A Birth day

"Oh, not to change subjects," Anise said, "but we've got an exam coming up in Astronomy class at the end of the week, and we're supposed to have ten constellations memorized. We're supposed to be able to identify them. We've tried, and so far we can find the north star, which doesn't count as a constellation, and Ursa Major. That's it. They all look the same after that."

"I do know a fair few," Angus said, "but I learned them from Edward. He's the one you really need for that."

"So we need to go stargazing this week," Edward said. "Any time you want to go is fine with me."

"They really don't look alike," Sam said. 

"We've tried to teach them, but they're not getting it," Victor replied. "We've even suggested they go look through the skylight in your room, but they just say it looks all random to them."

"I think a lot of people feel that way," Angus replied.

"Perhaps we should go out for a few minutes and learn some basics," Edward smiled. "Shall we?"

"Why not?" Ginger said. Edward went out, taking the girls with him.

"The easiest way to learn, I think, is to not just learn to see the shape but to learn some of the stories that go with the constellations," Angus said.

"We had a guest lecturer for Astronomy when we were in Hogwarts," Sam said. "He was a Native American from New Mexico, and he knew a lot of the legends and lore about them, and taught us why the constellations were so important to Native tribes. I've never forgotten those stories."

"Sounds like it was a great way for you to learn. I'll have to ask Brian, but there are a lot of tribes in Colorado. Maybe the four of you could go spend some time there on the ranch this summer and learn some things from the native tribes there."

"That would be awesome," Victor said. "Suppose they'd let us?"

"I don't see why not," Angus said.

Ruby and Aria listened as Anise spoke of stargazing Aria smiled at the thought remembering how she'd used the stars to navigate out in the woods while on a mission once. " that's a great idea, and Angus is right learn the stories then you'll find them in the sky" she said " my favourite constellation Cassiopeia, she was known for her vain and boastful character and was the wife of King Cepheus of Ethiopia. Her vanity was such that she once boasted that she was more beautiful than the Nereids, who were sea nymphs famous for their beauty. Outraged at Cassiopeia’s claims, the Nereids appealed to Poseidon to punish her for her behaviour. Poseidon agreed and sent a sea monster named Cetus, represented by a different constellation to ravage the coast of Cepheus’ kingdom. The story goes that Cepheus was desperate to put an end to Poseidon’s punishment and turned to an oracle for help. The oracle informed him that the only way to appease Poseidon was to sacrifice his and Cassiopeia’s daughter, Andromeda, to Cetus. They obliged and left Andromeda chained to a rock for a sea monster to find. She was saved last minute by the Greek hero Perseus." she chuckled and looked at Anise and then quickly to Marcus and back " its a romantic story of sorts" she said and opened her book realizing she'd spoken a bit too passionately about the stars.

Ruby chuckled at Aria and smiled to her " I like the stars because of how Angus and I meant we met under a galaxy it was in the sky when we met and again when we became official, it was beautiful, with blues and greens and all the colours mixed " she paused and smiled to Angus " its why we have the sky light in our bedroom and I guess how Caprice came about.." she added

"That's nice that they have a romantic purpose, but is that really practical? Do sailors even use the stars anymore in navigation?" Sam asked.

"Certainly," Angus said. "All the muggle devices in the world won't be as accurate as using the stars. There is merit in doing things old school. In my opinion, muggles rely too much on their electronics. if you study ancient history, you'll learn that some ancient scholars were actually more advanced than we are today in some things."

"Ginger told me that Fenrir still uses the stars to help plot courses for the pack when they're moving through remote areas on a hunt," Victor said.

"Makes sense," Angus said. "You'll find Robert does some astrology training in some of the advanced survival trainings."

"Changing subjects, but will there be a survival training this summer?"

"Most likely, yes. He generally does a survival weekend every summer, usually broken into two or three groups, one group per weekend. And everyone is required to go on one weekend or another unless he's specifically given permission for one to sit out."

"I am not looking forward it it," Sam scowled.

"Why not?"

"Eating weeds and cooking bugs over an open fire is not my idea of fun," Sam said.

"A skillet full of bugs? Doesn't sound all that appetizing," Marcus said.

"We generally don't have an insect stir fry, I promise," Angus laughed. "Truth be told, all of you need to be polishing up on your plant and mushroom identification. it can be really useful on those weekends."

Aria chuckled and nodded at Sams words about bug sir fry. " hum some countries eat scorpions and grasshoppers" she said chuckling as she looked up from her word search at them " I'm looking forward to it" she said " but I've done two already so, might skip it if things aren't back to normal by then" she added.

" they can be fun too" Ruby said " I remember coming across a hidden waterfall and pool, stripping down and skinny dipping, really refreshing" she added " also talking about navigating my the stars today, a really good captain always knows how to, what if your out on the sea and your electronics go out?" she said then looked at Angus " that's right isn't it" she said smirking knowing even Angus knew how to navigate with the aid of the stars and a good sexton

"Skip it?" Angus asked her. "Unless your employment agreement is different from ours, you're required to do at least one a year, regardless of how many years you've been employed here. In fact, it used to be that we were all required to do one winter survival weekend and one summer one every year, and the only people that were allowed to miss it were people on the disabled list."
 
