A Birth day

"'thanks, Aria. Morning, Jack," Angus said, putting the potatoes and onions in a hot cast iron skillet to fry them. "You're just in time for breakfast--eggs, fried potatoes, brown sugar bacon, and toast. Not fancy, but it should be tasty. It'll be ready in a moment."

"Sideboard is set," Anise said.

"Thank you," Angus said.

"Good morning," Marcus said to Jack. "Nothing yet, I'm afraid, but Angus found a scrapbook of photos, so I thought I'd go through those and perhaps go for a walk around and try to get the lay of the land here. Ruby said there's a running track, but I'm not sure I'll do that today. And some little fairy dude was here earlier. Apparently he's going to brew up somethig he thought might help."

"We did stop Marcus before he thought Minos was a housefly to be swatted," Angus laughed. 

"I doubt Minos would have appreciated that," Anise laughed.

"Oh, I'm sure he's had to deal with that before," Angus said. "After all, with as long as they live? Surely some human has made that mistake before."

"Maybe that's part of why Minos is so quick," Anise said, as Sam and Victor came downstairs. 

"Why is there a bird at the window?" Marcus asked, pointing to the kitchen window.

"Oh!" Angus said. "It's Archangel." He flicked his finger at the window, and Archangel flew in, and landed on Anise's shoulder and screeched in her ear, dropping a note for her. 

"Thank you, Buddy," she smiled, giving him a friendly scratch.

"Wait a second. That's not an owl," Marcus frowned. "Have I seen him before? He sort of looks a little vaguely familiar."

"Good. That's a good sign. Yes. You have seen him before. He belongs to Robert's daughter. She's had him since she was ten or eleven. Robert's wife can speak to birds of prey, and she trained him. He took a liking to Khaat before Khaat left for Hogwarts', and she got permission to use him there." Anise opened the note.

"It's from Dean," Anise smiled. "He said that was one of the most exciting nights he's ever had, and he wants to know if he can talk to you to see if, after graduation, he can work for the organization in the off season from quidditch." 

"Well, I'll be," Angus said. "I figured we'd scared him off."

"So did I," Angus said frankly. "Apparently not, though."

"I'm gonna scare him off," Sam muttered, jealous.

"Oh, stop," Anise said, giving an owl treat to Archangel. "You brought that on yourself."

"Ru, can you dish up the potatoes and the eggs? I've got two big bowls on the sideboard--one for the potatoes and one for the eggs. The skillets heavy to muscle with one hand. I'll get the bacon and the toast," Angus said. "And then we can eat."

Jack smiled at Angus then laughed at how Marcus met Minos " oh I've done that once or twice, I learned to check before swat now" he said with a chuckle and looked to Marcus as Archangel flew in and he nodded " that's Archangel" he said and let Angus explain more about him.

Ruby listened to Angus and nodded to him " of course" she said smiling a she picked up the potatoes and eggs off the counter but Jak moved and took the bowl of eggs from her carrying them to the side board " got to help if I'm gonna eat" he said smiling at them both. He saw the boys walk down and chuckled but looked to Anise as she told Sam to stop. " you know jealousy is not a good look " he said to Sam.

"I'm sure Minos appreciates that, Jack," Angus laughed. "Thanks, Guys. Alright, Everyone, come fix your plates before it gets cold." He picked up a piece of crispy bacon, broke it in half, gave Marcus half and then tasted the piece he kept and smiled, happy with the crispy, sugary and smoky crust on the crispy bacon. "I could get to like that a lot," Angus said.

"Oh my goodness. It's like you coated the bacon with toffee," Marcus said. "That's insanely good. Have you made that before?"

"No, but I read about it in an American cooking magazine so I thought I'd try it," Angus said, putting some eggs, some potatoes and a piece of toast on a plate for himself, and adding another piece of bacon to his plate.

Everyone fixed their plates and sat down at the table. Anise let Archangel back outside, and then she sat down with her breakfast.

