A Birth day

Aria looked at Marcus and chuckled " only the windows we're not using" she said " and yeah, he replied saying he had it under control" she replied to Marcus as she sat down with them then listened to what was in the Strong Eagle cocktail. " wow that does sound strong" she said listening as he listed the ingredients. It was now Angus mentioned the treasure " wow you actually found it?" she said surprised " I thought it would be more difficult to find" she added as ruby chuckled.

"hey there good at finding things , I'm not surprised" she said and smiled " well-done guys" she said smiling to Angus " how did Minos take it when you showed him?" she asked knowing Minos had been there but still she wanted to know his reaction " I bet he was very happy you got it for them."

"It should have been harder to find," Marcus said. "After all, we had all sorts of other Fae kingdoms looking for it too. You want to know how we found it? This one..." He pointed to Angus, "says he 'saw' where it was, and then tried to climb off a mountain top down to a ledge to get to a bunch of thickets, slips and slides down the ledge and lands in a huge stinging nettle bush, and sees something shiny in a thicket a few inches away. And it just happens to be a gold treasure chest loaded with Fae gold. Who else do you know that has that sort of seers' luck?"

"Luck my ass," Angus said. "We've been working on clues and maps for weeks. And right now, our Fae friends are having a very well deserved celebration, to which I donated two full cans of beer. And if they manage to run out, I'll take them out some more. They have a new, safe kingdom, trustworthy neighbors, and they have their fortune back. What's not to celebrate?"

"Angus said he thought we should order off the menu from Sparks tonight. Everyone should just get what they wanted for a change," Marcus said. "We can do that when the boys get off work, since the girls will be here before that. I think Lizzie send a couple paper menus in the last order we got. Did you put them in the desk, Angus?"

"Probably," Angus said. "Probably stuffed in my i-don't-know-what-to-do-with-all-this-shit drawer." That made Marcus laugh, and he opened the top right hand drawer and rooted around a little until he found a couple copies of the Sparks menu. He handed one to Aria for her and Ruby to look at, and he sat down with the other for him and Angus to look at.

Ruby listened to Marcus and chuckled " oh wow, glad you found it though" she added then listened to Angus and Marcus talk of ordering from Sparks " oh so tats what that draw is called" Ruby said and smirked as she saw Marcus hunt in the draw for the menus . Returning to them she took one from him and shared it with Aria who looked at it and shrugged " I'm good with what ever but the Sweet Chilli Crayfish Salad sounds good" she said and looked to Marcus as Ruby checked out the menu as well.

"okay but I'm having the Summer Vegetable Soba Noodle Salad" she said placing it down on the table in front of her. " we could get some Satay Chicken Breast Skewers for the girls with some Warm Double Choc Cookie Dough as desert." she said looking to Angus then to the window closest to the Fae " defiantly sounds like they are having a good time" she said seeing several fly up then dive back down.

Angus glanced outside. "That's because they're swimming in the damned beer," Angus said.

"What? No way," Marcus said.

"Yup. Way. Look," Angus said. Marcus looked outside and saw they were flying up in the air to dive down into the crock of beer headfirst. 

"Little morons," Marcus laughed.

"You're just jealous because you can't do that," Angus said, getting up. He went out to the garden to see one of the fae looking like he actually might be drowning in the beer. Angus reached into the beer with his thumb and index finger and plucked the sinking little fairy out of the beer. The little fae, in his totally sloshed state, managed to glance up at Angus and then gave out a huge long belch at Angus. Angus tried hard not to laugh and laid him down in the grass not far from the crock. The fae's friends started laughing hysterically at him. 

"Well, he isn't going to die, I don't believe," Marcus said.

"No, but he didn't gain one ounce of sympathy from his fellow faries. Nor did they slow down drinking the beer because he's been swimming in it. Didn't deter them one little bit," Angus said.

"That's because they're probably all plastered," Marcus said.

"Pretty well, by the looks of things," Angus said, coming back in. "Any idea what you're going to have for supper, Marcus?"

