A Birth day

'Sounds fine," Robert to Lucian. "Oh, and, Luciane, one more thing, I know this is a real mess, but this is really important for you to know. Yesterday, Tom surrendered permanent custody of Diamond to Angus. We've released Elliot because Elliot was only Suzanne's stooge anyway. And, rather than to let Suzanne stand trial and very possibly get off because of her madness, we decided to, conditionally, send her to a lockdown unit in an asylum. It isn't a free pass. It's not taking a chance that the dementors might make her even more murderous than she already is. And there's a condition we imposed that wasn't there before. If Tom or Suzanne either one have any more dealings, period, with Priscilla or Dominic, we will consider that a violation of our agreement with them, and we'll pick them right back up. And in exchange, he gave Angus full custody of Diamond, and I filed those papers immediately when we got back from Paris yesterday afternoon. 

"So," Robert continued, "just so you're fully briefed, Lucian, if Suzanne has any thugs still on the loose that she might have given orders to, or if she can somehow get orders out from Switzerland, I think we need to know that there is a 100% chance she will come for him, especially if she finds out the Tom surrendered Diamond to Angus, she will do everything in her power to try to kill him, no matter the cost. I'd like to prevent that. So, if you get any tips or information, you contact Jack or me immediately, and we will return the favor by reading you in on any information at all that we get. And I'll send you a copy of the property deed of the Tyler house if it clears up ownership of this nightmare. Fair enough?"

When he was finished talking to Lucian, he went over to Angus. 

"I sent Marcus and Aria ahead home to get the place secure and to make sure Jack knows what happened here today," he told him. "You're done here for today. For right now, Lucian, Michael and I have this. It's time we got you and Ruby the hell out of here and back to your kids. You good with that?"

"The sooner the better," Angus said quietly, still staring at the horizon.

"Come on, Ruby. It's time to go. Angus, come with us, and I'll take you both home," Robert said.

Aria with Marcus ported back to the duplex she immediately headed to find Jack and fill him in. Once done Jack headed out to add more men to the shields and ground patrol while Aria headed back to the duplex to put the kettle on and make some fresh coffee along with some sandwiches they could snack on should any one be hungry when they return. She also got the recliner ready for Angus feeling he'd need to relax along with a dose of pain potion.

Lucian listened to Robert and nodded as he spoke about what had happened , Lucian turned to Angus and chuckled " another one hey" he said " glad to know Tom knows when to let something go." he listened more to Robert and nodded " that's would be great " he said and shook Roberts hand. " speak to you soon, let hope she hasn't got any one left" he added as he saw Robert walk over to Angus.

Ruby saw Robert walk over and smiled when he said they should get back home " I could not agree more" she said standing and taking Angus hand in her own ready for Robert to port them back to the duplex

Robert apparated them back right into the living room of the duplex.

Sam had been walking through the living room with a bacon butty that he'd gotten Ginger to make him as a "small snack," as Sam had told her. But when Robert apparated in with Angus and Ruby without warning, Sam had jumped, startled, nearly dropping his sandwich. 

"Jesus! Give someone a heads up, will ya?" Sam scowled.

"Sorry. We're back," Robert teased lightly.

"Yeah, thanks. That's like a muggle that turns on his turn signal after he's made a turn. I don't give a rats arse that he's made a turn after he's made it," Sam retorted.

"Granted," Robert laughed. "Ruby, could I get you to maybe make some almond tea, please? I think everyone could use a spot of something calming right about now. Come on, Angus. I'm sure your faithful old chair is far more comfortable than that wooden deck step." He took Angus to his chair and once he had Angus in his chair, he reached up, touched his forehead and cast a much stronger calming spell. It made Angus's head spin for a minute, but then it cleared up. "Try to get this off your mind for a bit while Ruby brews some tea." 

Robert went to the desk borrowed a piece of paper and wrote a note to Kate and then he charmed it into a paper bird and sent the bird over to the main house. A few minutes later, Kate came over, and she had a package for Robert. She was quiet, understanding everyone here was sufficiently rattled at the moment. 

"Thank you," Robert told her quietly. 

