A Birth day

Aria looked at Marcus "delayed gratification?" she asked softly not quite understanding what he ment . Ruby smiled at Angus and nodded " well Im good to go when you are" she said and finished her coffee. " just let me go throw somethings into a bag " she said and moved to put her cup in the sink then head up to pack her bag for the vacation.

Aria looked at Marcus as Ruby headed up the stairs" so does this mean your off the clock and get to see the kids?" she asked tidying up the table and removing the cups to the sink. " when do you want to head to see your kids?" she asked Marcus as she saw Ruby return with two bags packed and she was now wearing a light sun dress with matching white flats.

"okay one is yours and one is mine" she said to Angus placing the bags down by the door to wait for Angus. she went to Caprice and gently kissed her had "be good for Grandad Edward and nan Simone" she told her as Caprice chuckled playing with her toys.

"Delayed gratification," Marcus laughed. "It really is an important thing. Kids definitely need to be taught that they don't get every freaking little thing they want, and the certainly don't get it the very instant they want it. In simple terms, he wants Caprice to soon learn that she doesn't get a cookie the very instant she wants it. Nor does she get to demand it. He wants her to know that she doesn't get things instantly just because she wants them and that some things are worth waiting for."

"In short, he doesn't want her growing up to be a spoiled, demanding little brat," Edward laughed.

"I haven't actually asked Robert for time off, but he's been suggesting i start using some of my holiday time," Marcus said. "I'll send a message to him, but I don't think he'll have a problem. We haven't entirely decided where to go or what to do, but perhaps, if they want to hit an amusement park, some of the very best rollercoaster parks are in the States. And, yes, there are some good campgrounds there. I suppose we could do that maybe. Are you into rollercoasters or camping either one?"

Edward tossed Angus the keys when Ruby came down with the bags. "Go take her out for some gelato or something for an hour or two, and I'll have the boat stocked," Edward told Angus.

"Hm..Ice cream cone strike you?" Angus asked her. "We go to the right place and you can taste a bunch of unique flavors before you decide on one."

Aria listened to Marcus and laughed " oh , now I get it." she said and chuckled " kids need to learn that, makes them better adults" she said. Aria then heard Marcus talk about Camping or rollercoasters , she could not help but smile well costers are fun but also come with dangers too, so can camping, I guess if Ihad to chose Coasters." Aria said " hights dosn't bother me being a bird animagus."

Ruby smiled as Angus spoke of gelato in Tuscany. " hum, sounds a good idea " she said and smiled " gelato on the water listening to the waves with you." she said and smiled " sounds apsolutly perfect" Moving to Angus Ruby wrapped her arms around his waist and smiled up at him " hold tight" she said then ported them both to the Tusacany house.

"Well, my kids aren't afraid of either one--camping or coasters. They're teenagers, so of course they think they're immortal," Marcus said. He sent a note through the floo to his father.

"The gelato shop is this way," he told her, reaching for her hand. He headed on foot to the viallage. It wasn't far, and he had done this little walk down to the gelato shop a million times in his lifetime. Edward hadn't cared if he went to the gelato shop almost daily. He was generous with the cash so Angus could go, so long as he didn't spoil his supper.

He walked to the shop, not really thinking about anything actually. Not much had changed since his childhood. The neighborhood, the shops, they were all pretty much the same, owned by the same families.

"I think you'll like the gelato here," Angus told her as they reached the shop. "Gelato is made a bit differently from ice cream. It's more dense, making it richer and creamier. It's almost a different texture entirely, and this family has been making it for generations. They've made it even better yet."

He opened the door of the shop and went in. There were six or seven customers ahead of them, so that gave them plenty of time to browse their flavors.

"This one has always been my favorite," he pointed a flavor out to her that looked like an almost black ice cream. "It's a dark, dark chocolate, and this one is as smooth as silk. And the one right beside it is almost as good. It's chocolate with bits of candied orange peel in it. I might have a scoop of each."

