A Birth day

"I'm fine," Marcus told Aria. "I just need to sit and breathe for a little."

"Thanks," Angus smiled, letting Ruby put the magic wrap on his shoulder.

"You boys really should try not to play so rough," Edward called.

"I'll keep a better eye on him since he didn't grow up living on the coast," Angus said.

"Nobody did but you and Evan," Edward said, taking the preserver and rope from Evan and rolling the rope up. Caprice began to fuss and squirm, not wanting to be held. Angus set her down on the sand, and she crawled off. He wasn't sure what she was crawling after until he saw she was interested in a little crab that was walking across the shore.

"That might not be such a good baby toy, Ru," Angus told her. "They pinch."

"Anybody want an appetizer?" One of the hula girls asked. She had a platter of coconut shrimp and another of teriyaki meatballs. Another girl brought around some little paper plates and some small skewers so people could fix themselves little appetizer plates.

"

Ruby relaxed hearing Angus say he appreciated the magic wrap. " I know to keep one on me , never know what or when you might need it" she said softly. Aria looked at Marcus and wiped some water from his face.

" yeah, I know" she said then saw Caprice trying to get to a crab " oh by now that won't end well, better rescue the little thing, and I mean the crab" she said smiling to him a she lent down and kissed him gently before standing and walking over to Caprice " come here you" she said picking her up and moving back to Amari setting her down with several toys one being a plush crab . Hearing the young woman asking Anybody want an appetizer. Aria raised her hand " can we get two small ones for the girls please" she asked and the woman smiled.

Ruby stayed with Angus and nodded to the woman" you want some food?" she asked him knowing getting back to normal would be the best thing for every one after what had just happened.

"Sure. Why not?" Angus replied when Ruby asked him if he wanted some appetizers. "I'm sure it'll be another hour or so before the pork is ready, so appetizers are a good idea." Angus glanced back to see them mixing a bowl of purple food.

Marcus made himself a plate with some meatballs and some coconut shrimp.

"This will be interesting," Angus laughed. "They're using purple sweet potatoes to make some purple mashed sweet potatoes. They're quite lovely, but people sometimes are a little gun shy just because the potatoes are purple. You'll like them, I think. Looks like a Sunomono salad--that's a Japanese cucumber salad, a Hawaiian style cole slaw, and some pineapple rice. If we're lucky, they'll have a pineapple rum cake for dessert. I hadn't planned on them coming, but I'm sure everyone would much rather have kahlua pork rather than my ham and cheese sandwiches. And there will be loads of leftover kahlua pork that we can use later in the week."

The serving girls gave Aria a plate for herself and a couple plates so she could fix whatever she wanted for the babies.

Ruby heard Angus explain what each dish was and she smiled " wow they all sound delicious." she said smiling " wow, I heard they just taste like regular potatoes but slightly sweeter" she added smiling as she saw Aria being given a plate for the babies witch she placed a small amount of each food Caprice tried the purple potatoes and giggled happily as she ate.

Ruby smiled " well kids are happy" she said as she was handed two plates one for herself and one for Angus " here you go" she said placing it down and handing him a fork so he could eat. she ate quietly " how long do you think till Robert comes " she asked knowing he would know what had happened earlier.

"They remind me sort of a pumpkin kind of taste but with a potato texture," Angus said. "You mean when will Robert come to check my shoulder? I don't think he probably will. I'll go to him in a little bit. If I make the effort to go to him, I think it will keep it from being such a big deal. Everyone is busy either eating or paying attention to the sea, so if I go see him instead, people will take no notice since Robert is, more or less, behind the others. I very much doubt he will do anything but offer me some pain potion. You've already added a magic wrap. There isn't much more he can do out here."

It was about an hour later when the cooks cut the pork and served up big platters of pork. There were slices of pork, some was cubed, some was shredded. They added a bit more of the Hawaiian barbeque sauce,. and they served up all the sides on the sideboard. Andrew made a plate for Elwood and one for himself. Edward and Robert and Michael fixed their plates and then joined Elwood.

"Why don't you girls go fix your plates and get whatever you want the minions to eat?" Marcus said. "Angus and I will get our plates when you get back. We'll try to keep the minions out of trouble for a few minutes." Marcus happened to look down at the babies to see them both trying to shove their fists in their mouths. "What are you two doing?" he frowned. He and Angus reached down and pried open their little fists to see big fistfuls of sand that they had been wanting to eat.

"Uh uh. Nope. Not gonna let you eat a big fistful of sand," Angus said. "Put it down." The babies had no intention of putting it down, despite anything Angus had to say. He wanted to turn over their hands to make them drop the sand, and they both responded by shrieking at him angrily and throwing the sand in his face. Angus picked them both up and set them in the middle of the beach blanket so they couldn't reach any sand. That only made them angrier.

"They've got about 60 seconds to quit that," Angus said, frustrated. "If they don't stop, I'll just port home with them. They don't get to ruin the day out for everyone."

