A Birth day

"Thank you," Marcus told her, glad she wasn't pushing and was open to letting him ask questions. "Goodnight."

Angus fell asleep quickly, and, Marcus fell asleep far quicker than he expected to. 

Marcus woke up early and was up, dressed, and was finishing shaving when the coffee arrived. It smelled wonderful. It was a nice gesture from whoever had sent it up. He found a polo shirt in the dresser and slipped his shoes on, feeling as ready as he was going to be for the day.

The girls came upstairs, dressed for the day. They were glad it was Saturday. No school for the day, and that would give them time to catch up on their schoolwork and some other things. 

"I don't think I moved all night," Anise said to Aria. 

"Me neither," Ginger said, pouring coffee for Anise and herself. "Anise and I are talking about asking Sam and Victor about going hiking today. Maybe taking a picnic along."

Angus woke, knowing he had slept particularly heavily all night. He freshened up and changed and shaved and went downstairs.

"Morning," Angus said, going and getting himself coffee. "You both okay after last night?" he asked Ginger and Anise.

"Fine," Anise said. "We were just telling Aria that we were considering asking the guys to go hiking today. The forecast for today, when we looked at the papers last night before bed, said it was goign to be nice."

"So, ask them and go," Angus said. "I'm sure there is a lot of the grounds you haven't seen. or I'm sure you could go hike over at Robert's farm, either one."

"Well, either of those would be fine," Ginger said. "Isn't there a park in the village too?"

"There is, but its small. There really isn't any place to hike there. You could also have the guys take you to Tuscan and you could ask Faith and Evie to go with you. There's a lot of the grounds there that you haven't even begun to see."

"Oh, that's a good idea," Anise said. "that would be great."

"But we've never packed a real picnic," Ginger said, anxious.

"It doesn't have to be hard," Angus said. "Ask the guys first, when they get up, if they want to go, and if they do, I'm sure we can lend a hand to pack a lunch."

Aria heard the girls and nodded " sounds about right" she said as she watched Ginger pore a cup of coffee for herself. Listening to Angus she smiled to them both " that sounds a good idea ." she said too as she moved to sit with Angus.

Ruby woke and showered dressing in slacks and a light tee shirt and slip-on shoes , walking down she smelled the coffee as she passed Marcus in his and Aria room " morning Marcus, breakfast will be ready soon, come join us" she said smiling from the door way . " I see Aria sent you a cup of coffee, she does that" Ruby said and chuckled as she turned to the stairs and heard Ginger and Anise talk of a walk.

"Morning," Marcus said as he finished dressing. "The coffee was definitely a nice touch. I appreciated..." The sound of two angry, snarky babies starting to screech startled him. It was not a sound he remembered. He took a second to process what he'd heard. "Sorry. Didn't expect that. Didn't remember there were babies here. I could try to lend a hand, but I don't know what my skills with babies are gonna be."

"Sounds like the babies are up extra early today," Angus sighed.

"I'll go," Ginger said. "You're one handed, and I"m not." She got up and went upstairs to the bedroom. She found that somehow Diamond had gotten her hair caught in the latch on the side of the crib. "How the heck did you manage that?" Ginger frowned. She studied it for a moment, and she wasn't sure she was going to find another way to get Diamond's hair free except to cut it. "Ruby?" she called, "can you lend a hand? We might need scissors."

Ruby looked at Marc and then heard the babies cry out " oh yes one is mine and Angus daughter the other is my half sister" she said as she heard Ginger call " sorry got to deal" she said and chuckled as she moved to the nursery " how in hades did you mange that?" she said seeing how Dimond had got herself stuck " hum lets take a look" she said and looked at how her hair was. " well its ether cut a small piece off or take the latch apart." she said to Ginger a she opened a draw and brought out a pair of small scissors " okay you want to do it of shall I?" she asked holding out the scissor to her. " don't worry it will grow back" she added.

Aria saw Marcus walk down and smiled " morning, sleep well?" she said as she also saw Victor and Sam walk down behind him . Aria brought some pain potion for Angus and handed it to him " after yesterday your bound to be in pain even a little" she said placing the glass with it down on the table next to Angus.

"I'll do it," Ginger said. She took the scissors and clipped just the very barest amount to free Diamond from the crib latch. "I don't think I even want to know how she did that, and I'm not even sure what Caprice is on about because she doesn't seem to be caught in anything."

"Thanks, Aria," Angus said, "I completely forgot about the potion Robert poured for me last night. I think I was just too tired, but you're right. I do hurt today." He took the potion and set the cup on the table.

"Morning," Marcus smiled with his coffee mug in hand. "I slept very soundly, actually. Although, I didn't remember there were babies here until they started to fuss. It's probably a good thing I don't...wait." He looked at Angus. "I was about to say it was a good thing I don't have kids. I don't, do I?""

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but you have five," Angus laughed.

"What? Five?" Marcus stood frozen for a moment, coffee pouring into the cup.

"Coffee pot." Angus pointed. "You're going to overflow your cup."  Marcus jumped a bit and stopped the coffee just in time and put the pot down.

"Oh. Thanks," Marcus said. "Where are they? Are they..."

"They live with your parents when they're not in school," Angus said, as Minos fluttered in. "Relax. No Dad duties scheduled for you today. I'll get their pictures and try to help you refresh your memory." Minos fluttered towards Angus, and Marcus believed it was some sort of bug. He picked up the newspaper to swat it. "Hold up on the flyswatter. Fairies are friends, not flies."

"Jesus. What a house," Marcus sighed, feeling overwhelmed.