"I think I'll do the rack of lamb," Marcus said. "She always does a good job on that. What are you thinking about?"

"I think I'll have the tilapia with tian," Angus said.

"Alright. Tilapia, I know. What's tian?"

"Think cassolet--layers of vegetables. With tian, though, they're sliced paper thin and layered and put on top of a tomato sauce base. Cassoulet is far more rustic, and in tian, being precise is vitally important. The tian I've had starts with making a really meticulous ring of vegetables, and it usually is a repeating patter of  slice of summer squash, a slice of zucchini, a slice of heirloom tomato, and a slice of red onion, and it repeats all around the dish in the tomato sauce. I like to add some parmesan to mine, but that's just my own personal preference. Some chefs garnish with a bit more tomato sauce, maybe some shaved onion or a dash of olive oil. Technically, with ratatouille, you can cut the veggies in any shape you want and cook it all together. It isn't as nearly precise."

"Either way sounds good," Marcus said. "What do you suggest for dessert?"

"I think I'll maybe order us one of her lemon tarts, maybe with some vanilla ice cream to sort of mellow out the tang from the lemon," Angus said. "If folks are agreeable. Otherwise, everyone can just order what they want."

At that moment, the girls arrived home from school. They greeted everyone but headed straight downstairs to change into some shorts.

Ruby b chuckled as he watched the Fae then saw Angus pluck one from the beer she heard the belch and chuckled as she stood by the back door " well at least there having a good time now, tomorrow I bet they will be asking for hangover cures" she chuckled then heard Angus mention desert and smiled " that would be perfect" she said Aria gave a thumbs up from inside " unanimous vote " she said smiling to him as she moved back inside and over to the couch as Aria moved to the table and set it ready for the food to arrive.

" welcome home Girls, supper wont be long, we're getting take out." Ruby said as she saw Ginger and Anise head down to their room to change out of their school clothes. It as now she wondered if Tara had come with them or had just gone straight to the hospital.

The girls changed to shorts and halter tops and sandals. The halters were ones that Ginger had crocheted. Anise's was white, and Ginger's was a pretty sage green. They both had simple sandals. They came back upstairs.

"Any reason we can't go outside for awhile?" Anise asked.

"Your homework is done?" Angus asked.

"Yes. And tomorrow night's homework is done already. No homework across the weekend, unless there is some surprise tomorrow. The tutor is going to someplace or someone called Sofia."

"Its a place," Marcus said. "Somewhere I know exceptionally well. It's the capital of Bulgaria. Is he going to the magic festival? They do one just about this time of year. The draw is the large magic market. It's like a farm market but for witches and wizards. They have all sorts of magical herbs, magical charms and potions, some magical creatures, like kneasels and pgymy puffs, some clothing, brooms, all sorts of things. It can be a lot of fun. And there's usually a biergarten when the sun goes down."

"Sounds like fun," Angus said.

"It definitely can be, but if one is smart, they won't have more than one or two beers in the biergarten. Some brewers like to sell some magical beers that can cause some wonky side effects. A colleague of mine ended up with his skin changed to a candy cane pattern in a pastel pink and a snowy white. Took the healers 2 months to figure out how to change him back. Seems he was allergic to two of the magical herbs in the beer."

"Yeah, doesn't sound like my speed," Anise said.

"Mine either," Ginger agreed. 

"If we order out from Sparks tonight, what do you two want?"

"A really good burger and chips," Anise said.

"Oh, gosh. Sounds perfect," Ginger agreed. "Sam and Victor were both talking last night about really craving a good burger."

"I bet you wouldn't go amiss if you ordered them burgers," Marcus told Angus. 

"She just put a new one out. Its a triple burger--three quarter-pound burger patties, with caramelized onions, parmesan and asiago cheese, and a really tangy pub mustard, and some crunchy deep fried pickle slices."

"They would love that," Anise said. "You should do it and order one for each of them with chips."

"You think?"

"Definitely," Ginger nodded. Angus looked at Ruby.

"Surprise them? Or let them pick what they want like the rest of us did?"

