A Birth day

Angus went to the floo, and he connected with Kate and explained the situation. Kate immediately knew that Audrey needed some support. She knew a friend who had worked as a nanny and who had been out of work for nearly two months because her family moved to California. Kate believed her friend needed work and Audrey needed help. Kate promised to contact her friend straight away and to see how soon she could get some help to Audrey. 

Angus's next task was to inspect Audrey's fridge and pantry and to start making a grocery list for her. He could get groceries to her within the hour by calling his supplier. He got rid of the leftovers that clearly were not fit to eat anymore, and that also gave him an idea of what the family usually ate. That, and Audrey had started a grocery list and had stuck it to the fridge with a magnet.

Audrey did manage to make the tea when the kettle boiled but she didn't have any milk, and that upset her even more.

"Audrey, we'll put it to rights," Angus soothed her. "Come sit. Drink your tea. Kate's contacting an experienced nanny that she believes will be happy to help you..."

"Nanny? I can't afford a nanny..." she began.

"We can. The organization will pay for it for you while your husband is off work, and I'm working on groceries. For now, see if the things in the basket will help." She went through the basket and was thrilled at how much food there was. She believed it would keep her and her kids fed for three or four days. With some coaching, she helped Angus put together a grocery list, and Angus contacted his supplier and placed an order for her. While he was placing the order, Audrey was plating up some food for the kids and herself from the food in the basket. She was stressing about the guest room, and Angus said he'd put it to rights for her.

By then, Kate called back and said that her friend was delighted to help and was going to try to be there in an hour or two. 

"I ordered her some groceries, and the nanny and the groceries will be here in an hour or two," Angus told Ruby. "And Audrey's fixing some plates for the kids and for herself. I told her I'd sort out the guest room for the nanny unless you'd rather do that? Whatever you want to do is fine, Ru."

Ruby held the baby who had fallen asleep on her lap , the toddler was looking at the book next to her " I'm good here , go ahead" she said smiling to him as she held the baby " besides I think I am here while he sleeps, I believe he's teething" she added softly a she let the toddler pull on trouser leg. As she bent down she heard the toddler ask for something and point to a potty not far from her " you can go" she said softly and the toddler went over and sat down after pulling down her pull up and trousers.

Ruby looked at Angus " that nanny will be please and a welcome reive for Audrey" she said " and the provisions, we should get the nanny to do a complete list and send it to us along with some toys for the kids, we can cover the cost, since he was hurt on our watch and its in the contract that we are to take care of the families until they are able to resume work" she said to Angus. She stopped and smiled " sorry, you do the spare room I'll give the kitchen a bit of a tidy up and put the basket things away." she added as she turned her jacket into a sling for the baby and smiled " I learn from the best " she said with a smile to him.

Angus went upstairs and saw there really wasn't even a path in the guest room. It was wall to wall clutter, and at that moment, he was frustrated. He didn't have the energy on the two hands that it was going to take to take care of this. And right now, he was wishing he was the one sitting downstairs with a baby on his lap and that Ruby was handling this. But, no. Here he was. He cast a tidying up spell, and he began picking up all the clothes on the floor, clean or dirty, and just chucking the hamper. He found three blankets tangled in with the clothes, and he cast a spell to fold them up and set them near the hamper just to get them out of the way. The sheets on the twin sized bed needed changing, he could see, but he wasn't going to be able to do that with one hand.

He got angry. He tossed off the sling and shoved it in his pocket, changed the sheets on the freaking bed, and shoved the dirty sheets in the hamper. He accio'd a broom and a duster and he swept and dusted. He looked into the kids' rooms and the master bedroom. The master bedroom wasn't terrible but the kids appeared to have tried to tear their rooms apart. the bathroom wasn't one bit better. He set tidying spells in the kids rooms, and he decided the nanny could remedy that when she arrived. he didn't think Owens generally lived like this, but he was wondering if the kids were miniature juvenile delinquents or if Audry just didn't have any control with her children at all. He took a deep breath to calm himself, grateful that he didn't live in this sort of mayhem. 

And now he was in pain and tired because he'd done it to himself. He'd done with Robert had told him not to do, but he hadn't seen a logical way around it in the heat of the moment. He spent a few more minutes tidying the guest room, and then he gave up. He went downstairs.  

