A Birth day

Ruby and Aria laughed at Angus words and smiled while they ate. " oh too right" Aria said and laughed herself. Both sat and listened as Angus spoke to Minos, Ruby smiled as Angus agreed to take a nap after he had eaten " thank you Minos" she said as he flew past her back out side. Ruby stood up and took out the two types of ice cream and smiled to Angus " we have Minty Mini-Chocolate Chip and Key Lime Pie ice cream, with home made waffle cones for desert" she said showing the two tubs with each of the ice cream in it and the holder filled with cones for every one. Walking over with the scoop she offered it to Angus " help yourself , you can have two scoops on each" she said and chuckled as did Aria.

" I want to try the key lime ice cream , not had that before" she said waiting until she could scoop into a ball the ice cream then place it into the waffle then add a second scoop on top. Ruby did the same taking one of each and siting down she placed some onto a bowl for the babies and placed them in front of them once Caprice tasted it she dug in as did Dimond both with Hugh smiles on their faces.

Angus was adventurous. He chose a scoop of each, and Marcus followed similarly doing the same, putting the mint on the bottom and the lime on the top.

"Very good, Ruby," Angus said. "Good ice cream and good cones. Well done. I don't need to make dessert anymore since you can do it."

"It is good. Angus is right. Nice, crispy cones, good smooth ice cream. Well done," Marcus said. He ate his cone, and he poured himself coffee to take upstairs while Angus took a short nap.

Angus went upstairs, took the potion and soon slept. Marcus settled in, in a chair by the balcony doors and he got out a small, pocket sized crossword puzzle book and settled in to do some crosswords so the room stayed quiet. He could do the puzzles and keep a close eye on Angus at the same time.

Ruby chuckled when Angus said she had done well with the ice cream and waffles " well they're from your recipes so credit it yours" she said smiling as she too ate her desert . Both women watched as Angus headed up to take a nap she looked to Marcus and smiled nodding she knew he would watch over him " I'll bring up some tea later if you ant" she said but saw him follow Angus up to their room.

Aria helped clean up the lunch things and placed the rest of the ice cream into the freezer. she placed the waffles that were left in the fridge for the girls and boys later before sitting back down beside the play pen where the babies were playing now having been moved by Ruby and Aria. " you think the Fae liked the meal?" she asked Ruby who looked over to her and chuckled.

"I know they did it was all natural and sweet , exactly what they like" she said as Aria nodded and went back to her word search,

Angus slept for almost two hours but, at an hour and 45 minutes, he saw Priscilla coming. She looked like she was walking out of a the same thick dark, swampy woods on the island where they had fought her in New Orleans. And, to his left, he could see that damned casket again, the same one they'd chopped up and he'd burned. It was back.

And then someone was shaking him--hard. He woke with a jolt, and when he did, he saw Marcus was working on a crossword puzzle.

"Did you just shake me?" Angus asked, trying to catch his breath.

"Me?" Marcus looked at him. "No. Was I supposed to?"

"I don't know. Were you?"

"Mate," Marcus said. "Take a moment and get your eyes open. I've been right here, and it's been quiet for the last couple hours. Suppose it was your gran?"

"Um...maybe. Not sure," he said.

"Were you dreaming?" Marcus asked.

"I was, maybe, but the shaking interrupted it, so I dont think it was part of the dream," Angus said.

"Well, for now, lets chalk it up to your gran, shall we?" Marcus suggested. "Was it a good dream?"

"No," Angus answered.

"Well, whoever woke you did you a favor, then. So I'm voting for your gran."

"That's as good a source as any, I suppose," Angus said.

Downstairs, there was a knock, and Kate came in.

"Sorry to interrupt, and I know this is going to sound strange, but Abbey sent me here," Kate said to Ruby and Aria. "She wanted me to come find Aggie. She told me that. She believed she needed to wake him up. She said she saw him, and she was trying to focus on waking him up. And then she sent me here to find him."

Ruby and Aria were sat watching the babies when they heard a knock " come in" Ruby said and smiled seeing Kate, they listened to her and sighed " oh, well he's upstairs taking a nap" she said but hearing voices she frowned " or not , go on up Kate" she said motioning to the stairs " sounds like he's awake" she said sitting back down with her book but she looked to Aria . " coincidence?" she asked and Aria shook her head.

"I have discovered nothing around here is coincidence" she said standing and making her way up to the hallway outside Ruby and Anus's bedroom so she could listen in having a feeling Pricilla had tried something again.

Kate went upstairs, and she knocked very softly. Marcus got up and answered.

"Oh, come in, Kate. He's awake," Marcus said. He saw Aria standing there, clearly trying to listen.

"Eavesdropping?" Marcus asked her. "I honestly don't think there are any secrets."

"Sorry if I woke you," Kate said to Angus.

"No, you didn't," Angus said.

