A Birth day

Aria smiled and sighed in relief and nodded at his words " Graphorns are big for some one so small" she said " it would scare even me" Aria said softly .

Ruby saw Even and Tara walk in and smiled " morning and it was my pleasure" she said hearing them say they brought doughnuts " oh nice the boys will be happy" she said and chuckled placing them on a plate also placing one on Angus plate too" there you go" she said as she listened to Tara talking about Rosaria and Carlos " please give them our love too, unless you want to go too" she said looking to Angus.

"I'll go later," Angus said. "I need a nap before I do that. And besides, I'm sure Marcus would rather stay a bit with Poppy."

"Hey, is the pond stocked? Is the fishing good there?"

"It is," Angus said. "Robert's pond over at the farm is bigger, though, and it's loaded with fish. When the boys get up, they would love go to with you over there and drop a line in the water."

"Well, Carlo loves to fish, so maybe I can take him and the boys over there if Robert wouldn't mind?"

"He wouldn't mind in the least," Angus said. "By all means. Knowing Edward, he'll want to go with you. And Jessie's boy, Cris, likes to fish.

"Oh yeah. That's right. Edward loves to fish too. Cris fishes too?"

"Well, he told me he does. I don't know if Jessie and Yu like to fish, but Cris told me he likes fishing. Maybe Jessie would let him come along if he doesn't feel like coming."

"Ru, do you mind sending a note over to Jessie to see if any of them want to go along?" Angus asked.  "I'm sure it's going to be a couple hours yet before they go. The boys aren't even up yet, and Evan and Tara want to see Rosaria before they do much of anything else. But that would give Cris time to wake up and eat some breakfast."

"You can come too if you want, you and Marcus," Evan said.

"I wish, but I can hear my pillow calling my name. I need a bit of shut eye."

"So what did you do all night in the dark?" Evan laughed.

"Well I wasnt' entirely in the dark. I worked on a sketch."

"All night?" Evan frowned, picking up Angus's sketchpad. He opened it and flipped through the pages until he got to the sketch of the Fae village. "Oh my word," Evan said, amazed. "That's incredible. You did this yourself? No conjuring?"

"Conjuring is cheating. No. I did that myself," Angus said.

"God, I want a copy," Evan said. "The detail. Every little flower petal and leaf is meticulous. It's...amazing." Tara leaned over, peering at the sketch. She was wide eyed, studying all the little details in it.

Ruby heard Angus and nodded taking a pen she wrote a note and soon got a reply from Jessie saying they would be ready in two hours, since Chris wanted to go after he had eaten his breakfast. Ruby saw them looking at the sketch book and smiled " hes always been good at sketching" she said as she finished her food. Taking her plate to the kitchen she smiled.

Aria placed her hand on Marcus shoulder then smiled at him " I'll leave you to your shift" she said smiling a she gently lent down and kissed him, " oh I'll make sure dinner is sent down to both of you" she added before heading back upstairs. Seeing Tara and Even looking at Angus sketch book she walked over and looked at the picture " that's wonderful" she said with a smile.

"I thought Minos might want it but Marcus wants a copy for Poppy," Angus said. "And he said we should put a copy in the nursery. Said it seemed like one belonged there. I think I'm going to have to make some copies and see if Kate knows of anyone that does fine woodworking that might make some frames."

"You've got fishing gear, right?"

"In the garden shed, on the far end of Edward's side of the duplex. There's at least ten poles in there and an enormous tackle box, and I know there's a minnow bucket, a cooler for beverages and some folding fishing stools."

"Sounds like we should be set then," Evan said. He went over to the doorway between the two sides. "We're taking Carlo and going fishing when Tara and I get back from seeing Rosaria. You coming with?...That's what I thought." Evan laughed. He came back and sat down to finish his breakfast as the boys came down. "Of course Edward's coming."

Sam and Vicor fixed their plates and sat down to eat.

"Could you me a favor?" Angus asked Sam and Victor.

"We'll try. What do you need?"

"Take Carlo and Evan and Edward over to Robert's pond at the farm and take them fishing?" Angus asked.

"Nice!" Victor was excited. "Absolutely! When do we leave?"

"Not for a bit. Evan and Tara want to see Rosaria first. So when you get done with breakfast, go and get gear ready for everyone," Angus said.

"No problem," Victor replied. "How's that little kid? Sorry. I forgot her name."

"Poppy," Angus said. "She slept almost all night."

