A Birth day

Aria said good night to the others as they filed in to the tent to sleep. Sitting down she listened to Marcus and nodded " their all great kids " she said tipping out the last of the tea onto the fire and placing the pot to one side all while listening to him talking abut Poppys past " well shes one strong girl for going threw all that but shes got a great dad now, and forgive me for saying but no on will harm that little girl while Im around nor the other kids, there not mine but i'll stand up to any one who tries to harm them" she said and walked over to him with a cloth over her shoulder " and her dad was a dick" she said " never liked the guy myself, thought something was off about him, everytime I watched a game seemed too smug." she picked up a plate and began to dry it " but you as their dad , they care about you and thats as it should be, you give them safty and love back" she spoke as she looked at him " as will I if thats okay with you." she placed down the plate and moved to the next.

"some muggles are watching us " she said and smiled to them waving as she picked up another plate smiling " its cute" she said and chuckled.

"Well, she actually has quite a lot of common ground with my father," Marcus said. "My dad is a couple years younger than my uncle Damocles, and Damocles has always had a much more aggressive personality than my father, so my dad grew up always feeling like an underdog. Poppy has the same sort of personality, so he understands her probably better than the other kids, and that tends to be helpful for her. They're both do watercolor painting and are fierce bookworms, so that gives them something to talk about.

"But," he said, "I agree. Pavel is a first rate arsehat. I only encountered him twice at some post-game receptions after a couple quidditch tournaments that the Belgian Minister of Magic went to, and Pavel was always already well on his way to being completely banjanxed on both occasions. He was loud, pushy, arrogant, and believed he was God's gift to women. Ana somehow wasn't there on those nights, so I've always wondered he he'd have been better or worse if she'd been there with him. If I had known about Poppy or what he was doing with her, you can believe I'd certainly have found a way to scupper up all his plans to look like the MVP of the tournament, and I've had enjoyed every moment of it.

"I'm fine with whatever friendship you develop with the kids. After all, not that they're looking for a mom, but they seem to think I need a woman in my life, and they are desperate to match me with someone. Not sure what that's all about, but they're over the moon to see a woman along this year." When she said the muggles were watching, he laughed a little.

"Muggle campers are an overly neighborly lot," Marcus said, amused. "I'm sure they have absolutely no understanding of seeing a big wad of teens toddling off to bed straight after supper, but finding a Brit in Ohio is a little bit unusual. So, so long as they don't hear us enough to hear that we don't have American accents, we might be relatively left alone."

Aria listened to Marus quietly as he spoke of Poppy's nemesis as far as she was concerned. "It good she took after your father," she said " I saw that today, but I'm glad for now I'm the woman they are happy your with," she said smiling at him. As he spoke of the muggles she smiled and nodded "Agreed, bit weird to explain we came all the way here just to camp thh head back across the pond" she said chuckling as she finished the last dish placing it in the pile with the others.

"As for Pavel, I met him once when I was about eighteen, and yeah he was all hands even then," she said and pulled a face "Not the kind guy a woman wants, reeking of booze and all hands and not taking no for an answer, I made an excuse I was going the ladies and slipped out, never went back to the private booths, just watched the game from the stands after that." She dried her hands and placed the towel down to dry next to her.

"Well, it might not be as abnormal as you think. Believe it or not but there are clubs of rollercoaster fans, and they travel all over so they can spend a day or two at every amusement park that promises to be a good coaster park. And this one always ranks in one of the top five coaster parks in the world. So, people are rather used to coaster fans to come here for a couple days, hit the coasters and then dash off to the next park. So I figured we could fall back on that as a story," he told her.

"Sounds to me like Pavel is a creep with every female. I honestly don't think Poppy told Ana everything," he told Aria. "Pavel had already intimidated Poppy really badly by the time Ana came home and caught Pavel exploiting her. I'm not sure what he threatened Poppy with, but I remember how damned relieved she was the moment Ana told her that she was a Belby, not a Levski. And, the very instant she learned Ana was sending her to live with me, I became Poppy's hero--her knight in shining armor. She hasn't told anyone, I don't think, what really happened between her and Pavel, and I'm not pushing her because she's never going to be around Pavel again while she's a minor, not if I can help it. I think that's why she's really clingy with me. I'm hoping she grows out of that the longer she's with us."

Seeikng that the dishes were done, he took the washpan and simply walked several steps away from the tent and dumped out the dishwater. He leaned the pan against one of hte legs of the picnic table so it could dry overnight.

"I think that's our chores for the night, but so that we look like the other campers, I'll lock our food box in the car. Muggle campers do that primarily to not attract wild animals overnight. I'll still lay a couple protection charms around the tent, but that's just habit. I certainly don't expect trouble." He carried the food box and the cooler and locked them in the car.

Aria listened and nodded "I agree and I do hope she feels safe enough to talk to you or me about it when she's older, but for now, love and safty are what I think she needs." she said then watched as he tipped out the water and placed the bason against the leg of the table. She had heard him talk about the coaster clubs and just chuckled at the thought.
" I do not know what goes through the minds of people like that, riding coasters all day, who I couldn't do that," she said and chuckled.

