A Birth day

Ruby listened and nodded and chuckled as Marcus mentioned more rolls for breakfast " guess we should make another dozen" she said to Ginger with a chuckle as she began making another batch for breakfast " its always wise to make in advance" she said " especially if its breakfast, I know Jacks appetite and every one loves the rolls so they will go fast." she explained to Ginger " besides we need to see if they can tell who made witch rolls" she added with a smile " besides I don't think anyone will since its Angus's recipe" she said taking out the first batch and placing them down to cool while she slipped the second batch into the oven to cook.

Aria glanced up as Angus spoke and nodded " ah , good idea I'm sure he'll appreciate every one helping and I'm sure Jacks already looking at more men for the grounds." she said as a note flew in to Angus from Jack.

"Looking at potential men to add to grounds crew, three ex army, two ex air force and one ex Auror , already checked him out was released because of injury, but has healed , Jack" it read

"Well, good. I'm glad he's on it. I mean, I didn't have a doubt that he would be, but the sooner we get a bigger crew the better all the spring planting will go," Angus said. Marcus wrote a note to Jack, saying his note about the additional crew had arrived and saying that Angus wanted to talk to him and Robert and Edward in the morning over breakfast about a special task he wanted to consider. He asked Jack to come at 7 am for breakfast. Then he wrote a similar note to Robert and sent them both.

Angus got started on making a hashbrown casserole and a couple different kinds of quiches.

"Aria? Any interest in making a fruit salad for breakfast?" Angus asked her. He was about ready to go back to his casserole and his quiche when he smelled something truly nasty.

"What on earth died in that playpen?" Marcus frowned. He got up and went over. "Your daughter had a massive blowout--I mean, to the point where both babies need baths, and so does the playpen and so does poor Finn. Um...well, I guess I'll chase Finn outside til we can get to him, for starters."

Aria was about to say she would when she too smelt the babies " wow okay, Marcus could you take one I'll take the other to our bathroom to wash her, I'll get on that fruit salad when she's clean." she set a cleaning spell in the play pen and took Dimond out and up to the bathroom.

Once washed and now wrapped in a fluffy towel Aria took Caprice to the nursery to dress her. Once done she headed down and found the pen looking good as new if now cleaner. Stopping the charm she placed Caprice inside it and moved to the kitchen to start the fruit salad for breakfast.

When Aria took Diamond, Marcus took Caprice and took her upstairs to bathe. When the babies were clean, Marcus took the dog to the barn and bathed him and brought him back.

"Never a dull moment, is there?" Marcus teased.

"Apparently not," Angus laughed. "Good catch, though. We don't need either of those two having another poop fight."

"Nor do we need them using it as an art medium to paint anyting with," Marcus laughed. "I don't trust either of them, and that's when i have them in eyesight."

A note fluttered in, and Marcus caught it and opened it.

"Ah. Robert. He'll be here right on time. Michael made a batch of apricot rugelah, and Robert will bring us some. Whatever that is."

"Oh, they're delicious," Angus said. "Its actually a very traditional Jewish cookie. Ever have a pinwheel cookie?"

"Yeah. My gran made some. She used a date filling that had walnuts and such."

"These are sort of similar. The dough is cut into triangles, the filling is spread on, and then the triangles are rolled up, wide end first, and then baked. They're served at just about any Jewish celebration. I've had some that were filled with raspberry filling and some with apricot. If you can spread it, someone's made rugelach with it."

"Well, I'll like them, then. I have yet to meet a cookie I didn't like," Marcus laughed.

"Me neither," Angus said. "There. Hashbrown casserole is made and in the fridge. Quiche crust is blindbaking, so I guess I'll prep the filling for that now."

"And I'll get a couple small bottles ready for the babies so we can get them to bed soon," Marcus said. "Since I'm not a cook of any kind, how about I take the girls to Evan's in the morning, unless one of you particularly wanted to do it?"

Ruby chuckled at the banter from Angus and Marcus as a note from Jack floated in saying he would be there in the morning as he would never miss an opportunity to have Angus's cooking. Ruby chuckled and handed Angus the note as she continued to make the rolls with Ginger.

