A Birth day

Ruby listened to Robert and nodded " Right, I'll talk to Edward first" she said as she looked to Angus leaning down she gently kissed his forehead the only spot she saw without any marks on it. Aria heard Robert and saw him take the Veritaserum from Nigel.

Radagast held up his hands as he spoke " I came with Aria, and i'm sorry my intension was only to check out your library, I heard you have an extensive collection, I meant no harm." She looked to Aria who stood looking at him.

"you mean you snuck in on my coat tails as you usually do" she said " Sorry Robert , I should have been more ware of my surroundings" she said mentally kicking herself for not leaving him behind " and hes harmless and is telling the truth, he does like researching and old books, his home is filled with old tomes and large books.

Radagast bows to Robert " I'd be happy to share them with you if you don't have them in your collection, some are quite rare." Now he turned to Marcus " and I can show you baby pictures of Aria when she was running around dancing at every opportunity she got , oh then as she got older climbing trees " he added but looked back to Robert then held out his hand showing a medallion in his palm , Aria walked over and took it from him.

"you earn these , there not toys to give away" she scolded him making Radagast chuckle.

"just like your mother." he said and chuckled watching her walk over to Robert and hand back the medallion.

"I do have a number of collections, including a large library," Robert said, handing the veritaserum back to Nigel to put back in the bag, "but since we've been up all night and porting halfway around the world and back, you might want to postpone a look at my books. I am not opposed to letting you see my books but this morning is not the most opportune time."

At that moment a note came fluttering through the floo. Marcus caught the overly energetic piece of paper as it fluttered out of the floo and up into the air in the room. 

"It's from Ila," Marcus said. "She needs 35 to 48 hours before she can be here. She has a pressing matter for another client before she can be free to come. She will need accommodations again for herself and her grandson as she did before. She would like to stay closer to Angus if she could. And, she is having her grandson assemble a creole protection kit of her own design. She does not want to just send it through the floo, given the interference of elementals. She needs someone to come and get it if we want it sooner. She says there will be instructions with the package, and she believes we surely could use some of the items before she comes."

"We're all knackered, and I don't have time to buggar back to New Orleans. Nor I do not want to send you back to New Orleans--you being the obvious choice to know where you'd be going to meet Ila," Robert said to Aria. "It might need to wait another couple days until Ila can come and bring it herself. Where's the pickup, Marcus?"

"Maison De Ville--oldest hotel in the city," Marcus said. "If I'm remembering my geography, it's right at the heart of the French Quarter."

"I'm still not going this morning," Robert said. "Angus needs me right here, and I have no intention of leaving this property for at least the next 24 hours, unless I staple Nigel to Angus."

"I'd prefer not to be stapled to anything, thank you," Nigel frowned.

"Do you think he'd really staple you?" Marcus laughed.

"Oh, I know he would," Nigel nodded. "Not a doubt in my mind."

"Damned straight I would," Robert said.

Aria watched as Marcus received a note and handed it to Robert who read it and looked to Radagast as he explained about the library "Mais opologies mon cher." he said with a slight bow. " I promise it will not happen again" he said as h stood back upright. Listening to Robert talk to Aria he stepped forward but staid back as Aria shot him a harsh glare. " was just going to offer my services, I know the Vieux Carré" he said looking to Robert.

"if he comes with me I might kill him my self." she said softly but Radagast stepped forward smiling.

"mon cher, I would not put your life in danger, nor any of your copains, I just want to redeem my earlier transgression." he said to her and looked at Robert. " you have my word , we will retrieve the package and return." he placed his arm around Aria who shrugged it off her.

" I'll take him with me, no guarantees he'll return though" she said softly " okay, Maison De Ville, right?" she asked.

"Yes," Marcus said, handing her the note from Ila. "If you're going, you need to wait until we know she's going to have the package ready. By her note, she doesn't have it made up yet. She'll need a little. Look, in the meantime, you do what want, but I'll send a note to Ila, and why don't you and Ruby stick Angus's breakfast casseroles in the oven--remember? the toffee eggy bread casserole and the egg casserole? I know he has fruit salad in there and the toffee syrup he made for the eggy bread too. Put the casseroles in the oven to bake. And while you're at it, give your dad a cup of coffee while he waits. Then, you and Ruby can should hit the showers while its quiet. I'd appreciate it if, after your showers, you would check on the minions and let their guard out to pee and throw a few kibbles in his bowl. And, if Simone's up by then, ask her if she and Edward will keep the minions for at least a few days. Remember, your teenagers were not up all night. They're going to wake up any time now and they're going to eat the furniture if you don't throw a little food their way."

