A Birth day

Aria moved to his side and helped with packing the tent and furniture, and watched as he remembered the chairs for around the fire to be able to roast marshmallows. " Do you roast marshmallows for smores?" she asked as she helped place them all now shrunk in a single bag. " I think other than the food we have everything needed." she said looking threw the pile "We got sleeping bags for the beds," she said and chuckled knowing this was wizarding camping rather than muggle camping.

Ruby listened to Angus and smiled " I did enjoy myself on that island, I don't mind if we go back" she said to him " just lets not come back with another bun in the oven this time" she said and chukled to him." she took another bite of her gelato and watched as a horse drawn carrage rolled past behind them both.

"We will definitely do s'mores. The kids will bring all the stuff for that. My parents will stock them for what they call a s'more bar. It has both cinnamon and chocolate graham crackers, regular marshmallows and some of the new stuffed ones--they're stuffed with chocolate in the center. They'll bring peanut butter, and probably jam and a bunch of other things to try to shove into a s'more. All we need to do is either bring hot dog forks to roast marshmallows on or plan on whittling down some sticks," he told her. "I've seen them bring sprinkles and chocolate truffles, and all sorts of candy to try, but I suppose that's what comes from living right above one of the best candy shops around."

"I don't think that'll happen this time," Angus told her. "Robert does not want any more accidents. For him, its one thing if we decide to take our chances,but its something else altogether for him if his spell fails. I know he's made sure to double check that every single time he has to patch me up for any reason. It's a pain in the butt, but I suppose if it gives us back some control that's a good thing. For right now, five is enough. We do not need six." He finished his ice cream cone and checked his watch. "We've managed to kill a couple of hours. Let's go see if our ship is ready."

He reached for her hand, and they walked down to the dock. He saw the houseboat and saw some of Edward's employees still on board but it looked like they were taking off empty crates from the ship.

"I think they're almost finished," Angus said, leading her up the dock. He saw they had put out a small boarding plank, probably necessary for loading groceries and supplies. He tried it first and found it was very steady. "It's stable. Just come across," he told her.

"Oh, Captain Donohue," a blonde man said, "we're just finishing. Your timing is perfect. We got your list of supplies, and we have everything on the list put in the galley for you. She's fueled up, and we've done the engine check for you already. All that's left for you is to either cast off or enjoy her as she is for the night."

"Thank you," Angus said. "We appreciate that."

"If you decide to stay out longer, just radio us or send us a message by the floo in the main salon, and we'll send you out a supply ship."

"Thanks."

"Well, goodnight then, Sir. Goodnight, Mrs. Donohue," The steward said, turning and going ashore with the last of the team who had prepared the ship.

"I guess she's all ours. I can get us to the island in a couple of hours, or I could anchor us in between, out in the middle of nowhere, for a very, very private night. What do you say?" he asked her, not really expecting to meet anyone else whether they were in the middle of the sea or anchored on the island. Either way was fine with him.

Aria grinned hearing how his kids made smores " oh sounds right up my alley" she said and chuckled as she looked for the hot dog forks to roast marshmallows on, She found the propped up against a wall " I'd say we wash these before using them." she said and held up about six or seven " want teh whole lot thers about twelve here" she asked.

Ruby smiled nd nodded " agreed, one Caprice is enough for the moment." she said smiling " but with Robert renforced spell we can still relax and have fun" she said as he glanced down at his watch. When he said they should head to the ship she stood up and took his hand. Reatching it she saw the men moving empty boxes and smiled when she was called Mrs Donohue " its nice to hear some one call me that" she said smiling to Angus " strange but nice" she took his hand again as they boarded the ship . Ruby made her at to some seats and sat down " I think droping achour for the night some place quiet would be great." she smiled thinking about just hearing th sea lap against the side of the boat and being with Angus just the two of them.

