A Birth day

Marcus flew to open the floo, and he opened it. Her father, Vasil answered almost instantly.

"Marcus, my daughter," Vasil said in English with a thick Bulgarian accent.

"I have her, my friend," Marcus reassured him. "We're out. We're in England on an unplottable estate with med facilities. She's being treated right now. She's completely safe."

"Where? Where are you? How do I know she's safe?"

"We're on the estate that belongs to Robert Lupin's daughter and her husband. Trust me. It's safe."

"I trust you. And I trust Robert. If Robert believes it is safe..."

"Safe enough for his family to live here."

"Then I trust it," Vasil nodded. he took a moment to breathe, to relax. "How is she?"

"Upset. Hurting. She was burned in an accident in a magical creatures class. There are expert healers here, though. She's one floor below me, and they're assessing her to stop her pain and being treatment."

"We need to come. She needs to know her family is with her," Vasil said.

"Of course. Pack some things, and we'll make sure you have accommodations here. They won't be palatial..."

"You know how I feel about that...what's the word...cloptrop?"

"Claptrap," Marcus grinned, amused. "You remembered. Yes. I'll explain. Come, all of you. Bring the children. Can you find your way to the Ministry offices in London?"

"Yes. Yes, I know how to get there, but you need to remain with Mileva. Please, please. Do not leave her."

"Alright. I will send one of my friends. Let's arrange a password so you will know him. Let's use your favorite candy. He'll use the word Lokum. He'll also be wearing a gold doubloon around his neck. He may well have someone else with him. They'll bring you here. How soon will you come."

"Straight away. We are already packed and ready. How soon can your man be in London?"

"Give me about five minutes."

"Done. And, Marcus, we are eternally in your debt. Thank you."

"I wouldn't be anywhere else," Marcus replied, and he closed the floo. He opened it again, this time to the duplex. "Angus, can you and either Ruby or Aria go to London, outside the Ministry of Magic and meet Vasil and Deni and their other two children. Vasil and Deni speak English. Their children do not. Vasil is dark haired, and Deni is blonde. They will have some sort of bags or suitcases with them. Their oldest daughter Danica is 15. Dark haired, like her father but with her mother's beauty. And Stephan has his father's looks but his mother's dark blonde hair. He's 13. I told them you'll be wearing a gold doubloon and you will know his favorite candy is Lokum--its basically a Bulgarian type of Turkish delight."

"Fair enough. We'll work it out," Angus said. "We'll go straight away."

"Thank you," Marcus said, closing the floo. Angus looked at Aria and Ruby.

"Anybody want to go pick up the Bulgarian minister of magic with me?" Angus asked.

Ruby heard the floo and Marcus voice " I'll go with you angus" Ruby said " Aria is already over with Marcus looking after Mileva." she said and changed her clothing to something more formal, dark trousers, dark blazer and a white shirt with her hair up in a bun ready to meet whom ever they are meeting having a feeling it was an important person.

Aria chuckled from behind Marcus " did you forget I treat your wounds" she said walking over to him. " we have poppy's room ready for Mileva, the room above the old coach house is cleaned and ready for them I added two soft chairs so they would have someplace to sit and fresh flowers and towels in the en suit" she added as she placed yet another plaster on his cut. " now sit still so I can finish fixing what you broke" she smirked at him.

"This isn't good," Marcus sighed, concerned about Andrew being there without any protection for Elwood except Andrew. It created for him massive anxiety by Aria being at the main house rather than at the duplex. He opened the floo again to the duplex. "Angus," Marcus called. "For God's sake, you cannot possibly leave Elwood without any protection at all. We absolutely can't have that. Please, please go over and see if Ana will come over and stay with Elwood and Andrew before you leave."

"Absolutely. I'll take care of it, and I'll come straight back. You have my word."

"I know," Marcus said, closing the floo. Angus went next door and talked to Ana and Edward and Simone. Ana decided to come over to the duplex to help guard Elwood, and Edward said he would keep an ear out for any trouble. With that taken care of, Angus looked at Ruby.

"We can't be gone long with only Ana here," Angus told Ruby. "Let's go, and get back as quickly as we can, shall we?"

"Now, listen," Ana said. "Do not let yourself be intimidated by the fact that they live right now in a palace. That's reserved for the Minister of Magic. Their own country home is very traditional and rustic. They live very simply. They are going to love everything they see here. They are far more grounded than you know."

