A Birth day

"You sound like you think he slighted you," Marcus frowned. "He wouldn't do that. You have to admit that, for the most part, you haven't wanted to be an active part of the fighting, and you also know its been a really intense fight lately for him to protect everyone and himself, so his first thoughts were to have the very first rings made for the most experienced fighters that are closest to the two of you As for other rings, what did you do with your engagement ring? Did you lose it? That was his gran's engagement ring. It meant quite a lot to him."

"Leave it, Marcus," Edward sighed. "Not a problem any of us should get into. She's going to have to discuss her unhappiness in her relationship with Angus with him, not us. I daresay he's liable to be surprised, though, because I think he thought the two of them were on better ground than this."

Ruby chuckled at Marcus " hey chill Marcus, its right here, I took it off when I was cooking so it wouldn't fall in the cake batter." she said and slipped it on from her pocket and yes your right , my place for the moment it right her and Edward I'm not unhappy, I'm perfectly content with our relationship thank you" she said with a chuckle and a smile as she looked over at Angus dozing in hi chair " even with everything that's happened." she said chuckling " now please lets get back to the fun" she said to both Edward and Marcus.

Cutting the cake she gave several pieces to the fae by shrinking it down for them to eat then handing out pieces to the boys and girls then Edward and Marcus she cut a piece for Angus and placed it by his chair " I think he's sleeping" she said smiling at Angus then gently touching his cheek " I do have tons of photos too."

Edward and Marcus didn't bring it up again. Edward focused on the babies, and Marcus focused on his job. He enjoyed the cake but, as always, he was more focused on duty.

When the kids finished their cake, the girls excused themselves to get a couple of hairstyle magazines to look over them for the dance tomorrow in Hogsmeade.

As people were finishing their cake, Robert came over, bringing Angus's potions. 

"Sorry to interrupt the festivities, but I wanted to check on Angus, and I brought his potions. I'll try not to interrupt you for very long," he said. He went over to Angus, and he took a moment and checked on him. Marcus followed Robert over to Angus but said nothing as Robert checked on the surgical dressing. He changed the dressing quietly, and then he handed Marcus two potions bottles. Marcus read the labels. Both bottles were very clearly marked and had detailed instructions. 

"I presume you don't want him taking any other pain potion or sleeping potion but these until further notice," Marcus told him very quietly, so as to not disturb the party or Angus either one.

"Correct," Robert said. "The pain potion has some anti-inflammatory potion combined with a strong pain reliever. He very likely won't need a sleeping potion because this is exceptionally heavy, but if he does, use only the other potion here. And just so you know, I have enchanted the potions bottles themselves so that the only people who will be able to open these bottles are Angus, you, Ruby, Edward, or myself. Just because I do not trust that Lee got every single polyjuice bottle. It's just an additional layer of protection."

"Good thought," Marcus said. "Is he alright to sleep upstairs tonight?"

"Wherever he's comfortable, but it will scarcely do either Angus or Ruby any good if he goes upstairs and she lays awake listening to every breath he takes. If she can rest, then fine, but if not, he's better downstairs. She needs to be able to recharge to handle six kids because he isn't going to be able to be any help."

"It isn't as if she's alone," Marcus said. "We have a lot of people here."

"Even so, I have alerted Jack that if things get too hectic and you need Sam and Victor here, I'll approve that," Robert said.

"Understood," Marcus said, feeling the boys really did just need to go to work as usual, but he was glad Robert was flexible.

"I'll be over early in the morning to check on him before I go to work, but if things get rough during the night, you wake me. Understand?"

"Absolutely," Marcus nodded.

"Alright. Unless somebody else has questions, I need to get back. I have a briefcase chock full of paperwork that needs my attention yet tonight," Robert said.