"Was she awake in the night?" Victor asked.

"Just once. Why?"

"Your gran was in my room in the middle of the night," Victor said. "I woke up and saw her there. She looked as real as you do. She was there for a couple minutes and then, poof."

"Poof?" Angus asked.

"Disappeared."

"Oh. Maybe she was just checking up on things," Angus shrugged. "Its fine. I mean, she is our gran after all. She's safe."

"Yeah but she doesn't just come and hang out, you know?"

"Yeah. If its important, she'll be back." 

Downstairs the girls woke up and they went over to the basement bathroom two at a time and dressed. 

"We'll bring her a breakfast plate when we're done eating, if you can do that thing you do to the plate," Anise told Marcus.

"Oh. Keeping it warm. Yes. I can do that. Thank you," Marcus said, and all four girls went upstairs to get some breakfast.

Ruby fixed more plates for the girls and one for Poppy setting a warming spell to keep it warm for her . " Poppy's plate is here, I put a warming spell on it" she said holding out a tray with some juice and the plate on it to Anise "Can you take this down to Marcus please?" she asked smiling to her.

Aria chuckled and looked at Angus " oh definitely" she said " can you add us to that for the cottage?" she asked having a feeling it would be perfect for the cottage conservatory" she said looking down at the picture " poppy's one will go in her room" she said smiling " when she's feeling better I'm hoping we can show her it" she said smiling a she looked at it again.

"Definitely going to need some frames," Angus said to Ruby. "You know what? Marcus said Kate and I needed to open a shop or a gallery to sell some artwork in Diagon Alley. I thought it was rather silly, but I think he was serious."

"I don't think it's silly at all," Evan said seriously. "And if you don't want to bother with the business side of it, Ruby could do that. I could teach her. It would be a good little project to start with. You and Kate can produce the products, and Ruby can handle the day to day business things. It would be good for her to learn about doing the books, getting the vendor's license, getting business insurance, paying utilities, paying the taxes, hiring employees, handling the payroll, the whole bit.  Those are all things she's going to have to know sooner or later anyway..."

"Wait a minute. Not so fast. Kate's art would sell. I mean, people are always seeking her out for commission pieces. Nobody is standing in line for pencil sketches," Angus said.

"Because you've never tried it," Evan said. "You'll never know if you don't try."

"I'm starting to think I should have read my book last night," Angus looked at Ruby and laughed. "I'm a cook. I'm not an artist."

Ruby chuckled and nodded as he said he would need more frames " I guess so" she said but when Even started talking about opening a shop on diagon alley she looked to Angus as he spoke making her chuckle but the stop as Even spoke more about opening a shop " oh I agree with Angus, slow down Even" she said chuckling as he spoke at speed about what she would learn and have to do. " one thing at a time" she said smiling.

Aria chuckled and nodded to Even about what he was saying " why not ait , let Ruby work with Kate for the moment then see how you feel later." she said " there's a lot going on right now what with Poppy being hurt and Angus himself isn't a hundred percent ether" she said softly.

"I will leave that choice to Ruby," Angus said. "I want her to do what she wants to do with her life. If she never wants to learn how to handle the Donohue business matters, then that's fine with me. You'll still be around, Evan. You should learn the pieces you don't know just in case that day comes. If Ruby chooses to learn, then fine, but I'm not planning on her ever needing to know all that."

"I think we should get a move on and go see Rosaria," Tara said to Evan. "You can hound him later. Let's go." She took their dishes to the sink and then headed out to go to the main buildling.

Sam and Victor headed to get the fishing gear ready to go, and the girls took breakfast down to Poppy.

Angus headed to the kitchen, cast a washing up spell on the breakfast dishes and put the leftovers away. Then he got out some things and worked on making some sandwiches and other things--packing a picnic hamper for the fishing crew. And before long, he had enough that he actually made hampers. One for the fishing crew and one for the girls. He knew that all four girls would be virtually tied together today, so he figured they might like one for whatever was in their plans. 

Then he took the third hamper and made it for a picnic for Aria, Ruby, Simone, Tara, and the babies. He thought perhaps they might like to enjoy that outside maybe in the tea garden. 

That left two sandwiches that he put in the fridge--one for him and one for Marcus. He figured Marcus would not want to leave Poppy unless maybe his parents were there at lunch time. He figured he would volunteer to keep Marcus company.

