A Birth day

Angus looked over the lists that the girls had made.

"I probably will edit these lists and cut some things from the lists," Angus said. "They do not need a gourmet kitchen when none of them really cook. I think if each kitchen had a skillet, a pot and a baking sheet might be enough for them to start with, as long as they had some a spatula, and wooden spoon, and some other basics. I dont' think they need a lot. Just a few well-chosen basics. Maybe a beginner's cookbook, and a few of the barest essentials. The girls actually have a couple pretty good lists. It clearly served them well, their time with their pack. They made some excellent choices. Do you and Aria want to take them all out shopping on Saturday? I'm sure they'd enjoy hitting some of the second hand stores or flea markets or even some of the jumble sales. I think they need to focus on absolute essentials at first. And, for now, whatever they buy that is an absolute essential, I will pay half of. What do you think? Fair enough?"

Ruby listened to Angus and nodded " agreed, maybe a simple muggle microwave too" she said then heard him mention taking them to the markets and second hand shops "wow , sure we could do that but it would mean ether you or Edward baby siting while we take the girls , and boys" she said Aria nodded to her she would go too , even just to control their spending habits so they would get what was needed and nothing more.

Joseph looked at both men , Michael swum close to him he spoke " could we talk?" he asked " when your done of course" he added not wanting to stop the swimming or the enjoyment of the water they were in.

"Well, maybe, but I don't think it would work here," Angus said. "Unless we can find one that has been enchanted to work here somehow. Remember most muggle electronics don't work here. That's why we don't use many of them. We can maybe see if we can find them each maybe one enchanted pot or tea kettle. If we can't find one, we can maybe get Michael to enchant one for us. He's particularly gifted with that. In the meantime, why don't we focus on perhaps teaching them to cook. Let's get them each a different beginner's cookbook, and we'll get a copy of each one of them for ourselves. Then we can teach them the basics, especially the boys, about weighing and measuring, how to properly use a knife, and how to put a very simple meal together without poisoning themselves. And then there all sorts of other things--how to properly make a box corner on a bed, how to properly fold a short without having it look like someone slept in it. And all the rest of it."

"You know, we could do what the military does about box corners. If they can't tuck the corners in properly on the mattress, they rip the sheets off the bed and make them do it all again," Marcus said.

"Edward did the same trick when I reached about Hogwarts age. I definitely knew how to put the sheets on properly by the time i got to school as a first year," Angus said.

"Me too," Marcus laughed.

"Sure," Michael said. "I can't be long tonight anyway. I'm working later." Michael pushed himself up and onto the side of the pool and sat on the edge of the pool not very far from Joseph but far enough that Michael's being wet wouldn't get Joseph wet.

Ruby listened to Angus and chuckled nodding " oh right I always forget muggle items don't work here, but yeah, teaching them a basic meal is a good start" she said the heard about enchanting a tea kettle for them.

Joseph heard Michael and watched as he climbed out of the water standing near by " ok" he said and took a deep breath in " your brother was called John , right, so was my father, I am twenty three years old, I lived with my mother Isabella until her passing, now my father had this ..thing, he would use a belt if I did anything wrong, I remember because he hit my mother and sent her to St Mungo's, you can check the admissions but she didn't leave she died that day then he disappeared" he said and reached into his pocket " this is my birth certificate with the details, what I am asking is if we get this sorted once and for all weather I'm part of the Tremaine family that includes you or is it just coincidence that we have the same surname."

"If your father is the same John Tremaine as my brother, then he is a cruel man indeed," Michael said. "Or at least he was the last time I saw him. My brother was a self-absorbed cruel man. I haven't seen him in many years, but I doubt he's changed. There's a long story, most of which would bore the life out of you."

"Tell him the truth, Michael," Robert said, as he came up from underwater, and took a breath of air. "He has a right to know."

"Your grandfather died within a year or two of when John was born. I was ten or so at the time. I made sure the three of us--John, my mother and myself--had a roof over our heads and food in our stomachs. Don't ask me how and I won't have to lie to you. By the time I graduated, my skills were polished enough that the ministry found a use for me, and I kept supporting the three of us. John hated me, though. I thought he was rather jealous that my mother depended so deeply on me. Well, that lasted until our mother died. He went out of control at the funeral and tried to kill me with a sectumsempra. He's the one who gave me that scar on my back. Robert saved my life that night, and, well, I lied to the Ministry, to the very people that signed my check just to keep John out of jail for attempted murder. I told them I had jilted a woman who got irked with me and slashed my back with a broken whiskey bottle. They labeled me as a womanizer, and that damned reputation stuck. Couldn't be farther from the truth, but it was the only way I could protect John. Dumbledore kept him protected at Hogwarts until he turned legal age. The last I saw him was two days after his graduation. Havent' see him since. And I don't honestly care to. I have no beef with you. But I have no love loss for my brother."