"Is there anything I can do?" she asked him.

"Check with Ruby. I presume she's going to need to cook supper for her crew because the boys will be working and the girls will be going to Evan's in the morning," Robert said. "They'll have things to do tonight to get ready for another busy week."

Kate went over to Ruby. "Could you use some help getting some supper put together for your crew? We could keep it simple with a pot of homemade soup, and some good hot sandwiches and a very simple dessert if you like."

Aria chuckled hearing Sam and seeing his reaction to Robert returning with Ruby and Angus. " got you there" she said and chuckled. Ruby nodded to Robert " I'm on it" she said and headed to the kitchen to start the tea taking out what she needed she paused and took a moment to gather her thought about what they had discovered about her mother.

Hearing Kate she jumped a little and smiled to her " yeah, thank you Kate, that would be great, my minds elsewhere tonight" she admitted to her as she gathered the things to make sandwiches for every one while Kate made a simple with a pot of homemade soup.

Kate found some pantry ingredients, and then, in the freezer, she found some packages of some homemade cheese tortellini that Angus made some time ago. She thought they'd be perfect, and she took them out of the freezer. In mere minutes she had a beautiful, creamy tomato basil soup base that she'd added some garlic, onion, sausage, oregano, and some chopped baby spinach to. Then she added the tortellini and added a large amount of grated parmesan cheese to. It would be loaded with flavor and it would be comforting and filling.

While the soup was simmering, she went back to the pantry, found some ladyfingers, some limoncello and some jars of lemon curd. She got some eggs from the cabinet and some mascarpone cheese, and before long, she had used the pantry ingredients to assemble a beautiful and unusual lemon tiramisu. She added just a wee bit of lemon zest and some crystal sugar across the top as a garnish. Then she put it in the fridge to chill. 

"Tomato and tortellini soup, and a lemon tiramisu for dessert. Here. Taste. See what you think and let me know if it needs anything," She told Ruby. She handed her a little mise en place bowl with a spoonful of the soup and a spoon so she could taste the soup.

Ruby made the almond tea and walked over to Angus placing the cup next to him "enjoy" she said then walked back to the kitchen to where Kate offered her a small bowl, taking the spoon she took a sip and smiled " its good" she said finishing the bowl. " it is normal to feel like you haven't actually known your own parents?" she asked Kate as she stood in the kitchen making sandwiches " I thought my mother was bad but this..this is down right insane just to get back at Angus for what, being with her grown up estranged daughter and saving her brothers from a toxic family?" she said confused at how it had come to this.

"In your case? Yes," Kate told Ruby. "But, if they'd been around more, you wouldn't have had to take care of Sam and Victor so often. What you knew about them was that they weren't there. In your childhood brain, you wouldn't have been able to even begin to fathom that they did what it was they actually did when they weren't home. And that's perfectly normal. 

"Besides," Kate added, "let's be honest, I don't think your mother was as barmy then as she is now. Robert would be the first to tell you that sometimes someone is dramatically changed by an event that is just beyond their ability to cope. I told Robert after that ministry debacle in Paris that I think it's entirely possible that your dad's death was more than she could deal with, and she basically lost her mind. The woman she is now might well not have been the person she used to be. And your relationship with Angus doesnt' really begin to touch the facts, does it?  Angus killed her husband, and I don't think she's ever cared that it was self-defense. Then Jessie who lives right next door, then there was you. Angus took the house to get rid of the basement and the tunnels, and then there was the boys. All her children, gone, and all to the man who killed her husband. Even the man she and her husband worked for was killed by a Donohue, when Edward killed him to protect Angus. And now there's her baby gone too. If you were in her shoes, it would feel like Angus had taken everything from her. Her entire world was destroyed by one man.And all inside of two years. I'm sure it felt like the blows from Angus just kept coming. That's a lot for anybody. And I think that's exactly why she's dealing out so much at him, blow after blow, because I"m sure that's what it would have had to feel like to her."

"

The more Ruby thought about what Kate had said the more it made sense that her mother would have a Hugh grudge against the Donohue's for what had happened to her . Ruby just sighed as she watched Kate with the soup " does make sense , but I guess Angus took everything she love away from her and now Dimond too, but she did this to her self , by continuing this silly idea she has." Ruby said as Aria walked in from talking to Jack.