Ruby saw Robert enter and cut a piece of cake for him and Kate placing it in a Tupper wear tub she waited until he was done with Marcus and walked over " none " she said smiling " here for you and Kate, if there's any left I'll send it over for the others" she said smiling and chuckling as Caprice called out papa and looked at Robert " she's found her voice" Ruby said.

Aria stayed with the babies and looked to Robert " Angus will be fin if we leave him down here, easier than jostling him upstairs" she said Ruby nodded she agreed. It was now Caprice threw come icing at Her and she chuckled wiping it off her cheek " oh boy what have we unleashed" she said tickling Caprice and making her laugh.

"Thank you, Ruby," Robert said. "Kate and I usually have some tea before bed, so tonight, we will have cake with that tea. We appreciate it. Good for Caprice. I'd hug her but she needs to be a lot less cake covered for that. I'll hug her later but its good that she's working on learning her words. And you're right, Aria, letting him stay down here is probably a lot less pain and fuss for him. It won't be long before he'll be able to go back upstairs to his own bed. Another day or two at most, and he'll start feeling a lot better. How did he eat tonight?"

"Good, actually," Marcus said. "A bit less than a regular size portion, but he did fine. He's not alert enough to keep up on fluids but I'm sure he'll make up for that tomorrow."

"Excellent. Better than I had hoped for tonight. I honestly didn't think he'd do that well. He's definitely ahead of what any other patient would be doing by now. It helps that he's in good shape otherwise. Sounds like he'll be back on his feet ahead of schedule."

"If Suzanne doesn't rear her ugly head in the meantime," Marcus said.

"Oh, hush that thought. We don't want her or Priscilla anywhere near him for awhile. For now, we should keep security tight."

"The girls are supposed to go to the dance in Hogsmeade tomorrow night. Any security worries there?" Marcus asked.

"Well, we do want them to have a normal life, so let's not cancel it. I could ask Jess and Jack if they could free themselves to go and just keep an eye out for them--at a distance. They don't need to interfere with them unless the girls would get into a bind. Jess might like a chance to dress up in a fancy dress and get out for an evening. Pretty much, all she sees are scrubs and jeans. I'll talk to them and let you know. Otherwise, you and Aria might be dusting off your party clothes."

"Just let us know," Marcus said. 

"Will do. Alright, time for me to go. Goodnight, All," Robert said, taking the cake container and leaving.

Ruby chuckled and nodded at his observation of Caprice " oh yeah , she's enjoying wearing the cake rather than eating it, but a warm bath before bed will fix that" she said Aria looked at Anise and Ginger.

"Well would you guys want Marcus and I to go to the dance with you or would you like Jess and Jack?" she asked wondering and would not be offended if they said Jess and Jack. Ruby took a cloth and wiped Caprice's face clean and fed her a piece of cake again.

" Night Robert" Ruby said and waved night to him as did caprice and Dimond with cake covered hands " ni, ni" Caprice shouted.

"The reason I'm thinking of Jess and Jack first is only because I really do want to keep security here really tight for now. After all. that's the reason I brought you back from Paris, Aria," Robert said. "I'll let you know." He left for the main building.

It wasn't terribly long after that, and Angus woke, feeling uncomfortable. He started to shift to get up, and Marcus was on it immediately.

"Where are you going?"

"Upstairs. I want to clean up a little and change," he said. "I've had enough for one day, I think."

"Okay. You feel able to deal with the stairs if I help?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Angus said.

"Well, you're not fine, but we'll give it a go," Marcus said. He helped Angus upstairs, helped him clean up so he didn't get the dressing wet and helped him change into a pair of pajama trousers and one of the long sleeved tee shirts that he had used in his last shoulder surgery because it opened on the side and the shoulder. It would keep any drafts off him during the night. By the time Angus had done all that, though, he was tired. Marcus apparated him back downstairs and helped him back in his chair and draped the blanket over his legs to help him get settled for awhile. He gave Angus the slice of cake and while Angus was eating cake, Marcus made him a cup of almond tea and brought it to him. 

