A Birth day

"That will work fine," Khaat nodded. She flicked her fingers to hang it on a mannequin so she could match jewelry to it. Then she looked through her jewelry and hung a jade and diamond pendant with it. "That works," she said. "It's not overly big, but it makes a statement. And it has small matching earrings. And I have a bracelet that will work for that too." She chose two rather small bracelets that were diamond and jade, and she chose to stack them on the same wrist and hung them together on the mannequin's left wrist. "I like that better because the other bracelet I have is too big, I think. What do you think?"

"Now, as for the heels, put them on, and I'll show you how this goes," Khaat said. She slipped on the red glitter stilettos she was going to wear that night. "It's really simple. It's the same heel-toe step that you use every day for your other shoes. The reason you want to put the heel down first is to give you stability in the heel first. Then put your toe down. Like this." She showed her in slow motion how to use a heel-toe step, and then she used her natural walk to show her it really was easy. "You use a bit of a smaller step with a heel, but you can do that. After all, you're not sprinting or trying to be athletic. When you go up and down stairs, take your time. Put your whole foot on the step. Stairs are not for a heel-toe step. Put your whole foot flat on the step whether you're going up or down. And always use the handrail--always. You're with Michael tonight I heard. That's good. Believe it or not, he is remarkably polished at black tie affairs. He will always put himself on the outside and put you near the handrail, and that's so you can grip the handrail to steady yourself in your heels. He'll have you on the outside, so that if you twist your ankle or something, he'll have you. I would never ever worry about Michael as an escort. If you're unsure about black tie etiquette, ask him. He won't steer you wrong."

Aria watched as Khat put the dress on a mannequin and began adding jewellery to it she loved the jade and diamond necklace she added and the two bracelets. Hearing her mention shoes she slipped them on and stood up at first she was good at staying still but watching Khaat as she walked in front of her she took a step and immediately her foot went from under her but she grabbed hold of the wall " dang it "she said looking up to Khaat " I'll try again" she said standing back up she copied how Khaat walked and after several near falls she finally got it, her back straight and steady steps.

" okay, I think I have it." she said and walked over to Khaat. She heard her mention asking Michael about black tie etiquette and she nodded " Mi going to do just that I'm nervous enough , I don't want to embarrass you or Marcus, I'm more of an out doors woman, boots or sneakers with slacks work best for me, all this feels weird." she said with a chuckle.

"You're doing great," Khaat said. "I do understand how awkward that feels. I grew up on my parents' farm, remember, so I grew up largely outdoors too. I had to learn too. My mother was a great teacher. She is one of those women that just makes a black tie affair look completely natural to her. Watch her tonight and see. If you need any hints on what to do, feel free to ask her or me, but I'm sure you'll be fine. A good portion of Marcus's duties have always seemed to be black tie affairs--probably because he was guarding the Bulgarian minister of magic. Hang around him long enough, and it'll feel second nature to you too. I actually do a lot of these things, more than I thought I would, so, just a word. I have a feeling you like working. So if you do, the quicker you get your black tie skills, the more assignments you'll get."

At Angus's, Marcus took the girls to Evan's today. He didn't want any foul ups, no chance of Priscilla buggering things up. He told Evan and Tara about the situation, and Evan promised he and Tara would keep a tight watch on the girls and would bring them back in plenty of time to dress for the ball.

The guys went to work, and Edward and Simone took Rosaria and Carlo to London to look for dressy outfits to wear to the symphony. That left Ruby and Angus alone with the babies for the moment. Angus settled back with his coffee while the house was quiet.

Aria listened to Khaat and nodded as she spoke " that's kind of why I came to you for help" she said looking at her " I love Marcus and
want to help and work with Marcus, even to the point of get my black tie skills up to where nobody knows I'm not from an elite background" she finished and continued to walk back and forth in the heels until she felt confident to walk in them.

Ruby smiled as every one headed out to do what was needed leaving her and Angus " wow a moment alone" she said quietly as she looked at the babies napping in the play pen. " want a refresh?" she asked" that has to be cold by now" she said with a chuckle.

"I sort of figured that would be the case," Khaat laughed. "You might need to get a few more evening gowns in your wardrobe then. When I told Ruby she might have to have more than one in her closet, she looked at me like I had three heads. She gets it now, though. The heels starting to feel more comfortable now? You're looking more natural in them."