"It'll pass for now, Audrey," he told her. "You and the nanny can sort out the rest when she arrives."

"I'm sorry. It's such a mess," she said softly. "It isn't usually like this. I'm...I'm just lost without him, you know."

"I understand. Look, Ruby and I need to be going, but if you need anything else, you let me know.


"You've already done so much. Thank you," she said.

"You're very welcome. Ruby? Are you ready to go?" he asked her, wanting to extract himself from this as soon as he could tactfully manage it.

Ruby watched Angus head up stairs but return soon after she smiled as he spoke to Audrey and nodded " " Yes I am" she said smiling a she handed the baby to Audrey and smiled to him. Moving to the door she found a young woman stood on the front step " ah the nanny?" shea sked and chuckled Ruby chuckled too and stepped aside " just intime" she said looking to Angus as she moved out side " take care Audrey and , he'll be home soon" she said with a smile moving to stand with Angus as he saw Audrey close the door after the Nanny as they started to walk away .

" your getting tired?" she asked Angus," we'll get back and you can rest" she said wrapping her arm around him to give him some support if he needed it, that and she loved how he felt against her as they walked.

"I am," he told her as they walked away. He was glad for her support. "She's a nice woman, but her house looked like the back end of a tornado went through it. Clearly she isn't dealing--at all. There was very little food in the house at all, some spoiled food in the fridge, and you should be glad i saved you from the upstairs. What a bloody nightmare. She needs a cleaning service for the next couple days to get that house to rights. I find it hard to believe, with as meticulous as Owens is, that he would live in such a pigsty. I ordered a huge grocery order for her. and I cleaned up the nanny's room as best I could, but the kids' rooms and that bathroom all needed to be condemned. I wonder if I should mention it to Jess in case she sees Audry when Audry visits Owens next. Audry's always been a wee bit high strung, and I'm sure Jess knows it. Maybe Jess can give her a tad bit of a mild nerve tonic or something to help her get a grip on this situation. As for me, I am sure that if our house looked like that, I'd have taken a sleeping bag outside to the backyard and set a torch to the house."  

And then he remembered. 

"Crap," he sighed. "I told Marcus I'd stop and get him a new wand at Olivanders. Look, if you don't mind, why don't we go home, and you and Aria can pop out together? She can pick out his wand herself. Maybe she'd like to get him something a bit fancier. His wand was made of linden wood with a sphynx whisker core. And I remember him telling me it was precisely 11 7/16". I'm sure Olivanders probably doesn't have a huge call for sphynx whisker core wands, so I'm not sure what she'll have to choose from, but she might like getting out for some air for a little."

Ruby walked with Angus and listened to him talk " sounds bad" she said I'm sure Jess can help her and the nanny too" she said then heard him mention the wand for Marcus as they walked . Pausing at his suggestion she nodded " or maybe Aria could take Marcus himself to choose his wand?" she said but shook her head " na your right I think it would be great for her to chose his wand." she smiled at Angus " so lets get you into your recliner chair so you can rest" she said porting them back to the duplex.

Arriving she chuckled " I'm sure Jess will sense that Audrey needs something when she visits Owens and give her the tonic." she added as they walked to the duplex an opened the door for him. Aria stood up and looked at Ruby then Marcus and back.

"how did it go?" shea sked taking a blanket off the recliner ready for Angus to sit down in before heading to take the bag of sweets Ruby had in her hand.

" we didn't get chance to go Olivander's so maybe you could go and get Marcus a new wand?" she asked Aria who looked back at Marcus and nodded.

"I could do that linden wood with a sphynx whisker core precisely 11 7/16, right?".she asked and looked at Marcus as she spoke.

"I think she might like the outing," Angus said. 

"I feel for Audry," Angus said, sitting down. "She was out of food, and had three little demon spawn that were tearing the house apart, and so much clutter and disorder there wasn't a pathway in sight. I told Ruby if your place got like that, I'd take my sleeping bag outside and set a torch to the house. Anyway, I ordered fresh groceries for her, and I got in touch with Kate who hired her a temporary nanny. I did clean up some of the mess so the nanny didn't run off screaming."

When Aria asked Marcus what sort of wand he'd had, Marcus just looked at her blankly. 

"I don't remember even owning a wand at all. I'm sorry," Marcus told her.

