A Birth day

Aria chuckled and nodded " free and single hey" she said and chukled again as he climbed into it and lay down with a yawn. seeing how tired he was she smiled and kissed him gently "Good night Marcus" she said laying down next to him with her arm resting over his chest as she felt his chest rise and fall as he fell asleep.

Ruby woke to the smell of fresh coffee and the warmth of the sun also an empty bed. Smiling she sat up and saw the cup of coffee. taking it she took a sip and smiled before showering and dressing in a light summer dress and sandles now dressed she headed up to the main deck then up to the bridge " morning, feeling better about everything now?" she asked kissing his cheek as she sat down in the co piolets seat with a smile.

"I think so," Angus told her. "I definitely needed just a couple days with some space. I do think we ought to make these little weekends happen more than once a year, though.. Nothing against our family. It's fine just as it is, but sometimes a little adult time is good for the soul. And, maybe, if we went more often, we'd find some other places we like just as well as this one.

"We've got about a four hour boat trip ahead of us," he said. "So, do you mind either casting a packing spell for us or going and packing our bag some time before we get back to Tuscany? I think that the sky looks good so far so it should be clear sailing unless something suddenly blows up. We should be back in plenty of time to have a leisurely breakfast in the village. I know of a few good places. I'll go cast off, and we'll be on our way." He left the bridge long enough to cast off the lines and came back up, fired up the engine and steered the boat out into open water. "You're welcome to steer for a bit if you'd like to try it. The water's smooth today, so I think you wouldn't have any trouble."

When morning came in the states, Marcus got up, shaved and dressed in jeans and put on a camel colored sweater with a half zip neckline over a plain white v neck tee. It was just a bit chilly but he knew that when the sun came up, it would start to warm up. He stepped out of the tent, made the fire, and put on a pot of coffee and a pot of water for tea and another pot of water to warm for the washing up after breakfast. Then he got out just a couple mugs for coffee, knowing the kids would sleep later.

Ruby smiled and nodded to Angus " I agre there great and maybe we could try the grrrk ils next I hear they have som fantastic historical ruins" she said then heard him mention the packing spell" I'll do that " she said smiling. As he left to cast off she headed down to pack up their things. Once done she returndd to find Angus already at the wheel.

She could not help but chuckle as he offered her to steer " oh no, anything out there I'm bound to find it and hit it, I'll leave that to you" she said and chuckled.

Aria had risen when her alrm had gone off and washed , dressed and headed to the kitchen to start breakfast , she started with breakfast burritos then moved on to omllets with bacon and tomatoes, followed by pancakes with syrup followed by a home made musili with fresh yougert and fresh juice with toast. She had just finished placing the lst ingreidiant when she saw Marcus walk in " morning, sleep well?" she asked smiling to him as she handed him a fresh cup of coffee " couldn't help myself , I know you said you'd make it but this day is a special one for you" she added.

Angus laughed when she said she was afraid she'd run into something. "Well, first of all, generally if its signficant enough for us to run into it, there's some telltale sign. This boat, though, also has sonar because we do have muggle customers." He turned it on, and after a moment, the readings started to settle and get consistent. "See that little patch of short dashes off on the starboard side? That's a school of some sort of fish. Not close enough to interfere with us, though, and they're heading out away from us anyway. And look here..." He pressed a button and altered the view. "This view lets you see how deep the fish are in the water. Even if we were close enough, they're too far down to run into our boat. Oh, but look here, off on the port side, maybe about ten feet out. See that line? That looks like maybe a log or something. Probably something that floated off our island and is still floating. And it's close to the surface. We should be able to see something." He looked out the window on the bridge. "There," he pointed. "See how the water has a ripple that is actually moving the opposite direction of the tide? That's the log--or whatever it is. When you see something like that, that's something you probably wouldn't want to hit. But that path right in front of us, the water is smooth, and the sonar is clear. So we're good to keep on our current course. Before we had things like sonar, if you were out in the water and a ship got in your path, well, it most likely was just too bad for you, unless the ship's helmsman was alert. But, third, if there were a third, i'm right here. I wouldnt let you do that."