"Yes, please," Angus said. "it is cold, you're right. You know, I have a feeling that the girls might have taken their gowns with them, because they had bigger bags with them this morning. My guess is that they're going to ask Evie and Faith and Tara to help them get ready. I don't have an issue with it. I know getting dressed up still makes them both very uncomfortable. Anise told me at one point that she has nightmares about getting to a formal event and finding that she has her dress on either backwards or inside out. Poor thing. That's been several months ago, but I can't imagine those dreams have stopped yet for her because they havent' had anything to get dressed up for.

"How about you?" Angus asked her. "You have a dress picked out? I got the feeling Aria is really nervous about this. Do you have what you need for tonight?"

As he was speaking, there was the crackling sound of someone apparating in. There was a knock on the door and then the crackling sound of someone apparating back out.

"Sounds like a delivery," Angus said. He flicked his fingers at the door to open it and saw four large boxes, and on top of that was one more box. it was about four foot long but only about six inches wide and about six inches tall. "What the heck do you suppose all that is?"

Aria listened to Khaat and chuckled as she spoke of how nervous Ruby was and that she now has more than one ball gown in her wardrobe . When she was asked if the shoes felt natural she looked down and smiled nodding " yeah they do, didn't think I would take to them this fast. " she said and smiled to Khaat as she spoke of Anise having nightmares about going to a ball " I've been to them but only as security , I never got dressed up like this before." she told her " I was mostly in black suit and tie and kept to the background , this ill be the first time I'm kind of up front" she added.

Rub relaxed listening to the quiet house as Angus spoke and she nodded " yes I have the perfect dress and no high heels" she told Angus " not like Khaat, I do hope Aria doesn't go with stilettos for the ball, Marcus will snap the heels off if she does" she said chuckling but she paused hearing porting and a knock , she sat looking at the door as Angus waved for it to open and boxes appeared floating into the room " oh those should be the cloaks Michael was getting for Aria , myself and the girls" she said standing and walking over to them.

"I thought Marcus was ordering those. Oh, well, whoever did it, I didn't expect them here so early. Clive must have had some in stock," Angus said. The last box opened and out floated a very elegant antique walking stick.

"That's really nice. Someone has good taste," Angus said. "You know Aria won't wear stilettos. Khaat won't encourage that unless Aria already felt comfortable in them. I think I have the quill finished. With any luck, Rita won't be able to tell it apart from her own quill. If you get a chance, would you do something for me? Downstairs, somewhere in my climbing gear is a bracelet made of climbing rope. Would you see if you can find it? I'd appreciate it. I might have need for it tonight."

Ruby looked at Angus and chuckled " your right it was Marcus and yeah she's not the type to wear those types of shoes, she's more a flat or low heel. " she said and looked at the walking stick and smiled " its fer elegant" she said then heard him ask hr to go fetch a bracelet made from climbing rope . At first she looked puzzled but then smiled and nodded " sure" she said after checking the babies she headed down to look for the bracelet.

She found his climbing gear and searched finding it right at the bottom of the box it was in. Picking it up she headed back up to the living room " I found it." she said walking over to Angus " it this what you wanted" she asked showing him it."

"Yes. that's it. I don't know if we'll need it tonight but someone better have one," Angus said. He flicked his fingers at the bracelet, and the bracelet became a lasso. He swung the lasso over his head in three quick rotations and then, to Finn's surprise, he threw the lasso at Finn, roping the poor dog around the neck, making Finn yelp in surprise. "Ah. Good. I haven't forgotten how. I was hoping I wasn't too rusty to do it," Angus said. "Just in case Rita ends up floating towards the ceiling," Angus said. "I'd rather have a Rita balloon than to lose her completely. Could you let Finn loose now, please? Sorry, Finn. I owe you a biscuit for being a good sport about it. I have two tuxes, Ru. One is a single breasted, and the other is a double breasted. I like them both, but I probably wear the single breasted more than the double. Oh, and I do have a waistcoat for the single breasted but I don't wear that much either. Do you have a preference?"

Ruby watched as Angus made the bracelet into a lasso and she laughed at his reason behind having it " oh that would be bad" she said teasingly as she watched him lasso Finn. Once he was done she walked over to Finn accioing a biscuit to give him " I got it and ether you look hansom in both" she said smiling to him " but if you prefer the single then wear that but the single as you rightly said hasn't been warn a lot so anything happens to it you won't b too bothered by it.." she added as she loosened the lasso and freed Finn then gave him the biscuit and a head scratch as a reward.

Aria changed her shoes back to her normal sneakers and thanked Khaat she had her dress in Khaat's dressing room ready. " I'll come around an hour before to get ready but I could use some advice on my hair, should it be up or down?" she asked " and makeup should it be light or heavy?" she paused and took a deep breath " I'll ask Michael when he's not busy, he'll know what looks right and acceptable for this occasion."