A Birth day

Ruby nodded to Angus and listened to the girls " good, because the thought of losing you two or any of our kids, is unbearable"" she said smiling gently to them both as she held onto their hands. Now relaxing she walked with them to the craft shop and chuckled at all the bolts of fabric the girls wanted " you know that might not be such a bad idea , the sewing room I mean, not the cobbled together bit" she said and chuckled " god forbid that should happen I like our duplex just as it is, its cosy" she admited and smiled to Angus.

Ruby fund a seat and sat down to wait for the others to finish chosing what they wanted as she sat she saw a sewing machine tucked away , moving to it she pulled it out and smiled as she'd had one back when she lived with hr mother and father . Picking it up in its box she walked over to the counter and placed it down " I'd like to by this please" she said and the assistant nodded smiling as he rang hr up . Now with it in hand and paid for she smiled to Angus " I can make cute outfits for Caprice and it will help with the costumes too"

Angus wasn't seeing a darned thing that interested him, but Marcus continued to just browse, keeping one eye on the girls, just in case.

"Angus," Marcus called, from a rather back corner. "Come look at this." Angus went over to him, and saw he was looking at a rack of clearance things. They seemed to have been on this rack a long time. Some of them were new, and some were good, used things. Marcus pulled out a vintage, black leather men's flight jacket. It was in fabulous condition, not a rip or a scuff on it. And the tag showed that it had been marked down countless times.

"Wonder why its' so cheap," Angus said.

"This is wizarding Paris. It's an American muggle bomber jacket. I don't think there's any call for this jacket here. I have one already, but you don't. Cold weather is just days away at home, and this jacket would look great on you."

"It isnt' my size," Angus said, Marcus flicked his fingers at it.

"It is now. Try it on," Marcus told him. Angus tried it on. "It looks like it was made for you. With all that stuff the girls are buying, I bet you could talk them into giving you this jacket."

"You have a point," Angus laughed. Angus took the jacket to the counter and said he was paying for whatever the girls were buying too, and he haggled a bit with them on the jacket. Marcus had been right. Angus was able to get them to give him the jacket because of the massive amount of fabric and sewing notions the girls were buying. The clerk was already having to shrink things in order to pack them into a reasonable size package for htem to port home.

It was a hefty amount of money that Angus ended up dishing out for all the girls' purchases, but he never criticized them, never said a harsh word. He just paid for it. Loaded down with packages, he looked at Ruby and the girls.

"We're all loaded down with stuff, so no one has an issue with us heading home now, do you?" Angus asked.

Ruby held her sewing machine in one hand and smiled to Angus " I certaily don't mind " she said " be nice to put this down and put my feet up" she said with a chuckle. Taking his hand she held it and now saw the new jacket " wow that realy suits you" she said to Angus then glanced at Marcus " looks as if it was made for you, perfect fit, makes you look even more hansome, not that you need it." she again chuckled knowing Marcus had adjusted it for him.

With a quick adjustment of Angus collar she smiled to him now happy he had a decent jacket that will keep him warm and dry. " thank youMarcus" she said softly to him. looking around the shop one last time she smiled having what she needed not just for the costumes but for dresses and othr things she could make in her spare time when not out on missions.

"I think it was waiting just for him," Marcus said. "Shall we, Ladies?" He and Angus took the packages, as many of them as they could take, and ported everyone home. They arrived back home, and Anise opened the door for them. Angus and Marcus put the packages down on the floor not far from the doorway between their half and Edward's. Marcus headed for the kitchen to make tea, and the girls headed downstairs to change into jeans.

Angus happened to glance up at the doorway and saw Caprice doing a slow, stumbly crawl from Edward's, through the doorway, and back home.

"Ru," Angus called quietly, not wanting to startle Caprice. "Come look."

Ruby was thankful when Marcus took the pakages and ported them back hom as soon as she could she slipped off her shoes and changed her clothes it was when she returned she heard Angus and walked over to him " whats up?" she asked then looked where he was looking " wow , she can move" she said then chuckled " wonder if Edward knows about this" she said chukaling " hum whose side does she get that from" she asked seeing the bum shufling she was doing across the floor " whats she after?" Ruby asked watching happy she was moving but some what amused by it too.

It was as she watched a realization hit her. " ow gods , this means shes not far from walking" she said quietly to Angus " just a couple of months now" She watched as she shuffled over to her toys and grabbed her stuffed teddy and began playing with it "thought so , shes a dadys girl" she said and chuckled kissing Angus on his cheek. " well this means next level baby proofing" she said with a chuckle as she walked over to Caprice " okay little bum scooter lets let grandad know your home" she said and chuckled " hes going to love this"

"Wait. She's not just scooting. Give her a minute," Angus said. "She's been doing that for awhile. That's not what you need to see." Angus moved Caprice away from her toys on purpose, and, undaunted, Caprice rolled over on her stomach, got up on all fours and crawled back over to her toys. "That's the new thing. Look. An on-all-fours, real, honest-to-Merlin crawl. She's gonna be done with that scooting crap as soon as she figures out this crawling stuff is faster."

It wasnt more than a moment before Simone came over, hunting for Caprice.

"Oh, you're home," Simone said. Then she saw Caprice. "Oh good. She's here. She's been on the move all morning in one way or another. Edward's been working with her for the last few days to show her how to crawl, and it looks like the lesson finally stuck. Good for her. Except that now, she almost needs a leash to keep track of her." Angus laughed.

