A Birth day

"Does Khaat have evening gowns?" Marcus laughed rhetorically. "She's got more evening gowns than most women have shoes, and in every color of the rainbow. She has a number of them that she's set aside in a different closet altogether because once she's worn them somewhere, she can't wear them again because everybody bloody remembers what she's worn. If you find something you like, borrow it, and we can alter it to fit and change it to whatever color you like, if you want. That reminds me. This is still winter. I'll call Clive and have him send me four ladies evening cloaks. Anything else anybody needs from Clive while I'm ordering?"

"It depends on what my daughters think they're absolutely going to have to wear tonight. I am not having them feeling like they need to look as hot as the grown, very adult women will look," Angus said.

"I'll take care of that. Trust me," Marcus said, setting up Angus's breakfast on the overbed table for him and warming up his coffee. "I'll go check the girls room and ask to see their gowns. I'll be back." Marcus turned and hurried downstairs as Sam and Victor were heading downstairs.

Ruby chuckled at Marcus and nodded " he's right I remember she took me into her dressing room and it was enchanted to be larger on the inside because she had so many clothes and shoes. " she recalled with a chuckle " Aria go and check out Khaat's she will defiantly have something that would suit you. " Ruby said and Aria nodded.

" oh that would be great , make sure they are warm ones with this cold weather." she said as she looked to Ruby who shook her head that she couldn't think of anything else they needed from Clive's. Together they watched Marcus head down to the girls room to look at their dresses so he would know what colour he needed to order in cloaks.

Ruby headed to the table and dished up breakfast for the boys and placed them on the table with several for the girls and the others. " okay we'd best eat then I'll ask Jessie if he can look after the babies today" she said as Aria went and sat at the table. Ruby sent a plate to Edward " you eating with us?" she asked him as the plate hovered close by.

"I wish, but I can't," Edward said. "I really do have to go. I need to pick up tickets to the symphony tonight at Barbican Hall. Seeing a live symphony is one of those things that Rosaria and Carlo have always wanted to do, so I'm getting the four of us tickets for tonight. And if I don't get them shortly, O would have hell to pay. I'll check in on you lot later. Behave yourselves." He drew his wand and flicked it apparating to London.

Michael and Robert came over, and they knocked and came in.

"Sorry," Robert said, "didn't mean to interrupt your breakfast. Go on and eat. Did you find anything more after we left?"

"Not that I'm aware of, but Marcus is down checking the downstairs right now," Angus said.

"I had Gabe rush an analysis of the gold spiders," Robert said. "Angus, is it possible that Suzanne or Priscilla could have gotten a blood or hair sample from you at any time?"

"Certainly possible,'' Angus said. "Priscilla's followers got the drop on me in New Orleans, and I woke up in that casket."

"That's what I thought, and that's what I told Gabe. Iya is with Gabe, and she's looking at the spiders right now. They both concur that the spiders have been somehow magically set to try to do some sort of serious harm to you. Thank goodness we caught them ahead of time. As it is, they won't get getting out of their containment jars, so that's one crisis avoided."

"Iya says the key is in coming up with a talisman or something that will protect you. That would give you an edge over Priscilla and Suzanne both," Michael said. And as Michael spoke the wand gave a bright flash of green light.

"What the..." Robert began. He reached over and picked it up. "Michael, I think this is it. I think this is exactly what Iya was hoping to find. This has some powerful white light magic attached to it. Where'd you get this, Angus?'

"It was my gran's wand. Edward's first wife. It was willed to me when she died, and that's the cloak pin. It somehow was designed to fit with it," Angus said. "I think it does something but I don't know what."

"I want Iya to take a look at it straight away," Robert said. "I agree. It is supposed to do something."

"Angus, I think..." Marcus began, as he came up the steps. He stopped short when he saw Robert and Michael. "Oh, sorry."

"No, go ahead, Marcus. You were saying?" Robert asked.

"The teens want to go to the ball. The girls have dresses, and actually, I think they chose very wisely. I think their choices will be very good."

"I don't know about their going at all," Angus sighed.

"I actually think it might be good experience. Besides, I don't think Suzanne will show up. She's got too many warrants out on her here. And Priscilla has warrants out in Paris. If they hang relatively close to you, Angus, they could help keep an eye out for trouble. I'm not expecting them to intervene. That's for us to do, but extra eyes would certainly help."

"Ru?" What do you think?" Angus asked. unsure about involving any of his family any deeper at all i this.

