A Birth day

Ruby smiled to Elwood " I meant for when your ready to head up, for now please make your self at home" she said smiling then saw Marcus port out returning with the babies she smiled at the cute dresses they were in and chuckled as they were set on Elwood's knee. Ruby accioed her muggle camera and stepped back snapping a shot of him with them as Angus spoke to him she smiled and nodded to him.

Ruby snapped a few more pictures then gave the camera to Aria who took some more , Taking the camera back she smiled " these will look good on the wall" she said and showed Angus and Elwood. " I'll print them out tomorrow." she said smiling but paused as she saw Minos fluttering around them. making Ruby chuckle as she snapped another with a golden glow in it from Minos trail. " this one is beautiful" she said and showed Angus the picture.

"You know what I see?" Angus asked Ruby. "I see a man who believed the best he could ever hope for was to die as soon as possible. And now, look at that smile. That is a man who is seeing for himself that there just might be something yet worth living for. For the first time in a century, he's feeling happy. I can't imagine having to wait 100 damned years to experience one single moment of joy." He heard Elwood sniffle, and he saw him brush a tear off his cheek. Angus accio'd Elwood's tea cup downstairs and used a warming spell to warm it up a little. When the babies seemed to get a little restless, Marcus took the babies, and Angus redirected Elwood with the tea. Elwood sniffed it.

"Is this...this smells very nice,' Elwood said. He tasted it. "It tastes like almond cookies."

"One of Robert's many hobbies is that he likes creating flavored teas. This one seems to be everyone's favorite," Angus said.

"I can see why. It's perfectly lovely," Elwood said.

"We have lots of it here. You can have as much of it as you like any time you like," Angus said.

"Where are the pukwudgies? House elves, perhaps?"

"There are none," Angus said. "We do for ourselves."

"Splendid! Damnable grouchy pukwudgies. Not fit to be around a proper family. Your children will be better off without them."

"I want them to learn to do for themselves, not to enslave another creature," Angus said.

"Good for you," Elwood said. he sipped on his tea but he soon handed it to Marcus. Angus saw the signs. As much as Elwood wanted to be part of the family, he was so weak, he was exhausted.

"How about a bit of a rest? You can come back down whenever you like," Angus said.

"Perhaps that is for the best," Elwood sighed. Angus and Marcus took Elwood upstairs and helped him get settled and introduced him to Andrew who promised to make sure Elwood was doing alright with all the excitement of the move. Angus and Marcus came back downstairs.

"He has a considerable recovery to do," Marcus said, 'but I think he might well have a chance now that he sees he's with people who are glad to have him."

Ruby smiled as Angus spoke of the photos and nodded " I agree" she said then looked over to Elwood as Marcus took the babies from him and placed them in their playpen while Aria looked over them. Seeing and hearing him Ruby smiled nodding again " so true" she said then seeing how exhausted Elwood was she moved up to his room and pulled back his bedding ready for if he wanted to climb in a sleep or even just read. she headed back down and looked to Marcus but spoke to Elwood " your bed is ready for you to take a nap if you ant" she said smiling.

Joseph and Jack with the grounds men finished their foods and quietly left the duplex when Elwood arrived. Joseph headed to the barn and picked up the feeding bucket filling it from the large bag next to it he continued to pore food into the feed bowls. Jack filled hay bags with fresh hay and filled water buckets and bowls with water.

Andrew came back downstairs with the empty tea cup.

"He's asleep," Andrew said. "He was so excited about everything he's seen just in getting him here, but he was exhausted. He fell asleep almost as soon as we got him comfortable. I think Robert plans on coming over as soon as he gets home from work to check on him. I asked him what food Robert said he could eat, and Robert said he could have whatever he wanted, within reason. I expect he'll bring a nausea med and maybe an appetite stimulant for him. I would not expose him to a good deal of spice yet. I'd be gentle with him."

"I know just the thing," Angus said. "We've got time before supper. I'll take care of it."

