A Birth day

Ruby watched Ginger and Anise as they made the salad together she saw Anise cut herself and then go to get a plaster. She smiled to Ginger and nodded " seconded" she said and chuckled but smiled as she saw anise return to Gingers side . Ruby was happy when Anise finally managed to make the fruit salad " nice , well-done" she said happy for her. as she took a piece and ate it " yum I'l have some of this for my breakfast" she said smiling to her.

Ruby went to the pantry and took out two sealable boxes with lids " here these should keep the juices in and not let anything out" she said handing them to Anise she also showed one had a flower on the lid and the other a colorful bee. " you can chose who get which box" she added and grabbed some of the fruit salad then headed to sit down to eat while sipping her coffee too.

Angus plated his Eggs Benedict, spooned some lemony hollandaise on the eggs and sprinkled just a wee pinch of fresh parsley on the top for color.

"There. Help yourselves," he told them. He preferred, when he had Eggs Benedict, to have a serving of the eggs dish and serving of the fruit salad on the same plate. But that was just his own preference. Anise and Ginger watched how Angus fixed his own plate, and they fixed theirs like his. Sam and Victor were coming downstairs as the girls were sitting down at the table. Still yawning, the boys poured themselves coffee and fixed their plates and then sat down with the girls.

"Dad," Victor said, "Sam and I were talking. So, if we don't know when or where or how this woman might attack, is there anything we need to be doing differently, since she's using different magic?"

"Not really," Angus said. "I think its important for you to be sure that you make sure you all have your medallions on at all times. Make sure you have your wands, and if you want to do anything to make sure you have a secondary weapon, I'd make sure you'd have your knives with you."

"How do we protect ourselves from elemental magic, though?"

"The same as you do any other magic. You have to use what you know," he told them. "If you get called into this, and I don't know that you will, but if you do, do your best to stay well back behind those of us that are more experienced fighters..." All four kids groaned hearing him say that.

"Look, Guys," Angus said, "This could be fierce and very tricky. Stay behind us. You can make sure you're covered and still be very effective support for us. Okay?"

"Yeah, okay," Victor sighed, disappointed.

"Don't think I never had to stay back too. I spent a lot of duels staying well behind Edward. Now, it's your turn to stay behind us."

Ruby and Anise both sat quiet and ate and listened to Angus and Marcus talk about having Sam and Victor in the back rank " hey I am still a back ranker" Ruby said and chuckled " i'm not complaining2 she said as she ate. Aria looked at both boys and nodded she agreed with Ruby " I am Marcus back ranker, e all need some one to watch each others back." she said finishing her food and walking to the kitchen and placed her plat in the sink.

Joseph had finished checking on the grounds men before he went and joined Jack in the barn with Jessie who were all busy feeding and cleaning the stalls again. " okay let the Thestral's out to the paddock." Jack said " after that you can feel the bow truckles and pigmy puffs" he said Joseph looked at them and nodded.

"This one just seems to make everyone more nervous than the others. We thought Priscilla was bad enough, but now we've got this weird woman," Ginger said.

"Yeah, I understand," Angus said.

"Do they ever really go away for good?"

"Yes. they do," Angus said. "If they don't go away on their, then it's our job to make them go away. And that's what we're looking to do. Now finish up your breakfast because its almost time for you to go. Evan will be here any minute." The girls looked at the clock, crammed the last couple bites of breakfast in their mouths and took their plates to the sink just as Evan arrived. The girls scooped up their bags and the fruit salad Ruby had boxed up for them and dashed towards the door. Then they suddenly both stopped, turned around and ran over to Angus and they kissed his cheek.

"Don't be stupid today," Anise told him, scowling at him. "Just don't die while we're gone."

"I'll wait til you get home for that, shall I?" Angus teased. Anise punched him in his good arm. 

"Jerk," she scowled. Then they both ran out the door. Sam and Victor put their plates in the sink

"See you later," they told Ruby and Angus and dashed out the door to go to work. Angus looked out the window to see Zane and Kai and Ezra also running towards the barn, and Ezra looked like he still had part of a slice of toast in his hand. Poppy was walking towards Kate's studio, and Daria was on her way to the duplex.

"Heads up, Ru," Angus said, "Daria's on her way here. I'm leaving her up to you and Aria to get her oriented. I'm going to head out to meet Pascal. If he's not ready, I'll do some stretching to try to improve my flexibility a little." He picked up both his wand and his rapier and tucked them into his waistband.

Ruby chuckled as Anise and Ginger finished their food and then quickly and grab the boxes she had made she watched then chuckled as they both said for him to not do anything stupid till they get back.and gave him a hug before leaving.

" I was going to say that if we didn't get a break from fighting Caprice wouldn't be here" she said and chuckled as she gathered the plates Anise and Ginger had left , taking them to the kitchen to be washed clean.

While in the kitchen she heard Angus say Daria was on her way over " oh thats good I can hear them awake" she said drying her hands just as she saw Daria walk in " morning, hope your ready" she said smiling as she walke dover to her " well as you can hear they are awake , so you get to see the routine" she added and smiled walking to the stairs and pausing " come on then" she said and both headed up to the nursery.

Aria smiled to Daria and nodded to her as Ruby spoke to her " there good girls" Aria told her.with a smile as she saw them both head up to the nursery.

"Well, you're right. She tends to not want to hover about unless she feels she has just cause to do so," Angus agreed.  Angus headed outside, leaving Ruby to take care of her usual responsibilities. As he went out to the yard, he saw Marcus walking over. Pascal came outside, with a rapier of his own. He was dressed in traditional fencing gear.

