A Birth day

Aria chuckled and looked at Marcus " there's quiche?" she asked and moved to get a piece " yum" she said as she ate it " never had this for breakfast but it makes a good breakfast food" she said " I am so going to get the recipe from Angus for this" she said smiling as she sat down at the table once she had some fruit salad.

" Ruby chuckled and moved to eat her scones that she had on her plate with some fruit salad. She paused as she heard the babies start fussing in their room " I'll come with you" she said as she followed him to their nursery " well at least she's trying now" Ruby said picking up Caprice and moving to the changing table to change her then drop the dirty diaper into the bin next to it, once done she dressed her .

"Yes, she is," Angus said. He changed her and dressed her and took her downstairs. He went to his plate, picked the scrambled egg out of his serving of quiche and broke up little bites of his scone that didn't have any nuts or chocolate or orange in, and he put it in a shallow plastic bowl for her and put her on the floor with the little bowl. She seemed to be more comfortable sitting on the floor for some reason, and she wasted no time in working on feeding herself the bites of egg and scone.

"I didn't think that was going to work for you," Marcus told Angus, "but she's doing better with it on the floor than she does in the high chair."

"Well, since she tries to put all her toys in her mouth when she's in the playpen, it made sense to me to try to put her on the floor since that's on the same level," Angus said. "It's familiar to her now."

"Makes sense," Marcus said. "I'll keep an eye on her while you finish what's left of your breakfast."

"Thanks," Angus said. The teens came to the kitchen, all of them tucking into breakfast. The girls were ready to go to Evan's to go to school, and the guys were dressed to go to work on the grounds.

"You want us to take them this morning?" Sam asked Angus.

"No thanks," Angus said. "Rosaria and Carlo will be taking them, but I might have you go get them if you're off by then--and if you bring them straight home."

"Yeah, I know. We're still in trouble. We get it," Sam sighed.

Ruby chuckled as she watched him talk Dimond down stairs , she followed behind watching as he placed Dimond on the floor and gave her the food , she watched as Dimond ate the food from the plate " could she have a bit of vertigo?" she asked " is it possible at her age she ahs a fear of hights thanks to Suzzanne?" she asked looking to Angus wondering as she placed Caprice in her high chair and gave her some fruit salad cut into small pieces for her to eat.

Aria watched as Angus set Dimond down on the floor and smiled " guess she's making her own rules now" she said and chuckled " but its good she's becoming her own little self " she said popping some scone into her mouth as she ate then placed her plate in the washer to be washed before poring a cup of coffee and returning to the living room..

"I suppose anything's possible," Angus said. "I just chalked it up to her spending more time in the playpen or crawling about on the floor than she actually spends in a high chair. I figured it would be more familiar to her than the high chair, so I thought maybe, since she tries to put all her toys in her mouth, that maybe she'd put her food there too. She has sort of an insecure personality, at least temporarily, so I hoped she might eat a bit better if she were more comfortable."

"It seems to work for right now," Marcus said.

"I know there's a time and place for everything, but sometimes we can get too hung up on wanting kids to learn to do everything properly right from the start. Sometimes, I think we have to work with kids where they're at rather than expecting them to do things the way we say they should. As I see it, the food is making it to her mouth rather than her chucking it on the floor, so I don't see any harm in it," Angus said.

"In a way, that's part of why I think you were successful with Abbey. You actually took the time to listen to her. You started with what worked for her and what she wanted, and she responded well to you," Marcus said.

"Well, don't we all like being listened to?" Angus shrugged. He took his plate to the sink, and the minute he had walked away from the table, Diamond started screaming.

"She's fine," Marcus reassured Angus. "You walked away. That's all. Oh, and her bowl is empty. She's not happy about that either."

"Well, if she wants more, I'll give her more," Angus said, letting her rage for a moment while he got her some more food. He took some fruit and put it in a different little plastic bowl and put it down on the floor for her, along with a bottle with some milk in it for her.

"Is she running any temperature today?" Marcus asked.

"No, not at the moment," Angus said. He picked up his coffee cup to add just a little bit more hot coffee to his cup, and she began to rage again. The minute he came back into view, she stopped.

"Someone is starting with some separation anxiety," Marcus laughed. "You appear to be her favorite person at the moment."

"That won't last long," Angus said. Anise and Ginger packed lunches for Sam and Victor, and they were just handing them to them when Rosaria and Carlo came to take the girls to Evan's. Angus thanked Rosaria and Carlo, and they left with the girls. Sam and Victor put their breakfast plates in the sink, picked up their lunches and dashed off to work.

Ruby listened to Angus and nodded " I think your right" she said and smiled as Aria nodded too. " if it works for her then good" she said smiling. but watched as Dimond made a fuss as Angus went out of her eye sight , she looked at Marcus as he spoke then she quiet down as he returned only to start again when he left " wow" she said and looked to Caprice who sat eating in her high chair watching Dimond and Angus together.

