A Birth day

Ruby listened as they said the girls would graduate from Beauxbatons, and how they would decide what they would specialise in " I agree they have plenty of time to decide." Ruby said as she then listened to Angus talk to Pip and then stand to let him outside. She heard him mention the trees and stakes and she smiled at him "We'll be fine, you go and have fun, I have the kid's clothes to wash and get ready for them." she said watching as they headed out the door.

Aria walked with Marcus and saw the class Robert was teaching and smiled " sounds perfect" she said as they drew closer to the class and watched slowly she saw some of the movements she had been doing had been wrong she watched a bit more then chuckled " now I see what I was doing wrong" she said trying to copy the movements but each time not quite getting it " guess I should join the class" she said smiling.

"Go and enjoy if you want," he said. "I think you'd enjoy it. He'd certainly welcome anyone who wanted to join. I should get back and shower and see if Angus is into something I should be with him on. I'll see you back at the house. Have a good time."

He went back to the house and saw just the women were in the kitchen.

"Am I too late for breakfast?" Marcus asked.

"Not at all," Simone told him. "Go shower, and I'll heat you up a plate."

"Thanks," he said. He went upstairs, showered and dressed in jeans and a plain white polo and sneakers and came downstairs. By then, Simone had fixed him a plate and poured him fresh coffee. "Thank you,' Marcus said. "So where are the boys?"

"Out playing with plant stakes," Simone said.

"Oh, they're finally getting around to that, are they?" Marcus asked.

"Yes, and it seems that Kieran is coming to take our awol trainees back to Colorado right after supper tonight," she said.

"Well, I did sort of see that coming."

"And I think Angus and Ruby are toying with the idea of a romantic weekend get away," she said.

"I think that might be just what he needs," Marcus said. "Some peace and quiet, a little romance, some great food and good wine. And that would work well for me. That would give me a long weekend to take my kids someplace before they go back to Hogwarts. And I'm sure they're going to want me to bring Aria. They seem to all think its their right to screen my dates so they can either approve or disapprove of them. They really don't have that sort of power, but they want to think they do."

"So what sort of things do they like to do?"

"Well, they like camping and fishing and hiking, but they also love muggle roller coasters. So, if I could take them camping and then perhaps include an afternoon at a muggle rollercoaster park, they would be over the moon," Marcus said. "Not sure if any of that is Aria's speed or not, but that's what the kids would like."

"So ask her," Tara said.

"Or maybe she'll have a better idea."

"For kids she's never met? I doubt it," Simone laughed.

Aria smiled as he said she could join them Watching them move she quickly turned and lightly kissed his cheek " Go ahead I'll be fine here" she said and watched him leave before joining the group and begn trying to do some of the moves several times she had Robert adjust her stance.

Ruby smiled seeing Marcus enter without Aria she made up a palte and sent it to him along with a coffee. " here you go" she said then notice the slight spatter of mud " um did Aria fall in the mud?" she asked chukaling as she returned to sorting out the clothes to repack for the boys and girls.

"She did," Marcus laughed. "She decided she wanted to try a bit of the obstacle course, and, of course, I didnt think it was right for me to run it with her and give her a heads up about all the obstacles, so, yeah, she expertly found the mud pit all by herself. And, yes, I did help her out. right now, she's joining Robert's tai chi class at the end of the obstacle course--mud and all. She'll do alright with it, though. So, I'll send a note to my father after breakfast and see if he's good with me taking the kids for a weekend if you and Angus go on a trip, Ruby. The is no such thing as a romantic weekend for three, and four is even less private. Is there anything I can do to help you get the kids ready to go back? Maybe I could get some candy to tuck into their duffles--something that won't melt in the Colorado heat.

"Now that's a good idea," Simone said. "Maybe we can bake some snickerdoodle cookies to pack for them or shortbread. It won't spoil as quick as maybe a chocolate chip would. Anybody want to put together a little goody box for each one's bag?"

"I think that's a great idea," Tara said. "And, I guarantee you, Evan is the biggest kid of them all. He'll love it."