Aria laughed at the mention of a poop fight. " ew no we don't need that" she said and looked down at Dimond and Caprice while Marcus took Finn and washed him off. " the breakfast sounds wonderful, can't wait to have breakfast tomorrow" she said and opened her book again but seeing Minos flutter in she saw him fly over to Angus " I think some one is hungry too" she said placing the book down on the table again.

"Need a snack?" Angus asked Minos. When Minos nodded, Angus got out some cookies and plated them up and then shrank them and made them some chamomile tea to go with it, and set it out on the cheeseboard. He checked on the fae with all the broken limbs who was safely tucked into bed for the night and was sleeping. Minos used hand signals to tell Angus he believed the little fairy was doing as well as they could expect. Angus told Minos about the evil voodoo woman and the dark arts worker who had orchestrated an incident that had caused Sam to be kicked by a hippogriff and now Sam had broken bones too. Minos suggested that Sam and the injured fae might enjoy each other's company tomorrow. Angus thought it was a great idea. Then Minos motioned to Angus and took him over to the terrarium where several tiny cocoons were already spun and were shimmering softly in the night light. Several others were being spun. Life was continuing. Angus was fascinated, and he studied the cocoons for a long time. Minos tapped him on the shoulder, asking if anything was wrong.

"No. I was just noticing how beautiful the cocoons were. Something that seems so tiny to someone my size. And to know that my life is so insignificant and short compared with the lifespan of you Fae." Minos sat on Angus shoulder and leaned against Angus's neck in a show of deep friendship with him. They sat for a long moment, and then, sleepy, Minos took his leave of Angus to go to bed.

"Goodnight, my friend," Angus smiled. He went over to the kitchen and did some last minute cleaning, wiping off the counter. "We should head to bed shortly too," Angus told the others. "It's late, and its' going to be a long day tomorrow, I think."

"Go ahead if you want. I'll do the last check, and then I'll head to bed too," Marcus said.

Ruby watched Angus with Minos and smiled as she finished the rolls placing her last batch next to Gingers on the counter to cool over night. Hearing Angus she nodded " yeah I agree, Ginger I think we have enough rolls , thanks for the help you were a great help" she said and gave her a hug " no go sleep so you can enjoy these in the morning" she aid smiling to her. Once Ginger had gone Ruby let out a yawn " oh I think that sounds good" she said covering the buns and looked at Angus. she walked over to Caprice and picked her up walking up to the nursery she changed her once more then lay her down in her cot as Aria with Dimond came in behind her, doing the same she them laid her in her cot and both left leaving the door slightly open before heading to their own rooms.

Ruby changed and lay down on the bed " been quite the day" she said to Angus as she sat up in bed. She cuddled against Angus gently resting her head next to him " night dear" she said softly as she drifted asleep next to him.

Aria changed and lay down in the bed her head resting on the pillow as she waited for Marcus to join her. Once he had she spoke softly to him " night Marcus" she said then fell asleep

Net morning Aria was up and dressing and changing the babies taking both down to the play pen while Ruby who had shower and dressed was getting the breakfast things ready and laying out the food that had been made the night before as well as boxing up the rolls for them to take to McGregor. " good morning Aria" Ruby said with a smile as Aria pored a cup of coffee and sat down to watch the girls in the pan. " morning Ruby" she said after she had taken her first sip.

Marcus got up and shaved and dressed. He went downstairs with Finn on his heels. He let Finn out and then put food and fresh water in his bowls and brought in the newspaper before pouring himself coffee.

"Morning," Marcus said to Aria and Ruby.

Anise and Ginger were up and dressed, and they came upstairs. Victor was up and dressed, and he joined them in the kitchen. Sam was padding around in his pajama bottoms and a tee shirt, not feeling any pressure to dress yet. Ginger poured coffee for the four of them.

Angus got up feeling like he had done battle all night. He had had nightmares again about Priscilla, and in his dreams, she had imprisoned him in the torture chamber in the Gelding house. He had dreamed unspeakable things, things he would never, ever want to describe to Ruby. Some things just needed to remain nameless. He went into the bathroom to wash and shave but when he took off his shirt, he was startled beyond words. The marks that he had dreamed in his sleep that Priscilla had put on him were on his chest and on his back. Bruises and welts in the exact spots and in the exact shapes he'd gotten in his dreams. He didn't understand it.