"That might take them an hour or so, and by then maybe we can all get a bite. My stomach is wondering why its been abandoned," Robert said.

"Mine too," Nigel said. "Any of Angus's breakfasts are amazing."

Aria heard Marcus and nodded " all right, we'll do that while we wait for her to say shes ready." she said and moved to the kitchen passing her father but still glaring at him as she passed by. Ruby moved up the stairs to her room and took a shower washing off the mud and sand from her skin fro m where she had been dropped.

Aria took out the breakfast casserole and slipped it into the oven to start heating up. Now with that done she caught her reflection and saw how dirty she looked knowing this was the reason Marcus had asked her to take time and shower. " okay Foods on and hes made enough for every one plus extra." she said and looked to Radagast who smiled at her.

"tea , please" he asked and she rolled her eyes walking back to the kitchen returning with some almond tea she had made " thank you, mon Fille bèll." he said taking the cup from her. and tasting it " wow , almond tea, very nice" he complimented as Aria finally went to their room and showered, changing into slacks and a light shirt she walked back down feeling and looking cleaner, she did notice Radagast glance up at her then pause before realizing he was staring and continued to sip his tea while levitating a book of his to read.

After Ruby and Aria showered, Marcus took one of the shortest showers in his life, but he came down looking and feeling a hundred percent better. As he was coming down the stairs, he saw Angus was finally starting to move just slightly. Robert just happened to glance up at the top of the stairs and when he saw Marcus looked at Angus and nodded very slightly. Robert looked that way and saw Angus was trying to wake. Marcus went to the kitchen and got a washcloth and got it wet with cold water and took it to Robert.

"Thank you," Robert said quietly. It wasn't a muggle approved technique, but Robert was aware too that it sometimes helped. Robert sponged Angus's face gently and slowly with the cold cloth, and it did seem to help bring him around. "Welcome back," Robert finally said quietly. "You're safe. You're home." 

"Where's the smoke woman?" Angus managed.

"Oh. You saw that, did you? Appeared as a woman to you? Interesting," Robert said. "It's gone for the moment. Your gran and Kate kicked its ass temporarily, I think."

"What was it?"

"An elemental," Robert said. "We'll discuss that later. You apparently lost a brawl during the night?"

"Did I?" Angus frowned, trying to think. His head hurt. 

"Don't try to use your brain cells yet. They aren't going to be plugged back in just now. Look, you got the stuffings kicked out of you. You've got some broken bones and tissue damage. It's significant this time. You're home, but that doesn't mean I want you going anywhere."

"It wasn't Suzanne, was it?"

"Oh, certainly not. That doesn't mean that she didn't pay for whoever was controlling the elemental, but she's still powerless at Jeffrey's. We'll figure that out in due time. How's your head?"

"Put it on a shelf for me, and I'll get it when you've fixed it."

"Sorry, Lad. Wish I could," Robert said. "Let me try this." He laid his hands on both sides of Angus's head and cast a powerful pain relief spell. It made Angus's head spin so hard, he thought for a moment he was going to black out again, but things cleared again. "Sorry. It took a bit more umph than you were prepared for. Better for now?" Angus nodded. "Thirsty? How about a sip of water to rinse the swamp dirt out of your mouth?" Angus nodded, and Robert fed him a few sips of water. "Marcus, take that blanket and levitate it so we have a bit of privacy. I'd like to get him washed up and into his own clothes. Won"t take us half a tick."

Marcus unfolded the blanket and suspended it in the air to create a privacy screen. Nigel and Robert made very quick work of getting rid of the white cotton ritual trousers Angus had been wearing, and they used the basin of water Ruby had brought to help Angus wash up and then tucked him into bed. Robert and Nigel both noticed Angus honestly didn't care where he was for the moment. They attributed that to the concussion. When they were finished, they simply added the blanket to the bed, on top of the sheet that they'd covered him with. 

"You have about sixty seconds before he falls asleep on you, I think," Robert told Ruby. "Keep it light, if you can. His brain cells are not rubbing together to make a lot of logical thought for him right now. That will get better, but not just this minute."

Ruby saw the look that Robert and Marcus had at the sight of Angus stirring . she let them clean him and elevate his pain. Aria moved to check the casserole taking out a light chicken soup for Angus if he felt he wanted to eat.At Roberts words Ruby stepped over to Angus and gently lent down resting her cheek against his " we got you back 'm going to ask Edward to take the babies for a few days so you can recover. " she said smiling to him as she gently took his hand in her own.

