A Birth day

Aria woke and slipped from the bed checking Diamnod as she pased the crib finding her sleeping sloundly too. Now showered and dressed she headed down to the kitchen , not finding any cofee on she made a fresh pot and set it to one side as she pored three cups , she walked over to Angus and set one down next to him and gave one to simone before picking up her own cup and sitting down to drink " those smell divine" she said and looked at them smiling.

Ruby woke to an empty bed she chukled and shook her ehd before she slipped out and slipped on her dressing gown to head down passing teh nursary she checked on Caprice who was still sleeping. Walking down she saw Angus sat and picked up the paper that some how managed to be dilivered that morning smiling she walked over to him and gently kissed his cheek "Good morning" she said placing the paper on his knee.

Angus cut each of the four dutch babies into four big wedges.

"Thanks. Help yourselves to the dutch babies. Think of an oversized sweet Yorkshire pudding. She's made some warm elderberry syrup and some homemade whipped cream," Angus told Aria and Ruby.
"And there's fruit salad and an egg scramble. Tuck in to whatever you want." He served himself a wedge of the dutch baby and a serving of the egg scramble and some fruit salad.

"You'd better have saved me some," Edward said, coming in.

"A little," Simone teased. "Come and fix your plate before the boys get here."

Edward sat down and started to fill his plate. The boys came downstairs a moment later, and then, a couple minutes later, Marcus came downstairs with a baby on each arm, and both babies were red faced and screeching and angry.

"So much for sleeping in," Marcus said. "Baby number one started to have a melt down, and apparently that woke up baby number two who decided she wasn't going to be cheated out of having her very own little melt down." He put them down in the playpen, deciding to let them have their little temper tantrums. "They can wait just a moment or two, and we'll get to them. I need just one sip of coffee, and then I'll do something with those little demon seeds." It made Angus laugh. Marcus rarely ever said anything sarcastic about babies, but this was a man who desperately needed coffee first this morning.

Ruby looked at the food and oohed at the sound of sweet pasties " sounds delicious" she said and picked up a plate adding one to it she sat down only to hear two babies whailing as Marcus brought them down-stairs. " they were sleeping when I looked in " she said as she watched Aria walk over and take Diamond from him and walk around soothing her.

Ruby finished her food and then took Caprice leaving Marcus free to grab his coffee "There a fresh pot made" she said taking Caprice to change her into a pair of dungerees and a tee so she could play on the floor. Aria had already changed Diamond and offered her a bottle which she drank then Aria wped on more of the anti-itch cream over her legs and arms to stop any flare-up of the rash.

Marcus took a sip of his coffee while the women tended to the babies.

"I honestly would have done that," Marcus said to them.

"I'm going out to cut some firewood when I finish breakfast. We're low and so is Edward," Angus said.

"I saw that last night when I made my check. I'll go with you. I'm supposed to be with you anyway," Marcus said. "And with the snowstorm, I haven't been able to run, so I could use some time cutting wood. I'll give you a hand. More hands make light work--or however that goes."

"Many hands make light work--I believe," Angus laughed.

"Oh, and I do need to see Robert this morning," Marcus said. "Diamond has some sort of itchy rash. Looks just like a food allergy rash that Zane had when he was trying to transition off of formula and onto solids. He was allergic to soy when he was tiny. He outgrew it but Evelyn believed that soy milk was healthier for them than formula, and of course that went rather badly for us. So I put them back on formula for awhile, and it cleared up."

"You're right. We should alert Robert, just in case," Angus said.

"I used some of that anti itch potion for babies on her last night, and she slept pretty much all night--as far as I know, anyway. Simone, that dutch baby was truly amazing. You can make that again anytime."

"I made a parmesan one once and added a garlic butter sauce for a ladies book club, and they loved it," she said.

"That sounds great too," Angus said, as Sam and Victor each put a second wedge of the dutch babies on their plates and poured more elderberry syrup on them.

"Save the rest for us," Sam told her.

"My pleasure," Simone laughed.

Aria and Ruby both chuckled " its fine you needed your coffee" Aria said as she held Diamond as she listened to Edward talk of milk allergy and nodded "its possible but I agree Robert should be told." she said and looked down at Diamond before putting her over her shoulder as she let her watch what was going on around her. Ruby smiled and looked to Edward as the boys came down and took some pasties for their breakfast.

Ruby finished her food and coffee and took the empty bowls to the kitchen to be washed then returned to sit on the couch beside the play pen.

Angus and Marcus headed out to go cut firewood, knowing that there were four fireplaces in the duplex--one in each living room and one in each master bedroom, making 2 fireplaces on each side for a total of four. That was going to take them a bit to cut that much firewood. That was going to be a total of about three cords of firewood, if the bedroom fireplaces only burned at night. And that much chopping was definitely going to take time, especially in blizzard conditions when it was hard to breathe against the wind.