"Thank you," Angus said, grasping his hand and reaching for Ruby. He flicked his wand and apparated them to London, a block from the ministry of magic. "This gives us a minute to spot exactly who we need to pick up. It's that way." He gestured across the street and down the block.

Aria saw his face and nodded at his words, Ruby heard Angus as he went to get Ana , it was now Jack walked into the room looking for Joseph with Digger forgetting to check the digging box by the groundman's tower.

"Hi Ana , where did Angus go to?" he asked and looked around not seeing any one else he chose to stay with Ana."Good afternoon Elwood, enjoying grandads time?" he asked smiling as he walked over to him " you know, I have some time before my next shift, I was wondering if we could play some chess while the girls sleep and the others were out?" he asked accioing a chess board and pieces placing it on the table in front of them.

Ruby nodded and held onto his hand as he ported them away to London as they disappeared she spotted Jack enter. Appearing she looked around where they had landed to orientate herself when she was she looked and walked over to Marcus " I saw Jack arrive he'll stay till we get back" she said to him and looked where he gestured down the street.

"Marcus and Michael and Sergio went on a mission to rescue a child, and when they came back, they took her to sickbay for emergency medical treatment," Ana told Jack. "Her parents are coming, and Angus and Ruby went to London to pick them up and bring them here. I doubt they'll be long."

"I think Marcus gets a wee bit too serious," Elwood said. "I like that boy, don't get me wrong, but he is extremely serious about his work and sometimes a wee bit overprotective. I think he thinks I am completely helpless, but I do still have my magic. I am sure I can remember some spells if I need to. The boy forgets that it isn't the young upstart wizards one needs to be afraid of. It's the older, time tested wizards that you should shake in your boots about. Wizards don't get weaker as we age. We just get more powerful."

"I am sure you must be a force to be reckoned with," Ana smiled.

"Well, I perhaps could be if I had a wand. Mine disappeared, you know. When I became too ill to be out of bed, Pearl said she put it away for me, but then I never saw it again. And by now, it is long gone, I'm sure," Elwood replied. "My wand days might be over but that doesn't mean I can't do wandless magic."

Jack looked at Ana and chuckled " maybe so ana, but I'll hang around, I'd like to get to know Elwood a bit, besides I'd like to see his chess skills for my self since I heard you beat Angus. " he said with a chuckle as he looked at Elwood as he spoke setting up a chess board in front of Elwood. Jack heard him talk and chuckled " oh I've herd that from Robert himself too" he said looking up as he placed down the rook on the board. " have to say its true though." he admitted.

Ruby looked as she walked with Angus waiting for the man they were to meet. " is he late or are we early" she asked him.

"We're a bit early," Angus said. "Marcus said Vasil asked for about ten minutes or so before he came, and we left right away to come here. Besides, you should know that when you try to get yourself, your partner and two kids and all the bags out the door, it always takes longer than expected. The man is the minister of magic after all. I'm sure he's got a lot of things to do before he can just port out. Give them a little. When did you learn to be so impatient about things? You seem to expect everything to happen immediately."

"Angus has said that Elwood here loves playing a very strategic game," Ana said, "but I have yet to see him play. This will be fun."

"Robert and Michael and I have all said we want to play some serious games, but now that Robert is sidelined, that may well need to wait a bit," Elwood said. "Robert has learned that chess can be a good teacher of basic strategy principles, and he says he has learned to use some of those lessons in his work. That does not surprise me a bit. It would not be the first time that chess has been used as a primary teach of strategy. He has said he likes serious chess games, so I look forward to it."

"And don't forget to have a game with his wife, Kate. Of the two of them, Kate supposedly has the better game," Ana told him.

"Really! I shall have to challenge her, then," Elwood said. "Alright, Jack. Show me what you've got."

As Angus and Ruby waited, he saw a man approaching with a blonde woman, and there were two teens with them. Each of them were shouldering a bag, and the man actually was shouldering two bags--one of them a pink bag.

"There they are," Angus said. He walked towards them. "I apologize, my friend, but the Lokum has not yet arrived."

"Ah well, then," the man replied. "It is a good thing I brought some. Vasil Nikolov at your service."