"Nah, what you've got looks like enough," Marcus said. "I think that's just fine." He kept rooting on the shelves and found four large backpacks. "I think, if we shrink it, we can just about fit it all in two of these backpacks. That'll leave the third for food, firewood, and clothes. I think we'll probably be able to get the twins to wear the supply packs, and then that will leave me with the third one. That's a workable thing, I think. I'm betting we can condense the kids stuff to three or four backpacks. The cars are usually parked on the same campsite and are only a few steps away from the tents anyway, so it won't be so bad. Oh, and don't let me forget to get Angus's chessboard. It'll come in handy, especially if it rains."

"Okay. Sounds fine to me too," Angus said. He took her up to the bridge on the top deck. "When a ship bridge is up here on the very top deck, it's called a flybridge. They're just more practical so that a captain can have a full view of what's around him. This ship is big enough that I don't think we'll be knocked around very much even if the current gets a bit rocky. I think it'll be pretty smooth. You're welcome to sit in the right hand seat. The controls for this one are on the left. I'll go cast off and be straight back."

He went down to the dock, cast off the line, and returned to the deck. He sat at the controls, put the key in the ignition and started her up. The engine turned over smoothly, and he weighed anchor and took the ship out to open water to head towards the island.

"Oh, if you look to your right, you'll see a small door. I think, if you open it, there's a itty bitty fridge there. It probably has some sodas and some bottled water if you get thirsty," he told her. "We'll have to go down to the galley to make coffee, though. That's okay. I don't need coffee right now anyway."

Aria chuckled and nodded as he retrived the backpacks and begn shrinking the items and placing them into each back pack. " sounds great." she said and continued to pack the things into the right backpack. Soon she was done and looked at Marcus "You can check if you want I'm sure we got everything packed away" she said turning on the spot to double check nothing had been left behind and she saw nothing.

Ruby followed Angus up to the flybridge and sat down in the copilots seat " wow" you can see alot from up here" she said thn glanced at the door he mentioned , opening it she chukled seeing water with sodas in the fridge. " I can make that if you need any" she said then watched as he cast off and returned to guid them awy from the dock she sat back in the chair as the ship moved out to sea.

"I don't need to double check it. I'm sure you did just fine," he smiled. "I know the kids won't get this, but probably my favorite part of camping is getting up just as it starts to get light--way before sunrise, and starting the campfire and making a pot of coffee in an old enamel coffeepot, the way the cowboys did it. My dad calls it cowboy coffee, but there's something about coffee cooked over a campfire that's just better. The kids won't get it unless they become bigger coffee fans. They drink tea, of course, and I think most of them drink coffee except the two youngest ones. They just don't like it the way I do. I wonder..." he began. "Come with me." He picked up two of the backpacks and went upstairs to the kitchen and put the packs on the floor. "Let's see what kate has squirreled away in her pantry." He went to Kate's large walk in pantry and went to where she had shelves and shelves of homecooked jams and jellies in canning jars.

"I think I hit the motherlode," he said. "Oh, look. Elderberry jelly. That's one of my favorites. And apricot jam. Nobody makes better apricot jam than Kate, I don't think. I think I'll take a jar of each. Homemade ketchup, homemade mustard, tomato sauce, pickles, pickle relish,..oh look--spiced peach halves. We might need two or three of these...chutney,... You see anything you like?"

"Give it another fifteen minutes til we get away from the city lights, and then watch the stars come out," he told her. "This is the best view you're going to get just about anywhere."

Fifteen minutes later, the Tuscan coast faded from view, and the sky above was nothing but a black velvet carpet with endless sparkling lights, and the moon was a new moon, missing just a sliver from where it had been a night or so ago.

"What do you think?" he asked her. "I see this and it makes complete sense about how ancient sailors were so fascinated with the night sky that they learned how to use it to steer their ships by it."

