she needed Angus to take so that she could follow him into his dream cycle.

Ruby looked at Beau and Iya as she spoke and sighed knowing she was right but she also knew she would not sleep herself for worry over Angus and at how helpless she was when it came to fending off the Creole woman. " well all the coffee you had won't help either" she said with a smirk as she watched him head to shower ready for bed.

Standing she too headed up to their room and went to shower and change into her PJs. " I think Iya needs you downstairs?" she said softly as she pulled back the blankets before heading to check on Caprice. Opening the door she saw her sleeping soundly in her cot with a small stuffed dog in her arms. Smiling she headed back to their room and waited for Angus to return.

Angus finished his shower, and Marcus made one last trip downstairs. He poured Angus's sleeping potion, despite Angus saying this morning that he didn't want to take it tonight.

"Before you deliver that," Iya said to Marcus, "bring it here a moment." He took it to her, and she added her own potion to him. "Tell him he has no need to fear tonight. I will be with him from the instant he goes to sleep. She might be able to pull her tricks on him but she won't pull them on me."

"I'll tell him," he cast her a bit of an amused smile.

"You are his protector?"

"Not his only one, but yes," Marcus said.

"You are a good friend. You all need to sleep tonight so I can sleep while he is awake, especially Ruby. She carries enough anxiety about him for twelve people. She needs to sleep." Marcus laughed.

"Do you want me to tell her that?"

"Well, no, maybe not," Iya laughed.

"Goodnight," Marcus told her, taking the potion upstairs and handed the potion to Angus, and Angus scowled at him. "Her potion is in it. Just give her a fair chance, would you?" Angus sighed and took it. "If that nasty old bat comes at you, beat the crap out of her."

"I'll try to remember that," Angus said. "Goodnight." Marcus went to his room, and Angus turned out the light. "Go to sleep, Ru. I don't think staying awake and worrying will help anyone."