A Birth day

Elwood took the little lizard without any hesitation.

"It's a she, Jack," Elwood said, "And she's pregnant. She's way off from their normal pattern of having young in July. She'll need a nest soon."

"How does a lizard care for their young?" Anise asked.

"They don't," Elwood said. "Once the babies are born, they're on their own, but she'll need a warm place to have them and then the young will need to be released in a place where they hopefully won't be eaten immediately."

"Does she have eggs?"

"Not this species. No. The common lizard has live young, but she sees her duty to them as finished once they're born."

"That's just rather cold."

"Very apt regarding a reptile species, my dear," Elwood laughed.

"How can you tell she's pregnant?"

"Look at that huge belly. She eats bugs but she wouldn't eat that many," Elwood replied.

"How do you know so much about lizards?"

"There was a woods behind the house where I grew up, and I spent a lot of time back there as a boy."

"Lizards aside, if Finn would be helpful, by all means. Let him work, Jack," Angus said. "I know Kate has often said to me she wants to add a flock of sheep and goats, and at least a pair of alpaca. She wants to be able to get the wool from them to make her own yarns for her artwork. And that would help us add to our self sufficiency if I would actually do it. We'd have a certain amount of mutton and lamb, I suppose. I've stalled her off, but maybe we should reconsider. That certainly would give Finn a job. What do you think?"

Jack let Elwood take the lizard and smiled " that's great" he said then heard them talking " oh I have just the spot, nice and warm safe for her to birth her babies." he said then heard Angus talking about Finn " hum, yes would benefit him, keep him out of your hair " he added " he won't need much training hes a natural born herder" he added with a chuckle as he once more gave Finn a pat on the head " I'll start tomorrow and there's plenty of room in the second barn not far from the large one" he added.

Ruby and Aria finished their run and headed back to the duplex both some what exhausted but now less stressed over Sam each laughing as they talked and walked. Hearing talk of a lizard Ruby walked in and smiled seeing it in Elwood hands, she walked over and looked at it. " hum common lizard?" she asked him " pregnant too by her tummy" she then chuckled and gently stroked its head as she looked at Angus with a smile.

"I'll send him with Victor in the morning, then," Angus said. "Thanks, Jack. If you have room in the second barn, I'll order a pair of Merino sheep, a pair of Angora goats or pygmy goats and a pair of alpaca. We should start small, I think. And, perhaps we can add another corral for them to graze in. Maybe in that big space in between the big horse corral of the main barn and the corral of the second barn? It's a big space with some really nice green grass. It might be perfect if we add a bit of fencing. There's a bloke up north of Hogwarts, in Scotland, that has some prized sheep and goats and some nice alpacas. We've gotten a lot of top notch wool there and some great meat. He'd sell us what we need once we have a space for them.

Angus watched Ruby and Aria come back, and Ruby was calm around the lizard.

"I rather figured if you were surprised by that lizard running about under the furniture that might not make you very happy," Angus said. "Finn decided to bring her in, for whatever reason."

"She is very pregnant indeed, but she is a rather calm little thing, seeing that she's now out of her element," Elwood told Ruby, handing the lizard to her.

"I'm lining up a herding job for Finn," Angus told her. "If we don't, we're going to have bugs, birds, squirrels, chipmunks and all sorts of critters in here. And, personally, I'd rather not. I'm not afraid of it, but I know what the babies would do with it, and none of it is a good visual."

"You take that piece back, Anise, and reconsider your move," Elwood said. "You really don't want to move there because you'll give me the game if you do."

"Where?" she frowned. Elwood pointed it out to her and she sighed. "I didn't even see that."

"I know you didn't," he laughed. "That's how we learn. Victor, would one of you make me another amaretto coffee, please? That was delicious."

"Certainly," Victor said, grinning, pleased that the drink he made had been a hit. He took Elwood's cup to make another.

Ruby looked at Angus and chuckled " its okay meeting new animals is a good thing around here both for the girls and myself" she said smiling a she took the small lizard from Elwood and gently held it, carefully she moved to Jack who took it from her as he listened to Angus talk of where the new paddock would be.

"that's the very place I was thinking of, close to water and the stable for hay should they need it and the food storage too" he said letting the lizard curl up in his hand again. " I'll come by and get Finn in the morning" he said then looked at Finn " until then no lizards, birds or any other creature in the house" Finn wined but he stood firm and Finn wagged his tail making Jack chuckle as he waved to them all " okay see you in the morning" he walked to the back door and took the lizard to the barn finding a nice warm place for it to rest and birth its young.

"Night, Jack," Angus said, watching Jack leave.

"That's it," Elwood told Anise. "Look. You have me. Move your rook and you'll take the game."

"Here?" she asked. Elwood nodded.

"Now, call it," he told her.

"Checkmate?" she asked tentatively.

"No, no, no. Say it like you mean it," he told her.

"Checkmate," she said more confidently.

"That's my girl. You won the game. Good job," he smiled. "You can learn this. You are too timid with your moves, even when you know the right one. If we keep playing this week, you might find it improves your dueling skills."

"Nice job," Angus told her.

"Thanks, Elwood. i need to try to get downstairs and try to shower. I need a shower badly," she said.

"Angus's shower bench is downstairs," Andrew told her. "I got it out earlier today and scrubbed it up because it's not been used in a long time. I can help you, or I'm sure Ruby or Aria would give you a hand, if you would rather get help from a woman instead of me?"

"You can ignore the fact that he isn't a woman. He is a medical professional, after all," Angus told her, not concerned about whether Andrew would be appropriate or not.

"That's rather hard to miss," Anise laughed. "I suppose I could try to do it on my own."