Ruby heard Edward and nodded sending the plate to the table as she sat and ate with Aria and every one else. Hearing Michael and Robert enter she listened to them talking then when the girls and the ball was brought up she looked at Angus " well they will have to go sooner or later, there old enough and extra eyes would be good" she said " guess I have to agree with Robert on this" she said chuckling to him.

Aria finished her food and placed her plate in the sink with her coffee cup " okay I'm going over to talk to Khaat, is she in or at work and do you think she would mind me looking threw her wardrobe for a dress." she asked Robert as she washed her plate and placed it in the washer.

Ruby looked to Aria " oh don't forget shoes" she said and saw Aria nod she had heard her before she headed over to the man house. Ruby chuckled and looked at the play pen as she made two bottles walking over she gave Caprice hers and picked up Dimond to give her her breakfast bottle while Robert and Michael spoke to Angus.

"She's home because of tonight's affair," Robert said. "As she told me at breakfast, 'I love you, but you have no idea how many hours it takes to make me look ready for the press at one of these things."

"That's because she doesn't believe she'll have me to help her today," Marcus said. "I can free myself for her a little this afternoon probably, if Angus permits."

"Absolutely," Angus said. "I have another quill to make anyway. And since Khaat is essential to this thing with Rita Skeeter, I'd better not need you for a couple hours at least."

"Anyway, yes," Robert said. "go and ask her if you can borrow a dress. I'm sure she won't care."

"Why do I get the feeling Aria has no clue about these black tie affairs?" Angus asked.

"Because I dont think she does," Marcus said. "This is a whole new social circle for her."

"She'll be with me, remember?" Michael asked. "She'll be fine. I'll look after her, and I'll make sure she doesn't stick out like a sore thumb. She has more ability to ad-lib some decorum than you might be giving her credit for. She'll be alright."

"You'll have a lot of people to help get dressed and fitted today, Marcus," Robert said. "That was not in your job description."

"It's my pleasure," Marcus said.

"Still, it isn't what I hired you for. Its above and beyond the call, but it is necessary today. I'll give you double pay for today," Robert said.

"Why, thank you, Sir," Marcus replied, not expecting it.

"I am grateful. Thank you for stepping up to help. Speaking of stepping up, let's see if you can be up and about today, Angus."

"He's done it twice this morning already," Marcus said.

"Have you, then? Good job. Let me see what you've got,' Robert said. He helped Angus get up and helped him walk half a dozen steps and then back again. "Oh, my! I didn't expect that much. Well done. Excellent. I do have a potion that will help you have extra strength and balance for a couple hours. You can take two doses max. That means, Cinderella, four hours max, and you're going to go right back to having trouble again. Understand. More than four hours, and you're going to need two of us to apparate you home tonight."

"Means I'm gonna need my watch," Angus looking at Ruby, teasing.

Aria headed over to the main house and stopped taking a breath in " um Khaat?" she said heading up to where she knew Khaat's room was and knocked on her door " Khaat I need help" she said somewhat lost in what to do at a ball of all things.

Ruby listened to Robert and Marcus and chuckled before looking and watching Angus walking a few steps before walking back to the bed and sitting down again. "don't worry, your pumpkin and driver will be ready" she said and chuckled to Angus " okay ,now if you gentle men don't mind I need to talk to Jessie, Angus would you mind watching the babies for a moment please." she said placing a now satisfied Dimond in the play pen and taking the empty bottle from it that Caprice had finished.

Ruby headed over to the cottage Jessie and Yu shared with Chris knocking she heard Jessie walk to the door and smile at her " hey , everything okay?" he asked and Ruby began to explain to him. " sure I'll look after the babies while your at the ball, Chris and I will make sure their watched" he said and Ruby smiled as she thanked him then headed back to the duplex.

"Come in," Khaat called. "I'm in the closet."

She had her dress hanging on a mannequin, hoping to try to do a pressing spell if Marcus couldn't come. She had her safe open, and she had several trays of jewels, nearly all of them gifts from Brian, and she was trying on diamond and ruby necklaces on the mannequin to see what the jewelry would look like with the dress. In front of the dress, on the floor, sat a pair of red sequined stillettos, some of the tallest ones she owned, but she truly loved them.

"Hi, Aria. What can I do for you?" Khaat asked.

"Certainly," Angus said. "go ahead."