Ruby smiled seeing and hearing the girls talk of the magic festival not that she'd heard of one before. She listened and chuckled at the mention of burgers and the trimmings " sounds perfect for them " she said chuckling hearing Angus she nodded " okay" she said and ordered four burgers with chips and the trimmings along with their orders. " okay all ordered" she said smiling a she watched the girls go outside.

Aria saw Caprice and Amari lay down and take a nap their cheeks slightly flushed where they had aught the sun but not a red but a light pink. She chuckled " looks like the fresh air did them some good there napping" she said softly to Ruby who nodded and glanced in gently moving Caprice from where she lay with her butt in the air to on her side she did the same for Amari both now lay facing each other and sleeping.

Angus saw Finn at the door, and he went over and opened the door to let him out. That was when he saw Edward and Simone standing together in the front yard, and they were very clearly having an argument--the first one he had seen with them. Every couple disagreed now and then, so he wasn't particularly concerned. Most people, though, were too intimidated by Edward to argue with him, but that clearly wasn't the case with Simone. He was certain he heard one of them mention his name, so he closed the door.

"Stay clear of the front yard for a bit, would you?" he asked them all. "Edward and Simone are having a bit of a difference of opinion. I think the polite thing would be to just mind our own businesses and let them figure it out between them. I don't know if it is their first spat or not, but I trust they'll resolve it quickly."

"Understood," Marcus said. "Sometimes giving people some privacy and some space is the best course." Anise looked at Angus, and Angus could tell from the look on her face that she had the same instinct that he did--they were arguing still about how inappropriate Simone felt Edward had been to interfere in Angus's and Ruby's relationship at all.

"they're grownups. They'll work it out for themselves. They do not need our help," Angus told her pointedly, not wanting her to offer an opinion. "Why don't you and Ginger get some glasses with ice and pour some lemonade for people. Sam and Victor will be here any minute, and I think our Sparks order could be here any time too."  Neither girl said anything. They just got up and headed to the kitchen.

Ruby and Aria looked up at Angus as he spoke and Aria nodded " okay" she said as Ruby just sat and nodded her eyes looking to the back door but not moving instead staying put while she watched the girls grab some lemonade and ice in their drinks. Aria stood up and pored several for others should they want and the boys who she had heard Angus say were due home soon.

Ruby covered the babies with a blanket and smiled glad they enjoyed being out and around that day. Walking to the counter she placed the wicker basket Simone had left on the counter and began filling it with coloured shredded paper before adding each item they had bought, rolling the towels and face cloths she tied them with a ribbon and placed them into it gently. She left room for anything Simone wanted to add along with her things for rosaria and the two cook books eh'd found for her.

Edward came inside his side of the duplex, slamming the door and storming upstairs. Angus knew he was heading to his tower. That was fine with Angus. He didn't want to deal with Edward anyway. Simone came in, shut the door, and got some vegetables out of her fridge and began rapidfire chopping with her chinese cleaver. Angus had absolutely no intention of going over to Simone's kitchen and interrupting her for fear that if he did, she might lop off a finger or something.

At that point, Sam and Victor arrived, with the Sparks take out bags.

"We met him in the yard and fetched the bags from him," Victor said, putting the bags on the kitchen worktable."

"Thank you," Angus said as the boys headed upstairs to clean up. "No cowlets today?"

"Nah but somebody just dropped off a litter of cruppies on us today," Sam called back. "Be back in a minute."

"Alright," Marcus looked at Angus. "Your boys are so buggared. What the hell is Sam-speak for a cruppie?"

"My best guess? Crup puppies," Angus replied.

"Dear God, Ruby, either give them your creature books or get them a set so they can figure this animal thing out," Marcus told her. "Those boys are so obviously citified. I'm surprised they haven't told us the chocolate milk comes from brown cows."

"Dont' tempt them," Angus laughed. "Crup puppies could be fun, though. But--if that's the case, I'm having a word with Jack to ask him to tell Finn no crup girlfriends. I am not having any hybrid border collie/crup puppies. I'm not having it."