"I did sleep well," Marcus said. "You?" He took the fresh coffee she offered. "Thank you. I appreciate that. You know, I'm thinking that maybe I should keep the London apartment, just for now, but I'm thinking that maybe it might be worthwhile to consider either renting a house or, depending on how generous Brian and Robert are feeling, I did see a really unique opportunity listed in the Prophet. There is a piece of land in Cornwall that is being sold, but there is an old stone cottage on it. I really like the looks of it, and a lot of the furnishings are up for grabs as well. I would consider asking Brian and Robert if they would consider letting me move the house here on the grounds someplace. I mean, wizards can move buildings considerably easier than muggles can, and it would be a shame to see this cottage disassembled. It isn't overly large. There are only four bedrooms, but, if we do a bit of enchanting to enlarge those rooms just a wee bit, we could put the boys in one room, and the girls in another, have one to ourselves, and it would leave one as a guest room. That would give the kids plenty of indoor and outdoor space and other people their own age to hang out with, and some privacy. They've had a good life with my parents but living above Honeydukes doesn't give them much outdoor space. This would create an alternative for them. I had the realtor send me some photos of the place." He took them out of his shirt pocket and passed them to her. "Check those out."

Ruby moved to his side and loked at the sonar seeing the dashes as he told her they were fish then she saw the line that insicated omething was on the surface of the water. With Angus reasurance she smiled " all right" she said and moved to take hold of the wheel slowly she moved the boat towards the direction they needed. " like this?" she asked smiling as she set the ship straight again.

Aria smiled and sat down next to Marcus as he spoke " sounds like a good investment, and well if you agre I'd like to help too" she said smiling at him as he shoed her a picture of the cottage he wanted to move " its perfect and we can always do what Khaat and Angus have done with ther ehomes, enlarge the inside while keeping the outer look of the cottage, but I think it would fit perfectly on the gounds." she said sipping her coffee as they waited for the kids to wake.

Looking threw the information he had been given she smiled " so when do you want to bring it to the estate, i take it after you have cleared it with Robert and Brian right?" she asked.

"That's right. Good. You've got it," Angus told her as she took the helm. "Good job."

"Well, yes. That's what we'd do," Marcus agreed. "This cottage is old enough that I wouldn't want to jeopardize the integrity of it by actually making a physical enlargement. An enchantment would be a far safer way to make the bedrooms a bit bigger. It isn't like the estate doesn't have a lot of land. And this cottage is just a nice size, not overly big, and I really like the rustic look of it. I'm sure it'll be expensive but that's fine. If we decide we like it, we'll just buy it. But, yes, I have to get permission from Brian or Robert to put it on the estate grounds, and if we decide we're going to do it, I'll have to arrange for a foundation to be laid before we can bring it. I'll probably have a full cellar put in and then we'll bring the house. I'd like to keep that deck too, if we can move it without wrecking it. There is something that you haven't said a syllable about in the time I've known you. I presume you lived somewhere before I met you. So, where did you live? Did you have a house or a flat? Do you have family that you haven't mentioned? I mean, you had to have some sort of a life before I met you, right?"

Ruby smiled and felt him stand behind her , just knowing he was there gave her confidence to keep hold of the wheel as they moved towards Tuscany and the dock.

Aria listened to him and nodded " makes sense and that dock looks perfect to sit on on warm summer nights or cold winter ones watching the snow fall, could even fish from it if you put it by the lake they have." she said smiling . When he asked about her back ground she sighed " Okay I'll tell you if you realy want to be put to sleep" she said smiling "I have my mom, Luna and grand perents, that I stay with, I have four brothers both two sets of twins and older than me by five years,Noah and Jayden, Benjamin , he hates that usualy only mom can call him that, we just call him Ben and Lucas hes the youngest brother, then there was me, my mom was suprised when I turned out to be a single and a girl, my mom named me Aria it means “song” or “melody as for my dad..well, I don't know him, he disapeard before I was born, moms a muggle but she lives in the magical world and becuse of my grand perants knew about magic and I think my dad was a wizard.." she paused for a moment.