"I don't like the boys trying to keep up with that much firewood," Edward told Simone. "We've got plenty at the winery, but it would be really risky business trying to get it here from Tuscany."

"It's not worth putting anyone in danger," Simone told him. "Jack does think ahead, though, so he surely would have kept a crew chopping wood while the werewolves were sick, And if that's the case, maybe the boys won't need to chop that much."

"We could go help," Victor said. "The wood is now being stored all on the back side of the barn, so it isn't so far. Someone had it moved during the werewolf crisis."

"I bet it was Jack," Simone said.

"The only way it would be safe for you two to go join them is if I took you, by the ropes to the barn," Edward said.

"Isn't it too dangerous for you to take them and then to come back by yourself?" Simone asked, concerned.

"No, not really. I have more experience at it than the boys do," Edward said.

"We'll go get our winter gear, if you don't mind taking us," Sam said.

"Ruby? Any objections?" Edward asked. He knew the boys were legal age, but it was the respectful thing to do to ask her in these kinds of weather conditions.

Ruby listened to them talking but as they finished the back door opened and Jack walked in with Jesie behind him both had arms fulls of wood " thought you were getting low" he said then looked around and not seeing Angus or Marcus he chuckled and shook his head " Jes go get them" he said and Jessie once the wood was stacked by the fire headed for the back door while Jack stacked his large load by the fire " I'll bring more but this should see you for a day or two, Im hoping this eases by tonight" he said placing the last log by the fire.

Jessie ran out side and looekd threw the snow seeing foot prints he followed them till he saw Angus and Marcus " hey guys Jack sent me , what you doing?" he asked standing with his arms folded watching them closly.

"We were gonna go out and help," Sam told Jack. "So I guess we can wait on that. How's the pack doing up in the new longhouses? Do they need anything? Anise and Ginger will be asking when they get a chance to open the floo at Evan's."
 
"Trying to cut a bit more wood for our fireplaces," Angus told Jessie. "By rights, with four fireplaces, we should be cutting about three cords' worth, but that's just too damned much to cut in these temps," Angus said. "so we thought we'd do what we can and then go without until we can cut more. Our crystals downstairs aren't able to keep up with this sort of bitter cold, so the fireplaces are a huge help. When we built the duplex, I didn't think we were going to need a big crystal energy converter, so I only put an average sized one in."

"Tell the truth," Marcus told Angus. "When you built the duplex, you figured it would only be you and Ruby and Edward and Simone. You had no idea you were going to be adding five or six kids into the house, along with a steady stream of houseguests, like Aria and me. The more people you have, the more heat and hot water and air conditioning and electrical power we all consume. Your place can't keep up. When the weather breaks, I'll help you tear that system out, and we'll put a commercial sized one in. Until then, we'll need more wood. What does the main house run on?"

"It has four commercial systems in the basement," Angus said. "It's in a room behind the armory down there. There's a hidden door down there because Brian didn't want just anyone to be able to get into it."

"Does it use all four systems?" Marcus asked.

"It certainly does. We've debated on adding a fifth. Robert's already upgraded the farmhouse over at his place, but I just didn't think I'd have to be upgrading for another ten years or so."

"Surprise!" Marcus teased.

"Idjit," Angus pretended to frown at Marcus.

Jack listened to Sam and Victor and chuckled " ah thats whats called being prepared" he said " the packs doing good , Robert made sure they had a overaundance of food and medicines before the weather hit " he said as he cleaned out the fireplace of ash and relaying with clean kindeling and wood then lit it.

Jessie stood and listened then chuckled " well you don't have to get wood Jack and I just brought the frst of four loads over, we kinda had a sense this was going to his and stocked up in the barn so your all good, but I would say , upgrade that system, marcus is right , thought wern't you going to get your own place with Aria?" he asked Marcus as he picked up the already cut logs of wood.

"I'm glad," Sam said. "If its important to Anise, its important to me."

"They might not live with the pack anymore, but they're always going to feel like that pack is family, I think," Victor said. "Sam's right. I think they're always probably going to be in our lives in some form or another, especially as long as Dennis is alive."

"That's in the works," Marcus told Jessie. "There was a big stone cottage in the village not far from the fishing docks, and the owner was trying to sell just the cottage and not the land. Well, I happened to like the lines on that place from the first time I saw it, so I took a look at it when it came up on the market, and Aria and I bought it. The house needed moved off the land, so I paid a local farmer for the use of a field over the winter to let the house sit on temporarily while Brian finishes enlarging the pond. While that's being done, we're having the foundation and the cellar for the cottage being put in on the far side of the pond so we can sit the house on the foundation and secure it in the spring. I'm sure we're going to have some updates to it that we want to do, but I'm still hoping we can move in by April or so."

"That's the place that used to be a bed and breakfast for a few years," Angus told Jessie.

"That's the place," Marcus nodded. "Seafarer's Rest or something, as I recall. Went out of business a year and a half ago and been sitting empty since."