A Birth day

Angus and Marcus finished putting the cribs together, and then Kate began working on painting. As Angus was coming downstairs with the tools and also the empty boxes to throw away, a note was delivered by an eagle-owl and dropped in the sink. Sergio frowned and rescued the letter and used a charm to dry it off. Then he handed it to Angus.

"Cabbage, that one," Sergio said, speaking of the owl. Angus laughed.

"What?" Marcus asked.

"Romanian insult," Angus laughed. "Basically means something or someone is a real mess."

"Well, I would agree with him since the owl dropped the message in the sink," Marcus laughed.

"It's from the attorney," Angus said. "he says he can come at noon. He's fitting us in over his lunch hour."

"We can do a late lunch, then," Marcus said.

"We can. I have a good recipe for meatball subs, so, I think everyone will like them," Angus said. "I can bake the meatballs in marinara and cheese, and then when the attorney leaves, we can eat. I think there are a couple of big bags of crisps in the pantry. So perhaps we can do just big meaty, cheesy subs and crisps and soda."

"Sounds perfect," Marcus said.

"Indeed," Sergio said. "That's something we will both look forward to."

Aria saw the owl and heard Sergio, chuckling at the explanation Marcus gave of what he had said. " defiantly cabbage." she said as Ruby returned from upstairs with a jacket over her arm " okay when the boys are ready we'll head out" she said " first place a flea market" Aria said and looked to Marcus " any suggestions of any?" she asked.

Ruby stopped and looked at Marcus and Angus " oh that's right we don't have a clue where the markets are" she said some what stumped. " I know Paris has some oh and London has a flea market that I know of" she said smiling.

"I'd go to Camden Market," Angus said. "I've always had good luck there. There are six or seven really good ones in London, but I have always done better in Camden. There are also a good many second hand shops in Diagon Alley. You might do well there since they've been hammered probably for second hand robes. They'll be anxious to move some of the furniture and things. Robes don't bring much money. Now, I have a charge account at two of them because I used to go antiquing there looking for things for Brian and Robert." He wrote down the addresses for them. "You're welcome to use that charge if you like, but if you do, the boys need to be ready to pay their fair share."

"We're going to put in some money too," Anise said. "After all, we hope next year that's our homes too."

"Fair enough," Angus nodded.

"That should give you some leads, I should think," Marcus said. "If not, here are a couple brochures. One is a muggle brochure on antiquing. And the other is one for antiquing in Diagon Alley that Lizzie tucked into one of our take out bags. Take them with you. They might be helpful."

Aria took the leaflets from Marcus and made note of Camden flea market " we'll try everyplace" she said and smiled as Anise said they were putting in some money for the furniture. " that's good" she said Ruby smiled and looked at both the boys and girls " well if you guys are ready the sooner we go the sooner we get back" she said with a smile " Camden market first" she said taking hold of Anise hand as Aria took hold of Gingers " okay guys hold tight" she smiled and looked to Angus " be back I hope before lunch" she said as Aria and her ported out with the boys holding onto the girls .

Appearing in a back alley not far from the market Ruby pause and let go of Anises hand. " okay the markets over there , nobody saw us so let go and take a look" she said seeing a stall with furniture all around it along with several others next to it.

When everyone left to go shopping, Angus took the time to make his meatballs and put them in sauce and then into the oven to bake. He ordered some sub buns from Lizzie, who sent them at once, along with some fresh baked pumpkin pasties. With that taken care of, he went out on the deck for a moment, watching the Fae harvest whatever was ripe in the garden. He sat down and simply watched them.

As he was sitting there, he slipped into some sort of a vision, or a half sleep. He wasn't sure which. He was standing in the dark somewhere, on a dirt path. And as he stood there, a woman walked out of the shadows. She was, singularly, the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life. He froze, just looking at her. Every sense he had said she was extremely dangerous, but he didn't move, waiting to see what she was going to do. And then he heard his gran's voice in his ear.

"Run," she told him urgently. The minute she told him to run, the vision abruptly stopped, and he found himself still sitting on the deck, watching the Fae. It wasn't more than a couple moments, and Kate came out on the deck.

"Did you see what I just saw?" she asked.

"I did, but it makes no sense," Angus said.

"I don't think she was human," Kate said. "There are all sorts of creatures where beauty is used as a weapon. I could be wrong, but this might very well be whatever Suzanne has aligned herself with now to help her. When I'm done with the beds, I'm going to see what I can do to see if I can find you some sort of a talisman that will block her attempts to reach you. I'll let you know if I do any good."