Angus took the time to make a delicious chicken stew, loaded with tender bites of chicken, well cooked carrots, sweet onion and chunks of tender potato. He added thick cut homemade noodles, and he baked some soda bread because it didn't need to rise. Then he made some old fashioned homemade ice cream and made a homemade strawberry sauce.

"Homemade chicken stew," Angus told Ruby, "homemade crusty bread, homemade ice cream sundaes with strawberry sauce? The chicken and the veg are soft and tender in a creamy gravy, the bread is fresh and soft. I can't imagine it would disagree with him. What do you think, Ru?"

"If he doesn't want it, I'll eat his share," Marcus teased.

Ruby smiled and nodded as Andrew said Elwood was sound asleep in his bed " that's good" she said standing and taking the cup from Andrew to wash and put back next to his bed ready for if he wanted another cup later. She heard Angus talk of what he was going to make for Elwood to eat later. " sounds delicious" she said smiling as she smelt it cooking she hummed " smells wonderful and not before I get to it" she said and chuckled to Marcus remark.

Aria chuckled as she heard them talking then smelled the food that Angus was cooking , she also watched the babies as they seem to understand not to be loud as they played quietly together in the play pen with their toys. Jack and Joseph finished the barn and moved to bringing in the hippogriffs from the paddock and making sure they were tended to before locking up the barn and heading to their own rooms.

Joseph sat on his bed and took out his small lock picking kit he cleaned them and placed each one back in the case before sliding them back into his draw before pulling out a book he was reading about different lock types and how to open each one.

Angus went to prepare the stew, and Ginger just quietly got up and went to help him.

"Thank you," Angus smiled. "I appreciate the help."

"Anise, come help clean vegetables. You know how to do that," Ginger told her sister.

"Which ones do you want?" Anise asked.

"Carrots, celery, onions, garlic, and potatoes," Angus said. "Maybe a couple of leeks if we have them."

"We've never cleaned leeks before," Anise said.

"Well, bring them here. Let me show you," Angus answered.

"Can you show me how to make the noodles?" Ginger asked.

"Certainly. It's easy," Angus said. Anise laid four leeks on the counter, and Angus showed her how to cut off the root end, how to split the leek lengthwise, and he explained the importance of rinsing the leek well under running water to rinse out the sand. Then, chopping the leek was simple business. Ginger and Anise worked on cutting the vegetables while Angus put the chicken on to make the stock and to cook the chicken for the stew.

Then he showed them how to put flour and salt on the board, how to make a well, crack eggs into the well, and how to use his hands to draw the flour into the well to make the noodle dough by hand. Then he rolled out the dough into three big thin sheets of dough to dry so he could cut it later for noodles. While the sheets of noodle dough was drying, he had them each make some soda bread so they would have plenty. He made two loaves and they worked right alongside him making two loaves each on their own. He put the bread in the oven to bake and then started in making the homemade ice cream and the strawberry topping for it.

He soon had the stew on to simmer on the stove, the bread baking in the oven, and the ice cream chilling in the freezer. He worked on setting up the sideboard for supper. Ginger and Anise asked him for help in collecting some of their favorite recipes to start so that each of them could assemble a cookbook for when they got married to Sam and Victor and got ready to establish houses of their own. Angus promised them it wouldn't be a difficult thing to do.

Ruby walked to the kitchen and smiled seeing them all cooking , taking her camera she snapped a picture and smiled. " can I hep of are there enough chefs?" she asked smiling as she watched them prepare the veg for the stew knowing that it was going to be perfect.

Joseph pit down his book and walked out the tower back to the duplex pausing he headed to the barn and stepped inside picking up a pigmy puff he sat down and stroked its fur making it purr at him as he sat and just thought about what he could do. Finally he set the pigmy puff back in the pen and walked out to the training grounds picking up a rapier he practiced some moves with it and parry's with the dummy's they had.

"Of course you can help," Angus said. "The more the merrier." When the girls finished with their kitchen duties, they headed off to shower. Sam and Victor had already showered because the work in the fields, harvesting the crops, had been hot and dirty. They were certainly hungry, though. When they came downstairs from their showers, they asked about when they could meet Elwood. The kids had come in after Elwood had been taken upstairs.