Aria watched the two of them and looked to Marcus " so she's grown attached to Angus, that's a good thing , isn't it?" she asked looking from Angus to Marcus " but won't that be an issue if she ahs to be returned to her mother?" she asked pausing she shook her head " nope, if Suzzanne is as nuts as these scones are , Dimond's safe for get I said anything." she said as she cut another scone and ate it

"Yes, it will be an issue if she's returned home to Suzanne," Angus said. "I haven't wanted to spend a lot of time with her really for just that issue. Unfortunately, I can only ignore her to a given point. She still needs care, and that means contact."

"On the other hand," Marcus said, "the more time you spend with her, the stronger your case becomes to keep her from going back to the Geldings. You'll be able to prove, quite clearly, who she feels loves her and who she feels safe with. You know, you could bring up some Suzanne's past legal charges and see if your lawyer can request a psychological exam. I'm wagering she's far more nuts than the scones, quite honestly."

"I don't actually want to trash her. i just want to protect Diamond. I mean, naming her Diamond in the first place was a bit barmy on her part," Angus said.

"And, she directly told you why she did that," Marcus said. "You could use it in court if you had to. If you're going to fight for Diamond, then you have to use whatever ammunition you've got."

"I hate it when you're right," Angus said. He began to put the breakfast leftovers in the fridge when there was a tapping on the kitchen window. Angus opened it, and Pip flew in, landed on his shoulder and began nipping Angus's ear. "Hey, that hurts, you little buggar." He reached into the treat jar and found the owl treats were all gone. He tried to take the message in Pip's claws, but Pip wasn't willing to surrender it until he had been sufficiently paid. "Ru, do we have any more owl treats? If not, I think this little shit is going to eat my ear."

Aria listened and nodded but had to agree with Marcus about possibly using it against Suzzanne." he's right though, if she feels this way means as Marcus said she feels safe and secure here and with you." she said then could not help chuckle at Marcus using the nuts and scones remark she had made earlier to describe Suzzanne and her actions. When the owl flew in and perched on Angus then started biting his ear she chuckled .

Ruby stood up and saw Angus reach for the treat jar but found it empty. " there's some in the back of the pantry, give me a moment." she heard to the far back and brought out a large bag that she opened and refilled the jar taking two from the bag she held them out to Pip " here you go and an extra one for waiting" she told him as she held them out to pip to take from her hand once he had she smiled.

Pip took the treats from Ruby, glad to get them. Then he was willing to turn over the message. It was from Robert.

"Angus, we believe we are successful at creating a vaccine for this new strain of mumps. Would you and Edward go up and talk to Fenrir to try to gain his support to get the pack vaccinated? If you do, let me know what he says. The vaccine has done well on the blood samples we've had, and we have no reason to believe it would be toxic for anyone, but the vaccine is yet untried on a living being. R."

"They think they have their vaccine developed," Angus said. "Robert wants Edward and me to go up and talk to Fenrir and see if he'll let the pack be vaccinated. And then I think I want to make a quick trip into Diagon Alley. Anyone need anything while I'm going?"

"You mean 'we' will be going, don't you?" Marcus said.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry. No offence intended," Angus said.

"None taken," Marcus replied. "What are we going for?"

"I realized this morning how much I miss having a sideboard here. I want to check a couple of the antique shops to look or a small one. I want an antique, but it has to be small because we don't have room for a large one," Angus said.

Ruby and Aria listened as Angus read the note from Robert and Ruby smiled " that will be good for the pack" she said " maybe ask Jack to go with you " she said looking to Marcus as he spoke " both " she added with a chuckle as she shook her head " I don't think there's anything I need, Aria?" shea sked and Aria sat thinking before shaking her head.

" not that I know" Aria said as she looked down at Dimond " though Dimond could use some clothing of her own rather than borrowing from Caprice all the time." she said and looked to Marcus " maybe some rompers that's her thing with her favourite animal on?" she suggested as she then shrugged " I'm trying to think of something to individualize who she is now she's coming out of her shell more."

"Good idea," Marcus said to Aria. "I think we can manage it." Angus gave it a moment of thought and then picked up yesterday's newspaper and tucked it in the back pocket of his jeans and grabbed a few photos of Diamond and of Caprice and put those in his pocket. Lastly, he picked up his wand and tucked that in the holster. He went over, and he asked Edward to go with him up to see Fenrir. Edward was more than happy to do it, and Simone hastily packed a large tin full of fresh biscuits.

"But you just made those," Edward said.

"Yes. They're good and fresh. That's when they're best," Simone smiled.

"But you made those for us," he said. She smiled and she kissed him.

"And I shall make more," she said. "And this time, I'll make your favorites. Take these to the pack."

"Oh, very well. We shall," Edward said. Angus, Edward and Marcus started through the yard, and Angus saw Jack working with the outdoor crew.

"We're going up to try to talk to Fenrir," Angus called. "Did the new meat from the suppliers get up to the pack yet? You're welcome to come if you want."