"Thank you, Kate," Angus said. "It does help when you see what I see."

Aria and Ruby walked with the girls and boys over to the market and together they walked to the stalls looking at the furniture " anything catch you eye?" Ruby asked seeing a few things herself but restraining herself since they were there for the boys.not for themselves.

Aria walke dover to a sturdy table and looked at it " what about this?" she asked the boys " comes with six chairs too" she added as she looked at the table. looking at it closer she saw some marks but being second hand she knew it would .

"I like the chairs," Anise said, "but I actually like this old rustic trestle table--the one buried back in the corner over there."

"What table?" Sam frowned.

"Over here," Anise walked over to the corner that was piled up with things on clearance. Underneath all of it was an old farmhouse trestle table. "With a little polish, it would really shine. And look, they're practically giving it away."

"How did you even see that? It's completely buried," Sam said.

"Well, I like the table Areia pointed out," Ginger said, "but I'm not a fan of the ladderback chairs with the rush seats."

"I like the chairs," Aria said. "how about you take the table, I'll take the chairs, and when you see a set of chairs you like, I'll buy you the chairs for your table."

"Done," Ginger grinned.

"Wait. What if we don't like any of it?" Sam asked.

"You dont?" Anise asked.

"No, I like it, but you guys carved out that deal so fast between you..." Sam began.

"Idjit," Anise scowled.

"Just come along and shut it," Ginger told Sam and Victor. "You two wouldn't know a good deal if it bit you."

"Evidently not," Victor replied.

"Come on. Let's go look at beds," Ginger told Anise, and the two of them dashed off excitedly.

"Are they gonna get some sissy looking thing?" Sam moaned.

"Don't worry about it," Victor said. "If we don't like it, it can become firewood."

Ruby and Aria looked at where Anise was pointing and Ruby smiled " looks a good table with some TLC will be perfect." she said smiling as Anise walked over to the table and showed the boys making both Aria and herself chuckle. Hearing the boys Ruby chuckled " no you compromise on the bed, so its one you both like." she added then looked to Aria " I like the one Angus and I have but the thing I don't like is the hight, but I compromise because I like its look." Aria nodded as they walke dover to where the boys and girls were.
"I can see this being along day" she said and Ruby chuckled nodding .

"I agree but at least they get a chance to barter by them selves" she said paying the gentleman behind the stall for the table and chairs, then giving him the address of Roberts storage facility where they would then have it ported over to the apartment. Ruby thanked the man and walke dover where Aria was now stood with the kids looking at beds .
" best to go for double beds or king, more room if you roll over that you don't disturb your partner." Aria added

Sam was trailing behind Anise, looking at beds, none of which he particularly liked. But then he heard Anise find something that she obviously really liked. He tried to go find her, and he saw she was looking at a bed that was actually disassembled and pushed up against a wall.

"Like that, do you?" the shopkeeper asked her. "It's not an antique, you know. It's relatively recent. A customer commissioned that albatross a few years ago, and then the customer died. So the bed has been sitting here since, gathering dust. Nothing like that ever sells here, I'm sorry to say." Anise looked at the tag, saw the price and offered him half the price to take it off his hands, telling him she was on a tight budget to furnish her first apartment.

"I can't do half," he frowned. "Gotta pay for what it cost me, ya know."

"Well, you could sell it to me or you could continue to lose more money by having it sit here for several more months," she said. She and the shopkeeper bantered and bargained, and Anise ended up getting the bed for less than half. Then she very quietly showed Ruby and Aria what she liked about it. The bed was made of iron but it had delicate, graceful shapes of tree branches and leaves. "Reminds me of all the years I lived in the camp. It means something to me."

"You got a damned good deal on it," Victor said.

"That was sheer luck," she said.

"No, it was that you were stubborn as heck about it," Victor laughed.

Ruby and Aria stood back as they watched the kids move around the market. Ruby spotted Anise and walked over but stood back as she began to barter with the stall holder. Once done Ruby smiled " well done2 she said " he'll respect you more now for that" she said smiling " and don't listen to him , I think it fits your style perfectly." she added and once again gave the gentleman stall holder her card and asked for him to deliver it to that address.

Aria looked at Ginger as Ruby went with Anise and smiled " not seen anything yet?" she asked just walking and standing beside her as Ruby spoke to Anise. She heard Anise and shook her head " nope , you got a skill there" she said smiling to Anise " I agree with victor." Ruby nodded as they continued to walk down the rows of stalls.