Ruby chuckled as she folded another tee shirt of Sam and then nodded " I agree with Tara that would be perfect, thank you" she said smiling. It was not long after she saw a muddy Aria walk in and hold up her hand. " Go shower I kept a plate for you," Ruby said and Aria put a thumbs up to her before looking at Marcus.

"You did not tell me he was a slave driver," she said " he made me repeat a stance multiple times till I got it right but my muscles ache now" She headed up to the bedroom and stripped out of her mud-covered clothing into the wash basket and turned on the shower to wash out the mud from her hair and other areas. Now clean she dressed in a simple pair of jeggings and a blouse with slipp-on shoes. Now dressed he headed back down to the living room Ruby saw her and sent over a plate and a coffee for her to eat.

"Well, yes. He is," Marcus said. "He expects a lot out of us, but he expects far more from himself. I respect that. He has always had a philosophy that he won't ever send anyone to do any task that he wouldn't do himself. Nor will he send anyone to do any task that they're not prepared for, and so he trains constantly, and he insists that we train and keep increasing our skills. It won't take you long for you to get toned up here, that's for sure."

Angus and Edward and Evan marked out where the bushes and trees needed to go to have the best soil, the best light, and all the right things they needed to produce high yield, and while they were doing that, Evan and Edward were talking to Angus, in little bits, about the trauma he'd suffered in New Orleans. They expected him to be closed, to be very rigid about talking about it.

He finally told them about the relentless nightmares about running out of oxygen and passing out, believing that it was the last thing he would ever know on this side of the veil. Edward had gotten the medical facts from Robert of what it had taken to restore Angus's heartbeat, and Evan had actually seen it. Neither of them felt that Angus was ready to know yet how damned close he had come to not being able to be saved this time. They believed, though, that he somehow had an awareness of it already. They both believed that he needed them still, and he was likely to need them for quite a long time to come.

They also believed, though, now, he desperately wanted peace and quiet to quiet his mind, to make all the chaos in his mind stop for awhile. They were supporting his need to go on this weekend with Ruby so that perhaps he could find a bit of spice in his life again--some romance, some top notch food, some good wine, the sound and the motion of the sea, the smell of the salt in the air, all of it. There was life in it, and it was about as far from death as it got. Maybe that would help him to reset himself a little.

Edward, of course, would be at home when Angus would get home, and Evan was planning on being closer somehow. His kids, his job, the businesses--they were all in Tuscany, calling him home. So getting together with Angus was not going to be easy. Maybe some steaks on the grill at Evan's place, maybe a guy's night with Edward, Angus, Sergio and some of the other guys to just eat, drink some beers around a bonfire and then sleep under the stars. Edward and Evan were thinking that perhaps if they could get Angus to refocus on life again, the so-very-real brush with death would start to fade.

Angus contacted the landscaper and placed the order for the trees and bushes, and, in late morning, they came, took a look at what he had laid out. They suggested some changes, to include night lighting, a flagstone walking path that could be later covered with either arbors or pergolas and either climbing flowers or perhaps grapevines The plans also included some benches, some flowers, a fountain at the center, so that the space not only had purpose but would be beautiful as well.. Angus and Edward agreed, and the landscapers said the plans would take three or four days to do.

Meanwhile Simone had begun preparing a light lunch--a large nicoise salad to serve them all, served with a baguette cut into slices. Tara made a large pitcher of iced tea and set the table out on the deck.

Aria listened to Marcus as he explained why Robert was so strict with his training and nodded " at the ministry I was top of my classes, but being here, I see I was far from it" she said and sat back in hr chair " I got a lot to learn" she admited to him " but I also have plenty of time to larn what is needed." she said hearing him say she would tone up she chuckled " yeah, but it will be worth it to keep other safe." she said smiling at him.

Ruby busied her self with Tara getting the kids back packs packed , soon all four were ready along with several care pakages placed inside for them to find whn they unpacked back in colorado. She looked out the window and smile seeing Angus talking to Edward and Evan, she didn't know what it was about but she hoped he was opening up to them.

