A Birth day

"I'd better go see Kate," Marcus sighed.

"Hopefully she has news on Robert," Angus said.

"I'll ask about that too while I'm there. You're all alright here, right?"

"You're not on duty yet for us anyway," Angus said. "It's fine." Marcus nodded and headed over to the main house.

"What about Sergio?" Anise asked.

"What about him?" Angus asked.

"Well, I mean, he lives in Romania, right? Bulgaria is just a really short distance from him, isn't it? Couldn't he be of help?"

"Perhaps," Angus said. "It isn't a bad thought. He went to Durmstrang, so he knows the school. But Marcus, I think, is right to go ask Kate for now. I think Michael really is the right man to help him, but that's Kate's call. Still, I'll call Pascal and see if he can't come and work with you today, Anise, in case things get ridiculous here."

"Thanks," she said, understanding. Angus went to the floo, contacted Pascal who said he would try to come in a couple hours. Angus was glad he was coming. He cleaned up the breakfast dishes, putting the leftovers in the fridge and setting a washing spell for the dishes. Then he got out the beef and the vegetables and got an extra large covered roasting pan for the pot roast. He got it ready and then put it in the oven on a low heat so it could slowly cook all day. He wanted the meat to be juicy and fork tender. Then he turned his attention to preparations for lunch.

He made a beautiful, luxuriously creamy pumpkin bisque, and he shredded several cheese, including cheddar, asiago, and parmesan and added a bit of crumbled feta. He made a gourmet cheese spread to make some lovely toasted cheese sandwiches on thick sourdough bread, and he made a quick caesar salad and set it in the fridge to go with the soup and sandwiches. He wanted the soup to have plenty of time to simmer a few hours til lunch time.

"Well, breakfast is out of the way, and I've got lunch fixed ahead of time, and supper is in the oven so it can cook hours and hours. The only thing I haven't done yet is dessert. And I'm out of ideas. I'm going to have to give that a moment's thought, but I think I'm going to warm up my coffee and take a break," Angus said.

Ruby moved and sat back down and watched Caprice and Amari as they played quietly together. She saw Angus call Pascale to help Anise with her dueling and Marcus head to the main house with Aria watching until he entered. Walking back to the couch she stood for a moment and then did a cursory check of the duplex before returning down to the living room and sat down knowing all was locked up and fine.

Ruby saw what Angus was making in the kitchen and smiled " that meat should be nice and tender by dinner time" she said smiling as she watched him. Hearing him mention Coffee she smiled and nodded poring him a cup and placing it in his hand " go ahead dear" she said " I'm thinking of something for desert, I hope it will be all right " she said smiling." I'm thinking coconut mango ice-cream with chocolate biscuits." she said knowing Angus would probably add to it and make it even more special.

"Well, when I want meat to be that tender, I'm going to do my best to cook it with a lot of moisture on a low heat for hours, so unless something goes dramatically wrong, I think you're right," he told her. "And it's going to have roasted potatoes and carrots, leeks, sweet onions, and parsnips, so it's loaded with all sorts of nutrition, and I made the gravy with a French onion soup base with some worchestershire. When the beef stock gets into that soup, that gravy is going to be loaded with flavor. And, I think your dessert idea is perfect. Go for it."

Marcus came back in.

"Robert was sort of awake when I got there, so Kate and Michael and I met in their bedroom. Robert believes it is important that I go because of needing some goodwill between our two countries. He's sending Michael along for two reasons. First, Michael is the expert in such things. And, second, he's employed by the ministry. I'm not. We're hoping we can get this done in a quick in and out. And he's sending Sergio along because Sergio knows the grounds and the building. So there will be three of us. He's leaving Ana here with you lot to help give you a hand, Aria, if you should need it."

"How's Robert feeling?" Angus asked.

"Like complete crap. His hand hurts like a sonofabiscuit. Nigel has him on some very stiff pain potion today, so Robert is more out of it than not, but he was able to be crystal clear with this. So I see that as a good thing. We'd prefer to do this at night, but because of Mileva's injuries, we'll have to go as soon as possible, so wish us luck. We hope to get going in the next hour or so. You lot going to be alright here for a few hours?"

"Certainly," Angus said.

"Okay, then, I'm going to go get a go bag ready. I'll be back," Marcus said, leaving quickly to head over to the cottage.

"I'm going to get them a few snacks ready," Angus said. "I hope they don't need them, but you never know."

Ruby heard Angus and nodded " I'll get started on that" she said smiling as she took out a bowl ready to start , it was now Marcus returned and told them what Robert had said . Aria nodded to Marcus when he told her about Ana remaining " be good to have a nother woman over here" she said and chuckled as Aria looked at her.

Aria chuckled and looked at Ruby " I know , to much testosterone around here" she said and looked to Marcus " just be carful okay" she told him as she watched him leave to grab his bag so he could get going with Michael and Sergio.

Ruby continued to make the ice cream finally putting it into the freezer ready to just dish up and started the biscuits for it.

"What do you mean too much testosterone?" Angus frowned. "Five guys here to seven women. You lot don't know what you're talking about."

Marcus packed his bag and changed to mission wear in a drab military green. He knew they would need to blend in with the natural landscape around the school. He had a light duffel bag slung over his shoulder when he returned to the duplex. Sergio arrived just as Marcus did, and he was dressed similarly with a backpack on his back. Ana was with him to see him off.

Angus had some snack packages made up already, He handed one to Sergio and Marcus and one more for Michael.

