A Birth day

Ruby chuckled and nodded " of course and na that much fudge would make me sick, chocolate frogs and sugar quills, got it" she said . Aria looked to Marcus and listened to him and smiled as he spoke of how he for valentines day he sent a bouquet of sugar quills to Poppy.

"maybe next valentines we both can send her something to make her feel happy, or she might even have her own valentine by then" she said smiling " I know how being left out on that day feels " she said softly then looked at Marcus " but never mind, you really are a romantic" she said as Ruby placed her bread on the table to cool.

Jessie herd Angus explain about what they had found and what Robert suspected " wow, that's sounding really bad" he said " so pearl could be using the magic like some magic fountain of youth thing?" he asked " well, I think having Michael go over the papers and things that were left is a great idea and that tower is begging to be checked out, I'm in when your ready, after I have spoken to Jack about time off, not that he would mind." he said grinning at them both

"We could," Marcus said. "We have about eight months or so to figure it out."

"You might be right, Jessie," Angus said. "I'm fine with you coming. I don't know what Robert will say, but I doubt he will want us to face anyone like that without any backup. I'm sure he'll come up with some sort of squad to go--regardless of any advice I might give want to give him."

There was a knock, and Marcus went to the door and found his order of fish and chips. He frowned, thinking the bag was bigger and heavier than it should have been. He brought the bags in and set them on the counter and found a note from Lizzie.

"Oh. Crap," Marcus sighed. "She couldn't read my handwriting. It got smudged in the floo. But she knows how many live here, so my order of five fish and chips somehow looked like ten. So we have fish and chips running out of our ears. Jessie, want some fish and chips or five? We have plenty of extra. I'll take one order out to Poppy with a can of soda. I'll be right back."  He picked up one take out box and took it, with a can of cold soda, out to Poppy. She seemed to be watching Fae women do some sort of weaving. "Here, Kiddo. Lunch. Fish and chips."

"Dad," she groaned. "They're always nasty. Angus is the only one who's ever made good ones."

"Just try them. These are good too. You'll like them," he told her. He smiled and went back inside. Looking at Angus, he said. "You've spoiled her. She doesn't want to eat them if they're not yours. I told her I wanted her to try these. We'll just have to wait and see what her vote is then."

Marcus grabbed a box for Angus and a box for himself and two bottles of beer and went over to sit with Angus to eat. "Wait," Angus said. "You found the Mexican beer." 

"So?" Marcus asked.

"Idjit. You forgot? How long has it been since you were in Mexico?" Angus laughed. "Ru, toss us a lime from the fridge, would you, please?"

"Oh. The lime. I forgot the lime," Marcus groaned. "You're right."

Jessie smiled and nodded as Angus spoke wanting to head to check out the tower but knowing he would have to wait , as a knock came he stepped back letting Marcus get the door . As he passed him he smiled " yum fish and chips" he said as Ruby chuckled and gave him three boxes " go and feed Chris and Yu" she said Jessie looked to Angus then smiled taking off back to the cabin leaving a chuckling Ruby.

Aria followed Marcus and smiled " poppy how do you think he learns to make fish and chips, Lizzie taught him, so there super good" she said softly before heading back and picking up a box for herself and sat down opening it she accioed salt and viner and placed them on hips. " that's better" she said as she took one of their chips and ate them tasting the crunch as she ate it then took a bite out of the fish smiling too.

When Ruby sent the lime, Angus cut it in half and squeezed his half into his beer, while Marcus did the same. Then they both took a drink. 

"God, that's better," Angus sighed. It made Marcus laugh.

"You know how that got started?" Marcus asked.

"No. Do tell," Angus said.

"Mexican beer used to be so horrendously foul, or so the story goes, that the lime made it drinkable. Now, its become tradition," Marcus said. 

"It's amazing what you learned in all those years of pillow talk," Angus said.

"Well, yeah, but..." Marcus began, not realizing at first that Angus had baited him. He stopped mid sentence and scowled. "Git."

