A Birth day

Aria let Zane fix his plate and looked to Marcus " you don't have to but..thankyou Marcus." she said smiling at him. She watched the kids as they went and grabbed food and sat down to eat it. Now with Marcus getting her a plate she went and sat at the table poring a glass of juice since she'd finished her coffee.

Ruby heard Angus and felt him take hold of the wheel as she moved out of the way. as he expertly manoeuvred the houseboat she found her self falling to the floor and chuckling as he apologised " oh Im good the floor broke my fall" she said and chuckled as she stood back up " that guy was a jerk" she sid looking out to see if she could see him " looks like he took off" she said " I think I'll leave you to steer if thats okay" she said kissing his cheek gently.

"Well, as long as we're stopped," Angus began. "One moment." He went out on deck and he drew his wand and fired at the speedboat, and then he came back in, with an evil laugh. "Couldn't resist. I didn't just slow his arse down. I stopped it completely. His engine is now entirely dead in the water, and he has an additional problem. For some odd reason, all the propellers just might have happened to drop off and sink right to the bottom. He's going to be there awhile. I'll alert the coast guard, and they can go get him--eventually."

The kids didn't say anything because they were busy with breakfast. Marcus ate, enjoying breakfast.

"I don't want to go home," Daria said as she finished breakfast. "And I don't want to go to school either."

"I can understand that," Marcus said. "I remember feeling that way when I was your age. Oh, and by the way, just so you guys know, as of midnight, your mother and i are no longer legally married, and she no longer has any custody claim for any of you."

"So, do you have full custody now?" Kai asked.

"Yes," Marcus replied.

"Yes!" the kids cheered. "So we never have to see her again? Do we have to visit if she wants to see us?"

"You don't have to, no," Marcus said, "but if you lot choose that you're not going to see her again, I'd like you lot to have one last meeting with her to tell her how you feel and to tell her that you're choosing not to see her any more. You don't have to do it, but I think you'd feel better if you were finally able to tell her that yourselves."

"Can we think about it?" Zane asked.

"Certainly," Marcus said. "No rush. Take your time."

"Dad?" Ezra asked.

"Yes?"

"Thanks. It helps knowing we don't have to go with her anymore."

"You're welcome. I just want you guys to be happy."

"We're definitely happier now," Daria told him.

Ruby watched as Angus left the bridge did something then returned when he told her she burst out laughing " oh that will be a tale " she said still laughing at what he'd done so much so she had to sit down " okay take us home you sexy pirate" she said and chuckled .

Aria listened to him announce that he was now free of their mother she could not help but smile at how happy they all were about it. she herd them sk if they needed to see her again and Marcus say they didn't but to think about it to which she had an idea about what they would say " oh when should we start on the yule ball gowns?" she asked " becuse I'd have to arange with my mom and nanna to come for a visit when the girls are with us so we can get mesurements." she continued to eat her breakfast.

"I couldn't resist," Angus said. "So now, he was in a big hurry to get absolutely nowhere."

"We could take them to Clive," Marcus suggested. Then he remembered she wouldn't know who Clive was. "Sorry. Clive is a rather exclusive outfitter that takes care of fitting the first stringers for mission wear. A lot of us get most of our wardrobe now from Clive. We could introduce him to the girls and see waht he comes up with. If your family could perhaps get together with my mom on the Halloween costumes, that would be a huge help. I suppose we do have time on the Yule Balls, though, since we don't reallly need them for another four months." He saw the kids were finished eating. "Can you lot help with the breakfast clean up? I'll go start packing the things inside the tent. Remember it might be only 9 am here, but its already one in the afternoon at home. There is a time difference." He didn't want to specifically say he was going to shrink the furniture and pack it, in case there were muggles about. He got up and went into the tent to start packing that up so that they could eventually take down the tent.

Ruby laughed again at his words " oh thats so funny" she said chukaling " but so true too, it will teach him not to be in such a hurry around slower vessles" she added as she watched Angus move the ship again.

Aria listened to Marcus and raised an eyebrow as he mentioned Clive and who he was "oh I wondered where you got your gear, definalty not teh same lace the ministry gets theres " she said chukaling she heard him mention getting his mom with hers and her nana to do the costumes " oh mom would love that, to know I have some one special in my life after years of pepetual, when you going to find the right guy, every time I went home." she said using a high pithed comical voice to simulate her mom and chuckled. Once she heard the kids had finished she finished eating too and washed her plate. Hearing him say it would be lunch time when they got back she smiled " well I'll start lunch when we get back, miht just be something light I think" she aded packing awy the food into a cooler ready to go to the back of the rental car.

"Well, you're right. Seriously, though, I did want want him killing people today, and he might have. Now, he won't."

"I don't know if I have the true story or not, but, Khaat told me that in the early days, they wanted some all black clothing so that the enemy didn't see them coming." He was careful how he phrased it, not wanting to name names in front of the kids. "So, Michael knew of this outfitter, and he and Robert went to see him about some mission wear. That was Clive's dad, and they've been doing the mission wear ever since. Now he does most of the clothing for most of us. Khaat told me that Robert pretty much hates the auror uniforms and always has. I'm actually glad we don'thave to wear a uniform" He laughed when she talked about her family asking her when she was going to have a decent guy. "I've gotten that for years from the kids, actually," Marcus said. "That, and 'Dad, here's a phone number for this really cute muggle girl...' or 'That waitress was eyeing you so I got you her address.'"

