A Birth day

"Enjoy," Marcus told Aria, glad she was taking time for herself to go run. Angus finished feeding Caprice, and Marcus took her to go change her diaper and change her for bed. When Diamond finally quit tantruming and began to cry, Angus picked her up and she folded herself into his neck, cuddling.

"Wait," Anise said. "She was just really pissed at you, and now she's cuddling?"

"Bonding," Angus told her. "She's doing something she wasn't ever going to get to do with Suzanne--she's attaching to the people who are meeting her needs. Bonding makes her feel safe."

"I'd never feel safe with that old crone," Ginger said, remembering the torture Suzanne put her thought.

"I get it," Angus said, knowing what he had also experienced at her hands.

"Yeah. You do, don't you?" Ginger nodded.

"You lot have homework to do?" he asked.

"An essay on sectumsempra spells," Anise sighed.

"That's your dad's best spell," Evan said. "You should pick his brain on that."

"Maybe I will," Anise replied.

By the time that Aria got home, Marcus had gotten both babies to bed successfully. Angus had helped the girls with their compositions on sectumsempra spells, and he had managed a shower by himself and was finishing the last of a weekly menu for the isolation cabin. He was only going to do one week's menu at a time because he was basing it on the fresh foods the cabin was now stocked with. He had included recipes for the week, and he had put the menus and the recipes in a very well organized notebook that he hoped would grow as he did any extra menus or recipes.

Now he was tiring, and his shoulder was giving him a great deal more pain tonight because of how much he was using it. Robert had not given him leave to use it yet, but he was doing his best to go back to taking care of the babies. Now he was aching and tired, and he was really hoping neither of those little monsters would wake before about noon tomorrow. He sat down, sighed heavily as the teens headed for showers, and he started to research more recipes for next weeks menus and recipes. Somehow, there was always something else to be done.

"Thanks," Angus told her quietly. "Yes. I did a week's worth to send to them tomorrow but I really didn't want to do a lot more than that, not that I sent them anyway, because I want them to use all the fresh food first that would have a quick spoiling tendency. However, I do want to do some alternate recipes that they might need for things that might not spoil quite so fast. I do know that kids who don't feel well will get picky about their food."

"I am tired," Angus told Aria. "It's been a long day. Oh, those two joined you, did they? Well, yes. That will give you a workout. They don't always ease up either to run with others that maybe aren't ready for that intense of a workout. When Robert gets back from the farm, you should run at least once with him and maybe do the obstacle course once with him. Trust me, I see how much criticism he takes from people who think that going with him will only slow them down because they think that if they run with an old man, they won't get a workout. As many years as I've run with him and done the obstacle course with him, I learn something new every time I go with him. I actually enjoy it. When someone underestimates him and goes with him, they generally shut it by the end of the first run."

"He notices if you have a stiff joint," Marcus said. "He notices if you need to gain more flexibility somewhere. He notices if you could get a much better score on the obstacle course just by changing one of your positions with one of the obstacles. And he's a great coach with dueling skills. Speaking of coaching, Angus, didn't you say, your gran showed you a new dueling move?"

"She did," Angus said.

"Show it to me?" Marcus said.

"Okay," Angus said. He stood up and drew his wand, and Marcus stood right beside him. Angus explained the move and moved slowly, and Marcus copied him.

"I've actually never seen that as a real move, but it really works. I'm a smaller target for an opponent, and, at the same time, I get more stability and better aim with my wand," Marcus said.

"And you can draw your wand a lot faster," Angus replied.

"Absolutely. That's a great move."

"Edward said it was one of her signature moves and said it helped her in fighting," Angus told him.

Marcus stepped away and watched Angus and then watched Aria.

"Here," Marcus said. "Slow it down. Your wand will be stored on the left, not your right. That's a big difference. Stand sideways, your left foot pointed straight out. Now turn your right leg at the knee and your right foot to the right--to face your opponent. As you do that, bring your right hand over across your chest, and draw your wand. It lets you shield your chest as you draw, and it keeps your opponent from being able to fire right at your heart. Your right arm extends straight out towards your opponent, keeping your arm level with your shoulder. Now you can look straight down your arm to help steady your aim. And, as you move, bend your right knee in a bit of a lunge step to give you an advantage to protect your torso as you start to move towards your opponent. He's firing a time or two before he takes the first step to get his opponent to shield himself. That gives him some time to change his position, and then he brings his left leg and foot around in alignment with his right to allow him to move with some speed. When he stops, he turns again to the side to protect his torso. This is not a move for a beginning fighter because it takes practice to be able to fire from the side with accuracy, but if you have that sort of accuracy, it should improve some speed and some self protection. Try it again now."

"My gran wasn't all that tall herself," Angus said. "She wasn't even quite 5'2", and my grandfather is really tall. She had to even the odds when she fought alongside him. This helped her to keep herself from being picked on because she was so much smaller. The girls did fine with their spellcasting. I taught them this move too, and of course Anise took right to it, but that's because she has such a smooth fighting style naturally. Ginger has to work a bit harder at it, but she'll get it too. Well done, both of you."

"You and I should spar tomorrow and see how it works in real time," Marcus said. "But not tonight. You're too tired. I'd wipe up the floor with you tonight."

"Well, now, I don't think I'd let myself get skunked that badly, but you're right. You would win," Angus said. "We can maybe try it after the boys go off to work and the girls go to Evan's. Ru, you and Aria should do a friendly little spar and try it out..."

"Angus," Kate's voice came through the floo. "Are you there?"

"I'm here, Kate. Whats up?" Angus asked.

"We're getting out first cases. We have three groundsmen, two of their wives, and two kids. Robert is in the process of trying to notify Jess now to get three shifts of nurses lined up and dispatched to the cabin. They're going to need those menu plans asap."

"I'll take them over," Marcus said. "They're finished. We were going to take them in the morning, but I'll take them now."

"Thank you, Marcus. We'll keep you posted," Kate said, closing the floo.

"And here it comes," Angus sighed.