A Birth day

Ruby and Aria both stood and listened to Marcus then chuckled as Minos flew right up to Marcus 's face. The listened as Marcus translated what Minos was saying and Ruby smiled " I do think its worth a try" she said as did Aria. " anything to help him not worry about her and stop her hurting him" She looked to Aria and saw her nod as well.

"I agree worth a shot2 she said " he's not going to slow down because of her, and he needs to keep his sleeping pattern." she said " if it was you I'd be the same try all we can before changing things around" she said then looked at Marcus again " Edward has a small lab?" she asked " huh that's handy, would you want a lab in the cottage oh and that plaid you wanted , you can have it in the living room, its grown on me" she said and smiled to him.

"Edward is very gifted at potions," Marcus said. "His lab isn't like Robert's lab---oh, you haven't seen that yet, have you? Well, just so you know, it makes Hogwarts's potions lab look like a broom closet. I don't know that we need a lab at our place unless you do potions more often than I do. After all. Edward has one here, Robert has a small one in the main house, and he's got his big lab over at the farm. I'm toying with the idea of a work out room, and I might want a room in the basement to make some wine and maybe brew some small batches of craft beer. It's more important to me, though, that there is a place for the kids and for my parents to come stay when they like. The kids deserve to know that they were in the forefront of my thoughts when we bought the place, and that they were never, ever an afterthought." Marcus looked at Minos. "Well, I think we're all in agreement to let him brew the potion." Minos tugged at Marcus and pointed to outside.

"I think one of us needs to go with him to harvest some fresh ingredients. I don't think he cares who goes, so long as whoever goes along can keep up with him," Marcus said.

Aria chuckled and nodded " well I don't make potions and your right about us having two labs close at hand so yeah Love the work out room idea" she said then saw Minos and smiled " I'll go with him to get the herbs " she said and looked to Marcus " and yes the idea of having space for family is a great idea." she said offer in her hand to Minos. " okay Minos lets go find those herbs you need , you point and I'll go" she said and chuckled " see you in a bit" then together they both headed outside and over to Kates herb garden.

Ruby chuckled and went back to cleaning up the breakfast things " I think Aria has let go of what ever it was that was bothering her a while back" she aid " also she's smiling a lot more now too" she added and smiled to Marcus. " and your right about us not worrying about Angus just yet" she added as she put the dishes in the washer and set it going, " now I'm going to make a home made Minty Mini-Chocolate Chip and Key Lime Pie ice cream" she said taking out a bowl and Heavy whipping cream, sweetened condensed milk and
Vanilla extract once the cream was whipped she folded it into the sweetened condensed milk and vanilla extract. Then she separated the mixture in one she added Fresh minced mint leaves, peppermint extract, green food colouring and mini chocolate chips. In the second she added White chocolate chips, graham cracker pieces, lime juice and lime zest before freezing both in there separate tubs.

Minos led Aria out to the garden, and he chose exactly the right plants, down to picking the exact right stems and leaves and blossoms and roots.

"I'm glad she's working it out, then," Marcus said. "I mean, we both picked dangerous professions, and that isn't unlike Kate and Robert or Khaat and Brian or you and Angus. Edward and Caprice did the same thing. You can't stay rooted in that sort of fear or it consumes you. You agree to live in the moment, celebrate life as a gift while you have it, and don't start grieving unless it happens. No regrets. you have to go into it with no regrets. You don't need to worry about Angus. I will do whatever I need to do to keep him safe."

Aria moved to each plant that Minos indicated and picked what he told her to soon she had a shirt full of different stems and leaves and flowers in her shirt " okay " she said picking one more.

Ruby listened to Marcus and smiled nodding " agreed and I think she's working hard on being part of this team" she added " and has put it behind her, she did give in to the plaid in the living room" she said and chuckled " I think secretly she loves it but doesn't want to admit it." she said softly as she saw Caprice try and climb out the play pen " oh no you don't " she said and walked over to the pen " you stay put young lady, daddy will be back soon" she told her " looks like we have an escape artist in the making" she said and chuckled placing Caprice back in the pen.

Aria walked back towards the duplex with her shirt pulled up at the front to hold the herbs in it , pushing open the door she saw Marcus " think we have all the herbs he needs" she said " now where's the Potions lab you said Edward had, I'm actually hoping Minos will teach me how to make this potion or do you want to do it?" she asked him

"Well, the work here, on Robert's team, is significantly different from work as an auror," Marcus said. "Her experiences will help her, but it also takes her into completely different areas that require a ton of new skills. It's a big change for her. I'm glad she's taking her time and adjusting."