"Angus Donohue, and this is my wife, Ruby," Angus said.

"Well met," Vasil said. "This is my wife Deni, my daughter Danica, and my son Stefan. You must be Marcus's friends."

"We are. He asked us to meet you. Mileva is in expert hands, and Marcus is with her. All will be well, I'm sure."

"We are most anxious to see her," Deni said. "We could not possibly come and not bring our other children. I cannot leave them there, where our little Mileva was so badly injured and have us so far away."

"Understandable, of course," Angus said. "If you grab hold, we can apparate to the estate straight away."

"Thank you," Vasil said, motioning for his family to hold hands so Angus could apparate them to the estate.

Ruby looked at Angus and chuckled shaking her head " Your right I need to calm and slow down" she said taking a breath and looking around her at some men passing by then she saw another man with several bags walk over to them, she stood quietly next to Angus as he introduced her to them and she smiled " pleasure is all mine" she said and smiled to the kids. She saw Angus motion for the family to hold hands , she glanced around and saw nobody "We're clear" she said softly as she waited for Angus to port them back to the duplex.

Jack chuckled and looked at Elwood " oh, I only play for fun and I have never beat Robert or Kate in the years I have none them." he added with a chuckle as he moved his pawn first. He listened to Ana and chuckled again. " and yes I agree Kate is more of a strategists in her playing." he looked and watched the board knowing it was a slow strategy game. " hows Caprice doing with her nose?" he asked seeing the toddler sleeping on Elwood's shoulder.

"Still pretty ouchy about it," Elwood said. "I gave her a smidge of pain potion a bit ago when she banged her nose on the floor while she was in her playpen. I am going to take her pain potion and, if Robert does not object, I will alter it slightly so that it doesn't taste so foul to her. It's a top-notch quality potion. He does decent work, but she does not appreciate taking it because it does not appeal to her. I can remedy that. One of the best flavors to use for a child that age, believe it or not, is a combination of pumpkin pasty and toasted marshmallow." He moved a piece that would give him good flexibility in his game. He believed Jack was not a real combatant and was just someone who liked to play and enjoy the game.

Angus apparated the Nikolovs to the estate. They stood for a moment and looked at the massive log mansion with the big pool, the shelter house, the child's big tree house, the apartment buildings, the duplex, the barn and all the rest.

"This is incredible," Vasil said, stunned. "It's beautiful."

"Robert's son in law is a great lover of Native American art and southwest style, and this is his house and Khaat's.

"I look forward to meeting them," Vasil said. "Is it possible for Danica and Stefan to wait elsewhere with our bags while we go see Mileva?"

"Certainly. Marcus has a house on this estate. We've prepared quarters for all of you there, and I've taken the liberty of cooking lunch, if you're hungry. I've made Bulgarian stuffed cabbage rolls, Romanian potato salad, and for dessert some pumpkin tikvenik pastries."

"You thought of comfort food for us," Deni said with a big smile. "How thoughtful."

"We are quite hungry, but can we see Mileva first?"

"Absolutely. Ruby, would you take Danica and Stefan to the cottage and give them the tour and show them their rooms? And make sure they know how to get to the duplex and back from there. I'll take Minister and Mrs. Nikolov to see Mileva."

"Oh, please. Call us by our first names," Vasil said. "We are not formal people."

"Neither are we," Angus smiled.

Jack listened to Elwood and nodded " that would make it more palatable for her, could let Robert in on that idea he could make it for the small ones at the hospital " he said as he moved his knight up three and across two then sat back. " but then again I think even adults would appreciate a flavour change for the better" he added and smiled to Elwood.

Ruby smiled as they walked around the grounds and Angus explained everything to them. When Angus asked her to show Danica and Stefan and show them their rooms. " of course, we also have a room ready for you with an en suit bathroom should you want to freshen up" she added offering to take the bags from the minister " I'll have these put in your room." she said as Joseph walked over and picked up the bags. " if you would follow me" she said smiling as she lead them to the cottage , opening the door she stepped in showing them the Orangery and the kitchen followed by the library and living room before taking them upstairs " this room is yours Danica, it is usually Poppy's Marcus's youngest and yours Stefan" she said and opened Kia's room across from Danica's as Joseph placed their bags in the respective rooms before heading to another door and opening it and placing down the remaining bags on a chair at the base of the bed.