"There. that's done," Angus said. "Ru, so you know, there are three picnic hampers fixed. The big one is for the fishing crew. Its ready to go. The second is for the girls. I have no idea what they have planned but I doubt they'll miss a meal. And the third is a hamper I fixed for you and Aria and Simone and Tara and the babies. Its a nice day, and I thought you might all like to go have a girls' lunch in the tea garden. I have a couple sandwiches in the fridge for Marcus and me because I know he will want to make sure someone is with Poppy, so I thought I'd volunteer to keep him company. What do you think?"

Ruby heard Angus and smiled knowing she will learn given the time as she wanted to ask Edward to start teaching her being he knows it and has been dealing with the business longest. She listened to him tell her of the picnic baskets and who each it for " oh that sounds good " she said looking at them all " I'm sure you and Marcus will enjoy the quiet " she said smiling to him.

Aria now heard the babies awake and crying for their breakfast , heading up to the nursery she carried down two babies one on each hip placing each in their high chair she and Ruby placed their bowls in front of them so they could eat. " don't worry we won't forget the baskets." Aria said and smiled letting him know she had heard him tell Ruby about them.

"I'm going to go sleep for a couple hours. I'll see you lot later," Angus said. Knowing they could handle it, he went upstairs and stretched out on the bed and fell asleep. 

Downstairs, Marcus had helped Poppy with breakfast. When the girls finished with their breakfasts, they came back downstairs. Anise and Evie took all the dirty dishes from the basement upstairs. Ginger and Faith got a basin of water and some fresh nightgown for Poppy. Marcus knew Poppy preferred pajamas to nightgowns but with the wound in her midsection, pajamas were a no-go for now. Ginger volunteered to help Poppy wash up and get changed. Marcus was able to give Ginger some instruction on how to help Poppy change clothes with a minimum of being rolled around. Marcus told them he would wait right outside the bedroom door in case they needed anything.  But Poppy really wanted a cup of the almond tea that Marcus had given her last evening. 

Marcus went upstairs to fetch it, taking the insulated carafe and the water glass with him. 

He managed to find a tea mug in the cabinet with pink poppies on it, and he made her a mug of almond tea in the mug. Then he put fresh ice water in the carafe and rinsed out the insulated drinking glass. He went back downstairs, floating the tea, the water carafe and the water glass ahead of him. 

When Ginger let him back in, Ginger had put a couple pillows behind Poppy so she was able to sort of sit up. She had a bit more color to her face, and now with some more pain potion in her system, she was starting to look a bit better. 

"Don't overdo it," Marcus cautioned her. 

"I'm fine. Dad, the girls said that Angus packed a picnic for them, and they want to have it down here with me. I mean, they actually want to include me. And they're so much older. I always get treated like the nuisance kid that the older sibs don't want to tag along. But they really asked if they could bring it down here so I could join in."

"They're good girls," Marcus smiled. 

"And Anise and Ginger are really werewolves?" she asked. Marcus nodded.

"That's so cool," Poppy said. Marcus laughed.


"If they hear you say you think its cool, they'll think you're crackers. Humans generally think that werewolves are monsters."

"I told them I thought it was cool. They looked at me like I had three heads."

"See? Told you," Marcus laughed.

"Dad, does Mom know?"

"No. I haven't sent her word. I didn't know if you wanted me to."

"No," she said firmly. "She won't be able to come back to see me without Pavel, and I don't want him within several hundred miles of me."

"I would not let Pavel anywhere near you. Trust me," Marcus told her.

"All the same, I write her and she doesn't bother replying anymore, so, no. Screw her."

"That's really how you feel?"

"Yeah. it is," she said. "I don't have a mum. And don't you push Aria into being a mum for me either. All I need is you."

"Aria doesn't want to replace your mother. She would like to be your friend, though. She's willing to get to know you at your pace and earn your trust."

"Fair enough," Poppy said. 

"Are you going to be able to rest today?"

"I'm okay. Can I read for awhile?"

"If you feel up to it." He got her book out for her. 

"Oh, and look here. Faith conjured a little bell out of one of Gingers' sewing thimbles. That way, you don't have to hover. If I need something and you're upstairs, I can ring this little bell."

"Perfect," Marcus smiled. "Alright. I'll let you read. You let me know if you need anything at all."

"I will," she said. He left her and went upstairs.

"I have been told I'm hovering," Marcus laughed, pouring himself a fresh cup of coffee.