A Birth day

Ruby watched and worried that Caprice was going to hurt herself the more she threw her tantrum but when Edwrad walked in and went right over to her then she instantly stoppe he breathed out " thank you so much" she said poring out the tea and coffee for everyone " shes in hr pen becuse she broke a vase, simone says it has sentimental value so Im going to ask Kate to see if she can fix it" she told him motioning to the box that sat on the counter with peices large and small poking out of it.

" but as you saw she did not like her time in the pen" she added with a chuckle.

Jack stopped walking and listened to Angus and smiled " well first off well done to the girls thats not an easy school to get into, second sure he loves to guard anyway , I'll just explain where she can and can't go and he'll do the rest won't you Finn" he said and Finn woofed in responce making him chuckle as he scratched behind Finns ear. " and shes already at the scooting phase , wow thats the active phase, best have a rope and some netting ready to catch her" he joked " realisticly , if she wants to get some place she will, but hows Ruby handeling her baby growing up?" he asked knowing it was always Jess who paniced when their kids started to move around. " oh keep some fire whisky on stand by as you'll need it, trust me as a father of three, I know"

"No problem," Edward smiled. He looked in the box and saw the vase pieces. "Ah, yes. That vase. Caprice loved that vase. It wasn't one of my favorites, but Caprice's grandmother gave her that vase on our wedding day, and for some odd reason, Angus loved it the same way his grandmother did. Hopefully, Kate has a way to repair it." He listened to Ruby explain how it got broken. "Well, Donohue babies can be exceptionally driven little people. Whatever they put their tiny minds to sticks with them just like glue, but this one needs to take a nap." He put her back in the playpen, on her stomach and covered her with a baby blanket. It took a couple moments but soon, she was slipping off, unhappily, to sleep.

"She's not just scooting. She's crawling, like a full fledged, on all fours crawl. And she's able to pull herself up to a standing position if she's hanging onto something. I did think, at one point, of ordering a safari net back when Abbey went through that. Mine seems to have a stubborn streak about twice as long and twice as wide. I'm not really sure how Ruby's dealing with it. I buggared out to come find you to talk to Finn to make sure the baby stayed safe. So far, though, most of the time Ruby has dealt with things pretty well. Sometimes she's just a wee bit overprotective, but that's just her.

"Good advice about the firewhiskey," Angus said. "I have a nice supply of cigarettes, but I might need to get a bit more firewhiskey. I've only kept a bottle or two at a time. I have meant to actually buy a full case of some of my favorite whiskeys and wines and liquers, for a little bit of a stash down in the basement--not a full fledged wine cellar like Edward has. For now, I just want a couple shelves of things, I think. Maybe this is the time to do it. You know, when I signed the girls' forms in France and paid their school fees, it struck me that the boys are all but legal adults now, working full time jobs, And the girls are almost grown too. It sort of hit me that four out of five are almost grown and ready to leave the nest. Not sure they'll go all that soon, but they'll soon be old enough to."

Ruby watched as Edward placed Caprice down in the pen and she grumbled but stayed on her tummy slowly falling to sleep. Ruby chuckled " I want you on call, please" she teased and handed Edward a hot cup along with Simone nd breathed out seeing Caprice now sleeping peacfully.

Jack looked suprised at Angus " crawling?" he said then chuckled " thats quick too" he said then listened to Angus again " oow, man cave time" he said placing his hand lightly on Angus's shoulder. He knew most of Angus's kids were old enough " by the way the boys are doing great at there jobs not had a single bad report so far, just so you know." he then knelt infront of finn and spoke to him in glrowls and yips until Finn did the same back to him and Jack laughed before standing back up. " he totaly understands and will bring her to you or Ruby by the seat of her diper if she gets into some place she shouldn't but he also said he has been watching her since this morning when Edrward started teaching her to crawl, and now you know who to blame." he said with a chuckle looking up from where he knelt with Finn who out of the blue placed his paw on Jacks knee tapping it to mak him look down at him. " oh right here" he took out a treat and gave it to Finn " its liver based treat , his payment" he said and stood up.

"Any time. I work cheap when its grandkids," Edward laughed.