The babies started rubbing their eyes and getting fussy. It was getting late for them. They were continuing to play, and then Angus heard a loud cracking sound. He looked and saw that somehow one of them had broken one of their plastic toy keys somehow, leaving some sharp shards of plastic. 

"That's exactly right," Angus replied to Ruby, as he flicked his finger at the plastic key pieces. Diamond, however, was determined to hang onto one of the small sharp pieces, and when Angus elevated the pieces, it elevated Diamond as well. "How do you think the boat that goes back and forth to Azkaban finds its way reliably, after all, it is an unplottable location. Out on the North sea, one doesn't always have landmarks, and there are no road signs. The way he finds his way and back, time after time, is by good navigation using Captain Cutter uses the sky to navigate. Would one of you catch Diamond and get that piece of sharp plastic out of her little mit, please?"

Aria heard Angus and nodded " yeah your right" she said " besides as Ruby said its fun" she said then saw Dimond slowly rise up into the air " okay I got her" she said and quickly moved to remove the broken plastic from her hand sending it to the bin along with the rest of the toy. Aria looked at Angus " I'll put Dimond and Caprice down to nap" she said carrying Dimond's as Ruby picked up Caprice and carried her up behind Aria .

Ruby changed Caprice and lay her down in the crib placing over her blanket while Aria did the same with Dimond then they both headed back down. " they will sleep" Ruby said chuckling " they were both really tired out" she said as she sat back down. " you want me to do something for supper?" she asked as Aria checked the play pen for any other pieces of plastic that might have broken off the toy finding two more hiding under a blanket.

Angus watched Aria and Ruby take the babies to bed. Sam and Victor headed upstairs to shower and head to bed. The girls and Edward came in, and the girls headed to shower and to bed too. Edward and Simone headed back to their side. The house seemed to be shutting down for the night, so Angus let Finn out for his last trip for the night and then went over and did the security check on Edward's side. 

While Angus was over at Edwards, Marcus went up and showered for the night and changed for bed. He was tired, so when he was finished in the shower, he headed for his room.

He came back and made up some yeast dough for breakfast and then using a few charms to help him, he kneaded the dough and then covered it with a clean towel and set it on the work table to rise overnight. He let Finn back in and then started to lock up their side of the duplex.

Aria headed to the spare room again and showered , changed and lay on her bed to sleep but just stayed looking up at the roof unable to fall asleep. Slipping from the bed she stepped out onto the balcony and making sure the door was secure. She changed to her dove form thinking flying and fresh night air might help her sleep

Aria returned and landed feeling better after the flight that had taken her around the grounds now back in human form she showered changed again and slipped into bed to sleep.

Ruby smiled as Angus went to the kitchen and started on the dough. " that's going to be delicious tomorrow" she said as Finn ran around her then up the stairs to the nursery to his usual spot. Ruby chuckled as she watched Finn go " hes a good guard dog" she said smiling before heading up to their room and showering herself. Now in clean PJ's she slipped into bed and waited for Angus to join her.

"I hope so," Angus said. "I made a double batch because I've got a couple different ideas for it. Now that it's ready to rise, I'm free to go to bed." 

He went upstairs and showered and did his best to change his dressing on his own. Then he went in and got into bed. 

"Since tomorrow is Sunday, what would you think if I did a traditional roast tomorrow for a larger lunch, and then we could do a light supper of some sort?" he asked her, trying to stifle a yawn. "I know we don't always follow tradition, but I thought that maybe it would be a nice change of pace. We still have some good potatoes, and our supplier gave us several different colors of carrots that would look great if we pan roasted them. And, I've got a nice, big roast in the fridge that I need to use, so I thought that would make a great Sunday meal. We've also got a few pints of fresh strawberries, so I thought maybe you could make a strawberry shortcake for dessert.

Ruby lay and listened to Angus and smiled " sounds good" she said then heard him continue talking about the veg to go with it and the desert " I could do that yes" she said with a yawn. " having a roast every once in a while is good" she said snuggling against his good side and closing her eyes soon she was sound asleep against him.

Next morning Ruby slipped from the bed , showered and dressed ready for the day. heading down she began prep for the strawberry short cake for dinner. Aria walked down next dressed in running gear and headed to the mack door opening it she waited for Finn who charged down the stairs and out the door " going for a run" she asked and Aria nodded " okay " Ruby said as she watched Aria go.

She took out a pack of biscuits and broke them into small pieces then melted butter adding it to the biscuit crumbs one mixed she put them into a cake tin lined with grease proof paper and set it into the fridge to set again while she cut the strawberry's and flicked on the kettle ready for the others when they came down to make tea or coffee.