Aria nodded to Marcus then chuckled following him up to the pantry, she looked at all that he had pulled out "Oh Apricot, love that" she said as she heard him mention how he liked to get up early and make the fire and make some coffee. " oh I know that feeling the sight of the night turning to day and the sound of the dawn course as you stand and sip your coffee in the fresh dew air" she said and smiled " I hear you on that" she said and chuckled " um I think you got everything, oh what about potatoes and tin foil so we could have baked potatoes?" she asked " oh I forgot we could take fishing rods to catch our fish?" she suggested as she packed away what he had already pulled out into the provishions bag.

Ruby watched as the lights from Tuscany faded and the dim sparkles of the stars above greeted them "it's like our own sparkly blanket " she said anc hukled " then she saw the milkyway and smiled " our galexy" she said pointing to it in the sky above them " this is relaxing" she said sitting back in her chair and smiling.

"I'll get some potatoes," he said, "some carrots, some onions, and some beef from the kitchen at Brian's. There are fresh foods there. I'll take probably all the fresh stuff from there--you know, bread, eggs, butter, milk and all of that. However, if we want seafood, we really should take it from here. We're going to be near a lake, but the water is pretty polluted. You definitely don't want to eat anything swimming in that. I might take some shrimp or something. We could do a surf and turf supper some night maybe," he said. "I'm actually better with an open fire than I am with a stove. If you want to fish just for fun, we can do that, but you definitely want to catch and release. Let's go raid Brian's kitchen now."

He closed Kate's pantry and picked up the backpacks. "Since my hands are full, how about you apparate us home? We can leave the packs at the duplex and take the empty backpack to the main house to get our food there."

"It's an easy thing to like," Angus said. When they were halfway out, he brought the ship to a stop, dropped the anchor and turned off the engine. "This isn't on any shipping routes, and it isn't near any of the muggle tourist islands, so, this is about as remote as it gets for one night. I think we're officially on our own for the night." He dimmed the lights on the bridge and on deck. He got up and reached for her hand. "I can think of better places for us to be than up here on the bridge."

He took her down to the back deck where there was some comfortable furniture, including a double reclining lounge that almost looked like an expensive futon. Someone had laid a stack of blankets on a deck box near the door to the main salon. The view from here was just almost as good as up on the bridge. He flicked his fingers at the chaise to recline it like a bed.

"So, we've got miles and miles of dark and starlight," he told her. "It's all our own til dawn. Suppose we can find something to do?"

Aria listened to Marcus and nodded " yuck would not want to eat plouted fish, so yeah let get what we need from th fridge" she said and herd him say he was good with the camp fire beter than cooking in a kitchen " realy, well nows the time to show me" she said smiling t him as she saw him pick up the backpacks. Walking over she wrapped her arms around his waist and ported them back to the duplex then with a quick kiss to him she let him go walking over to the main house.

Ruby looked at the night sky and smiled feeling the ship stop moving she took his hand as he lad her down to the main deck as she sat down on the cheise and looked up she smiled " I agree, its like theres nothing out there but just the two of us, and yes there is" she said smiling at him a she moved to kiss him gently (fade to black)

Angus woke now to see the stars had faded. The sky was getting light, and they were still on the deck. They had covered themselves with one of the blankets, and they had slept on deck. Angus wasn't sure what it was, but sleeping under the stars was a safe thing for him. It was the first in awhile he hadn't been tortured all night with nightmares. He had had a couple nightmares, but he had been able to reassure himself when he saw the stars overhead, and he'd gone back to sleep.

He got up and went up to the upper deck and he had showered and dressed in a pair of cutoff jeans shorts and a plain tee shirt, with deck shoes. He went down to the mid deck to the galley, made coffee, and while the coffee was brewing he'd made some bacon and egg sandwiches on toast. It was just simple, but he really wasn't all that hungry.

He took the sandwiches and the coffee back on deck,and he put Ruby's cup and her sandwich on the end table next to her side of the lounge.

He sat down on the lounge again, and he sipped on his coffee.