A Birth day

Aria listened to Marcus and smiled to him noding as she ate her cake and loved every bite " of course" she said softly to him as she wiped some chocolate from her lips. Ruby smiled and listened to them all talk

" you'll get it in no time" she told Anise and Ginger " Im sure." she finished her food and picked up the empty plates from the table when the girls said they neeed to shower and get their things in the wash she chuckled " its ready for you to throw your things in and set it going" she said after them.

Aria sat back in hr chair and smiled " so true" she said to Angus then looked around " so where are they?" she said teasingly with a chuckle and a grin. " Joking asside we should all get some rest." she said standing and heading up to the room.

"By all means, get some rest. You had an early start to the day and then had a long day at that," Marcus told her.

"I'll clean up the dishes," Angus said. He gathered the dishes and took them to the sink and set a washing up spell in place. When the kids were through with their showers, they put their clothes in the washer and Anise started it running.

Angus was considering heading for his shower but the baby woke and was hungry and had no hesitation in letting him know it. Angus sighed, and he picked her up and fed her some pureed sweet potatoes, some pureed chicken, and some pureed pears. That seemed to satisfy her. Then he cleaned her up, changed her, dressed her for bed and tucked her in her crib.

In that time, Marcus had gotten his shower, and he was sitting in the living room, reading the day's Daily Prophet.

"It's amazing how quiet the house gets when all the kids are out of the room," Angus laughed, thumbing through some books on the bookshelf, looking for a new mystery book to read.

"That's for sure," Marcus smiled. "Some day, when they're all out on their own, you'll miss it."

"You just keep telling me that," Angus laughed.

Ruby smiled seeing Anise turn on the washer with their clothes in it then she took several cups to the cofee table and placed them down handing one to Angus " fresh tea" she said sitting next to him . Hearing Marcus talk she chuckled " I for one will feel weird not having the costant noise around here." she said sipping on her camomile tea while she listened to the sound of silane , that was until Caprice woke up she was about to sort her when she saw Angus head over and start to feed her then head to change her so she left him to finish what he had started.

Aria had changed into her night clothes and laid on the bed reading a mystery book listening to the quiet while she waited for Marcus to join her but she found her self unalbe to stay awake and within five minets she was out like a light the book resting on her lap.

"So," Angus said to Marcus, "if you sign the agreement to buy the cottage tomorrow, how soon do you think you and Aria will be in it?"

"Oh, I don't see that actually happening til maybe Christmas or after," Marcus said. "Brian's going to be enlarging the pond and trying race to do that before snow starts. We'll have to have the house moved to the property probably in 45-60 days. I'll have to get a cellar dug and a foundation put in to set the cottage on, and then the cottage will have to be moved. That will be a massive undertaking because I don't really want to tear it down and rebuild it. It's really solid right now, and I'd like to leave that in place. But, once its' moved, the contractors will have to connect the house to the foundation and then we'll have all the business of connecting it to all the utilities. And, after that, I'm sure we'll have to do some redecorating, furniture buying, and all the rest of it. You know what that stage is like."

"We do," Angus said.

"I suppose we could camp out in the place after the foundation work and utilities are in, but I know that's a massive amount of work to be done."

"Well, if we can do anything to help, let us know," Angus said.

"I might need some help to find the right antiques to put in it. I don't want modern chrome crap. This house is begging for antiques."

"I'll keep my eyes open."

I haven't discussed specifics with Aria but, personally, I'm hoping to do maybe a hunting lodge feel. Plaid upholsteries, warm woods, antique horse brasses hanging on the fireplace, that sort of thing, where people can feel free to kick off their shoes and make themselves at home. Tonight, Aria's just spent. It isn't easy to keep up with Khaat. I'm glad she felt comfortable to turn in. I'm guessing she's already asleep."

"I think that'll be perfect. It'll have its own sort of casual elegance. I have a few ideas where to send you, and I'm sure Brian and Edward will know of loads of places," Angus said. "I'm sure Aria will be right as rain in the morning."

"I'm sure," Marcus agreed.

Ruby listened to Marcus and Angus talk about the cottage ans smiled knowing Aria will love the idea of a warm homly place by water to be with Marcus in. " Im sure she will love it " Ruby said and nodded to Marcus as she finished her tea and took the cup back to the kitchen along with any others that were empty , she heard all the mention of how spent Aria was and nodded " I looked in and she was sleeping, looks like she fell asleep reading a book" she chuckled. " don't know how you manage to stay awake al those hours with Khaat and still have time to do other things" she said closing the door to the washr and setting it going " these will be clean by the morning I'll take thm out and put them away then." she said to Angus asshe moved from the kitchen to the living area and sat down on the sofa letting out a sigh of comfort as she looked out the window to the yard bejond and its ever changing colors of its trees.