Joseph listened as Michael continued to tell him about his brother Joseph nodded as he mentioned the scar. " that sounds like what my father did to his brother and that he hated him and yeah he loved to threaten use of that spell, I hate dark arts." he looked at Michael and sighed as he said he'd labeled himself as a womanizer to protect his brother and keep him out of prison. Hearing him say he never wanted to see John again Joseph nodded " I hear you there, after the way my dad treat us I don't want to see him ever again ether." he said then looked at Robert " is there a definitive way we can check if we're related?" he asked " I know muggles use DNA to tell if some one is related but we're a bit more reliant on magic, I know everything about our pasts are aligning but , for all you know I could have just found all that out."

He looked back at Michael " which I didn't, but I think we both need something definitive, right?" he said. It was now he realized something and face palmed his head " I totally forgot, I have a locket my mother gave me before she passed, it might have a picture of him because she kept saying it held her heart." he said and dug into his pocket " I don't wear it because well it could get lost.

"Look, Robert could probably confirm it if you really need hard core proof, but let's be honest. There are not very damned John Tremaines who are 52 years old, who have magical powers, graduated from Hogwarts, and who took a job in Asia and deserted his family to do it. And there is only one who's parents were Nathan and Beatrice Tremaine. There's only one on record at the ministry or at St. Mungos. I did check, believe me. You don't need to know what I do, but suffice it to say that I have access to things that only one or two other people in our world know how to get. And I did not need Sherlock Holmes to tell me exactly who you were. Fair enough? Or do you still need some sort of incontrovertible proof?

"Did I look it up when you came here?" Michael continued. "No. Certainly not. When a man tries to kill you by trying to slice you in half, you have a tendency to need to know every so often where the hell he is. And that's what I did. I knew he had a child, but John made damned sure I knew that was his was his, and I needed to leave my hands off it. And so I have. Besides, I have a good life here. Robert and his merry band of nitwits and misfits here are all the family I've had."

Joseph listened to Michael and it felt like a weight was lifted from him and he sat down his hands on his knees as he took deep breaths in " I can guess which department, but I'm not saying and yeah that was my fathers mentality, we had to tread on eggshells when he was home, do as he wanted and I had to stay quiet, children should be seen and not heard, he would say.I was five." Joseph said.

" I'm not asking for a sub father or anything like that because I know that's not you, but just so you to know, if I ever saw him, I'd stand with you and Robert over him every time." Joseph looked at Michael and breathed out " after all the time on the streets I thought I was alone turns out I have an uncle. " Joseph stood up from his seat and walked over to Michael holding out his hand for him to shake " its good to finally officially meet you, and I'm here to work on my own merits well that and Jack good word" he said and smiled.

It was now Jack walked over from the bar area with an owl in his shoulder and chuckled hearing Joseph. " nice Michel's got a nephew , official now" he said giving the owl a treat as he looked to him and then to Joseph. " Joseph could you take Owlet back to her perch please, yeah I know not original name" he said and Joseph nodded.

"yes sir" he said and walked over smiling as Jack placed Owlet on his shoulder and gave him the treats. Now Joseph feeling lighter headed to the barn. Jack looked at both men and chuckled .

" He is like you " Jack said " works hard notices every little detail and has to see things to the end, even this" Jack pointed out.

"I don't know him well, obviously," Michael told Jack. "But men like John take everything. The lad needs to know he can respect himself, and that isn't going to happen unless he believes he has legitimately earned it for himself. If he earns it for himself, then that's something nobody can take from him. And that certainly is the story of a lot of the people who have come through this organization. He certainly can learn any number of skills here, but more importantly he needs to find himself and what he wants for his life. Perhaps the next time you go to Paris, you should take him along, Jack. Let him see the heart of what we really are and what we really do. He might enjoy that. Maybe."

"Michael, don't lose track of the time," Robert reminded him.

"Oh, yes. I should go. I have a job to do tonight. I'll see you later. Goodnight, Jack," Michael said, excusing himself to go shower and change.

Jack listened to Michael and chuckled " i was planing on asking about that , sure I'll take him , if he is all in hes all in, no backing out and I'll make that obvious to him" he said " but yeah , hes learning, so far hes dong all this himself , I brought him here, but everything else , that's him" he said then chuckled hearing Robert talk to Michel " yep see you in the morning" he said and waved to Michael as he left to go work.

Joseph entered the barn and placed the owl on her perch and smiled "Here you go" he said and brushed her feathers gently as he saw the others in the barn and he smiled " okay I'm off to patrol" he said to the creatures before heading out the barn and over to where two men stood." okay lets go" he said and they both nodded as they walked towards the assault course. Jack chuckled and headed to the main house.

"Enjoy your swim" he said to Robert as he walked past the pool and threw the summer eating area now finished but for a few small details and into the main house.