"Prêt ?" Pascal asked, asking him if he was ready.

"Oui," Angus replied. They moved into position.

"Allez," Pascal replied, telling Angus to begin. The two of them worked and worked all morning. Pascal pushed him hard, not sure what Angus's limits were, but every time Pascal pushed him harder, Angus met Pascal's challenge. By the time lunch time came, Angus was starting to tire.

"Pascal," Edward called, "don't forget our lunch reservations at half past twelve.

"Ouf! Désolé. J’ai perdu la notion du temps," Pascal immediately apologized, saying he lost track of the time.

"It's all good," Angus smiled. "It was a good workout. Thank you, Pascal."

"Rest yourself this afternoon. You still have issues with your left shoulder. Let's not overdo it, shall we?" Pascal said. "You are in remarkably good shape. If you do any more dueling today, try a couple with your wand, not your sword."

"Good idea. "Thanks," Angus said. Pascal turned to go back inside for a quick shower before he went out to lunch with Edward and Simone.

"You looked good," Marcus said. "Your form was spot on, and I think you've actually edged up your speed and your agility. He was having a hard time hitting you in the last hour. That might serve you well. Come on. Let's go in. I'll find you something cold to drink."

"I should get on to making lunch," Angus said, as they both went inside.

"If Ruby hasn't gotten to making lunch, let's order some Chinese for delivery," Marcus said.

Ruby showed Daria what they did with the girls and let her carry Caprice down to the living room to their play pen " once they are in there pen its just a case of watching them and making sure they don't fight, but its breakfast time so they go in the high chairs" she said placing Caprice in her high chair and fetching two bowls of food for them and smiled as Caprice began to eat her food while she watched Daria help Amari eat her breakfast.

Ruby saw Angus sparing out in the yard then stop she smiled and watching for a moment , seeing them stop she watched them head back in before sitting with Caprice to help her eat. " How was the sparing?" she asked Angus and Marcus.

"He and Pascal were pretty retrained and respectable for the first hour, but by the time they were starting the fifth hour, Angus was forcing Pascal to bring his A game. It was really something to watch," Marcus smiled. "You'd have been proud of him, Ruby. I don't know if he feels ready, but he looks ready."

"I feel hot, thirsty, tired and hungry," Angus said. "That's about all I know right now."

"I could order us Chinese for lunch if that sounds alright to everyone," Marcus said. "Its only the four of us since Edward and Simone and Pascal seem to be going out for lunch."

"I'm good with whatever everyone else wants to do," Angus said.

"If we do Chinese, what d you want?" Marcus asked.

"Um...Hot Sour Soup and Szechwan Chicken with fried rice," Angus said.

"Oh, now that sounds good. I might do that myself," Marcus said. "What about you lot? What would you like?"

"Sweet and sour chicken," Daria said.

Ruby listened to Marcus and smiled " hum seems he did good " she said accioing a cold water from the kitchen and placing it down next to Angus say he was hot, thirsty, tired and hungry. Then she heard Marcus mention ordering in " oh sounds perfect" she said then listened to every one place their orders " oh um, I'll have the same as Daria " she said then Aria spoke up.

" king prawn chow Mein" she said and chuckled " hey I like fish" she added and turned the page of her book so she started a new chapter and smiled as it was about bow truckles. " still some bars left in the fridge if you want something before the foods delivered." Aria reminded then and Ruby nodded smiling .

Marcus ordered the Chinese lunch, and Angus went upstairs to shower because of how sweaty he'd been during the fencing workout. He changed to jeans and a tee shirt and came back downstairs jus as lunch arrived. Marcus brought in the bags of food and unloaded them. 

"Two sweet and sour chickens right here," Marcus pointed to them. "Aria, your shrimp is right here," he pointed to the middle box on the table, and he floated the hot sour soup over to Angus and then picked up the Szechwan chicken for himself and Angus, handed Angus's to him, and sat down with him to eat. 

"Great chicken," Angus said.

"But isn't that hot?" Daria asked him.

"It is," Angus said. 

"How can you eat that?" she asked, truly wanting to know.

"You might find that you get to like it as you get older. A lot of adults like hot and spicy food, but if you don't, that's okay too," Angus said. 

"You don't ever have to eat anything you don't like," Marcus said.

"Except when Granddad says I have to try it," she sighed.

"Well, now, there's a difference between trying it and eating a whole serving of it," Marcus said. "Trying it is a good thing, and it's the polite thing to do. But if you really don't like it, don't eat it."

"Dad says you're a chef," Daria said to Angus. "I sorta thought about it, but doesnt' it bother you if people dont like your food?"

"Not unless everybody hates it," Angus laughed. "Because then I know it's really bad. That's honestly only happened to me once, though."

"What happened?"

"Some of my classmates in a pastry class in cooking school deliberately switched out the sugar in my sugar canister for salt instead of sugar. And they put sugar in my salt keeper. My cake really was pretty bad, I have to admit," he laughed.

"Eww. Sounds awful," she wrinkled her nose. 

"It was. Fortunately, the instructor was onto them, and he let me re-bake my cake. So it all turned out well. If you think you want to be a chef, then be a chef," Angus said.

"By all means," Marcus said. "It's your life. You pick your own career. You might learn some new things this summer hanging out here because Ruby and Angus cook a bit differently from Gran. I'm not saying it isnt good, because it is. It's just different."

"Poppy wrote me a bunch of letters when she was staying over here, telling me how good the food was," Daria grinned. "Maybe I'll get to try it."

"I'm sure you will," Angus said.