"We'll see how he feels at supper time," Angus said. "If he's up to some short visits, you four can certainly go up and meet him but don't overwhelm him. He's been pretty much alone for almost a hundred years..."

"Wait. Doesnt' that make him ancient?" Sam asked. Angus laughed.

"I think he might tell you yes, but, for anyone who knew Albus Dumbledore, he was 116 when he died, and he honestly died because he had gotten quite ill from one of Voldemort's horcruxes. Wizards can live a great deal longer than muggles. So, no cracks to Elwood about his age. You treat him with respect. Understand me?" The kids all nodded. "He's extremely intelligent, so you very well could learn some things from him."

Angus took the bread out of the oven on time and set it aside to cool. He added the noodles into the stew, put in some additional sage, some additional poultry seasoning and just a wee bit more salt to his stew. Then, he put a couple spoonfuls of the stew with its creamy gravy in a small ramekin and handed it to Ruby with a spoon.

"Taste. Does it need anything?" he asked her. "If not, we'll slice the bread and set out a large platter of warm bread and French butter, and then we'll dish up some big bowls of stew for everyone and tuck in."

"I'll go see if Elwood will be ready to eat" Andrew said, heading back upstairs to go see Elwood.

Ruby smiled as Angus said she could help , picking up a leek she began pulling off the leaves and washing them. Then she cut them into strips then into smaller stick shapes to put in the stew. Once done she helped with the rest of the veg till the boys returned then headed up to shower which she was glad of from the smell of them. Soon they returned nice and clean and sweet smelling. Ruby watched and listened as Angus said to wait till after they had eaten supper and only if Elwood was up to it.

She stepped back and watched Angus place the noodles in the liquid to cook and smiled smelling the scent drift up from the pot " oh that smalls wonderful" she said smiling. It was now she heard Angus and saw him holding a spoon. Leaning closer she blew on it and then tasted it as she did her thought for a moment then shook her head " nope, if they want to add salt or pepper they can, but for me that's good." she said smiling to him.

Marcus walked over to them, looked in the pot to see the huge vat of chicken stew, as the girls set the table and poured glasses of iced tea and put a glass at each place.

"That looks great," Marcus said. Then he said softly to Angus. "Look--upstairs." Angus turned and looked and saw Andrew had Elwood in his robe and slippers, with a dove grey colored throw over his legs, and Andrew was bringing him downstairs.

"If I'm not too much bother, could I sit with the rest of you at supper tonight?" Elwood asked.

"Absolutely!" Angus smiled, glad to see that he wanted to be with the rest of them. "By all means."

"I don't know what you're making but it smells fantastic," Elwood said.

"Just a simple, hearty chicken stew," Angus said.

"i can't think of anything that would sound better," Elwood said. Marcus moved the chair out of the way at the head of the table for Elwood's wheelchair, and Andrew pushed the chair up to the table.

"I'll get you a bowl of stew," Andrew told Elwood. "How about a piece of homemade bread with some good French butter to go with that stew."

"Homemade bread too?" Elwood asked.

"Fresh from the oven," Andrew replied. "And, I should probably tell you, Angus always makes sure there is dessert."

"Let me introduce you to more of your grandkids," Angus told Elwood.

"Wait, I think I recognize them from the pictures," Elwood said. "Let me see if my memory is intact." He looked at the pictures. "The girls I can tell you for sure. You're Anise, and you're Ginger, right?"

"Right," Anise said. "Not everybody gets that right."

"Well, I can remember the two of you. And you two young men.. Give me moment. Don't tell me. You're Sam, and you're Victor."

"Well done," Victor smiled as the kids settled down at the table with their own suppers. "It's good to have another granddad."

"You have no idea how good it is to know I have grandchildren," Elwood said. "And the first meal I've had with family in 80 years." Andrew set a bowl of stew in front of Elwood and a plate with a slice of bread, spread with French butter.

Marcus and Angus got their bowls of stew and pieces of bread and joined the group at the table.