Not finding any bleeding wounds, he dressed and swallowed a half dose of pain potion from the bottle in the medicine cabinet. He wanted to talk to Kate as soon as possible, but this breakfast meeting came first. He went downstairs and let Finn out and set the oven to preheat, and then he poured himself some coffee.

"Morning, All," Angus told them.

Ruby looked up and smiled seeing Marcus walk back in with Finn from letting him out. " morning Marcus" she said as did Aria who smiled to Marcus. seeing Angus walk down she glanced at Marcus then to Angus just as Jack walked up to the door and knocked . " morning guys" he said " guess I'm the first here" he added with a chuckle " coffee smells good, so does breakfast" he added as he pored a cup for himself before looking at Angus " sorry for asking but you okay?" he asked noticing the slightly stiff way he moved then he glanced at Marcus then back to Angus.

Aria had noticed Angus but had chose to say nothing since Jack had asked already she looked to Marcus then to Ruby " I'll help with putting out the food " she said and placed down her mug and heading to the kitchen to take out the quiche and placing it down while Ruby took out the casserole and placed it on the side board with the quiche and all the rest of the food letting Marcus talk to Angus along with Jack.

"Oh, it's probably just what I get for trying to beat the life out of Liam last night," Angus told Jack. "I'm rather stoved up today for some reason."  

Marcus had been looking into the terrarium at the Fae cocoons, and he was tempted to whirl around to stare at Angus, but he kept his cool and made a mental note of the red flag he'd just heard. Angus was an honest man, almost squeaky clean with honesty, but Marcus had just heard him lie. Marcus knew Angus more than most of the people in his life, so well that he had come to believe that, for the most part, Angus really stunk at lying most of the time. And he had just heard Angus lie. He wasn't sure why Angus was lying, but Marcus was certainly going to find out. The only times he had heard Angus lie was when he was trying to protect someone. So, was he protecting someone now? And if so, whom? And that made it Marcus's business, as long as he was responsible for guarding Angus.

There was a knock on the door, and Robert came in, with Kate tagging along. Well, now. That was different. Kate didn't just randomly tag along, and to make it even more interesting, she looked as determined as Marcus had ever seen her, very much like a woman on a mission. She had her wand firmly strapped to her thigh, and he noticed the bulge of a glass bottle in her pocket, the sort she used for bottling thought threads. So, she was indeed a woman on a mission this morning. And then he couldn't help noticing she looked uncharacteristically tired today. Kate was never tired. That was rather akin to the sun spinning backwards on its axis.

"Good morning, All," Robert said. "I brought my better half with me. Kate, I'll get you some coffee, my dear." Kate didn't reply to him. She was looking at everyone in the room. She looked at someone for a moment only and then looked at the next person--until she came to Angus. Her gaze landed firmly on him.

"It's you," she said to Angus.

"Me? What did I do? I've been here since a little after supper time yesterday, behaving myself," Angus said.

"One of you kept her awake all night," Robert said.

"Well, it wasn't me," Angus said. "I was asleep in my own bed all night, and Ruby can confirm it. If I'd gone anywhere, Little Miss I-Wake-Up-If-He-Moves-The-Slightest-Muscle here would have known if I'd so much as opened my eyes during the night," Angus said.

"Is he saying you're a light sleeper, Ruby?" Marcus teased.

"She is," Angus said.

"We are going to have a word," Kate told Angus, sounding now very much like she was about to ground him or something. "Come with me." She pointed him upstairs.

"I'm going to go along, I think, before she tries to create in him another bodily orifice that he does not need to have," Robert said, following along up the stairs. Edward came in, just as Edward, Kate and Angus all went into the bedroom and closed the door. Edward sat a large platter of fried tomatoes on the sideboard.

"Now, why did he look like he was about eight years old?" Edward asked. "Is he in trouble for something?"

"Probably, by the looks of them," Marcus said, "but I don't know what for. So far as I know, he hasn't done anything wrong."