"Nope. That isn't okay. I'll take you out in the back yard with the garden hose before I let you do that," Angus said, teasing her about the garden hose but not teasing that he wasn't good with her trying to shower by herself."

"You need to use the waterproof knee wrap anyway," Andrew said. "We do not want you getting that dressing wet. Ruby, there's a waterproof knee wrap downstairs in the basement bathroom. I put it in the bathroom closet on the third shelf. It looks rather like a tube of translucent plastic. It slides on over her foot and up over her knee. There's an elastic cuff on each end so it isn't binding. if you have trouble with it, let me know."

Ruby smiled as Jack left then turned to watch Anise with Elwood playing chess she smiled as she won a match even if Elwood let her. Hearing Anise wanted to shower Ruby stepped forward " I can help with that if Andrew you wouldn't mind bringing her down " she said then heard him mention the water proof wrap for her knee " okay I'll go down and get it ready" she said and headed down. Once by the bathroom she placed clean towels out and the wrap waiting for Andrew with Anise.

Aria sat down next to the playpen with the babies in it watching as each babbled to each other and swapped toys before giggling and changing them again. Now she took out her book and opened it " almost finished this one" she said looking at Marcus " might need to ask Robert for another soon" she chuckled turning another page.

"No problem," Andrew said. He helped Anise stand up and let her wrap firmly around him, and while he held her up, he apparated her downstairs. He helped her to the bathroom and left her in Ruby's capable hands. "If you need anything, give a shout, and I'll come get it for you."

"We'll be fine," Anise said. "I really, really want to sleep in my own bed tonight. If I just have some water and a book after I shower, I should be good for the night."

"Then I'll let you two handle it," Andrew smiled. He went back upstairs to get Elwood and to take him upstairs to help him shower and get ready for bed. Victor and Ginger finished in the kitchen and Victor went upstairs to use the other bathroom to shower.

"There are lots of mystery novels on the bookshelf," Marcus told Aria. "Angus has quite a large number of them. You should try one. I read one a week or so ago, and I really did enjoy it." Angus and Marcus cleaned up the mancala board and the chess board and the coffee cups, and Marcus went to make his night time security checks.

"Um...Angus. Your box from Clive and the one from Flourish and Blotts are both here already," Marcus said, finding the boxes on the front porch. He brought a large box inside.

"Thanks," Angus said. He opened the box from Clive and found five pairs of pajamas for Sam, along with a blue hooded robe made of waffle fabric, several pair of slipper socks and two pairs of slippers, each pair a different style. There were also several pair of new knickers there as well, along with some of the men's body wash, shaving cream, soap, etc. and in the bottom of the box, there was a man's leather weekender bag. It was a really nice one, and Angus took the clothes, pack ed them in the bag. He went upstairs, found a new toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste, along with a new comb and brought them downstairs and put them in the bag. Then he put the books and puzzle books in the bag and then zipped it up and set it near the door to give to Jack in the morning.

He heard Victor finish in the shower, so Angus went up and showered and changed into his pajama trousers and came back downstairs, bringing a new, unread murder mystery downstairs with him. Then he went to the kitchen, got out a water carafe and filled it with cold water and floated the carafe and the glass downstairs to the girl's room. He figured Ruby could rescue it from hovering in midair and put it at Anise's bedside for her for the night.

Ruby saw Andrew bring Anise down to the bathroom she smiled slipping on the plastic cover over her knee and made sure it was water tight before helping her undress and turn on the shower. Once she made sure everything was with in her reach she smiled " call me when your ready to come out" she said placing the towel on a seat close by the shower for her. Ruby walked into the bedroom and saw the floating jug and glass taking them she placed them down next to Anises bed ready for her to take a drink when ever she wanted it.

Aria heard Marcus and nodded " oh that's a good idea" she said smiling as she walked over to where the books were and took a look at them finding one she liked she opened it " this one looks good" she said showing Marcus as she then moved, sitting down to reading it.

"That one kept Angus hooked to it for a couple days," Marcus laughed. "He couldn't put it down once he started it. Now he's got all of the mystery books that author has written.

"Is that..." Angus began. Then he saw which one Aria had chosen. "Oh, yeah. That one was a really good one. In fact, I've not been disappointed by any of her books. She's going to be at Flourish and Blotts this Sunday afternoon for a book signing for her new book that's going to be released Sunday. I might go if I'm not tapped from the Dartmoor thing the day before."

"So what are you reading tonight?" Marcus asked him.

"It's a new author, and this is his debut book. It's called The Spaghetti Garrotte. Supposedly they think the victim was strangled by a spaghetti noodle. Not sure I can buy into that, but I'll give it a try."

"Do tell me if you think the victim really died by a noodle," Marcus laughed out loud.

"Yeah, I'm not sure I see that as a realistic method, but we shall see."

Anise finished her shower, and she got the towel because Ruby had left it in an easy place for her to grab into.

"I'm finished, Ruby. Well, sorta. Just drying off," Anise called. "God, it felt good to shower."

Aria heard Angus and chuckled " its got a good opening so far" she said as she continued to read " and yeah I can see why you like this author, but really a spaghetti garrotte?" she said with a chuckle " i'd think that wouldn't work, to soft as pasta." she added.

Ruby heard Anise and walked back into the bathroom with clean clothing for her. Kneeling she removed the cover and placed it on the counter beside her " there's clean clothing here " she handed her them and helped her to dress into her PJ's and smiled when she said she needed that shower. " showers are always refreshing i find" she said now helping her up onto her feet and into the bedroom.

Once they reached the now turned down bed she helped her get into bed and pull the covers over her " there's cold water next to you if you want a drink" she showed her the jug and glass on the night stand.