Aria chuckled and nodded " I guessed as much." she said then watched as Marcus sent a note threw the floo. Ruby took Angus's hand as they walked down to teh shop she was always blown away buy the sights and smells of Tuscany when ever she was there.

"Sounds perfect" she said as they walked into the shop she looked at the metal containrs housing the sevral gelato selections and head him mention the chocolate orange one " that sounds perfect for me" she said smiling as she watched every one chose and buy there ice cream. As she looked she saw one called Nocciola. It seem to be a favorate with the locals and she decided she'd try some of that too. " I'll try the Nocciola too please." she said to him.

Aria finished tyding up the house so when Angus and Ruby returned after their break it would be clean for them. " okay every wheres clean and tydied now" she said just as Fin walked in with muddy paws " oh boy" she said taking out teh mop and begining to clean the floor while she waited for Marcus to be ready.

Marcus got the note from Jonathan, and, after reading it, he spoke to Aria.

"They can be ready in the morning," Marcus said. "After all, it is evening here. It's going to take them a little to get their gear together and get packed. With the time difference, if we leave here around noon tomorrow, we'll get to the states in time for a 7 am breakfast there. We can rent a muggle car and drive to the campground and get our campsite set up and then go to the amusement park. The parks open at ten, so if we work together, we can have the site set up and make it to the park when they open. That will give us a very full day at the park. There are a couple nice restaurants at the park, not just food stands, where we can have a decent supper, or, if we can pry the kids out of the park, we can go somewhere in town. It's a lakeside town, so everything is really casual. I expect we will be running from before dawn our time to very late their time before tomorrow is overwith.

"So," he said, "that gives me time to pack my gear and then borrow some of Robert's camping gear. He stores that over at the farm, so I'll have to make a trip there tonight to go get it and get it packed up."

Angus took Ruby to a little outdoor courtyard behind the ice cream shop. The strands of Edison style lights were just coming on for the night, and it made the area very pretty. There were pots of flowers and some rustic tables and chairs for customers. There weren't very many people out here this time of night, but that was fine with Angus.

Aria saw the note and smiled as he spoke of their itinerary "Sounds good to me" she said smiling at him and hearing him talk of gathering the camping gear She nodded "You need my help with that?" she asked "Or Do you want me just to pack our bags?" she stood up and finished placing everything away that they had used for supper making the kitchen appear as if it had not been used.

Ruby followed Angus and was taken away by the area he led her to behind the shop." This is beautiful" she said following him outside. She saw the tables and sat down to eat her gelato " humm, nutty" she said and chuckled as she watched and listened to the sounds around her "You feeling better now?" she asked gently. " I know that there were too many people around earlier, I could tell by your demeanour," she said as she ate her ice cream. " I am glad for this time away, we can recharge our batteries."

"You're welcome to come. I'll send a quick note to Robert, but I already know the answer. He 'll be good with it." He sent a floo note to Robert, and he got an immediate reply.

"Good heavens, I think the planet just stopped turning. You're actually going to use a couple days' vacation time? Finally! And, of course, borrow whatever equipment you need. It's down in the armory in the sub-basement in the house. Have a good time. R." It made Marcus laugh. He handed it to Aria to read. "As I said, he's been trying to get me to take some holiday time for ages. Ever been to his farm? It isn't a place many people get to go because he is so protective of his family. Let's go and get the gear."

When she was ready, he apparated them over to the back yard of the farm.

"Barn is that way," he pointed. "No animals in it right now, though. They're all over with Brian's animals in the big barn there. We had a lot of security issues over the fall and winter last year, so Robert and kate came over to Brian's, and we just brought the animals over to Brian's so that we could basically shut this farm down for a bit. The land is still farmed for crops, though. This farm raises mostly hay and grasses and grains to feed the animals. That, and there's a large herb garden here for Robert's potions labs. The estate crew from Brian's tends this farm and Brian's, both. The crews used to be separate, but it was far easier for Angus to manage if he combined it all as one large crew. Now Jack manages the hands on stuff for the grounds crew for both estates. Come on. We have to go inside.