Ruby heard Angus talk about the purple sweet potatoes and smiled " ah so tasty then" she said smiling. She heard Marcus and turned to look at him " good to see you on dry land I think playing at being Aquaman doesn't suit you" she said chuckling " you feeling okay now?" she asked as she heard him mention they would watch the babies while Aria and her went to get some food. Before she made a move she bent down to Angus and whispered " good idea " she said and smiling to him . " even if it is just a pain potion at least he knows the situation" she added as Aria stood up stepping back she heard the babies and shook her head at seeing hem with their fists balled and specks of sand dribbling out between their fingers.

Aria walke dover to the table and grabbed to plates, returning she passed Ruby " I think the girls are throwing a tantrum because big bad dad won't let them eat sand" Ruby said and chuckled " I'm staying out of it but once I get back they will have quietened down" SHE ADDED.

"Well you hope, knowing those two they could be at it for hours." Aria said looking over at Marcus and Angus .

" Oh I don't dough it, but if they don't Angus is going to head home with them and see Robert" she spoke softly.

"his shoulder?" Aria sked and Ruby nodded " well I for one and extremely grateful he knew exactly what to do" she said smiling to Ruby who now smiled and moved to grab a bit of everything on offer on to two plates to take for Angus and one for herself.

(Robert is there at the beach with them. he's been there the whole time. he's sitting with michael, edward and elwood, fyi)

"Yeah," Marcus told Ruby and Aria, "I just wasn't paying any attention, and I do know better than to do that. Evidently my brain was on holiday for a bit. I'm fine now. I'm not accustomed to Angus rescuing me. I'd much rather things get back to normal as soon as possible."

"I"m not keeping a score card, you know," Angus said to Marcus.

"No, I know, and I'm glad of that. I would just rather be the rescuer and not the one needing rescued, thank you very much," Marcus teased.

"Oh, thank you," Angus said, when Ruby brought him a plate of food. The babies kept screeching and Angus handed them each a bite of the pork, but both babies immediately rolled the pork in the sand and then put it in their mouths. Then they scowled at Angus as if he'd intentionally poisoned them. "Go ahead. Eat sand. Is one bite of it enough? Or would you rather me just give you each a bowlful of it?" Angus sighed, having no patience with them.

"Rosaria? Carlo? Do you mind?" Edward asked. Rosaria and Carlo each picked up a baby and began walking it to the house. Angus saw both Rosaria and Carlo talking to the babies and shaking a finger at them to show their disapproval of the sand eating and the attitude.

"There. Peace over lunch. By the time we finish eating, the little monsters should be napping," Edward smiled. "And I'm sure Rosaria will have fed them before their naps. Fair enough?"

"Plenty fair enough. Thank you," Angus said.

"Oh, and by the way, you can do the Moral Support department outings as often as you like. Its been a good morning for all, even if you did mean it as a practical joke," Edward said. "We should do more of these sorts of things. And the Kahlua pork is amazing. A good choice."

"You're welcome, then," Michael laughed.

Ruby smiled as did Aria but when the babies started to eat sand with their pork both women sighed and shook their heads. Ruby seeing Carlos and Rosaria take the babies she smiled to them both " grazie" she said smiling to both of them as they too the babies to the house and she sat back hearing nothing but the sound of the sea " oh much better" she said " not that I don't like the babies its just I don't get this fixation with sand on everything" she said and chuckled.

Aria listened to Angus and Marcus and chuckled as they both nodded to Edward as he said they could do the support thing again as it had been fun. Jack had gone and walked around the building seeing exactly how the rebuild was doing. He with Joseph made a report noting a few places that should have been done that weren't.

"It's just a new thing," Edward said. "it has a completely different texture than anything else they've been exposed to, and that texture changes when its wet. So there is a lot to learn about it. Evan was the same way when he was their age."

"I was?" Evan frowned.

"You were far worse than any of the other Donohue babies had been about it," Edward nodded. "Your brother was obsessed with water, but not you. Of course not. You were fascinated with sand. I couldn't keep Angus out of the water, and I couldn't keep you out of the sand. Monsters. Both of you."

"I'm almost afraid to ask what Tyler was into," Angus said.

"Oh. Him? He was into the seaweed that washed up on shore. Your sisters were hunting shells, and you three were heathens. I didn't dare take you all to the beach at the same time, not without a platoon of nannies."

"Well, at least we're consistent," Evan said. Angus was noticing that Elwood was getting quite tired. He was eating his lunch, but he was slowing down. Andrew was starting to pack up some of Elwood's things.

"I think Andrew is probably going to take Elwood home straight after lunch. He's done really well, but I think he's had enough for one day," Angus told Ruby quietly.

Ruby listened to Edward and chuckled " ah now I know who to blame" she said jokingly to them both then listened as Edward spoke of Even and Angus and how they were when younger. " wow , okay watch for the water bit next" she added then heard Angus and nodded " he does look like hes had a long but good day" she said smiling " maybe we should join them with the babies?" she asked " but I know you'll want to stay longer."

Aria noted Jack and Joseph wanking around the house , Jack was pointing out parts to Joseph and writing down things on a clip board. " looks like Angus will get that report" she said softly to Marcus. Leaning back she enjoyed the sun while they had it enjoying the sea breeze and warm sun against her skin as she lay listening to the sounds and smelling the pig that had been cooked.