"The ministry has never invested in the sort of training it really needs," Marcus said. "I honestly think that's why Daniella has taken pretty much a hands off stance on the work we do with rescuing kids and handling Gelding. Their aurors can't begin to match our skills. And certainly our aurors here don't match up either. For example, do you have any idea what Michael Tremaine really does? He's a top not espionage agent, and he has helped France and Italy and other countries when they've called. He has two primary tasks. First, you know every goverment needs someone who can go and recover any kind of item that has been taken. Or they need to take something that they do not want any country to use against them. Michael is classified, firstly, as a 'recovery specialist,' meaning he steals for the government. I have never seen a lock or a safe that Michael cannot open. I'm sure there probably are some, but I just haven't seen it. And, secondly, every so often an espionage agent's mission is blown and the agent is trapped behind enemy lines. Michael is the one who gets called to go and get them out when every other door has closed. He's the last possible hope for that agent, and he takes that extremely seriously. I have no doubt whatsoever that Michael holds more secrets than a lot of Ministers of Magic ever know during their time in office. One of the biggest mistakes new recruit salmost always make is that they look at Michael and Kate and Robert and presume they're gonna run rings around them--until they run with them. That opens their eyes, believe me."

Simone finished fixing the nicoise salad and she took it and the baguette slices to the porch, and then she called everyone for lunch.

"I hope you're in the mood for healthy and light," she told them. "I decided I would make one gigantic nicoise salad for us to all share."

"I think it looks fantastic," Edward said, as he and Angus and Evan reached the back deck.

"I haven't had a good nicoise for years," Evan said. "What a good idea."

"Thanks, Simone. You know I can always be in the mood for seafood," Angus said.

Aria listened to Marcua again when he asked if she knew what Michael truly was she shook her head "he's a cat burglar right?" she said but on hearing the rest of what Michael was she whistled "Impressive resume" she said with a chuckle " remind me, if I lose my keys Michaels the man to ask for help, but yeah sounds like I'm a noob right now compared to the rest of you guys, but as you say trainning pretty much was a wet blanket at the ministry compared to Roberts, but Im gonna tuff it out, start at the bottom and work my way back up." she said as she stood up hearing Simone say lunch was ready.

Ruby heard Simone and finished zipping up the last bag " there, all done, thank you Tara for the help, I'd never would have had it done in time with out your help." she said walking out to the porch " Sounds delicious , thank you, Simone" she said and smiled as she sat dwn and waited for he guys to join them.

"Michael doesn't need a ruddy key," Marcus laughed. "If you go to his place, in his den, you'll see a glass jar on his bookshelf, and it's just crammed with all kinds and shapes of old keys, and the more unique they are, the more he likes them. Now what would a man like him do with a jar of old keys with no locks anymore? He makes portkeys out of them. It's his little bit of humor--the key is the key, and all that. Besides, if he makes a portkey out of them, they're easy for us to have with us. You aren't going to have a problem getting up to speed. You're halfway there already. Angus is right to be concerned for the kids. They're starting from scratch. They're still all back at square one, but they're determined to make it."

He walked out to the deck with Aria and saw an enormous, beautiful Nicoise salad.

"Now that looks picture perfect," Marcus said. "Good idea, Simone." He joined Edward, Evan, and Angus who were already at the table. "So how did you do with the landscapers?"

"We did just fine," Edward said. "Plans are made, layout is finished, and they'll be here over the next three or four days to get it all done. And, I talked to them about putting in mature trees and bushes, not seedlings, so that we start to have actual fruit within a year or so."

"They can do that?" Simone asked.

"Yes, they can do that. It's more expensive, but I think it'll be worth it," Edward said, putting some of the salad on his plate, added some of the lemon vinaigrette, and passed it on to Evan. Evan followed suit and passed it on. Edward followed by taking a slice of the baguette and passing the bread basket on to Evan. Tara poured glasses of iced tea for everyone.

"This is a citrus iced tea," she said. "I added some sugar, and some slices of orange, lemon and lime to the tea. I hope that's alright with everyone."

"I think that sounds great," Edward told her.