"I don't have a man cave. I might need to give that some serious thought. The girls and Ruby just bought nigh onto probably 50 full bolts of fabric in Paris, and bags and bags of sewing doodads. I'm going to have to carve out a sewing room for them or get them to use Kate's sewing space over at her studio. That's a bigger space than I could carve out at my house anyway. But, surely if the girls get a she-studio, I should be able to get a man cave. I like the way you think. I'm glad Finn's up for baby duty. He already sleeps up in the nursery at night most nights. Thank you for talking with Finn. I appreciate it. Oh, and not to change subjects, but just a heads up. We took the girls to Place Cachee today after lunch, and I witnessed one of Geldings' thugs taking a little girl. I tried to stop him but by the time I got there, they were gone. I might try to see if Kate can do a sketch of her if I describe the child to her. We need to find her before the next auction, if we can."

Ruby laughed softly so not to wake Caprice who was sleeping infront of her.

Jack listened and chuckled but then frowned at the mention of geldings man taking a child " thats not good I'll send word to Owens right away" he said to him " if Owens needs me I'll head to Paris and help , don't worry that kid will be found and brought home" he told him " but yeah a scetch of the man and kid would help so we can trace and track them down." It was now he accioed a pad and pen and wrote down what Angus had told him folding it he sent it to Owens via the living room fireplace. " there done" he said " now it seems quiet back at your place Finn knows his job and will watch Caprice with all his senses from now on, so if you hear him barking its his signel to let you know shes up to no good and he can't stop her."

"I'm guessing she's maybe seven years old. Short ash blonde pixie cut, wearing jeans, bright pumpkin orange pullover sweater, jeans, green slip on tennis shoes..and there was something painted on the upper...um..." he had to think. "Orange...I remember. It was a halloween pumpkin. You know, the sort of thing that people paint on inexpensive shoes just for fun. She had one of those big swirly lollipops. I'm betting that's how he lured her--with that candy. She didn't look scared. She clearly didn't have any idea the danger she was into. I'll get with Kate as soon as I can."

Edward and Simone sipped on their tea.

"That girl deserves her nap," Edward laughed. "She's been ready to roar from the time she finished her breakfast. She's been super active today. I don't know that I'd let her take a long nap or she will be really off on her sleep schedule tonight, but you do what you like."

"Oh, by the way," Simone said, "I felt like cooking so I put a big shepherd's pie in the oven, and I made a spinach salad, and I plan making Angus's hot bacon dressing for that. And, there's a sticky toffee pudding for dessert. I thought maybe people would enjoy some comfort food tonight."

Jack stood and listened to Angus talk about the girl and nodded as he discribed her to him " typical tatic for snatching kids" he said as he made a mental note of the discription . Hed only beed stood a few minets when a second note arrived and he took it from the air and ready it " thought so, they want you to get a sketch and send it over to them and they will send copies to there opratives out in teh feil to keep watch for her." he said looking at Angus.

Ruby breathed out at the sight of the sleeping Caprice. " I guess its like one of us becoming frustrated when we can speak realy" she said sipping on her coffee as she then heard Simone " Oh thank you, saves Angus or I cooking but we ate in a restaraunt near the school earlier" she said " but it does sound perfect for suppr" she added as she smiled.

"Yeah, I planned on it. I just haven't gotten to it yet," Angus said. "Alright. I guess I'd better get that done. See you later, Jack. Thanks." Angus went to the main house to find Kate.

"Well, maybe that. Or maybe it's because, at her age, everything is new and exciting, and she wants to explore all of it and see what things are and how the world works," Edward said. "And, she seems like she is just starting to have some desire to figure things out for herself. As for lunch in Paris, that sounds like Angus. I'm sure you were probably all hungry by the time noon arrived. And besides, there are a lot of good places for lunch there. You know, though, the boys will be back from work at five, and that's not all that far away. And they're always hungry. For that matter, generally, so am I. I, for one, am going to be glad to tuck into some good old fashioned comfort food."

"He's glad to tuck into a meal period. And, maybe Aria will be hungry when she gets back from St. Mungos tonight," Simone said, as Finn came in from outside, with something in his mouth. "Edward,.." she began.

"Finn, bring it here, Boy," Edward called. "Can I have it?" Finn looked reluctant to drop it. "Finn, come here. Let me see.' As Finn got closer, Edward could hear a tiny, high pitched squealing, like a teeny tiny alarm of some sort, and then Finn spit something out on the floor right at Simone's feet. She bent down to look at what it was.

"Oh my word!" she exclaimed. Using both hands, she very gently picked something small up from the floor.

"What is it?" Edward asked. "What did he find?"