"We were helping," Kai said.

"No you weren't," Marcus laughed. "You just wanted to get me to ditch your mom sooner."

"Well, yeah, Dad, duh!" Ezra said.

Ruby chuckled and smiled at him " well I for one think it was a good thing now he'll have to pay out to fix his boat and that could take months, thats months of people having peace on the seas" she said " you know Im a bit sad we'll not be alone again but happy we'll get to see the kids , is that normal?" she asked.

Aria stood in the kitchen and listened as he explained about their mission wear " well I for one noticed how well made it was and how it fit your form so well" she said smirking. Hearing him explain how the boys tried to get him with other women she laughed " and you found one that just walked into your life on her way to help Angus out of prison, legaly of course." she added looking at the boys, " then we were pushed together on that last mission, again by Angus and Ruby" she smiled " not that Im complaining, I kinda enjoyed playing your wife, the perks were worth it" she added.

"Well, if it isn't, then I'm abnormal right with you," Angus replied, "because I feel the same way. You know. Evan and Tara go out for supper once a week, and the girls used to go over to Edwards for supper with Rosaria and Carlo on those nights. I see nothing wrong with us going out every so often. It doesn't necessarily have to be a regular thing but we need to do more of it than we do. The kids are old enough to babysit Caprice if Edward and Simone are busy, but if they can't, then I'm sure we'd have no shortage of sitters on the estate." He deliberately did not radio the coast guard right away. He had no intention of radio'ing them until he and Ruby were docked in Tuscany.

"Clive is an expert tailor, but I also learned a lot of tailoring enchantments when I worked in Bulgaria. You wouldn't think, in my position, I'd have to know that stuff, but I was always there, and the tailors weren't always so reliable, so I learned how to properly fit clothes for men and women both. And even now I get asked a lot to help tailor either Robert's clothes for some important ministry meeting or Khaat's for some hospital fundraiser." He smiled as she told hte kids a little of how he and she had gotten to know each other.

"So you do what he does?" Zane asked.

"Close. She worked as an auror before joining Robert's staff," Marcus said. "And now, she helps us catch the bad guys. That's the short story of it."

"Is it going to be as dangerous as your job is?" Kai asked.

"From time to time, I'm sure," Marcus said. "I doubt she'll be doing exactly the same things i do, but I'm not in charge of that either, so we'll have to see."

"So where is this Clive?" Zane asked. "He sounds expensive. He's not in Saville Row or anything, is he?"

"No," Marcus laughed. "I actually like Clive's work better. If we get a chance, we might go there either this afternoon or tomorrow if your granddad is in agreement. Besides, Aria needs to get fit for a set of her work clothes for working with Robert." Work clothes was easier for them to understand than mission wear.

Ruby smiled listening to Angus as he talked " I agree Jessie would love to baby I think so would Yu." she said chukaling " I get it" she said softly noticing he didn't call the coastguard just yet " and She chuckled again sitting back in her chair.

Aria listened to Marcus and Zane talking and chuckled " he's right, my skills are different from his so yeah we'd do different assignments but both are just as important and just as dangerous." she said then looked at Marcus "Guess it's why it's taken me this long to find someone who understood what I do just as much as I understand what they do, but I promise I'll watch his back just as he watches mine." she said smiling as she put the last piece of food into the cooler. Listening more to the conversation she chuckled "Remind me to ask your dad to take in some formal wear next time there's a ball we have to attend" she said smiling. Hearing them talk about Clive she smiled " I got to take a trip to see him, the ministry uniform I was given has to go back, so will have to have my mission wear." she said, " if Robert approves."

When Angus finally docked the houseboat, dock workers tied the boat to the dock, and Angus turned the engine off.

"Well," he looked at her, "we're back. We're right in between breakfast and lunch, so let's leave our bag at the dock office and go get some brunch. I'm getting hungry. There's a good place that's just a short walk from here." He picked up the bag and carried it to the office. When he got there, he saw Evan was at work in the cruise line office. Angus went in to see him.

"Oh, you're back," Evan smiled, looking up from the paperwork on the desk. Angus saw that Evan's face and hands were covered with cuts and bruises. "How was the weekend?"

"It was great. What happened to you?"

"It's a bit of a story," Evan waved it away, not wanting to get into it. "Just regular training skirmishes, I think. the kids are home, and they're fine. I dropped them there an hour or so ago. They're a bit sleep deprived, but they are fed. So I'm figuring they probably went back to bed."

"Can we leave our bag with you long enough to get breakfast?"

"Of course," Evan replied.

"Oh, and one more thing," Angus said, going to the desk and taking a piece of scratch paper. He wrote down the coordinates of the disabled boat. "There's a speed boat disabled at this location. Trust me. They won't be getting back without an engine or any propellers."

"Any...wait. What?" Evan frowned.

"Could you send the coast guard to get them, please?"

"you're serious, aren't you?"

"Yes. I am," Angus said. "We'll see you in an hour or so, and then you can tell us what happened to your face." Angus turned and walked out of the office. He looked at Ruby. "Now--breakfast. It's just a few doors down from the gelato shop."