"You fell for it," Angus laughed, finding it hysterically funny because Marcus so rarely made a slip.

"That was a damned long time ago. You know how long I worked in Bulgaria before coming back here."

"And what about Bulgarian women?"

"They don't put lime in their beer," Marcus grinned, not intending to be played twice. They both laughed. Angus saw some of the boxes of fish and chips still on the counter, and he floated two boxes over to Edward's side. A moment later, he heard Edward call.

"Thank you!" Edward called. 

"You're welcome," Angus called back. 

"And that's all ten boxes spoken for," Marcus said, "Good. They're too good to waste."

Ruby and Aria sat and listened chuckling at how Marcus and Angus teased each other about there shared pasts. " pillow talk hey?" Ruby said smirking as she some what joined the teasing. Aria heard hi ask about how Bulgarian women drink their beer.

"guess they have good beer" she said smirking as she sipped her drink as she ate her fish and chips . Ruby looked at both men and chuckled as she too ate and finished her food.

"I bet their beer as a kick to it" she said chuckling softly a she then finished her food placing down the empty box on the table " that was good" she said leaning back on the couch. Aria finished her food and stood up grabbing all the empty boxes she chuckled and nodded to Angus " hey good food is never wasted, I'll send our compliments to Lizzie" she said then looked at Marcus " at least my had writing down't get smudged " she said with a chuckle as she headed to the kitchen placing the boxes in the recycling bin.

"Very funny," Marcus replied. "Actually, beer is comparatively new to Bulgaria, in comparison with the rest of Europe. Commercial breweries weren't there until the late 1800's. My friends there though have said that the beer continues to get better. I didn't actually drink much beer there because the minister of magic preferred the rakia--its the national drink there, and its a kind of fruit brandy. It's pretty good, really, and its used in all kinds of situations, celebrations, weddings, church services, funerals, the whole bit. The homegrown rakia can definitely pack a punch, though."

"I'll remember that the next time I meet a Bulgarian with a still in the backyard," Angus teased. "In all seriousness, though, and I know its a change of subject, but I need to get outside and do some training, some duel practicing."

"I'll help you do that," Marcus said, knowing how Angus's mind worked. Marcus understood that Angus knew an attack was imminent, and Marcus didn't disagree with him. Angus wanted to be ready, and Marcus understood that drive as well. Still, he knew how fragile the situation with his kidney probably still was, so he wanted to approach Angus with a bit of tact. "You can spar with me, on two considerations," Marcus said. "First, you agree to light sparring and not going at it for all you're worth--not yet, and second, you rest up first since you were out this morning. Let's not rile Robert by pushing it. You're doing really well, but I think we should keep it that way. Besides, if Pearl is a ghost, all the dueling in the world won't help you anyway. Still, I can understand that you don't want to let your skills get rusty."

"I can't afford to not be ready," Angus said. "I can't prove anything but Pearl does seem to be losing patience. Time is running short, I think."

"And since I haven't dreamed about her, I can't agree or disagree with that. I have to trust your judgment. I do know, though, that when it matters, your training comes back to you, and you will do your best to settle it once and for all if she does strike--whatever form she is. Look, if something goes off the rails, I'll wake you. Fair enough?"

"Yeah, I guess," Angus replied. "By the way, can I get rid of this stupid bed and get my chair back?"

"That's another good question for Robert tonight," Marcus laughed. "I do realize you hate to have this bed in the living room, but let's ask him first. If he says yes, we'll make it happen."

Angus went out on the deck, wanting some open spaces and fresh air. He saw Poppy still fascinated by the Fae, and he was glad she was enjoying it. one of the Fae women appeared to be teaching her something. He stretched out on one of the lounges on the deck, and soon he dozed off. 

"I think we may have to bring his chair back, regardless," Marcus told Ruby quietly. "He's doing is best to be compliant, but I think he's had enough of being sidelined. I'll talk to Robert when he gets home tonight because if Robert doesn't let him off of being benched, Angus is soon going to do whatever the hell he wants to do, so I'm hoping Robert's willing to strike some sort of compromise with him."