"It'll get better. I promise," Angus smiled, sympathizing with him. "Enjoy your coffee, and I'll fix something edible for breakfast. Morning, Minos. Come with me to the kitchen. We can talk while I cook." He headed to the fridge to see what he had to fix.

Ruby watched as Ginger snipped Dimond free of the latch she moved and checked Dimond and smiled " can't even se where you took it off" she said smiling as she then turned to pick up Caprice " oh that's just a copycat thing, one cries they both do so they don't feel left out" she said soothing Caprice as they changed them into clean clothing and diapers before carrying them down to the living room " crisis obverted" Ruby said and chuckled hearing Angus explain to Marcus he had kids.

Aria left the kitchen and smiled to Angus as she sat down. " that's what I thought " she said as he mentioned he was indeed feeling a little pain. Hearing them discus Marcus kids she smiled " there the best kids, polite and they like camping but only if its in a proper camping area with amenities , Zane and Kai are 15. Daria is 12, and Ezra and Poppy are 11 years old." she said to him " also your ex wife Evelyn is in Switzerland in a special facility." she said her wordsearch book on her knee.

Ginger nodded, glad to let Ruby handle Caprice. Ginger changed Diamond and dressed her for the day and took her downstairs.

Angus heated some butter and olive oil in a large cast iron skillet. He cracked two dozen eggs into a jar, added some cream, some salt and pepper, and put the lid on the jar, and then looked at Anise.


"Would you give me a hand with breakfast, please?" he asked her. "You could start by shaking this jar to mix up the scrambled eggs. And, Aria, any chance I could get you to slice some potatoes and onions for some fried potatoes, please? It's hard to slice potatoes and onions with one hand."

"In a jar?" she frowned. "Okay, if you say so." She went over, picked up the jar and shook it vigorously to mix the eggs with the other ingredients. In the meantime, Angus made a mixture in a small bowl of smoked paprika and muscovado sugar. Then he got out a sheet pan, filled it with strips of bacon, put the paprika mixture on the bacon, and put the sheet pan in the oven to get the bacon crispy.

"Why did you put the bacon in the oven? No skillet?" Anise asked. "And what was with the spices?"

"When you cook a great lot of bacon, it's far quicker to whack it in the oven and let the oven crisp it up all at once," he told her. "You wait and taste it. With the smoky paprika and the brown sugar, the bacon will be incredible." Then, he put two more sheet pans in the oven, this time with slices of bread for toast.

"If you say so," she said, uncertain. "What shall I do with the eggs?"

"Pour them in that skillet, please?" he asked, "and then, could you set up the sideboard or set the table?"

"Sure," she replied.

Ruby chuckled and nodded as Ginger said she was glad she had taken care of Caprice " she's easy to take care of" she said smiling as she finished up with Caprice and followed Ginger back down to the living room. Aria had heard Angus and nodded to his request.

"sure" she said waking over and taking out some potatoes a onions " peeled or unpeeled?" she asked about the potatoes as she peeled and started to cut up the onions and placing them in a bowl for Angus .
Ruby placed Caprice in the play pen for now and smiled to Minos " hey morning Minos" she said giving him a slight bow. Aria finished the onions and washed the potatoes a she waited for Angus to tell her how he wanted the potatoes cut.

"I like them either way," Angus said, "Unpeeled is a lot less work, and, believe it or not, there are a lot of vitamins and nutrients in the skins. But do whichever you like. Thanks." Angus talked to Minos about Marcus's head injury and his temporary amnesia. That explained to Minos why Marcus didn't recognize him. Minos nodded. He had an idea about a potion that might help, and he left quickly to go start a human sized batch. 

"He didn't stay long," Marcus said.

"No. He had an idea for a potion that he thought might help you, so he went to go start to gather ingredients and start brewing it," Angus said.

"So what's the usual routine here during the day?"

"Well, everyone will come get some breakfast, and during the week, Sam and Victor work, and Ginger and Anise go to my brother's where they're doing some home schooling with my nieces Faith and Evie. When everyone's able, we generally go running in the mornings, and then, I generally work from home, managing the estate. For now, while you're on medical leave, I think you should do whatever you like."

"I'd like to go look at things in the daylight and see if anything triggers my memory," Marcus said. 

"Good idea," Angus said. "I'm sure you'll have no shortage of people who would go with you and show you around. Robert would tell you, though, to not overdo it. You'll find that the headache that goes with a concussion can be very stubborn. And, you could have some dizziness with it, so be careful on stairs and such. 

"One of our coworkers was very seriously injured last night, so I think Ruby and I are going to fix a basket of food for his family, and I'll include a donation for them so they can pay their bills while he's recuperating," Angus told Marcus. "I'll try to get to Olivander's and get you a replacement wand while we're out."

"I know how to cast magic spells?" Marcus asked.

"Yes. You do," Angus smiled. "It'll come back when your head heals, I'm sure."

Aria heard Angus and chuckled then began slicing the potatoes very thinly for him once all the potatoes were sliced thin and in the bowl ready for what ever Angus was going to do to them. " here you go all done" she said and placed the bowl in front of him then looked at Marcus " Jack or Yu can help walk with you around the grounds" she said knowing she was going to stay with Angus no matter what.

" there is a running track not far from here and the pond." Ruby said playing with Caprice and Dimond keeping them occupied while breakfast was being made for every one. Just as they finished Jack walked in and chuckled.

"morning guys" he said walking over and smiling to Marcus " thought I'd check on how you were this morning, anything come back yet?" he asked