"Edward's half is organized as a mirror image of this side, so it's easy to find your way around," Marcus said to Aria when she came in. "When you get to the top of the stairs, you'll see an additional doorway on your right, just before you get to the doorway to the master bedroom. That door is the stairway up to a tower room that is above the master bedroom. Edward's got a potions lab and astronomy tower up there. It's a cool space that has big windows on all four sides, a glass ceiling, and a balcony that goes all the way around. There are window boxes all along the railings on the balcony, and he grows some of the rarer potions plants in those boxes. You'll find its a really cool space that has a lot of books, some potions equipment and ingredients, a great telescope, some of Edward's puzzle boxes, and a couple of really deep, comfortable leather chairs for just sitting and reading . Have you been up there yet, Minos?" The little fairy shook his head. He hadn't been up there yet, but by the sounds of it, it was his sort of space. He liked the same sorts of academics that Edward liked. "I'm sure Minos is open to having you help. He and Jess did just fine, so I'm sure you'll do fine too."

Ruby nodded to Marcus as Aria entered and spoke listening to him direct them to the lab " oh got it" she said and chuckled as Marcus asked Minos if he'd been up to the lab " oh first for both of us , but it sounds perfect" she said then smiled as she let Marcus talk to Minos " come on then up we go to make this potion" she said and headed to Edwards side of the duplex saying hi to Simone as she passed by and up the stairs seeing the second set of stairs she headed up and was amazed by what she saw at the top of the stairs " wow this is perfect" she said and set Minos down close to where she put down the herbs on the counter. " you direct I'll make." she said and chuckled taking down a medium cauldron

Ruby chuckled and looked to Marcus " yeah she's taking her time, " she said and looked over at the play pen seeing both girls now fed and comfortable laid down taking a nap " great some quiet now" she added with a chuckle as she continued to bake some wafers to go with the ice cream she had made .

Minos took the little piece of pencil led from his pocket and found a piece of paper on Edward's potion work bench and he drew several symbols--he drew a picture of a garlic clove cut in slices. He drew a picture of a potato cut into dices, and he drew another garlic clove cut into a small minced state. He drew a picture of a crushed garlic clove and lastly he drew a picture of a coffee bean that had been ground to powder, He gestured to her that he would point out an ingredient and help her determine the proper amount and then he would point to which picture showed how he wanted each ingredient to be prepared.

He fluttered along the shelves, pointing out more ingredients to her so she could gather them, and when she had gathered them, he sat for a moment on the workbench, thinking. Then he drew her a picture of a unicorn and drew a long somewhat squiggly line. He wanted one unicorn hair. She would need to get one that one of the unicorns had shed or she would have to get permission from a unicorn to take one.

Aria looked at Minos as he started to draw something taking a magnifying glass that was close by she looked at it and chuckled " we making a potion of a stew?" she asked chuckling but did as he requested at the motion of him she took down herbs from the jars around them then as he drew a unicorn hair she frowned " might need to ask Jack if he can get that , want to go ask?" she asked waiting on him.

Out side she walked to the barn and saw Jack cleaning it out along with a new member of the crew " hey Jack could I ask a favour , well its for Minos actually, we need a unicorn hair , but one volunteered, I'm assuming that bit is important." she asked as Jack looked up at her.

" huh, making a potion?" he asked looking to Minos as they walked over to him. " I do have a unicorn who would help, wait here" he said and disappeared into the barn returning with several strands of hair " she even offered a piece of her horn too if you need it, she also said she's met Minos before, something about the glen deep in the woods where the trumpets grow?" he said puzzled at him.

Minos nodded. He knew the unicorn mare well. He motioned to Jack and to Aria, and he zipped off through the woods to show them. It was a bit of a distance, but he finally saw them--a rather large clump of white trumpet flowers. He motioned to the flowers and gestured to pick some, and gestured to Jack to take a cutting of the plant so they could perhaps try to raise some in Kate's studio. Then he motioned to them to go back to the barn.

When they got back, he pointed to one of the flowers and pointed to the unicorn mare. It was a flower that she actually enjoyed snacking on because the mare believed it helped to strengthen her white lighting abilities. And besides that, the mare genuinely really liked their floral taste. Minos flew over to the unicorn mare and he landed on the top of her head near her ear, and he petted her and scratched her ear in a spot she particularly liked. She clearly knew him, and they had a definite friendship blossoming. As he sat on her head, he saw something that didn't look right. He got up and burrowed under the hair on her mane and tried to move her long, heavy hair out of the way. He wanted to show Jack that somehow she had gotten a burr stuck in her skin and tangled in her mane. And it had punctured her delicate skin and was irritatating her and causing her pain.