"Abbey actually was the one who sent me," Kate said. "She was taking a bit of a nap herself after lunch when she said she saw you and was trying to wake you up. She said she shook you to try to wake you up, and then she woke up and told me I had to come find you."

"Well, in a weird way, it makes sense. Someone did shake me," Angus said.

"Except they didn't," Marcus said. "I was right here, and nobody was in or you."

"Then it was Abbey," Kate said. "She got through to you after all. Sometimes her abillities go way beyond what she should be able to do at her age, even for the women in the Fawcett family. She said she felt you were in trouble, and she needed you to wake up."

"Thank her for me, would you?" Angus asked.

"Certainly," Kate said. "Did anything happen while you were sleeping?"

"Just dreams, like always," Angus shrugged.

"Suzanne or Priscilla?"

"Priscilla, but she didn't get far b/c someone shook me and woke me up."

"Then, for some reason, Abbey connected with you."

"That doesn't actually surprise me," Marcus said. "She's always had a special relationship with him. If she thought he was in trouble, she'd be wanting to do something. This time, she did."

"I'm glad, then," Kate said. "But at least you were able to get some sleep. I know Robert spoke with Nigel, so he's hoping he and Nigel can put their heads together and come up with something. Nigel had some ideas, i guess. If I know more, I'll tell you."

"Thanks, Kate," Angus said. "I appreciate it."

Aria saw Marcus and heard him she chuckled and nodded " yeah I learned it's best to get from the horses mouth , right, but your right no secrets" she said smiling at him as she stood and listened. " did you try the potion Minos made for you?" she asked " because if it didn't work I'll let Minos know about it" she added now stepping back to lean on the banister.

Ruby stayed with the babies now finding one needed changing. " Aria could you watch Dimond I need to change Caprice" she said Aria looked to Marcus and chuckled " on my way!" she called down and left to head back to the living room to watch Dimond while Ruby with Caprice headed to the nursery to change her into clean clothes and a clean diaper.

"No, I think it worked fine for all it was supposed to do," Angus said. "I was able to sleep just short of two hours," Angus said. "Minos said he wasn't sure it would last for any more than that. I appreciate it that you helped him make it. Thank you." He got up, and he and Marcus headed downstairs with Kate.

"I'll go talk to Abbey and tell her you're alright. She'll be relieved, I'm sure," Kate smiled.

"Thank you, Kate," Angus said. He went into the kitchen and found some strawberries in the fridge, and he set about making some of Abbey's favorite cookies--her pink kitty cookies. He made a strawberry dough, and he rolled it out and cut it with the same kitty cookie cutter that had always used. He made a batch of the cookies and decorated them with some pink icing and some candy eyes, and as he was finishing the cookies, Minos came in. Angus cut a cookie up into pieces and he piled the pieces high on a couple of tiny platters. Minos swiped a piece and ate it, and his eyes lit up.

"You like them?" Angus asked. Minos nodded, loving the natural strawberry color and flavor.

"I'lll take them," Marcus said. He took them out to the garden and put the little platters down, drawing the Fae out immediately to go grab a piece of the cookie. Angus, meanwhile, put the cookies in a tin for Abbey.

"I need to take these over to Abbey to thank her, and, I guess then I'll start something for supper," Angus said, "unless one of you particularly wants to walk this tin of cookies over to her. Maybe she'll let you sign her cast."

Aria smiled and nodded as she pause din heading down " my pleasure" she said and headed down to the living room seeing Angus with Marcus and Kate walk down she stood close to the play pen and watched as Angus made kitty cookies " I can take them over" she said as she looked at Angus and Marcus as Ruby walked back down. " unless one of you guys want to do it?" she asked looking from one to the other " but some fresh air would be great for me" she added " besides I'm running with Jack in five so will work out" she added swiping the tin from the counter, now headed to the back door she chuckled " see you in half an hour, or less if I hit a wet spot" she said and laughed as she head over to the main house.

Knocking on the door she saw it open and chuckled to her self "delivery for Abby?" she called out as she held the tin in her hands

"She's in Angus's office," Mickey called, pointing to the open door. "She and BooBoo Kitty are having a tea party with my wife while I start on supper. We're the babysitters this afternoon, so they're borrowing Angus' office floor so Trish can be closer to the kitchen. Help yourself. We were out of cookies, so I'm afraid they're serving little cheese crackers with their tea today. I did have to promise her I'd do better for BooBoo Kitty's tea party tomorrow."

Trish had a Japanese chabudai that was set with a tea party for BooBoo Kitty, using a pink plastic child's tea set that Angus had bought Abbey a long time ago. BooBoo kitty had a pink cast on her leg that looked just like Abbey's, and Abbey and Trish were sitting on floor pillows. They were eating cheese crackers and drinking some fruit punch from the little tea cups.