"Yes," Angus said. "That's right. Ollivander will have a record of it. If you're fortunate, Garrick will be there today. He remembers every wand he's ever sold. He might be able to come up with just the right replacement for Marcus. I think you and Ruby should go, get the wand, and maybe stop at Florean Fortescue's for some really great ice cream. They'll have some great early summer flavors by now. Enjoy a bit of an outing. Marcus and I will be fine. We have Minos and the Fae outside, and so far as I know Edward and Simone are next door. Go have a good time for a couple hours and then maybe bring us all back some lunch from Sparks. What do you say?"

Aria looked at Angus and nodded " you sure you'll be okay I don't like leaving you with Marcus being all fuzzy headed still" she said but looking at Ruby she gave a sigh " all right, what kinda lunch do you want?" she asked as Ruby placed down the bag of vanilla fudge on the table before walking over to Angus and giving him a kiss.

"we won't be too long but ice cream does sound nice about now." ruby said hoping leaving the kids with Edward and Simone was okay " oh and I would join you if our place got that bad" she added with a chuckle but she knew it would not get that bad seeing they all had their own routine for clothing and things. Aria grabbed her jacket and slipped it on as she looked at Marcus. " we'll be back soon." she said smiling to him.

Ruby and Aria both ported to the alley and chuckled as they headed to diagon alley and down to Olivander's. Pushing open the door Aria paused and took a deep breath in smiling " oh this brings back memories" she said looking at the shelves with tons of thing boxes on.

"Surprise us," Angus said. "And, no matter what you get, you'll be surprising Marcus anyway."

"Not funny," Marcus gave Angus a side eyed scowl. But then they both laughed. 

"Liar. It was too," Angus teased him. 

"Maybe a little," Marcus grinned. 

"We'll be fine," Angus told Aria. "We are far from alone, so take your time. Marcus and I will play chess."

"Do I play?" Marcus asked.

"I have a chance of winning this time, I think," Angus teased. After the girls left, Marcus asked Angus about some of the photos in the scrapbook. Marcus hadn't gone through very many of the pages. Angus went through some of the pictures, and then, when he turned the page, there was a photo of Marcus with Evelyn on their wedding day, and then some close ups of them, together and individually. Marcus paused, staring, and Angus could see something was resonating with Marcus. He reached out and touched the close up of Evelyn's face.

"Evelyn," he said quietly. He looked at Angus. "Am I married? Is she my wife?"

"She was. You're divorced," Angus said. 'You remember her?"

"Only vaguely. It feels...negative, though."

"It has not been happy between the two of you now for the last twelve or thirteen years. You separated when you found your kids were abandoned and unattended for three days. You took the kids and you left her. Your work is highly classified, so your kids have been living with your mom and dad, and they visit you on the weekends, in the summers and on holidays and such. Evelyn has...well, issues. She's now living in a long term care facility for people with problems, and that's when you were able to divorce her because she was provided for."

"So there really weren't happy memories with her, then."

"Not very bloody many, that's for sure. But--you remembered her, and that's what's important. Well done. It's coming back, then, little by little. That's really speedy, according to what Robert expects. He'll be glad to hear that."  They continued to go through the scrapbook, and Marcus remembered something loosely associated with his parents and candy. Angus cleared that up, and he very vaguely thought his kids looked a bit familiar, but there was very little else that registered with him yet. Even so, Angus believed that was huge to have that much success that early on.

Aria looked around and saw Garrick stood with his back to them " afternoon " she said and chuckled as he turned to face her with a smile.

"Aria Barnette" he said and walked dover to her " ruby Tyler" he added as she nodded to him. " what brings you to my shop, you both still have your wands " he added making Ruby and Aria chuckle.

"its Marcus Belby , he lost his wand and so needs a replacement " Aria said and Garrick.

"ah, linden wood with a sphynx whisker core precisely 11 7/16." he said and smiled "not many people match with those, I have one , has the brother whisker in it, so should fit him" he said and moved to take down a box from the top shelf and hand it to Aria " give this to him " he said Aria took the box and nodded to him " now I'm sure you both have places to be and I'm rather busy at the moment" he added smiling as he made the door open for them .

"thank you Garrick" Aria said and her and Ruby walked out into the ally " now how about the ice cream then some lunch to take home for the guys and kids" Ruby nodded as they headed to the ice cream parlour.