"So," Ginger said to Victor, hoping to change the subject away from Dean. "Anise and I were thinking of packing a picnic and going for a hike. You and Sam interested?" 

"Absolutely," Victor said. "I'm in. I just bought a new one of those flying disk things that Faith and Evie have."

"Oh. Frisbees," Anise said. "Awesome. It would be a good day for it.  And our dad sent us a kite. Maybe we could take it. I've never flown one, though."

"You'll figure it out. Just keep it well away from trees," Angus said. "I lost my favorite kite to a tree when I was a boy. I was going to climb the tree and get the kite back, but my gran had a huge conniption about it."

"Why?" Anise asked.

"The kite was way up at the top, and it was an enormously tall tree. Even Edward forbid me from climbing that one," Angus said.

"You in, Sam?" Anise asked him.

"Sure," Sam said. 



"

Jack chuckled at Angus response then moved to fix a plate for himself as they spoke of the walk and picnic. Mentioning the Frisbee he chuckled " don't for get to keep it away from Finn too" he said then laughed at Angus " oh was that the time you fell out of the tree and broke your arm?" he asked chuckling as he ate his breakfast with them.

Ruby placed the babies in their high chair as Aria picked up two bowls for both of the babies, she placed one down in front of Caprice who picked up the bacon and started to chew on it while Dimond ate the eggs happily ." babies love your coking" Aria said and chuckled as she saw Dimond take some eggs and smush it into her mouth happily. enjoying the taste of it.

Jack finished his breakfast and placed his plate in the sink " okay guys catch you later, Angus breakfast was perfect thanks" he said and headed out as Finn ran back in from outside.

"Nah. That was a different time," Angus said. "Benjamin had had a party at Edward's the night before while Edward and my gran were out for the evening, and Benjamin had gotten really irked with me for something I hadn't even done. Some drunken knucklehead had gone in to get some sugar. Well, Rosaria keeps an open bowl of salt on the counter for her cooking, and this bonehead thought it was sugar and just poured it into the sugar bowl and brought it back to the party. Well, Benjamin believed I'd done it, and he said he was grounding me for six months. 

"As I recall," Angus continued, "I was more than a bit miffed with him, and I decided I was going to run away from home--again. Wasn't the first time, believe me. So I climbed out my window to the tree, and I thought if I climbed out far enough on one of the limbs, I could drop down to the top of the stone fence and then simply jump down to ground on the outside of the fence, and away I'd go. Little did I know that while I was plotting my grand escape, Edward and my gran had come home and run Benjamin and Eileen out of the house. I didn't find out Edward was home til I fell out of the tree, broken my arm and was screaming like a banshee. Not one of my finer moments."

"Sounds like your father was about as bad as ours was," Sam said.

"He was," Angus nodded. "Your parents worked for my dad, as it turns out, and they answered to Tom Gelding. Small world, huh?"

"God, it's a wonder we hadn't met, then," Victor said.

"Yes, indeed," Angus said, deliberately not telling the boys that it was possible that they were related. Now just didn't seem like the time.

"So, if we're going hiking, then can one of you teach us how to pack a proper picnic?" Anise asked. "We've read about it in some of our fiction books, and it always sounds so wonderful, but we have no clue where to begin."

Jack chuckled and nodded as Angus recalled the fall from the tree incident. Aria looked to Anise and smiled " I can help you with that, I've packed a few in my time" she said and smiled " you have a basket for it right?" she asked but then remembered there was one in the back room " I know where there is one" she said smiling as she finished her food and stood up collecting the empty plates to put in the dishwasher.

Ruby looked at Angus wondering say he had not mentioned about there possible connection but said nothing knowing it was Angus choice whether to tell them about the connection. Cleaning off Caprice from the bacon she lifted her out and placed her into the playpen with Dimond and their bunny's.

"That would be great. Thanks," Ginger said. "Are there any decent places to picnic over at Robert's farm?"

"Many," Angus said. "I can draw you a hasty map of the farm if you want to go there."

"Um...just one thing," Victor said. "We've never been there. How do we get there?"