"It has trail mix, cheese, some chocolate, and some water," he told them.

"Perfect," Marcus said.

"I have done a quick sketch of the school and the easiest way to get in and out without being seen," Sergio said.

"Did you pack patch kits?" Angus asked.

"Oh, no I didn't bring any with me," Sergio said. "Mine are all at home." Angus accio'd three pocket patch kits and handed one to Marcus, one to Sergio and one for Michael. "Do you have enough weapons?"

"We're not taking anything but our wands and some bubbles," Marcus said. "This is a school, after all."

"Well, that may be, but there are still professors there that have some of Igor Karkaroff's trainings still in their heads," Angus said. "He's been dead for a long time, I know, but he was a brutal man, and it shaped their school for a long time. They're going to be a different caliber than Beauxbatons students. You need to be prepared."

"We will be," Sergio said. Michael arrived and spent a moment going over the equipment and supplies. Then they looked at Angus and Aria and Ruby.

"We're going in quickly and out quickly. I hope we're not more than a couple hours at best, but you never know," Michael said. "The quicker we go, the quicker we can get this child to some real medical help."

"Agreed. Let us know if there's something we can do here," Angus said.

"We might well be bringing her here initially because St. Mungos is where they expect we will take her," Michael said. "We've put Nigel on standby, and we might need to give Jess a heads up."

"I'll take care of that," Angus said.

"Then we'll see you in a couple hours," Michael said.

"See you on the other side," Marcus told Aria, and Michael ported them out.

Aria and Ruby both heard Angus and laughed " we're teasing you dear" Ruby said but her smile faltered seeing Marcus and Sergio enter the duplex , Aria moved to stand close to Marcus as Angus brought over some kits for them and watched as Sergio put them in his bag. "we'll have dinner ready when you get back" Ruby said from the kitchen.

Aria moved to Marcus and kissed him gently " stay safe" she said and stepped back from him " look out for each other " she said watching as Michael ported them out , Aria took a deep breath and moved back to the playpen chuckling as she saw both toddlers smiling up at her. She took out her book and opened it to the chapter on manticores. Ruby continued to mix the biscuits dough then roll it out to cut into small round biscuits and placing them on a tray to cook then cool ready for dinner.

Angus went to the floo to raise Jess again at St. Mungos. He was sure she was going to be pulling double duty with Robert out. Portia was working double overtime upstairs, working on Sunday, trying to make sure that everything for Robert was well in hand. Again, she volunteered to go find Jess, knowing Jess was ridiculously busy today.

Angus sat near the floo and waited, sipping on his coffee, and while he waited, Pascal arrived, and Anise went outside with him to train. In fact, Sam, Victor and Ginger went along to watch.

Jess saw Portia headed her way once she finished with a patient , smiling down she made sure the woman was comfortable then turned and headed to Portia. " what does Angus need?" she asked walking with her back to her office and opening the floo " Angus I'm here " she said and waited for his response while making notes on a clip board about her previous patient.

Ruby finished her last tray of biscuits and cleaned up her area before grabbing a cup of coffee and heading to the living room where Aria was sat. Taking out some blocks for the girls she placed them in the pen " no hitting each other you play like this" she said placing them on top of each other." Caprice picked up a block and stacked it making Amari giggle a she knocked it down this made Caprice giggle too and they preceded to build them back up the soft blocks.

"Sorry to disturb you, Jess," Angus said. "There's a ministry related mission in progress. Marcus got a call this morning from his old client, the Minister of Magic for Bulgaria. Their daughter is a student at Durmstrang, and she was somehow badly injured. The school is apparently on some sort of lockdown, but the girl needs some serious emergency medical care. Marcus is on his want to Durmstrang, and he has Michael and Sergio with him. They've gone to try to break into the school to get the girl and bring her back. I think they might very well be bringing her back to the sickbay at the estate because the fear is that if they take her to St. Mungos, that would be the first place people would want to look for her. I know this is just another bit of stress you don't need right now, but Nigel might very well need an extra hand on each shift now that he's going to have two patients. And, who knows, depending on what her injuries are, they might need more supplies. They hope to be there and back within the next couple of hours, so its a high profile mission that they're rushing through in a very short time. No idea what her injuries are yet, I'm afraid. If there's something we can do to help you and to prepare for her, we certainly will do it. I do have Andrew here, so if it would help to put her here in one of Edward's two other empty guest rooms, that's an option. That would at least give her a nurse that's already here. My old hospital bed is still in the basement. We can set up a room for her if you think that's wise."

Jess looked up from the board as she heard Angus voice then heard him explain about why he had called her " no problems Angus" she said " I'll sort the nurses on the patients and head right back, our department is pretty much running on auto pilot right now so I can leave for an hour or so" she told him " I'll bring a nurse with me , one that's trusted and been to Roberts before and head to the sick bay getting it ready, so don't worry" she said " oh and stress is my coffee" she added with a chuckle.

She listened more as he said they might have her be put in Edwards spare room " okay that's an option once we check her and stabilize her if its needed, but I would say sick bay then to the room if feasible, I'll give Nigel an and all sport he needs." she said and sat back in her chair making a mental list of what was to be take with her, she buzzed Portia " Portia get Anna and tell her to bring the emergency kits" she said before listening to Angus again. " be there in five." she told him as a young blond woman with her hair up high in a nurses uniform walked in carrying two back packs on her shoulders.

Jess took one and took her arm porting her to Robert med bay " okay set everything up for possible emergency triage and surgery