"It's a little bowtruckle," she said. "It looks hurt, and its' really thin. Poor little thing." She tried to soothe the little bowtruckle. "It's a she! It's a girl. She got picked up by a bird, and it sounds like she's miles and miles from her family. She's apparently been on her own for some time, and she's just not done well with it. Maybe the bird hurt her when it captured her."

"I would say so, yes," Simone said. "Kate would be more the expert on this than I am."

"But Kate does not speak bowtruckle," Edward said. "You'll be needed too. Maybe Fudge can help."

"Can you go find me maybe a little basil leaf and put just a couple drops of water in it for her? She's very dehydrated. Some water might perk her up," Simone said.

"You have any basil in your fridge, Ruby?" Edward asked.

Jack looked at Angus and smiled " okay see ya in the morning " he said and headed to the main house to find Jess and eat some food.

Ruby chuckled and nodded to Edward as he spoke of the boys being hungry " yes they will, I'll put it on to heat up right away" she said and stood up as Angus returned with finn from out side. It was now she saw Fin holding something gentel in his mouth then drop it by Simone " oh dear" she said then heard Simone mention a basil leaf and water she moved to her window and looked at the plants on it smiling a she found a basil plant and gently picked one of its leaves . Walking over she grabbed a small bottle of water and placed a single drop into it to hand to Simone " here you go" she said placing the bottle beside her as she gently placed the leaf with the water drop in simones hand.

Sitting down Ruby watched " sounds like the little things been thre a lot" she said " Im sure Fudge won't mind letting her rest in his tree until shes better." she said glancing over at the tree home.

Angus had figured that he would have to spend some time with Kate while he tried to describe the girl in detail to her. Kate, though, knew an easier way. She drew the memory thread from him, deposited it in her pensieve, and then sketched it from what she had seen in the pensieve.

"That's brilliant," Angus said, looking at her finished sketch. "That's her. That's exactly what I saw."

"I know," she smiled. "I'll show it to Robert and Michael and then we'll take a copy of it to Paris. You know the intel team is always on the watch for the auctions. Angus, you know as well as anyone that we don't leave any child behind. We'll find her."

"I should have been faster," he sighed.

"You hardly could have been faster," she said, laying her hand on hers. "You're one of the fastest ones we have. As Robert says, we do magic, not miracles. She's with Gelding but only temporarily. We'll find her." He nodded, knowing she was right. He just wasn't all that accustomed to seeing a kidnapping in action. They were usually coming in after the fact.

"Thanks, Kate," he said, getting up.

"Thank you, Ruby," Simone said, taking the basil leaf and feeding the water to the little bowtruckle. "That's a good idea. I'll take her over to the main house in a bit so maybe Kate can look at her and we can see if Fudge will accept a companion. You know, as lonely as Fudge has been, maybe he'll appreciate another bowtruckle for a few days."

"Do bowtruckles have names in their own native language?" Edward asked her.

"They do, but they're not so pronounceable in English," Simone said. "Fudge agreed to being called Fudge because, first, he knew Abbey was a baby, and second, he had some understanding that it was a word that, basically, referred to something sweet, something that humans found to be good and desirable."

"Here," Edward handed her the handkerchief from his pocket. "It's clean. You could wrap her in it, perhaps, to warm her a little and to keep the draft off her when you take her next door."

"Good thinking. Thank you," she smiled. When the bowtruckle had had her fill of the water, Simone wrapped her up in Edward's handkerchief and took her next door. Kate had just started reading a story to Abbey when Simone showed up, but she interrupted the story to take the bowtruckle and feed it. Abbey watched with great interest. With some food and water, and now, some warmth too, the bowtruckle began to perk up. Simone went with them over to Fudge's tree and facilitated an introduction between Fudge and the new bowtruckle. Abbey asked what her name was, and Fudge told Simone that he believed the new one needed a name that, like his own, meant something sweete and desirable. Kate and Abbey and Simone put their heads together and it was Kate that actually suggested the name Taffy. Abbey liked the name right away, and that was good enough for both bowtruckles. Fudge took Taffy up into his tree, and Kate promised to enlarge it by making it taller and fuller for them. Feeling that Taffy would be well taken care of, she went back to the duplex.

"Well," she told Ruby and Edward, "She and Fudge are getting acquainted, and we gave her a name. Fudge thought her English name should be something sweet and desirable like his name is, so after some discussion, we all decided her name should be Taffy. She's safe in Fudge's tree with Fudge, so for now, she's had food and water and has a comfortable place to be. I think, all in all, it might shape up to be a good thing. Maybe they'll be friends, who knows?"