"It's actually really closeby, but since you've never been, one of us can take you and drop you off. And I trust you can find your way home. If you go there, I trust you can follow the map, not get yourselves into trouble, and get yourselves back before supper time. Fair enough?"

"Wait. We're adults. Why do we need to be back?"

"Two of you are adults. Two of you aren't. And, we still don't know if James is dead or not or if tom is up to more bullcrap. So, yes, I want you home before supper."

"It's fair, Sam," Victor said. "It's fine, Angus. Besides, it's supposed to storm tonight by six or seven anyway."

"That's why its fair," Angus laughed, "because you're figuring you're going to get rained out later."

"Well, yeah. Isn't that okay?"

"Its fine," Angus laughed. 

"Angus, what's the significance of having a red checkered tablecloth?" Ginger asked.

"What?" Angus frowned.

"Picnics. They always have a red checkered tablecloth to put on the ground. Why is it always a red checkered one?"

"I have no idea," Angus laughed. "One of my mates in cooking school always used to cook his roasts by cutting two inches off the end of the roast, so I asked him why he did it, and he said he did it because his mum always did. He finally asked his mum why she always cut two inches off the roast, and she said because her mum did it. So, he asked his gran why she always cut two inches off the roast, and she said she cut the end off the roast because her roasting pan was too small. Sometimes  we follow tradition for no good reason. My vote is that if a tradition has no meaning for you, you should consider making your own new traditions."

"Good idea. I think we will," Ginger said

Aria listened to then talking and smiled as Angus answered her question " there's no rhyme or reason behind that, you take a blanket of your choosing" she said smiling to them. " there is a nice table cloth in the pantry I'll add it to the basket" she said smiling to Anise.

Jack listened and looked to Victor " I'll take you over I have to go there anyway the garden has excess veg and fruit again so I'm picking it up for Zoe." he added and looked to Victor " unless you don't want to hang with this old man?" he joked. Ruby chuckled and looked at Sam and Victor.

"you'll be okay " she said from the playpen where she sat with the babies and Aria.

"That would be great," Ginger said. "Thank you."

"Angus, didn't you say that There's a ghost that likes one of the spots over there at the farm?" Anise asked.

"Yes. There is," Angus said. "Robert's brother--Remus. You've probably read about him in some of your school work. He was a professor for awhile at Hogwarts. He was also a werewolf from just about the age that Abbey is now. He lived with Robert and Kate off and on. There's a spot over there where Remus used to take Khaat and Brian camping when Khaat and Brian were growing up. Jack, why don't you show them where that spot is. Its a great spot for a picnic. And its the same spot where Edward married Simone."

"Is he one of the blokes that's in the painting in the office in Paris?"

"He is," Angus nodded. "His wizarding portrait is hanging above the fireplace in Khaat's bedroom in the main building next door, and there is another copy of it in Hogwart's, of course. Robert had another copy made and gave it to Remus's son, Teddy. Remus was one of the finest men I've ever had the pleasure to know. You would have liked him. He loved adventure. Maybe you'll see him over at the farm sometime. At any rate, you lot have a good time. Ruby, time is getting away from us. Let's fix a good supper for Owen's family. I can make a couple loaves of soda bread, and I've got a great recipe for a chocolate firewhiskey cake I could make. You make a great salad. But what about a meat and some sort of a potato dish and a nonstarchy vegetable? What do you think?"

Jack nodded as Angus suggested he show them Remus spot " I can do that" he said and chuckled " it is a beautiful spot, Jess and I picnicked there , oh many years ago now" he said and smiled a lopsided smile t the memory . Ruby chuckled and listened to Angus and nodded

"sounds good" she said as she stood up and went to the kitchen to start making the soda bread she gathered buttermilk, egg, flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and butter.. She began to make the dough and then soon she stood kneading it before placing it in a bowl to rise ready to be baked on the oven. " that's ready for rising now" she said to Angus " I was thinking what about an Asian salad to go with the bread?" she suggested to him.