Seeing him slowly look sleepy again she smiled and lent her ear close to his " I love you Angus" she said softly then kissing his cheek she breathed out now relaxed he was okay. Aria took out the Casserole while Radagast accioed a glass of ice cold water sending it to rest beside Angus on the table next to the bed.

" my contribution" he said his accent thick as he spoke.. Aria set the table and made sure every one had drinks if they wanted some. Radagast went back to turning the pages of his book with a flick of his hand that didn't touch the page. She could see he had mellowed but she still hadn't forgiven him, yet.

Angus didn't have it in him to ask any questions. He didn't yet understand why the babies should be elsewhere, but in his mind, that didn't yet really matter to him. When she said she loved him, he was entirely too sleepy, and he was already slipping off from her. His eyes fluttered shut. 

"He's alright," Robert told her quietly. "We're going to let him sleep for now while the pain spell has helped him feel comfortable." Robert and Nigel put ice packs strategically on his injuries for now, deciding to leave him on his side because they needed to ice the back of his head and also his back. He and Nigel used pillows to hold the ice packs in place, and they both automatically checked their watches. Marcus already knew why, and he had already checked his own. He knew the rule with ice packs. It was always 20 minutes on and 20 minutes off. That insured there would be no skin and tissue damage from the continued cold. 

"Jess," Robert said, "would you talk to Andrew and get him set up to take over Angus's care here for awhile. I know he can't work around the clock, so would you be so kind as to work something out with him about what hours he wants to work, and who we might get to do the hours he can't work. I mean, the man does have to sleep every so often."

"I have to be back in New York in about 48 hours," Nigel said, 'but if it helps, I can work some shifts until things are set up."

"You might not want to recruit what's-her-name," Marcus laughed, looking at Jess, thinking of the nurse that had rubbed Angus the wrong way when Simone had been bleeding out in the a&e. "She'll end up as some sort of knickknack in a storage box in the basement."

Ruby looked to Robert and nodded that she understood what was happening to Angus. Jess looked at Robert and Nigel and nodded .

"I'll send a letter explaining in a moment" she said then heard Marcus and chuckled " oh shes gone to an annex hospital out in some back water village" she said "she had no choice, and I thought I would stay and be his nurse since I'm owed a few days off" she said then looked at Robert. Aria sent out plates for every one .

"foods ready" she said as she brought over a tray for Robert, Nigel and Jess so they could eat.

"you guys eat first I'll eat after, still got time before the change" Jess said checking her watch. as she wrote a note and sent it to Andrew in the main house. Jack walked past the duplex and smiled to Jess before walking to the barn. Jess looked down at Angus placing her hand on him and smiling as she felt his energies flow in the right direction. She did rewet and cool the cloth and placed it on his head knowing he'd feel the relief in his head .

"That would be wonderful," Robert said. "He's much less likely to try to change you into anything bizarre."

"Would he do that?" Nigel frowned.

"Not to her," Marcus said. "Has it done it to others? Yup. And he wasn't one little bit sorry."

"You really do have to start teaching your fighters not to do such creative thinking, Robert. It's going bad for you."

"Actually," Robert laughed, "off the record? She bloody deserved it. Simone damned near bled out before help got to her, thanks to that nurse. Angus was sending a message, and since she isn't likely to treat another Donohue, I'd say it worked rather well for him."

"You just bloody dont' care, do you?" Nigel frowned.

"Angus's ends justified his means," Robert shrugged. When the food arrived, Nigel and Robert looked at it and smelled it. 

"God, that smells good," Robert said. "Thanks." He and Nigel tucked into their breakfast, as the kids finally came into the kitchen. 

"He's back," Sam said, actually glad that everyone was home, but what had come out of his mouth was relief that they had found Angus. "How bad is it this time?"

"Your dad has a hard head," Marcus said. "Concussion, a couple broken ribs, some bruised spinal bones, and some soft tissue damage. He's going to need rest and quiet for awhile."

"Oh, good. I get to tape the babies' mouths shut," Sam teased.

"God, even the younger generation is completely contaminated," Nigel shook his head. Marcus couldn't help laughing.

"Jerk," Anise glared at Sam for a moment, only half serious. She and Ginger filled their plates, and then Faith and Evie filled theirs, followed finally by Sam and Victor. The teens were trying hard not to laugh, not wanting to wake Angus. And then, all of a sudden the babies started to screech angrily upstairs.

"Hm.  The minions are irked, it seems, because breakfast hasn't just appeared in their mouths," Marcus sighed.

"I still say tape works wonders," Sam shrugged. Victor headslapped him.