" all in place Jack has informed the grounds men and they have doubled up the patrols and guards , the barrier is strengthened and all charms are in place" she reported to Robert before she picked up a cup of almond tea for herself as she moved to sit down while she sipped it. Now a note came threw the floo to Robert from Lucian saying "We're more than half way threw the clean up but we're securing the site so that fresh men could return in the morning to finish." Aria sat and sipped her tea feeling its calming affect from within her.

"Well," Kate said, "if she did lose her mind, then you can't apply logic to it, because all the logic is gone. And if she has gone mad, then, in a way, I feel pity for her, but Robert still had to make sure she was contained."

She glanced towards Angus, and Robert was sitting on the sofa beside him using the coffee table as a quick makeshift potions table so he could mix the exact potions he wanted in the exact strengths he wanted. He wasn't discussing anything with Angus because Robert had purposely used a strong spell when he'd gotten Angus home. He wanted Angus to be comfortably numbed for a bit. Angus was dozing off and on, sipping on tea and then dozing lightly, waking and sipping on his tea and then dozing again. Robert was letting him sit in the quiet for the moment. As Robert made the potions, he labeled them efficiently with names and exact doses. He was also writing some detailed potions instructions on a piece of paper. 

Marcus went over with his own mug of tea and sat down beside Robert.

"Shall I stay with him?" Marcus asked softly.

"How's your head?" 

"Better. I remember most things, I think. There's still a bit of a swiss cheesed thing going on, but most of it is back. And he needs me to be close tonight."

"Yes. Yes, he does. You or Ruby."

"This has been monstrous for her too. She needs a bit of a break too."


"Well, I'm going to talk to her as soon as I finish here. I'm leaving you a strong calming potion for tonight, and, if he needs it, you could use it tomorrow, I suppose. I definitely want him to have a hefty dose of the dreamless sleep potion tonight. I want him to have a sound, undisturbed night's rest. I think as soon as he can wrestle this back into some sort of understanding, he's going to be himself again. And i expect that might be tomorrow sometime. Until then, don't go far, will you?"

"Put me back on duty, then, because that's where I"m going to be anyway."

"Consider it done." He wrote a note and sent it next door to Jessie, asking him to come over. "Now, I'm almost done here for the moment. Marcus, do you know where he keeps his copy of the deed to the Tyler house?"

"Yes. Actually, I do. I'll fetch it," Marcus said, getting up and going upstairs to the master bedroom. Robert got up and went over to Ruby.

"I know this is overwhelming," Robert said to her. "I sent a paper bird to Jessie asking him to come over. She's his mother too. He needs to know. So you know, I cast a strong calming spell because his mind was running at light speed, and I really wanted to slow that down. He can still think but I've numbed the emotions, and its left him a bit sleepy. I've blended a couple potions for tonight, and I think Marcus wants to stay with him. I'm good with it if you are. Now, I want to read Jessie in, and then, I'm going to go to Switzerland to have a very ugly confrontation with your mother. You or Jessie are welcome to come, but neither of you absolutely have to."

Ruby listened to Kate and gave a deep cleansing sigh " your right Kate " she said and smiled to her. It was now she saw Robert walking over and listened to what he had to say to her " that's fine by me" she said as Jessie entered and smiled walking over.

"got your note" he said to Robert " whats up" he said as he noticed the pale look to Ruby " okay whats mother done now?" he asked his arms cross and his face stern as he waited for Robert to fill him in.

Now Robert had filled him in he looked to Ruby walking over he gave her a hug " I knew she was mad but this" he said as Ruby gave him a hug back. " I'll come with you Robert, Ruby you stay here you don't need to see her " he said and Ruby nodded and looked to Robert .

"sorry , I just never thought she would be like this, broken or not, this is just insane" she added as Jessie made her some tea and made her sit down with Angus. Nodding to Ruby he stood up and walked over to Robert.

" when do we leave?" he asked " righty now or the morning?" he needed to know so he could let Yu know .