"I'm used to not getting a lot of sound sleep," Marcus told Ruby. "I'm sure Aria has probably had some of those nights herself, but protections can still be different. Actually, while I'm thinking about it, I probably need to send Khaat a quick note to explain things so that she doesn't wonder where I am or Aria is in the morning, since I did tell Aria a bit of a little white lie." He scribbled a note and sent a paper bird over to the main house.

A reply came only a moment later, with Pip bringing it to the kitchen window. Angus flicked his fingers to open the window and Pip came in and dropped the note in Angus's lap.

"Mail call," Angus said, handing the note to Marcus.

"Its from Robert. He says Khaat is soaking in the tub with a glass of wine. He says we shouldn't worry about getting her to St. Mungos tomorrow. He says she can go with him when he goes in, and, he thinks it is very possible that David might be ready to stay with her for the afternoon and bring her home. So Aria and I are off the hook tomorrow. Maybe we can go do a little antiquing after we sign the paperwork."

"I think that's an excellent idea," Angus said.

"And that will leave you and Ruby with some adult time."

"With only a baby underfoot all the time, and four teens running in and out," Angus laughed. "Other than that, no interruptions whatsoever."

Ruby listened and nodded to Marcus " She will love going antiquing with you" she said smiling then looking to Angus as he spoke she laughed at his words " Agreed, no adult time for us just yet" she said smirking " but one day." she looked down at her book she'd picked up and turned the page " I am glad you and she can have a day to yourselves, its been some time since the camping trip, oh by the way how are your kids?" she asked looking up at Marcus. Marking the page she closed the book and lay it on the coffee table before her.

Jack and Jessie walked around the perimeter and watched for anything out of place Jack watched the ground while Jessie watched the trees as they walked. " Hey" Jessie said seeing a groundsman walking the opposite way.

" hey, all quiet for once" the groundsman said making Jessie and Jack groan " What?" he asked

"usually when someone uses the Q word, it means all hell is about to breaks out" he explained and the groundsman chuckled looking to Jack who nodded making the groundsman shake his head and continue to wak the opposite direction.

"They're back in school and working on classes. They've got a professor that they dont' like for History of Magic. Not sure what happened to the ghost of Professor Binns, but they have someone living that they really, really don't like, and some sort of a big, comprehensive exam coming up in that class that they're all dreading. Apparently, they've made some sort of a last minute choice at the school to do a Halloween masquerade ball on Halloween night. So, that will require evening gowns, dress robes, and some fancy masquerade masks. My parents have them covered for that, and apparently they have them covered for costumes for the town's Halloween carnival over the weekend," Marcus said. "The kids said they'll send me pictures."

"I presume we might go to Hogsmeade on Saturday?" Angus asked Ruby. "We dont' have costumes, unless we rent last year's again. And we've only got a couple days before Halloween. I suppose we could go as sleep deprived parents of a houseful of kids."

Ruby smiled as Marcus spoke about his kids then nodded when he said his perents were covering the halloween costumes for them . She turned and looked to Angus as he spoke of going to the alley to get their costumes and she chuckled at his sugestion " well we'd have that down pat thm wouldn't we" she said chukaling " I haven't given it much thought of what I'd be" she honestly told him " you think they have an ideas folder lying around we could take alook at?" she asked.

Jack and Jessie walked around the perimiter until they came to a clearing in it were two wolves Jack stopped Jessie with his arm.

"there having a stand off don't want to get in the middle of it, just stand still." he told him as Jessie looked at them both, both were equal size, one was brown with black and the other greay and white exept for a spot of yellow on his right ear.

"I have a couple old costumes stuffed away in the closet at my London apartment," Marcus said. "But they might not appeal to you. I have a pirate captain, and a female first mate costume. The female costume used to be a serving wench costume but we updated it somewhere through the years. And I have a medieval king and queen--I thought maybe Aria and I might use those. You know, if you don't get to sew Halloween costumes this year, you could work on dresses for all the girls for the Yule Balls. There's one at Hogwarts, one at Beauxbatons, and there is going to be a mammoth one as a fundraiser for St. Mungos. That one is going to be a very formal, black tie, with a lot of press and photographers, a five star supper, a fundraising auction, and dancing to a live orchestra. That's one you should go to, for sure."

"Don't you think I get enough teasing about swashbuckling?" Angus asked.

"Actually, I think it might put some of the teasing to rest because they would see it doesn't bother you," Marcus said.

"You might have a point," Angus said.