Once she saw him lock the food box in the car she nodded " wouldn't expect any less" she said smiling " I already did one in the kid's rooms" she said softly to him "More to wake me if they leave the room nothing more." she moved to sit and look up at the sky. " clear sky tonight" she said her face lit by the campfire " you wanting to hit the hey early?" she asked

"You're not using your muggle brain," he laughed. "Don't you remember how much fun it was the first time or two you could fly your broom? Rollercoasters is as close to flying as a muggle can get, aside from a plane. They do it for the adrenalin rush from the G forces they feel on the rides, little adrenalin junkies that they are. I can't criticize them too much because I rather like flying myself.

"I'm fine with you putting a protection spell over their rooms, but on trips like these, trust me, if one of them so much as puts a toe down on the floor before morning, I'll hear it, and I'll be up. I tend to hear every single sound on trips with them. I'm more on guard taking them out than I am with most of my bodyguard clients. Speaking of which, I hope this time away does Angus some good. He's normally really social, but I think he really desperately needed a break away with Ruby to quiet his mind a bit. Completelly understandable after how that jumped up fortune teller treated him."

When she asked him if he wanted to go to bed early, he shrugged.

"I have no preference--except if you weren't planning on sleeping right away. I did put a clever little spell on our room. It's basically a one way sound blocker. We will be able to hear them, but
they won't be able to hear us. Don't ask me where I got the spell because its an espionage thing that I have found to be amazingly helpful for any number of things." He flashed her a grin of amusement."

Aria lokked at him and chuckled " hey animagus here remember" she said and chuckled " I fly every here, but yeah I guess your right since they don't get the same feeling as we do they have to get it from something I guess and yes I agree they both need time together, but wasn't that how Caprice appeared?" she said and chuckled again "I do hope their more careful this time and true any good father would do that lus with your training." she heard him and laughed at his sugestion " wow your getting to know me well" she said grining cheekily at him.

" oh Im glad you did that don't want the kids hearing that sort of thing." she added and stood up walking over she took hold of his hand " well shall we retire" she asked putting on a posh accent as she walked ahed of him her hips swaying as she smiled ack at him.

"I didn't forget you're an animagus," he told her. "I'm just saying I think their excitement about coasters is because its as close to flying as they can get." He listened to Aria ask if a weekend away was where Caprice had come from. He shrugged. "Hard saying, except that I'm presuming it came from some occasion when they were alone. He's extremely private about that, or he tries to be anyway. But, I am quite certain that Robert has been keeping tight tabs on him medically since that business in New Orleans. As I understand it, since he was in a full cardiac arrest when we got him out, that puts monstrous strain on the body, and it takes a little time, even for a wizard, to heal from that. He's been checking him almost daily. Robert is also aware of how the conception spell failed before, and I'm certain he won't let that happen twice. Angus is not ready in any manner for a sixth kid. Or any grandkids. I know for a fact he had a firm talk with the kids when they decided to get closer. Robert put conception spells on them because, well, Angus was wise enough to know that he couldn't stop the kids from being together, but he wasn't going to have kids having kids either. So, i'm sure whatever does or doesn't happen will be purely recreation and not procreation."

He got up and made sure the camp lanterns were turned off, and he followed her into the tent, casting some extra layers of protection spells and a locking spell on the door to the tent. He checked on the kids before he went to the bedroom with Aria.

Aria listened to him and nodded " yeah, I know Ruby is taking the potion in conjuction with the spell to be doubly sure, I think she too understands hes vunrable right now and just needs time alone and a lot of love" she said smiling as she followed him as he chancked the kids , she smiled behind him seeing them all sound asleep " like little angels" she said softly to him from behind seeing the girls sleeping soundly.

Walking to their room she changed into her night wear and smiled a she sat on the bed. " I have to admit I like your kids, they do you proud, even Poppy, shes like me at her age, I wasn't exatly out going myself" she told him as she slipped under the shet and out of her night wear smiling at him a she left it next to the bed on a chair.

Satisfied the kids were safe enough, he went to the bedroom and went to bed.

Angus was the first one up. He decided to let Ruby sleep in since it was so rare for her to do, so after a quick shower and dressing simply in a pair of jean cutoff shorts, he went to the kitchen, made coffee and then made Eggs Benedict. Angus loved hollandaise, and it wasn't really hard to make. It just took a little time. While that was cooking, he made a hasty fruit salad by supreming a couple oranges, adding some fresh diced pineapple, some diced melon, and some cut strawberries. He made a quick dressing with a little honey, some greek yogurt, and a splash of vanilla for sweetness.

When it was ready, he put the plates on the table, covered them with cloaches and cast a warming spell on the Eggs Benedict. Then he poured himself a cup of coffee and stepped out on the deck to see the sky so he could get an idea of what the weather might be today.

Marcus woke before daylight, though he wasn't sure why, except perhaps for the time difference. He checked his watch. It was 4:30 in the morning, and he was wide awake for some odd reason. He got up, showered and shaved and dressed in jeans and a tee shirt, and he went out, started the campfire and made a pot of coffee and one of hot water for anyone who wanted tea. While that was heating, he got out mugs, teabags, sugar, and milk in a magically cooled container. He was not going to try to cook. He had decided that he was either leaving that to Aria, or he would take the kids down to the campstore restaurant for pancakes. One or the other. For now, though, he was satisfied to simply sit at the campfire in the quiet with a mug of black coffee. All the muggles were sound asleep around them, so when the kids rolled out of bed, Marcus was sure he would have to shush them to keep them from getting rowdy and waking the muggles.