Aria and Ruby both listened to Angus and Marcus and smiled as things seemed to be getting back to a relative normal state. Ruby smiled to Marcus as he said they would be replacing the bed with Angus chair regardless. " I'll send a note to Jack asking for his help once Robert okays it" she said.

Aria watched Poppy and smiled " she's getting along with the Fae really well " she said smiling ass she saw a fae woman teaching Poppy something and watched as Poppy laughed as she got something wrong but the woman corrected her and she managed it. "Shes becoming a fine young woman" she said softly with a smile.

Ruby heard Marcus talk about Angus hating being sidelined and she nodded " Its what I love about him" she said and smiled " but I do agree with the taking it easy on the sparring until Robert clears him for full duty but light duty should hurt." she said poring another cup of tea for herself finding the chi tea really calming her down.

"I think Poppy could honestly start doing some part days with Kate at her studio," Marcus said. "If she's well enough to be out in the garden almost all day, then she could do some half days with Kate. And besides, the rest of my kids should be here either after supper tomorrow or early in the morning that day after that. Oh. That reminds me, Aria. I ordered a huge, full order of groceries to be delivered tomorrow over at the house. If the kids got here and found no food, all of them would have a conniption. And that means that I need to get with Jack to see if he has any jobs for Kai and Zane. They're 16 now, so they can work, and it would be damned good for them. Daria and Ezra are too young yet. They're only 12. They'll be 13 this summer, but we can keep them busy doing some gardening in the flower beds around the house and some other odd jobs, I bet. And I think they'd do well maybe helping with the small animals in the barn too, if Jack is good with them volunteering. I'd pay them if they do a good job, but I know they legally can't work yet."

"Ruby, this is really none of my business," Marcus said, "but what has you constantly so anxious? I mean, these threats are nothing new. They've been going on as long as you've known Angus, and quite honestly, I don't know of a better support system than Robert and the entire organization. Besides that, Angus is fierce when it comes to anything threatening his family. He's not about to let anything happen to any of you. Whatever Jeffrey and Jess have taught you to reduce all that nervousness, I can't help feeling you'd feel better if you were using those things regularly. If all those things became part of your daily routine, you might find you felt better overall. I mean, isn't that pretty much what Aria's been trying to tell you too?"

Aria listened to Marcus and smiled " oh brilliant, I forgot they were coming" she said smiling like a Cheshire cat as he continued to talk about ordering a large groceries delivery. " okay I'll pop over and get Jack to carry it over" she said " it really will be nice having them here and being able to see their rooms too" she said looking over at the cottage.

Ruby looked up at Marcus and chuckled " I'm not worried at all, I know Angus limitations and his abilities , I just like the taste of the tea2 she said and chuckled and smiled to him holding up the cup she had " its very spicy but in a warming way" she added then looked to Aria then back to him " I know and its working " she said chuckling.

"They'll be delivering it to the house. Jack shouldn't have to carry anything," Marcus said. "I presume we can put our own groceries away. I have to tell you, though, I have learned to like how Angus has organized the kitchen and the pantry and the fridge and freezer here. No matter where you are in this kitchen, whatever you want is always already right at your fingertips. If I ask him nicely, he might help us in making sure ours is that efficient. Well, I should correct that. It would be organized until the kids muck around in it. Then nothing will get put back where it's supposed to go."

"You do know what our fearless leader does when he's stressed, don't you?" Marcus asked them. "When Robert's stressed he usually does one of two things. If he feels like being healthy about it and he has the time, he does Tai Chi. He's very good at it, and he swears it helps. If he doesn't have the time, though, he's like Angus. He smokes. He doesn't like people knowing that, and I don't know why, but if something's getting to him and he doesn't have time to do the right thing, he smokes like a chimney. Kate does Tai Chi, sometimes with him, or, if that isn't possible, she sometimes crochets. She likes to crochet anyway, but when she's stressed, she crochets so fast I can't even see her hands move. Its pretty much a blur."