Robert had a plan for tonight. He wanted Michael and Aria to do several things. He wanted them to make sure the places was secure. He wanted them to provide any necessary backup if Marcus needed it. Khaat needed to focus on the fundraising, so that left Marcus with keeping Khaat safe amongst a whole ballroom of people. He was going to station the kids on two opposite sides of the room and station them to help be eyes and ears about Angus's safety. He was purposely bringing either Jack to be the lead guard to protect Angus, or he would bring David for the night. Robert was also going to be trying to keep his eyes open in case Angus needed help. He was hoping that Angus was going to be sharp enough to help defend himself if it came to it.

Aria heard Khaat and stepped in to the room she was taken away by how big it was and all the jewellery in a cabinet where Khaat stood . Pulling her self back she looked to Khaat " um well you know the ball that's coming up , well I was wondering if I could borrow a dress and well if you could help me walk in heels" she asked "I'd like to wow Marcus . since he's only ever seen me in mission wear or casuals , never formal" she explained " and well I don't have any idea what I'm getting into" she explained to her hoping she could help her " I heard your really really good at doing all this formal stuff, so much that every guys head turns when you walk in the room" she shifted on her feet.

Ruby thanked Jessie and headed back to the duplex , stepping in she went to Angus " he said he'll do it, him and Chris" she told Angus softly looking at the babies playing in the pen.

"Well, that's not hard. Okay, a few things to keep in mind, then. If you particularly want to impress Marcus, I can tell you what he does and doesn't like. I honestly do like to have him along if I'm looking for an evening gown because he has good taste. He believes that too much fabric to an evening gown makes a look fall completely flat, and I tend to agree with him. Likewise, not enough fabric makes a woman look trashy. And that balance has a lot to do with a woman's age and her body shape. Gown color is all about your particular skin type whether you need pinks or corals, and your hair color. The overall shape of the gown should take into consideration what your figure's assets are and what your figure's weaknesses are. You look, to me, like you have a lot of natural peaches and corals in your skin tone, so I would go with warmer tones, but that's just my suggestion. You choose what color you're comfortable in.

"For you, I think I would choose a sheath style dress for this occasion for a couple reasons. First, a ball gown skirt is just not one that Marcus likes at all. He is never going like that big full skirt. He understands at certain balls or weddings, those dresses are rather obligatory, but for him, they're a huge turn off. I would not choose a mermaid skirt since they can gather tightly at the knees and make walking a challenge, and since this is basically a mission, you need freedom of movement. You can do a soft fabric to give you movement without looking like you have an excessive skirt.

"As for shoes, I can tell you Marcus absolutely does look at shoes, and I'm sure he's probably already told you his hatred of stilettos. If you asked him about what shoe he felt you should wear, he would tell you that the shorter the heel, the better. For him, a heel is not necessary, and he actually likes to see women wearing some little glitzy flats with their gowns, so that's an option for you rather than feeling that you need to push yourself to wear a heeled shoe, particularly since it's a mission anyway. Walking in heels isn't hard. You just need someone to show you how and then let you practice a bit in a pair of heels. We taught Ruby, and you can learn too.

"What matters to Marcus is that you can comfortably move in your shoes. I have several pair of dressy flats in here, and most of them I've only worn once or twice with dress slacks. He's bought me several pairs of those, hoping to convert me to them, but they're just not me. When he comes shopping with me, we agree straight off on the dress. When we get to the shoes, I buy a pair of stilettos, and he buys me a pair of little glittery flats, and I shove the flats in my closet. I wear the stilettos, he breaks the heels off, and I repair them--if I can find what he's done with the heels once he's snapped them off. He and I are never ever going to agree on shoes, and we both know it."

"You're welcome to look at any gown I have. The sheaths are over there on the far wall, in the right hand corner. Help yourself. Once you have a dress, we'll find the shoes and the rest of it. Don't concern yourself with size. Marcus will adjust it for you."

Aria listened to Khaat and smiled at her advice , she nodded at the colour she should chose ruling out reds and oranges right away. Walking down the rows of dresses she got to one and pulled it out but put it back she did this several times until she found a light green Satin V-Neck Spaghetti Formal Dress with Ruching in Modern Sheath Style. Aria looked at Khaat and smiled.

" what about this?" she asked holding it against her " could I try it on?" she asked as she turned to face Khaat she saw a pair of matching shoes , but not stiletto's with a block heel and not too high " oh these would be perfect" she held the two together and looked at Khaat she knew Marcus could adjust it for her since her build was not like Khaat's in any way she was shorter and toned in different places to Khaat.

As she walked over to Khaat with the dress she placed them on a hanger on the wall and brushed her fingers over the material feeling it between her fingers.