"oh I have a cat hes called Mr Mugginz, hes black and white and very paticuler who he likes, but don't worry he stays with my mom." she told him " I don't miss my dad as I know my mom raised us and we all turned out right." she sipped her coffee as she paused for a moment letting him take it all in. "Don't get me wrong if I wanted I could find my dad, but I don't see the point now, I feel if he wanted to find us he would have, gues thats where I get my love of the out doors and my animaus from." she sat back and looked at Marcus " so put you to sleep yet?" she asked hoping she had not just scared him away.

"Well, Robert says that metamorphs come about because of genetics, and animagus skills are learned. So, maybe you saw your grandparents or your dad doing animagus stuff when you were really little and modeled it after them. Who knows?" Marcus said. "You didn't put me to sleep. It's fine." He sipped on his coffee, and as he did, Zane and Kai came out of their bedroom with their bags packed, and they set them outside, up against the side of the tent.

"Morning," Marcus told them. "Are the rest awake?"

"They are now," Zane laughed. "I woke them up. They're dressing and packing their stuff. They'll be out in a few minutes."

"They're dressing before breakfast?" Marcus asked. "That's not like them."

"Yeah, well, it'll help them to get their things packed if they aren't still in their pajamas," Zane said, making tea for him and Kai. "So, are we doing anything else today, or are we just heading home?"

"Well, you guys have to board the train the day after tomorrow, so we need to make sure you're all packed and then we have to discuss the Halloween costumes and the girls will need Yule Ball dresses. So if we don't do that today or tomorrow, we'll have to set a date to do that."

"You know there are three of us that don't give a jot about hunting for girls formals, Dad," Kai scowled.

"Yes. I am aware," Marcus said. "I'll probably take them out separately for that" He looked at Aria. "Between the formals and the Halloween costumes, it's always taken a full day to get all that done. I'm not opposed to having someone make them, but since I don't sew, it isn't something I've ever done for them. My mother sews, and she did sew their costumes when they were little, but that's been a long time ago. Now, she just doesn't have the time to sew them all by herself."

Aria smiled hearing he hadn't fallen asleep" most likely my gdad is always outside doing stuff in the woods at the back of their place." she said but turned when she heard Zane walk in " foods done help yourself while you wait." she said then heard Marcus talk to Zane then to her about the yule balls " well why don't I take the girls yule dress shopping this year and come halloween I could help with the costume making, Im sure my mom and nana can help too, they love making things." he psued and smiled " one day I'll have to take you to meet them, since you've intruduced me to your family...kinda" she said and chuckled.

"anyway getting back to the costums for hallowen theres plenty of time yet" she said picking up a plate ading bit of everything and handing it to Zane " right now just sit and eat" she said softly and with a smile.

"Thanks," Zane said. He and Kai fixed their plates and tucked in.

"I'm going to get a plate before the kids eat it all," Marcus told Aria. "Shall I fix one for you while I'm at it?" He headed over to fix a plate, and the other kids came out, dressed, and their bags packed. Still yawning, they automatically went over to fix their breakfast plates.

Angus thought Ruby was doing a great job but he saw a large speed boat approaching in the distance, and Angus knew that it was on a collision course with the houseboat.

"Let me take it for a little," Angus told her calmly. "Then you can have it back. Hold on. this is going to get rough for a little." He took over at the helm, flicked his fingers at the windows on the bridge to close them, and since boats didn't really have brakes as such, he immediately reversed the engines to force the boat to stop all forward motion. That wasn't enough for Angus. He wanted to actually reverse the boat so that it would move the massive houseboat out of the way of the foolish people in the speedboat. When he immediately put the engines in reverse it cause a huge spray of water to splash up over the sides and the stern of the boat. It was a huge jarring force the threatened to throw them both backwards except that the seats on the bridge held. And as they were coping with that, the speedboat shot by them like a bullet out of a gun, right in the path that the houseboat would have been in if Angus had not thrown the boat suddenly in reverse. He brought the boat now to a full stop.

"Sorry. You alright? That guy is the kind of boater that gives amateur boaters a bad name," he said.