"I like this farmhouse, actually," Marcus said, as they walked up the steps to the sweeping back porch. Robert saw some farmhouses in the states, and it's very common there for farmhouses to have big wide back porches that go the full length of the house. So he added one here. It gets used a lot in the summers when Kate and Robert are here." He opened the back door and went into the large farmhouse kitchen.

"Wanna see something?" he said. "This might surprise you--just a little. Come with me." He led her through the house to the library and the winding staircase that went up and down. "Now, look up. There's this floor, and then there are two more floors of books above this. And, there's another floor of books below. A four floor library. I haven't been able to think of one subject yet that he doesn't have at least one book about. We have to go down, through the library--which is in the basement., and down through the potions lab which takes up the sub basement, and down again to the big armory that's one level below that. It's is where he stores most of the equipment and supplies for the organization, and there is a large, fully equipped sickbay down there too. So, are you counting? This tower of his has five levels to it, if you count all the library levels and the sub levels. Check this out."

He took her downstairs through the library and into Robert's massive potions lab. He had to use an enchantment to be able to get into the potions lab, but when they could enter, he took her inside. "This is the biggest lab he has. It actually is larger than the lab at St. Mungos. All his serious potions work is done here, and, almost all of the rare potions for St. Mungos are made here because he has the equipment here. St. Mungos had a fire last year, and he made a lot of replacement potions for them here. We have to go down one more. I think we have a lot more weapons in stock here than they do at the Ministry of Magic's storerooms." He led her downstairs to the bottom floor--where the entire floor was devote to weapons, mission wear, and equipment of all kind. "Not your average country farmhouse, is it?"

"I think I feel free for the moment," Angus told her. "There were too many there. I love them all dearly, but I just really needed a bit of space and some quiet. If we need to stay beyond two days, I don't think anyone will mind."

Aria chuckled reading the note Robert had sent, moving to him she held Marcus hand as he ported her to the farmhouse she stood looking at the house for moment then looked at the grounds around them " wow " she simply said then followed him inside smiling " its super cosy in here" she sai as they headed down and into a library " this is a book worms wet dream" she said with a chuckle but the further down they went the more she marveldd at how it was laid out " this is bigger than a castle or the ministry" she said seeing the lab and the aumory. " oh I can testefy he does." she said walking to look at a cabinet with Jars in when she stood in the lab " let me gues these are all teh enimies of Robert?" she said pointing to one jar that held a large colorful bug in. Moving lower she heard him mention not the avagrage house and she shook her had nope." she noticed a pile of tens and camping equipment in one courner and smiled " ther they are" she quickly walked over to them and started checking them for any defects that could cause teh trip to be ruined.

Ruby smiled and nodded " I got that feeling and I don't think any one would worry, besides we all need some time and space to recharge and recovr." she said leaning ovr and kissing his cheek but then wiping of some of her Gelato that had got on his cheek " oops sorry" she said and chuckled

"Some are enemies that are too dangerous to return to their normal form, and some are, well, just bugs," Marcus said. "I don't know which is which, but I can guarantee you he does."

Marcus picked a tent that was large enough that it would look, to the muggles like it would sleep the seven of them. It was a wizarding tent for sure, but it had three bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room area, a bathroom, and, of course, a screened-in porch with enough two folding picnic tables, and a camp stove and the other standard muggle dining gear.  He picked up an even ten folding chairs to put around the campfire, and then he picked up a box of 'kitchen gear,' and one of ''campsite set up gear,' and one of 'camping supplies.'

"I think this will do it," he said. "Oh, wait. Maybe not." He found a box marked "Tent furniture." "Now," he said, "See anything we're missing? We'll have to raid the pantry at the main house for groceries, but I'll replace whatever we take."

"We still need to decide where we're taking the houseboat," Angus told her. "I was thinking about that private island where you and I went before." It brought up memories for him of the two or three days they'd spent there, pretty much nude the entire stay because the clothes just got in the way of their 'adult activities.' "There certainly are other places we could go though. What would you like? Is there anything you want to see or anything in particular you'd like to do?"