"I'll see if I can get Finn to at least keep an eye on her, in case she slips out of our sight," Angus said. "Maybe I can ask Jack to have a word with him."

"In the meantime," Marcus said, drawing his wand. He flicked his wand at all the doors, one by one.

"And what was that spell?"

"Baby proofing. She's not going to be able to push open any door, even if its partly latched. At least that way, she's not going to get outside or get into any room you don't want her in," Marcus said.

"Good thought. Where were you when Abbey was a baby? God, what a nightmare," Angus laughed.

"Bulgaria," Marcus teased.

"She can pull herself up using a chair or the sofa, but she can't stand for long," Simone said. "But she's working on it. She might well be walking before she's a year old, at this rate."

Ruby looked at Angus as he spoke and turned to watch Caprice when he lay her down and she rolled and pushed up on all fours she chuckled " wow okay yeah that is new" she said but as Simone waked in and explained she laughed " well that explains a lot" she said as she watched Marcus baby proof the downstairs " might be a good idea, and thankyou Marcus" she said with a smile to him.

Hearing Simone she groaned " god I hope not, then its catch that kid time" she said and chuckled then looked to Angus " remind me to thank Edward for teaching her how to crawl" she said wwalking over to the kitchen and putting on the ketle " any one want tea or coffee?" she asked " Im making a fresh pot" she held it up to show them it was empty then set the ketle to boil.

"The good thing is that she's too new at it to go too far," Marcus said. "And the charms will keep her in here somewhere. I'll cast a charm around the stairs so she doesnt try to crawl up or fall down them. Then, I think, for the most part, that will reduce a good many of the hazards."

"Thank you," Angus said. "I'm going to go take a walk outside and see if I can find Jack and see if he'll talk to Finn for a moment." He whistled for Finn and went outside, heading over towards the barn to see if anyone had seen Jack.

"I'd take some tea," Simone told Ruby, and at that moment there was a loud crash behind her. She whirled around to see that Caprice had hurled a toy at a vase on the bookshelf and the vase had fallen and broken. "Oh gosh. That might not be good. Edward told me that vase had belonged to Caprice--Angus's grandmother. Apparently it had belonged to her grandmother. Angus might not be too happy that the vase is gone."

"Well, we could try a reparo on it," Marcus said. "Or, since it's in about one million pieces, maybe we should gather it up and see if Kate can maybe do a much more efficient repair. With her art skills, maybe she knows something...." As he spoke Caprice began hurling other toys and some of the toys were managing to break more things on the bookshelf and a couple things on the desk. Marcus went over and picked her up. "Now, look," he told her, as she squirmed unhappily against him, not happy that she wasn't getting her own way. "We're not having this naughty business." Marcus knew she couldn't understand him but he wasn't about to let her destroy the house either. She began having a full out temper tantrum, screaming in rage. "Too bad for you," Marcus said calmly. He put her in her playpen and levitated all the toys out until she calmed down.

Ruby listened to Marcus and nodded as he spoke about charming the place and stairs to stop hr from crawling up then and falling down and hurting her self . When Ruby heard the crash she jumped alittle then looked over to where a vase had sat " oh boy , hum lest see if Kate can do something with it" she said walking over and helping Simone gather all the peices into a cardboard box to take over to Kate . Hearing Caprice throwing her temper tantrum she sighed and shook her ehad but watched as Marcus took care of her placing hr into her pen and removing the toys .

Jack had just finished his shift and stepped out of the barn doors when he saw Angus and Finn " hey guys, hows it going?" he asked walking over as he stretched his muscles to relive the tenshion from heaving large bails most of the day.

Caprice grabbed onto the netting of her playpen and yanked back and forth on it, screaming and raging at the top of her lungs.

"Thank you, Marcus," Simone smiled. "I'm sure that won't be the first temper tantrum she ever has, but maybe it wont last too long. She's due for a nap but she isn't the least bit interested in one."

"Well, without any toys, she'll get bored in short order," Marcus said. "Maybe with nothing to do, she'll go to sleep."

Hearing the raging, Edward came in, saw Caprice's temper tantrum, walked over to the playpen, picked her up and tapped her on the lips once, very lightly, with his index finger. "That will be quite enough of that, Madam," Edward told her quietly. Caprice looked at him, like a deer in the headlights, surprised, too surprised to even scream any more.

"How'd you do that?" Simone asked. She had just seen him do it, and yet, she was completely aghast that it had worked.


"Many, many Donohues to raise," Edward said quietly.
"Hey, Jack," Angus smiled. "Going very well, thank you. We took the girls to France to meet with Madame Maxime at Beauxbatons, and the girls were accepted. We'll be porting them back and forth every day to Evan's so they can do the home schooling program that Evie and Faith are in. I'm sure, in bad weather, if we can't get across to get to Tuscany, they can either stay with Evie and Faith or they can use their own room over at Edward's. Rosaria and Carlo would love to have them. I think they're excited and nervous, both. Beauxbaton's whole prim and proper atmosphere is pretty intimidating for them becasuse of their pack upbringing, but I know they'll be fine.

"Listen," Angus continued, "changing subjects. Caprice is crawling and scooting--off like a rocket. Finn normally isn't too far from her, so when you have time, no rush, would you maybe have a word with him and ask him to just keep an eye out for her and try to keep her out of trouble? She's going to be, very quickly, at that stage where we all need to have eyes all around our heads to be able to keep an eye on her."