The girls came back upstairs and they got the presents off the desk and handed them to Ruby. 

"We almost forgot to give these to you. Ginger made them," Anise said. Inside each box was a crochetted brown bunny, and each bunny had a lace dress and a lace hat. ONe had a pink dress and hat and one had a lavender dress and hat

Ruby and Aria nodded to Robert " makes sense" Aria said with a chuckle " well I won't be offended if they chose Jess but I agree its been a while since her and Jack got away for awhile" Aria said with a smile Ruby chuckled and nodded.

"I think it might be good for Jess and Jack to get out and have an evening off" she said seeing Angus wake and want to go up she smiled seeing Marcus walk with him and take him upstairs while she cleaned up the cake that as all over the floor and table. Aria took Dimond and bathed her first while Ruby played with Caprice then once Aria returned she took Caprice for her bath, now clean and in the pen she smiled as Anise and Ginger brought their gifts " awe they are so cute" she said " why don't you give them their gifts" she said and saw Caprice look at Anise and the pink bunny " bum bun" Caprice said giggling.

Now with the bunny's in their hands both giggled and smiled " thank you girls they love them and Caprice hugged hers tight against her chest " well I think there a hit " Ruby said smiling seeing each girl hugging and playing with their bunny.

"I'm glad," Ginger said. "Anise picked out the colors, and I put it together. It was a team effort."

Angus ate about half his cake and then set the plate aside, and Marcus encouraged him through the tea just to get some fluids in. Minos came over and sat near him, looking at him.

"Sorry, Minos. I'm not any company tonight," Angus said. Minos pointed to Angus's shoulder. "It's an old pain in the butt," Angus told him.

"Some of Priscilla's followers made an attack on the building we were in this morning, and we got caught up in a huge skirmish. They got Angus's shoulder, and Robert had to do some emergency surgery to try to repair it. It was a long, deep surgery, so he's got a lot of recovery to do. Do you lot ever have to do anything like that for medical care?"  Minos nodded. Minos was making more gestures that Marcus didnt understand.

"He's telling you he's beyond irked with Priscilla," Angus said sleepily. "Me too, my friend."

"Well, I think that goes for just about everyone here," Marcus said. Minos continued to make more gestures but Angus didn't translate it.

"Its fine, Minos," Angus said.  

"Concerned about Angus, are you?" Marcus asked. Minos nodded. 

"I'll be here all night with him so try not to worry," Marcus said. Minos looked at Marcus as if Marcus was being dense. "Look if I'm missing something, you might need to give me a hint."

"Minos, enough, please," Angus said gently. Minos fired a magical spell just enough to make one of the potions bottles fall over on the med cart. Marcus picked up the bottle and saw it was the pain potion.

"Well, I'm sure he does need it," Marcus told Minos, "but he's not ready to go back to sleep again yet. so I'll wait just a little bit and then I'll make sure he gets it. Fair enough?" Minos scowled at Angus, and Angus scowled back, half teasing. 

"I have way too many nursemaids,' Angus said, finishing his tea.

Ruby watched Angus, Marcus and Minos talking and smiled at Angus 's reaction to Mino knocking over the pain potion. She stood up and walked dover retrieving the plates from Marcus and Angus " Minos he truly will be okay, as much as we all care and want to mother him, giving him space is the best medicine right now" she said softly " its a human thing" she said and chuckled " besides if he was to have any baby sitter Marcus is the best he could have" she looked at Marcus " I mean that as a compliment" she chuckled a she walked to the kitchen with the plates.

Returning she sat down to watch the babies while Aria cut up the cake and sent some over to the main house. " I for one am just glad he's home and alive, if a little in pain, but I know Robert did a great job on his shoulder " Ruby said looking up from her book for a moment and smiling to them both " I'll bring blankets and pillows for tonight okay?" she said to Marcus before closing her book once marked and placing it next to her on the couch.